Another Day, Another Border or Two

Jealousy????? Who's jealous?  I am. I am jealous of all the Dear Jane's that have their corner and borders on perfectly! I am jealous of those that have been quilted and have the scalloped borders on them. And I am jealous (but proud ) of all the Dear Jane's that are bound and ready to be admired. Maybe someday mine will be finished and I can say "Am I glad that's over".  It's nearly one o'clock here in Western Iowa and I just need to curl my hair and then I am going to start sewing on DJ again.  I have two more chunks of border to add then the borders will be done, kinda..I still need to add the outside border for the scallops but I don't have the fabric yet so it will be a few days again. I think I want to use a shirting fabric for the scallops and I want the background to match or blend with the muslin that I used for sashing. I best get busy so I'll be back to you later today with updates.   (Note:  the postcard was written by my grandmother to my grandfather in November 1910, they were married January 12, 1911)  I would like to think this is their wedding picture but I don't have any proof of it. Charles W. and Mabel E. Fletcher Seaman

4:00 p.m.- All four triangle borders are on and the top is pressed. I still need to add the last border for the scallops but I have to buy the fabric.  After I get that border on, I will take DJ to the machine quilter to baste it and then I can start hand quilting. I'm not even going to put a time limit on getting it finished as I know it will take me longer than I think it would, so when it's done, it's done.



Dear Jane, all triangle borders are on!

This was a lttle better day than yesterday when I fussed so much with the corner blocks. I have decided to leave them for the time being. Perhaps in a few days, I may tackle a couple of them again and see if I can improve upon them but they may start looking better every day, we'll see.  Gee, now I can start on another of my Phd Challenges, I think it will be the Quilted Village.....I'm on a roll!!  Until next time, have a "Stitches" kind of evening. 

  

Dear Jane, not again, you say!



This is a "Chunk"



Jane in a heap



Well, this is the "next" time that you are seeing her and she still does not have her borders on. This ole gal has been keeping me awake for the last two nights. I hear her crying and fussing (or maybe it's me) and it's got me in a dither. First of all, I had all the borders sewn together and I procrastinated for several hours about getting one of them on with a corner block and then adding the next border to it...let me tell you, I just couldn't figure out how far to sew or where to stop at the corner to make it come out and lay flat and look right. Aagh!! So that night (Thursday) she ended up on the floor in a heap, that was the night I was awake from 3 to 6. She was so cranky...Then I found Anina's blogspot "ThatQuilt" showing how she puts her corners on. She calls it "chunky" assembly method. Thank God for Anina, I would never have thought of doing that, I tried it and it worked.(only sometimes, for me)  But I had to un-sew my borders (just a little bit) and I got my first corner on yesterday morning. Whew! I was like a "deer in the headlights" when I got the first one done. And then I was gone all afternoon, came home and worked on Jane again last night and actually got the top border and both corners sewn on. (top picture) And the other corners ready to assemble, hmmm, I guess I didn't sleep last night very well again because I was so happy that I was making good progress and Jane seemed to be pacified about it too.  I hope to get all the borders on today.



I'm trying to git-r-done





My Featherweight, love sewing with it.



Well, between the last sentence and right now, I have had the 3rd corner on, unsewn it, sewn it back on FOUR times.  I cannot figure out the problem and I may have to take it to my friend, the hand-piecing guru to evaluate it. But right now, I'm going to church and pray that the 4th corner will go on as easily as one and two. I'll report back later. (Reporting--that didn't go so well either.)

I'm not doing any bragging here tonight. The corners did not go well today, it's after 9:00 o'clock and I'm quitting for today. I sure hope Jane doesn't keep me awake tonight, I'm so frustrated with her. I just have to admit that she has out-smarted me and it's not a good feeling. Now I know why I really prefer applique to piecing....so I'm going to go embroidery for a while..I sure hope you have NOT had a "Stitches" kind of day!!!

Here's a calming picture of the clouds that I took about noon today. Pretty aren't they?  Well, until next time.



No More Apologizing

apology 1.an expression of regret for having insulted or wronged another 2. a defense, as for a cause or doctrine
     I haven't posted anything for 12 days but I am not going to apologize (ever again). I don't believe that I have insulted or wronged anyone, at least, I hope not and in my own 'defense' I think that I have been just plain lazy about posting or I haven't had anything to say..and if I don't have any thing to say then you wouldn't want to read it anyway, would you?? There I got that off my chest and now I can go forward...it's not that I haven't been busy or doing stuff. Last week 4 of my quilter friends came for lunch and brought most of it. We had 2 kinds of soup, seven layer salad, cheese, crackers, pulled BBQ pork, bread and dessert..it was really tasty, what a nice way to entertain and get together with friends!!.They said they wanted to come over to see what I had accomplished on my PhD's. So we looked and discussed and pondered over my PhD's .I have been working on my Dear Jane and I am glad to report that I have 3 of the borders sewn together. I planned to sew today but it is already 3:30 pm and here I sit at the computer.

   A few weeks ago, I embroidered on a tea towel and plan to give it away to a friend, who had done several things for me and I think she needs to be compensated a little. I embroidered on opposite corners and I think the teapot, cup and saucer came out pretty good. Can you see a couple of little yellow beads that I added for just a little bling?  I love beads and put them on anything when I have a chance. I sure hope she likes it and if I make a loaf of Poppy Seed bread, she surely will. I will let you know when I give it to her. Well, I best go do some sewing, perhaps I can get that 4th border sewn together and then put them on the quilt. It will be a fine day when DJ is sewn together at last!!  Until next time, I hope you have a "Stitches" kind of day, my day here is very snowy.

Sorry I've been "silent" for so long

Greetings from snowy Iowa. We are supposed to get between 6-8 inches of snow before Tuesday and actually I'm rather looking forward to being housebound so maybe I can get some sewing done. I just got done posting pictures on Myra's PhD Challenge..I have committed to getting 3 projects done before June 30th. The three that I chose (it was a dam hard decision) have been laying around for far too many years. So I will share with you the ones that I have chosen.

This is a Santa Block of the Month that I did several (many) years ago but want to add an extra border to it and also add some applique Christmas lights to the border. I will have this machine quilted but not by me. This is the oldest of the three I have chose for the challenge.

The next one is the Quilted Village. The center and the blocks are done but the blocks need to be cut to size and added to the center and then quilted. I plan on quilting it myself.

The last but not least, is my Dear Jane quilt. "She" is ready to have the borders put on so I think today I am going to work on sewing some of those triangles together. "She" has just been laying around for several years gathering dust and "she" is sick of it.

I don't know what my hang-up is with finishing projects, maybe I need some consolling. :-) I would much rather start something than finish it, what do you think about that? Well, time's a'wasting so I best get busy and GET THOSE PROJECTS FINISHED. I will let you know how much progress that I am making on these from time to time...Until next time, I hope you have a "Stitches" kind of day.