I'm almost ready for Xmas. I got the Best Friends II quilt in the mail and it has been received. I also finished everything that had beed ordered as gifts. I made several purses, scrubbies and luggage tags. What a relief! Now I can work on what I want. I have a quilt to design and several purses and totes that I want to make.

I went to see DD for Thanksgiving. We had a really good time. I helped her with the Xmas gifts she's making. I cut fabric, gave her ideas and helped her make a fabric book and a potholder. I got a quilt from my LA quilter tonight. I need to the binding on and mailed next week as it is for Xmas. Then I have gifts to make.

What I've been working on

I've been working steadily on a number of projects, just not finishing them. I am making a best friends quilt. It is several borders around a panel of fabric that says best friends. I am using 6", 9" and 12" friendship stars as one of my borders. I have scattered them in the border and use background fabric to put them together. It's time consuming but very rewarding to see something I designed come together. My next step is to start putting the borders on my center.

I've also been working on a new quilt called Twister. You start by sewing 10" squares together and add a border. I used a layer cake and added 2 squares. Then you cut it apart using a special template. You cut one row at a time, twist it slightly and sew it back together. It comes out looking like pinwheels. There was a little bit of fabric leftover so I am now making smaller pinwheels to put in the border. This is all bias edges. It is amazing how quickly the pinwheels go together. I think it took longer to sew the squares than the pinwheels.

Apron

I made this apron from the BH&G magazine More Fast & Fabulous Quilting Ideas. The green part was a 20"x28" tea towel. I cut it and added the pocket and tie. The directions were very easy to follow. It only took a couple hours to make. I like how it fits and intend on using it so I don't get grease splatters on my clothes.

A Finish

I finshed the table runner I'd been working on. It is about 90" long and 10 1/2" wide. There are 4 scarecrow blocks and 5 checkerboard blocks. I machine quilted it with a simple 'X' on each block. I made it this length so it would hang off the end of a 6 ft folding table. I will put it on the table at work Friday when we have a potluck lunch.

Starts

I've been staying busy, just not finishing much. I've started a fall table runner and need to decide on the backing. I've started the top for the Twister class on Nov 7th. I've started a quilt for a friends friend. I'm also making small things for an upcoming craft show. Last weekend I visited DD and showed her how to make luggage tags for Xmas gifts. We also played with the embroidery machine as she wants some to be monogramed. She also found a purse pattern she likes.

Quilt found a new home

This quilt was a mystery quilt on New Years Day 2008 from the Quiltbus. The name of the quilt is Years To Come. The step by step instructions used a method new to me to construct the blocks. I quilted it in the ditch. My MIL came for a visit and took it home with her.