Funny how things look different

when there is a big gap between the last time you touched something and a more recent time. First, though, here is this one all finished. I like it alot although it goes absolutely no where in my house. It's just so happy! I was able to use a different colourway of the pink border for the back. I like that about it, too.

Here is another one I finished. Here is its back.

And here is its front. It is a lap from fat quilt from when I was trying to use up my fat quarters. The pattern had multiple borders of the various strips like the sashing but I just didn't like it so I didn't do it that way. Quilters' license, right? These were all kind of deep colours -- not exactly jewel tones but approaching that. Mr THQ likes this one alot. I like it, too. I like the extra bits in the star points.

I like the back, too. That back fabric is absolutely ancient. I bought it originally in 3 colourways. You will notice that one of them is blue. I guess it's time to explain my blue aversion. It's really a result of an overload of blue. My FIL could reupholster anything. We had an old couch that we had gotten cheap from friends that needed to be recovered. We lived in Reno at the time and I was walking past a store window of a kind of off the beaten path weird store and they had a bolt of upholstery fabric in the window. It was love at first sight! The fabric was basically royal blue with lots of rust and some kind of taupey brown in a southwestern pattern. I will have to look through old photos and see if I can find one that I can scan.

Anyway, he recovered that couch and a loveseat and from that moment on all my decorating had blue and orange in it. Of course the part I am leaving out is that the house in Reno had bright blue carpet -- royal blue -- I referred to it as Crisco can blue. We only lived in Reno that time for a couple of years but that couch stayed with us for a long time. I think it finally drowned in the great 1984 Tulsa Memorial Day flood that we got to participate in. Sort of a fitting ending, I guess.

The blue and orange versions of these fabrics were in pillows along with lots of other blues and oranges. I never did use the taupe until this backing. Anyway, before he died FIL recovered the loveseat in a brown fabric which is a good thing!

Boy, I am in a multiple colourway frame of mind aren't I? How strange. I didn't realize I did that so much. Anyway, the above two fabrics were ordered online as backing for the quilt that is coming up. I could not decide looking at my computer which wa the better colour. I ended up using the red but if I had it to do over I would definitely use the pink.

This quilt was a kit from Fons & Porter a long time ago. It has been waiting to be quilted for a while because I couldn't decide how to quilt it. I ended up using my walking foot which has spent lots of box time and not much machine time. I like the way it came out and will use the foot again I am sure. I tried to use only the fabrics that came in the kit even though I didn't like some of them AT ALL and as a whole it looks good. This was one of the first times I used a solid, too. Since then I have noticed lots of solids used in blogland, especially on contemporary quilts so I have started using them a little more. This is actually baby quilt size.

Even though I have a couple more quilts that are pinned and ready to be quilted (yes, still including the monster) I decided it was time to do something new. Actually I was looking for something else and came across this kitty angel fabric and decided its time had come. Isn't it cute?

Here is the finished top. I would have liked a slightly wider kitty angel fabric border but I didn't have enough to go any wider. It makes me smile, too.

Now I guess it's time to get back to the quilting. I have another one that I am not sure how to quilt so that is my excuse. Is it working?

Favourite things

I was reading one of my all time favourite cooking blogs, Mel's Kitchen Cafe, and noticed a section of favourite things. Related to cooking, of course. Well, I had just been thinking about a couple of my favourite things, quilting related, of course, and thought I would share them. This is the best seam ripper on the face of the earth. I love it so much I want to buy another one. If I could find it. I found another by Clover but it has a rougher tip -- not ball point I suppose -- and despite Mr THQ's best efforts at smoothing it out, it is, alas, not as good. But I am always searching.
This is another. Although I certainly missed half of it in the picture. Oh, well. It is just a box with sections and I keep all my Bernina feet in it. They sit nicely protected and dust free. Which is important since dusting is not one of my highly developed skills.

And my baby scissors. They are out all the time when I am sewing, and go into their case when I am not.

My quilting gloves. They are wonderful for free motion because they grip so well. And they are small. I have small hands so it is hard to find gloves that fit. I actually wore through my first pair. Then I discovered that the company for which I worked carried these in some of the locations. But not in small, of course. I got them to order me an entire dozen in my size! So as long as I can find them when I need them I am set for life.

Now I know I have mentioned this staple puller before. I use it to close the safety pins when I am pin basing the layers together. It works much better than spoons or anything else I have found. It was a freebie. Fortunately I have a few of them, too.

And clips for holding the binding on. I knew these as pin curl clips when I was a kid but now they are sold as binding clips and they are terrific. As you know I sew all my bindings on by machine and these are hold it all in place.

My bobbin storage case. This is ancient. I bought enough bobbins to fill it plus one more that is in the machine. When I get ready to quilt I wind a whole row of the colour I am using. It saves lots of time, oh, and, dust free!

And my favourite ruler. 6.5 by 18.5. Creative Grids. I don't like Omnigrid too much because of the yellow lines. This is my second one. I wore the first one out. Absolutely the perfect size for me.

While I was thinking about favourite things and thinking about what I might make next once my quilting binge is finished I thought about how I love these types of patterns, buy them often, but rarely make them. I need to rectify that. There is one I finished in the to be quilted stack so you will see it soon. But these are all sooooooo darn cute I need to stop buying and start making. Or keep buying and start making. That is probably more likely.

I have finished quilting some tops. This is a kind of Christmassy one. I like the yellow green colour with red. Not too prim but I like it.

And this one was a charm pack plus some yardage. Minnick and Simpson. I like it okay but you know I think it is a little boring to only use one fabric line. For the flag room.

And this one was to make use of a fat quarter I really liked at one time. Now, not so much. Funny how that happens, isn't it?

And you probably remember this one because I took it apart and replaced some blocks because I was unhappy with it. It really is cute quilted and now I am ready for a boy baby to appear somewhere.

And another little one. I like these colours. It is already in my bedroom because the colours are perfect for in there.

And I love, love, love how this one came out. It is mostly a bunch of half yards that I thought went together really well. Oh, and a fabric I bought in Charlotte last time I visited my daughter.

And look at the back. It looks so great with it. And the back is from JoAnn's. Lots of my backs come from JoAnn's because of cost but this one is cute and perfect.

And you just saw this one. Another quick from start to finish!

Still a few more to quilt so best get going while the finishing bug is still active!