Design Wall Tuesday

Thought  I'd share what I'm currently working on...I have both a design wall and a design "floor" - for those of you who may not have wall space here's my little $2 tip - go to Wally World or somewhere economical and look for the flannel backed table cloths - they should be on sale as it is end of summer. Here I have two laid out on the floor to be my "design floor" for a customer t-shirt I am working on today, These are also great if you go to retreats or sew ins  -  when you are ready to pack it up, just roll it up!

 For grins I thought I'd share a personal project that may be hanging for months on my design "wall" - I recently finished piecing these blocks at my guild's sew in  (started over a year ago). The "white space" of my design wall is where I will put a narrow inner border. Eventually. Like I said, it will probably hang for a while, but it adds a colorful touch to the studio and makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something. 

Making Memories

This is the time of year when families get together and "make memories" - typically kicking things off with a big Thanksgiving and then the countdown begins for Christmas!

For some people the holidays can be both joyful and painful. Seems there are a lot of people I know who have family members with serious illness or have lost loved ones recently, many are entering into the first holiday season after a loved ones' passing. It never seems to get easier - as I too have once again walked through the anniversary of my dad's passing some 8 years ago....yes, the ups and downs of the holidays....

Everyone deals with their own grief in their own way. Some like to hold on to special items from their family member, some enjoy photos, others just want to keep their memory alive by recalling special times together.

Every once in a while I'm asked to make a "memory quilt" from a deceased family member's clothing so that those left behind have a tangible remembrance, a "hug" so to speak as they cuddle up in a quilt that is unique and one of a kind, one that holds special memories and can bring comfort during times of sorrow.

Recently I was given men's suits and ties along with a few special photos to make a lap quilt for a granddaughter to remember her granddad...

A few scatterings of blocks made from ties and a few photos are sprinkled in among a wide variety of fabrics from pants and suits, tied together with a little red fabric to add to the colors of the clothing with hopes to make this holiday a little more special...

It's always a privilege to be entrusted with a family's heirloom, and it is my hope that this quilt brings joy to the receiver not only this holiday season, but for many seasons to come.

As with my own dad, there are so many times I miss him....and I think of how much he'd be enjoying the family right now as my two sons have chosen their soul mates - oh how much he's approve of the girls! How he would tease them and laugh with them, and love welcoming them to the family...sometimes these thoughts are painful as I truly wish he could share things with all of us...yet because I know where he is I realize how selfish it is to want him back...the separation is truly the hardest on those left behind . Every now and then I reflect on the fact that my dad certainly knows a whole lot more than me about heaven, angels, the saints who have gone before and oh how wonderful it must be to gaze upon the Redeemer...our Savior...face to face! One day I'll share that knowledge....

2 Corinthians 5:6-10 Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— ⁷ for we walk by faith, not by sight— ⁸ we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and⁾to be at home with the Lord. ⁹ Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. ¹⁰ For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

Loading a quilt with zippered leaders and Tensionology!

I would like to continue a tutorial I started several months ago concerning attaching zippers to leaders on a longarm - this post is going to show you how to load a quilt using these zippered leaders. In addition I am including information on using A1's patented Tensionology - which allows you to keep the tension consistent throughout the quilting process as well as advancing the fabric with a click of a button. Even if you don't have an A1 I hope you will find something beneficial in this post - be sure and at least skip to the bottom to see the finished quilt (grin). If you would like more information on the A1 and Tensionology just visit my website Quilts 'N Kaboodle. AND if you'd like a PDF version of this post or the previous one just send me an email requesting it (use the feedback form on my website). Okay...lets' get started!

Tensionology™ 101: Loading a Quilt with Zippered Leaders

Zippers on your A1 Quilting Machine offer several advantages. If you have not installed zippers please refer to my previous tutorial on how to do so. Regardless of having zippers or not, pinning or using a chain stitch, this tutorial will share how to load a quilt using your Tensionology ™ feature on your A1 Quilting Machine.

Now let’s begin where the last tutorial left off…

Having zippers on your leaders typically means you have at least two sets to be able to switch out quilts with the ease of zipping one off and the other on. In the above photo I’ve shared how I marked my second set of zippers.

I’ve marked my zippered leaders to corespond with the take up rollers. On my machine the take up bar that is at the back of the machine is # 1, it’s easy for me to remember this because it’s a solo bar. The other two are on the front of the machine and may be ‘stacked’ or off-set – either way, the take up roller that is your batting access bar (the one that moves) is #2 and the other one is #3.

