What's been happening

I returned home from our son's house late last Wednesday night.  With the beginnings of a nasty cold (sorry if I already mentioned that - right now thinking takes almost more energy that I have).  Now, a week later, I'm  still trying to feel better.  It's strange - when I was a kid my colds lasted about 3 days.  Mom put us to bed and nursed us with toast points, chicken noodle soup and mustard plasters.  (Anyone else remember those?)  These days I don't stay in bed - I'm either at the computer in a congested stupor playing computer games that don't take any brain power, or I'm sitting in my sewing room doing mindless handwork.  I've not left the house since Thursday morning, when I returned the defunct red iron to Fabric depot and got the new lenses put in all three pairs of glasses - regular, close-up, and sunglasses.  (Amazing - I can really see better now, and I don't get double vision when I'm doing applique!) 

Enough already - I'll quit whining now.

I've crossed two things off my October goal list.  I bound and labeled "Angel Dance" - that's 13 quilts on my "completed quilt" list for 2013.  What a great feeling - 10 of which were UFO's from prior years.

I also finished appliqueing the first block for the "Sweet Memories" quilt.  I've very happy with how it turned out.  I'm going to do the other 8 blocks gradually, interspersing them between working on

other projects.  As you can see in this post, there are a limited number of fabrics in this quilt.  It's been YEARS since I made a quilt with so few fabrics.  I know if I tried to do the blocks one after another I would get so bored that I might never finish.  One every month or even every other month is a good goal IMHO.

The sewing room is a mess right now - stuff everywhere - as is the rest of the house.  There is no way I'm cleaning until I feel better, and there is no way I can get to the cutting table as is.  I have the applique prepared for one more small quilt on my list, so that's what I'm working on next.  Once that is done I will HAVE to find the cutting board, as I'll have quite a few applique blocks that need trimming before I can complete the two quilt tops.

The "Sweet Memories" block is the first I've done in which I used all the preparation and stitching methods I learned in Pearl P. Periera's DVD.  I first taught myself to applique in 1989, and have tried many different methods during the ensuing years.  I'm happy with my skills, but I believe I can always learn new tricks - that's why I bought the DVD.  I'm thrilled with this method, and believe anyone can learn to applique using it.  Even if you are scared witless by the very idea of applique.  Even if you've tried applique before and felt you failed.  I will eventually post a "tutorial" of what I did, but it won't be everything because I respect Pearl's copyright.  I have no relationship whatsoever with Pearl - just a very, happy, satisfied customer.  I rate this DVD as A+ - the best resourse I've ever seen for teaching applique.  I like it even better than what I learned in various expensive classes I've taken from renowned teachers through the years.  If you really, really want to do applique, then this is the method you should try.  JMHO, of course!

A very stormy time was had by all

I've always wanted to stay by the ocean during a big storm.  I got my wish this past weekend.  My Tangled Threads quilt group rented a house just south of Arch Cape, OR (which is just south of Cannon Beach on the northern Oregon coast).  We were right on the ocean - the view was magnificent.  We quickly talked through what we would do in the event of a tsunami, cleared out the cars and settled in for the weekend. 

 

Here is the "sunny view" from the deck.

Unfortunately we didn't get the "sunny view".  It was pouring rain throughout the 2 hour drive to the house (not counting a stop at Center Diamond, the Cannon Beach quilt shop).  By the time the cars were unloaded we were drenched.  Wind and rain was our pleasure the rest of Friday, with the addition of lightening during the night.  The wind was blowing too hard to hear any thunder.

Saturday was worse.  The remains of a typhoon arrived early Saturday morning, with driving rain and winds around 40 MPH with gusts up to 60.  The huge windows across the ocean front must be very strong glass, because they didn't move at all when the wind hit them.  The above umbrella was folded up but still attached to the table.  The table was blown backwards down the side deck and tipped over to lean up against the spare propane tank next to the barbecue.  The very large, heavy grill was rolling back and forth from one part of the deck to another until brave Sue donned her rain gear and moved it up next to the house at the far back of the side deck.  The chairs were blown off the balcony and into the yard.  Your can imagine the fabulous wave action we got to see all day Saturday.

