Not Spring Yet!!

2nd day of Spring..I don't think so

It was a snowy start to yesterday which made it a great day to be sewing on National Quilting Day! Waking up today it is clear,sunny but -20 Celcius...brrrr!!! So after posting this I am headed to the sewing room to finish what I started yesterday!

a panel quilt

I pieced this top last Fall at a retreat and but was missing a fabric for a border, so it was put on the back burner for awhile. A few weeks ago I found a fabric that would work and the project got moved to the front burner. But it wasn't until last week that I got the top together just in time to show as part of a talk/show and tell about panels I gave with a friend at guild. So far it is made according to the pattern but that is where I stop. Now I want to make it a little larger so I am adding a piano key border with the leftover fabric and a solid outer border. I got the math done and the piano keys cut yesterday, then it was time to go work on my other project....machine quilting!

hoping to finish today and bind

 I could put it off with laundry and housework but I do have a deadline so jump in I finally did. It went well but I must finish it today. I did have one issue...I was having problems seeing well. I thought it was my eyes but came to discover that one of the bulbs on my machine(I have two) was dying and glowing orange so I had to set up a lamp so I could see better especially since I am sewing on black.This is going to require a trip to the sewing machine store for a bulb as I have no spares. If I get to the binding part this is what my slow stitching will be today.

apple cores....love or hate?jury is still out!

Also this week I started a new project. I am in a love/hate relationship with it. A few ladies want to start an applique group here in our area. So after our guild meeting, the applique group meets using the same building for now. One of the members introduced us to apple cores last month. So I started mine this month as I had missed that meeting. How hard could they be? Never ask that!!So I printed out the templates and made a smaller one for turning the edges, cut out some fabric and started piecing. BUT things weren't going together quite right. Hmmm? Well it turns out you can't take the templates and draw a 1/4 " line inside the template for the other template. The geometry of it doesn't compute!! So after discovering that I made new templates and cut more fabric and now I am making a MINI quilt. DH asked me one night what I was making and I said "probably the smallest quilt I have ever made"!! This was a charm pack that I had  and wasn't sure what to do with it, but I think this will be perfect and more stash fabric is used up!!! I don't think it is actually classed as a mini, size wise but I am NOT making it any larger other than to add a border to finish it off. These are the ups and downs of a quilters life but as long as it is cold and snowy I can quilt and sew cause no yard work needs to be done!!