Another Thankful-November Tuesday To-Do

How's your November going?

I feel like Thanksgiving is still a few weeks away

but yikes!  It's next week.  I haven't made my

dinner plans but you know what?
I'm thinking...hmm....how about...turkey??

(Well, that was easy.)

Yeah, that's how it is for me this year.

Hubs always smokes the bird so that takes a

load off.  Maybe if I take some time today to

do a little planning I'll get more into the spirit.

Let's face it:  it has just been a weird year.

It has been a little busy around here so I missed

getting a post in last week.   But today I have a nice

amount of progress to show, including a completed

top that hasn't even graced my to-do list!

Here we go with the got-done's:

1) Make backing for September Glow:  done

The entire quilt sandwich is ready, next in line for the LA.

2) Start quilting the ombre lattice:  a little progress made

I pieced up the backing, got it loaded and have

started a little on the quilting.  I wasn't "feeling it"

so I walked away.  Hope to get a little done today.

I want to get to Glow pretty badly.

3) Work on Christmas gifts: progress made

On the pennant banner, I've gotten a lot done:

Fabric pulled; pennants and letters cut out;

batting (for weight/stability) cut out.  The letters are

sewn on so today the pennants will get sewn

together and onto the cord.  Should be a fast finish.

On "Project B" I have the main fabric pulled but

I'm still trying to decide on a theme.  This whole gift

might challenge me a little but I'm excited about it.

4) Work on squirrel project:  done

I found these little Petit Four fabric baskets on

 Pieceful Thoughts of my Quilting Life.  I don't step

out of my quilting zone very often but around the

holidays I like to play around with small projects.

I went with some ho-hum fabric on my trial one.

The only struggle I had with all of these was that

my machine is for quilting so I don't have that arm

to work on smaller projects.  I was too lazy to get my

old Bernina out (nice small arm on that one) but a

head's up to anyone who wants to make these.

It just made it a bit of a struggle to do the topstitching.

After that first one, I flew through the others.

It's nice to have these ready for filling with cookies

or some other treat for giving those little gifts

of Christmas cheer.

SO, about that finished top:

Remember the Hocus Pocus pattern, and that

I just had to make it in the Fig Tree Quilts 

"All Hallows Eve" fabrics...

Those fabrics are really fun to work with!  I have a few

"heads-up" things for anyone wanting to make this

by the way.  The first:  I don't know if all pre-cuts

are created equal but I was sadly low on the black

fabrics for this.  I have seen some other people's

quilts and noticed they've supplemented in a black or

two so the issue seems to be across the board cake.

Here's my finished top.

This brings me to my second "head's up."

The pattern calls for 3 1/2 yds of background fabric.

I only had 2 2/3yds of a fabric I really wanted to use 

(and move out) so I played fabric chicken and let me

tell you, it was no contest.  And frankly, if you wanted to

cut your borders and sashing (which are cut lengthwise)

first, you could probably cut everything else out from

the scrap of that and get by with, dare I say it,

2 yards?  Don't quote me on that.  All I know is

that I have plenty left over.

 

For some quick, mindless sewing, I sewed the

trimmings right into HST's.  I like to save these;

I just don't always get them sewn up so we'll see

if that gets me more motivated to do something

with them.  I think the issue here, though, is the

Halloween fabric:  I have almost a year before

that's relevant again!

On the fabric-buying front:

Two yards of the red, 7 of the ivory (for a background).

I thought for sure this was it for fabric purchases for

2020 but not quite...

MSQC had free shipping last week on the day I

finished up my pumpkin quilt so I grabbed one of the

fabrics for binding and to supplement the backing.

So, in full-disclosure, yes, I did buy yet more fabric.

The good news is that in the making of this quilt,

I emptied not one but two bolts--the ivory

background and the black border/backing.

But I declare now there will be no more 

likely be no more fabric purchases this year. 

Hey!  Have I mentioned that I finished all of the

outdoor fall clean-up work?  Even the windows!

Can I get an Amen?!?

For fun, I came across a super interesting

Missouri Star video on youtube about their

machine quilting department.  At around 7:20 into it

they pan over the racks of quilts they have waiting to

be quilted.  Um, wow!  They have 17 machines going

for up to 18 hours a day (2 shifts) and kick out

50 to 60 quilts a day!  The video is a little long but I

enjoyed listening to it while I was sewing.  As always,

I find their entire business fascinating.

I also might be a little jealous.

For next week:

1) Finish quilting the ombre

2) Load up Sept. Glow, choose pantograph

3) Continue with Christmas gift progress

4) Figure out next quilt project

Happy quilting!

PS. I really do respond to all comments if possible.

Some are still showing up in my comment moderation

but not in my email so I have no way of replying.

To those, thank you for responding--I am seeing them!

Linking up to:

Home Sewn By Us Tuesday To-Do #67