Last of 2013

I would love to post my 2013 finishes and progresses!  I bungled around Picasa 3 this morning and couldn't see how to use it to collage my year's work.  So I will just post what I'm doing currently!

 I am working on the 'red quilt.'  It's layered and the quilting on the inner part is finished - I quilt 'near the ditch' often, and am slowly getting more accurate.  I am deciding what to quilt the border.  The layers slip - maybe I need more pins.

These small pin cushions were fun to make.  They are 4 1/2 inches and were made with charm squares, buttons, and poly pellets.  I will share them with the ladies in my friendship group as New Year's gifts!

My cat Abby has decided she likes to stretch out in my lap if I'm cuddled in a quilt - especially if I'm hand sewing.  She's fascinated by the thread traveling in and out!

I won't make any New Year's resolutions - it is too disheartening when broken! But I find myself automatically making new starts by cleaning out my purse and closets - and the MOST fun, re-organizing my fabric!  I bought some nice size boxes on sale at Costco and put my small, less-used, old-fashioned fabric in them.  I can still see the fabrics because I (compulsively) ordered them so that each one, no matter how small, can still be seen.  The larger, multi-yard pieces I keep separate for backs.  Now I can use the extra saved space to spread out my batiks and contemporary fabrics.

I enjoy reading Exuberant Color's blog every morning with my morning coffee.  Hopefully I will find the time and quilting progress to blog more often in the new year.

December already

Christmas is creeping up on me.  I've finished making the gifts for my children, have been given a few ideas for giving to my grands, and have partially made little pin cushions for my quilty friends.

This hanging is my homage to my Alaska cruise.  The zentangle animals were cut from fabric I bought there.  I'm trying to place the animals and select fabrics all at once. This will be a modular quilt - quite a departure for me!

I want to sometimes change the quilt hanging in my loft, and felt this one deserved to be seen.  I smile every time I come upstairs!

 I didn't shop Black Friday, but my daughter-in-law and her mom and aunt did.  Here they are looking over the ads and making a list of shops and intended purchases. 





I have a lot of gift shopping to do before Christmas and I'm trying to quilt a few things in between trips.  I'd like to finish this Alaskan animal quilt and get a good start on the 'red' MQG quilt and Riley Blake challenge.

Christmas Progress

The Snow family is finished except for the child's nose and a bit of hand-binding that I am leaving for something to do in quilt class today. I don't know what I'll do to make that nose.  It's so small...

I brought out the box of tall Christmas trees that I work on each year.  I made a stack of pieces so that I just need to sit down and start sewing.  I'm not sure who they will go to, but I love making them.

Working more on my witch.  All is turn-edged, placed, and appliqued onto the background except for the shoes, broom, and objects that are falling out of her pocket.  The jack-o-lantern took all one morning - has 11 pieces! I needed to get that witch off of my design wall so that I can continue with other projects.

The Riley Blake charm pack arrived in the mail and luckily go with 2 of the pieces that I am required to use.  This is for the Riley Blake challenge due in February.  I am planning on a throw with an easy hex pattern.

This 2-handed pot-holder was a gift for me as an exchange challenge last month at my modern quilt guild meeting.  I will take it today to quilt class as an example of an easy gift to make for Christmas.  It's 24 inches long, but I would suggest making it a bit longer so that it will hold a casserole.

I've never crazy-quilted, so this rose is my learning experience.  My sides keep getting larger and melding, and I don't know how to avoid that.  I will ask for help at the class today.


I will continue working on the colorwash challenge due in the January modern quilt guild meeting, and the Riley Blake taupe quilt due in February, and more Christmas gifts of course.  Only 5 weeks until Christmas!

witchy woman

Even though Halloween is past, I'm working on my witch.  Her body is complete except for the hands, and I need to applique her pocket contents that have fallen out when she hit the tree.  I thought I could get away without doing those items, but it is unbalanced without them.  I'm doing glue turned-edge applique with this hanging.  It seemed to be easier than needle-turning here because of the difficulty in placing the pieces.

I'm still working on the snow family.  Have to complete the bow, the cap, and the kid's nose.  I will crazy quilt a border.  I leaped ahead and added the buttons forgetting that I need to wait until the quilting is done.

