Traditional Bright Sampler Quilt Flimsy Finish, Queen Mary Tour, Happy New Year Almost Here!

My traditional sampler quilt with final border sewn on, now 74" x 84".

Final border is about 10" wide.

We toured the Queen Mary in Long Beach after Christmas.

There was a Carnival cruise ship at dock loading passengers.

Hello from Rancho Palos Verdes where....

It's almost the New Year, 2019!

We had a Merry Christmas with family and good food. I hope you too enjoyed your Christmas.

And best wishes for a Happy New Year!

Before Christmas week I managed to sew the final border onto my Traditional Bright Sampler Quilt, inspired by a free sampler block of the month in 2018 by Piecing the Past Quilt Shop , they called it  'Times of Refreshing.' It now measures 74" x 84". Then I went on break and unplugged my sewing machine.

Christmas week we toured the Queen Mary , a retired ocean liner, maiden voyage 1936, docked in Long Beach, CA. There was a lot to see, models, historical info, a skating rink, restaurants, and Christmas lights and decoration, etc. There were cruise ships at dock loading passengers too. We got lots of walking/exercise in.

Beautiful scenery.

That's the news from the rancho where the holidays are being enjoyed and I'm staying in relax mode.

How about you and yours? Are you still on holiday?

I'll be by to visit!

Quilt Basted, Clover Thread Trimmer, Long Beach, Border # 3, Rejoice!

Cathedral Window square ready for what I call step 2.

Another square in process for my Cathedral Window project.

I ordered Clover's thread clippers, perfect for trimming stray threads.

'Uneven Thirds' machine basted.

Long Beach and San Bernardino Mtns in the background, 9th St. San Pedro, CA.

This week I worked on 3rd border for my sampler.

Rejoice!

Hello!

From Rancho Palos Verdes where we have sun and cool temperatures.

This week I had time for piecing the 3rd border for my traditional quilt and putting together more squares for my Cathedral Window project. Putting together borders are tedious for me but I like the look so I put the effort in. I think part of it is that I'm almost done and so I get impatient.

I'm going to get my Cathedral Window squares all to what I call the second step and then I'll post the process of sewing the squares together and adding the color insert.

Also this week I machine quilted my 'Uneven Thirds' quilt and it did not turn out well.

It's small and even though I had pin basted it, it didn't quilt flat and had puckers.

So I unpicked all of it and machine basted it in a grid to get better stability. 

It will wait until I've recovered my bravery.

We took time on Thursday for a little sightseeing and drove south to San Pedro where there's a good carwash. We could see the San Bernardino Mtns and they had a light dusting of snow on them.

Now the Christmas Cards are mailed out and maybe I'll make up some sugar cookies.

That's the news from the rancho,

 where we are Merry and Bright and remembering to be thankful.

I'll be by to visit!

More Fancy Quilt Stuff Cathedral Windows, Blog Friends' Sewing Projects and Sun Along the Coast

This is my first try at 'cathedral windows' and I'm making more.

This is the first part of my cathedral window process, started with 7 1/2" sq.

Folded in edges 1/2", press.

Folded in half, press. 

Fold in half again, press. The press lines are guides.

Then fold in the corners to center, press.

All corners are folded in. Now fold these corners into the center and press.

Fold the last corner in and press. These squares will be sewn to other cathedral window squares. That's part two, next post.

Looking north from Palos Verdes, Ca, across the Santa Monica Bay, toward Malibu, where the wildfires burned out of control a couple of weeks ago.

North Los Angeles, there were surfers in the small cove below.

Hello from Rancho Palos Verdes! 

Where we have clouds, wind and light rain.

Last week there was a stretch of mild weather and sun. I managed to get some photos of North Los Angeles and the Santa Monica Bay. That's the view I see driving into 'town'.

Last few days I've been working on more Cathedral Window blocks, a little here and there.

I'm in no hurry, this is for fun, 'tis the season to be merry!

I enjoy the hand work. It reminds me of when I learned to sew. 

I learned to sew when I was 14, and I loved it. First I sewed an apron, then a blouse, then a jumper etc. It was everything fun, color, fashion, the excitement of process. I kept sewing for myself and then for my little ones as they arrived. Then things got busy and all I had time for was dreaming about projects. And time passes and the art quilt thing got hold of me and still has me.

As I was saying I like sewing, the planning, the process and Cathedral Window blocks are that to me right now. 

I have blog friends who also like to sew and I love their projects. Julie @ justjulielou recently made a gorgeous dress. You must see it! She's made a lot of other projects too, beautiful finishes.

And Bernadette Banner has enjoyable videos on You Tube  showing her historical costume projects.

She hand sews most of her work. Her attention to detail is amazing. Her enthusiasm is catching.

She's just finished an historical reproduction of a dress fashioned after a garment in a painting in the Washington National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC . Then she went into the gallery and made a video of the garment next to the painting with her sister modeling it. Brilliant.

How fun is that!

And that Friends, is what's happening on the rancho.

Where I'm taking time to be thankful and merry.

Hope you have a good week, I'll be by to visit!