All pending projects are done. Now the work for the book begins

I have been busy with the upholstery job that I promised my friend and I got it done yesterday.  It's a cushion job for a love seat and a rocking chair.  My friend's husband refinished all the wood and now they will have all new cushions to sit on.  I'm waiting to hear from her when I can deliver the cushions.  I'll post before/after pictures after the delivery.  This will be the last upholstery job for this year.  All new job will have to wait till next year and I already have 2-3 jobs on the list.

Yesterday I also got a charity quilt top done.  Here it is

After I dropped off the first charity quilt top, they encouraged me to make more, so I picked up another jelly roll.  I found this pattern on cluckclucksew.com, it's called strip and flip.  Really easy and looks great.  I really like it.  People at the guild said that these quilt tops will finished and given  to children who are in foster homes.  It makes me feel good to be able to use my talents to do some thing for someone.

Now that all pending jobs are done, I can dive into the book project.  A few weeks ago, I got a book contract from the AQS publisher.  I'm still pinching myself to see if I'm dreaming.  Several years back, I came up with a new technique to make rag quilts.  I submitted pictures to several magazines and the Quilt Life responded, and now I'm working on a book.....  :)

A new quilt for class @ The Quilt Emporium

I did a lot of sewing in the past week, got 2 quilts done.  One is for donation at the Valley Quiltmakers Guild.  There are precut fabric bundles available for members who want to make a quilt for donation.  I'm pretty new to the Guild and wanting to do something so I took one bundle and this is what I made.  I happened to have some solid pink left over from old project so I added it in.

The other project is for a class at the Quilt Emporium.  I finally finished Jill Finley's Cherries Jubilee.  Jill's pattern is easy to follow.  I love the way the vines go all over the quilt and out to the border.  There are a lot of first times for me in this quilt.  It's my first time to work on applique pieces of the vines and leaves.  I've never made a bias tape before.  From this project, I've learned a lot about cutting bias tapes and bias binding.  It's also my first time to make a quilt with scalloped edges.  I quilted the whole thing with nylon thread both on top and bottom.  At first I was a little apprehensive about putting the nylon thread in the bobbin.  Many people said not to do it.  I adjusted the tensions and it worked out nicely.  I'm very happy with the way the quilt came out.

Giftbag project and new quilts in the making

I've been very busy with making projects, gardening and landscaping front and back yard.  Needless to say it's a lot to do, so I have to divide my time to each task the best I can.

I would like to share the new projects first and in a few days, I'll share about other things that I'm working on.  Here is a very cute gift bag that I made for the quilt run at the Quilt Emporium which is going on right now.  It's from a pattern by Bonnie Olaveson. Bonnie's blog is filled with lovely projects and a lot of eye candies.  Go to 'http://cottonway.blogspot.com/' and you'll see what I mean.

 There are couple of quilts that I'm working on right now; one is from a pattern by Jill Finley's "Cherries Jubilee", the other is my own design.  I'm working on Cherries Jubilee first because I really love her designs.  More pictures to come but this is what I got so far.

Go to her website, "http://www.jillilystudio.com/" for the finished quilt picture and other nice things she has on there.