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.