This translates to #1 equals the top of the quilt backing, #3 is the bottom of the quilt backing and #2 is the bottom of the quilt top. With Tensionology ™ you do not “float” your tops (you can, of course, but then you lose the purpose of keeping the tension on the entire quilt sandwich which is why you purchased Tensionology™ in the first place!)

For those who do not know what this looks like, here's a photo of an A1 quilting machine with the tall pole being the Tensionology. Tensionology is a patented design by A1 Quilting Machines and Stewart Plank.

On each set of zippered leaders I marked the corresponding center – doing so by actually zipping each one on to it’s proper location and making the mark according to the center that was previously marked on the actual take up roller. By doing all this labeling you have not only greatly reduced any opportunity for confusion as to what part goes where, but you have also guaranteed that your centers will truly be center. In addition I chose to mark one inch incriments with a zero center and going out to 60 on both sides, to save time I just labeled 5,10,15, etc. (See first photo)

With your zippered leaders properly labeled you are now ready to attach the quilt backing and top. This can be done by pinning or using a chain stitch. My photos will show attaching using my Janome Cover Pro, but again, pinning works just as well. For the record, I’ve pinned for 6 years and this is the first quilt done using the chain stitch. The choice is yours! The important thing is that you notice the proper placement of fabric to the leader. By the way, if you are pinning this can be done both at the machine with the leaders already zipped on or unattached as described in the photos.

With a batik backing it’s hard to tell which is the right and wrong side of the fabric in this photos, but it will show up in the next photo when you see a seam (grin), for now, just trust me.

I’ve started with the Quilt Backing Top, which is labeled as #1. For the sake of instruction the side of the zippered leader that is labeled will be called the RIGHT side and the unlabeled side will be noted as the WRONG side. Find the center of your quilt backing and place the RIGHT side of the backing to the WRONG side of the zippered leader, matching centers and working your way from the center out, place pins about every 10 inches in preparation to sew.

My example is a chain stitch from my Cover Pro – you may have a serger or sewing machine that does this. I chose to use two different colors of thread so I’d know which was the top and which the bottom to make it easier to pull out later. Again, you may choose to pin using the pins that came with your machine package, regardless, here’s the list of which side goes where:

Quilt Backing Top: Leader #1 Quilt Backing RIGHT side to WRONG side leader

Quilt Backing Bottom: Leader #3, Quilt Backing RIGHT side to WRONG side leader

Quilt Top Bottom: Leader #2, Quilt Top WRONG side to WRONG side leader

It is important that you predetermine how you will load the quilt top, typically you will attach the bottom of the quilt top to the #2 leader, but on occasion if something is directional you may wish to reverse this. For the sake of the tutorial we will be attaching the BOTTOM of the quilt top to the zippered leader #2. Again, WRONG side of quilt top to WRONG side of zippered leader.

Ta Da, this part is done! Now let’s go to the machine!

Okay, this may look a tad confusing, but let me explain. The top take up roller (#2) is being held up by the batting access lever. I’ve zipped on the #3 zippered leader which holds the Quilt Backing Bottom and have all the fabric draping on the floor. Then I roll it up by hand, very roughly. I know this doesn’t look right, but trust me.

Next attach zipper leader #1 to the solo take up roller #1 at the back of the machine. It too is going to look rather unsettling – hold on, there’s a reason for this.

I know, it looks sorta woppie, but that's okay for this point.

Now it’s time to play with the Tensionology™

I sometimes have technical difficulties with blogger... turn your head.. the pole is suppose to be vertical not horizontal. I'm sorry!

This is the pulley end of the bottom take up roller #3. (Again, take up roller #2 is raised by the batting access lever so it’s not in the photo). Notice the arrow on the pulley near the connection to the bar. (If yours doesn’t have an arrow you can add one with a sharpie). This pulley needs to have the wire wound around counter clockwise. I’m using the wire/weights on the left, which are the back side of the machine or panto side.

Next add weights. I generally find that two weights give me the tension that I desire. Play around and decide what you prefer, 1, 2 or 3 weights realizing it can vary from quilt to quilt. One word of caution – if it is too tight you may experience thread issues during the quilting process.

