Quilting

And thus endeth one of the most boring weeks in recent memory. It was so boring I couldn’t even muster up anything to blog about. Isn’t it funny how some days drag painfully on, yet the months and years blitz by? I did manage to finish my table topper for the family room.  (Sorry, it looks wonky – I was standing off to the side when I took the picture.)

I don’t really think it’s any less busy than the orange peel pieces were. {Sigh}. I probably should have put it on a solid background, rather than the jumbo numbers. But I love that print so much, plus, I wanted it to have the same feel as the little side table topper that I made a few months ago.

The fabrics are a mix of Cosmo Cricket’s Circa 1934, Sweetwater’s Reunion and scraps from my stash.  They pull out the colors from the stripey rug, which looks a little more muted than it is in real life.

It’s not really a table topper.  It’s a kitty liner.  PaulKitty thinks I moved it out of the sewing room and on to this table just for him.  He’s color coordinated with the background print.

Thanks to everyone for all the Downton Abbey replacement suggestions.  If, like me, you’re looking for something to fill the waiting-for-season-3 void, here’s a list of some suitable replacement series: (If I left yours out, please let me know!)

Upstairs Downstairs
Great Expectations
Sherlock Holmes
The Forsythe Saga
Cranford
Bleak House
Daniel Deronda
Middlemarch
Call the Midwives (which I can’t find yet on Netflix, but I’m hopeful)
South Riding
As Time Goes By
Ballykissangel
The Firm
Mad Men

Whew! That should keep us busy for a while, don’t you think?
Have a good weekend!
XOXO,
Anna

We’re in Holiday denial here in ThimbleannaLand.  I’m seeing beautiful, festive images all over the internet, but not here.  I’m savoring just a few more days of fall.  Even though it’s snowing outside and there’s nothing fall-like about the fr-r-r-osty temps out there.

So, in true denial form, here’s a little table topper I recently finished.  It’s made from Moda’s Circa 1934 + a few additions from my stash.  Circa 1934 has green in it, but I’m more of a blue girl, so I threw some blue into the palette.

This little topper is for the table that sits beside TheManoftheHouse’s “chair”.   We’re a little rough on our tables, so I like to cover them.  We have a coffee table too, and I’m hoping to make a coordinating topper for it sometime during the holidays (after Christmas) when I have a little extra time.  (Ha!)

This is the tame version of what it will look like most of the time.  At least there won’t be any drink rings on the table top!

Also, here’s a few linky-links you might be interested in:

Nicolette received the cutest Christmas runner in a recent swap.

I’m so excited to see Raina able to post a bit more.  I love her blog and photography, and she’s posted a gorgeous picture of her tree with a pretty granny pillow.

I don’t get any bonus points for telling you or anything, but Nicole is having a giveaway.  If you win you get to pick 4 fat quarters of your choice from her shop.  I know telling you decreases my chances significantly, but … well, you know … ’tis the season to be sharing!

Have a good week!

XOXO,
Anna

I hope you’ve all had a good weekend. Ours has been lots of fun — we’ve been busy cleaning and catching up on a lot of little tasks that have been left undone for too long. There has been a little sewing, but unfortunately, I got sidetracked and didn’t get the bliss quilt top finished yet. ;-(. So, as a consolation prize, I thought I’d show you an older quilt that I don’t think I’ve had here on the blog yet.  (And if I have, just pretend, ok?)

A few years ago, MeMum gave me this antique store quilt top for Christmas. At the time, I thought it was the ugliest quilt I’ve ever seen, but I tried to be really excited when I opened it. (This isn’t a great shot, but I decided it was time for that retaining wall to earn it’s keep.)

The original quiltmaker had given up on this quilt. Four of the big pink blocks running down one edge of the quilt were really wonky. In the close-up shot below (sorry for the blur), you can see that the pink part was pieced in long strips. She had somehow mis-calculated and the pink strips were too long, causing the pink part of the block to balloon out.  The quilt wouldn’t lie flat, so it couldn’t be quilted.

I took those four blocks apart, cut them down and re-pieced them.  Then, I added the green border to make the quilt big enough for a  double bed.  (The greens don’t look as poorly matched in real life as they do in the picture.)  After the repairs, I sent the quilt off to a hand quilter.  And, boy oh boy, was I surprised when the quilt came back!  The quilting made all the difference and brought this quilt to life.  I LOVE the way she quilted it — very simple, but very effective.

Just look at all those tiny little blocks.  Can you believe — they’re all hand-pieced!  Each little block is about 1 1/4″ x 1 1/4″.  So scrappy and SO pretty — I could sit for hours and look at all the different fabrics.  Sometimes I wonder if the quilter planned where each block would be, but I’m guessing she just grabbed them as she pieced them.

I had the quilt on the floor trying to fold it up nicely, and that obnoxious Scruff had to butt in.  He’s a cat in serious need of some manners.   I tried and tried to get a pretty fold for one of those famous folded quilt shots.  I should have a bloopers post — some of them are awful.  Sadly, this is as good as it gets.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the story of the Ugly Duckling quilt. I think the quilting turned this quilt into a beautiful swan and I’m so thankful that MeMum could see the potential in this quilt when she found it.
XOXO,
Anna