Works in Progress

I finished off my maze quiltlet for the 12x12x4 challenge. I am not posting any more pictures of it here until later in the month for the reveal..so stay tuned! But I did make this beaded hanger for displaying my littler quilts...its a 12" dowel with quilt tacks in the ends to fasten the picture wire around, a length of picture hanger wire strung with wooden beads and 4 cafe curtain clips...



The vest looks like a 'real' vest now:




I bought two kinds of buttons - the kind you can cover with fabric and some really cute flower buttons. In the interest of getting this done, I think I will start with the flower buttons....but...here is my current dilemma: this is just a wee bit snuggish if I actually lop one side over and would make regular button holes. So I am thinking about other possibilities. Sophie is drawing me a picture of a kind she saw at a Sewing Expo...I could use embroidery thread and make loops in the seam allowance..I could make tabs (kinda clunky though)... or some sort of heavy cording with an orientalish frog on the opposite side...or?? Open for suggestions...

I bought and washed the fabric for the mystery table runner that we are doing at the retreat. Have to make a pile of HSTs...I picked Valentine's fabric because I don't have any quilted items for putting out for that holiday.

I also got some very thin fleece for the batting for the Apple Quilt (which was last year's retreat mystery quilt. I got that pieced together and layed out...There is a picture of the Apple Quilt over here. I need to piece together the backing fabric (which is the center part of that I cut the borders off of) and get it pinned. This one is going to be a 'tablecloth'...I am birthing it since I have failed in my efforts to find a suitable red to bind it with anyways...then since the batting is fleece, I will do just minimal quilting - wrangling that thing thru my home machine may be dang near impossible. I do think this may be the biggest quilt I have attempted to quilt.

It may not be possible to keep this momentum going now that I am back to work, but I am going to try! Road to California is in a couple of weeks and Retreat is a couple of weeks after that...so I am definitely going to be BUSY!