We stayed cozy warm inside with this view and this large table for quilt projects.

Luckily the wind died down about noon, and the rain let up a little - just long enough for us to head into town for lunch at our favorite restaurant in Cannon Beach (the Lazy Susan - fabulous food!).  As another storm front was due mid-afternoon we decided to buy a large pizza, more salad fixings and snacks, and wine before heading back to the house.  That way we didn't need to venture out again.  Good thing too - as the second storm front did arrive shortly after we got back.

I didn't take any pictures - it was just too dark, gray and stormy for anything to photograph well with my small camera and small skills.  (I "borrowed" the above pictures from the vacation rentals page for the house). Believe me - it was a marvelous adventure.  It rained all the way home today also, though there was little wind (thank goodness!)  No slides to block highway 101 so we were trapped on the coast.

I did manage to finish the binding on three quilts while we were gone, plus a little quilting on a fourth quilt.  I didn't touch the applique I took.  Isn't it always the way - we think we can accomplish three times as much quilting as we actually do in the time allowed. 

 

All have light colored backs so I will write the labels directly onto the back of the quilts.  This gave me a great feeling of accomplishment!

Here comes Peter Cottontail . . .

hopping down the finished trail.  I love being able to cross another top off the flimsies list and add it to the finished list.  I love how quickly big stitch  quilting  can be finished.  Five more of my basted tops are to be finished this way I'm happy to say.  There is lots more room for cold weather clothing in the upstairs closet with this many quilt tops taken out.  Hooray!

Today the mail carrier brought the package I've been waiting for.  I used the money all the kids gave me for my birthday to pay the first installment of my new BOM.  Ever since buying this book I've been enthralled with quilts by Edyta Sitar.  I purged the batiks from my stash over 10 years ago and thought I'd never buy another.  Now I'm thinking in an entirely new direction.  I wanted to get one of her BOM's so I could see how she combines the batiks with reproductions.  As soon as I finish the 30's swap blocks for mailing I will make the first block of this quilt.  I can hardly wait!

The quilt affectionately known as "Baseball Quilt"

 Edited to add new, clearer pictures.

As I was adding to the new page of "Finished Quilts" last night, I realized that a significant quilt was missing.  So I went back through my blog looking for a picture of it.  Lots of pictures of the "progress", but nothing since it was finished.  I looked in my photo folders - nothing since it was finished. I finally realized that I wasn't blogging much when I finished it, and for some strange reason I never posted the finish.  I knew I had pictures of it somewhere, and this morning I finally realized I'd taken them with my phone.

Here it is - Blue and Yellow Tulips - which I affectionately call the "Baseball Quilt".  Strange name you say?  I call it that because I was doing the applique during the height of the Seattle Mariners winning baseball seasons.  The brown stems and cutting out the flowers one season, the blue leaves another season, the yellow tulips a third season.  

The original design is by Terri Christopherson  of Black Mountain Quilts.  My quilt is four times larger than the original because I wanted a bed quilt.  Sharon of Momma Made It (my favorite quilt shop) in Longview, WA, made it for a shop sample, and I bought four kits.  I also added a bunch of backgrounds, blues and yellows from my stash so there are at least 200 or more fabrics total.

My machine quilter Val, who has unfortunately retired, did a fabulous job with the quilting.  I think you can see the quilting if you enlarge the pictures.  I began this quilt during the spring of 1999, and finished it in November of 2011.  It graces our bed during the spring and summer every year. I love this quilt, and feel it is one of the best I've ever done.

Another is complete

No Scrap Basket Sunday for me yesterday.  I really wanted to finish my hand quilting. Besides, without my best girl - who is still in the shop - I couldn't piece.  I could have cut a bunch of blocks from my scraps, but I'm afraid they would get mixed up on my cluttered sewing table.  So I focused on hand quilting, which I finished around 10:00 p.m.  This morning I did the binding.  There is no label yet, as the backing is too dark to write on, but I'll take care of that soon.