Now take the fob that came with your Tensionology™ and advance the fabric to the top take up roller #1 by pressing B on the fob – I remember it as “B for back” because I am generally working from the front of the machine - although that line of thinking doesn’t work totally logically because you’d think “A for advance” and B actually advances … SO just think B to go BACK on to take up roller #1. Whatever works for you (grin). Again, this is a rough roll, it looks strange but don’t be overly concerned how the fabric is rolling. After all the backing is on take up roller #1 you will press A on the fob and now rewind to have all the fabric on take up roller #3 slowly, carefully, smoothing as you go until it’s all neat and proper. This technique is especially helpful with pieced backings. During this process the weights will go up and down as the wire is being wound/unwound on the pulley.

Photo above shows the fabric beginning to wind around take up roller #1. Photo below shows it advanced all the way around take up roller #1

Now it's time to re-roll it back where it belongs on take up roller #3, making sure it's smooth.

Now it’s time to load the batting and baste it to the top. I’ve not given you photo documentation on this as it was covered during your set up/training. For reference here’s a simplified explanation. With the batting access bar still holding take up roller #2 in the upward position, place the batting along the top edge of the quilt backing. Smooth out by hand; release the batting access lever to lower take up roller #2. Adjust the quilt by advancing or backing up the Tensionology™ to where the back of your backing and batting come to an area where you can push the machine to its further most point to create a channel lock and then stitch down the batting to the backing with a straight line – this will be your reference point to line up the top of the pieced quilt. (If this isn’t clear, refer back to the Attaching Zippers blog/You Tube to demonstrate how to create a channel lock). Some prefer to stitch from the center out to each side; I generally go from left to right. Again, personal preference.

Once the batting is in place it’s time to attach the quilt top. Zip the zipper leader #2 containing the bottom of the quilt top to the take up roller #2, taking care to spread the quilt top over take up roller #1.

If you notice in this photo I’ve begun to roll the quilt top onto take up roller #2. It is most critical that you take your time and roll smoothly. There’s no ‘back and forth’ process as we did on the backing. This is where you will want to make any slight adjustments due to fullness in the piecing, always maintaining a good horizontal placement of the quilt top, easing in fullness as needed. Once complete, baste the top of the quilt to the backing/batting. It is most important to do this step before adding Tensionology ™ weights (ask me how I know!)

Again, baste the top of the quilt to the backing/batting sandwich.

This is the most important photo out of the entire tutorial on loading a quilt with Tensionology™

The top pulley is connected to take up roller #2 ,the one that holds the quilt top; by the way, this photo shows the rollers in the “stacked” position, if you have the Horizon or don’t have your rollers stacked they will be slightly off-set, however, the placement of the pulleys and wires is the same. Take up roller #2 wraps clockwise using the wire on the front side of the machine and take up roller # 3 wraps counterclockwise using the wire from the panto side of the machine.

Add weights and you are done!

Again, the photo is taken from the front of the machine with the Tensionology ™ on the right hand side. Looking at the photo the weights on the left correspond to take up roller #3 (Quilt Backing Bottom) and the weights on the right attach to take up roller #2 (Quilt Top).

And good ole blogger is making me humble again...can't seem to make the photo go the right direction, but you guys are smart and can kindly turn your head to understand the proper orientation (grin)

On this particular quilt I wanted to stabilize it by doing all the continuous curve stitching in the double wedding ring "ring" before going back and quilting in the blue background. The photo below shows my take up leader #2 released from the quilt sandwich, which I will describe how to do...

It is MOST important when you get to the bottom of the quilt and the zippered leader #2 is exposed to take the time to remove the tension by removing the weights BEFORE unpinning or removing the quilt top from the zippered leader - otherwise once the tension is released by the removal of the pins the weights are going to come crashing down - not a good thing if you have a cute puppy in the room - poor Pixxie was scared out of her wits when I discovered this error (grin). If you think about it, it makes perfect sense, but it you are like me and you are quilting in the moment...well...enough said.

On the same token, once you have completed the entire quilt you will want to remove the weights from take up leader #3.

I can't tell you how much I love this A1 innovation! Having a fabric advance is wonderful, especially when you are trying to complete a design element and need just a little more throat space. Click of a button and the quilt advances to allow more room, click again and you can bring it back to where you were all the while keeping PERFECT tension on the quilt sandwich! No more puckers on the back from rolling or rerolling! If you don't already have one, I highly recommend adding it to your A1 - and if you don't have an A1, I can tell you how to get one!

Hopefully this tutorial has helped demonstrate how to load a quilt with zippered leaders, and that you have seen the value of rolling and rerolling the quilt backing to ease out any fullness.

