Will ever finish binding?

Right now I feel as if the answer to the question if I will ever finish all the quilt binding I have piled up is "no!"

After making what felt like miles of scrappy gray binding for my jumping 9-patch I decided that combining scrappy binding with a piano key border is just piling seams on seams...too bulky and too messy.  So I went back to the fabric piles and pulled a blue, teal and green fabric with coffee themes sayings on it.  The print is tiny and gives the first impression of being stripes...like it.  So now I think I may name this quilt the "Caffeine Jitters!"

Next in line is my "Ribbon Candy" aka Smith Mountain.  This was quilted by Joyce Greer of "One Loose Thread."This is another pieced border so I think I'll stay away from scrappy binding...unless of course I have some large pieces to pull from.

Maybe some scrappy blue... again? !

So where are all these bright color choices coming from?  My most recent antique quilt acquisitions all seem to be along this line too...

I got this to earlier this month...love the fabrics and the varied solids.  Looks like it could come right out of a Kona Cotton ad!

The squares finish up at 1-1/2

and it is entirely hand pieced..

Moving ahead on all fronts..

Progress on two fronts...picked up the guild's next donation quilt up from the guild member who quilted it (Judy Rich.)  She did a great job!

Also started auditioning fabrics to bind my dancing 9-patch.

 Right now I think I'll go with the a gray but don't be surprised if I change my mind.  Seems I've used up almost all of the gray in my stash and I don't want to go out and get more so...

Anyways, I also got a big box of the Country Registrar in the mail!

 The North and South Carolina edition has a new publisher.

They are really focusing on quilting and crafts.  Like what they did with it.  Lots of shows advertised in this edition...including my guild's show!

Putting on a quilt show is a huge undertaking!  The weeks ahead I start having those university/college nightmares...like the one where you show up for class only to find out it is a final exam that you knew nothing about.  Well, add to that you hang a quilt show and nobody shows up but you!

Don't want to think about that!  Instead here is my final finish on this little-bit wall hanging.  I finished the binding last night.  It is a bit of an optical illusion as it is square...really I measured it twice and checked it using a template!  

Halloween finish and then some...

Yes that is right...two finishes this month!  Amazing...

This was started in a guild workshop.  It was an interesting technique but decided to only make a couch throw from the blocks.  It did give me a chance to use some Halloween fabrics though!

Also, got an Ebay quilt in the mail.  It is a fun pattern (Variation on the Rainbow Quilt) and I really like the green!

My "taste" in vintage quilts has really changed in the past couple of years...I was an "only pre-1900" collector but now I'm open to anything as long as I like it!

This was one of my earliest 20th century purchases...

I bought it because it was about to be used as a tablecloth at a gun-show and because the quilting is just wonderful!

(this may be a record...a full post with no pet photos?!)  

Bermuda Sea-glass quilt finished!

This morning I took the last stitch in the binding of my Bermuda Sea-glass quilt!  Phew...this is a King size quilt (note self: wait another year or two before making another King size quilt!)

Now I only have to sew on the sleeve and label.  My DH gave me permission to put "his" quilt in the show in October.  (hope the new racks are big enough!)

This was a nod to the Modern quilt movement.  I used white, solids, and a very geometric pattern.  The block pattern (quarter log cabin) is based on an antique quilt but the blocks are larger and have a different orientation. I really like the secondary design (Shoo fly) made by the half square triangles and the cornerstones.   I only purchased the backing and a half yard more of the aqua solid speci

It continues to rain daily here...have noticed lots of moths that I hadn't seen before.

This one is a sort of brick color with large "eye" spots on the wings.  I was told it may be an Owl moth. Very pretty!  We also has some Lunar moths and a very large purple one that I haven't found the name for yet...

Just a bit of stitching

I feel like I am making progress...just not sure on what!  So it  felt good to take a few minutes and make this block for V (15 Minutes of Play) who is putting them together for a good cause.

The past few days I've tried 15 minutes of quilting each day and have been able to get a few more UFO's quilted.  Now I am having to make miles and miles of binding.  Zikes!

Also, I sewed the last tumble in my leader and ender project.

Today I pressed them and started putting the rows together.  I may even have this done for Halloween!  This will go into my pile of projects for me to experiment my own quilting...like I needed more test subjects!

Weather here is either rain or wicked humidity...I'm ready for autumn!

A little bit of machine quilting

I took a look at my pile of UFO's and decided that unless I either won the lottery and quilted them "by check" or re-learned to machine quilt they would never be finished.

Since the first is highly unlikely I sat myself down this week and started my lessons all over again...