I think the dark binding frames this nicely - I like it better than I did before it was bound.  Between one jelly roll strip and what I had left from a matching piece in the "dessert roll" was just enough to squeeze out a narrow, single-fold binding.  I'm glad of that, as I really wanted to bind this with a print from the collection.

This sideways shot, taken without flash, is the best picture I could get of the quilting.  It isn't up to my usual standards - I'm very much out of practice, but it will do.  I'm just thrilled to be hand quilting again.  Five years ago arthritis was making the process almost too painful, so I quit.  I guess the rest really helped my hands.  I did this with no pain at all - other than a little from my sore fingers.

I still need to give the quilt a bath and a final blocking to make it lie flat and straight.  But first I need to get dressed.  I was in too much of a hurry to finish this to do so before now LOL!

I have seven more little quilts to baste, so that's what I'm back to doing.  (And taking cleaning breaks - the need for those never seems to end.)  I hope to have all the basting finished when my girl comes home next week.  I have many piecing goals for May!

I finished it!

Yesterday I finished hand quilting "Emma's Quilt" designed by Jo Morton.  I started this in a class with Jo in 2002!.  I'm not sure when I finished the top and started the quilting but it has been a LONG time.  The batting is "Cotton Classic" by Fairfield, which I split in half for this quilt.  It's been years and years since Fairfield made that batting - or at least since I've seen anyone sell it.

(Quick pause for research - I see they still make it!  I've not seen any Fairfield batting around here for a LONG time.)

I think this has been in my quilting hoop for 10 years or so.  There were quite a few years when arthritis pain prevented me from hand quilting at all.  Right now that doesn't seem to be a problem - knock on wood! - so I'm looking forward to choosing another top to hand quilt.  Many of the fabrics in this quilt are REALLY old - I think the pin dot (border) is from the 80's.  So is the burgundy with tiny rosebuds used in the pinwheels and some of the applique.  The light background is from one of Jo's earliest lines (if I remember correctly).

It feels SO good to have this finished!

After two very rainy, cold springs - March weather lasted almost through June - we are now having an amazing spring.  Flowers have been blooming everywhere for some time.  Our fruit trees are already dropping their blossoms.  When I was outside photographing the quilt I had to take a couple other pictures to share.

My October socks are finished!

These were cast onto the needles on October 1, 2012.  They are the Mystery Sock pattern for October from the Sock Knitters Anonymous group on Ravelry.  Mystery socks are similar to mystery quilts in that the knitters are given a clue a week for four weeks.

The first clue was the cuff and first two textures in the leg.  The second clue was the third leg texture, the heel flap and the heel turn .  The third clue was the instep gusset and beginning of the foot.  The fourth clue was the rest of the foot and the toe.

In order to qualify for prizes the socks must be done, photographed showing both socks, and posted to the month's mystery thread by the end of the following month.  In this case that was November 30, 2012.

I chose orange for October, and a tweed blend because I love tweeds.  The plan was to have these finished before my surgery on November 27th.  But we all know what happens to the best laid plans of mice and men . . . .

I was just a short way into the sock feet at the time of surgery.  I was OK'd to use little sock needles at the end of February.  It feels so good to have these finally done!



 Gratitudes:

1.  Spending the afternoon with our kids and grandkids celebrating Joseph's sixth birthday.

2.  A glass of late harvest Riesling for dessert tonight.

3.  A finished pair of socks!

The last of four quilts is bound - and a goal is reached.

Because we were stuck inside today, I had plenty of time this afternoon to hand stitch the last quilt binding.  It feels so good to have these done!  Now, all that is left of the five quilted projects that have been needing binding for two years is the 30's double wedding ring.  Next week I'll add to the quilting on that one, and then will get out my books to figure out how to do a binding on a scalloped edge.  That is one thing I've never done!

This feathered star quilt, as well as the one I finished a few days ago, are two samples I made while teaching two different sessions of a feathered star piecing class.  I had a third quilt - done in beiges and rusts - that I "sold" in trade for machine quilting on the quilt I made our son and his new wife.  It was a top I loved, but my quilter needed a wall-sized quilt top "Now!" to finish as a gift.  The trade worked well for both of us.

