Yet another Challenge

May Britt is challenging everyone to finish one project each month for 2009. Since doing this - and more - is already on my list of goals I figured I might as well join in. So still another addition has been made to my sidebar.

I think it's time I dug out those directions I printed for reprogramming my blog to include a sidebar on each side. Right now it seems to go on forever!

Sharon's Challenge

Notice the new picture on the top of my sidebar? Better late than never I guess. As I'm finally having a chance to read blogs again I see I'm a bit late. I don't feel too badly, however, as I've been posting about my weight loss journey for some time now. Sharon has made Mondays the day for Loser posts, so I'll have to shift my thinking a bit - especially since Wednesday is my weigh-in day.

I'm hoping many, many of you decide to join us. Quilting is a pretty sedentary hobby - unless you set up your ironing board at the opposite end of the house from your sewing machine LOL! When I look around at guild meetings I see that at least 95% of quilters seem to be overweight, and many of those 95% are much too overweight. After all - we have to live a LONG time to finish all the quilts we want to make - so we need to do whatever we can to help us live a long, healthy life.

Stashbusting goals - one more time!

I am addicted to fabric - I truly am. I love to gaze at it, stroke and pet it, play with it, iron it, smell it, use it - you get the idea. I know many of you share the same addiction and can relate completely to what I'm saying.

I'm also addicted to buying fabric. I love nothing better than going into a quilt shop and choosing new pieces for my stash, or getting online and ordering complete fat quarter or half yard collections of new lines as they are available. I get such a rush from getting boxes of fabric in the mail - it's like Christmas every time a new one arrives.

Since I've been quilting 30 years - give or take a year - this has become a real problem. I have a small but well organized sewing room with lots of stash storage. It is full. I've gone through the stash several times in the last ten to twelve years, culling completely outdated fabric (tiny multicolored calicoes - ugh!) and giving it all to charity. In no time the shelves are full again. Last month I made backings for a couple dozen quilts. I immediately filled up the space with newly washed and ironed fabric that had been laying under my big board waiting it's turn to join the rest on the shelves. I didn't show you a picture of the fabrics stacked up on my cutting table because I was just too horrified at the quantity - probably an additional 30 to 40 yards! And I can't even say that is the end of it, as I brought a bunch more home last Monday when I went to Momma Made It in Longview. Sharon has started her moving sale. I ask you - how can I resist backgrounds, plaids and remnants marked down 50 to 75%? They are now sitting on the closet floor waiting to be washed, ironed and added to the stash.

Ever since I started setting quilting goals I've promised I'll control my shopping and start depleting my stash. It doesn't happen. I've once again grown the stash this year. When one starts buying fabric by the bolt one goes backwards very quickly. Three 15 yard bolts of Kona Cotton later - a parchment, turkey red and a cheddar - and a 50 yard bolt of applique background for my historical quilts - so much for busting stash.

However, I'm still pledging to try. Judy has already started talking about busting stash in 2009 - she didn't do any better than I did this year. I've printed her pledge and signed it - I've pinned it to my design wall right over my big board where I'll have to see it every day. And I'm going to start keeping track of my efforts again. I stopped fairly early this year because as a scrap quilter it seemed too difficult to keep track of yardage used. Yesterday I read this post by Judy. My report doesn't have to be in yards! I can report emptied drawers, totes, baskets, plastic shoe boxes, etc. I can report a fabric stash decreasing in height by an inch or two. I can report any way that makes sense for the way I use my fabric. Hooray! That will work for me!

So - I'm committing right now - for the rest of 2008 and all of 2009. My goal by the end of 2009 is to have less fabric than I have right now.(Where have I heard that before!) This doesn't mean I'll stop buying - I think that's impossible - but I will - I WILL!!!! - use more fabric than I buy. And I'll do a weekly report along with the rest of Judy's stashbusters.

