Another UFO finish - and it's an oldie!

I'm happy to report that the Spring Trio is quilted, bound, and labeled - ready to hang in the entryway next spring. Don't they look great on the blue wall? Not sure why the one on the left has such a crooked left edge in the picture - it really is straight! Nothing like finishing a 16 year old UFO to give one a real feeling of satisfaction!

I also finished a couple of the little projects from my quilt history classes with Eileen Trestain. The first is a "make-do" done in the Turn of the Century Random Sampler class. At some point I may get a new base for this one - the candle holder Eileen furnished in class really isn't big enough for this one. The second picture shows two "pocket pincushions" that I made in the Civil War class. Love these, as the pins can't poke clear through and catch on something. These were so easy to make - just two circles of thin cardboard, two of batting, and two of silk taffeta. Gather the edges of the circles, then insert the batting and cardboard, then pull the gathering stitches and tie off. Tack in your ribbon hanging loop, then whip stitch or ladder stitch the two circles together. Easy, quick, and very useful!

Last night I moved on to my next UFO - "Times Remembered" by Pat Sloan. I made the first two blocks in 2003, as well as the pieced backgrounds for the rest of the blocks. Then I must have started something new as this project was put aside. I figure the best way to handle these remaining UFOs - three appliqué quilts - is to treat them like block of the month programs. If I finish one block each month in each quilt then they should be finished tops by the end of next year. I'll start by prepping all of them, so I can pick up a new one as soon as the old one is finished. Works for me I think! I'd hoped to have the first blocks prepped by now, but instead I watched Joseph all week. A joy to be sure - I'm a lucky grandma! And today I have two small customer tops that must be quilted. So these blocks must wait for another day at least.

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Gratitudes:
1. Beautiful fresh fall vegetables for roasting
2. Fragrant fresh herbs from a friend
3. Good times with great friends

A different way of looking at the same situation

Sharon Craig was our guest speaker at guild last Thursday. Her topic was "Sets Education" (needs to be said outloud to be most effective LOL!) This was the second time she's done that lecture at guild, but it was just as enjoyable as the first time as she had lots of new quilts to share. She has always been one of my quilting heros - I especially love her books about setting odd-sized blocks.

One of her "stop us in our tracks" statements at the beginning of her talk is this - "I have NO ufo's!" After all the gasps of disbelief fade away, she adds "but I have many ongoing projects". She further explains that some of them have been ongoing for years. She doesn't believe one can rush creativity, and that eventually every project will talk to you and tell you what it wants to become (my words there at the end of this sentence). One quilt she showed us - and it was stunning! - was made from a set of very large sampler blocks pieced in the 1970's! Her solution was so creative, and the blocks were hardly recognizable.

I really like this positive way of looking at things. It's definitely a "glass half full" outlook. And recently I've experienced the truth of this - look how long it took those 1992 Halloween blocks to speak to me! So, I've changed the labeling on my sidebar. I, too, have no more UFO's. Not a single one! I do have quite a few ongoing projects, and some are quite a few years old. That's OK - each will be finished in it's turn. This doesn't mean I'm going to stop my focus on finishing them - it just means I'm thinking of each one as an opportunity instead of a liability!

A week of Joseph and handwork

It's been a Joseph week so far. Cousin Katelin and Aunt Debbi are sick with the flu so he can't go to his other grandma's. Joseph time is always so much fun - he is such a happy, lively little guy who also entertains himself very well.

This is also a handwork week. I've been concentrating on hand quilting. I've finished two of the Spring Trio wall hangings - now they just need binding. I hope to finish the third one at Tangled Threads tonight. Since I have no bits left of the fat quarter I used for the border I had to find something else. Would you believe almost every blue I have is either way too dark or has a gray cast? I finally found this VERY old Jinny Beyer by RJR. I think I'll cut the binding strips lengthwise so I can control the placement of the lighter shades. I hope to be report this project finished by the end of this week. All those pillows I made last month didn't count for the Stashbuster UFO challenge as they included no quilting. My name has now crept much too close to the top of the Queen's list for my comfort!

