Two Down, One To Go

So far I've met two of the three goals I set for myself this week. I sewed the binding to the Twelve Stars quilt a couple nights ago and started hand stitching it to the back while I was at the laundromat today.

Last night I quilted this little strippy on my Lizzie using the Poinsettia pantograph from Willow Leaf. Because someone in a wheel chair will be the recipient of this little lap quilt, I wanted to use flannel on the back so it would be softer and warmer. Once I got it loaded on the frame, using the flannel didn't seem any different to me than using a regular cotton back. Other than a few loops on the back that I managed to work out, I was very happy with the way it turned out.

This was a strange collection of fabrics by Benartex I bought years ago, one of those what-was-I-thinking moments. Not only are the colors a little odd to me for a Christmas print, but the motifs strike me as odd too. It's pears, plums, and holly leaves or something.

Anyway, I sewed the binding on this morning, all by machine, probably only the third or fourth time in 15 years I haven't finished a binding by hand. I figured it will probably get washed a lot in a nursing home so thought a machine stitched binding might be more durable. I washed it myself this morning and was amazed that it shrunk about 3 inches in both directions. Glad Mary's dimensions were generous when she wrote the instructions. That's probably happened to me before when I've washed my quilts, but I never paid much attention to it. With this small quilt though, it was more noticeable.

Tomorrow I'm going to Kay's for our bi-monthly meeting. We're going to make Christmas ornaments, and I have a cute little snowman kit I bought several years ago that I'll be working on. When I get home, I'm going to tackle my last goal for the week, to get Theresa's Stars quilted. I haven't even cut and pieced the backing yet, so I'm hoping to load it on the frame and get at least some of it quilted by the end of the weekend. I'm working all weekend though, so we'll see.

I've gotten behind with all sorts of things lately, including reading my favorite blogs. So I'm hoping to get caught up with that this weekend as well. If you work outside the home, it seems like you're always behind with something, chores, housework, you name it. But at least I've got my priorities right--quilting first, housework second, right?