MOVING ON INTO THE NEW YEAR

We started the New Year here quietly.  Nice to just sit back and relax.  I am hoping to wrap up a couple of projects that really do need t o move on and finally get completed.  Christmas wall hanging and table decor still up around the house.  Something I will try to get to later in the week.  Just not in any real hurry to do that this week.

This is the one project that I do plan seriously to get completed.  Our family is growing and several years ago I purchased fabric to make 14 Christmas placemats.  The fronts are the black print and the grey are their backs.  This project got side tracked for I do not know how many years.  But during the holidays I unearth 2 of them finished and another 12 cut and ready to put together.  Over this last week or so I now have 3 completely finished, 7 sitting on the back of my chair in the living room waiting for the bindings to be finished by hand, and just 4 more waiting to be quilted, bound and finished.  Better late than never!

A week or so ago I took a few left over 2.5" strips to try out this new table runner pattern for my guild's quilt show boutique shop.  It was fun and gave me an idea with some fall fabric I had left over from another project.  

I increased the strip size to 3.5" and came up with this 30" by 36" table runner for my dinning room table.  I'm sending it off to my quilter for some leafy quilting pattern next week.  

The only other project going on right now is our pecan harvest.  Thankfully I am not in charge of this task.  We have two pecan trees on the side of our home, planted by my husband, not too long after we moved into it in 1971.  They are easily 50 feet tall and do produce a good crop of pecans on and off.  This year we had a bumper crop.  He harvests, dries  them in our oven, shells and bags them, and into our chest freezer.  Yes we are up to 52 bags, and there are still a good two or three buckets of them still to be dealt with.  My only contribution to this is I vacuum up the shell that scatter all over the dining room floor after he finishes shelling them.  This has been going on for two months now.  We are nearly at the end.  No we do not sell them. However we are very popular with our neighbors who at both Thanksgiving and pre Christmas got bags of them for their holiday baking, and of course family as well.    

  
 Linky Parties on the Side Bar

 

  

I SURVIVED CHRISTMAS EVE AND CHRISTMAS DAY

I survived Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  Had family  here for dinner with 8 of us on Christmas Eve and then 5 of us on Christmas Day.  I am pretty much partied out.  There is one very nice result of all this and that is lots of left overs, especially deserts.  

I did just barely manage to finish some Christmas placemats for husband and I in time to use for the Christmas season.  Nice to enjoy them for a few more days.

I have been working for a good couple months of ridding myself of this particular line of fabric.  This is pretty much just little scraps mostly 2.5" strips.

I ran across a picture of a runner that was the solution to using them.  I hope to get a couple more done, then finally finish the scraps off and add another couple runners to my quilt guild's January quilt show boutique. I might just keep one for myself.  

I just got this fall project back from the quilter and finally the binding on it.  Seems like this year I have been behind the power curve all year.  I guess better late than not done.  

And the last project.  Over the past few years our family has increased in size.  Once 8 Christmas placemats was enough, well no longer.  Grandchildren keep bring in girl friends and boy friends to join the family.  I started this one placemat a couple years ago and that is as far as I got.  Time to get another 11 done, but seems like might just have to do another 1 or 2 extras too.  Going to have to dig out that fabric and see what can make of it.

  

 Linky Parties on the Side Bar

  

 

FALLING LEAVES CHAPTER TWO AND TILDA SCRAPS COMPLETELY DE-STASHED

 A couple of weeks ago I start on a new quilt for myself call Falling Leaves. https://donnaleeq.blogspot.com/2025/11/falling-leaves-chapter-one.html.  I finally got the first appliqués fused on to the back ground and have started appliquéing them. 

While I have a pattern I have found that placement of the vines, flowers, and leaves is a bit of a layout difference.  The pattern is for a table runner and this is going to be the center of a 50" by 50" quilt, that will hang on the wall in our dining room during the fall season.

I was able to machine appliqué down two flowers.  I used a blanket stitch and matching colored thread.   