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Gratitudes:

1. Eating breakfast with a handsome young man in lime green and overalls

2. Several days of beautiful fall sunshine

3. The end of UFO's is in sight!

Monday's shopping trip

OK - here is my first stash report. We'll see how this goes . . . .

28 yards added to my stash. This is the fabric I bought last Monday at my favorite quilt shop Momma Made It. I just couldn't pass it up as these are perfect for backgrounds, borders, sashings, backings, etc. All were on sale for at least 50% to 75% off. How could I resist. The average price of these? $3.75 per yard Can't beat that! Even though I had these fabrics when I wrote my stash busting post, they weren't washed or ironed - I don't include them in the stash until they are actually on the shelves. Hopefully I can get that done in the next day or two.

1/3 yard subtracted from my stash - I finally had a chance to finish Lily Abigail's quilt. Bad Grandma - she is now 7 weeks old! She is being dedicated at church tomorrow, so I figured that was a great time to give her the quilt. I loved how it turned out - and I love crossing another project off my list. Finn - this makes five finished toward my end-of-the-year goal! I hope her parents like it as much as I do - and that she likes it too once she is old enough to care.

Weekly weight loss report

When I weighed in at Weight Watchers Wednesday morning I weighed exactly what I did last week. I was OK with that, as I knew I'd not stuck to program the entire time I was at Quilt Camp. I was just thankful I'd not gained anything.

Today after I got my hair cut and colored I stopped by Dress Barn. I decided I was done with the jeans that were almost falling off my body. I still can't get into the skinny ones hanging in my closet so I needed a interim size pair. I am thrilled to report that I've gone from a size 18 women's to a size 14 misses. These make me feel so good when I look in the mirror. I have exactly 18 pounds to go to goal. When I started at the beginning of July I'd hoped to reach goal by the end of the year. I don't think that's possible now, but I'm happy with the progress I've made. I'll get to goal - it just might not be until spring. That's OK - lots of baby steps add up to a long, successful hike!

The top picture was taken the second Saturday in July during our aborted camping trip with the kids. I couldn't stand to look at this picture then, and didn't figure I'd ever post it. But it's a good comparison with the one Fred took this evening of me in my new jeans. Hooray Weight Watchers! (In case you are wondering what my shirt says - the quilter in the picture is holding a read sign that says "Will Work for Fabric!"

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!

Clean-up

It's not the end of the year - nevertheless I've decided to clean up my sidebar list of UFO's, deleting all those that are completed. It's starting to look jumbled and messy to me which means it's time for action. I'll also delete the one goal that I won't possibly reach, plus the other goals that I've already accomplished. I'm not sure why, but I feel the need for a fresh start/look to the list. I imagine most everyone who reads my blog is using some type of reader like Bloglines so they don't even see my sidebar anyway LOL!

UFO Progress

What a difference retirement makes! I've been trying to get a handle on my UFO's since I started keeping them on a spreadsheet in 2003. For quite a few years I wasn't all that successful at reducing the number on the list because I started as many new projects as I finished - or even more that I finished. I gave a bunch away over the years which helped a bit, but every year the oldest ones never were touched much less finished.

I'm so happy with the progress I've made this year. Keeping the list on my sidebar and crossing them off as I finished has been a great way to motivate myself. All of the oldest UFO's are now finished tops. Other than the Autumn Around the Block the only UFO's left are applique quilts that I knew represented a long term commitment when I started them. I'm determined complete the Autumn Around the Block top by the end of the year, but the others will run into 2009. That's OK - I've met my goal of less than 10 on January 1.

