Getting back to goals

Amazing how fast quilting can get out of control! Starting new projects is so easy, finishing, not so much :0( The pleasure is in the process and it's all part of the process, right!?! :0) Time for a progress review now that it's August already! Wow.

With a good start followed by a stall and a new book full of distractions, time to get back to setting monthly goals. My goals for August...

1) Make progress on a BOM ~ Amaretto Cottage that I am working on with Janie. The layout of the center made with all of the 6 inch blocks, it's a medallion sampler style quilt... 

Center pieced with mitered border added

and our latest block...

Eight different fabrics just in this 10 inch block. 

I have 3 more to make for a total of 4 of this block then on to the next 10 inch block. It's cut out and an easy one, all HSTs. Yea! There are five different 10 inch blocks with 4 of each one for each of the corner units. Janie is just as far with her version made with the original fabrics from the designer, Marianne Elizabeth ~ Classically Home for RJR fabrics.

 2) To quilt my geometric brights quilt made after a Kim Diehl pattern...

I am waiting for a variegated lime green thread I just ordered. Once quilted there will be machine applique added to the borders, something I've been wanting to try... adding applique to a quilt after it's quilted!

3) Get back to this quilt top, Cactus Flower started in April...  

4) More blocks for Vintage Spin from the new book, Adding Layers... which plays into the goal of stash busting...

Notice that my projects have taken a radical turn from 19th century repros! to quite the opposite, some VERY bright brights! Maybe it's because I needed some cheering up. All work and no play has left me grumpy! And it's summer. These projects should do the trick!

Looking back at my goals made in January, I'm actually in pretty good shape with all three goals that I set. The New Year's Day Mystery is a finish, my Tree of Life top is a flimsy and I've made progress on Amaretto Cottage. It's nice to set goals and keep track of them on a blog, it's been a good way to stay focused. 

Stay cool and enjoy your weekend. With another day of triple digits, my plan is to stay indoors, finish clearing out my little sewing room and sew with the cooler humming.  

Jo

February Finish

My Tree of Life quilt top is a flimsy for my February goal and a Lovely Year of Finishes!

(Goal post 24 and finish post 104)

 I used up every single HST cut from the corners of another project and made another two dozen to finish the sawtooth inner border...

 added to the center field with corner and center stones.

With 8 inches of red fabric left for borders cut into four strips at 2 inches each. Not quite long enough for the second set of borders, I added the dark brown tree truck fabric for cornerstones to make it work for a finished quilt top!

Earlier this month I finished The Big EZ

and MidWinter's Blues 

Very happy with three flimsy finishes this month!

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!

 

Last of the Flowers

First, this is the layout I am going with for my Tree of Life quilt... still pinned, it's kind of wonky on my design wall.

Sawtooth border around the trees instead of running into them. It means making more HSTs which is what I am doing today. I am having so much fun working on this quilt even tho it's only a few hours a week. 

Keeping up with my longarm business and getting quilts quilted for the holidays by working Saturdays. Just finished working on a large quilt for Beckie. It's a new design and I love it! Quilted with wool batting, the quilting design shows really well. I would quilt one of my Civil War quilts with this pattern. For an all over design, it's really nice, especially for a quilt with a busy print/pattern.

Here is the quilt rolled up on my take up bar... it's big!

The last of the flowers are gone. Here is a picture I took just before the cold snap came in. We had almost a week of hard freezes each night. Last night wasn't as cold as the predicted 17 F but after yesterday's rain and snow mix, the wet was frozen this morning. Three nights in the mid 20's. We lost allot of plants, despite covering them each night.

The pic is of the flowers on the ground cover we added to the front yard this year. Flowers are all gone now, just hope the plants survived and will be back in the Spring. Of course, the veggie garden is toast! Goodbye Fall... Hello Winter! The Philadelphia Detroit football game today is being played in the snow! Those guys have short sleeves, sliding in the snow, crazy!

I'm off to make lunch and HSTs.  Enjoy your day, hope it is warm and toasty :0)

November is coming to a close

Can you believe it, tomorrow is the 1st of December! Don't know what I was thinking, my busiest time of the year and getting UFOs finished. Yea right. I did make a little progress on my Tree of Life quilt. It is fun to work on a quilt without a pattern, making it up as I go. This is my latest layout.

I am happy with the center medallion. Debating about adding a sawtooth border as an outer border design. It's between adding the sawtooth border into the corner tree blocks or letting them float between the trees... or leaving them out altogether and make a solid outer border.

