Hi Quilting Friends,
My “One Monthly Goal” for September was to piece bells (4 large and 12 small) for the new Christmas place mat set. The bells are almost, but not completely Ta-done. There were complications beyond my control.
First complication- Princess Nina is still at the spa, and my back up machine (Nina) wasn’t willing to stitch appliques. Nina is old (around 30 years), and her stitch selection ball works only occasionally. I’m thinking that it may be time to consider an update for my backup machine, considering her limitations. I’ve completed as much as I can with the straight stitch. The appliques won’t take long to finish later.
Second complication- My bruised right metatarsal #4 is still sore after my fall from a footbridge during a hike in Montana, and that’s my “driving” foot. I can sew for a short time wearing the post-op shoe instead of the orthopedic boot, but I need frequent breaks to rest and elevate. This too shall pass, and I’m happy to be able to sew even a little bit while healing happens.
Here’s what I was able to finish-

Stories from the Sewing Room September One Monthly Goal Finish Link Up
You might recall that I found the bell drawings while organizing some files in July. I digitized my drawings and then pulled Christmas fabric from my stash and scrap bins. Here’s the fabric pull for the background, pieced frames, and binding.

The bells are foundation paper pieced with applique details, made with my scraps and stash fabrics. We have large bells-

And small bells-

As you can see, I’ve already added the borders around the bell blocks, mostly so I could remove the foundation papers prior to finishing the appliques. The filmstrip frames have been prepared, and it won’t take long to put the place mats together once the appliques are stitched out. I’ll be quilting these myself, with lots of help from Princess Nina.
I don’t have enough of the red stripe (shown above in the fabric pull) to make the binding, so I will need to purchase a different fabric for that purpose. I haven’t been out of the house to go shopping yet, since I’m still not able to drive the car, so I will have a look in the quilt shop when I pick up Princess Nina.
Thanks for visiting! I appreciate that you’ve taken the time to read about my project, and I enjoy your comments. See the links that follow for more quilting “eye candy” from others.
Happy quilting,
Sharon
Sew cute, Sharon! Love the gold star background fabric you are using.
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Thank you! I’m happy that there was enough of the print in my stash for the place mats. I bought it at JoAnn several years ago, so there would be no way to get more.
Ms P Designs USA
http://www.mspdesignsusa.com
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Oh these are fun! Love the bells. Good luck finishing the rest of the steps and finding a stripe binding with enough yardage.
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And best of luck with your foot. Hubby has a stress fracture in his foot and is wearing a medical shoe which he calls the Frankenstein boot. The podiatrist says if it doesn’t make progress healing the next escalation is a medical boot.
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Thank you! I’m happy with the bells so far. I hope that your husbands foot heals up quickly. It’s hard to rest the weight-bearing bones.
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Thank you! 😊
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You still made really good progress even if you didn’t get it all done. Sometimes life just makes things a bit difficult. Hope you are healing quickly and won’t have those limitations for much longer.
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Thank you! I’ll be seeing the doctor on Friday, so I’m hoping for the best.
Ms P Designs USA
http://www.mspdesignsusa.com
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Those bells are cool. Glad you are making progress but remembering to rest.
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Thank you! 😊
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All things considered, you accomplished a lot. The bells look good and I’ll look forward to seeing how the whole thing comes together once the machines and the foot are better.
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Thank you! 😊
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Love your bell blocks. Such a great pattern. Can you share where you found the pattern? Thank you!
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Thank you! It is my original design. I’ll have the pattern ready to publish soon, and it will be available for purchase via our website.
Ms P Designs USA
http://www.mspdesignsusa.com
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