Riding an Ocean Wave

I haven’t posted much in the last several weeks. I have had a lot going on…Dad having major heart surgery (he is doing much better now); work issues (our CEO resigned to take another job), totally unexpected, so my office was in an uproar and just plain ole stuff. However, because quilting is so calming to me, I made time almost every evening to do a little. I set the egg timer (quilt timer) for about an hour, sometimes 2, so that I could work and not worry about timing and to remind myself to go to bed within a reasonable time. Because once I get started, it is hard for me to stop.

I am working on the Ocean Waves quilt and it is coming together nicely. The blocks are big and take up a lot of space, so getting detailed pictures is a pill, but below is a picture of 2 completed blocks. They measure about 20" each and there are 20 blocks.  A pretty big quilt.  I hope to finish the top by the end of the month, so ring my bell if you do not see a picture of a finished top by May 1.

I am also working on the wedding quilt for Jennifer. Well she got married last October, but I couldn’t make up my mind what type of quilt I wanted to make for her. I didn't want to do another Double Wedding Ring.  I already have 2 on my WIPs list.  Then one of my blog friends decided to have a quilt along for the Trinity Celtic Knot quilt and I knew this was the one. It is a whole lot of cutting, sub-cutting, sewing and re-sewing, but I am having fun with it. It is very scrappy with lots of purples and greens.  And the entire quilt is made with 9-patch blocks.  It requires my full attention because of the many pieces, but it has been a wonderful diversion with all of the stuff going on. The quilt pattern is designed by Deborah Cohen with Arbee Designs. You can follow along on the blog set up to showcase our progress on the Trinity Knot Along here.  My deadline for completing the top and getting this quilted and delivered to Jennifer is July 1. Everything is going along smoothly with it right now after a few false starts. A picture of what the finished quilt should look like is below. Keep your fingers crossed. Thanks for stopping by and I will check in soon!

Seeking Inspiration

Sometimes you just have to take a  break from the sewing and quilting projects, step back, reassess, learn a new technique, refine an old technique and maybe indulge yourself with the luxury of enjoying another's work.  Over the last month, I had the opportunity to participate in a short retreat with friends in Hampton, VA as well as attending the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival.  The retreat consisisted of late night sew-ins, eating, the jelly roll race, (we didn't race), eating, a visit to local quilt shop, eating and seeing friends that we haven't seen in a while and did I say eating...  I participated in a class for the first time in 12 years of attending this show.  I took "That Perfect Stitch" hand quiling class from Diedra McElroy to revisit and refine my techniques for handquilting.  I plan to do a little more hand quilting in the future.  The quilts at the show were wonderful and of course what would this show be without the vendors.  They add to the excitement of  the show with all of the delicious fabrics and awesome gadgets.  I returned home dog-tired but with some inspiration to create unique and different quilts.

This past weekend, I took my granddaughters to their first quilt show. It is a small local show thoughtfully coordinated by 2 local quilt guilds, The Cabin Branch Quilters and the Stone House Quilters. While I looked at the quilts, the coordinators had the children participate in a scavenger hunt with prizes for those that completed the hunt. They had a ball and I can honestly say that for the first time in a while I got a kick out of some of the unique and whimsical quilts. My camera even worked this time, so there are photos of some my favorites. There were quite a few that I gravitated toward, but here are some of  my favorites. Oh...while I visited the small array of vendor booths, I did not spend any money. A first for me...I think I am getting better. Enjoy my fav pics!!!  I am headed back to fulfilling my WIPs.  Thanks for stopping by.

I love this Cathedral Windows quilt.  It was hand-pieced.

 

You probably can't tell from this picture, but the windows were made from clear plastic.

I have a thing for circles in quilts.  The picture does not do the quilt justice.  The colors were so vibrant.

 

He is so cute.  The title for this quilt was "Stop and Smell the Flowers."



How cool is this?  The sunglasses are embellished with rhinestones.



One Down…??? To Go!