When I took my sampler quilt into class for help in basting, we found that my basting is ok except for the borders!  Yayy - I don't need to take it apart!  I found a simple braid pattern to use on the sashing, and will begin work on it after Christmas.

There are two challenges due in the new year for my Modern Quilt Guild.  One, due in January, is for a quilt with red in it(!!??)  I'm planning a color wash in taupes, with bits of red in it.  I need a wider range of color than I have so far.

I am making a quilt for a Riley Blake challenge - due in February.  I'm not crazy about her fabric - her groups tend to be a novelty with blenders, but found some  online that I will use.  I'm thinking about making hex groups on a bold background.

My poor avocado seed was not doing anything after several weeks, so I turned it over and put the large end down.  I don't remember which end produces the roots.  We'll see if it does better now.

A Step Backward

My lovely sampler will have to wait to be re-layered...  My table is not big enough to hold the whole quilt and the backing bunched!  I need to layer it on the floor or take it to class for friends to help with it.

I thought I might work on this nativity scene since Christmas is coming.  The background is complete, but there are a LOT of figures and animals,and lots of pieces to each one. I think it will be really pretty, but it's really intimidating, and I can't work on it just now.




The cable guy is coming tomorrow, so I am watching Harry Potter movies!  It's just too quiet otherwise.

Baby quilt

The baby quilt is finished.  I learned to make continuous bias binding and use it with a scalloped edged quilt.  Learning new techniques is always a good thing to me!  I won this quilt kit as a door prize at my local guild.  It will wait for the next girl baby in the family.

This cute little mug rug is finished too.  I pre-glued it, reverse appliqued it, then hand-appliqued it.

I think I'll tackle a UFO next.  My sampler was made in '94, and has waited patiently in my UFO closet. 

Baby quilt again

I'm still working on the baby quilt - the bias binding around these scallops is difficult for me.  I don't know whether to leave a fold at the bottom of the scallop or try to make it smooth...

My snow family is coming along.  The stick arms are done now.  I'm leaning toward embroidering the features, adding a bit of prisma color pencil where necessary.

This little jack-o-lantern mug rug is being worked for Mickey's class. Still some embroidery to do.  I reverse appliqued the features - have never done that before, and pre-glued the applique before sewing it down.

progress

I didn't make as much progress this week as I wanted, but I did do some quilty activity.

At our Modern Quilt guild meeting this week, I displayed my small hanging - my first attempt at making a modern quilt and my first attempt to make a quilt without a pattern. I think it looks more like an art quilt than a modern quilt and will go into the drawer as a learning experience, but I'm glad I made the attempt.

I shopped a sale at JoAnn's and got a bolt of batting on sale for $99.  It's a bit thinner than I'm used to working with, and I hope I haven't made an expensive mistake.  It will be perfect on the baby quilt I'm making. It will live in my closet between my ironing board and my UFO quilt tops.  I layered that baby quilt and should have it quilted soon,



I started embroidering the snow family, I enjoy embroidery, but found I didn't know how to make a sharp turns .  I plan on following a detailed explanation today, and should then make progress quickly.

I would still like to include this delicate drawn wreath in my Christmas gifts, but it looks so anemic compared to my other projects.  Maybe I should darken the drawn lines...


I hope I will make more progress this coming week.

Getting started for Christmas

It's not that long until Christmas, so I'm getting ready.  I like my gifts to be home-made as much as possible

I made a Christmas Tree table runner this week.  It's a quilt-as-you-go basic runner, and I appliqued these Christmas trees from Melinda Bula's Candy Cane Lane book. It's only 42" long, so it will go on a small table or buffet.

There are several other designs from that book I'd like to make - especially the snowmen family.  That crazy-pieced border looks interesting to make too.

The kit for this baby quilt was a door prize at my local guild.  What a nice gift!  It's a large log cabin block with borders at each end - the outer border will be scalloped.  The wild patterns may keep this baby awake!

I had my 70th birthday this month!  Yikes!!  I hope that doesn't mean I'm getting old...  Here I am with my sons and their families.  Most of my grandchildren are taller than I am!


