Monday, January 16, 2012

It's Finished!


Buttons and patches and the cold wind blowing,
The days pass quickly when I am sewing.
~Author Unknown

Whew!  I'm so glad that the weekend is over.  It seems like we ran constantly or had something do due each hour of both days.  It actually started Friday night when we did our monthly run to Walmart and Costco.  And what better way to start that excursion than with a dinner at Arby's - lol!  Walmart was understocked and busy.  Costco was quite pleasant in comparison.  Saturday continued with errand running and an ALS support group meeting.  We visited the Farmer's Market (fresh veggies), the library (had to pick up another 4 audio books), Petsmart (couldn't let the pups run out of their favorite food), Beverly's to pick up some backing fabric and some Kona white, and Rite-Aid to pick up some of the items that Walmart didn't have in stock.  Sunday was filled with the weekly washing, a bath for Snickerdoodle, and general pick-up around the house.  Hooray for Monday!  My house will be cleaned today (and, boy, does it ever need it) and hopefully I will get lots of sewing in.

============================

LITTLE FACT OF THE DAY

Horses

Horses are such majestic creatures.  Most of us wished to own a horse at least once in our childhood and I was no exception.  Here are some interesting facts about these wonderful animals:
* horses do not lie down together, one stands guard for dangers
* one front leg is shorter then the other and the mane falls to that side
* horses lock their legs when they sleep so they don't fall over
* the ears point where they are looking
* a horse sees two different images from each eye
* The oldest recorded horse was 62 years old when he died. He was a barge horse. He lived from 1760 to 1822.
* Horses only sleep 3-4 hrs in a 24 hr period

===========================

A BIG FINISH FOR ME

I am happy to say that I have finally finished my Gardener's Journal quilt!!!!  I started this quilt way back in June of last year.  At first I slowly worked on the embroidery part starting with.....

the Gardening Shed.  Once I figured out that I would like to enter this quilt in the Cotton Patch Quilters of Kern County (the guild I am a member of) quilt show at the end of January (this month!) I decided I better get serious. And so I did.

This is one of my favorite blocks as I could be found quite often in the same position.  It's amazing that no family member took my picture like this.  Of course, if they had, they knew there would be H E double toothpicks to pay!

Another favorite block of mine.  No garden, story, or home is complete without the family dog - at least it is that way in my life.

After cutting, piecing and and putting borders on, sandwiching and quilting, and finally hand sewing the binding, the quilt is done.......
Ta-da!  Here it is in all its all its glory.  With all my wishes for weather change, it finally happened.  It was cloudy all day so I wasn't able to take a picture of the quilt in the sunshine :( 

I changed up the borders from what the pattern showed.  I first added a dark blue narrow border before adding the mauve border.  For some reason I like the way it set the whole quilt off better than without the first narrow dark blue border.

I made the binding out of the backing fabric.  I hardly ever make a lighter binding but I like how it seemed to frame the entire piece.
I did simple stitch-in-the-ditch quilting using a dark cream thread and same in the bobbin (it helps to see it if you squint just little bit - lol).

Finished size:  58.5" X 58.5"
Pattern: A Gardener's Journal by Ami Downs
 The Fabric: is a line from Connecting Threads and is called Victoria Parlor.  The copyright on the fabric is 2007 so that shows you how long I had it in my stash.  I'm so glad that I hadn't split up the line of fat quarters - guess I knew it would be used for something special.
Started: June 2011
Finished: January 2012
My first finish for 2012!  Now lets hope I get at least a few nice remarks from the judge at the end of the month.
===================================
TODAY'S GOAL
Today I will continue with my UFO - this is fun!

=========================

GIVEAWAYS

AllFreeSewing is having a giveaway. You could win a set of La Petite Mercerie Fabric.  This giveaway ends Monday, January 23, at 11:59:59 pm EST.

Gene Black an Alabama Artist is having a giveaway.  You could win a signed copy of Finish Almost Any Quilt by Marguerita McManus.  This giveaway ends Friday, January 27.

