Westering Women ~ Independence Square

Independence Square ~ Block 1

Westering Women 

First block for Westering Women finished this evening! Yea! I jumped off the fence! Independence Square is the first block for Barbara Brackman's 2016 BOM on her Civil War blog. Great photos and history about the families that traveled West in wagon trains in the 19th century are included on Barbara's blog.  

The original Flickr site set up in 2011 for the Civil War Sampler is still in use and has more photos posted of finished blocks for this new BOM as well as last years Stars in a Time Warp. It's been awhile since I worked with eight inch measurements and cutting! A little rusty and I didn't get the best intersections ;0( I actually surprised myself that I remembered how to post my pic to the flickr site! Anyway, here I go starting a new quilt, pulled from stash. Block is done, now I have the rest of the month to set some goals and finish some UFOs. Life is good! Enjoy your week, take the time to make some stitches.

Tot Ziens, Jo

  

Westering Women

Barbara Brackman's Westering Women ~ 2016 BOM ~ 12 blocks, one each month posted the last Wednesday of each month. First block will be posted tomorrow. Exert from Barbara's initial post ~ "In 2016 we are going to feature a Block of the Month (here on Barbara's Civil War blog) for 12 months called Westering Women, celebrating the women who walked west on the overland trails in the 19th century."

Link to Barbara's Civil War Quilts blog post this morning with an introduction for the project with suggested settings for the blocks. Even if you are not up to starting a new project, this will be a good one to follow just for the history and stories that Barbara Brackman is so good at. Thank you Barbara. 

I love participating in Barbara's projects, both for the history as well as block and quilting history. Sew glad I found and participated in the very first project, a 2011 BOW which later was published into a 2012 book ~ Civil War Sampler by Barbara Brackman. Barbara contacted several participants, including me! and included pix of our blocks in her book. Three of my blocks are in the book, I was thrilled, to say the least plus I received an autographed copy from Barbara Brackman. Wow. Link to my blog post and the 3 blocks that were included.

Food for thought! With my goal of getting UFOs worked on and finished in 2016, sitting on the fence about joining in. After all, many of my UFOs are previous BOWs and BOMs made following Barbara's blogs. =^.^= However... I do have an overabundance of Civil War and calico fabrics crying out to be made into quilts. That would fall under the category of using up stash, right?

Enjoy your week

Off to work for me while I mull this one over ;0)

Tot ziens, Jo

February Goals

First February goal is to finish my Tree of Life quilt top for A Lovely Year of Finishes. I've been working on this for a long time! I love designing my own tops but it takes more time to make with lots of decisions! Falls under 'The Pleasure is in the Process'. With most of them made now, it's on to finishing the top...

Second is to work on Lori @ Humble Quilts QAL ~ MidWinter Blues. Got a start on my cutting...

This is Lori's finished top

 and the antique inspiration quilt that she is working from...

I love this antique quilt and am toying with the idea of reproducing it for my project. Love how the alternating blocks form another pattern and how, altho set on point, looks like a straight set.

Third is to continue on with the Amaretto Cottage BOM with Janie. She and I got started on the next block last Wednesday, there are four of these, this is one of mine...

Fourth is to make the first block in Barbara Brackman's new BOM Threads of Memory...

 

Kathy, a quilter participating in A Lovely Year of Finishes posted her finish (#66) for January and it's her Civil War Sampler top from Barbara Brackman's 2011 Civil War BOW!  It really got me thinking about my sampler and getting that back on to my list of goals for this year. My January finish is #87 the NYD Mystery quilt top. Last night I finished quilting it so it is also quilted for a finish!

Lofty goals considering all I have going on this month switching out longarms and reorganizing my studio. It will be a fun month, once I shake this cold off!

Have a great Super Bowl Weekend!

 

The Mystery is now a flimsy

2014 NYD Mystery quilt top is a flimsy. I am linking up with A Lovely Year of Finishes with this quilt top finish as my January goal ~ link to blog post. Link up # 181. Update: This baby is quilted!!!

After a few block layout changes plus I decided to add borders, this top is ready to be quilted! Notice I couldn't do the misfit layout of the original.

Quilting on my New Year's Day Mystery quilt

I am quite pleased with this one, you never know how a mystery will turn out! All the fabrics are pulled from stash scraps and FQ's except the light print in the large HSTs are cut from two half yard pieces that came from Honey Run Quilters. Many of the fabrics are left overs from Petit Fours, a quilt I made from a kit from Morning Star Quilts. Barbara, a new quilt customer recently brought her Petit Fours that she recently finished that I will quilt for her. When she unfolded her quilt top I immediately knew the quilt! Nice surprise!!

Petit Fours made in 2010

This is a pic of my Petit Fours made in 2010 for my friend Suzanne. The left over border print is in most of the blocks in the Mystery quilt top and more scraps I added to the Anvil blocks.

My goal this year is to use up stash and I think I got a pretty good start on that one :0) Another is to start blocks on a 2014 Barbara Brackman ~ Threads of Memory BOM and do a QAL with Lori of Humble Quilts. Both of them posted the first blocks, Lori yesterday and Barbara this morning on her Civil War blog. Check out the links. Off to sew as I have blocks to make this weekend!!!

Enjoy your weekend! Thanks for stopping by

 Jo

January and a New Year of Goals

Goals for January~
First up is the New Year's Day Mystery that I started on that day. My friend Janie joined me and she is making one too. Her fabrics are much different, both are scrappy. My goal is to finish this quilt top by the end of the month for a Lovely Year of Finishes. Half of the Anvil blocks are ready...

