January 2022

The first half of January I was working on Rhododendron Trail (Bonnie Hunter 2021 Mystery, Quiltville.com).  When that top was complete I finished the applique for "My Garden", the red quilt kit I got at The Quilt Show.  Both quilts are now in process of quilting.  I did quilt and bind two small Bear Hugs (my guild's charity quilts). No photos, but that's two finished and out of the house.

My Garden. top finished.

Rhododendron Trail. Top complete.

I made Valentine's to send to the great nieces and nephews. As they're aging I need to find things appropriate for the older children.  

This one was so cute I kept one.

I found this block when sorting through tubs.
Now it's a pillow.

Two days were spent in virtual classes: 

Adele Scott - ruler work.  Great class. I learned some tips on using rulers in my quilting. She's offering the class again and offers repeat students different designs. I might take her up on that.

Kathleen Riggins - swirls.  Kathleen lives in Canada so outside the virtual world I would be unable to take a class from her. She taught variations on swirls that look amazing.

I think these designs are great. Now to use them on an actual quilt.

Thanks for checking in. 

Happy New Year!

I started the new year by compiling a Shutterfly book of my 2021 finishes. I managed to complete 43 projects and worked on even more. What started as a way to recognize what I called Covid Quilts, is now becoming a new tradition. I like having my finishes together in an easy to see/read format. If you have never done this, you might want to consider doing so. 

Right now I'm working on the 2021 Bonnie Hunter mystery: Rhododendron Trail.  As of yesterday the top is finished. I'm pulling fabric for the back then I'll start the quilting. Although the past couple of BH quilts I've sent out for quilting, I think I'm back to doing my own.  We'll see.

I'm auditioning for an outer border. I need to make the quilt slightly larger.

I changed my corner from Bonnie's pattern.

The ornament count is up to 34 now.  This year's design was modified from a guild 'make & take'.

My synthetic turf was finally installed.  What a difference it makes in my back yard. This is the nicest this portion of my home has ever looked. I've decided to convert a horse water trough into a planter. I'm wavering whether to to with 12 or 24 inch height. 

I've started my WIP (works in progress) list for this year. Some of them are there for the third time. I will get to them . . . . . some day!   

I was doing a lot of cleaning, sorting, and reducing (books - not weight) at the end of the year. Of course, I found even more UFO's.  One bag was a bargello pull from 25 - 30 years ago. I decided it was never going to get made so those fabrics have been returned to my stash. 

Thanks for checking in.

October Update

 Another month and more projects checked off.

I sew two days a week with friends via Zoom. Some of us did not know each other well before we started doing this, but seeing other quilters twice a week has created some wonderful friendships. There are times of no talking - just the hum of machines - and other times the conversation is racing. We talk about quilts, books, recipes - lots of stuff.

Cabin Chills.  Kit from Picking Daisies.
50 x 80 inches

Notice the spider webs quilting in all the houses.

The following quilt was a kit purchased from Laura Heine at one of the first Long Beach quilt shows. I don't remember which one.  She had buttons at each intersection of the sashing strips; I chose to leave them off making the quilt better for naps.

In My Garden (Laura Heine)
70 x 80 inches

I purchased table runner kits at Thimble Towne during their moving sale. I made one using the pattern provided, but then used the fabrics to make other variations.  All are approximately 15 x 40 inches.

The original.

 

This one ended up being my favorite.

  

I liked this pattern last year when making table runners 
for my Soroptimist board, but these did not turn out as well.
Different fabrics bring different results.

The other exciting news is that my "new to me" sofa has been delivered.  The sofa was given to me by neighbors, but needed to be reupholstered. It's over 100 years old and fits in my home perfectly.

Before . . . 

after!

The Historical Museum in my hometown has a raffle every year; Local artists donate miniature paintings to be raffled off. I've always wanted to do a miniature quilt to donate.  Here's my first attempt.  It's a little large at 12 x 12 inches, but they will see if they can use it.

The quilt is 10 x 10 inches and finished with a facing. I painted the edges of the canvas black and attached the quilt using gel medium.  I'm hoping it is accepted.  If not, it was a great learning experience.

I like it set on point. Use your imagination!

Thanks for checking in.  Happy Thanksgiving.

Grassy Creek

A friend quilted my Grassy Creek, 2020 Bonnie Hunter mystery.

Now it's bound and on my bed!

I have three Halloween kits to put together.  Here's number one.

Cabin Chills by J. Wecker-Frisch.  Picking Daisies kitted it with a black background. 

Cabin Chills in progress.
16 blocks.

Thanks for checking in.

Guild class

Sue Bleiweiss presented a virtual workshop to one of my guilds this week.  Garden Life.

She has an unusual method of applique fused with Misty Fuse.  Rather than make a small quilt - what would I do with it?? - I made a table runner . . . and it's finished.

Table runners have become my thing.  I can try a new technique and the finished product is useable.  I have a hard time gifting my projects unless I plan to in advance, but I'm trying to get over that!

13 x 42 inches

Sue does not do much quilting after completing the top.
I chose to add some thread work to keep the pieces down.
I stitched both sides of all the black lines.

Thanks for checking in.

Halloween Placemats

I just finished 18 Halloween placemats for my great nieces and nephews AND it's still September!  Here are 16 of the 18.  I have already mailed two to Australia.

Each is approximately 12 x 20 inches.

Thanks for checking in.

August Projects

 August 19 - 22 a friend and I hosted a guild retreat.  It was a virtual Cruise to Alaska.  We opened the Zoom meeting 11:00 am on Thursday and left it open until 5:00 pm on Sunday.  We had a shop tour from one of our local shops, Picking Daisies, and The Quilted Raven in Anchorage.  Through our fellow quilter in Alaska we also had a tour of Seward, AK. She provided photos about the local area and her husband's commercial fishing enterprise.  All of this without leaving the comfort of our homes.  No packing, no hauling supplies and machines, no forgetting any needed items, AND we slept in our own comfortable beds!  A great time was had by all.  We're now planning our next adventure.

During the cruise I finished quilting the inside blocks of one quilt, completed a table runner kit from Shabby Fabrics that was in my stash, and while looking for another project I found two kits in my Halloween stash purchased who knows when and from who knows where.  The fact that I had two kits meant is was a good sale price!

.

Shabby Fabrics Table Runner
14 x 56 inches
Covid #21-25

Mr. & Mrs. Hall O'Ween
16 x 16 inches
(pillow)
Covid #21-26

Halloween Kits
22 x 61 inches eachk
started quilting
Covid number assigned when they are finished.

Thanks for checking in.