The last border has been sewn on Half-Square Triangle Madness (HSTM) and it is ready to be quilted. I even had the backing fabric in my stash and I have enough yardage that I don’t have to piece the back. I may piece it anyway to make it more fun…but I am happy that I am at this point. It turned out really nice and I am anticipating getting it quilted. Probably, a feather pattern in the big blocks and stitch in the ditch around the hst’s and borders. So, the next WIP on the list is the Ocean Waves quilt. I think this WIP goes back about 2-1/2 years and like HSTM, it has a heap of half square triangles. There are 800+ in the finished quilt. I am not even going to count them, because I don’t want to develop a mental block. This quilt requires 80 – 10-1/2 inch blocks. Well, I thought I only needed 40 blocks, but each ocean waves block requires four 10-1/2 inch blocks to make one 20-1/2 inch block. So, I have to make a few more blocks, but everything is cut out. I just need to sew them together. I am shooting for completing the top by the end of the weekend. And yes, I have the backing fabric for this one too…

I feel I am on a roll, but when this top is completed, I am going to do a little work on the Farmers Wife Sampler, may be 1 or 2 more blocks. And then, may be a little time on the Orca Bay mystery quilt. With Bonnie Hunter’s quilts there is a lot of cutting, sewing and cutting again, so it takes more time. But I want to complete at least 2 blocks to see if I am going to like this quilt. If I do, then I will keep working on it however long it takes. If not, then I am going to pack up all of the pieces and donate them. Pineapple Blossom is up next…

I learned a new quilty word yesterday from a new blog friend at http://theslowquilter.blogspot.com/ . Flimsy is the word used to describe what we used to call "an un-quilted top" that has been hanging around for more than a year. You complete the top and put it away promising to get it quilted real soon. But it never happens. Just when I thought I was putting a dent in the fabric and WIPs backlog, here comes something else. So now I need to know…how many flimsies are lurking in a bag (I don’t do boxes) some where. How many flimsies do you have?  Below is a photo of the Half Square Triangle Madness quilt top.  It will not become a flimsy.  And now on to the Ocean Waves blocks.

HSTM revealed...

Following up on my previous post, I wrote that I would take pictures of a quilt that I started on about 4 years ago.  I saw it in a magazine and absolutely fell in love...knew I had to re-create it, however challenging it might become and sealed the deal on what would become my love affair with everything half-square triangles (hst's).  This quilt has a little bit of everything that I enjoy working with: taupes, batiks,  black, and of course lots of hst's.  It is a variation on the ocean waves quilt pattern and I finally counted the hst's.  There are 120 (480) in each border and approximately 1200 in the quilt top.  It will finish at about 80 x 80. They are all 2.5 inches.  I used the Tada fusible triangle product to make them and it was a breeze somewhat...I can't believe I am admitting to this, but I stopped working on this quilt because I became overwhelmed by so many of the hst's.  And then I miscalculated the border triangles and they did not fit and I had to take them apart. Sheesh... It just made me crazy.  One of my coworkers named it half-square triangle madness (HSTM). Mariah is not a quilter, but she didn't realize how right she was. The name stuck and I folded it, not so neatly, along with unsewn borders, bias edges and all and stuffed it in a tote bag.  From time to time, my friends would ask about it and I would claim ignorance on its whereabouts.  But I knew...it was thrown up in the back of the closet in the tote bag. :0)   Up until this weekend, I didn't even have a picture of it.  So feeling guilty about the number of WIPs, I moved it to the top of my to do list,  I pulled it out of the bag, my girlfriend Wendy (thanks again Wendy) pressed it a little for me and I am back to work on it.  I have one more border to construct and put on and then I will have it quilted and decide on a home for it.  I may keep it for myself, but I haven't reached that decision yet.  So, here it is ... revealed at last.   I will post a pic of the completed top very soon.



Recovering and regrouping…

Can you believe that we are in the 2nd week of the New Year? I am still recovering from all of the gift making and gift giving of the holiday season and frankly I am pooped! Now that the new grand daughter has arrived safely and is too cute; and the holiday rush is over and after much reflection, I have resolved to complete the quilts that I started on last year for myself. I gift quilts and I love that part of the craft, but I love them for myself too. So, if you look at my WIP list on the right side of this blog, I am going to work my way down the list. Maybe not in that exact order, but it is going to happen and I will keep at it until I am done. There will be a few new projects, but I just can not resist starting new stuff before I finish up the old stuff. I do that all of the time, so it will be a hard habit to break.

