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What joy the gospel gives me. I can approach the throne of God with confidence, not because I've done a good job at my spiritual duties, but because I'm clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. ~ C.J. Mahaney

Cozy Quilt. Curious Kitty.

Finished the binding today.  It's a wonder I even got it done.  Sit down to take a few stitches.  Phone rings.  Dispense with the caller.  Sit back down.  "Mama!  I don't "git" this math problem."  Assist littlest student.  Sit back down.  Take three stitches.  "Mommy, I hungry."  Get snack for little boy.  Sit back down.  Take two stitches.

And so it went all afternoon.  But here is is.  All springlike and cheerful, not unlike the weather we've been having here. 


 I have enough scraps to make a baby version of this.  That's next up.


Cute little bird.  Love these fabrics.


Here is the color block back, my newest quilting fascination.  Mmmmm.  I love these colors.  Yeah, I know I already said that.

Wait.  What is THAT thing in my yard?


I must investigate.


Eh....  Not very interesting.


I think I'm way prettier.
BTW...If curiosity killed the cat, Jade would be long gone by now. 

Tom tells me the weather is going to turn off VERY chilly the next few days.  Guess I don't need to worry about that!  I have my snuggly new quilt. 


 Snuggle with someone YOU love this weekend.

Love,


A Long Rambling Post About Quilting


 Disclaimer:  This post will likely bore everyone but the most die-hard sewing fanatics and my mother, who loves everything I write.

OK. Got that out of the way.  Now, I'm going to show you two of my new favorite things about quilting.  The first is this pieced quilt back.  Typically the quilt back is one piece of fabric, or a couple pieces of the same fabric seamed together out of necessity.  That works, especially if you want to keep things really simple, or you have a piece of fabric that you love for the back.  Recently, I pictured in my mind a quilt back made of nine fat quarters.  (That's a quilter's term for a quarter yard of fabric cut in a 18"X22" rectangle instead of a long 44"X9" strip.)  So I tried this method out on a quilt a few weeks ago and really liked the results.  Thus, I'm apt to make my quilt backs this way for who knows how long.  I love the interest it gives the back and it makes the quilt truly reversible.


 
On top of the back goes the batting, smoothed out nice and flat.  And here comes the other really cool, new part--the basting spray.


 
I'd heard this method works well and beats having to spend an hour pinning the layers together.  So yesterday I took my handy dandy 40% off coupon to Hobby Lobby and bought a can of the basting spray.  You just pull the batting back and lightly spray the backing.


Then smooth the batting back over the back, lifting and repositioning as needed.  Now flip to the other end.


I called in my trusty sheriff to guard me while I worked.  I recommend that you do the same if possible.  The top layer is done just the same way, only this time you're spraying the batting first.


After all the layers are in place, I mark the quilting lines on the quilt top with a washable marker.  A purist would do this before she layered the quilt.  Since there is nothing pure about the way I quilt, I will do it the way I want...being the rebel that I am.


Oh yeah.  Here is what the spray looks like up close and personal.  In case you want to hunt some down for yourself.  I have my machine all ready for quilting this baby now.


Normally, I sew on this beauty.  Say "Hi" to Bernie.  He and I have been best buds for 22 years.  He is celebrating his birthday this month so I wanted to give a big shout out to him.  He is a work horse and if he had an odometer, it would prove that he and I could have circled the globe a few times with all the stitches we've made.  He's never given me a minute's trouble.  Perfect stitches and tension.  If someone gave me a new, top of the line sewing machine, I'd give it to one of you.  That is how much I like my old faithful friend.  So why am I not quilting this on Bernie?  Simply because I don't want to do free motion quilting on this quilt.  I want to do straight line quilting which requires the use of a walking foot.  And the walking foot for Bernie costs more that $100. 


So...I have another great little machine, fully mechanical (no computer) for which I was able to buy a walking foot that only set me back $11.98.

That's why.

I bought this machine from my sister-in-law (Hi, Rochelle) when she upgraded to a new high-end machine.  It comes in handy to have two machines sometimes, especially if the girls want to tinker around on one while I'm on the other.  We really like Bernette, too.   Beautiful stitches and purrs like a kitten.



I go ahead and load at least three bobbins before I start, because machine quilting will really use up the thread.


The straight stitching went really fast.  I was very pleased with the spray method of basting this quilt.  It saved a lot of time not having to pin the quilt and stop to remove pins as I quilted. 

I had this whole thing quilted in no time flat.  Maybe an hour.  Probably more like 45 minutes.  I didn't time myself.


And that was even with helping Maggie do her grammar while I sewed.  She loves grammar.  She's learning about predicate adjectives and predicate nominatives.  And prepositions.  And all that fun stuff....

Mommy is sewing a quilt (on the machine) (in the sewing room.)

 Quilting finished, time to trim the excess batting and backing away.


Now the binding goes on and we're almost finished.  I take it to the ironing board and press and pin the binding down in preparation for hand stitching it in place on the back side.

Alas, you'll need to wait a few days to see the completed quilt. 

If you've made it this far, I commend you for your longsuffering.  And I promise to bring you tasty recipe soon.


Love,



Owl Be Your Friend

Who? Who?


 Whoooose lives will be changing?


 A little owl told me....



 ...it's Leigh Anne and Wilson's....that's whoooo.

Owl bet they're excited.  Whoooo wouldn't be?

I had fun sewing a few little goodies for their baby's shower.  Baby is expected March 11th. 

Very soon I'll show you how to make a bib like the one I made them.  I've made dozens of these over the years.  Super easy and a fun way to use scraps. 

I hope you're enjoying a beautiful weekend!

Love,

And the winner is....

 
 Excuse me.  Would you please move?

Yes, you.  Just because it's little and cute like you does not mean you get to lie down on it.

So move, ok?  I need to tell someone that she won the quilt and you're in the way.

Please?

Thanks.



Cynthia Hale!  You won the little Valentine's give-away!  I hope it brings a little February cheer to your home.  I'll bring it to church this Sunday.

Love,