Monday, February 28, 2011

Nine-Patch finished.....

All done - this nine-patch with flowers quilt - made for a cousin on the occasion of her milestone birthday.  I will be sewing on the label tonight so that I can ship it out tomorrow.

Detail.

The back.

Pillow case to match.

Another quilt finished in 2011.  This makes my 5th finish for 2011.  If I can keep up this average for the rest of the year I will be one very happy quilter.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Quilt Smart

Our guild, Northwest Suburban Quilter's Guild, had Mattie Rhoades from Quilt Smart as our speaker last Thursday and I took the Friday workshop (applique) with Mattie.  It was a great class and I really enjoyed learning from Mattie.


I made 100 Bow tie blocks, and here they are haphazardly placed on my design wall.

All in one direction.

Boxed.

Wavy.

Now I am beginning the long process of sewing all the 100 bocks together.  I started tonight after I decided to do the top layout - all one direction.  After sewing several blocks together, I had to unsew them because they did not lock as neatly as I wanted.  I changed the foot on the machine to a walking foot and it made all the difference.  Only one row done, but at least it is a start.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Winter hibernation

Yes, I have been hibernating.  We had a huge winter storm, it has been cold, and I have been curling up at home, enjoying my cozy space.

The thought of writing about my eating, weight struggle, etc., has been hibernating too.  Oh boy - it is just too easy to say to myself, "tomorrow".  I have continued to stop eating when I am full, but my food choices have not been good.

Yesterday I went to Trader Joe's to get some lettuce.  I had not been to a grocery store in over a week and badly needed fresh greens.  The salad I made last night was especially good because I had not had a salad in quite a while.

Tonight I had "Reduced Guilt Mac and Cheese".

Usually I am so disappointed with frozen "diet" macaroni and cheese.  It is almost always watery and has that fake cheese taste.  This Trader Joe's item though is a different story.  It was very, very good.  I was not in the least disappointed.  It was hearty, filling, looked like the picture on the package, and had a wonderful comfort-food taste.  Some people might want more salt, but I prefer it just the way it came out of the package.  I will get this again.

Yet another -

Yes, another quilt bound today.  This one presented a problem as the quilt came with the binding already machine sewn to the BACK of the quilt.  The quilt owner intended to then pull the binding to the front and machine sew it down.  The problem then was for me to do as she intended, or decide to hand stitch it to the front.  Also, everyone does things differently, and the corners were not as I would have sewn them.  I tried the machine sewing method, but it looked sloppy and so I did some unsewing.  Instead I opted to hand sew it to the front of the quilt and struggled with the corners.  It is OK, but I'm not as proud of the end result as I would like to be.

No more quilts to bind.  Guess I will have to create some of my own quilts!

Friday, February 11, 2011

Moving right along.....

Two more quilts all bound.


Bonnie's Bindings is moving right along.............

Monday, February 7, 2011

New Business

Recently I was discussing the possibility of starting a little business of my own, Bonnie's Bindings, where I would offer binding services.  A friend overheard my conversation and asked to be my first customer.  She had four quilts waiting for binding, a chore she dislikes intensely.


The first quilt she wanted done is a quilt she is donating to an auction to raise funds for an organization.  It is a king-size quilt.  Wouldn't you know that my first job would be the biggest possible!  It was hard to maneuver the bulk and weight through my small domestic machine when I sewed the binding to the front of the quilt, however it was wonderful to do the hand sewing with the quilt draped over my legs, keeping them warm in my chilly house.


I love doing binding, even when it is miles of the same leopard print.  The quilt is not mine to show, but here is a peek.  Trust me, it is stunning!

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Blizzard of 2011

This is the view out of my front door.  Yes, that drift is as high as the bush.

I don't think I will be leaving my house any time soon.

This is looking down my driveway and out into the street.  Hmmm.  The plow went through just a little while ago, but you cannot tell.  

My back porch is snowed in.  You cannot see, but there is a drift completely surrounding my porch.

Can you see how high the drift is around my porch?  It is almost a foot above the chair-height rail.

What a great day to stay home and start a new quilt! ! !