Elm Street Quilts OMG Finish: First Christmas Quilt

October flew by but my Elm Street Quilts OMG was met.  Except for a special label, the first Christmas quilt is finished.  The candy cane print binding was a near perfect match for the shades of red in the Rudolph layer cake blocks.  I am waiting for the letter "J" in the free Reindeer Peeking font to come up at Betty's Embroidery for the special label.

I am waiting

No Words Can Say Enough

Saddened by the events at Tree of Life in Pittsburgh, I am offering two versions of the Kaddish sung by Cantor Ari Schwarz.

English Translation of the Kaddish

Let the glory of God be extolled, and God’s great name be hallowed in the world whose creation God willed. May God rule in our own day, in our own lives, and in the life of all Israel, and let us say: Amen.

Let God’s great name be blessed for ever and ever.

Beyond all the praises, songs, and adorations that we can utter is the Holy One, the Blessed One, whom yet we glorify, honor, and exalt. And let us say: Amen.

For us and for all Israel, may the blessing of peace and the promise of life come true, and let us say: Amen.

May the One who causes peace to reign in the high heavens, cause peace to reign among us, all Israel, and all the world, and let us say: Amen.

May the Source of peace send peace to all who mourn, and comfort to all who are bereaved. Amen.

Should I?

I finally broke the procrastination barrier and have the top below ready for borders. 

The fabrics in the top were fat quarters in the stash and except for the black print in the 4 center side blocks and one of the small creature prints in the cream background, online offerings in this line of fabrics are nil.  I can't decide whether the fabrics below are acceptable.  Maybe I need to go shopping.

If it weren't for the checkered 4 patches, I actually like the red and gold print as the outside border.  SIGH!  

Rabbit Trails and Diversions

After a very busy day hosting a family BBQ for our 3, the spouses, and the grands, I took a break to make up some earrings.

The sewing charms in the earrings above were a recent purchase on a day trip to the beach.  We made a stop at the Latimer Textile Museum in Tillamook, OR.

Mural at the Latimer Textile Museum

The featured artist at the museum was Victor Pirtle.  His quilts are composed of of many layers of fabric and even more yards of thread in the dense quilting.  My photos are very poor but they are a glimpse of his extraordinary and laborious work.  All quilting is done on a standard home sewing machine.

After the textile museum we walked on the beach and then headed back to Tillamook for lunch, a tour of a local historical museum, and then the quilt shop.  It was a glorious day.  Fall in the Pacific Northwest can bring mild beautiful weather to our coastal towns and beaches.

Quiet beach in Oceanside, OR

The owner of the Fabric Patch in Tillamook, OR loves PINK!

If you look closely in the photo above, two of the county's 100 plus quilt blocks adorning buildings are in view (one on the garage door and the other on the wall of the paint store next to the quilt shop).  Read more about the Quilt Trail here:  http://www.tillamookquilttrail.org/about.htm

Elm Street Quilts October OMG: Christmas Countdown

Christmas sewing has begun.  One quilt is ready to bind and another is in the planning stages.  My Elm Street Quilts October OMG is to get the binding on the first holiday quilt off the Incredible Hulk. 

The Rudolph quilt was quick and easy layer cake quilt inspired by a freebie from the Fat Quarter Shop.  I made a couple of revisions to accommodate the theme fabric blocks in my layer cake.

Elm Street Quilts OMG September Finish Linkup: Brief and to the Point

Elm Street Quilts OMG Finish for September

Goal met, binding is on.  I am pleased to have another UFO completed for the September Elm Street Quilts OMG.  DH likes the quilt so much, I haven't gifted it.   Hanging or otherwise displaying the quilt is questionable.  The two rooms where it would look best don't have wall space for hanging or furniture where it can be draped.   We are still debating the issue.  My good intentions of blessing someone with this quilt have been temporarily sidetracked.   

Solution to Bobbin Thread Tangles

Yesterday, I went to get my travel sewing machine kit with little tools to remove a throat plate and the odd bobbins I keep for testing machines were a tangled mess.  Years ago I saw a tip for making an inexpensive bobbin tray from 5/8" OD - 1/2" ID vinyl tubing.  The tubing was purchased and sitting in my workbench drawer waiting.  I finally made the tray and it works great!  It holds the bobbins tidily in the pencil case I use to hold the tools.

Use sharp and strong craft scissors to cut the tubing to the length preferred and then make a lengthwise cut to separate it.  The heavy tubing has enough strength and memory to hold bobbins of slightly different diameters securely.  Additionally, the tubing can be cut to make small collars for each bobbin but I find them more difficult to cut for the narrow Class L bobbins for my two Pfaffs and they are difficult to remove on larger Class M bobbins that have only a small amount of thread on them.