So with those things in mind I'll show you what the majority of the stash looks like right now (I just did a clean-up a couple weeks ago so I could put those 30-40 yards on the shelves). From top to bottom the pictures show:

Shelves on the south side of the room

Shelves on the west side of the room

Bolts of fabric on top of the shelves (there is also one in the closet)

One partial shelf holding the latest two kits I've purchased - they don't fit into the kit bins

Two kit bins under the longarm - you can tell by the list of "HSY's" (Haven't Started Yets) on my sidebar that I'm also addicted to kits.

Two more kit bins plus a cardboard box of kits under the other end of the longarm

I've not shown you any of my scrap storage - if you are interested in seeing that you can click on the "Organization" subject in the sidebar that will take you to pictures on past posts. Wish me luck with this - maybe the fifth or sixth try will be the charm!

Finn's Challenge

Back in September, in this post, I accepted a New Year's Eve challenge from Finn. I set a goal of finishing 6 projects before the calendar changed to 2009. Up until now I've not completed a single project - instead making progress on several. The specifics of the challenge were left up to each of us to decide for ourselves - what defined a UFO and what constituted a finish. They could be any sort of UFO's - they didn't have to be quilty. So, with that in mind, I'm counting several finishes for the New Year's Eve challenge.

1. Ghoulies and Ghosties pillow - stitchery done in 1965, originally intended for framing

2. Thanksgiving cross stitch pillow - stitchery done in the late 70's or very early 80's. Once I started quilting in earnest I stopped doing cross stitch.

3. Four springtime pillows, made from four friendship blocks, given to me in 1992 and originally intended for a quilt.

4. Three Christmas pillows, made from six friendship blocks, given to me in 1995 and originally intended for a wall hanging.

Thanks so much for the challenge, Finn - I'm sure these wouldn't have been completed without it!

Another challenge

This time it's our dear Finn who has issued the challenge. I'm a little behind the times - she actually issued the challenge on August 26 in this post. Finn has challenged herself to finish five UFO's by New Year's Eve and has invited any of us who are so inclined to join her. Apparently 38 quilters have picked up the baton and started running, with the goal of finishing a total of 172 quilts. I have challenged myself to finish 6 of those - should be doable. I was tempted to raise that number, but decided I wanted to enjoy the process and not kill myself working. So as soon as Lily's quilt is finished, and sleeves are sewn on all the quilt show quilts for the End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, I'll be starting another marathon finishing run.

All the participating quilters are listed on Finn's site, along with links to their blogs (where applicable) and the number they are trying to finish. Why don't you join us and take care of some of the UFO's in your closet?

Peg's Challenge

I didn't finish five UFO's by the end of July, but I'm very happy with what I got done. Thanks so much, Peg, for providing us with this challenge. It was a great deal of fun, and a great motivator!

Here are the three UFO's I finished:

Winter Dazzle - A Thimbleberries quilt


Perennial Patchwork - Design by René Plains


Double Irish Chain - a class sample from 1992


I've finished hand quilting the background of the center appliqué block in Emma's Quilt by Jo Morton. I've started quilting accents in the appliqué pieces. I hope the two pieced borders tell me how they want to be quilted by the time I'm done with the appliqué. I plan to put a simple cable on the final border.

I'm also hand quilting "Somebody's Home", a design by Country Threads. I'm using a big stitch and a gold brown Cébélia. Since this is a heavier thread - usually used for crochet - I'm using a large eye embroidery needle when quilting. I big stitch without a hoop, and use the fingers of my left hand to feed the stitches onto the needle. I'm not brave enough - not yet anyway - to do the fans freehand like Tonya does. Someday I will after I get a good feel for this. In the meantime I'm using a stencil and Magic Chalk for marking the quilting lines.

I also hoped to quilt, label and bind Carolina Crossroads by the end of July - but you know what they say about good intentions. Surely I can finish this one in August!

