It's All Been Gravy Lately

 Our Thanksgiving meal 

has always been a bit on the 

unconventional side.

Our gravy is

the secret family

Italian Spaghetti Sauce

 covering homemade raviolis 

made by a

 father/daughter team.

Prior to all of this,

it was all gravy

on the quilty side of life too.

I was just in the mood to abandon

all the current projects

and follow along with a

small mystery quilt that Lori,

at Humble Quilts, was organizing.

Why not.

 21" x 23"

I tweaked it a bit, by adding a border,

but it was great fun to sew along.

It was the perfect diversion I needed.

Next in the gravy boat

was this.

All those 3" nine patches I had adquired

in a block swap are sewn together.

 40" x  46"

 I'm adding vines in both borders.

And then, of course, it will need more applique.

 ***

No, traditional Thanksgiving meal 

is complete without real gravy

for the roasted turkey and mashed potatoes.

Who can pass on that!

Here's a couple of other finishes

that have been gravy for me.

You've seen these all before,

but now they're done!

I was just waiting for some extra hands

to help hold them up so

I could take a photo.

Quilt #1

 Home for the Holidays

64" x 64"

pattern by Primitive Gatherings

This quilt was all done on the machine, excluding the hand

embroidery for the words.

I even machine buttonholed the wool applique

using a wool thread by Aurifil.

Then I did the machine quilting.

Quilt #2

The top is done on this one.

Ewe and Me

74" 94"

pattern by Janet Stone

and offered by The Quilt Show.

This is the quilt that I used an ancient collection of

Sandy Gervais fabric by Moda

that has to be at least 15 years old.

I must have been saving it for just the right project.

I love how it turned out.

Just a little bit more gravy.

Quilt #3

Here it is.

All done.

 Roseville Album

95" x 95"

pattern by Kim McLean

2011-2014

I can't believe that this one is finally done!

What a feeling.

 Hope you're riding the gravy train too.

Until Next Time-

Fitting It All Together

With the holidays fast approaching

I tend to stress myself out.
 Anyone else like me

trying to get everything planned and organized

so it fits neatly into your calendar?

My only saving thought is, if it 

doesn't fit in, it just wasn't meant to

be included.

Reminder to self:

Enjoy the holidays

Don't have a conniption fit

over things that don't matter.

This morning as I drove off to the gym,

I thought, I sure hope all of this

is helping me to be fit as a fiddle
and feeling fit.

Another reminder to self:

keep going.

The other day Running Man and I ventured

out to do some shopping and we stopped

at Barnes and Noble to pick

out the newest puzzle for

the Christmas holidays.

Everyone works together

getting all the pieces to fit together.

The problem is one person 

continually thinks it's funny to hide a few 

pieces and wait to the end so he can fit in

the last couple of pieces,
completing the puzzle.

It's no secret, Running Man, we

know what you're up to.

Reminder to self:  No looks
fit to kill when it happens
again this year.

Earlier this fall, I joined in the 

nine patch swap that Barb organized.

It had been a long time since I had taken part

in a swap.
I recognized for me swaps weren't a good fit.

It has to do with the
1/4" seam interpretation.

Well, I joined, we sewed and we exchanged.

 I've been working on sewing

these cute little 3" blocks together.

 

And guess what?

They all fit together perfectly!

There's no hiding flaws

when blocks are sewn side by side

 

 and being small, there's no fudge factor.

Look at how everything fits like a glove.
 I've been one happy sewer.

Reminder to self:

Swaps can be fun!

I've also been trying to work on 

set #11 of the 

Noah and Matilda Antique Sampler blocks.

I've been concerned
 about getting the parts of this block

to fit together.

I wasn't sure if the inner circle

 would match up with the outer ring of pieces.

 I was fit with worry.

But surprise, surprise.

it actually fit.

And with all of that
it's a fitting ending to this post.

Until Next Time-

Things to Do When It's -2 Degrees

I love to make lists.

So

I made a list of the things to do

when the temperature dips to a 

frosty 2 below. (-19C)

1.Stay Home- The joys of being retired,

 but say a little prayer for those

who do have to travel.

2. Keep Your Insides Warm- Enjoy whatever

you like, tea, soup or hot chocolate.

I was going to put some marshmallow

fluff on top but it was as hard as rock in the jar.

Better put it on my grocery list.

There might be more cold weather.

3.  Make More Lists- This is the time of year

for making lists,

Gift lists,

Things to Do Today lists,

Projects to Finish before the End of the Year lists,

New Projects for 2015 lists

4. Enjoy the Moment- Hunker down and

 watch a movie,

get caught up on your favorite blogs, or

 listen to an audio book,

which you had the common sense to pick

up before the arctic blast blasted in.

5.  Work on a Binding- While your watching

your favorite movie 

 snuggle under the quilt you've been meaning to 

get the binding sewn down on and

do some stitching.

6.  Feed the Birds- Don't forget our

feathered friends. 

7. Adapt Your Attire- Pull out those 

warm fuzzy sweatpants that you'd never let

anyone see you in.

 (sorry no photo :0)

8. Get the Mail Tomorrow-  Whatever is in the

box can wait until tomorrow or whenever it

 warms up enough to walk down to the end of the driveway.

9. Bake Muffins-  You've got to have something

Pumpkin Streusel Muffins

to go with the soup that's for dinner.

10. Look Out the Window- Be thankful for the

  blessing of a warm house to keep you safe.

Until Next time-

Almost Done

This week has flown by.

I've started some holiday shopping,

I've cooked up the Halloween pumpkins for holiday pies,

and I've spent many hours in my sewing room

machine quilting a holiday quilt.

Over the past couple of weeks

I've been debating with myself

about how I should finish my

Home For the Holidays quilt.

Should I do

big stitches with perel cotton?

It would fit the style of the quilt because of

the wool appliques,

But it might take more time

than I wanted to spend.

This is my "put your $ where 

your mouth is" quilt.
 It's my WIP project

that I pledged to finish and

because it's a holiday quilt,
it made sense to me

 to finish it now so I could actually use it

in the next couple weeks.

So that meant no big stitching.

 I needed to

machine quilt it.

My hesitancy was because

it had been awhile since I had 

machine quilted and

my skills were a bit rusty.

It also meant I needed to mark the quilt.

I'm pretty finicky about how I do that.

I use either a mechanical pencil or

chalk,  when I'm marking a design.

I don't use markers that need to be washed out because

I don't wash most of my quilts when I'm done.

This one, with the wool applique, 

wasn't going to be washable.

So I was left with the option of

either machine quilting freestyle or

using stencils and chalk and

pouncing the designs.

The good part about pouncing is

that the marks aren't permanent.

The bad part about pouncing is

that the marks rub off easily.

The designs have to be marked in

small bits at a time,

and it's good to dust your machine often.

I'm just about finished,

and I like how it's turning out.

I used three different snowflake designs,
 

although all the patterns weren't specifically snowflakes.

There's some free-styling around the appliques,

and it will be a combo in the borders.

With the holidays fast approaching

it will be fun to have this quilt finished.

The good thing is
my confidence with my machine quilting

has been restored.

For me,

there's a time and place for different finishing styles.

No one way is right,

it's just what fits the project and you.

Until Next Time-