I think the new table is helping a lot.  My arms and shoulders were not nearly as tired after an hour of "play" than they have been in the past.  I am taking it slow...just one new stitch a day for 15 or 20 minutes.  First I did some plain cross hatching then I tried the wavy channel stitch on some "left-over" table-runners and small quilts. (by left-over I mean I sewed together what was left-over on my cutting mat after I finished a quilt...the purple batiks was a Quilt of Valor for a sailor and the blues was from the Bermuda Seaglass quilt.)

I still love the look of hand-quilting but not all (or even most!) quilts need or deserve to be hand quilted.  So just maybe a few minutes at the machine each day will make a dent in my pile (50 +) of tops hidden in the back of my closet!

Also find machine quilting a great way to hide in the sewing room while the rug cleaners work in the other rooms!  Love when the rugs are clean but hate the process of having them cleaned...sigh.  All the furniture is moved in to the rooms with the hardwood floor which means everything is what they call down-here-in-the- south "cattywompus."  It will be weeks before everything is where I can find it again!

August hot garden...

After a week of really hot weather not much is blooming in the garden.

 The only color is this butterfly bush which seems to be attracting as may dragonflies and spiders as it is butterflies.

I took advantage of a break in the humidity to wash one of the quilt tops I bought in ebay.  This log cabin quilt top looked clean but had a musty smell.

I was shocked at how many times I had to change to water while washing this one!

 It was in the tub for most of the morning and must have run through a dozen or more rinses...it is now a bright quilt and smells "like sunshine."  (love hanging clothes or quilts out on a line...so much nicer than coming out of a dryer!)

Here is another ebay quilt...this one really is clean!  And sooo bright!  Fun quilt.

This is going to spend a bit of time on the line today then get a hanging sleeve so it can hang in the guest bedroom!  I decided that room was way too formal (boring!) which only makes the stashes of fabric and beads in there look more out of place.

Here is my little buddy, Zero,  from next door...getting closer and closer to digging his way under the fence!  He can now get his whole head and one shoulder under...some day I expect to find him at my back door...

Internet quilt shopping...

I have not been feeling well the past week so have spent a bit too much time on e-bay and etsy and a dozen other quilt sites.  I guess you could call this the "other healthcare expense!"

Have not found the name for these blocks yet...from N.C.  

Anyway, I have gotten a few quilt blocks and tops this week...the good news is not only are these less expensive but they are easier to store!

Some I may quilt...others I'll use as fabric studies or as "donors" for repairing other quilts or quilt tops.  This purple pinwheel top may be scaled down two rows on top and on the side due to issues with a couple of the purple blocks.

Also it is a bit bigger than I'd like.  Don't you think this would look nice done up in Kaffe double shots, stripes and some shirtings...hummm

I also got a red, white and blue log cabin circa 1910...it is both and and machine sewn down to a muslin foundation.

The indigo fabrics are really wonderful in this quilt.  There are a few seams to tighten up then I'll baste the edges and give the whole thing a bath.  Most likely I will quilt this one up...

Now I need to stay off the ebay for a few weeks and focus on getting some quilts ready for out guild show in October!  I did drop off the donation quilt to be quilted so I can reclaim a major part of the sewing studio again!  By Friday I should have a clear cutting space!

Donation Quilt Top finished!

It must seem like I've been working on this forever...it has only been since January...just feels like forever!

Done..at least the top and the backing.  Now I can hand it off the the quilter.  A guild member volunteered to do the binding!  We are going to put a bit of yellow piping in beside the turquoise binding...should help balance off the yellow which in real life does not look nearly as florescent as it does in the photo! Phew.  Looks like we should make the October deadline without too many problems (I type that with my fingers crossed!  maybe I should knock on wood too....)

The quilt doesn't have a name yet...my favorite of those suggested so far is "Party in the Garden."  It is the guild's 25th anniversary and the name of the quilt pattern is Gloriously Modern Garden (Piece of Cake Designs.)  Speaking of Piece of Cake...see that red fabric on the far left of the arch.  The one with the fruit on it.  This is from one of Piece of Cake's early fabric collections.  Not sure of the date but I bought it in Maryland so it has to be before 1999....anyone know the exact date?

Also, my friend Rachel finished caning my chair!  We swapped - a piece of furniture I got in England but wasn't using for this chair to be repaired.  She did an amazing job.  Now if I can just keep my husband from standing on it!

My legs are acting up...having balance issues.  So I've pulled out some not too challenging applique to work on...saves running between the cutting board and the sewing machine.  I know this one isn't on "the list" for this year but it is so very close to being finished!

And finally, just had to share this photo..."do not set you or your friend on fire" was so important is was painted on the window but "no weapons allowed" was an after-thought and had to be taped up there on the notepaper?  Really? (just to keep things clear I do not frequent this bar...it is just next door to the fabric store!)