As always, after a few quilts you'll be a pro at this - but if you are still new to longarm quilting, and perhaps Tensionology, you may find it helpful to print this out and have by your machine. Just visit my website and on the contact us page fill out the feedback form to request a PDF version of this tutorial and/or the one on attaching zippers. It's my thoughts that us quilters have to stick together and help one another!

If you've held on this long I want to share with you the completed quilt!

Double Wedding Ring, pieced by Dena

On display with the assistance of my Professional Quilt Model, Pixxie

The backing was pieced and had some beautiful batiks - I think the quilting really shows up more so from the back than the front.

Here's a close up of the front.

The wide border on the side had feather-like ferns that formed a heart shape as they came together.

Here's the border design element from the back.

Thanks for joining me in this continued adventure of longarm quilting.

Karen O in Texas

The First Week of the Rest of My Life

I love the opportunity for new beginnings. Sundays are my all time favorite day of the week because that is my time for refreshing and worship. I count Mondays as good too because even though technically they are the second day of the week I think of them as the first day of my work week and I'm always eager to see where the week will lead me. The first of a month is fun because I get to turn to a new page on my calendar, there's a whole clean slate and days waiting to be filled - an opportunity to write my own history. New years are the epitome of newness. All of these are opportunities to start over, to put off the past both the joys and the failures, and to look with anticipation of the new day/week/month/year. The first day of the rest of my life awaits me fresh each morning. A day full of choices. My goal is to chose JOY!

I also like starting a new quilt. And what fun when I can start a new one on Monday and watch it's progress during the week. It amazes me how a pieced top can change so much while it's on the quilt frame. Little by little, row by row, stitches are added in an effort to complete the quilt. The hard part is being patient - I want to see how it's going to turn out! But that takes diligence, focus, and just plain hard work to put all those stitches in so I can "visualize" the finished quilt. (Sad thing, unless I'm doing the binding I really don't get to see the final quilt, as the binding adds another finishing design element to the quilt, but that's another rambler story!)

It's a new year and I'm ready for new things. Can't imagine what the future holds, but I know Who holds my future! It's a trust thing for me. Faith.

I also like new design elements and fresh ideas for my quilting. It's good to review things of the past and then see how to improve upon them, to grow with my passion. That happened this week with a new little design I like to call "Feather Puffs"



The design is a spin off of one of Irena Bluhm's designs. I have to admit, it's also a spin off from a scene in the movie Avatar. A small disclaimer here, while I enjoyed the movie for it's creativity and special effects I didn't like all the hidden messages including the pantheism - that of nature and God being equivalent. Tree hugger I'm not. But! With discernment I really enjoyed the visual sites in this movie including a beautiful seed pod that floated through the air, pretty much like blowing of a dandelion seed pod as a child and watching it take flight, with the added grace of jellyfish/sea anomee like movements.

It was with these thoughts that I decided to play around with adding "feather puffs" on the quilt gracing my frame this week. The one above became the design element in the chain blocks and little minature 'puffs' were sprinkled in along the border. The movement in these elements was very joyful and freeing this week. I was quilting in my element and enjoying the process.



I also wanted to take some photos of how I do feathers. The other day I mentioned in My Garden Grows Feathers how much I enjoy feathers and have worked really hard to learn many different types. So here's a little taste of how a formal feather plume grows under my hand guided longarm.

Basic stitched stem/vine/spine

I start in the middle and work my way towards the curl.
These are formal feathers sometimes called over the top
or hump and bump because every other one has
to be back tracked over the hump to form the following plume.

I like to work both sides of the stem instead of going down one side
and then back up the other. I think it's faster and funner (grin)

Once I've reached the curl I retrace or back track over the spine back
to the center and do the other side

Once the feather design element is complete I then add background filler
so it's not just floating out there (grin)

This is the completed quilt.

and close ups

The customer picked up her quilt today and expressed her pleasure, which of course completed my pleasure. Happy ending (grin). Actually, it's just the beginning for this quilt, it now needs to be bound and prepared to hang in a local quilt show next month, which I hope to attend!


So going back to the thought of improving with time...what do you think? Here's my feather of 2010 and..

here's my feathers of 2006 from a quilt called Purple Passions Unleashed

I'd like to think that I've improved with age (big grin)
and the best is yet to be!
After all, it's the first day of the rest of my life!

