Odds & Ends

I've been stitching, but, I don't have much to show for it.  Most of my stitching has been hanging sleeves, and labels on the items that will go in my large guild's quilt show in early March. 

If you are in the Chicago area, I invite you to come see my quilts and 15 of my vintage machines at the show.

Pride of the Prairie Quilt Show

March 10 & 11, 2018

Richland Grade School

1919 Caton Farm Road

Crest Hill, IL 60403

I did finish one of the play mats I started in January.  This one is for my granddaughter, who is due Feb 15th.  Her nursery is Peter Pan themed, so, I used blue nautical fabric, and a pirates map fabric.

finished play mat

jingly toys hang from the hooks

up close of the bottom of the play mat

I didn't do much quilting, since I wanted it more 'fluffy'.  I also added double poly batting to get it fluffy.  The other play mat just needs to be quilted.  Since it doesn't have an 'owner' yet, I'm not in a rush.

I also made some t-shirts for the grandparents to wear.  Mine is the purple shirt.

Is anyone as tired of snow as I am???  The Chicago area tied 2 previous records for snow.  Nine days of snow (yes, EVERY DAY) with a total of 18 inches.  In the western suburbs (where we are) we actually got even more snow than that.  As Native Texan's (yes, misplaced) we still aren't used to it snowing more than 1-2 times a winter.  

Stitching, stitching, stitching.....

I've been busy, really! 

My large quilt guild is having a quilt show March 10-11, 2018.  If you are near the Western suburbs of Chicago that weekend, I'd love to see you at the quilt show.  I'll have a booth (again) showing off some of my vintage sewing machines.  This will be the 4th time I've had a booth at this quilt show. 

Tonight is when we have to turn in all the paperwork for the quilt show.  Boy does that take a long time to get ready.  I'm entering 3 quilts and 2 bags.  I also promised to make 2 Project Bags for the Silent Auction.  I finished them up earlier today.  Yes, they are all sewing themed fabrics. 

As usual, I made 2 of each fabric.  One of each will go to the guild, and I'll keep the other one for me.  I changed up how I did the zipper pulls this time.  I used cording, and added a shank button to each. 

zipper pulls for Project Bags

I finally pulled out my elephant quilt.  I hadn't worked on this since last Spring.  It is my entry in the Challenge for the quilt show.  Time to get this one finished.  I had to take a picture of it for the paperwork.  It doesn't have to be finished until the night before the quilt show. 

There isn't much left to do on the elephant quilt, thank goodness.  I needed to make a backing for it.  I had already planned to use the extra strips of fabric from making the front of the quilt.  The backing is enveloped.  I knew I'd have a hard time trying to add binding to this, so envelope method was my only option.

right sides together, ready to stitch on the backing

The tape measure is to make sure that the quilt measures correctly for the challenge rules.  The finished quilt cannot measure more than 45" in any direction, or less than 25".   Mine measures 31" tall, and 43" wide (without the tail). 

Due to the size of this and the tiny harp space on my Featherweight, I had to stitch the backing on with my Janome.  It was hard, since I had to follow each leg, inside and out. 

lots of quilt jammed in the harp area

I didn't want to trim anything until AFTER it was stitched down, which was a good thing, since I forgot to pin one side of 2 different legs.  I also realized (too late) that I forgot to thread paint the tree down.  Oh well.  I don't know how to thread paint anyways, so, it probably wouldn't have turned out very well.  Here is what the elephant looks like at the moment.

still unfinished

with paint chips on the matching fabrics

We have to match our paint chips.  The gray looks a little darker, since the Texture Magic was shrunk.  It added 'shadows'.  I can't help that.  I think the other 2 colors are a good match.

I still need to stitch on the tail, and add some buttons to the tree.  I also need to add something to the faces of the elephants, before I stitch the backing closed.  That all will get done in the next 2 weeks. 

I've also been working on 2 different baby play mats.  They are slow going.  Hopefully both of them will be finished in the next week or so, too.  The hard parts are all done now.  I've stitched on these at 2 different sew-in's this past week.  Here are pictures of what the bottom of each play mat will look like.

Pirate (Peter Pan) play mat

car play mat

 I just have to baste and quilt the bottom pieces, and add the last of the connecting hardware.  That is the easy part (I hope).  The pole covers were slow going (hard to turn inside out, since they are so narrow).

Oh yes, I am almost finished stitching the binding down on the Neverland quilt.  Hopefully it will be done later today.

I hope that you are also having a good stitching week.