Hancock's of Paducah is having a giveaway.  You could win a Civil Wars Journal kit.  This giveaway ends Friday, February 10, at 10:00 am CST.

Such A Sew and Sew is having a giveaway.  You could win A cute little decorated tin holding 200 size 1 curved safety pins with easy grip covers, a Quik-Klip tool to help fasten the safety pins, a blue fine-point water soluble marking pen, a white fine-point water soluble marking pen, a package of 5 universal quilting needles, and Machine quilting gloves in your size.  This giveaway ends Thursday, January 19, at 10:00 pm MST.

It's Sew Kiki is celebrating her blog's birthday with a giveaway.  Kiera is giving away so many wonderful things - too many to list.  When you go visit to check out the giveaway, please mention that I sent you over.  This giveaway ends Sunday, January 22.

Cat Patches is having her Fun Fact Friday Freebie giveaway.  You could win a fat quarter.  This giveaway ends Friday, January 20.

=========================

FINAL THOUGHT


42 comments:

Sue Daurio said...

wow beautiful quilt. Your stitching is wonderful!

Little Penpen said...

Congrats! on your beautiful finish! Not to worry, you will receive wonderful remarks from the judges! I loved the horse info. My dad always had horses when we were growing up and I didn't know those facts. I guess I wasn't very observant. BTW, I love Arby's. :-)

✾Jamie Lee Cooley✾ said...

Looks amazing! Congrats on your first finish!

Maria said...

Congratulations on finishing that beautiful quilt. Just Love it the stitcherys and the colours. Borders do look great as does the lighter binding. Good luck in the show.
Interesting facts about the hores.
LOL cartoon.

Gene Black said...

Your Gardener's Journal quilt came out lovely. However, looking at the fabric you used for it makes me want to order more fabric and I really REALLY don't need to buy any until I use a lot of what I have.

Pokey said...

What a grand Garden it is, Linda! Your embroidery squares are perfectly at home in your floral prints. I appreciate the dramatic contrasts in the borders and binding. It's a winner for sure!
:-}pokey

Laura said...

Gorgeous quilt and stitching! :) What a treasure!

krisgray said...

What a lovely finish! That floral border is just appropo - love it.

Sarah Craig said...

That is one spectacular quilt, Linda! Absolutely gorgeous!! And I love Humphrey the Snake - some days I feel just like that!

Barbara said...

Well, it's just beautiful, Linda. I have this one on my to-do list.

Barb said...

I love your stitchery...just awesome!

Megan Harmeyer said...

I love your "Closing Thought"! LOL I really like your finished Gardener's Journal quilt - the colors are great.

sunny said...

Interesting facts about horses. Your quilt is absolutely gorgeous! Good Luck with the judges.

Melissa said...

Stunning! Congratulations on the big finish! I really want to learn hand embroidery.

Quiltingranny said...

Oh My Linda, you have been busy, busy and sounds like my week-end. Kids out of school, dinner, cleaning, starting loads of wash after washer broke and got a new one. Saturday a drive to Costco (an hour away) in the snow and back home...dinner out for Tacos to support our local high school band, home and more wash and hubby put up new shelves in the basement. Yesterday was snow play for awhile and then chili dinner and corn bread and always making sure both the fires were burning and endless changes of gloves and socks to keep kids warm. Today it is snowing and I think I will quilt!
Did I tell you my dad had ALS? Hugs and relax today {{{{}}}}

rubyslipperz1052 said...

BZ weekend, girl!!! You must've felt like a nap when finally getting back home =)

I LUV horses..thanks for the interesting info.

Your garden quilt is sooo cool!..with all the wonderuful stitching and quilting. There's no doubt the judges are goint to TAKE NOTICE!

uummmm, I tend to bit my tougue quite often! but, it's usually because I'm either talking too much or just took my foot out of my mouth =P

hugZ,
annie
anniesrubyslipperz.com

Teresa said...