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Gratitudes:
1. Extra Joseph time
2. A few actual raindrops falling today
3. Another pound lost in spite of being a little careless while camping

A few days away

DH and I are heading out tomorrow morning for a short trip to the Oregon coast. Tomorrow is our 39th anniversary. We will head first to Tillamook where I will visit Jane's Fabric Patch, and then we'll head to the Tillamook cheese factory. A few years ago we took the full tour to see how the cheeses are made - absolutely fascinating! This time we're going for lunch and ice cream - Tillamook ice cream is some of the best! Then we'll head south. DH has agreed to stop at quilt shops along the way - what a guy! We have reservations for two nights in Newport - right on the beach with an ocean view. I'm so looking forward to the trip. It's been years and years since we've had a chance to do something like this - Shadow just wasn't healthy enough for us to take off and leave him.

I spent most of the last few days baby sitting - taking care of Joseph is so much fun! Rick's mom is currently battling a bad asthma attack so I did her Wednesday in addition to my Tuesday and Thursday. Our nice weather is back - finally! - so we walked to the park yesterday. They have a baby swing, and I was eager to see how he liked it. He just loved it, and laughed and laughed the entire time he was swinging. Next time I must take my camera!

Fred set up the camper in the driveway this week so we could get it cleaned out, the water tank drained of antifreeze, and the beds remade. Today I finally had a chance to wash the sheets and remake the beds with our new camping quilts. Don't they look great? I can hardly wait to sleep under them. It was so satisfying to put the filthy worn out 37 year old down sleeping bags into the garbage. We've been using them as blankets by opening them up and stretching them over the sheets, but the down was so lumped and clumped that they were mostly unsatisfactory. We'll put a couple more blankets in one of the storage benches for cold nights, but I imagine with the wool batting these quilts will be all we need for most nights.

Peg at Happy in Quilting has issued a UFO challenge. Anyone accepting the challenge is to change at least five unquilted tops - flimsies - into finished quilts by the end of July. I've thought about this challenge ever since she issued it - should I accept it or not? I've finally decided hey - what the heck - why not accept it. I certainly have enoughed finished flimsies! So, starting with the Irish chain I loaded onto Gandalf last Monday, I'm pushing myself to satisfy Peg's challenge. Hopefully this public acceptance will spur me on to success!

Once again I'm caught up on my blog reading. I just stopped commenting and started skimming so it wouldn't take another week or more. seems like I've said this before - I sure hope I can stay caught up this time! Now that I'm current I'll start commenting again. I really miss doing that! Have a great weekend, everyone, and I'll "see" you when I return early next week.

Libby's challenge . . . and more blocks

Libby challenged all of us to post a picture of our ironing board - so here it is. Right now it's not very scary because it's not been that long since I put on a new top. However, hiding beneath the latest cover is enough to make the most hardy quilter shiver in fear. I just staple a new cover right over the old one when needed. I think before I do that again I'm going to have to remove the rest of them - the bottom edges are so thick with fabric that I don't think I can find room for a single other staple.

Here are my three newest Civil War Diary blocks. All three are from the first book. From left to right, top to bottom they are Guerrilla Warfare, Soldier's Box, and Sewing Society for Soldiers. I particularly love the way the last one turned out!

This afternoon I'm starting a new quilt history class with Eileen Trestain. This one covers quilting from 1889-1910. This class also meets once each month for 12 months - and means I'll have an Eileen class two days in a row for the next year. What a great way to spend some time!

Tomorrow my little Tangled Threads quilt group heads for Cannon Beach, Oregon where we have rented a house through Sunday. We always have a great time when we go on a retreat together. I will be driving back on Friday - of course! - so I can be at the airport for Joseph's arrival. I may or may not head back to the beach on Saturday - it depends on how well he is adjusting to the huge change in his life. If it seems better that we lay low for a few days then I will head back on Saturday to join the group.

