Design Wall Monday - December 21, 2020

Merry Christmas to all the Design Wall Monday bloggers.  Here is a picture of me with Santa, taken in Frankenmuth, MI on another year.  This year we didn't visit Frankenmuth due to the recommended quarantining.  I hope Santa still leaves me some presents - even though I didn't talk to him in person this year.  I have been very very good....most of the time.  

Speaking of presents - I have a give-away for one of you.  The Buds in a Basket Quilt that I finished recently (See details here) is from this quilt book:

And as you can see, I have two copies of the book.  The quilts are from Japanese quiltmakers from the magazine "Quilts Japan", and all are beautiful quilts.  If you have linked up to this blog in the last three months (before today), you are eligible to win the extra copy.  If you win, I will contact you for your address.  If you already have this book, or you don't want it, I will draw another name.  But I want to thank all of you who contribute to Design Wall Mondays.  You make me happy.

One of my UFOs has been finished in 2020 and is now on top of the Christmas tree!  Woohoo!!!  Remember this needlepoint angel I was working on earlier this year? (Talked about her Here)  Back in January when I first made a record of projects started, I found this angel that was partially finished, and now she is finished!  She enjoys being on top of the Christmas tree, in all her glory.

There wasn't a pattern, but I just winged it - chose a backing fabric from the stash and lined it with white sheeting.  I used the backing fabric to make a finishing binding around the bottom.  Here are pictures of the front and back before she went up on the tree.

What are you finishing up for Christmas?  I am baking with one of my daughters in love this Wednesday, and that will be fun.  She likes to make candy, and I do too, so we will make candy and Christmas cookies.  Merry Christmas to you all, and I will talk to you again next Monday with a report to tell you if Santa brought me anything!

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Design Wall Monday - January 6, 2020

I am trying to stay "whelmed" in 2020......not underwhelmed.......not overwhelmed........just in the middle....whelmed.  I think of it as being happy with the progress I am making.  To be encouraged by the work finished each month in 2020.

I have now documented all of my UFOs per my last post of 2019.  My plan is to finish one each month.  The UFO for January is a quilt that needs the outer borders added, and then it will be ready to send to the long arm quilter.  But before I start on it, I have worked on five smaller projects:

(1) While doing the inventory of UFOs, I found a needlepoint angel project from long ago, that I had planned to make into a Christmas tree topper.  She was put into timeout because I ran out of the yarn for the background around her.  Last week I went to Michael's and found some yarn that was close to the color of the background, and am using 1/6 of that yarn to equal the smaller yarn from the original project.   Meaning I cut a piece of yarn and separate the twisted pieces into six separate pieces, much like embroidery floss.   Here are two pictures:

   
You can see the straight line on the right side separating the original background and my replacement background.  When it is finished and made into a Christmas tree topper, it won't be noticeable.

So the reason it was stopped has been solved, and I am moving forward with it.  Very satisfying.  

(2) In December I was working on the binding for a baby quilt that will be for a future great grandchild.  I have two side finished, and am slowly finishing it up.

I will post more pictures of it when it is finished.

(3)  In preparation for putting some quilts in the Churn Dashers of Tidewater Virginia group display this spring, I am finishing the last of my entries.  I am not a machine quilter, but am attempting to machine quilt baptist fans on this small quilt.  Here is my progress so far:

Not fun for me because I'm not very good at it, but the only way to get better is to practice.  It is about 29 inches square, so it is a good practice piece.

(4)  While in Shipshewana at a retreat, I asked Gretchen to show me how she hand quilts.  She is a regular linker to this blog (Here), and does beautiful hand quilting.  While doing the inventory of the UFOs, I found this small square that I had started hand quilting a long time ago.  It is out now, and I am working on my hand quilting skills......or lack of skills right now.  But as with machine quilting, only practice will get me to be better at it.  

As you can see, it's a start, and I feel like I know what to do after talking to Gretchen.  Thank you Gretchen!  Now it's practice, practice, practice.

(5) My favorite project this week is a doll quilt!  You know how much I like to make them.  This one went together very fast and is a simple design.  While I had the Needlepoint Angel project out, the extra pink yarn from that project gave me the idea to use it to "tie" this quilt.   Here are some pictures of it on the little doll bed.  I had enough of the fat quarter used for the borders to make a little doll pillow.  Also, I found a piece of leftover binding that was just the right amount.  Great fun!

Also a closeup to show you the birds decal on the old doll bed.  

I hope you share what you are starting and finishing this new year.  My design wall is still empty, but progress is being made here in organizing the sewing room and the UFOs.  I'm feeling whelmed!

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