Finally! A Finish!!

The mostly pink Tile Tango quilt I started as a NewFo in April is finished!  This is my first finish since July so I'm pretty excited.  I used to get about 15 to 20 quilts made every year until I moved to Alabama to be near my grandchildren.  Now for some strange reason I don't have nearly as much time to sew as I did before!  (It's a good trade off though -- I LOVE being here!!)

I used Bubble Gum pink Rainbow thread by Superior Threads and quilted it on my Bernina.

It was fun cramming a 75" x 108" quilt through a domestic machine.  

That's why I decided that instead of stippling I would just stitch along the seam lines with my machine's serpentine stitch.  I really like the way it looks.

After I quilted it I cleaned and oiled my machine and changed the needle which is really important to do between projects.  I use a Q-tip to clean out the dust because canned air actually forces the dust into the machine, and blowing into it to get the dust out puts the moisture from your breath into the machine - neither of which is a good thing!  Can you tell it needed a little cleaning?

Since the pink fabric is called "Cotton Candy" and the thread is called "Bubble Gum" I had some fun quilt names running through my head, but Hubby suggested "Pretty in Pink" and I think that's the perfect name for it.  

So tonight I will sleep under it (something I always do before giving away a quilt) and tomorrow I will wash it and get it ready to mail.  I can hardly wait for Aemarys to get her new quilt.  She has loved her baby quilt so long.  She's ready for a big girl quilt!

Old Quilts and Country Hoedowns

Last Saturday night our Newcomers Club of Greater Huntsville had a Country Hoedown.  That morning while we were decorating I noticed that the display in front of the building needed a little something.  I just happened to have an old quilt in the trunk of my car so I grabbed it and draped it over the step-ladder.  Now it was perfect!!

It's really just a tied comforter made out of all kinds of scraps left from garment sewing in the mid 70's and early 80's.  It is a well-worn quilt so it stays in my car, "just in case", and has come in handy many times. 

A lot of the fabrics are almost disintegrated.  A few of those I remember buying at the J.C.Penney for 25 cents a yard when I was a student's wife in 1974. 

This quilt has been used as a drop cloth for my boys' craft projects (notice the paint) and as a moving pad when hauling large purchases or pieces of furniture, so it has more than served its purpose.

Yes, some of the fabrics look brand new, don't they?  You might never guess, but they are polyesters.  That would explain it!  I see four pieces left from my maternity clothes, one from my boys' pajamas, and even one from my bridesmaids' dresses.  I am certain they will last forever.  

This got me thinking about old quilts so I thought I would share with you just a few I have which were made by my grandparents.  I love this blue and white Drunkard's Path.

This Drunkard's Path is not made in the traditional setting, but it's really pretty.

I think this is an interesting star block.  

My grandparents had each of us select an applique pattern from a sales catalog when we were probably about 10 or 12.  Then they made the quilts and put them back for our weddings.  By the time I was of "marrying age" I had forgotten what mine would look like so it was still a surprise.

I think this one is my favorite.  It's a whole cloth quilted with green embroidery floss, or maybe even crochet thread.

After they stopped quilting my grandfather gave me this pink and white Hearts and Gizzards baby quilt top.  When I was expecting my first baby I finished it for my newborn, and it became the first of many hand-quilted quilts I was to make.  Both our boys used the quilt (pre-ultra sound days!) and now it's tucked away in my cedar chest.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing some old quilts.  I can't sign off without showing you at least one picture from the Hoedown.  This is Hubby and me in our Hoedown garb.  I don't get a whole lot of opportunities to wear pig-tails.  None, actually.  But that might be a good thing.

Progress. Is There a Finish in my Future?

I just can't keep away from the sewing room since I got that Tile Tango top put together.  

I bought the cutest little pink flowered print for the backing, but worked in some of the border fabrics, too.  I love pieced backings.

Now it's basted.....

.....and the binding is made.

It is ready to be quilted and then checked off the list!

I even put this picture on my cell-phone as wallpaper because my grandson said I needed "one of my beautiful quilts" on my phone.

He's a smart kid!

October Goals -- UFO's

I have started enough new projects this year.  My list of UFO's has never been as long as it is now, and if I don't get some finishes soon it will be even longer by the time the new year rolls around.  I started a new project in April and told you about it in this post.  I finally got back to work on it recently and the goal is to finish it this month.  

I wanted the blocks to be bright and had a lot of fun choosing fabrics from my stash. 

Pink was the main color for Aemarys's baby quilt in 2005 so decided to use a lot of pink in this quilt too.   After making some of the blocks I noticed a few of the fabrics I had used in her baby quilt, so I went searching for more of them in my stash and was able to find a lot.  Here's her baby quilt - 

Now her quilts are linked, and I'm hoping she notices.  

I hadn't bought very much of the cotton candy pink, but after playing with several different ideas for the borders I thought it might work for the border. 

I really liked the third choice the best because the blocks look like they were floating, so I got online and ordered more yardage from The Fat Quarter Shop and had it within just a few days.  I just love shopping online!

Of course by then I had already changed my mind and went with the second option because I thought Aemarys would like it better.  (Not only that - my quilting would not show up as well on the print!)  So now I have enough pink in my stash for another little girl quilt!

Hmmmm, or maybe some matching pillowcases........