Well the “worst” of the storm is over.  Officially we received 18″ of snow.  That measurement was taken at the airport (about 20 miles from our home).  I think we actually received closer to 2′  here.  I can hardly my deck.

The sun came out on Friday – there’s nothing more beautiful than a blue sky with the sun shinning on newly fallen snow.  The snow  “crunches” as you walk on it and is definitely perfect snowman snow.  It makes me wish my grandchildren lived closer so that I’d have an excuse to be outside playing in it.

Instead I spent the day working on my Simply Charming miniature.

The applique pieces are all cut as well as the circles.

My favorite tool for making circles:  Circleese

To make prefect circles every time:

• Place template on wrong side of fabric:

• Spray fabric on front and back.  Iron both sides until dry.  Let set before removing circle from template.

• Trim.
• Remove circle template.  Press on both sides using additional spray starch as necessary so that circle holds it shape.
• My other must have for preparing applique pieces is the Clover Mini-Iron. The multi-attachment version has two mini-irons, which are prefect for pressing applique pieces.
• The applique pieces are ready to be attached to the background by needle-turn applique, using an invisible applique stitch.

We ended a perfect winter day with a dinner in Skaneateles.  Skaneateles Lake is one of the beautiful lakes that make up the scenic Fingerlakes of Central New York.  The main street consists of buildings dating back to 1796 that house boutique type shops, restaurants, an inn, and bed and breakfast.

We love walking around the lakeside community – no matter what the weather.  Last night we were treated to lightly falling snow and mild temperatures as we window shopped after dinner.  Driving home we ran into a whiteout about 3 miles from our house.  The only reference we had to make sure we were on the road was the piled up snow along the highway.  Winter can be a challenge here  – but we’re Central New Yorkers – we can handle it.

There's always time to quilt!

I’m working at keeping my New Year’s resolution to complete some of the UFO’s that seem to grow in my storage area overnight.  The first month of the year is just about over and I have at least completed some of my list  (I started with the easiest):

• Watson mystery 2007 and 2009 quilts- binding  - Done!

• Seasons wall hanging -

quilting patterns chosen and practice pieces completed

• Autumn Pennies table topper from a class by Kim Diehl  and

• organize my stash!

- And now to the more challenging:

Today I did some practice quilting for my Seasons Wall Hanging.  I decided to try out my new Clover Mini Iron II “The Adapter Set”. (A Christmas gift from my son.)  One of it’s accessories is a hot knife tip that works beautifully when making stencils.

Next I practiced some free motion quilting on some 15-inch muslin sandwiches.  Now I’m ready to start the actual quilting on my quilt top.

Goals for next month are:

- UFO’s – finish the quilting on this top as well as the binding

- New:  guild projects – fat quarter quilt and sample block for 2011 raffle quilt.

Now to make the bias strips for the Celtic medallion.   Strips of fabric were cut on the bias 1-1/4 inches wide, sewn 1/4 inch from the folded edge and trimmed to 1/16″ of the stitching. Using bias bars the seam side was then ironed, centering the seam on the back of the strip.

(Carol’s Quilt Cafe).

The next step is to applique the medallion.

 

After transferring the Celtic design to the background fabric with the aid of my light box, I am pin basting and then will applique the strips in place using an invisible stitch (Quilter’s Newsletter, Foolproof Applique).

I prefer hand applique to machine applique, especially for these skinny strips.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is so much easier to control the stitching  with hand applique.

 

 

 

 

And it’s a perfect project to work on while watching TV or riding in the car.

 

 

 

 

Quilting at Home!