Finally done with Samurai Squares

Kitten has been with this quilt every step of the way, so tonight, as I put the last stitches in the binding, she stayed right on it.  And I kept the lint brush handy.  I will take the quilt to Spirited Quilter's in Duluth Tuesday night for show and tell.  But for now I will let Kitten have it all to herself.

Mom sent this small quilt home with me.  I love the colors.  Kitten wasn't interested in it though.  It doesn't "match" with her.

I wish these flowers were in my yard.  They are all the way over in Alabama.  The pots are stacked up on rebar.  I thought that was one of the most cleaver ideas I'd ever seen.

Finish a UFO day.

Last night I cut and ironed the binding. This time I cut 2 1/4 inches, but maybe I need 2 1/2?  I'll see how this works.  I used 2" on the turtle baby quilt.

I had help from the "other" tuxedo kitty.  Kitten must have been busy skulking around in my sewing room while the door was open and I was in the guest room ironing.

The binding is rolled (on an empty bath tissue tube) and ready for me to trim the top and sit down to sew.
I aim to finish the top I blogged about so long ago here:  Samurai Squares UFO.  I had been so intimidated by the (home) machine quilting process, and distracted by everything else that came along, that I am nearly a year and a half in getting it quilted.  But hey, that is better, WAY better than the 30 years it took me finish Eron's Tippecanoe quilt (which was originally a wedding gift for his dad to whom I am no longer married).

And then off to Mita's Patchwork Cottage to pick up the supplies I ordered for my trip to Quilt Symposium of Alabama.   This will be my first quilt retreat experience; I am so excited to go!

I want our soldiers home.

I cried watching the You Tube video of soldiers coming home and surprising their families.

At Friday's Pizza and Patchwork at Mita's shop (Patchwork Cottage) I asked for help on my Samurai Squares quilt.  Peggy gave me some good advice, which I took, about the borders.  I still wanted to do some type of free-motion on the outer border, so I decided to use clear thread on the top.  That way my free-motion (lack of skills) won't show too much.

I packaged up my quilt, got to work, left for a moment and came back to this:

Seriously, does she look comfortable?

So I had to find something to occupy her.  She liked this toy for a while:

Notice the snazzy summer collar.  It has bumble bees on it.  AND it matches the ball in the tube. Bonus!

Kitten is kinda lazy when she plays now she's older. 

I went back to work on my quilt border, but I had the darnest time.  The clear thread kept tangling and getting caught on stuff.  I went through an entire package of Schmetz  90/14 needles! I purchased the new package of needles to take to Alabama, but now I have to go buy more.  I HATE the noise the machine makes when I break a needle.  It SCARES me! 

I remembered that I had used an applesauce jar full of rocks (stay with me) when I quilted with clear thread before, so I found the jar I had been using for the locker-hooking string and adapted it for the clear thread.  And I'll be danged. It worked.  Smooth sewing after that.

Oh, and FYI, you cannot use a walking foot and a Super-Slider at the same time. (But that was yesterday.)

And tomorrow (maybe) binding (oh goody!).

Drum Roll Please--

This is a milestone akin to turning over 100K in my old car.  Mom asked me how many posts I've done.  I had no idea, so I tallied this blog (237) and my previous blog, Karmen's Page (55), so that makes 292.
Is it time I figure out how to do a give away?
Any soldiers out there who quilt and need supplies? Or want to surprise someone back here at home with a quilter's gift?

It was just random...

The picture today is of the next top I need to baste and quilt. I have selected, from my stash, a black and white homespun for the back, but I don't have quite enough of it, so I am going to border it with the same fabric that borders the front. I am not sure I have enough of it either. I will spend time this weekend figuring all that out. Meanwhile I am not sure if something is wrong with Scooter, my oldest Maltese dog. He is the one in my profile photo. He is 11 years old now, and he is kinda, sorta limping (sometimes), but I cannot find anything wrong. He seems to be sleeping alot and doesn't want to play like he used to. Do I just figure his joints ache sometimes due to age, or should I take him in? His "limp" is like a hop. It is hard to describe.