The Great Reveal for C.R.

I joined a quilting "Round Robin" this year. My first one. Julie W (aka "Floribunda") hosted/organized the COTTON ROBIN  participants and kept us all on track, making herself crazy in the process.

All the mini-quilts turned out well, and were as varied as the group that made each one. Julie had each of us make a center square and send it to her. She divided us into groups of three anonymous quilters (nobody knew whose block they had, or who had worked on it before...cool, eh?) There was one person to add the first border, one the second, and the final member of the group was to back, quilt, and bind the whole thing. Here is the Mini-Quilt I finished (it is Julie's!)

I was so pleased when I came back from a stay in Palm Desert to find a wonderful package from a person I didn't know waiting for me!

This was the center that I sent to Julie...

And this was the mini-quilt I got back in the mail from Tina! 

Huge Thank Yous to Tina, Andra, and Melinda! You guys are awesome...I can't say how much my quilt totally matches my quilting style.... fits right in to my house, and the workmanship is beautiful.

Learning Leaves... January FMQ Lesson

I'm trying to learn/improve my Free Motion Quilting. The way this is going to happen is by signing on for Sew Cal Gal's Free Motion Quilt Challenge. I haven't (fortunately) done enough FMQ to have developed too many bad habits, so I don't have to "unlearn" a whole string of Bads.

I want to be able to quilt single bed sized quilts down to small bags at home on my Bernina. I practiced a lot on "sandwiches", then went ahead with a lap-sized donation quilt. I like doing leaves! Loopy meander is my second favorite, but leaves really do it for me.

Now that I look at the photo of the small donation quilt I uploaded, MOST of the leaves don't look too bad. There are a lot of loops tucked in there though.
It is a really good feeling to finish quilts to be donated to local charities... I like giving back to the community and making kids smile! Donation quilts use up a LOT of "stash, too.

And Now For Something Totally Different ...

I am trying to make 12 pairs of socks in 2012, knitting along with Denise and a lot of other knitters. Several of my "Bloggy Friends" use their Quilt Blogs to detail their knitty adventures and I decided to do that, too.

Here are my completed socks for January. Red Heart's "Heart and Sole" in the Blue Jacquard colorway. I had forgotten to take the photo until I was already wearing them! Up on the cutting table and "I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille".

The "Cotton Robin"

I can't post a photo of the center square I made yesterday for the Round Robin that Julie is hosting... it is a secret. Originally I had said I'd like country colors in my quilt, but I changed to all blues and greeny-blues in the block I made. My favorites!

I love the idea of working on a quilt with new friends from far away and close to home... there will be four of us working on each of the quilts, but nobody will know whose quilt they are working on. We send our current quilt to the next name on our list (not it's owner), but we won't know whose quilts we worked on, or who worked on our quilt until they all return "Home" this Summer! Lots of fun and surprises, yes?!!?

Number Five, white courtesy telephone, please.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, Everyone !! I've been upstairs cleaning up my sewing space so I can work on baby quilts, charity quilts, and Judy's UFO Challenge. Speaking of challenges, I've also decided to try Denise's 12-in-2012. Pairs of knitted socks, that is.

The number in the UFO Challenge that Judy (or Vince... or maybe even Speck) drew for January is "Five". My number five is the Bonnie Hunter Mystery "Orca Bay". Hooray! I've already got it out... on my cutting table, in several bins, and some little baskets. All ready to go. I didn't take a picture, but I'll add it tomorrow.

2012 UFO Challenge...

I didn't do really well as far as UFO finishes were concerned in 2011. I had some bespoke quilts to make: John and Kaylin graduated from High School (that is two large quilts), three of Erin's friends had babies (I actually made five lap/twin sized quilts - two older siblings were gifted their own quilts as well), and three charity quilts that weren't on my UFO list were made up and given to the Guild. Hmmm... that is ten quilts that I hadn't counted on, so I guess my "miserable" showing of only two UFO finishes isn't really all that bad!
OK, so for this year I'm going to list the ones I didn't finish from the 2011 UFO list. I take that back... I'm going to list SOME of the UFOs from last year, and swap out a few for ones I really want to finish (unfortunately, I have more than 12 UFOs). Here goes, with more description and photos to follow.

1.) Chicken Quilt - pieces and pattern in bag.
2.) 2006 NB Shop Hop - Three blocks made, directions and fabric in bundles.
3.) 2007 NB Shop Hop - Bundles for blocks in bag.
4.) Judy Martin BOM from Petaluma - Ten blocks finished
5.) Bonnie H's "Orca Bay"
6.) Blue/White Snaill Trail -
7.) "Olivia" Quilt -
8.) "Funky Chicken" - Two blocks made, Eleven to go.
9.) Cathy's "Bento Box"
10.) Stars and Courthouse Steps - in a bag, status unknown.
11.) Log Cabin Single - most strips cut, in a bag.
12.) Bright Strips - cut out, don't remember much about it.

OK, so there it is... the ugly truth. I'll have to replace the list on my sidebar so I can keep up with what I've completed. A Happy and Productive 2012 to Everybody!

October Was Productive

Got some pieces finished, so I have something to post... finally!


Kaylin's graduation quilt is back from Kerstin's, and has been "Gifted" to her! She (Kay) was back from school in California a week or so ago, and I gave her the quilt. She was thrilled! Her University's colors are blue and gold, so Here s blue and gold... without being too 'in your face' about it.

Here is a close-up showing off the design, and Kerstin's beautiful topstitching. Lots of tiny teal and pin-dot batik HSTs, but the result was worth it! Don't you just love the Blue fish batik? It is so Kaylin!

This one is "The Road Not Taken", a Drunkard's Path Sampler that Kerstin, Vicki and I were working on together starting in 2009. We were trying to improve curved piecing skills here, and I accomplished that; I'm comfortable with sewing curves now. I'll probably not do another DP, but it was a good experience. Now that it is finished and sashed/bordered, I like it... in progress, I hated it! Background too fussy, wrong colors - all of it. Right now I have no plans for it's home, so it will probably stay a flimsy until I make some sort of decision.