Quilt backings

Those darn pictures arrived in my inbox about an hour late. That rarely happens! Oh well, you know me and technology - some days I'm smoking, and other days, I'm cold. 

Let's start with the missing photos from yesterday!

Here are the running shoes and the ones on the left - the old ones look in excellent shape - slightly dirty, but in good condition. 

The old and the new

However, look at the bottoms! They are pretty worn - as a matter of fact, they are totally worn out. That was three months' worth of walking, so about 1,000 or thereabouts. I don't really keep track of the monthly tallies. But here's the thing -- why can't they make a sole with something more durable like what we would find on a car tire? OH -- that means people wouldn't be replacing their shoes as often. Silly me. 

The old soles compared to the new ones

Here are the hexagons from my One Block Wonder panel. I ended up with 60. Well, there is supposed to be 60 there. I didn't count them. I finished sewing and pressing and literally threw them on the wall to get a picture for our One Block Wonder discussion. 

Hexagons for One Block Wonder

Here's what it looks like at the moment. There's a lot of work to be done to move those hexagons around. The ones in the bottom left (dark green) are good, and some of the blue up top, but the rest? Oh boy -- not good at all. It's a start! And there are questions -- do I overlap some of the hexagons? What math needs to be worked out to make them fit? Do I center the panel or offset it? Do I piece the hexagons vertically or horizontally? 

The first pass at my One Block Wonder

And here's the customer quilt I completed. I'm way behind but hope to start getting caught up this week. 

Customer quilt - DONE

My goal for yesterday was to clean the cutting table off. I just can't seem to get that under control. Things don't live there - they just come and go, but I can't get ahead. That was my goal for yesterday; however, I didn't really do much of anything!

The cutting table needs to be cleaned

I sorted a bit more of the stuff on the kitchen table. One more box is filled, and the boxes have been loaded in the car. I think there'll be another 3 boxes, and I must do that today as I want to get this stuff out of the house. 

My SIL came over, and we hadn't had a chat in a long time, so we chatted all afternoon! She had a couple of errands to do, so I drove her around and then back to her mom's. I got back home and went for my walk. I went for a LONG walk as I was on the phone having a chat. 

Do you remember me telling you about this fantastic gold Tesla that I'd seen in the neighborhood? Well, I found out where it resides and couldn't resist taking a picture. The color is gorgeous. 

Beautifully colored Tesla

Do you remember that little blue shoe that I spotted in the forest? Well, I spotted it again. I hadn't seen it in a long time, so I thought it got picked up. Well, it did sort of! It's now hanging in a tree. 

The shoe in the tree

I don't know what Murphy was thinking yesterday. She devours her food and then couldn't care less about Lexi's. But yesterday, Miss Murphy seemed to be eyeing Lexi's food. She won't touch it, though. She knows better. 

MOM  - can I eat my sister's food? 

one block

Diane left me two bags of quilt tops yesterday. Gulp! I need to get to work on quilting those -- there are so many now! But a quilt top is way better than the yardage. I'm going to have a much more open week, although I have a lot of homework stuff to get done. 

Bags of quilt tops for community projects

I love what I created for my week of posts for QUILTsocial. So many cool things. A lot of it was machine embroidery, but some were decorative stitches. Regardless, it's cool to stay on top of what's happening in the industry! In case you missed one, here are the links to all five days.

Day One --- Gathering tote bag supplies and exploring mySewnet

Day Two -- Endless Embroidery

Day Three - Decorative Stitches on the tote bag

Day Four - Spiro embroidery on a circular table mat made with macrame cord

Day Five - Finishing the tote bag and doing Spiro embroidery

Here's a quick note about quilt backings. Let's say that you need backing for a quilt. A lot of people are gravitating to wide backs. Wide-backs are not my favorite choice for several reasons. 

• When the backing gets cut, it isn't square, and most customers do NOT take the time to square up the ends, which means it can be a mess to load on the long arm. 
• The quality is not always the best, although the quality is proving. 
• It's not necessarily the most economical. If you do not have a large quilt, a lot of the backing gets "wasted." What do you do with the leftovers? 

Just some things to think about the next time you search for a wide backing. 

My preferred backing is made from yardage. A much wider choice of fabrics, you don't waste nearly as much and easy to square up. With the cost of material these days, it can be daunting to lay down a lot of money for a quilt backing. BUT if you can find a sale -- that works like a charm. 

The Hobby Horse is in the process of having a HUGE sale. This wall of fabric is $7.49 a meter. Now that's very economical to get backing for your quilts. 

Sale fabric at the Hobby Horse

The thing to think about with quilt backings -- it doesn't have to be a perfect match for the front. I go for theme and color match as best as possible, but I'm not as fanatical about it as I used to be. So if you are looking for inexpensive quilt backs -- think sale fabric. It's often excellent quality fabric that didn't sell on the main floor and is now being offered at a steal! 

We have embroidery club today, and I've been getting pictures from everyone. I'm thrilled because I see that the group is experimenting and trying out new things and making mistakes, which just thrills me to the bone!!! I can't wait to see here all the stories!!!

It's raining today, but that doesn't mean we won't go out. Can you imagine if I told Lexi and Murphy that it's raining and we're not going out? Neither can I!!!!

And I'm going to try and get some of that cutting table cleared up, but I have some quilt labels that need to be stitched in place TODAY, and one quilt needs to be delivered, and hopefully, one more will get picked up. And hopefully, I can get those two quilts quilted. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!