I love making feathered stars, but most of those I've made have been smaller blocks - either for quilts of my own or 12" exchange blocks.  I do have one more UFO that has a center feathered star.  That is one I plan to finish in the next couple months - at least to the stage of a finished top.  This is the 2003-2004 Girl Gang quilt designed by Jan Patek and Cherie Ralston.

The quilt has a top and bottom row of simple pieced blocks - the Indian Hatchet block is the name.  I will do those in reds and browns I think - maybe with some blue and gold also.  Or maybe just browns and golds.  Then there is a complex applique border all around the outside of the top.  I hope to have all the Indian Hatchet blocks done by the end of the month.

I'm so eager for this top to be done, as I really love it.  You can chuckle at the date in the center block - that's the year I thought the quilt would be finished.  This project was started in 2003 -  I think it is past time it is finished.  Don't you?

Counting down - number two is finished

The Asian Star is finished.  Amazingly enough, I still had the green fabric in my stash, so was able to bind it appropriately.  I think that green is a VIP cotton that I bought during the 80's for a fraction of what good quilting cotton goes for today.

This is a beautiful Asian print.  I never buy Asian prints!  If I remember correctly this quilt was a "class sample" hung on the wall at Daisy Kingdom to entice people to sign up for the class.  The class director had a lot to say about what fabrics I could choose for samples, and I'm sure she was the one who picked it.  I love it, but I wouldn't have bought it for myself.

Backs are a great place to put fabrics you are no longer enthusiastic about.  I have no idea what I was thinking when I bought this watermelon fabric.  The colors go with the front of the quilt, however LOL!

Friendship Garden is finished!

One binding down.   This is the best we could do for a picture - my husband is tall but he'd need to be seven feet to have the arm span to hold this out straight.  I'll get a better picture next time our son is here to help hold the quilt.

This is definitely one of my most favorites of all the quilts I've made.  The design is by Alma Allen and Cherie Ralston.  We have a blue bedroom, so this is going to look great on the bed.  Unfortunately the book is out of print, but there may be second hand copies to be found somewhere.

The top picture was taken outside, so the colors are very true.  The rest of the pictures were taken with flash inside, so the blocks appear much brighter than they are.

The center block is a vase.

The top, bottom, and side blocks are wreaths with birds.  All are different, but quite similar.

The corner blocks are flower sprays.

Each corner is appliqued also.

The fabrics in this quilt span at least a 20-25  year period.  The oldest are some of the yellow background squares.  I loved picking fabrics for this quilt - it was so much fun to make!

If you love the look of appliqued quilts, but are fearful of your applique skills, then pick a pattern like this one.  The pieces are large with gentle curves and fat points (for the most part).  Take a look at my three applique tutorials (listed on the left sidebar) and go for it.  Have no fear.  You'll be so glad you did.

A weekend to sew!

I didn't spend the entire weekend sewing - I did take time for a trip to Starbucks with Rebecca and Joseph on Saturday and walked in the snow (!) to Starbucks this morning to have coffee with Kim. Most of the rest of the weekend was sewing, however - and it was wonderful!

Saturday I finally finished four pillowcases I've been meaning to do for some time. I bought the fabric last spring, intending these to be a birthday present for our SIL in September. When I started watching Joseph several days a week I wasn't able to finish them as planned, so Rick received wrapped fabric as part of his gift. Now, five months later, he has finished pillowcases. Bad Patti! Not any way for a MIL to behave toward a loved SIL! Rick is nutty about dalmatians, and I figured this fabric was as close as I'd ever find. The yellow case is for Rebecca, who loves cute animals of any kind. Too bad I wasn't paying attention and thus the animals are standing on their head! Thank goodness she doesn't care. The nicest think is that this gives me another finish to list for January!

Two down!

I'm happy to report I have my first two finishes for 2009. Granted - these were quilted last November - but I didn't get them bound until today. I have crossed them of my list of finished tops needing to be quilted, bound and labeled, and have listed them in the sidebar for January completions for May Britt's challenge.

