Thank you everyone for your kind comments :) These, especially the tablecloth, are some of the larger quilts I've completed so I'm fairly proud! Also I usually birth the smaller projects because I'm hesitant about binding, but the tablecloth is bound and my first major try at that too. I did used to sew everything by hand (I can't believe you remember!!), more out of necessity than choice. I didn't have a sewing machine at the time so even piecing blocks was done by hand. I still enjoy hand quilting, but I thought that for these two projects, both of which will probably get a lot of use and a lot of washing, that machine piecing and quilting was probably a lot more durable and practical. Thank you :)

No pictures here but, Linda Causee has a Christmas tree wall hanging featured for December in her book '365 Foundation Quilt Blocks'. It's a simple pieced tree using squares and half square triangles and then using the paper pieced 4" blocks in the book as ornaments that you 'hang' on the tree. I'm sure hanging ornaments on the log cabin tree would turn out very nice also. Though, I wish she mentioned how she hung the ornaments... Cathy Here is a link that might be useful: 365 Foundation Quilt Blocks @Amazon

I would love to quilt! --- if I could only FIND my sewing room! lol I've been decorating off & on for 4 days - & w/little ones here some of the time, the Christmas totes go into the sewing room to keep them out of the way! Thurs should be my last day this week for kids, so my plan is to sew-sew-sew all weekend! Except for the break to bake, of course. And some shopping w/DH either Fri or Sat eve. And a breakfast meeting Sat morning. And church & teach Sun school. And brunch w/my parents after church. And company on Sun afternoon. Hey! wait a minute! --- where in there did I think I could sew??!!? At least all my quilting gifts are finished - except for 2, which may or may not happen (obviously!! lol) I remember the days my shopping was finished in Sept - & my decorating took one day, plus maybe an evening. Baking over 2-3 days, usually w/help from the kids and my DMIL. Where did those days go???!! Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season. And if it gets done - great! If it doesn't, oh well...life happens! :) ~Cindy

Check out the local flea markets and antique malls...most will have feed sacks for sale....you can also take a look at repro fabrics, and if too white, tone them down a little with tea. You can also check the same places, plus next to new sort of places like the Salvation Army stores, for women's aprons. Many of those are made of the sort of fabrics you're looking for. I always wash quilts...both old and new...in the machine. It's fine, if you just don't allow them to agitate, which is where the problems come in. I fill the washer with warm water and whatever I'm using to wash with, and lay the quilt on top of the water, allowing it to sink on it's own....and, then soak...before putting it on the rinse cycle, I generally 'agitate' it by hand, just up and down in the washer. Rinse and spin out. If the water looks still dirty, do the whole thing again. I find this, by far, the easiest way to wash a quilt...leaning over the bathtub, etc, is way too hard on the old back, and if you don't allow it to agitate, it'll be fine! (this is also the way I wash skeins of yarn that I've spun, or those that have some sort of addition that weavers like...never a problem if they don't agitate).