My Jewel Box Stars quilt is quilted, all but the final border! I have been working on it for a couple of hours everyday since Christmas.
I am using Superior Thread for my quilting, with Bottom Line in the bobbin, and 2 colours of Twist in the needle. I am planning on using a variegated thread on the plain yellow border.
I work each day until my arms are tired, from moving this large quilt through my machine.
I machine quilt, using my Bernina B710. It has a larger throat space, and wonderful tension for stitching free motion!
Now I have to look through some pictures of quilting to find an idea for the quilting on the final border. I am determined to finish this quilt before 2020 arrive!
Our phone rang on Christmas morning, just before 7am. I heard a little voice say "Santa came to my house!" It was our signal to get to the computer and connect via Skype with our son and his family.
We sat for over an hour, being entertained by our grandkids, and sharing their joy at Christmas magic. Our grandson was able to read the tags on the parcels under the tree this year, and helped everyone open their presents. His sister is just 1, and was interested in the items in each package, but did not want to unwrap anything. Her favourite items were books and toys with buttons to push.
We shared Christmas wishes with family members far away all day, and I was busy getting our feast ready. Seven friends and family members shared a fun afternoon/evening, with good food, lots of stories, and 2 delicious pies for dessert, provided by one of our guests.
By the time the leftovers were put away, dishes done and kitchen tidied, it was time for a game and off to bed.
Today, I had a completely lazy day! I can't remember when I last took this type of day. Our overnight guests had breakfast and then headed home. We read the paper, watched a couple of shows on TV, had a small turkey sandwich for lunch, and just relaxed. I didn't even turn on my sewing machine (2 days in a row!) We'll be enjoying leftovers for dinner tonight.
Tomorrow things will be back to normal. I have laundry to do, more quilting, check my important to-do list, and get back to a normal schedule. I also need to go for a bike ride with DH!
My southern quilting group gets back together on January 8th, and I have a couple of things to prepare for them, and I don't want to get behind now the end of the CQA "52 blocks in 52 weeks" challenge is near the end.
Goody bags were distributed, but we had heavy rain begin a 5pm, and continued most of the night. We plan to head out tonight, so I hope the weather fairy keeps more rain at bay!
I baked dinner rolls and half of the batch of ribbon cookies (refrigerated dough). I even got a bit more quilting done on my latest project. Since I make my stuffing from dry bread cubes, I spread the bread slices on racks to dry overnight.
This morning I cubed the bread, and left it in a bowl on the counter to continue drying. Then I made bread crumbs in my blender, using the crusts. Next was making cranberry sauce, with orange zest and a bit of orange juice added. It is almost cool enough to put in the refrigerator. I rolled out the pastry I made to make mini mincemeat tarts.
Tomorrow I plan to cook the giblets from the turkey, to use the broth in the gravy. I'll also cook the turnip (rutabaga), and mix in the rest of the ingredients ready to bake on Wednesday. I've been doing some major juggling of items in the refrigerator to fit everything in!
Now off to my machine to continue quilting my version of Jewel Box Stars....
We've been having fun! DH and his friends have been busy bringing Christmas cheer to local nursing homes, rehab centers and senior residences, playing music, telling jokes and having fun interacting with the residents.
In our community, we've had a Christmas sing-a-long, and decorated golf cart parade, food and toy drives for the local community, and we have caroling planned for Sunday evening, with 22 homes to visit, to let our neighbors know that we are thinking about them too.
My southern quilting group has been busy, with large and small finishes being shared each week. We had a great potluck lunch last week - everyone brought delicious treats to share.
Along with our friends, we have had several visits to various parks at Disney World, enjoying the holiday entertainment, especially the annual Candlelight Processional - always wonderful!
Lately, holiday baking has been taking center stage. I made 4 loaves of cinnamon raisin fruit bread - 2 were delivered to neighbors, baked chocolate mint cookies, ginger cookies, marizpan bars ( my Mother-in-law's recipe), peanut butter oatmeal cookies, I have pastry made for mincemeat tarts, and I'm baking a large batch of dinner rolls.
Now on to the important information - Quilting!
I have been staying up to date on the CQA's 52 blocks in 52 weeks, and of course I've been playing with different layouts for the future quilt.
A person in my quilt group was giving away unfinished projects that she has lost interest in finishing. I saw a cute pattern to make small table mats, so I used her already cut pieces, re-cutting to make the outer ring, and finished these 2 small projects, and gave one to the donor of the fabric!
I pulled out a panel that has been waiting a very long time in my stash. I found some coordinating fabric prints, then headed to Electric Quilt 8, to play with various ideas for setting the panel. I decided on hourglass blocks in bold colours to surround the panel, then 2 borders and scrappy binding. I pin-basted and machine quilted, using a variegated thread. I enjoyed sitting and hand stitching the binding to the back while watching a Christmas move with DH. This will be donated through my guild's community quilts program in the spring.
I have also been working on my Jewel Box Stars quilt, as part of the Quiltville leader and ender challenge for this year. I cut block kits from my scraps and strips during the summer and fall, sewing the pieces into block quarters while working on various other projects. When I finished the top, DH, my pin basting assistant on larger projects, prepared the quilt for machine quilting. So far, I have completed the SITD, to stabilize the quilt top, and I am about 1/3 quilted with a green twist thread in the 4 patch areas. I plan to complete the quilt before the end of the year so I can count the yardage in my annual stash report statistics!
Now back to baking dinner rolls, and the final batch of Christmas cookies! Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season with family and friends.
My Jewel Box Stars quilt is quilted, all but the final border! I have been working on it for a couple of hours everyday since Christmas.
I baked dinner rolls and half of the batch of ribbon cookies (refrigerated dough). I even got a bit more quilting done on my latest project. Since I make my stuffing from dry bread cubes, I spread the bread slices on racks to dry overnight.
I have been staying up to date on the CQA's 52 blocks in 52 weeks, and of course I've been playing with different layouts for the future quilt. 
A person in my quilt group was giving away unfinished projects that she has lost interest in finishing. I saw a cute pattern to make small table mats, so I used her already cut pieces, re-cutting to make the outer ring, and finished these 2 small projects, and gave one to the donor of the fabric!
I pulled out a panel that has been waiting a very long time in my stash. I found some coordinating fabric prints, then headed to Electric Quilt 8, to play with various ideas for setting the panel. I decided on hourglass blocks in bold colours to surround the panel, then 2 borders and scrappy binding. I pin-basted and machine quilted, using a variegated thread. I enjoyed sitting and hand stitching the binding to the back while watching a Christmas move with DH. This will be donated through my guild's community quilts program in the spring.