We all have those busy weekends that go on forever.
Love the garden quilt, very nice.
Teresa's Heartfelt Stitches

Vroomans' Quilts said...

Just too, too, too cute. Love how you bordered and the light binding is perfect framing to add to the light stitery blocks. Just fantastic and yeah for the first finish of the year. Good luck in the show.

WoolenSails said...

I love your quilt, it is so beautiful and the fabric choices really set off the garden feel.

Debbie

Raewyn said...

Congratulations on a beautiful finish. The way you have finished it has worked well. Hope you have a relaxing week to make up for the busy weekend! (But it does sound like you got lots done).

Apple Avenue Quilts said...

Your quilt is wonderful. Congratulations on such a beautiful finish!

Mrs.Pickles said...

congrats on the finish it is very nice!!

quiltercaroline said...

Well done Linda the quilt looks wonderful. I hope that it does well for you at the quilt show. Happy quilting. C

Miss Hillbilly said...

A wonderful finish!!!! Congrats! I do love that quilt so much!

I like Arby's. mmmm. Not their chocolate turnovers though. They just aren't as good as you would think they would be.

Wendy said...

That turned out beautiful! I agree that the mauve border set it all off nicely! Your embroidery is exceptional and the whole thing looks great. Congrats!

Sara Lyn said...

Sooo cute!

BillieBee (billiemick) said...

I love your finished quilt. It turned out lovely!

I wished our snakes would bite themselves. That was sooo funny.

CathyC said...

busy weekend ;-)
a beautiful finish!

Christine M said...

Your quilt looks beautiful Linda. You should be very proud of yourself. I love the fabric you used for the backing and binding. It's so pretty. You got it finished in a relatively quick time! I'd still be doing the stitcheries! lol

Connie Kresin Campbell said...

Sounds like you really had a busy weekend! Congrats on finishing your beautiful quilt! The dog house block is so sweet!

Needled Mom said...

The finish is SPECTACULAR! I am sure that you will get more than a few wonderful comments.

Yes, your cool weather wish has come true. Did you get any rain? We just had a few sprinkles here.

I hope you have a productive week too.

Sheila said...

Your quilt is gorgeous , such a lovely finish for 2012 ! By the way I was also one of those who wished to own a horse , still do ;-)

quilterliz said...

G'day. Your quilt is just beautiful. You must be very proud of it. I do love the colors. Annie Downs has some lovely patterns. I have made a few of her items in the past. I enjoyed the fact about horses. Very interesting. I didn't know any of it and I seem to remember wanting one when I was a kid. Take care. Liz...

Susan said...

The snake thing cracked me up! You had a very busy weekend, and that's a wonderful finish. If they give ribbons at this show, I think you should win one! I love the pattern, and your borders really set it off. Thank you for posting the pincushion giveaway on my quilt blog. Several people mentioned that they read about it here. I'm doing a redwork pattern giveaway on cq4fun.livejournal.com, endng on Friday at midnight EST, if you want to post that one. Okay if you don't, though. =) I always like seeing what you find for giveaways, and enter a lot of them. I even won a pattern once!

Cheree @ The Morning Latte said...

Looks amazing! Lots of work in there! I really enjoy all the little facts, btw!

Snoodles said...

Linda, that finished quilt is just lovely! I so admire how your fabric choices turned out. I think the narrow blue border really does set that off, and then the others just make it sing. So nice - that judge had better love it! LOL

Barbara said...

It's BEEE-AU-TIFUL!!! Love this quilt!

Unknown said...

What a stunning quilt, I love your stitchery so sweet. good luck with the competiion.

Joanna said...

I absolutely love your Gardener's Journal quilt. The stitching, design, and the fabric you chose all come together beautifully. Really cute images, too.

Richard Healey said...

That is a fantastic Quilt. I love embroidery but I am not one to sit and take time. I am a man so its lucky I even sew. Thank you for linking up to my blog on my first LAFF link up.

http://richardquilts.blogspot.com

Heather said...

What an awesome finish! That quilt is just too cute for words. I love it! :o)

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