Since so much of my quilting was packed into the car on Thursday night for Quilt Camp, I had to find something else to work on Friday morning. I dug out this old Girl Gang quilt from 2004. I kept up with the monthly installments just fine when the shop was open and I was attending meetings, but my progress came to a screeching halt when the shop closed. I'd cut out part of the Carolina Lily applique and then put everything away. Friday I pinned the finished blocks onto my design wall and finished prepping the Lily block. I should be able to make good progress now - I'm close to having all the center blocks done. It feels so good to be working on this quilt again!

Here is a UFO I should be able to finish quickly - and it's about time as its from the late 1970's! I made this friendship doll and her doll in a class, but she never got a dress. Don't you think it's about time I dressed her?

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Gratitudes:

1. A great check-up for Joseph, who is ahead of the average developmentally.

2. Clean laundry still warm from the dryer

3. No weight gain from Quilt Camp!

Quilt Camp

North Star Quilters - the little guild that I belong to - has held Quilt Camp early in November for four years now. The location isn't far away - about half an hour from our house - but it might as well be in another world. It's on the east fork of the Lewis River, and we can hear the river every time we step outside. There are wonderful woods all around the buildings that are filled with color this time of year. The camp was built in the 1950's and is similar to every other church camp I've ever been to - cabins, a lodge, a large dining hall, etc. We stay in the lodge in bunk beds which always takes me back to my childhood. This year and last we sewed in the dining hall so we had plenty of table space, a cosy area by the fireplace to do handwork, and meals on small tables at the opposite end of the room. This year's caterer prepared meals that were perfect for women - attractive, tasty, not too heavy with fats and sauces, and just the right amounts. She even made a traditional Mardi Gras King Cake for Saturday night's dessert. I can't think of a single thing that would have made for a better retreat.

This year's theme was Mardi Gras, and the committee went all out. Decorations were marvelous, goodie bags were full of delightful things, door prizes were great, and the company was fabulous. Time went all too quickly, in spite of the fact that I got WAY less sleep than usual because I stayed up so late each night sewing. We drew another string of Mardi Gras beads out of a jester's hat before every meal, which told us which table to sit at for that meal. I love the fact that they always do something similar at every retreat - that way we get to eat at least once with every other attendee. They also had a "fortune teller" - Madame Pascal (one of the guild member's daughters) tell our fortunes with Tarot cards, as well as a massage therapist giving chair massages for $1 a minute. That $20 was the best money I've spent in some time LOL!

My goal was to combine the two sets of PINS exchange blocks into a finished quilt top. It took until Friday midnight to accomplish that goal. I had cut WAY too many 1 1/2" strips but that was OK - I didn't want to run short. I just put the rest into the 1 1/2" strip drawer. Saturday I worked with a whole stack of 4 1/2" squares of reproductions that I found in a drawer when I was cleaning my island. I have no idea where they came from - they weren't pinked so it wasn't a fabric club. I can't remember anyone sending me a bunch of squares. I knew I'd not cut them because there were many I'd never seen before. I added the small number of 4 1/2" squares in my scrap box, and brought along all the shirtings left over from cutting the setting triangles for my president's quilt. I turned them into double four patches, which resulted in 108 seven inch blocks - enough for a twin size charity quilt. This used a bunch of scraps and stash as well as cleared out a plastic shoe box and island drawer. I couldn't be happier! I'll post a picture once the top is finished. That took most of Saturday. Saturday evening and Sunday morning I sat by the fire hand quilting - a perfect way to finish the weekend. I didn't win any door prizes - but a quilty weekend spent with great friends is priceless and makes everything worthwhile!

I'm constantly amazed at the creativity of each year's Quilt Camp committee. They work hard all year to make sure we have a wonderful time and received lots of neat little gifts - many handmade. This year a big thank you goes to Connie, Mary, Alana, and Gail. Well done ladies!

Bring on Thanksgiving!

It's a good thing it takes only a short time to put away the ghosts and their friends and bring out the pilgrims! Looks like I'd better get busy making a Thanksgiving quilt for over the piano!