Linda's Tablecloth Quilt

A member of our quilt MeetUp asked me to quilt this lovely little tablecloth for her, it is intended for her son and DIL. It measures around 47".

Quilting is E-E Peacock Feathers using the beautiful Superior Rainbows thread. It is a trilobal polyester and this was the first time I used it on the Prodigy machine so I had to tweak the tension a bit. It is a perfect match for the fabrics and sewed nicely once the tension was correct. I decided to use silicon thread lubricant, that often helps when using these slinky threads.

Both top and backing are batiks which required a little further tension adjustment, these fabrics are so dense that skipping stitches can be an issue but fortunately I had none of that! Also using a larger needle helps to prevent fraying and breaking of thread as the needle heats up with the high speed stitching. 

Linda tasked me with binding  also, and she had made a nice double-fold bias binding. I was a tad concerned about all those inside corners sewing by machine but my Pfaff 2056 with IDF and I had no problems and the binding went on fairly easily and smoothly! I would not have attempted it without the bias binding.

Magnolia market

I doubt there are many in the USA who do not know of the HGTV show "Fixer Upper" and the empire that Chip and Joanna Gaines have built in Waco Texas.

 We took a break from sewing in the middle of our "quilt retreat" week and drove over to Waco from Round Rock. I was shocked at both the crowds on a weekday and the size of this project. The Market itself is huge but really not much different in merchandize than a Hobby Lobby, I would estimate over 90% of the goods made in China, one little apothecary jar I saw from France and a few from other countries like Thailand and India. The only items made in USA that I saw were the signs made by local artists, expensive and way too large to bring on the plane back to Arizona! In that regard I was very disappointed. I made only three purchases, this hat for DH [made in Bangladesh]

 A small jug [made in Thailand]

because it said Magnolia on the bottom!

And a cute book for Matthew, made  also in China!

My friends patiently awaiting me as I finished my shopping with the Silos in the background!

There were hundreds of people waiting to get into the restaurant and a line down the block for the Bakery, so we went to a cute little place called Luann's for lunch where I had the best veggie burger ever, made from beets with a red pepper humus.

For dessert we had pie, this was the peanut butter crunch, tasty but a bit too sweet for me.

I am happy that we made the trip, now I have seen it I am content, and it did break up our very intense week of quilting!

Texas Quilt Retreat

I just flew to Texas for a week with my longtime friend Leslie, fellow quilter and electronics/quilting tools guru! We have repeated this event many times over the years, dedicating it to sewing new projects and probably vastly annoying her husband as we constantly chatter about quilting! We do try to discuss more general topics over meals, after all his forbearance can only be expected to go so far!

This was our first project and we thought "easy", the piecing is certainly simple, but we failed to really read the full instructions and it wasn't until we began to construct the quilt that we realised the significance of the contrast in tone between each set of fabrics and the need for diligence in selecting the Flying Goose/Sky and HST fabrics. We ripped out some and resewed new fabrics several times before we were ready to construct the quilts. 

 Our second project also seemed simple and quick! I think it's called "Rainbow" and requires unstructured piecing of fabrics. We thought it looked very easy but for the two of us who are both quite structured people it was challenging! We spent an inordinate amount of time cutting and resewing our colors until we were satisfied with the results.

 Leslie decided to use black for her background and it will be very eye catching.

The third quilt was pieced just in time for Memorial day, it's from the book "Mini Wonderful Curves" and has 16 fun ideas for small quilts. Perhaps by this time near the end of our week, we were both a little brain drained, because each of us struggled to get the red "stripes" in the correct configuration.

I love this little flag and look forward to quilting it so I can hang it in our home-if I can find a wall that isn't already covered with quilts!

 Finally with some fabrics left from our first quilt we made these little color wheels.
Now to quilt them all, but I still have one unquilted from our previous time together and my conscience may force me to quilt that one ahead of these, so they will be added to my list!

Button

Because she was such a large part of our family for 13 years I cannot ignore her loss.
Our precious, spunky, loving, clever little Australian Terrier is no longer with us, we allowed her to return to her Creator before the cancers she was fighting on two fronts could make her miserable.

 We took her for a last stroll in the greenbelt the evening before my vet friend of more than 30 years came out to see Button over the Rainbow Bridge. She was still able to scold us for being too slow with her food or failing to attend to some other need, but she was definitely not the same dog and we would not allow the cancer to rob her of even those pleasures. So with heavy hearts and many tears, still now as I write, we said our farewells to the best little friend we could ever ask for. It was particularly poignant for me as she was my shadow after our son died in 2006, she would sit on my lap as I sat on the floor in my closet and wept for my lost son.
Such a faithful loving companion without equal, flying with us to Boston twice a year, and back and forth to Colorado or wherever we traveled any distance by car.

We made her grave on our son's property in Strawberry marked by a cairn of rocks and identified with a memorial stone marker.
We are so thankful for her life with us, and it was a good life, she was adored by everyone who ever met her, and given every comfort we could provide.
I hope that God who provides every good thing will find a place for these beloved creatures with whom He blesses our lives.

You left your paw prints on our hearts Button dog.