My daughter visiting from Colorado helped me finally de-stash a bin full of Tilda fabrics.  This is one of the quilts she used to help me rid myself of them.  It will go to my charity group.  She was very clever and used up lots of small scraps doing the wonky 6 inch blocks. 

This 36" by 36' baby quilt was the very last one that finished off the rest of them.   It also will be a charity quilt with a border using the last of the yellow fabric on the quilt top.  

 Linky Parties on the Side Bar

 
  

TILDA SCRAP PROJECTS

This past week I have accomplished almost nothing in the sewing room.  With family visiting, and several holiday gatherings I don't think I have even been at home much at all.  A bit of Christmas shopping done and that is about it.  

Our oldest daughter is visiting from Colorado for two weeks then returning home on the 20th.  She was also here in June and I sent her home with a pile of Tilda scraps.  She brought this little quilt top out with her to give to my charity group.  It only measured 33 by 38, so we decided it needed some borders.

I still had some Tilda yardage and was able to cut enough 4.5" borders and binding for it.

What was left was Tilda dots, so I threw this baby quilt top together, that will measure 36 by 36 and some bindings in the dot colors and I think we have finally managed to completely eliminate the Tilda scraps.

Linky Parties on the Side Bar

 

 

GETTING READY FOR CHRISTMAS AND A DOSE OF CUTENESS.

I have not accomplished much of anything this past week.  Spent more time getting Christmas wall hangings and table runners out for the holiday.

My Christmas runner came back from the quilter this week.   

She did a lovely job of quilting it.  

I got the center portion of my fall wall hanging completed from last week's start on the project.  

These are the last couple of appliqués for it that I am finishing up with.  Just have another 16 leaves to prepare and some bias vines to make and I will be ready to start putting them onto the center piece.

We had Thanksgiving at our youngest daughter's home.  Mommy cat had 7 kittens a few weeks ago.  This is four of them, way too cute.  Had a hard time resisting taking one of them home.  

Linky Parties on the Side Bar

FALLING LEAVES CHAPTER ONE

I have this fall wall hanging that I have had for many years,  made easily a good 35 years ago.  It is a project I made when I first started my quilting journey.  It is time to retire it and make something new.  

While it appears to be appliquéd it is not.  It was just 2 printed panals that I joined and had quilted.  The quilting is really lovely with leaves and vines.  

I have used this table runner patten a couple of times.  I now have decided to use it again but increase the size by making three rows of of flowers and vines using a fat quarter bundle by Jason Yenter called Falling Leaves, along with some additional yardage of that fabric as well and some background fabrics in my stash.  

I have pulled these fabrics for the center of the quilt.  Of course I have had to order more of a couple of them as well.  I will be modifying the size of the center pieces from the pattern's 3.5"cuts to 6.5" cuts and the center portion of the quilt will be 36" square.  The plan is for the completed quilt to be 50" square once it has a small and larger borders.  

I have prepared the first 5 of the 15 large flowers for the center of the quilt.

And this is 4 of the 12 smaller flowers needed.  

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  The handsome guy above and his two ladies here belong to our youngest daughter.  She lives out in the country on 8 acres and has loads of pets.  Chickens, ducks, geese, and yes this guy along with the his ladies.  Not to worry, all three have been pardon for life and will spend many years pampered and taken care of.   

Linky Parties on the Side Bar

THIS AND THAT

 No much accomplished at all this past week.  A good deal of time on the phone back and forth with Thanksgiving dinner plans.  Our youngest daughter's family and husband and I share the Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner's hosting.  Depending on her work schedule, she is in the medical field and required to work each year one or the other of those holidays.  The one of us that is hosting organizes an assigned pot luck.  Our other daughter and our granddaughter along with the one not hosting are assigned various dishes and items to bring.  With four families that amount to 12 and sometimes an extra one or two people, sharing the menu means no one has to do all the cooking and grocery purchases.  We all live within a 30 minute drive.  It works very well, other than the fact that we end up with way more food than we needed, but the leftovers are handed out as well.

