Nearly finished

I am nearing the finish line!  I finished the quilting on this new design for my pattern Pie In The Sky.  It uses all of the fabrics for the Quilt MN 2012 fabric line from Windham.  Well, everything except the 2 panel prints.  All of the strips are varying widths and randomly placed, so when it comes time to join the blocks together there is only two spots that need close attention for matching--right where the point of the "V" of the light fabric, and then the center of the "pie".  We have prepared 28 kits for this quilt at Bear Patch and you can reserve one now.  

I'm not quite done with the binding yet, and then will finish up the pattern.  Have you used these little binding clips?

They are a great little product from Clover (also available at Bear Patch) and clip so nicely over the folded edge to hold it in place until I stitch the binding down.  I am noticing in this picture that I have a little more work to do to remove all of my chalk markings that I needed for the quilting.  See the little white line on the woodcut circles?  I wanted to do a spiral around the pies, starting in the center and gradually working my way outward.  

                                   

Well, achieving equal spacing and a smooth progression was not so easy to do by freehand, so I resorted to 1" marks and a little guidance with the chalk pencil to keep me on track.  I didn't need to draw the entire stitching line, just a few segments here and there.  Bob helped me last night as I went over all the blocks with an eraser to remove what hadn't already brushed off, but when I saw this picture it is clear that I need to do it again by the light of the day.  It's one of those little details that isn't visible until I look closely, and then it seems glaringly obvious.  Since I know this will be displayed and closely viewed by a lot of quilters, I feel an obligation to make it look as good as possible.  So back to the eraser!

Here's a little challenge for you--
When I was visiting my parents earlier in July, my sister and I dragged out our grandma's old jewelry boxes.  We had fun looking at the matching sets of costume jewelry that Grandma had worn.  Necklaces, bracelets, brooches and earrings in assorted colors and styles were exactly what the well-dressed lady needed in the 50's and 60's.  I have used a couple of those pins on jackets for just a little touch of bling or whimsy.  They make me feel good just to wear them.

Also found this little gadget in a box, which now is obsolete.  Can you identify what this was used for? My grandpa was Robert Herbert, thus the RH.  You can tell this was well-used by the worn paint.

Well, just in case you didn't grow up using a rotary dial phone, this was used to help dial the numbers.  Especially useful for a fine lady with manicured nails!  I suppose now you could use it like a stylus for your iPad, sort of like a time warp!  Those rotary dial phones are few and far between now, as are any phones that have a cord connecting the receiver to the base.  And what about party lines??  Do you think they still exist?  We always had a party line and had to put up with the inconvenience of wanting to make a call but picking up the receiver to hear the neighbor gabbing.  A long way from the phones of today and the need to have constant connection.  Since Bob and I eliminated our home phone service and now only use cell phones, I do pay attention to keeping it nearby, turned on and charged up, but I am not one to make it a huge priority.  If I don't answer, there's always the option to leave a message, which never existed in those "good old days".  It's an interesting progression to the present day need to stay always connected.  Sometimes it's good to just disconnect, so that is what I am going to do right now!  Good by and disconnect!