The Twelve Days of Christmas

Fwd: Mom's Christmas Quilted Wall Hanging, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

Although officially Christmas decorations start on the evening of Thanksgiving when Sam the Snowman and Santa are brought out of the garage rafters. My mom painted these two ceramic decorations when I was a kid and it's a family tradition to get them out on Thanksgiving evening with my dad complaining that it's too late and they are too hard to find. The kids and mom are supposed to beg and say "It's tradition" We only have two or three in my family after all. Spaghetti for Christmas Eve dinner is the other one I can think of right now. Oh, and hunting Ding Dongs instead of eggs for Easter.

Anyway, this was my mom's birthday present last year and when I came home from Thailand just before Christmas, I was sad that it wasn't up but didn't say anything to my mom. It wasn't until New Year's when I was packing up my car, I found it with the binding not quite done in my car. My mom didn't want to tell me that she was a little sad I wasn't finishing it for her. So it's done and up this year!

Mom's Christmas Quilted Wall Hanging

Fwd: Mom's Christmas Quilted Wall Hanging, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

I finished the hand quilting on this a few weeks ago but since it was a present for my sole blog reader, I couldn't post until she received it. It's a wall hanging that I machine quilted on the little Janome last year but hand quilted all the pears with gold sparkles. Cause I'm crazy like that.

Granddaughter is on the way

photo.jpg, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

We found out this weekend that my sister-in-law is having a little girl next April. My mom is so excited about her first granddaughter that we already put together a quilt top for her and there are big plans for more.

This is not a great picture but my assistant was quite short. Thanks Sam.

Not Sure

photo.jpg, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

I like the japanese lanterns on the back with the blue varigated thread but am not so sure about the front because it's just a little busy. So this quilt will either be ready to be bound at Thanksgiving or I'll be picking out a thousand little stitches.

I suppose it wouldn't be so hard to just make a new one. Who knows, I might get the mitered corners right on the first try.

Lynn's Quilt

Lynn's Quilt, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

Lynn will think twice before giving me a quilt to finish. This one was handed over 3 years ago and only just quilted. Of course, now that I am missing a wall and have the quilting room extrodinaire set up, it just might go a little faster. She's going to do the binding on this one so I am counting it as good and done. Or at least done. It will make it's way back up to her next week.


I did a pantograph named Tea Rose on the center and some free hand vaguely following the fabric print on the border.  All in a cream thread so it doesn't show up too much, luckily for my not so perfect laser tracking.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Weekend Goal

I'm determined to get two big quilts quilted this weekend.  One will count as done because the lady who made it wants to do the binding herself.  And one will get as far as machine bound so I have somthing to hand sew at my momma's for the holiday.  I'd also like to piece another top but I'm trying not to live up to my nickname, the Kamikaze Quilter.

Love and Lemon Pie

Love and Lemon Pie, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

Finished and in the mail today! I did really small loopy loops on just the green and then straight line in the middle of yellow stripes on the border.

I'm not sure what it is just that it's happy and bright and I hope my aunt gets a kick out of it. Maybe it's a placemat or something. I didn't use a pattern so it can be anything.

While this doesn't count towrd my pending project pile I did make some headway this week.

Pending Project Countdown: 9
Weeks Until Deadline: 5.5

Lazy Label

Love and Lemon Pie, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

I know, it's not that label-y but allegedly the important thing is to have a name and date on the quilt.

Lemon Pie

Lemon pie, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

I considered ripping out the mitred corners another 37 times but decided to see how I felt about it in the morning. I feel fine. It's not too bad if you don't take a magnifyling glass to it So now, I pick out a backing and see if I can get it quilted and out in the mail this week.

But for now, it's time to take the whiny dog to the park.

Stars and Swirls - Freehand

IMG_5183, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

This was the first quilt I quilted on my longarm since I could set it up baby quilt size and this top was just sitting and waiting for the light of day. Once I got the hang of loading and all, I was off and quilting. I did the whole thing freehand although really it was just a few stars and some swirly bits. You just can't go wrong with swirly bits.

I'm counting this as Quilt 2 for the year.

Stars and Swirls Back

Stars and Swirls Back, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

I like the back best as far as colors go.

This quilt is going to Project Linus . . . at least on the pile for Project Linus.

Wait, that's the top of Circle Saki?

photo.jpg, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

I had figured out a quilting plan for my Circle Saki quilt until I bought the thread and unfolded it today. Those circles are closer together than I had remembered. So know I'm sure that I'll use the pantograph on the borders but not sure about what to do on the middle panel. Darn!

The lanterns were intended for another quilt in progress but we'll see what that top actually turns into before deciding.



Pending Project Countdown: 11
Weeks Until Deadline: 7

Stash Maybe

IMG_5177, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

The trip to the quilt store I don't like (mean staff) was unsuccessful for a flannel backing for a ticker tape quilt I'm pondering. Then I came home and found 4 yards of this in my piles of flannel. Not quite the lime green I was envisioning but bright enough to stand up to the wild front.

Any votes? Oh wait, I only have one person reading this blog. This could be a close race.

Before the Washing

IMG_1477, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

and I'm keeping my fingers crossed on how that goes.

Number 4 Done (After 3 Years)

IMG_1473, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

But who's keeping count? I finally was able to quilt my sister's birthday present the way I wanted to all along (pretty much). So today it's finished and in the washer. And she's still in her 30s so I don't want to hear any complaining. Because of the long drive to Phoenix I was able to get the binding on this in about 4 days. But I still am having a hard time talking myself into machine stitching my binding. Let's see how much longer my poor fingers hold out.

First Started

IMG_9708.JPG, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

Here's a photo I just found that shows the start of my red and black FQ quilt in February It's the dull one in the corner while the other two gals quilts are all sorts of fancy.

But guess what? It's done. I stippled it with cheater paper on my longarm (who really needs a name) and figured out the speed and tension thing before I started my sister's quilt.

That's Number 3.

Quilt 1 - Girl Tool Quilt

IMG_1162, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

The last few years I've made a resolution to finish 12 quilts a year. One a month, not so bad right? Well this is the first finished quilt for 2009. In July.

I've entered a group thing to finish all the pending projects currently in the works by the end of the year. It's actually listed at 12. So theoretically, I could finish just those and be ahead of the game.

Black is the New Pink

Black is the New Pink, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

Look away from the water heater in the background, I've just hung a new design rack in my studio. It's a towel rack with 4 moveable rails from Ikea. I can drape fabrics together until I find the combo I like.

This grouping is called - Black is the New Pink, in honor of Wicked, the soundtrack I've been listening to while building the room and sewing.

Coming Soon

So I bought a long arm quilter last month and am determined to meet my goal of 12 quilts completed this year to justify the purchase. So far, I'm at 4 quilts but along the way I learned how to tile a floor and knocked down a wall. I love the room but my house is a disaster since I'd rather play on the machine then finishing figuring out where all this stuff should go now. I have a deadline for that though since I'm having a party here next Tuesday.

I'll post quilt pictures somewhere in the middle of all that.