These blocks from a worldwide blogger block exchange had been languishing in the drawer since 2006. They were finally made into a top last fall, and finished today. I love reading the familiar names from all around the world!

These blocks have been waiting since 2003, when I participated in at monthly $5 block. I paid $5 for the first kit, and as long as I brought a finished block each month I got the next month's block for free. The blocks themselves seemed quite colorless when I finished them, so I brightened them up considerably by choosing yellows, golds, purples, greens, and reds when making the flying geese sashing. I disliked the blocks themselves, but love the resulting quilt.

It felt great to cross off one of my January goals!

2008 accomplishments

I know I've said it many times before - I can't believe how fast this year flew by! I think it must be my age - I know time never passed this quickly when I was younger. And it never passed this quickly when I was working either LOL!

Since the new year is less than 48 hours away I figured this is a good time to look back to see what I accomplished this year quilt-wise. I've been calling each year of the last 6 years "the year of the UFO", but by the end of each year I never seemed to have fewer UFO's than I started with. Granted, the list was different because I'd finish some, but I always seemed to start as many new quilts as I finished. I guess retiring was the key, because I'm really happy with what I accomplished this year.

In terms of my goals:

1. To use more fabric than I purchased - well, I didn't do so good with this one. My shelves and baskets are emptier, which was really my goal - well done there. But I bought several bolts of fabric - 60 yards alone of Kona cotton - a red, a cheddar, and a bone. Plus a 15 yard bolt to use for sashings on my Civil War Diaries and Love Letters quilts. Plus a 50 yard bolt of background for my mid-Century album and Civil War applique quilts. Plus a couple others that escape me, and since I'm at Joseph's house I can't check. So even though my shelves are emptier the bolts sitting on top of them are bigger and more numerous that at the beginning of the year. I must do better with this goal this next year!

2. To have less than 10 unfinished tops on my list by the end of the year - I'm very happy with the results of this goal. I started the year with close to 30 unfinished tops. This has been reduced to nine long-term projects, 4 of which were started this year. Only one unfinished top (other than long-term projects ) remains from the beginning of the year - the project I showed in yesterday's post.

3. Make at least three quilts from my scrap bins - I completed 5! Unfortunately the bins are fuller than ever!

4. Reduce the number of unquilted flimsies to less than 20. As you can see I didn't do that but that's OK. When I wrote this goal I forgot that all the finished tops that were unfinished tops at the beginning of the year would be added to the list! I did reduce the list by a total of 28 quilts - that's more than two finished quilts per month. I'm very happy with that result! Several I thought would be finished aren't, but several others that I thought I wouldn't complete are completed. That makes me a happy quilted.

5. Finish organizing all of my scraps - Done! Everything is stripped, squared, triangled, bricked or otherwise cut into usable sizes and shapes and sorted into the appropriate plastic drawers and boxes. I gave out when I had a small number of scraps left, so I sent them off to another blogger who put them to good use making charity quilts. I was also crumbed out, so I tossed the rest of my crumbs. This set off such a flurry of comments objecting, so I've since found a happy recipient of all the crumbs I produce.

In addition to the above I started and finished one quilt during the year - Lily Abigail's baby quilt. I also turned two VERY old stitchery projects into finished pillows. Lastly, I pieced a backing for every finished top, pressed them all, and hung each top and backing together in my longarm room closet - all ready to be quilted.

I hope everyone else reviews their accomplishments for the year - I find these posts very interesting. Tomorrow, as 2008 winds down into history, I hope to post goals for 2009. If not tomorrow then Thursday at the latest.

Have a happy and safe New Year's Eve celebration everyone!

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Gratitudes:

1. My love of fabric and sewing, plus the skills I've developed over the years, that have enriched my life so very much.

2. All the wonderful people I've met through quilting over the years, both near and far.

3. My wonderful Tangled Thread friends - I love you all!

4. My kind, patient, and understanding husband, who has put up with my fabric and quilt obsession for many, many years even though he doesn't understand it at all.

5. My marvelous kids, their spouses, and grandkids, who are always happy to receive another quilt!

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 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!