I'd like to get a portable OTT light that I can use in my living room at night for handwork.  There's a very heavy floor model upstairs, but I like to watch tv while I handsew.  It will be really handy to take to classes and to scrapbooking sessions too.  Just deciding which model I'd like to buy.

Quilt Show

Yayyy!!  I entered quilts in our local guild's quilt show - Flying Geese Quilt Guild!  This is my first time displaying quilts and I'm really, really excited!  They won no prizes, but I got good constructive comments, both about the strong points and what could be improved.

This is Chickens on the Run, just a fun quilt...  not judged.

The blocks in Mama's Quilt were made by Mama, and I sashed them and bordered the quilt.  The blocks were hand-pieced and hand-appliqued. 

The comments were:  Charming old-fashioned color palette.  Binding technique very well executed.  Applique blocks are very well done.
Areas needing improvement:  Regarding piecing - all points should be sharp and sashing and cornerstones should align across the quilt.

My friend Connie and I both made quilts with this pattern and fabric.  The monsters peek out of openable doors.

The comments were:  Some lucky child owns a very fun and vibrant quilt.  The thoughtful placement of monsters under the doors is very whimsical.  This is just a very fun quilt to look at.  Piecing is nicely done.  Quilting motifs are appropriate.
Areas needing improvement:  On quilting motif - be mindful of quilting start and stops.  There should be no knots.

It was a wonderful day - so many wonderful quilts to see.  I white-gloved for a few hours, and my feet feel it!

Cruise

I just returned from a magical quilt cruise to Alaska!  10 days of sight-

seeing and quilt classes - I was in heaven!  I went on this cruise at the prompting of my friend Joan.  Here are Joan and her husband Ken:

This was my first time on a cruise and first time in Alaska.  We saw salmon

jumping in Ketchikan, the Mendenhall glacier in Juneau, the beautiful Buschart Gardens in Victoria B.C., where I forgot my camera!  And every excursion included a visit to a quilt shop where most had some uniquely Alaskan products.  Here is a baby bear taking a nap!

 Sylvia Pippen's classes were eye-opening.  We worked on a felt salmon

hanging and an intricate sashiko and applique bouquet.  We learned to neatly sashiko, applique invisibly, preview fabrics for applique, and transfer a pattern onto fabric.  I had a hard time using the suggested 100wt poly - actually I couldn't make a knot in this slippery thread! - so when I got home I was more comfortable using silk.  They both make an invisible applique.  The number of applique pieces is really intimidating, so I'm not sure I will finish this one. 


The cruise's food was enough to bring me back again.  Such a variety of yummy things to choose from at breakfast and lunch, and our dinner table was reserved for our group each night where we got a choice of a dozen wonderful entrees.  And every night I had creme brulee, except for the last night when we had baked Alaska!  And what a ceremony!  The lights went down, then came a parade of kitchen staff, each member holding over his head a dessert on fire (well, with those little fake lights, you know) while we all applauded!  And everything was wonderfully delicious!

I didn't participate in many of the numerous activities since our group was on excursions and classes every day, and by the time dinner was over and my fellow travelers were seeing movies, magic shows, dancing, drinking, and participating in the many other evening activities, I was ready for bed!  I'm getting old (I will be 70 in a week)!

On the way home, I sat on my suitcase to get it closed with my clothes, fabrics, and gifts, so that I wouldn't have a paperbag carry-on.  The result was that it was 11 lbs over and I had to pay an additional $100!!  I am home, happily exhausted, and ready for my OWN bed!  And I'm planning where to go next time!

Finishing and letting go

Fourth of July - and a month since I've blogged, so it's time to say something about me.  I've been really stressed lately, so I let go of a few of my current projects and am concentrating on a fewer number.

The circle game is one of those projects that I stopped.  Very pretty paper-pieced quilt when it is finished, but I couldn't keep up the class and very frustrating.

Also the online BOM that I was very excited to start.  I can pick up the project later though, since I downloaded the instructions.  Maybe I can make a runner or something with it?



I have been encouraged to show some of my quilts at our local quilt show.  This one is my daughter's wedding quilt.  The hand-quilting took longer than I anticipated, and I finished it a bit late - in time for their 15th anniversary!  It was made by my mother and me!

