Christmas Quilt-A-Long Update: 2:55 PM EST

I'm back from the Stitchin' Friends group meeting.  About 12 of us showed up. We had lots of fun, as usual, and I got a good bit finished.

I finished the last row of my Thoughts of Christmas quilt.  This was supposed to finished in May . . . not too far behind.

I laid out all the rows for the first time to see how they looked . . . . The pattern calls for the rows to be sewn one on top of the other.  Since I never follow the directions, I have decided to put black sashing in between each row so it doesn't look quite so busy.

I also started my Christmas Star Trip quilt.  All the pieces have been cut for quite some time.  We won't mention how long.  Of all the Star Trips I have made, I think this is my favorite color combination.

After a little lunch, I'm off to the sewing room to unpack my bags and work on the Star Trip some more.  Hope to post again in a few hours.  Come back and visit!

Blessings, Cathi

My bags are packed, I'm ready to go . . . . .

I am all packed for what I hope will be a productive 4 hours with Teresa and the rest of my Stitchin' Friends buddies.  About 15 of us spend the second Saturday of each month either learning something new which Teresa is so gracious to teach us or doing our own thing.  It just happens to coincide with Sue's Christmas Quilt-a-long so why not do both !!

So my bags are packed.  I hope to take lots of pictures and post through the day on my progress.  Maybe I'll get through at least part of my Charming Girls Club goals.

Blessings, Cathi

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300th Follower . . . . .

No, I don't have 300 followers but I was the 300th follower over at Debbie's blog back in July.  Debbie and I were joking around by email about how she was going to have a giveaway when she reached 300 followers.  When I decided to become a follower of hers, I happened to be #300.  I didn't win the giveaway but Debbie was kind enough to send a gift to me anyway.  For being #300!

This is what she sent . . . .a glass frog!  Isn't it adorable?!

I probably could fill it with many quilty things.  Maybe put some perle cottons inside and have the thread come up through the holes.  Debbie suggested putting scissors in each of the holes.  I'll have to play with that later but for now . . . . .

. . . . .flowers sure are nice.  Be sure to visit Debbie over at Thread Gatherer and tell her I said hi!  And thanks, Debbie !!

Don't forget tomorrow is Sue's Christmas Quilt-a-long.  

I will be spending part of the day with Teresa and our Stitchin' Friends group.  Teresa usually has a project for us to work on but this week is a Do-your-own-thing day.  You know I will be working on my Christmas projects!!

Blessings, Cathi

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Charming Girls Club . . . . .

I totally blew my chances to enter on Kelly's blog this past week.  I finished one of my three goals and didn't even post about it.  Goal #2 (quilt the State Fair quilt) was "oh, so close".  I quilted it, put on the binding but didn't sew the binding down.  How lame is that ?!  Goal #3 wasn't even taken out of the box.

Goal #1 was posted right away . . . . .the finale to Between Friends . . . .but I didn't use Mr. Linky to make it official.

I don't know if this time it will be much better.  I am teaching 2 classes and will be a vendor at 2 shows in the month of October.  I also have at least 18 yards of wool sitting in the sewing room that I need to dye before the first show!

Let's make this easy on myself and try to do "little bite" goals.

1.   Finish the Presents row in this BOM that is supposed to be finished by now.  It's the bottom (and last) row to do.  Then on to the sashing and borders.

2.  Sew together the top for another Star Trip.  This will be my 5th(?) one.  But I just love making these.  I have taught this class several times so I have plenty of quilt tops in several stages of finishedness (new word).  The next one I have in pieces is Christmas colors.  I'd show you a picture of the fabric but it's in a box in storage that I can't get to right now.

3. Kelly's theme for the next two months is "Quilting the Quilt".  So in honor of that, I am going to list two quilts that I really want to get quilted.  They have been sitting way too long in the flimsie stage.

This was originally to be a tree skirt but I think I will do a little applique and make it a table topper.

This little log cabin has been a flimsie for over 10 years.  Time to finish it, don't you think!?

4.  And finally, I want to at least make the top with the Gail Pan "Christmas Wish" blocks that we all embroidered last year.  They are just too pretty to hide in a box!

Remember this Saturday is the Christmas Quilt-A-Long over at Sue's blog.  Guess which Christmas projects I will be working on this week!?  All of them!

Blessings, Cathi
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Welcome to Blogland, Cheri . . . . .

Just wanted to give a warm welcome to Cheri Saffiote-Payne who has finally joined us in Blogland.  There are a lot of Cheri fans out there . . . . . me included!

Cheri is giving directions to a quilt she calls "Soot & Ashes".  I don't know how many blocks there will be but so far I really like it.

Here are my blocks so far . . . . .

They went together so quickly, I may have to make another colorway! They are coming out 5-1/2" cut (5" finished) so it will be a nice little quilt when it's finished!

Blessings, Cathi
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