Gertrude Alice is all dressed up

After almost 2 years of promising myself I'd do this, it's finally done. The dust cover for my Bernina 440QE is finished.
She has the following features:

• Her name embroidered on one side
• My initial appliqued on the other
• One-seam 3D flying geese comprise the rest of the design
• The geese have had their edges turned down so it looks like they are curved

Even though there are many areas in which my execution or technique could be improved, I'm still as pleased as punch. The design was simple, the colors are exactly what I wanted, and I got a chance to really use my embroidery machine to make the decorative work.
I'm as pleased as punch.

440QE Machine Cover progress

Slowly but surely, the cover for my Bernina 440QE is getting close to done. At the Bad Herrenalb retreat, I got the top assembled, sandwiched and stitched in the ditch.
A few days ago I machine-stippled the KO applique part.
Tonight I used my embroidery module on my 830 to embroider a stipple fill around the name Gertrude Alice. My top wasn't exactly square, so I went back and touched up a couple of places. Then I basted around the outside.
That means there are just 3 things left to do:

1. Add the ribbons (still on their way from stoffe.de)
2. Bind the edges
3. Tack back the geese so they will have a curved look. 
4. Ok, and add a label. I rarely remember the label is a step, too.

Getting excited!

Extension table and bag ready for next retreat

When my plexiglas extension table arrived, I was a little surprised. The seller didn't have the exact measurements up on the website, but it was made to fit my 440QE, so I didn't worry about it too much. The size I had read about was 18 inches by 24 inches.
Imagine my surprise when I opened the box and saw that I had bought a 24 by 24 inch table! Even larger than I'd expected! Nice. And it's a Sew Steady table to boot. Sorry that it's hard to find the table in the picture, but you can see the nice Bernina logo.

After admiring the beautiful clear plexiglas for a while, it occurred to me that I'd bought it partially to take with me on retreats. But I had no way to carry it without scratching it, so I added a bag to my project list.
Well, the retreat is next week, so I had to get that thing done. On my last trip to Hilco with my buddy Andrea, we found a lovely corduroy in nice modern colors, and the saleswoman helped us find a brilliant lime green for the lining.
Today I finished the bag, and I suspect it will become my regular bag for carrying whole quilts. The bag is machine quilted, although rather badly, but that gives it some extra padding. I used the green to make handles and to trim the outside pocket. There's an inside pocket for the feet of the table as well, and I got to practice some more decorative stitching on both the handle and the pockets.

I can fold the top edge over when carrying smaller items, and it slings perfectly over my shoulder, even when I'm wearing a coat. The outside pocket, which I integrated into the handle, can hold rather large items.
All in all, quite satisfactory.

Ok, ok, when I look at the photos, it is a REALLY large bag. A small child could hide in it. That picture with DH? He's 6 foot 2 inches. Really big bag. Not him, the fabric object.

Quilty goodness comes in smaller packages, too

I've been building my habit of doing a little every day, and that has led to to start (and finish!!!) smaller projects.
This week alone, I've started and finished both a pair of oven mitts and a bookmark.
The mitts are for me, since DD took our old ones with her.
The bookmark is for a friend who loves to read so much, she has her own reading room. Hopefully this will make her reading even more pleasurable.

For both projects, I used a quilt stitch from my 440QE - makes a pretty stitch, don't you think? There's also a picture of the lining.

True confessions: the oven mitts are a little wonky. In fact, if a person had the top joint of one thumb cut off, they wouldn't be wonky at all - they would b a custom fit. But sadly I have all my thumb joints, so wonky it is.
And I'm not changing it, because Done is Better than Perfect.