QuiltMouse

OK, technically, it’s been my 3rd full day.  I’ve packed my machine and most of my supplies up and getting ready to head home in the morning.

Today has been productive, just don’t have a lot to show for it.  That’s why I like having some small projects available so I can feel that I’ve gotten something completed.

This morning started with Ironing, Followed by sewing the rows together for the quilt top I started yesterday.  And MORE IRONING!

 Ta Da!  it is sort-a finished!

I still need to add two borders, piece the backing, add the batting, quilt & bind. 

Ok, I guess it is still far from being completed, but it makes me feel better to think of it as almost finished.

After lunch I started Quilt Top #2 – Same pattern, different fabric.  Stitched Small Strip to Larger Strip (28 Strip Sets), Iron, Trim, Sub-cut into 14 piles of 10 blocks each – that’s 140 blocks!  Boy, I guess I have been busy!  (The quilt top only uses 126 total blocks, so I’ll have a few left over.)

I’m pleased with what I’ve gotten done.

Taking a break this afternoon – view from my room.  After two days of clouds and/or rain it was sunny today.

Sew Day #2 – Raining outside, Sew a good day to Sew!

Cut Batting for Cloth Puzzle – Those 42 Half-Square Triangles.  I don’t have enough batting, will have to go back to my stash of odds & ends of leftover batting.

Trim Half-Square Triangles – those nasty little ‘dog-ears.’ I’ve paired HST & Plain Squares, and added the batting that I had cut.

Then I finished sewing the pockets on the Advent Calendar.  I had already stitched 19 pockets, but had 5 more to go.

Iron Top & Backing for Advent Calendar, Assemble Batting, Backing & Top Pillowcase Style – Stitch, Turn, Trim, Iron.  There is a lot of ironing to quilting.  Some people skip this step, but I find it really helps to keep the seams neat.

Quilt-As-Desired – Now that is a peculiar phrase.  I often spend a lot of time just imagining different scenarios of how to quilt a project. Sometimes I just do simple, straight lines.  But with the Advent Calendar, there are pockets, so I couldn’t just stitch across.  I decided to do Outline Quilting of the Train Cars – doesn’t go fast with all the twist & turns.

Next challenge – as this is not a bed quilt, it needs a means of hanging it.  So I made a small hanging sleeve for the back. I’m thinking of inserting a dowel rod and using those Command Removable Hooks.

I still have to stitch the hanging sleeve onto the back & I may add two more quilting lines around the outside border.  Think I’ll go to bed earlier tonight and get a fresh start in the AM.