last of the 2012 finishes - 30 thru 33

I am back! I worked hard during my time off and got a bunch of stuff done.

I had to alter this vintage leather jacket for my nephew for xmas. His mother found it at the Goodwill and he loves vintage 60's clothes. The collar was all wrong - this was a ladies jacket - and the sleeves were too short. I got out my leather scraps and replaced the collar.

collar after

I then tore the collar apart and used that to lenghten the sleeves. The sleeves had cuffs and I didn't want to take the cuffs off so I cut the sleeves about 7" up from the cuff and inserted a strip. I had to lenghten the lining too. I was happy with the result, but I had to muster up a lot of courage to cut those sleeves!
right sleeve before

right sleeve after

I also made 5 pillowcases, two stockings, and two crazy babies and then the xmas sewing was done!

30th finish

the back

31st finish

32nd finish

33rd finish - I forgot to take a picture, but it is the second quilt from the bottom - another step zig zag with the blue and white striped binding. I also finshed the knitted blanket and put together a quilt top for Vickie's veteran quilt project.

veteran quilt top

I will be catching you up on the rest of my time off in my posts tomorrow and Friday.

29th finish 2012 and vacation

I managed to get one more McQuilt done last evening.

Here are the four McQuilts done. I will turn them in at lunchtime today at the big company wide xmas pig out. All of the rest of the stuff that was collected for donating to the local Ronald McDonald house will be on display.

I have blocks set up for two more quilts and that 5th one that has the binding sewn on, but I need to finish mitering the corners and hand stitching. I may work on these during vacation time.

I am taking time off during the holidays to stay home and just chill. I do have some things I need to get done before xmas eve:

Make two pecan pies, one pumpkin, and sweet potatoe casserole

Make 6 pillowcases out of this pile of fabric

Put a label on the family xmas quilt

and alter a piece of clothing.

After xmas eve (my family has xmas on xmas eve) I have 5 or 6 days to myself to do what I want when I want! I have started a list of things I would like to accomplish.

I plan on going and visiting my friend Peg for New Years. Jan. 2 will be a year since her husband died. She said if I wasn't coming she would have to spend New Year's Eve alone - well, I can't let that happen! I will take down a bottle of my chocolate wine and we will toast Russell and just live in the moment of our friendship.


Everyone have a safe and happy holiday season and I will be back on Jan.2, 2013.

28th finish for 2012, cookies, and log cabin UFO

Here is number 28.

I really like this polka dot fabric I used on the back.

I baked the double chocolate treasures as soon as I got home. Once I found the best knife to slice the rolls it went fairly quick. I think I should have let the rolls of dough warm up a bit, but I just didn't have the time.

I woke up at 4 am this morning and could not go back to sleep so I was up at 4:30. I made up the cookies trays that I need to distribute today and one for our luncheon at the office today.

I got ready for work and still have time so I press the binding for the last two McQuilts. Still had more time so I sewed the binding on. I still need to miter the corners, trim and do the hand sewing so my challenge tonight is to see if I can get both of these done. I also need to put a label on all five.

I had some email conversations with Wanda over at Exuberant Color about log cabin blocks. I told her about the log cabin UFO that I pieced at least 30 years ago. I can't believe it has been sitting around all those years and that it has been moved from house to house and that it has been 30 freakin' years! I am going to take the little bit of hand quilting out, wash the top and the backing (dirty from just sitting around and constuction dust), replace the nasty polyester batting with 80/20 and machine quilt this and get 'er done! I plan on doing this while I am off work over xmas. Here is a peek at the front - this quilt is big, but I don't remember the size.

Some of the hand quilting looking at the back side

What prompted me on this log cabin trip down memory lane was a posting on a blog about a log cabin quilt where the blocks were oversized. Well, not necessarily a new or revolutionary idea, but it was enough to have a nice article published in a leading quilt magazine. I think I made this log cabin quilt before I bought this small 35 page book published in 1981. I bought it at the Helping Hands Quilt Shop in Berlin, Ohio for a whopping $4.25!

There are directions which are certainly not the way I would put the quilt together these days - foundation piecing the blocks. There are illustrations for different settings

And pictures of quilts, some that could be considered "modern" today and variations on the typical log cabin block.

Will I ever downsize this book out of my library? Probably not. It is a good reference and inspiration. What is the oldest book you have in your collection? Something that you just have to keep?

27th of 2012 done and more cookies

I started working on the cookies as soon as I got home from work. I made a double batch of cut out cookies first. The dough needed to be in the fridge for an hour so then I mixed up a double batch of double chocolate treasures. I rolled them into logs, wrapped and put those in the fridge. I am trying a different technique with them. The dough is so sticky to roll into balls, so I thought I would roll them into logs and do a slice and bake. I will bake them off tonight so you will find out the results of this experiment tomorrow.

Cutouts

Chocolate treasures chillin'. I also decided to see if plastic wrap or foil work better

After all that in the kitchen, I went to the studio to hand stitch the binding on another McQuilt. I was so tired I only got half the binding stitch and went to bed. I was up early this morning so I gather up the trash and moved the garbage bin out to the curb, got ready for work, sat down and finished sewing on the binding, and dropped off DVD's and books at the library on my way to work.

So here is number 27 for the year

I brought a quilt with me to work so that I have to make a choice - walk at lunchtime or sew the binding on another McQuilt. It is a hard choice, but maybe the weather will make my decision for me.

26th finish for 2012 and more on the way

Yesterday I walked at lunchtime instead of sewing binding since it was 49 degrees on Dec. 17 in northern Ohio! Yes, I am digging this weather, but it is not the norm. So when I got home I did the hand sewing on the first of the five McQuilts.

The quilt is 30" x 40" and I used King Tut Linen color for the front and Masterpiece for the back. The fabric on the back is a Jay McCarroll print.

I also sewed the binding on another McQuilt. I need to keep ahead so that when I have hand sewing time I have something to sew.

I brought my sneakers and sewing today and what I do at lunch again depends on the weather. It is sprinkling right now.

Weekend progress

I got all five McQuilts quilted and did the machine sewing part of putting on the binding for two quilts. Not as much done as I had hoped for, but I made a pretty good dent.

I brought my sneakers and sewing supplies to work today - if it rains I will sew binding and if it doesn't I will go for a walk.

I also made double batches of almond butter balls and French butter cookies. I want to make cut out cookies and some double chocolate treaures too. It is going to be a busy week.

Weekend plans

Last evening I found backing fabric for the five McQuilts I have pieced. I cut the batting and search for binding. I found some binding strips of dark blue and white all ready cut so those will go on the two blue quilts.

I dug out my tape, safety pins, and quilting thread. Tonight I plan on pin basting all five quilts. Tomorrow will be a combo day of quilting and baking cookies. I hope by Sunday to start binding. These quilts are only 30" x 40" so the quilting should go quick. I would like to get these five done for our company lunchon on Friday. They committee will put all the donated items for the Ronald McD house on display and I would like my quilts to be done for that.

Have a great weekend. I can't believe xmas is right around the corner!