Two sides to every story......

That's the name of Zoe's quilt.

......no, really, that's the new name of this quilt !

All bound, washed and dried !

Can you see how flat her binding lies? I took some tips from a quilting forum, since not one of you dear friends had any advice to offer when I asked ! I actually measured and cut the binding to the measurement of the center of the quilt, and then pinned it on before sewing, so that it didn't stretch, thereby drawing up the edge of the quilt.

Oops.............did I forget to tell you that I made it totally reversible?

I did ! Oh, my bad ! Yes, yes.........this is in homage to the wonderful quilters from these three blogs..... http://www.filminthefridge.com/ and http://www.redpepperquilts.com/
and fromthehandbasket.blogspot.com/2009/11/weekend-progress-r... (and bits and pieces from most all of you whose blogs I visit.......you know who you are, and if I need to mention you, give me a nudge.)
You all inspire me DAILY and I had to start machine-quilting, just so that I could try some of these wonderful pieced quilts and backs, like you make. Thanks, girls !

Yep, loving the brights one week........the next week, I'm a purple girl. Actually, the purple bigger blocks were pieced for the front, but I didn't like them there.......and the back just came together ! (yeh, dolly, after about 7 or 8 hours of hair-pulling, rearranging, cutting, piecing, ripping...........)

I love this........all ready for snuggling under........the next best thing to a hug from Nana !

And now, let's give THIS little girly a big hand ! A beautiful, useful quilt, totally made on her little surface. She's been with me for 31 years and has NEVER let me down. Of course, she's been around alot longer than that, and probably could tell tales of gorgeous quilts extraoidinaire............but she's very modest. She sits quietly in a corner, unnoticed, with a sweet little Mona Lisa smile playing around her bobbin case. We get together weekly, and like me, she tends to 'run on' a little bit, as my best gal, JoAnn, remembers, but she's left her mark on me and my quilts.......in the best possible way.

She deserves a name, but, alas, she's never told me what it is, and I would feel like I was imposing MY personality on her if I tried to give her one now. Maybe someday she'll share it with me during a quiet moment, but for now, we understand each other, and names aren't necessary.

Thank heavens........after all, I've changed mine so many times, she'd be thoroughly confused !

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Wait a doggone minute ! What's this??????????



I don't wanna talk about it..........I'm fine.......really! I'M FINE.......mean old quilting fairies !

Under the wire......

I managed to squeeze in one more little family gift.........

I started out tonight to make a couple of potholders for my sister-in-law, Judy,

because she's invited us for Christmas dinner tomorrow. In my stash,

I found a panel for making a vest (by Debbie Mumm),

and was going to use the angels from the vest fronts, and just log-cabin piece

around them until they were the size I wanted for potholders.

Then, I noticed that down in a corner of the background fabric was a quote from the Bible.

It was wider than I wanted the potholder center to be,

but I cut it out and started playing around with it, figuring that if it came out too big,

I'd just turn it into a big center-of-the-table hotpad.

After adding a couple of pieces around it, I realized that it would make a much nicer mini-quilt to hang on the wall at eye-level, for encouragement and inspiration.

Looking through my batting scraps, I found a piece wide enough, and then began

my search for a back. The quilt is only 10 inches or so wide by about 8 inches long, so I could have just used a plain piece of color-coordinating fabric. But this is a Christmas gift, and the reason I like to MAKE THEM is so that I can give my heart in the gift. It's not to save money (and yes, we are having to watch the cash flow this Christmas, just like everyone I know), but I've always PREFERRED to give homemade gifts.........I wonder if people secretly hate that ! ? I hope not !

Anyway, I came across another Debbie Mumm piece, a pillow panel this time, with a garden angel on IT. I cut it out to be centered just the way I wanted it, and then was able to use the second pillow square to cut a sleeve for hanging. This way, the print matches up and is uninterrupted. I think that a person could even turn it around for Spring and Summer, and hang it to show the angel side !

I handquilted the little quilt with a big needle and big stitches and, yes, red thread, and then found (in the cabinet under the sink, blessedly) just the right size little curtain rod for hanging.

So, there.........one more little gift, just under the Christmas Eve wire.

(Much thanks to my girl, JodieAnn, who always tosses her scraps my way.........including extra panels of all kinds of things I wouldn't think to buy !)

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL.........

AND TO ALL, A GOOD NIGHT !