5/3/14

Sewing While Barely Sewing

It was one of those days spent in the sewing room, but not much sewing was accomplished. I had a lot of utility jobs to take care of.

This morning, I finished stitching the third of three stitcheries for the Gardener's Journal quilt. There is just one section left on this quilt, and I believe it contains two stitcheries. That means this one is just about to throw on the finished pile. But I'm getting ahead of myself because that won't happen for another couple of months at least. For now, here's the stitchery I finished up today. This one is called Garden Tools.


And with that one finished, I needed something new for my hand-stitching pleasure, so I made up the stitchery for the Retro Camper. 


This is one of the "short projects" I promised myself during my birthday month. 

Before I can get started stitching that one, I need to hand-sew the binding onto the Intel Underneath quilt. I want to have this one finished by May 17th when the whole family will be here for a birthday dinner celebration. Today's job was to cut off the edges (one of my least favorite parts of quilting),


and then machine sew the binding in place. I used that same green from the quilt top.


Matthew likes the combination of black and green together, and that is what he shall have for his graduation quilt. Tomorrow I'll start hand-stitching the binding. This quilt is 86 x 88 inches, and so that should keep me busy for at least a couple of days.

As long as I had my work space cleared off, my plan was to sandwich two quilts. I started with "We are the World", which is my finish goal this month for A Lovely Year of Finishes. I still needed to make the back, which was pretty quick to do. This is going to be the largest quilt I've quilted on my domestic sewing machine. It ended up at 60 x 75 inches, and it just barely fits on my table. (Recall that my rule of thumb for how large a quilt can be before it gets sent off to the long armer is the size of my table. If I can't sandwich it on my table, then someone else gets the job.)

So, of course, I had lots of help with this task from my photobomber helper cat.


Excuse me...would you mind moving off to the side? Thank you. Here it is:


So I'd spent about four hours in the sewing room by that time, and I was getting tired. I decided it was time to quit for the day. I'll save the second quilt...Joseph's Quilt...for tomorrow. I still need to make the back for it too. That one will take a little longer since I'll be working with scraps cut from the sides of a previous quilt back.

Mike and I are attending a concert this evening. We're seeing Chris Botti who is a jazz trumpeter from Portland, appearing with the Oregon Symphony this evening. Mike is more familiar with the musician than I am, but it's something a little special for the weekend.

The rain returned this morning, and we're expecting rain all week. I don't mind. We had beautiful weather all last week, and so we can hardly complain when the weather returns to what passes for normal around these parts.

10 comments:

WoolenSails said...

I really need to clean off my table so I can use it for quilts, it has plenty of room to lay a large one on and I got clamps to pull it tighter, now i just need to do it, lol. Love your projects, I am getting nothing done lately.

Debbie

Sher S. said...

looks like you made progress on all accounts, that is always a plus. I love your "We are the World" quilt. I know about hand stitching the binding on quilts. I"m in the process of doing just that on my great niece's quilt, I'm half way. Once done it goes in the mail. Then just have to quilt the one for my great nephew. It's from a jelly roll in dark green batiks. Then on to binding my dds turning twenty quilt. She quilted it herself and I'm doing the binding. So some progress was made here too. Need to get these out before the move. You inspire me to do more, try more and get back to what I enjoy in quilting. Thanks.

Vroomans' Quilts said...

I have the same 'table' philosophy in whether is goes on my home machine or off to the long armer. I love the 'We are the World' quilt - just super. When my 'monster' quilt (king size) gets back from the long armer, I will be on a binding marathon.

Dana Gaffney said...

I love that retro camper, it would make a good applique project.

Lyndsey said...

The 'we are the world' quilt is beautiful and I love the Intel underneath. Good luck with the binding, it's a tedious job but I like to do it whilst watching TV. I hope you enjoyed the concert, a great start to your birthday month.

Doreen said...

Love, love, love the retro camper!!!! Awesome!!! I am so thankful for the sandwiching technique of Sharon Schamber. It has really worked for me (up to 96"x 96").

Kate said...

You always manage to accomplish so much. Have fun with your hand work this week!

Junebug613 said...

That camper stitchery is going to be adorable! I love Matthew's quilt! Green and black are my faves. And the brighter the Green, the better.

Heidi said...

OMGosh, what a treat you are in for!! Chris Botti is one of my favorites - he can bring me to tears - in a great way of course! I have never seen him with an orchestra, only intimate settings - I hope the music astounds you!

quiltzyx said...

I think you got quite a bit done while not sewing in the sewing room!! Wow!!

I "met" Chris Botti when he was the band leader on the Rosie Show way back when. I love his music!