Ode to the Unknown Piecer

By definition an ODE is "a lyric poem expressive of exalted or enthusiastic emotion"

I'm not a poet, I'm a rambler...but this post does have what I hope to be enthusiastic emotion.

As a longarm quilter for hire, it's my job (and my joy) to assist piecers (quilters) in the finishing of their masterpieces. Sometimes the owner of the quilt top isn't necessarily the one who pieced it, sometimes it's an inherited top, or even a special purchase from an estate sale or antique market. Sometimes I don't even know the story, as in the case of the quilt I'm working on this week.

One of my faithful customers had a neighbor with a quilt top that needed to be quilted. If I was told the story I have certainly slept since then and don't remember. All I remember is my good customer telling the neighbor that she would show it to her longarm quilter and see if anything could be done with it...for you see, the top had "issues."

I wish I had more of a command of vocabulary because "issues" seems disrespectful, and I certainly don't mean any disrespect to the unknown piecer, but this is another one of those "bless her heart" quilts...

This particular quilt was hand pieced, and judging by the fabrics full of feedsacks and other recognizable designs, was probably pieced in the 30's or 40's when the double wedding ring pattern was very popular. I always love taking a photo of the actual hand piecing before it is covered up forever and ever amen. For a reason unknown to me, the piecing was done in both a black thread and occasionally a white thread - could it be that the unknown quilter was using what was available as far as thread choices were concerned? Could it be that she was a beginner and the black thread was a way for her to see where she was working, or could it be that she was a seasoned saint whose eyesight was aided by this choice of thread color?



The double wedding ring is not a pattern for the faint of heart. Yes, its symbolism is one that will warm your heart - sometimes made in hopes of a future marriage, sometimes made for a wedding, or perhaps even for a special anniversary. Regardless, it's a difficult pattern to piece with it's small ring of colorful scraps and it's odd size melon in between, not to mention the large center piece whose proper geometric name escapes me....


Yes, this quilt had some 'issues' - for one, it didn't want to lay flat when spread out on the floor, and as you can see in the photo above, it didn't end on an even note. The edges looked more like ruffles potato chips with it's ridges than a quilt that would grace a bed ensemble.

Ah, but that's only if you look with your eyes and not your heart!

Not knowing the quilt piecer, the history of the quilt, or anything really except the current owner wanted it finished and was willing to accept puckers in the completed project - I was left up to my imagination as to how to quilt this particular masterpiece.

The design needed to take into consideration that there would be many pleats and puckers along the way, yet I didn't want to just meander or stipple over the entire top. An edge to edge pantograph wouldn't work either, number one simply because it would again be difficult to ease in the fullness and number two (which was really number one in my mind) is it just wasn't befitting to a double wedding ring. Too much time had been invested in the piecing, it would be disrespectful to rush the finishing by just stitching any ole thing to hold in the batting.

For somewhere in time a lovely lady set her mind upon piecing a double wedding ring. Perhaps in hopes of her own marriage, perhaps just because she liked the pattern. Could it have been her first quilt, or even one of her last? After all the careful planning and choosing of the scraps for the rings and the countless hours of piecing did she grow weary and decide not to quilt it? Was she frustrated when she couldn't make the seams obey and lay flat, or was she piecing during a difficult time and the simple motion of needle and thread working in her fingers brought her peace and the end result wasn't the focus? Some thing I'll never know unless the current owner has a story to share - but what I do know is this unknown piecer had the tenancy to finish that which she started - not a ring missing, not an unfinished row, a little uneven and a little full, but a complete top. Bravo!

A top that cried out "finish me". And to the best of my ability that was my goal. In an effort to mask some of the fullness I decided to double layer the batting, with an 80/20 cotton/poly on the back to help shape the quilt and a high loft poly on the top to soften the fullness that was inevitable.

What to stitch? What would work the best considering the obstacles and still honor the piecer's love and attention to the completion of her top? what indeed but hearts! When that thought hit me, the love just flowed out from one quilter to another. The shared passion and perhaps the shared imperfection. Somehow I could relate to this unknown piecer. My designs aren't perfect, I don't make a perfect quarter inch seam in all my quilts, sometimes my blocks are a little wonky, but the love is never less than a perfect love - love for the process, love for the journey, love for the therapy brought about by playing in fabric and thread, and love in hopes that one day this labor of love will warm someone's heart as it warms them from the outside elements. Can the love be felt? I certainly hope so, I tried to match it stitch for stitch with the love I imagined of the unknown piecer.