So for a brief update, I am continuing work on the Farmer’s Wife Sampler quilt. This is my diversion project and there is no rush here. The Ocean Waves quilt is moving back up the list. I am done with making the blocks. Just need to lay them out and create the top. I don’t want this one to continue to be a UFO, so it will definitely get done. Then, there is the Nine Patch Pineapple quilt that I started as part of an online challenge. It was definitely a challenge, required my undivided attention and I had to put it aside. I could not keep up. But it is going to be a gorgeous quilt and I do want to finish it. In 2010, I went to a retreat in Smithfield, VA where I had 2 classes with Bonnie Hunter. Lots of scraps, lots of blocks and not enough time. So the Pineapple Blossom and the Holiday Blue Ridge Beauty are moving up the list. And finally, a quilt that has become sort of my trademark for my obsession with half-square triangles. I started this quilt probably 4 years ago. I don’t think I have ever mentioned it on the blog, because, well, I worked on it for so long that I had to stop. It had started to overwhelm me and every time I looked at it, it was just too much. A co-worker  named it Half-square Triangle Madness and the name stuck. You will see what I mean when you see the photo.

So that is the short list of to do’s. Remember I wrote in a previous blog that I am going to start a Dear Jane. I intend to do that, just not until I finish something on the UFO list first. And I am also doing Bonnie Hunter’s Orca Bay Mystery quilt. It has been revealed, so I am taking my time on this – no big hurry. The Trinity Celtic Knot quilt is on the list and may move up faster than others because it will be a long overdue wedding quilt. All of the quilts on the WIP list are in various degrees of completeness, but here are photos of some of them, so that you can share in the fun. I will post a picture of Half-square Triangle Madness as soon as possible. It is a big quilt and I have to think about the best way to photograph it. I plan to do more frequent updates as I scratch them off the list, so stay tuned. Thanks for following my blog and have a great week.

       Ocean Waves

       Nine Patch Pineapple

     Farmers Wife Sampler

     Orca Bay Mystery

My How Time Flies...

I didn't realize that I hadn't posted in a while.  Life has been busy with work, family (Grand baby #5 will arrive on the scene tomorrow) and being fully immersed in the holidays. Thanksgiving is a blur now as I prepare for Christmas.  I am making quilts for my dad, brother, son-in-law and my daughter's significant other of their favorite sports teams.  Unfortunately,  there is a heated good-natured rivalry among the men folk in my family.  My dad and son-in-law are devoted, die-hard (although somewhat unhappy) Washington Redskins fans.  My brother (they must have found him in the cabbage patch) is a boisterous, fun-loving Dallas Cowboys fan and so is my daughter's boyfriend.  So family gatherings are loud, raucous, and interesting to say the least.  They are each receiving a lap quilt.  I will post pictures a little later.

I am continuing to work on the Farmers' Wife Sampler quilt, although I have not completed nearly as much as I wanted to.  I did finally complete block #13, Buckwheat.  I put it together and it was wonky, so I took it all apart and re-sewed it.  It looks better.  It has a lot of pieces as most of the blocks in this series.  But I made a commitment to do it and I will see it through.  This is a photo of my second attempt.

I haven't started on the Dear Jane challenge yet because I  do not know where I want to go with it just yet as in fabric choices and design.  It is on the back burner until after the holidays and I can give it the time it deserves.

I completed the African Snowball quilt and my friend Carrie quilted it for me on her Tin Lizzie.  She did a wonderful job.  I am going to bind it this week,  but here are pictures of the front and back of the quilt.  It turned out quite beautiful.  I have a nice zebra print that I am going to use for the binding.  It should work well with this quilt.

I have a lot going on...everyone have a great week and thanks for stopping by!

Happy Thanksgiving...

Sorry there are no pictures this time.  They will come later with an update on what I have been up to.  Just wishes to everyone to have a beautiful and bountiful Thanksgiving season with family and friends. 

