End of the month and what NewFO?

  Sometimes things just kick you in the behind.  This month was one of them for me.  Whatever I thought I would accomplish just got pushed aside, or covered up in other things. Being gone for a week just compounded my delay in progress, and those Roman Shades that were to be so easy......ugh!
   Roman Shades.....the next time I get such a bright idea, someone please remind me to re-think my plan.  I literally spent an entire afternoon attempting to get the pieces taken apart.  Sir Old Man came to my rescue, as usual, and used some of those tools in the shop to remove the splines to get things apart.  Then there was the lining that took twice as much as I had calculated.  And the cording that took 3 times what I thought......so now you have the idea.  They still are not finished and I can not see the floor of the sewing room.  When I do get these done, I am done with home-dec stuff!

 October's two finishes are a saving grace.  Pinwheel Pot Luck is going to Habitat for Humanity.  It has been hanging around for about a year....a NewFO that finally got finished.

  Potpourri was a NewFO last month and a nice finish for October.  I had intended to use this lap quilt as a class sample.  Instead, it is going to be donated for an auction to raise funds for a girl with excessive medical expenses.


November plans:
   Make another faux braid for a class sample...NewFO.
    Clean up the sewing room floor.....finish those shades.
     Take a deep breathe and find the "quilt mojo" under all the mess.

  Don't forget the Blogger's Quilt Festival that is going on.   Potpourri is entered in the Throw Quilt category.....hint.
Linking to Cat Patches for the NewFO monthly.     Happy stitching.   

Scrappy Pinwheels quilt

   Done!  A finish.....finally.
    The center section has been hanging around for about a year.  Nine blocks made using the "5 minute block" that I talked about last August. Click here for that post.
   Since it was square, I added a row of those leftover pinwheels from one of Bonnie Hunter's patterns to the top and bottom.  They sure have come in handy for finishing off quilts.  I probably have another 20 of them, so I am sure they will pop up again.
  I finished it off with a piano key border.  And the binding is whatever was in the binding bin!  I love mixing it all together.

   Swirly quilting around the pinwheels, which are the dimensional geese that are stitched down with a curved edge.

 Size finished is 48" by 65"....a small lap quilt that I am donating to Habitat for Humanity.

   And just a little more quilting going on.  This is the quarter log cabin that has the diagonal bands.  Right now I am quilting the light area with feathers.  I will use a large stipple thru the print fabric bands as little stitching will show.  Yikes, I could actually get this one finished this month, too!

   Guess you can tell the back is much better, even with the long ride last week. I am so glad to be stitching again.....I need the therapy of it.  :D

Happy stitching.

Zen Something?

Zen garden, zen mat, zen challenge thing.....whatever I call it, the piecing is completed.  This is so out of my box!   I tried about 6 arrangements on the design wall, and luckily I used a favorite tool--digital camera--to help me visualize it all.  Wouldn't you know I settled on the first arrangement I laid out!   Thank goodness, I had a photo to go by.
I used 3 different blacks for the background, which is hardly noticeable...and a lot of  "creative" piecing.  Actually I worked in sections adding strips and hunks to widen or lengthen  the area to fit to the next section.  Then I added a 3 inch border.   It is about 16 inches by 44 inches before I quilt it.

I had only intended to use one of the fabric circles, and now I think I need to use both and create another one.  I think I will do another zentangle on some hand dyed fabric that I did last summer.   And then the quilting....which is the fun part for me.  

Since I was taking photos, I snapped a quick one of the folded fabric pinwheel.

The pinwheel block is a 6 inch block. 

Now, to clean up the sewing room and get dinner.
Happy stitching.