It's Done!!!

Today I finally got the binding sewn onto All That Jazz! I am so happy with how it turned out. And, thanks to everyone who gave an opinion on which binding to use.

The quilt is 93 x 103 and quite adequately covers my queen sized bed.

I think you can see the piping that I ran throughout the body of the quilt, just for a little added orange interest.

The backing fabric is black with little orange dots that I happened to run into in one of those purposeless fabric shopping trips: it was perfect.

When it came time for the binding I had difficulty deciding between a black binding or orange. And, after several blogger suggestions, had almost decided to do an orange piping with a black binding when I ran across an orange fabric with black dotted swirls: again perfect.

The black batting is a rough textured cotton poly mix that I wasn't happy with. It, however, quilted nicely so I was not so unhappy until I started hand sewing the binding on. The needle did not want to go through it and I could only work on it for short periods until I had to give my hand a rest. I don't know the brand (bought off a roll) but will probably not get it again.

Sense of Accomplishment

I love getting projects done. So yesterday I loaded Puppies on the frame.




And true to my promise to myself do only edge to edge, I decided to do a panto (1st one). The panto I chose was this one from Urban Elementz .














I felt pretty confident for the first two passes but then I had to line it up to roll the quilt. Well, I wrote all over my pattern grid and guess what, it worked. I was done by 1:30 and








look how great this looks.

Now all I have to do is put the binding on. And since I got done so early I put some time in binding Jazz. One side down and three to go.

So Far This Week

This is part of my backyard.

Three years ago, when we got our new house, we had to run a new line to the septic tank. The plumber put the pipe (50’) in and then my SIL brought a load of dirt to fill it in. He was supposed to come back with a back hoe and shove the dirt into the trench, covering the pipe. Well, the pile is still there and the pipe has been exposed all this time. From time to time I have shoveled dirt and this week I finally got the pipe all covered. What you see is what we have affectionately called Mt. Musgrove and the wheelbarrow I have moved the dirt with. I still have several loads to move until we don’t have an indentation in the ground but it is nice to be able to not see that white PVC pipe anymore.


When not moving dirt I have been still working. I got the binding made, pressed and sewed onto Jazz. And I even got the label made in time to sew it into the binding.



I have the binding turned and clipped, ready to hand sew on but that will probably have to wait a couple of days while I work on other things.

I woke up yesterday morning remembering that I have a BOM $5 block due on Thursday. So first thing, after doing my early morning yard work, I set out to get it done.

I really enjoyed making this block and may look at featuring it in a quilt sometime in the future.

My next project, I think, is going to have to be some clean-up in the studio. It seems that there are little piles of scraps and stuff from each of the projects I have been working on. This was OK for a while but now there are no work surfaces left. LOL

We have had one other excitement this week. DH gave birth to this.

It is a 2009 Nissan Titan. Anyone who knows my husband knows that he loves to trade cars and that he is “sneaky” in doing it. And this was no different. One minute we were eating dinner and the next we were looking at a truck, that he had already worked out a deal on. And did I know anything about it? Oh, no!! But it is a neat truck and he tells me that we will be saving some money both on car payments and insurance.

Well, that’s all for now: don’t you think that has been enough? LOL

UFO Progress Report

Starting with what’s on my design wall. This is called Flight School. I made it last November to hang behind the Christmas Village set up we have.

When I made it I got the reindeer appliquéd but ran out of time before I could get to the trees. So today I pulled it out of the UFO pile and finished the trees. I even got it squared so now it is ready to be quilted. Of course I do need to come up with a backing.




Saturday I was, quite by accident, in a fabric store and found this fabric I think would work for my binding on Jazz.

I had seriously thought of black binding with an orange piping but then I realized that I need the binding to fit with the back as well as the front. Tomorrow I will cut and press the binding and maybe even get it sewn on.









Puppies is completed and even the binding is done. I have it lying across the frame waiting for me to get it quilted. However, once again, I need to decide on a backing first.











I also worked on the guild challenge quilt. Of course this is all I can show you since it is supposed to be a secret. It, also, is almost ready to quilt. In fact this one has the backing and is sandwiched. But since it is not due until October, it is not going to make it to the frame right away.












And last but not least, I got caught up on the Calendar Challenge strips. wanted to feature yellow in this month but also to use fabrics that I am using for other projects.


Now, please note that nothing above is completed but everything is ready to go.


Speaking of going, I also wanted to show my two favorite traveling companions. These are my two best friends.

All That Jazz

It is quilted.


And from here you can’t even see all the work I did quilting it, can you? That’s all right, I can see it close up.







Here is the back. It just barely covered the quilt, had about 1” extra on each side.

Here you can almost see the feathers and straight lines.

Now I need to do the binding. However, I am not sure what to use. Should it be black? Should it be orange? Should it be black and white? The black on the edges of the first picture is only the batting that I hadn’t yet trimmed so it doesn’t count in the decision making. Suggestions?

Home Alone

5 days. I have 5 days all to myself. DH is gone to judge a county Jr. Miss pageant and I have 5 days all to myself. Both yesterday and today were primarily devoted to quilting on All That Jazz (the black and white pictured in the header). I am doing feathers and straight line ruler work in the log cabin blocks.

For some reason it is harder to get pictures when the backing is black and I have to get under the frame to snap it. LOL Anyway, I am again trying to quilt the outer border along the lines in the fabric print, am doing loops on the piano key fabric and the feathers and ruler work on the log cabins. I swear, the next three quilts I do are going to be edge to edge. LOL

I did do a little real sewing, putting the sashing parts

on some of the Puppies blocks and sewing the rows together.

Tomorrow there will be no quilting here. I am driving to Mobile to see a quilt show and visit the “vendor’s mall.” I also hope to visit a couple of quilt shops as well as some place good to eat. I love road trips.

And then when I get home I will be greeted

by this beautiful tree.

It sits at the side of our yard, right where we park. Isn’t it beautiful? I love the lacy leaves and the fuzzy flowers. All of our trees are volunteers so I don’t know what they are but we really have quite a variety. I really need to get someone to walk around with me and teach me about what is growing all around me. All I really know is that I love nature in all her beauty.

Weekend Studio Work

Saturday was a wonderful day: spent most of it in the studio.

I got the back pieced for Jazz.














And then finally got it on the frame.


Now, I had spent a lot of Friday looking for the batting I wanted (Quilter’s Dream 70-30 blend) and having visited 5 quilt shops, I still didn’t have it. I settled for a different batting and as of right now it is on the frame but not quilted. I don’t like it: it is stiff and rough. It is supposed to be a cotton/poly blend but it feels more like rough wool or a scrubbie pad. I really want to start quilting on it but I am going to try to hold off until I can try to find what I want.

ED: I can’t feel the stiffness when it is between the fabric layers so I am going to quilt it as is. I hope I am doing the right thing.

On Sunday I felt the need to do some piecing and I also realized that it was time to make another comfort quilt for guild. So I dug out some shirting I had gotten from the old shirt factory here and put it with some kids fabric I had hanging around.



I am calling it Puppies and with the blend of both pink and blue, I think it will work for either a boy or girl. I am putting 1” cream sashing between the blocks and a 2” cream border on the outside. I hope, if I have enough fabric, to have a blue binding on it.


But, before I can do any quilting stuff, it is time to mow the lawn, quick before it gets too hot outside.