Happy Friday

It has been a hectic week and I can honestly say that I am happy that Friday is here.  Not much sewing going on this week, but I did take a field trip to Jinny Beyer's Studio in Great Falls, VA.  The area has a lot of artists and there was a studio hop going on.  Jinny's shop was busy and she was cutting fabric and trying to greet visitors.  I did buy some fabric, mostly jewel tones, (sorry no picture) caught up a little with Jinny while she cut my fabric.  It was a pretty day.

I made 2 more blocks for the Farmer's Wife Quilt Sampler.  And I am enjoying this exercise.  It is requiring me to think before I cut, and to think before I sew.  I am getting a little better in trying to be more precise in the piecing of these blocks.  The fabrics that I am using are so wonderful, that I want to do them justice by making good blocks. Not perfect, cause I am not, but nice. Fall has finally arrived and I am enjoying the change.

Here are pictures of blocks #9 and #12.  I hope to get some sewing in this weekend, so I may have more to share later.

Progress on African Snowball and Farmer's Wife Sampler

After surviving one of the rainiest and soggiest couple of weeks that I can recall in a long time, I had no choice but to stay in and work on quilt projects.  Good thing too...I completed the African snowball quilt top.  I opted to put on 2 borders with the outside border only on the sides.  I really like that border fabric but I thought it would overwhelm the other fabrics if I were to put it on the sides and the top and bottom   I have a backing picked out and hope to get this quilted over the next couple of weeks.    I also completed 4 blocks for the Farmers' Wife sampler.  I now have 10 completed and I only have 101 more to make.  This is my side project and I am enjoying it.  I am making the blocks with various shades of the Daiwabo taupes.  I think fall is on the way and I am looking forward to it.  Happy quilting.  Sorry for the quality of the pics -- lighting was not the best.

The Storm has Passed...

Irene has come and gone, thankfully. We are still getting earthquake aftershocks, (19 since last Tuesday) but I haven’t felt them, which is a good thing. My heart goes out to those who lost loved ones.  That is the hardest thing to deal with in all of this turmoil.  But, life has pretty much returned to normal if there is such a thing.

I know in some previous post, I said that I would not be doing another challenge for a while if ever again. I find them stressful and the pace somewhat unreasonable. Some people are so prolific in their quilt making and I just find it hard to keep up. Also, I get bored easily, so the challenge may be just that, but if it does not hold my attention, it’s off to the UFO bin, which is overflowing. I do plan to complete each UFO and donate them to worthy causes; it is just taking longer than I had planned.

To compound all of this, there is just nothing new and sexy going on in the quilt world right now. Remember, when the 2-1/2 inch strips were all the rage. There were all kinds of books and patterns out. There were tons of projects just for the strips with accompanying rulers and templates. And then someone came up with Bali Pops in all of the different flavors along with the various copy cats. Then there was the strip cutter and Accuquilt Go die cutters. Just amazing stuff… But I think we are experiencing a loll right now. Well except for the automated pin dispenser. I am still trying to figure that out.

So, I have decided to do another challenge…one that I chose for myself and a few of my friends (even though they are getting cold feet). To make it more challenging, there are no rules to speak of and a very, very long time frame if we complete it by then.

This quilt has been on my mind since well…1999. I purchased the book and the software when it became available. I even attempted once to piece what I thought was one of the easier blocks. The block was never completed. I wasn’t ready. But now I am…and I am going to do it along with all of the other projects that I have going on. And to make it more challenging I am going to do another quilt simultaneously (sp?), to keep my mind and hands focused and busy. I am going to start the Dear Jane (DJ) quilt that I have wanted to make for the last 10 or more years. The other quilt that I will work on is the Farmer’s Wife Quilt sampler (FWS). No,  I am not crazy…and that is all I am going to say about that for right now. Below is a picture of the FWS blocks that I have completed, so you will know that I am serious (for right now).  The DJ blocks are taking a little longer.  Check out the website and you will understand http://www.dearjane.com/ why.   I guess I also need to mention that the DJ blocks finish at 4-1/2 inches and there are 225 blocks; the FWS blocks finish at 6-1/2 inches and there are 111 blocks.  That is the real challenge.

I am finishing up the African snowball quilt top over the long holiday weekend and then back to the ocean waves. And in between those 2 projects, I will put together a DJ or FWS block or 2.

