Thanksgiving Wall Hanging

This wall hanging is for our house. I found this panel by Timeless Treasures at a quilt store in Reno, NV, en route to San Francisco with my mom last May. Its colors were beautiful so I could not resist it. When I got home, I promptly stored it with the other fabrics in my stash and forgot all about it.

Yesterday I had time for a quick project. As I was trying to decide which fabric would qualify, I found the panel. Pieced blocks would have taken too long, so I opted to quilted it in squares. Here is where I got lucky, and I strongly suggest you don’t copy my ‘method’, as it NEVER works!!!

Using the walking foot, I stitched a line over the fold line smack in the middle (width-wise) of the panel. Then, I figured I could stitch lines every 1.5 inches, and proceeded to do so, making sure the lines did not cross the white ‘border’. Note: I did not measure the quilt to see if the length and the width of the panel were divisible by 1.5! Can you believe my nerve? I did not even think about measuring anything, just went ahead and stitched lines 1.5 inches apart from one another. Only when I was getting to the bottom or top of panel did I realize I had no idea if it would look right. Ai, ai, ai…

It was then I witnessed the miracle – the randomly chosen 1.5in width between the lines was perfect! How can this happen??? Anyway, I lucked out, but I do not recommend you copy my folly.

I used monofilament on the top and bobbin. At first I was going to outline all the shapes, but it would have taken me forever. Plus, they were all outlined with gold, so I did not want to fuss with that. I had also purchased one yard of black with gold dots, just as the background. Lucky again: it was exactly the amount needed for the backing and the binding…

Instead of a sleeve I added three loops for hanging it. I am happy with this quick project, love all the colors, and finally have a wall hanging for Thanksgiving. It measures 42.25 X 23 inches – I found a perfect spot to hang it by the front door. Now, I just need to go out and by a rod for it, since the thumb tacks are very temporary!

The first week of November is about over. How are your Holiday plans coming along? My son and his family are coming from California for Thanksgiving and, so far, the only thing I have gotten is the turkey breast (I no longer roast a whole turkey). I have been in the US for 27 years this week… From the start I learned to cook everything for a traditional Thanksgiving meal, and enjoy it with all the trimmings (again, I no longer roast a whole turkey. One time I even roasted [forgive me!] a chicken!) 🙂

Have a restful weekend,