Christmas Table Topper Finished

My Christmas table topper is finally completed. I blogged about it in this post - how it was my first real project and how it got set aside and how almost four years later I rediscovered it and decided to finish it.

Besides moving twice in those four years, there were a couple other reasons I didn't finish it. Although I really liked the teacher of the beginning quilting class I took in 2010, she was a member of the "points police" and made us redo any blocks that had less than perfect points. I never had to redo any of my piecing, because I spent hours making sure my points were perfect (although now I see some errors on my blocks). I am grateful to my teacher for instilling good "points ethics", but it created a kind of dread when I thought about finishing. And I was very nervous about quilting it, since the class did not include any quilting instruction. So it sat in a basket.

It wasn't until I started examining pictures on the blogs of experienced quilters that I realized my points did not have to be perfect and my quilting was going to look good to a non-quilter no matter how elementary it looked to me. The tide began to turn, and now I love every part of making a quilt.

I quilted with no plan, but I am pleased with the way it turned out. Each block has its own quilting pattern. The only thing I would do differently now would be to rearrange the blocks to help balance the two lighter blocks with the two darker blocks. It finished at 26-1/2 inches square.

Center

Simple flowers and leaves and mazes

Each block quilted with different pattern

My version of the Christian symbol of the fish on the sashing

Binding is one of Moda's Fruitcake line

I toyed with the idea of donating this to our church fall market, but I think I would rather keep it as a reminder of my first class and use it for Christmas. I am linking it to Rachel's Purge-Along and to Lily's Quilts Small Blog Meet.

Here Kitty Kitty Coin Purse

Part of the fun of joining Stitched in Color's Purge-Along was finding things hidden under the mess in my closet that I had purchased for projects, and I discovered purse frames and fabric I had intended for purses. Since my youngest granddaughter turned 11 today, I decided yesterday to make her a coin purse to contain the cash we gave her. I followed the tutorial posted by Bethany on Sweet Bee Buzzings blog and it all went together in about 2 hours.

I made a little card with scrapbooking paper

The "wrapping" was a decorative take-out box I got at Hobby Lobby

The purse frame was a purchase from Etsy

The outer fabric was Michael Miller's Here Kitty Kitty

The inner fabric is from In The Beginning Fabrics

My impromptu decision meant that I didn't have everything recommended for the best results. I didn't have fusible fleece and used a piece of felt instead, and the extra thickness made sewing and turning a bit difficult. I had foam glue instead of fabric glue, but it seemed to hold well. Bethany's instructions and photos were great. I was clueless about purse-making, and I will definitely use her tutorial again.

My granddaughter was very happy with both the purse and the cash. I also made cupcakes for her, and those will be on another post.

Christmas Table Topper WIP

One block is quilted

My grandmothers were both quilters. One made me a doll quilt for my 8th Christmas, and the other made several quilts which are still in my possession. I always felt that I would follow in their footsteps one day, and although I'm not exactly sure why, grieving is what led me to finally pursue it.

Doll quilt made by my paternal grandmother, Hattie Eulelah "Lela" Thomas Lawhorn

Quilts made by my maternal grandmother, Minnie Elzada Turner Mitchell

A few months after my adored father died in 1982, I took my first quilting class. We learned to make a basic quilt block and how to hand quilt it. I didn't keep up with it, but I always had in the back of my mind that I would get to it someday. My sweet little Mom came to live with us in 2002, and after she passed away in September 2010 I again felt a yearning to quilt, so I took another quilting class. This time it "took". We made a table topper with four basic quilt blocks - nine-patch, rail fence, churn dash, and Ohio star. The class was in November, so I chose Christmas fabric and planned to use the finished quilt on my kitchen table. I didn't finish it then, but fast forward 4 years, and although I've finished several other quilts, I am finally quilting and finishing the first one I started.

Back of quilt

Christmas fabric - I think this was Basic Grey Fruitcake by Moda

This project has gone through two moves, and when I joined Rachael's Purge-Along, I found this in a basket during the "purge" of my sewing closet. I will finish quilting and binding and post the result here, hopefully before another four years pass.

I found a new blog this morning written by British quilter Lynne of Lily's Quilts and am excited to be linking to her Small Blog Meet. This is a "linky" party for blogs with less than 50 followers and an opportunity to meet other quilters/bloggers.

The Purge - Along

One of my favorite quilting blogs is by Rachel of Stitched In Color. She recently posted about purging unloved fabrics and getting organized.

It was a very persuasive post and after considering the concept for a few days, I finally decided to take the plunge! Here are the sad "Before" pictures.

The Mess

I can actually blame this on my cat.

I can't blame this on my cat.

Remarkably, my yarn stash looked pretty good.

I have a work bench in my room where I tinker with various crafts, and some of my supplies share space with fabrics and yarns in the closet, so I started with craft supplies. I also straightened and organized my doilies, laces, and embroidery supplies, as well as separately packaging my yarn and embroidery Christmas projects.

I counted yarn skeins and recorded brands, fibers, and colors on a spreadsheet. I had the brilliant idea of keeping a skein of each yarn on the shelf while storing the remainder in a plastic bin on an upper shelf.

Organized yarns.

I have fairly well organized upholstery fabrics on the top shelf, so I just pulled all my quilt fabrics to separate into color stacks and then fold them using my 6-1/2 inch quilt ruler.

The folding area.

Here are the "After" shots.

Katy was glad to have her bed back.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!

Neat and easy to see.

Bundles, "theme" fabrics, and yardage on fabric organizers.

Charms, layer cakes, and my pitiful selection of solids.

I still need to go through my scraps!

The best thing about this Purge was creating the ability to see not only what I have but also what I need. My obsessive love of darker valued prints and teal colors has left a dearth of solids and lighter values, so I have vowed to take inventory next time I order fabric. I also love knowing exactly what yarn I have and being able to see at a glance if I have enough for a project. Organizing was very satisfying, and I feel such a lift every time I look in my closet.

Rachel has many suggestions for what to do with unloved fabrics, but I decided to donate mine to Goodwill. I may dislike them, but hopefully someone else will love them and put them to good use.

Here is the link to Rachel's Purge-Along.