Our little dog Zoey now has two Christmas placemats all ready for the holidays.  

I fussed around with this storage bag.  It is supposed to have a velcro closure, but I am thinking more like putting a button and button hole on it instead.  The idea was to make a few for my guild's quilt show boutique.  I am not very excited about that idea.

I did finish the charity quilt top.  Once done I think it is really nice.  The idea was to use up all the fabric from the original 45 piece, never ending fat quarter bundle.  I cut up everything leftover and came. up with more than 72 squares cut at 6.5".  Another charity quilt I guess.  The left overs are in a bag and they are going to my friend Michelle.  She can make wheel chair lap quilts for Hospice out of them. 

Linky Parties on the Side Bar
  

  

       

BOUTIQUE AND CHARITY PROJECTS CONTINUED

It is a crazy week around here, but thank goodness my cold is much better.  It has been raining here most of the week.  So not able to get out much and do anything outdoors.  I did work for several hours at our quilt show boutique storage unit last Thursday and rolled and priced three huge bins of fabric yardage to sell at the show.  Plus I brought home a couple of donated items that had to be bound. 

Currently I have this scrap quilt up on the design wall to finish.  It is going to my charity group once the top is done and a binding prepared for it.  I try to knock out 2 a month for them.

Unfortunately ridding myself of these scraps doesn't look good, there is at least another quilt top here before I can be done with them.

I did do some extra binding on this boutique runner.  It was donated to us with just quilt as you go quilting, but I did decide to add some serpentine quilting to it and was able to find a binding for it in my stash. 

I still need to shop for a binding for this boutique item.  It really just needs a solid light pink or turquoise binding which I do not have in my stash.

A least one personal item was completed this week.  Our little dog Zoey has a new fall placemat for her meals and I am just finishing the binding on another like it for her.  Have two Christmas ones that have to be bound as well.  Yes, very cute and spoiled dog!!!!!

Linky Parties on the Side Bar  

    

PUMPKINS, LEAVES AND STARS

This past week I really have not accomplished much of anything.  I came down with a sour throat, coughing, and very congested cold and have not felt good about doing much of anything.

Last week on Monday I finally finished up this project and it went off to my quilter.  A bit late in the season, but at least it is finished. 

I machine appliquéd the pumpkins down.  

My quilter also dropped off my Autumn Nights quilt that she did custom quilting on.  My policy with my quilter is that I'm the artist that made the top, she's the artist that is going to quilt it.  Almost 100% of the time I just hand it to her and say go for it. I am never disappointed.

I think she did a fabulous job on this one.  

Linky Parties on the Side Bar

CANDY CANE TWIIRL AND INTEREST QUILTING FAILURE

 I finished the very last of my quilt show boutique table runners last week.  I am done!!!!!!  Off to sewing for myself and finishing a couple of fall items that were left in the dust this last month or so.

This little beauty is Candy Cane Twirl.  Not for the faint of heart for sure.  All those points and joints just waiting for a seam that is one thread width off to cut them off or cause a gap.  I got this first one done, and thought should I attempt number two.

The second block is always easier than the first.  It is 20" by 36", I skipped a third one.  Not enough Christmas scraps to do the third one.  Love it, off to the quilter tomorrow, goes on the Christmas table this year.  

I had an interesting  issue with quilting this table runner I was doing for my quilt guild's quilt show boutique.  The white border fabric became a major quilting issue for me.  The white dots are a rubbery material.  While running a serpentine stitch through them I was leaving puncture holes and breaking the thread.  Cute fabric, but a complete failure to quilt on it.  I ended up scrapping the entire runner along with another using that same fabric.  Yes, I did try a couple sizes of different needles, no success, and impressions did not iron out and marks at the needle entry do not go away.  Word of warning, pay attention in the future that I do not buy fabric with this type of material. 

  Linky Parties on the Side Bar