Just stopping by....

....wanted to show these 2 quilts ~~ they are done, done ~~
The tops and backings were donated by Jeanne...they were my practice tops for machine quilting...too much fun!!! I have a couple more of Jeanne's yet to do and my pal Barbara has a couple of Nancy's at her house putting the binding and labels on them. I will post pics as soon as she returns them to me.

Barbara and I have already reserved the quilting machine for next month, this time we will put a personal quilt on first~ my Harlequin Weave ~ that I just made for my bed. In November Nancy posted a pic of her Harlequin Weave and I thought..."that is exactly the new quilt our bed needs" as I have struggled finding a pattern to make for our bed because the new drapes are a Thomas Kincaid print with large floral print that I did not want anything to compete against. I showed Ed Nancy's quilt and he agreed, so ... I dug in my stash and came up with several pieces (pattern takes 14 different prints) then did a bit of shopping to gather up the balance of what I needed. Saturday and Sunday I put the top together and laid it (in flimsy stage) on the bed....Bless Ed's heart...LOL...he didn't say a word...I didn't say a word...then we both agreed...NOPE...not for us! We agreed to leave it on the bed until March 17 (next machine quilting day) to see if it grows on us. I think it is growing on us already!!! After I made the bed up this morning I walked out of the room and turned around...it just seemed to "fit": the colors, the block size, the prints...it all just seems to fit ~ and quite nicely I might add. When I came home for lunch Ed said basically the same thing. We have kinda decided that it isn't so much that we didn't like the quilt...it is just that it is so very different from anything I have done before. So...be watching...some time after March 17 I will post a picture.Here is another quick sewing project completed. (I have put this off for years...why do we put the simplest things off?? ) I have always covered my machine with a piece of plastic..one of those plastic machine covers that you can purchase at JoAnns?? yep...that is what I have used all these years....but while going through my stash...piece by piece...I ran across this little piece of border fabric that was used to make bibs for my great niece 9 years ago. Not much there but perfect for what I needed to do with it. Isn't it cute?
And last for the night is this shocking picture...this is a great quilt top that a friend saw in a thrift store and thought of me so she bought it and sent it to me...years ago...it is a 1925 Hexagon quilt top and I cut it up...yep...took out my Ginghers and whacked this handpieced quilt top up~it about killed me to do it but I have been thinking about doing this for a few months now. Half of it has now been repurposed as a skirt around my cutting table, hiding my rolling sewing machine cases, my rolling scrapbook case and a few other things. The other parts of the quilt top *may* be repurposed and become valances for MCM. Because I knew this top would never be quilted, it has spent the last few years folded and stacked in my UFO pile...living a sad and lonely life...so now I can look at it every day...and enjoy it...I love the fact that it was all handpieced, that the maker took the time to embroider the date (June 13, 1925) on it and that my friend thought of me, purchased it and sent it to me simply because she thought I would enjoy it...and now I really am!!

That's it for me...off to prepare the backing for my HW...my least favorite step in the quilt making process...making the backing...

***Cathi (Crazed Quilter) Please email me***