The remaining are cut, marked, ready to be sewn into HSTs and into blocks for a total of 40...

Alternating blocks are also cut, ready to mark and sew into 40 large HSTs. This is the layout:

This is my January goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes

Second is to work on the next blocks for Amaretto Cottage, a BOM that Janie and I are working on together. Janie is using the fabrics sent with the kit. I am pulling from my CW stash. We are on Block 5 and working at our own pace (Originally a 2012 BOM) My first four blocks...

and this week I made my log cabin blocks for month 5... 

Eight plus four corner blocks for a total of 12. Love that gold and cheddar Jo Morton fabric!

These are Janie's first blocks in her fabrics...

She is coming by today to finish her log cabin blocks and share our progress on the NYD Mystery. 

Third is to work on the design of my Tree of Life quilt and finish this top too!...

Center field is finished. Adding more HSTs for a pieced inner border. Outer border to be added in the red fabric. Almost a flimsy, then it will be set aside until I have my second longarm set up and ready to go! I am so excited!!! 

Which brings me another goal for 2014... to get to know my new machine (once it arrives :0) again, so exciting! Looking forward to working on and improving my machine quilting skills. There is so much beautiful machine quilting being done by some amazing quilters, I want to learn as much as I possibly can. Practice, practice and then practice some more! 

One new 2014 BOM I am doing for sure is Barbara Brackman's 2014 BOM Threads of Memory. Each block will be posted the last Saturday of the month on her Civil War blog. 

The Mystery quilt is my goal for a finish in January for A Lovely Year of Finishes with Bitter Sweet Designs. I really enjoyed the motivation to finish UFOs last year with Carrie at A Passion for Applique.  I would be sew very happy to finish 12 projects in 2014!!!

What are your goals? 

Enjoy a New Year!

2014 Civil War BOM ~ Threads of Memory

Forgot to mention this morning, Barbara Brackman is hosting a new Block of the Month for 2014 on her Civil War Quilts blog. Here is her post. Today's post is the last block for Dixie Diaries which wraps up the blocks for this year's block of the month.

Threads of Memory starts January 25th 2014 and will be posted once per month ~ the last Saturday of each month. These will be 12 inch blocks, no applique (one per month, not a BOW).

From her post:
"The theme Threads of Memory refers to the Underground Railroad. Each month you'll get a block named for an important place in the story of the network that assisted slaves on the road to freedom. We'll explore true stories of people who lived in slavery, escaped on the "Liberty Line" or helped the fugitives."

Becky will be making two versions and Dustin will add his own flair by doing two versions as well, one all in one fabric :0) I plan to play along and may tie it in with my Mom in some way. She has dementia and Threads of Memory has a whole new meaning in our world. Mom did allot of cross stitch through out her life and I am thinking of including pieces of her work in the quilt.

Will be fun to see who all joins in for this one. How about you? A flickr site was set up in 2011 and I imagine it will be using for this project. Yep, just went over there and checked, Dustin already has a thread about it.  The Dixie Diary blocks are posted there now. Here is a link. You will also find a link on Barbara's blog, it's a photo of a woman holding a camera. Sweet!

Also posted by Barbara Brackman on her blog a couple of weekends ago... for anyone a bit more ambitious, looking to start a new Civil War block of the week... here is her post about Elm Creek's book ~ Loyal Union Sampler   Also a good choice for a new project in 2014!

First book for American Homestead

Ellen Murphy at American Homestead has her first book coming out soon :0)

Just wanted to give a shout out. It's nice to see a fellow blogger making it in the quilting arena. I first 'met' (online) Ellen while working on Barbara Brackman's Civil War BOW. Both of us have blocks that Ms. Brackman included in her Civil War Sampler book too. Since then we both participated in Barbara's next BOW, Grandmother's Choice and Ellen is finishing up on Dixie Diaries.

The best part is that Ellen not only made her blocks, she posted them as a tute each week. They are the best! Especially for many of the CW blocks were we were cutting with 1/16th of an inch increments!!! A challenge but fun :0)

I know first hand how well Ellen can put directions together! She also has her own patterns and is now a vendor (she was at Houston market this year). Ellen is also well traveled. I enjoy following on her blog with projects, tutes, travel and food! Loved her trip to Holland :0)

This is a link to her blog. Wishing you the best Ellen!

Enjoy your weekend

Groetjes, Jo (Dutch for Greetings :0)

 

UFOs for November

Well, my list doesn't look much different from October's! I did make progress on the Tree of Life project...

Not pictured are more HST's sewn into sashing that will go around the center block or as a sawtooth border or both. Will see how many there are left when I get there ;0) Brandie (ABC blog) and I are planning to get together and get her started on growing some trees!

Still have these two to get back to. Backing for the flimsy above and to finish the blue and white top below.

One of my distractions is a BOM one of my customers wants to make. She asked me to help her with the blocks. It's a gorgeous quilt called Amaretto Cottage, a 2012 BOM by Marianne Elizabeth of Classically Home.

It's gorgeous as are the fabrics! Wouldn't this be nice in Civil War fabrics! Several of the blocks are the same or similar to blocks we made in Barbara Brackman's BOW and in her Civil War Sampler book.

Janie and I will be meeting today to finish the first block and set some goals. She is doing amazing, recovering from knee surgery, she is ready to get going on this beauty!

I am linking to Carrie's ~ A Passion for Applique ~ Nothing But UFOs in 2013...

November, wow this year wrapping up too fast! Holiday commercials are up and running. The wind looks like it's let up for today. After 3 or 4 days of wind, it's really looking like Fall around here!

Enjoy your day, stitching away!