Hot! Hot! Hot!

Can some one explain the crazy weather we're having here in NW Wisconsin?  It's been so cool all summer that we haven't turned on the AC even once--having ceiling fans helps a lot but still.  The past couple of days we've hit the 90's and the forecast is for continuing warm through the weekend. What's with that??? It's Fall, time to be cool and snuggle up with a quilt, a good book and mug of cocoa--or hot buttered rum, if you like.  But I'll have to continue with the Long Island Tea that has been my companion throughout the summer.

Okay, enough of the weather complaints. In case you haven't figured it out yet, I have an intense dislike of hot and humid weather, and am happiest in the fall and spring.  On days like yesterday, today, and tomorrow, I'm very happy to spend a lot of time in my basement sewing room, and that's what I did yesterday afternoon.

I worked on this little table quilt that I want to finish and bring to my son so he has some Christmas cheer in his apartment this winter.  I'd pieced it last winter and just have to get it quilted up.

Yesterday, I marked the quilting where it was needed and made a line and loop design that I got from Lori Kennedy's blog, http://theinboxjaunt.com/.  This design is found in the Free Motion Quilting Tutorials under the Quilts/Tutorials tab.  This is a tulip and leaf design and I left off the circular tulip and just did the stems and leaves throughout the sashing.

It's hard to see on the front side of the quilt in this picture but it shows up nicely on the back.

You can also see on the back that I stitched around each snowman motif and then did a cross hatch in the background.  

In the black triangles, I'm going to try my hand at some curved feathers--that's just free handed, no pattern--and I think I'll attempt this mitten design for the border. This design is also from Lori Kennedy.

All I'll have left is the binding and I have enough of the black fabric for that.  I also need to cut some binding for this potholder I made when my back screamed at me yesterday to stop quilting.  My friend, the draper, is making valences for our bedrooms in exchange for 6 potholders like this.  They have pockets for your fingers so you can easily grip a pan when taking it out of the oven, or a hot dish in the microwave.  

I thought I'd make up a practice one and it went very smoothly, until I got to the binding. It calls for double wide bias tape and I only had the narrower kind and I found out that it's not wide enough to bring over to the front and stitch down.  I have enough of the orangey red fabric to cut binding since I don't want to drive 50 miles round trip to get a package of binding!

I'm also going to make up this table runner for my friend's camper, which she and her husband take out every weekend all summer long. A friend also loaned me a pattern she had for a quilted bag that's shaped like a vintage camper and I'd like to make that as well.  

Before I return to the cool basement, I have to get some of the house work done that I laid out for myself. Cleaning house is just about my least favorite things to do, but having a clean house is one of my most favorite things.   I want to get the house in order before the trip so I have a clean space to come home to. That means I have to get some of that work done this morning and then I'll allow myself more time in the sewing room--got to get the table quilt finished up!