I found 3 fabrics that I like as binding for the H quilt.
I think all 3 of them work but I think I'll go with the third choice so it blends into the quilt instead of making a statement of its own. It's hard to believe this is the last day of 2011. I need to do a collage of finishes but it may have to wait til Monday because I need to get this binding done today and it will probably take me until midnite to do it.
My poor embroidery machine has been neglected for a couple months so I embroidered a couple squares for a quilt. Dad wasn't doing well when I visited him and that makes for a down day. He didn't recognize me and was having some kind of problem with his legs. He was really out of it the whole time I was there. It is ups and downs all the time, a really good day and then a horrible day. I hope I'm not just seeing a preview of what I'll be like in my old age.
I started out the day putting away Christmas decorations, then going 3 places trying to find fake rings to put on a ring bearer's pillow and not finding them. (A reader is going to get some for me and mail them to me. Yay!!!) I came home at lunch time and walked into the living room and saw these dark stripes on the carpet. It was the vacuuming marks but why were they so dark? I touched it and it was wet. My first thought was that I had over watered a plant but there weren't any plants near this. Then I went over to the little door to the hot water pipes and one of the bleeders was leaking. This is almost 4 weeks after I got the new pump installed and he told me to check the bleeders for a couple days and then put the covers back on.
The 2 little pointy things are the bleeders, one for each direction of the line at this point. The one on the right was leaking. I called the plumbing and heating guy and luckily he was in my town working and was able to get here in about a half hour. He ended up having to put a plug on it because he couldn't get the style bleeder he needed at the hardware store. The good news is there is no more leak; the bad news is that all of the water was rusty and I have permanent stains in my carpet. I have been wanting to tear out the carpeting and put in bamboo floors. Maybe this is a sign that it is time.
While the electrician was here I made the ring bearer's pillow out of my DIL's wedding dress for my granddaughter's wedding in January.
The lights on the left are the new lights, 2 four foot fixtures with the new skinny bulbs in them. I'm so glad I covered my quilting machine! I have needed more light here for 3 years and finally I had it done. 
I chose the narrow border, the wide border and sewed the piano key yardage which I sliced into 5" strips. I was using up all of the leftovers so I couldn't make it any wider. I have a few strips leftover which I'll sew into a smaller section to sew in at a couple random spots in the wide border. The narrow border will go all around the triangle section and also at the outside edge of the piano key border. I had only intended on putting the wide border on the 2 sides but I may change my mind and put it all the way around. I like to design as I go. If I knew exactly what it was going to look like I wouldn't have any incentive to make it. The triangle section is 54" x 60" so my decision on the border will based on the size I decide it should end up plus the visual appeal. Part of the backing will be the same print as the wide border but with a red background.
This may look like the same photo I posted a couple days ago, but this is the well behaved recipe where they actually look like they are supposed to. This dough is so much easier to work with. This one has egg in it and the other doesn't so I don't know if that is the magic ingredient. I like both as far as taste goes so I guess in the future my decision will be whether I want to make the easy one or the difficult one.
My husband was Norwegian so I had to learn to bake some of his favorites. This is Kringla. Mine aren't pretty or dainty, just big fat wonderful tasty things. I was in the family almost 50 years before I found out there are 2 family recipes and they are totally different. I always wondered why mine didn't taste like my sister-in-law's. Then I found out I had my mother-in-law's recipe and she had an aunt's recipe. I still haven't tried the other recipe even though I have it. Some day....
I gave flannel pillowcases to all of the family 2 years ago. I figure they might be showing some wear by now and maybe they would like a new one. There is a duplicate of the light blue and of the green check that I haven't pressed yet. There are 2 more to be sewn and then I'll have more than enough. I used my tutorial that you can find here. I am trying to use up that flannel that doesn't seem to have a group it fits into.
I finished pressing the seams on the triangle squares and designed the center panel for this flannel quilt. I thought about doing a zig zag but I really like this simple layout. Today I will piece the piano key border fabric and decide what fabric will be the first border. I made 2 batches of Chex mix and delivered some Christmas gifts yesterday, 2 of them mug rugs chosen by the recipient. I still have a little more baking to do. The house is clean and the party isn't at my house so I'm all set there. Counting down, just a few more days.....
All of the flannel triangles are sewn into squares but less than half have been pressed.
I mailed this journal cover to its new owner yesterday. It is made from the leftovers of the striped diamond quilt shown in progress here.
I finished the 2 mug rugs that were just waiting for backings.
Staged view and formal portrait.
I think it will be nice to have a stack of these for guests to choose one to take home.
I should have used black thread on the mug rug too. I never thought of it as a matched set until they were done. Isn't hindsight wonderful?
I have been making the mug rugs with patchwork that is playtime fun and leftovers from other piecing. Here are 2 drawers still full of pieces to play with.
We woke up to this yesterday morning but it is almost all gone already. It is supposed to be in the 40s for 2 days so it will all be gone.
The first snow that sticks on the bushes makes me run for the camera. 
I use my Studio die cutter several days a week. Last night I cut 6" finished triangles from flannel left over from another quilt.
This is the variety. I have several pieces that go with these that I can use for borders. I will do a piano keys border too. This will be another fast quilt.
I baked my third batch of spritz cookies, the green ones, and then decided to do some quilting. I had loaded this quilt the night before so I had it done by 1 p.m.
I just like large meandering on flannel quilts. All of the fabrics in this quilt are top quality and feel like suede. I'm not sure if I'll wash this one since it has the softer batting in it.
It has the orange print on the back and for binding. I make single binding when I use flannel. Double binding would be too heavy with this weight of flannel.
Late in the afternoon I decided to load this quilt and get it done too.
It has the same curvy crosshatch quilting that the first denim/corduroy/flannel one has. I didn't have any problem quilting this one since I did the zig zag stitch over the seams that are pressed open first. I used variegated black/white thread for both of these quilts and medium beige for the bobbins of both.
I entered this quilt in Quilting Gallery's Christmas quilt contest. If you would like to vote for me go here. Or if you like another one better, there are 67 entered, then vote for it. I finished this quilt in 2009 so this is its 3rd Christmas draped over a chair in my living room.
I did the last 3 rows of quilting, cut and sewed on the binding and then washed and dried this blue jeans, corduroy and flannel quilt.
I use Hobbs 80/20 batting and this roll was a little bit firm so it needed to be washed to soften it. I buy the batting on the 30 yard roll and there is just one piece 80" x 96" left on it. I bought a new roll and it is much softer.
There was a larger piece of patchwork made from all of the lighter colors so it was enough for 2 mug rugs. These are 10 and 1/2" x 8 and 1/2".
This was a good place to use one of the larger Kaffe prints. I decided to use it for the binding too, mostly because I didn't feel like looking for another coordinating print.
One of my readers suggested slicing off the edge finish that I didn't like on this mug rug and then applying binding. Why didn't I think of that? Now it is presentable. I should have taken a photo of it with it's matching journal cover. This one is 9 and 1/2" x 6 and 3/4".
And then there were 12.......I think I can stop now. No, wait, I have 2 more cut waiting for backing choices............
