Merry Christmas 2014 & the Byrum Family Quilt ~ A Finish! Tah Dah :)

I am writing this blog post just after completing the Byrum Family Quilt.  This project is a queen sized (91″ square) scrappy quilt with a panel center I fell in love with for this family quilt. 

The rest of the quilt was fabrics I had purchased with them in mind and a bit of stash to fill it in a bit 🙂

Here is my bestie Connie holding up some artwork my other bestie Wendy sent me… she made it several years ago and had no purpose for it… as I shared this quilt coming into life with her she agreed to help me… from Australia where she lives…

via facebook chat and pics only.. to help me learn more precise piecing techniques!!!!  Amazing woman that she is she DID IT!!!!

I learned so much about piecing accurately… this is my 13th quilted project and I just finally got the need for PRECISE PIECING!!!!  Hallelujah 🙂  I now have measuring my units that then become blocks accurately… so all the pieces of the quilt come together without fussing.

I am so happy that this quilt… started the beginning of July 2014 and finished complete on December 2, 2014 is a finished project and was mailed on the 3rd of December 🙂  It is under the Christmas tree as you are enjoying this post OR maybe it is being snuggled by now!!! I hope so 🙂

I did send them a letter explaining the quilt… it was pic heavy but small pics and it took 8 pages to explain it all to them to help them understand the meaning and love I put in each piece of fabric I chose for their quilt.

Have you had a monumental project you gifted away that made you happy when you gifted it… well I am sooo happy this has been gifted… I hope to get a pic of the family enjoying the quilt and will share with you when and if I get such a shot!  That would mean more to me than a note of thanks actually!

Hope you have a Happy Christmas Day!

Added Christmas Morning at 8:30 CST…

My nieces & nephew and his dog 🙂

 With a note of thanks and that they LOVE IT!

Hope your Christmas was meaningful and filled with loving thoughts too!

Linking this MONGO finish to:

Whooping my finish with Sarah HERE!

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Happy Slow Stitching Sunday!

 Our little Christmas tree…

It is a table top version & I love the train that runs around it… and my honey has added a few of his vintage train pieces to the decor as well 🙂  I took someone’s tip and while we regrow our ornament stash (we lost all the precious ornaments we had in a house fire) … and am using Christmas cards we have received for decoration too!  Nice to see all those families we pray & keep up with on our tree!

Here is a close up of the puzzle pic behind the tree.. we did this several years ago.. just after that fire and hang it every year now..

it is the only Santa thing in our decor anymore now 🙂  Isn’t it FUN!!

On the quilting front 

I have been moving along on the hand quilting on Wish Upon a Vintage Star wall hanging…

I am still using the hoop successfully as you can see by the large hoop mark in the pic 🙂 … although there are parts coming up I will not use the hoop and I haven’t decided how I will do the borders.. hoop or hoopless 🙂
This is all that I have left of the white space too…

But I have these stencils that came in this week for the borders!!!  Yippee 🙂

so I am ready to do them when I get there!

For the borders I will be using a pounce pad probably in white.

But for these swirly creamy spots on this wall hanging I have used graphite (similar to a soft lead pencil) to mark the specific design in each area … for this I marked BEFORE I layered .. but the pounce is done AFTER layering your quilt top 🙂

I wanted to share a recipe I just got for removing pencil & graphite marks from quilt tops before washing them … 

• 1/4 c water 
• 3/4 c rubbing alcohol 
• 7 – 8 drops Palmolive dish soap. 

Dawn will NOT work. Mix together and apply with a soft toothbrush

I have a spray bottle I plan to put mine in once mixed together then shake before each use.  I will scrub with a soft cloth to remove then wash formally when finished.

There is a product available that works well.. just looking to save money and make my own… would love feedback on this recipe if you mark with pencil or graphite and get heavy handed at times and need to remove before that final washing… 🙂

Linking this Christmas time post with Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching here!  She is taking time to slow down today and slow stitch some.. are you busy with last minute holiday plans?  Why not take a few seconds to leave me a holiday comment… then put in a few stitches of your own 🙂

Until my next post…

Hooping Progress & a little Christmas too :)

I am really excited about my progress this week with no deadline on this project… I am half done with the white areas on this project…

I am still using the hoop and I am LOVING it!

And today I got some packages too…

Stencils for the borders coming up on this wall hanging…

 And a new pair of flip flops!!! lol

My daughter likes my new black ones.. and the grey ones have served their time 🙂

My honey got a cool little bitty oil can this week too!

And we have finally started to decorate for Christmas!!!  Pics on that coming as we aren’t finished yet… but I do have lovely shots to show you of my friend Connie’s Christmas tree…

Isn’t her space cute!!!  We sent her the sewing machine case for her Class 15 clone machine.. check out the pics she got of the loot we sent her…

Needless to say we are all excited the shipping of Christmas is now behind us and we can enjoy the season for what it REALLY is now… Jesus birthday 🙂

I am linking this quilty Christmas post to Sarah Whooping Friday Linky HERE!
     Check out Callie and her inspirational quilt at the bottom of her post too!

Hope however you are spending this season you can reflect on what is important to you 🙂

Happy Christmas Season and …