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Gratitudes:

1. Another beautiful day

2. Spring is in the air!

3. Nummy leftovers for lunch

4. Quilty friends near and far

Are you up for a challenge?

May Britt has issued a WISP challenge for January. WISP is a new word for me - but it certainly works - "Work in Slow Progress". My WISP's are SO slow that one can hardly ever see them moving at all LOL! I love a good quilty challenge - especially when it has to do with finishing things - so I told May I accepted her challenge. You can see by the list on my sidebar that I certainly have my work cut out for me!

The first rule is that we have to blog a photo of the WISP before we start working on it. Easy peasy - I know just what my first two WISP's will be. Christmas table runners! Maybe this was they will be done before next Christmas! Some of you have heard this story before. I pieced these blocks in 1992 when I was teaching a precision piecing class. I didn't want to make an entire quilt, so I made three table runners from the nine blocks. One of them actually got finished this year and went to my daughter-in-law for her birthday. One of them is promised to my daughter, and one is for me. These last two have been pinned to my longarm waiting to be quilted for almost a month. This is the third time one of them has been pinned to the machine. This time I'm determined to finish them before removing them. So you see before me my project for tomorrow and/or the next day - finishing these two table runners.

Maybe the third time is the charm?

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Gratitudes:

1. A short but nice visit with Cher this morning.

2. A kitchen sink drain that is finally cleared of all clogs

3. Fresh, clean sheets on our bed

4. A beautiful wedding for a dear friend

5. Fun quilty challenges from online friends

What's on my bed

Nothing like picking up on a blog topic weeks and weeks after everyone else has posted. Oh well - better late than never, right?

We have only a couple quilts that are big enough for our bed. (I hope to do something about that this next year LOL!) One of them is the blue log cabin quilt that you've seen in the past. Currently that quilt is upstairs being used as a snuggle quilt on the couch. The other quilt is also blue, and it's story is almost as amusing as the story of my first quilt.

I went to my first Clark County Quilters guild meeting in June, 1989. That was the last meeting of the year, as they start a new year every September after having no meetings in July and August. I enjoyed myself a lot, and eagerly anticipated the September meeting, especially since one of my new quilting friends was installed as guild president at that June meeting.

In September I eagerly joined in on whatever activities I could, including the block of the month. A copy of a quilt block was distributed at the meeting, and I could make as many as I wanted before the next meeting. My name was put in a hat for every block I turned in. I really went to town the next few weeks. It was an easy to piece block and I had plenty of fabrics in my stash. I knew next to nothing about putting together prints so I played it safe (read boring!). I turned in 20 blocks at the next meeting! I was thrilled when my name was drawn to win half the blocks (which included a bunch of my own - no surprise there!)

Well, I started playing with the blocks I'd won and discovered a problem right away - almost half of them measured 12" instead of 12 1//2"! Some new quilter - who knew even less than I did - didn't know that a 12" block should measure 12 1/2" unfinished. She'd carefully cut all her blocks down to 12" unfinished. Not only that - the blocks were BORING!!!!! The required colors had been dark blue, medium blue and muslin. It looked like a disaster. I left them on the design wall for days and days, switching them around and around. Nothing made them more interesting. It wasn't until I was home from work with a bad cold that I suddenly realized what they needed was something to spice them up. Red was perfect. So I pulled a bright red solid from my stash and added a very narrow border around all the blocks that were too small. I added muslin sashing and red setting squares. The quilt went from boring to lively.

The next year I was lucky enough to have my name drawn as the member who could have her quilt in the frame at our quilt show. So for 6 days many, many guild members and show attendees quilted on it. After the show I finished the quilting. It's now very faded from sunlight and washing, but it's still fun to see it on the bed.

The pillows are blocks from a class I taught at work using the book Quilts, Quilts, Quilts. I didn't want to make them into quilt but they made perfect bed pillows to go with this one. They, too, are faded because the dog loves to take his nap in the middle of the bed on top of the pillows.