Marathons and Christmas.

I mentioned in the last post that I've been in a marathon sewing lately. I've been sewing up loads of these things for our rescue team Christmas lotto. These Christmas socks were panels and I and another woman added beads and such to them, I and another woman quilted them and then I offered to finish the socks. It was so dark when this photo was taken you can't see the beading much, but it turned out okay. I would never have thought I would have so much fun doing beading, but I did. Not as much fun as sewing and quilting though.


Then there are the table toppers and runners. I've quilted and put the binding on 10 - 12 of them, I've lost the count. And some of them I also put together from already made blocks. I liked this one best. There are more things I've been making, along with other women and we will have a good load of winnings.


On our guilds sewing day in early October there was a talk about a Christmas quilt show and the members were asked to look through their Christmas things for quilted items. I have given most of mine away so I didn't think much of it, but then later, last Monday to be precise, decided to quilt my Christmas Light top for the show that started yesterday.

Yeah, I know, not the best of ideas, time wise. But I have a good friend that I also mentioned in my earlier post. Mary who lives in Kansas and she does the most beautiful quilting and has given me tips and encouragement to tackle mine. And last week, finally, I was ready to sit down, let go and just quilt. The beginning in the center of the quilt is not so pretty, but I decided to let it stay as is, as a reminder of the journey, so to speak. I got better as it got along and the white border is my favorite. I'm really happy with the quilting on it. The blue and red border are not as good, but by then I had little time and I was also simply tired.


While making this quilt I used a lot of fabrics that didn't play well with others, like the blue and the green f.e.s. (The colors don't show true in the photos, they are more bright in reality) The red for the setting triangles was the only fabric that was remotely Christmassy that I had enough of so it got used. Lol. I also had no fabric that went well as the outer border and decided to use this red, purple and pink fabric my mother gave me a few years back. It made the quilt much to red, but I kind a liked it anyway.


Since I used up difficult fabrics in the top I used lots of left over thread both for the top and the back while quilting. (I had no time to order and wait for thread) The darker under thread shows a bit in some places, but I was determined that I would not let that bother me... and it doesn't. Lol.



I made up the pattern of the mistletoe leafs, but the stars and loops I'd seen somewhere before, don't remember where though.


I see in this photo that the backing shows through the white border, I think that's only because the quilt is hanging on the clothes line. The days are so dark at this time of the year that this is not noticeable when the quilt is lying flat on bed, or when I hold it up inside the house.


I hope you can see what I wrote on the label that I made in haste, I will make a better one later. This quilt was a mystery from Bonnie K. Hunter at Quiltville. It was posted in the Quiltmaker magazine in three steps, starting in the July/August issue. I got the mag in August so the quilt has been over a year in the making. I never got the last issue of the magazine so I finished the top after seeing photos of it at the quiltvillechat on Yahoo.


I usually have no problem deleting photos from my posts (accidentally) but I can't get rid of this one. I guess someone want's you to see all the mistakes I made while quilting the center. Lol. If I'd had more time I would have ripped out lots of seams and also gotten better thread, both for the back and front, but I'm content. It is what it is and I'm learning/practicing.

The backing is a flannel that I bought as a cover for a double sized duvet. It was on a sale and I thought that would make me feel okay to use it. Lol. Not really, the other half of it is not as ugly because there the colors are reversed, the hearts are dark and the background light and I think I'll have no problem using that for a back later.


Now, here come the punch lines. When I finally had the quilt ready, midday Friday, I phoned the lady from our town that was helping put up the show.... and she said: "No thank you, we have much to much of things for the show as is".

That was a big blow to say the least. So I said thank you and good bye, turned of the phone and then sat for a while with the adrenalin still on full steam, from hours of hand sewing the binding down in a race against time.

So what does that teach me. Lol. The quilt has been decorating my bed since Friday and is the first sign of Christmas in our home this year. Which reminds me, it is the first Sunday in advent today and I need to find my advent ring (a direct translation) I bought the candles for it a while ago, just hope I didn't put them in the "good place". I need to find them today, not sometime after Christmas. Lol.

Sunna.