BEAUTY ON A BLUE RIDGE

This post is about a UFO finish! Yahoo!!! I started my Blue Ridge Beauty from  Bonnie K Hunter over at Quiltville as a leader/ender project and when I had enough of the 4Ps I started in on the HSTs. Though this looks really complicated, it is really only those two blocks...light/dark 4 patches and light/dark half square triangles...lots of them! Heh, heh! 

It was so much fun to have it grow on the design wall.  Every time Hubby would go by he would give a comment that encouraged me to continue. It just turned out so well.  I want to encourage you to start one.  It is so worth it and comes together as you are doing other projects because the blocks are leader/enders.

This will wing it's way to my granddaughter for her 18th birthday which is also Valentine's Day. Can you believe it is done with plenty of time to ship? That is almost as good a feeling as the finish itself.  I was pin-basting the sandwich when a friend dropped by and he commissioned me to make him one.  I think that is just awesome.  He compared it to some he had seen in the Ozarks. Oh wow, that made my heart soar! (You can click on any pic to see it larger.)

I quilt on a designated domestic sewing machine. I am really enjoying learning how to free motion quilt.  Mostly I have done meandering.  I would say medium loops not too dense.  I struggled for awhile with no extension table. Then one day as I was adding to the yard sale pile I saw this computer part. It is actually a thingy that you place under your monitor to raise the monitor to more eye level. Since I don't have a desktop computer any longer it was added to the sale.

This re-assigning of objects is one reason I have such a big yard sale pile, but that's another post entirely, probably entitled "Am I a Hoarder?"

This particular object became just the perfect height when I set it on top of the yellow spacer board (also re-assigned) you see it the picture. My new extension table is wide and deep and smooth enough to allow the quilt to rest on and still move freely. The extra surface really helps with manuevering.  It also has this pull out tray that works great for pins and thread and has cool slots in the front of it that are perfect for bobbins. Sometimes I just get lucky blessed.

I added a lamp to put more direct light on the subject.  Oh yes and please notice my fancy quilting gloves. Ha! Ha! Ha!  I had a new pair of rubber cleaning gloves and tried them for awhile. Since they made my hands really sweaty, I cut a couple of half inch slots and that helped until I was pulling them off to change a bobbin and one tore in half at the slot. Sweaty hand also tend to be sticky. However being the "make-do" gal that I am, I found they work great just as fingers and no air conditioning slots required. 

Drug a dining room chair in to hold up the bulk of the quilt to prevent drag and I was set up to GO! Got her finished too!  Here she is:

Have I ever mentioned....

 I LOVE MY LIFE!