So yes, it's a little uneven, yes it's a little puckered, and yes it still needs a binding put on to make it complete (tomorrow's task), and yes, it's FINISHED! (almost, except the binding). I hope the recipient will savor the character added to the quilt by it's age spots, creative piecing and beautiful scraps.


And yes, I hope it's loved when it finds it's way home. I hope it will be said that I completed my task of honoring the quilt maker by finishing her quilt so it can be used as intended.

Working Overtime

I've had a busy few days, so thought I'd take a moment to catch up...

The beautiful fabric is a personal project I finished late last night, but more on that in a little while!

In one of my last posts I shared about the gift of giving, as in so many people giving Quilts of Hope, Blankets of Love this past year for Hurricane Ike survivors....

Well, here's a hurricane story with a different twist!

Last summer, through the wonders of internet, I was able to connect with my long lost best friend from high school, Holly. We discovered that we were only 60-70+ miles from each other, her being north of Houston and me being south....of course each of us have families and busy lives so we corresponded through email as a "catch up" and planned a day to make that journey through Houston to the other side to get together and see each other face to face.

For whatever reason, I kid you not, each date that we were able to set aside from our busy schedules last summer ended up being a hurricane evacuation! We tried at least three times, all three resulted in a hurricane - the final one being Ike. We decided that if we tried again that we needed to alert the news media and weather forecasters to just go ahead and declare a hurricane was in the gulf....

Such is life if you try to plan things. Sometimes the best things are just spontaneous! Just recently I joined the ranks of FaceBook, which has provided yet another way for my dear friend and I to try to 'catch up' or at least be current with each others lives....enter in a quick post from Holly that she and her daughter are on MY side of Houston looking for a car...I post back, 'keep driving south you're almost at my house' and the next thing I know the phone rings and I'm giving her directions!!


Here we are, 30 years post high school, 20+ years since seeing each other. And guess what? No hurricane! Even though we could use some rain (grin).

While she was here I of course shared my studio and one of the quilts I'd just finished. Here's a sneak peak - photos will be posted on webshots this weekend after the customer has picked it up - I never want my customer to see their quilt before they get here, I love the ah-ha moment when they see their quilt top turned in to a quilt.


As I said, I've been working overtime this week....Here's another close up of a quilt that will be picked up later today that I just finished last night...


And a close up of another one that I actually did between the two above. So lots of company coming this weekend to pick up quilts.


I have big plans for my weekend ( actually my customers are having to work around it to pick up their quilts) ....my church, Calvary Chapel Houston, is hosting a women's conference this weekend and I decided that I wanted a cover for my Bible....so after hours last night, this is what I made!



I do not understand the uploading process of blogger. It has turned the photo and I don't know how to right-side-up-it-again. But for what it's worth, this is the pattern that I used, It's called Wrap it to Go by Terry Albers I purchased the pattern last year at the Houston International Quilt Festival and knew it would be perfect for this project.


I loaded the fabric on my longarm (thankfully at 6 PM yesterday evening I had just finished the mariner's compass customer quilt and was able to slip on something of mine!). Since the fabric is a busy print I could have gotten away with any quilting, meandering, loops, even cross-hatching, but I decided to do little feathers to give it some texture (see the close up at the top of the post). The quilting took longer than the project I think, but it was enjoyable. As my hubby keeps telling me, enjoy the process, so I did.


This is the exterior of my Bible wrap. I decided to do a button closure instead of Velcro and was blessed to find just the right button in my small little baggie of button stash. (I'm not telling a fib, I really don't have a big button stash...now thread or fabric, that's another story!)


The pattern called for a pen holder, which is very important to me. I do take a lot of notes at church and am always searching for a pen. I added the tissue holder, which is just under the large flap that wraps the Bible. I did this because, again, I'm always searching for one. We have the most awesome praise and worship team at our church, they just lift us up to the throne in worship and more times than not there's cause for tears of joy, so a hankie is appreciated (grin) and then of course there's those convicting sermons .... anyway, I thought it would be nice to keep tissues in my Bible and used this "Almost Free" Tissue Holder Pattern from Ami Simms.
I only put in a few tissues instead of an entire travel size package because it was too bulky.

So that's my workin' overtime story. I have several other quilts to do today and in the morning before heading out to Women's Conference on Friday night. I'm hoping I can steal away a couple of hours this evening and make a tote bag or something...we'll see. So many ideas, so few hours!