New quilting toys!

Well, I finished another table runner...I was gearing up to quilt my rhapsody quilt because I got a new toy to quilt with called the quilt halo (not online yet, but will be soon--but I have them in the shop)...It's basically a weighted grippy ring that you lay on your quilt and use instead of gloves to grip. I liked the idea, but was curious to see if it actually works. Well: I love it! I love my machingers too, but not like this. I think quilting is a whole pile of personal preferences, but just let me say that I did the "pebbles" pattern below with my halo, and, unbeknownst to me, my feeddogs up, and look at them! I was using holoshimmer thread, which can be a royal pain in the arse, and yet it turned out great!


Here's the entire thing below: a Twisting Star that I made for my mom for halloween.

I did ricky doodles in the border with holoshimmer...A great use of machingers since I had no spare backing so the halo was not ideal for a small border.

And last, but not least, a Sharon Schamber variation of the baptist fan. Also using the Halo, but also using Superior's new thread that changes color in the sun: Sunbursts or something. They're only available in cones at the moment, but it's pretty fun to quilt white on white and then be able to have it change in the sun. It's subtle, but cool...I used the green and the orange in this.Below is my other finished project...Also a runner for my mom because she remodeled her kitchen. It's Moda's Dandelion girl. I did machine applique with Rainbows and quilted with Brytes. I also did piped binding (meaning, joyously, that I didn't sew a stitch by hand).




I haven't yet had a chance to try out my second new toy: the Super Slider...Yeah, you can laugh, it does sound like a sex toy. But it's not: it's just a teflon sheet that has a hole cut for your needle and you slap it on your machine and it helps your quilt scoot around. Well, I tried it at my class in Billings and fell in love, so I got some for the shop and am looking forward to more testing this weekend.
In case all of you are wondering why I'm on this finishing tear (for me, three table runners is a tear, okay)...I foolishly made a list of all my unfinished projects (uncompleted tops), all my unquilted tops, and all my unbound quilt...Let's just say it wasn't pretty. I don't have the numbers, because I couldn't bear to count, but I'm going to. I did this to have something to cross off so I could be proud of myself when I finished something. So look for those depressing stats onTuesday. I'm getting there though. I vow to finish more this weekend. Not saying I won't start anything new...But I'm trying to finish one for every five or six I start :)
Happy Finishing everyone.