This table runner is 73 inches long!  I'm looking for a place in my kitchen to hang it.  It's called 'Chickens on the Run".  I did not enter this one or the wedding quilt to be judged.

 I entered these 2 quilts to be judged.  This one is named  "There's a Monster in my Closet", and each door opens and shows a fussy-cut monster inside!  I made two of these for my then young grandsons, but they are teenagers by the time I finished, so I'll save them for my someday great-grandchildren.

These blocks were hand-pieced and hand-appliqued by my mother in the 80s.  I sashed and bordered it this year.  Pat Lange is long-arm quilting it, since I need something special in the solid blocks and lack the ability to quilt them.  Another quilt that I am entering to be judged.

I'm still working on the morning glory quilt and will be for a long, long time - very intricate, very time-taking.

Now will start making baked beans for a friend's fourth of july party.

 

Very little progress

It's been more than a month since I last blogged.  Even though I've been quilting a lot, there has not been much to show for my work.  So, here is what I've been doing.

One of my table runners exactly fits my new buffet!

This is part of a very involved hand-appliqued project that my mother started many years ago.  This corner is almost done.

This second corner is barely started - have almost finished the stems

Our Modern Quilt Guild issued a challenge to make a quilt that embodies the spirit of modern quilting, especially using negative space.  Really a challenge for me, since I've never done that!  The only requirement is that one side be at least 40".  So this is my idea - based on a quilt I saw on Pinterest.  I haven't decided the width, so I've used rick rack to define it on my design board - and keep changing it!

Here is the Pinterest picture I'm basing it on - I've forgotten where I got it.

I've joined a class - "Circle Games" - that uses paper-piecing!  I have only done this once years ago, so I'm learning all over again!  Here are roughly cut circles from the first 2 blocks.  I'm using bright primary colors, and auditioning the setting fabric.

Here are my first 3 months of the online BOM I'm following.  I have a lot to catch up on!  April's project is English paper piecing, which I've never done!  Bright colors here also...

This is a small pigma-penned drawing I traced onto fabric - looks pretty anemic!  I'd like to make all 4 seasons - and put some life into them.










I have a Welcome banner in progress from Mickey's class also.

I worked on my small quilt book - measuring quilts, taking more pictures.  It will be awhile before I'm up-to-date.

One of these days, I'll have something finished to write about.

Scrapbooking Quilts

Well, shoot!  I can't seem to watch The Bone Collector while scrapbooking.  The movie is way too compelling.  I spent 3 great days at a scrapbooking retreat and wanted to continue at home while I'm still in the mode.  I can watch recorded Letterman but not this movie.

I've taken shots of my quilts and making a book to record my progress.  Some of the pictures I need to take again - I'm not that good with a camera.  This book will contain all the quilts, table toppers, and wall hangings that I've finished, and I've finished more than I remembered.  Fortunately I snapped pictures of my first few that were given away - the one I made for Mama and given to her on her last Christmas and the baby quilts I've made for friends and family that needed to be finished before the baby was born

Since then, while I was still working, I quilted a bit on some that Mama had started, but I never finished one.  I'm a starter but not a finisher.  Now I have more time and am working on actually completing some quilts - some that Mama  began and some that I started.

No pictures this time...

Hanging Gardens progress

I worked all week adding more machine quilting to my Hanging Gardens quilt - 'meandered' along all the sashing, and added a sort of angled paisley on each lantern/garden.  I'm really pleased with the result and plan on hanging it in my living room - as soon as I add a sleeve...

This is the 'before'- very baggy!

Bugsy takes every opportunity to get into the picture!

In our friendship group meeting last night, we decided to share our skills and I think I got signed up for needle-turn applique!?  I'll have to check!  and review!  Next month Fran is going to show us how to work with felt - something I've never done.  Sounds like fun!

I plan on working more on my BOTM blocks today - maybe I'll be caught up and be prepared to share them at our Modern Quilt Guild meeting next week.  Sometime this week, I'd like to work more on Picaso 3 before posting again so that I can display a group of photos instead of 1 at a time.

Spring birthdays in our family!  Daughter-in-law, 2 granddaughters, and daughter!  My daughter 'repinned' several quilt ideas, so that gives me an idea what she likes and what to make for her birthday.  Pinterest comes in very handy sometimes.