Nada accomplished on two other UFOs. It's OK tho, I am getting quilts done for customers including a WIP with Janie. We are working together on a BOM she purchased last year. Amaretto Cottage. She asked me to help with some piecing techniques. I am making the quilt along with her in CW repros. Janie has her first two blocks finished...

 Four of block #1 in a 6 inch size finished and is working on 4 more 10 inch size blocks

 This is block #2 which she finished 8 in the 6 inch size.

Here are my blocks made in Civil War repros.

including block #3, another 6 inch block, my favorite size :0) Next are 12 log cabin blocks, easy for December. Janie can handle that on her own. She is doing great!

We enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving Day with Mom. Worked Friday. Today we spent the afternoon with friends that live up in the pines, picking up greens for some Christmas decorating. Having way too much fun (and time) on Pinterest gleaning ideas for quilts and the holidays. With the weather turning cold, it's evening time, cuddled up in a quilt, my laptop and my sweeties watching football :0)

Enjoy your weekend!  Groetjes, Jo

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! 

Faithful

Final border added to Faithful this weekend. Not quilted, my plan is to make more blocks and HSTs for sashing. This block has bright colors, scraps from two BOMs last year.

Faithful in progress...

Faithful ~ Steps one and two

 Center block is Peace and Plenty. When I re-sized it to a 6 inch block it came out too small so I added an extra row of sashing.

Faithful ~ Step three

Great way to use up scraps and HSTs, or trade HSTs with other quilter as Lori of Humble Quilts did for her Big Top. Thank you Lori for another great SAL!

Here is a link to Lori's blog with pix of more blocks made.

Take a look at Lori's blog header, it's her Big Top made with 9 blocks, each sashed with additional HSTs for a finish. It's what I plan to do with my block.

Also worked on my Tree of Life project. Last two Pine Tree blocks finished. 

Center tree blocks are sewn together in a medallion. I am planning two 1/2 inch inner borders with a row of HSTs between them before I sew on the corners. Not exactly sure yet what size this will finish out at, close to 50 x 50 depending on the size of a red outer border, if I add one, may just bind it in the red.

Very frustrated with my longarm business right now and the reason I haven't posted the last two weeks. Mom is doing OK. She will be 98 this weekend! We had unexpected rain last night, a quick downpour, enough to make a mess of newly fallen leaves. Will have some clean up and sheltering plants today. Forecast is for night time temps down in the 30s this week. Fall has arrived here in Northern California! 

Enjoy your day!

UFO and a SAL

Working on my October UFO ~ making Tree of Life blocks this weekend. Two more trees to finish, they take some time and patience. Drafted new trunks as the new corner blocks are larger than the blocks in the center. Started with some ideas for the final layout, adding a saw tooth sashing around the center blocks.

New corner tree blocks in progress...the HSTs are squared to 1 3/4, finish at 1 1/4 inch.

The first tree trunk I drafted, the branches were too big and the roots too small. This one is just right...

This is my quilt where all the HSTs came from, the corners from all of the snowball blocks...

I've also started on Lori ~ Humble Quilts SAL ~ Faithful. Part one was to make any 6 inch block for the center. I decided on a Peace and Plenty block. First one made was in my Civil War Sampler with Barbara Brachman's BOW. It was 8 inches and I needed a 6 inch block for this project. Using Quilt Genie I made the block but it finished at 5 inches so I added the purple sashing. Part two was adding sashing and HSTs around the center...

and part three is adding another sashing and 44 more HSTs this weekend. Four of us had a conversation at dinner before a guild meeting last week about how different random means to a mathematician and a quilter. Sew I can't say this is random... it's organized chaos :0)

All the fabrics and HSTs are scraps and cut offs from two BOMs I made in 2011. Mostly from Flying Geese blocks. I make a habit of stitching a second line of stitching before cutting off the triangle corners. The sewn cut offs get thrown in a container with more HSTs, ready to be pressed and squared to size when needed. Also how I ended up with so many HSTs for my Tree of Life project above. Great for scrappy projects and Saw Tooth borders too. This SAL with Lori ~ Humble Quilts was the perfect project to use up more of them. Check out Lori's quilt top made with HSTs she traded with friends, it's Lori's header right now.

I love it when I see vintage quilts and the owner says "I remember that fabric in a dress". It happened just the other day when someone brought a vintage quilt in to my studio. A Dresden Plate quilt her grandmother made in the 30's. Since I haven't made cloths since my teens, I don't have scraps from dresses and such. This will be a fun way to remember past quilt projects.

Now to get out and enjoy the fine Fall weather we are having in Northern California. Hope you all get to do the same! Enjoy your day, stitching away. Thanks for visiting.

Groetjes, Jo