How sweet it is - a project day!

Once in awhile, a day crops up when I have nothing, or almost nothing, on the calendar or the to-do list.  Aren't these just the most wonderful of days?  Of course, I have a mental list of all of the things that I'll get done during the day.  I can usually count my total progress at about 50% of what I actually think I can do.  No matter - these are still sweet, sweet days.

Here's a picture of the finished tablerunner actually on the kitchen table.  I decided not to add the Christmas tree applique that the pattern calls for.  Maybe next year I'll do another one in better fabric and add the applique.  I still like it, though, as simple as it is.  I made beef stew on one of our rainy days last weekend and spilled some of it on the tablerunner the first day we used it!  So, now I'll get to see how it behaves in the wash.

Doing the binding totally by machine did not work out as well as I had hoped, so I added a decorative stitch in gold metallic thread.  I haven't used metallic thread often, but I do like the effect it gives to the right project.  I used Sulky.  Although my 640 does not like the regular Sulky embroidery thread, it did very well with the metallic thread.  Several years ago, I learned at a class to put difficult thread in a coffee mug behind the machine to give it an extra-long path before it winds through the tension disks, etc.  This works like a charm for me!

One of the reasons that it took me so long to finish this tablerunner was that I had to put it aside to work on a TLC quilt for our Oasis Quilt Guild.  A downside of living in a senior community is that people get sick - seriously sick - on a regular basis.  Our Guild keeps a supply of small lap quilts on hand so that we can gift one to a resident undergoing chemotherapy and/or radiation treatment.  We were quickly in need of two quilts suitable for men, so I was tasked with adding borders to a quilt which someone started who knows how long ago and just stuck in the Guild closet.  I scrounged around our stash and found some red prints that livened it up a bit and did a piano keys border for the first time.  I enjoyed learning how to do this border design, and I definitely like the effect it has on the quilt presentation.  It's hard to see in the picture, but the small border is a black & white pindot print which is repeated in the piano keys.  Someone else in our group gets to quilt it - I'm done!

And I finished personalized snack holders for the kidlets for Christmas!  I purchased the acrylic holders from The Sewphisticated Stitcher.  The designs come from Swak Embroidery, one of my favorite sites for children's designs.  This was a fun project to do and another learning experience with the embroidery software.  Pictures tomorrow - DH needs the computer!