Progress on the African Snowball Quilt

It has been a rough week here in the Washington, DC area.  First we had the earthquake that rocked the area on Tuesday and the many aftershocks that everyone else felt except me.  I think I was too exhausted from the first shake down to feel them.  And now...Irene is lurking off the coast.  We are expecting rain and winds up to 60 mph.  I went to the store this morning (along with everyone else and their relatives) before work and there wasn't a "D" battery on the shelf.  My area is prone to power outages so I thought I would post this update before the lights go out. 

I am making good progress on the African snowball quilt made with charm squares. I still have a few more blocks to make to complete the top.  I haven't decided on a border yet.  I think most snowball quilts look better without borders.  I will make a decision after I get all of the blocks sewn together. It looks pretty good and I can hardly wait to get it quilted.  Be safe!!!

Olivia's Quilt

I was able to finally concentrate in this awful heat and get Olivia's quilt completed.  I remembered to put a label on it and to take pictures.  That is a major accomplishment.  It has been carefully wrapped and is on its way to Olivia.  I had fun making this quilt and picking out all of the different fabrics.  I probably used about 50 to 60 different fabrics including the borders and the backing.  I can cross this one off of my never-ending list.  I think I am now going to finish my ocean waves quilt from way back when.  Let's see how far I get in a week and that will determine if I put it aside for something else.  Think Fall!!!

Trash to Treasure Pineapple Challenge Quilt

I accepted Gyleen Fitzgerald's challenge to make a small 4-block pineapple quilt based on her method and pineapple ruler.  This is the first challenge that I have participated in as I am not a perfect quilter and prefer not be under the scrutiny of the quilt police.  But I like pineapple quilts and the challenge was to use fabrics from your stash (Trash to Treasure) and to add applique.  The cornucopia is my first attempt at machine applique.   Each participant was challenged to interpret the month of their choice.  I chose November, my birthday month and the month of my favorite holiday - Thanksgiving.  Any way, it was an interesting and fun diversion and I will probably not do another challenge quilt for a long time.  I named my little quilt November Harvest.

When you have to work on the weekend...

You might as well try to have some fun.  The painters worked this weekend and as the facilities manager, I needed to be there with them until the job was completed  So I expected to be in the office all day on Saturday and hopefully only a half day on Sunday.  I guess I could have found something to keep me occupied through out the office.  But I decided that if I had to babysit the painters that I wanted to do something a little more fun than paperwork.  So I packed up my sewing machine that I travel with to sew-ins and classes and put it by the front door.  A while ago I felt like the quilt that I sleep under  had become much love-worn, so I decided to make another quilt for me!   And it needed to be quick and easy.  What is more quicker than a snowball quilt?  I had a ton of African fabric charms (I buy them every time I go to shows) and some Michael Miller jet-black fabric.  And off I went to spend the day in my office...making snow ball blocks.  It can't get any better than that.  We had warned those staff people who just have to come in on Saturday (I don't get it) to stay away while the painters were here, so I didn't have any interruptions.  And to make the deal even sweeter, Create TV featured quilting, crocheting, knitting, and sewing shows all day.  I should have over 100 snow ball blocks done by the end of the weekend.  And to make it even better, I also made bonus half square triangles based on Bonnie Hunter's system.  So, I will have 400 inch and a quarter HSTs.  This quilt is going to be a stunner!   So, here is a pic to show you that I really was at work...working.

The Postlady only rang once...

I never win anything.  I leave comments on all of the blog giveaways and for some unlucky reason the random name selector thing just never gets around to my name.  But I keep trying.  Recently I was notified that I had won a prize for playing a game and naming a list of TV moms from their pictures.  It is a sad testament to how much TV I have watched in the past. For some Iof the TV moms I could remember the first and last names, while for others I could only remember the first names, but I was surprised to have won.  So on Saturday morning, the mail lady knocked on my door and left this goody package for me.  Needless to say, I am thrilled. Thanks to Kelli at http://www.hobbywhore.blogspot.com/ for giving me the opportunity to play to win!  It was fun and I absolutely love all things Bali Pops and I will make myself a cup of tea while contemplating my next project with my winnings.