It's been blustery and cold here...definitely good sewing weather. I spent the whole live-long day going at it yesterday, and I have some finishes and near finishes to show you. First, I sewed the binding on Mrs. Claus' Cookie Team. This was fun to make.
It's about snack mat size at 13 x 13. I have a spot on the coffee table beside me when I sit on our couch in the morning where I set my iPad and my coffee. Right now, I have a mini quilt I made long ago there.
It gives me a boundary for all my crap, but it also protects the table. During Christmas, I'll exchange it for this one, just to make it a little more festive.
Here's how it looks from the back. I quilted it quilt-as-you-go while sewing on the borders. This is my fourth finish in November.
Also during yesterday's slow-stitching time, I finished up March's Joyful Journey block. This one is called "Honey Bee."
These are the three blocks I have for this quilt so far.
By then, it was time to move myself into the sewing room. I found Sadie there, bright eyed and, um, stubby-tailed, and excited to get on with our machine sewing day.
My goal for the day was to finish off the final three rows for this Flannel 4-Patch rag quilt I've been working on. I had one row completed when I stopped for some lunch. I left it laid out on the floor like this. The bottom row is still not sewn to the rest.
When I returned, one of the kitties had left a not-so-subtle message about the block arrangement.
By day's end, I had it finished and sewn together. This is all made from the embarrassingly huge pile of flannel scraps that lives in my sewing room. Also, I used batting scraps of in each of the quilt blocks, sewing them corner to corner for stability.
Here's how it looks from the back.
One of my friends suggested not snipping, and letting the washer do the work. I've only made one other rag quilt...this one...
It was one of the first quilts I ever made, and I snipped it. It's a tedious process, and so I seriously considered whether I could avoid it. I put the question out to a group on Facebook, and the consensus was that snipping would give a better result. (Sigh.) Okay, so that will fill my slow-stitching time for the next couple of days. I spread it out on the dining room table last night and was barely started on the snipping when it was time to quit for the day.
I'll keep going on that with a goal of snipping at least three rows per day. At that pace, I could have it finished by this weekend.
Finally, my friend Wendy emailed me after I finished yesterday's post to tell me it was National Bundt Cake Day. Well, f*ck a duck. Really? Actually, no...the day was actually Tuesday. But I figure better late than never when it comes to an important national holiday like bundt cake day. I was moved to make this Mini Pumpkin Bundt with Bourbon Glaze. It's a dessert for two, and this was so yummy. I didn't include my hand in the picture for scale, but that's a salad plate, so you have an idea how big it is. I love
my mini bundt pan. (I've linked to the one I have there.)
I might have made this once before, and it was so moist and delicious. I already had a half-can of pumpkin puree in my freezer, and it was a good chance to use it up. You can
find the recipe for this cake right here. And if you don't want that bourbon in your glaze, you could always substitute a little more milk or even some apple juice or else white grape juice. There are lots of ways to make it alcohol-free.
Okay, so we have some running around to do today. Erik and Mae ordered a turkey from a local grower. They're traveling, and so Mike and I will go pick it up, and that will be our Thanksgiving turkey. There are a couple of stops I need to make along the way as well. Heck, we might turn it into a lunch date! If there's time at home, I'll get back to snipping the rag quilt. (I just wrote "rage" in place of "rag." Freudian slip?) If there's time for machine sewing, I'll get to work on the next quilt block for the Vintage Linen quilt.
10 comments:
There’s nothing better than cake but cake. ~ Harry S. Truman
How nice to have all those November finishes! I think Mike & the kitties are going to love the flannel quilt.
I have made one rag quilt with denim and flannel. I clipped it, but didn’t stop to think that since all the fabrics were pre-washed it wouldn’t fray as much as unwashed fabric. It still looked nice, just didn’t “bloom” as I had expected. And boy, was it heavy! Candy
I'm really impressed, four finishes this month and November isnt even over get! Your new Mrs Claus quilt is delightful. I ve made a couple of raggy quilts previously and ca certainly remember doing all that snipping. But the memory cant be too bad as I have plans and fabric squares cut and waiting to be stitched, sometime....
Cute Mrs. Claus quilt. Something to keep in mind for those making rag quilts is the name-brand scissors that snap back. Fiskars are called Easy Action. I have carpal tunnel and found these word great for rag quilt!
You continue to just motor on with your projects. The Mrs. Clause table topper is really cute and festive. Good luck with your almost finish. The weekend will be here before you know it.
Boy, you've been a busy bee now that you are back in your quilt room (not that you weren't before!). Our little Bundt is history, but it was pretty tasty! Glad you are doing the snipping; done that once and I'm not in a hurry to do another one, although they are so cuddly when finished!
I've only ever made one rag quilt and I swore I would never do that again. I made mine with denim and flannel and the denim was a brute to clip.
Pumpkin cake sounds tasty and we have some pumpkin puree in the freezer too...wandering off in quest of Resident Chef....
What a productive day! A little stitching, arranging of blocks with a bit of help and making progress on your WIP. Add to that a Bundt cake!
I’ve done one rag quilt. I cheated. The Accuquilt rag die made the quilt much easier to assemble. It was made of flannel and boy did that red flannel bleed! Luckily, Color Catchers were used so it did not bleed on the quilt. The lint and fuzz left in the dryer was quite impressive. When given to my daughter, included was a box of color catchers. She used a coin laundry at that time and was impressed with the Color Catcher absorption of the red dye. Using a commercial dryer seemed to get the rest of the fraying done on the quilt. It became one of their favorites.
You are just zooming through projects now that you are home again. It is so nice to have you in my in-box again. When I found you again, I read backwards through the blog to catch up on your fun. When the rag quilts first came out I could not fathom cutting all those edges with regular scissors. Finally I saw and bought a special pair for that job. Now they are hidden in storage. There are such things if you so choose to search for them.
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