UFO #4 April - Finished!

For my April UFO I set the goal of machine quilting a table runner my Mom had created.  It appears that she was practicing a bunch of piecing techniques.  And it has some applique on it.  I think this is the last applique that my Mom did.  It's not as good as her earlier work, but I want to preserve what she was able to do even near the end.



My goal with this piece was to practice machine quilting - and to learn Free Motion quilting on my machine.  I searched and searched for a darning/free motion foot for my Singer.  And found one at our local sewing machine store.

And then I just tried it!  I worked the free motion quilting on the paisley print- so I could not really get very good pictures of the stitching from the right side of the quilt.  So the pictures are of the back side of the piece. (And even that is hard to see because I used the same color thread as the backing!)

I was extremely pleased with what I was able to do.

 I also did some shadow-quilting with my walking foot around the applique.
My daughter liked this.

Here is a close-up.
I hope to keep up the free motion quilting - and get better at it.

The table topper has found its home on our dining room table for now.

Check out the other April UFO projects at Patchwork Times.

Now.  On to the May UFO!!
CathyH

Brown Corduroy Blazer

Brown Corduroy is the most amazing fabric!

It FEELS so wonderful as you cut it. It LOOKS so beautiful with its variations in nap. It SEWS together in such an amazing way!! It says "FALL" like no other fabric. And it makes a sharp blazer for the college freshman!

Each feature of the pattern looks so sharp with the corduroy.

The lapels,

The buttons,

buttonholes

and pockets.

And the signature of the seamstress - close to his side, but hidden from the view of college buddies. (My daughter once noted that "MOM" held upside-down says "WOW").

I made the buttons on the sleeve-placket actually functional. That will make it a little easier when he wants to roll up his sleeves.

A Christmas present completed - Christmas of 2009!

Just in time for the cooler weather of 2011.

Nothing says "FALL" like brown corduroy!

I'm linking this to Stitched in Color's Celebrate Color.

Check out all the other lovely fantastic fall creations as we celebrate the colors of the season!!

CathyH

Brown

Brown is one of my favorite colors! Living in Texas, in the late summer

and early fall . . . and even into the winter, brown is EVERYWHERE.

In my house - brown granite, stone tiles, coffee corner and even the lamp made by my brother-in-law help surround us with the color brown.

In the kitchen there is usually something with chocolate -

starting with chips,

then cookie dough and

(if I get baking before the troops find the dough)

Chocolate chip cookies.

I wanted to show this to you, because I have finished a BROWN project. A Christmas gift. For my son. For Christmas of 2009. I ran into a few problems.

At 18 years old, he has LONG arms: longer than the sleeves of the pattern I used. So I had to make some changes just as I was about to put in the lining.

Then my sewing machine became unreliable. Our 33 years together were beautiful, but machines just break when you use them that long. I was going to put eleven buttonholes on this project. I sure did not want those to be a failure. So I had to buy a new machine. Then I had to get used to the machine.

And then the weather began to cool (finally) and my son began asking for his promised gift. As I approached the end of this project, I ran into a contest on another quilting blog, and decided to enter. You might want to look at the contest - and you might want to enter!! I'll show you the finished project tomorrow!

CathyH