Sunday, September 28, 2008

Play Day....

No friends or family came calling today, and Ebby chose to sleep. But that didn't stop me from playtime. Luckily I play well alone *VBS* The little pile of 3.5" X 1.5" strips turned into this today. I randomly matched lt. to dark(mostly)and made 36 fence rail units. That left exactly 4 small strips that didn't get used. Yesterdays cutting is paying off today!
 To quote Gwen Marston "You can never have too many small quilts", and I can use a new table topper. This is the fungly stash I busted as backing *VBS* Remember I mentioned the 'half hoop' I used to finish up the Strip Twist borders?
 Well here it is. It's an odd looking thing. A friend brought 3 back from a CO quilt show back in the 1980s. I was lucky enough to recieve one. I've never seen others and wonder if there are many of them around anymore? Anyone know? The coming of Q Snap frames may have edged them out.
 Here it is open. You open it, pin the edge of the border to the fabric strip(I use staight pins mostly) and then ease the upper half of the arc down over the main part of the quilt. Using one of these does require frequent hoop moves, but with borders most everything require moving the quilt along as you go. I think I could just as easily use this for the main part of todays little quilt. All a piece has to be is big enough for the hoop to catch and hold it.
I hope everyone who's doing the New Years Eve UFO countdown is doing well and having fun. I'm seeing lots and lots of new blogs that I would NEVER have found otherwise*VBS* I hope everyone is having fun while they participate.
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8 comments:

~Bren~ said...

I have a half hoop much like yours. I think I got it back in the early 90's. I will show it on my blog soon. I did not realize they were not popular any more.
Your mini quilt is cute!!!
You can mark me as 1 project done in the challenge! 4 more to go!

Hunter said...

We never have enough small quilts around here.

As Tigger gets older he seems to really enjoy having a lot of padding in his favorite nap spots.

And each time he goes to the vet, the people who work there come to see which quilt he has in his carrier.

Your quilt is so cute. I love the backing fabric.

I hope you're have a great day.

Darilyn

Myra said...

A play day indeed!!! Good for you! 8-)
I haven't been doing much with UFOs the last week...still playing some...
and I am having fun! Getting to meet a lot of new...well...different bloggers in the process! 8-)
Happy stitchings Finn!

Amelia said...

That half hoop certainly would work perfect for borders...have never seen one before...will have to stay on the lookout for one - perhaps at a garage sale or thrift store.

Enjoy your stitching...

em's scrapbag said...

Totally enjoying the challenge. I love what I have been able to do. Thanks for the motivation.

Melanie said...

I'm totally lovin' the paper clip fabric....please share where you found it. My college freshman would be charmed to have something made with that collection of clips.

Rose Marie said...

My SIL has one and she uses it all the time. Me, I use my regular oval hoop and just pin strips onto the quilt and then loop the strips over the frame and then pin again (using safety pins). Because I move so quickly on the border, this method is quick to do and undo as I move along.

Patti said...

I've had a half hoop for years and always use it for the edges of my hand quilting. I tried the Q-snap frames and disliked them - they never held the quilt sandwich firmly enough for me.

I left a notice of my challenge report in another comment - hopefully you saw it but I'll mention it here also - just in case!