Look what I Found!

Look what I found on my computer... well, on my iPad, anyway. I don't have an actual computer any more, too broke to get the one I want, and too stubborn to settle for one I don't like. Yep, that's me.

I've not posted in several years. A very strange thing, since I live "in the woods"... local-ese for out in the forest on a logging road, and have no neighbors to chat with.  Still me, though. Knitting socks, making quilts, throwing pots, occasionally gardening and taking walks with my dog, sometimes photographing what I see. Pretty low-key quiet life, and I like it.

Well see if I can remember that I rediscovered the blog, and continue coming back to say more. Cheers.

JL's Scrappy Challenge, January...

Since my "Table Runner Project", one for each month to protect my Grandmother's teacart from muddy kitty feet, had stalled (or maybe come completely off the rails) I decided the January Challenge would be a two-for-one !! I wanted white for January's snow, and blues for the coldness. Now I have a teacart runner... AND it is finished!

I'm glad I chose tans instead of white, though... Kitties have already given their "paws up" seal of approval and white would have looked awful with their decorative touches. The setting triangles are the same, as well as the center focus squares and plain rectangles, but I don't think any of the other blues or tans are duplicated... I could be wrong, though.

Starting Over... Again, Maybe

LAST DAY of January, 2014... And first blog in a very long time.

I guess I did sort of "Fall Off The End Of The Earth" this last year. 2013 wasn't my best year ever, and quite a few things got lost in the shuffle of living. Some quilting got accomplished, some pieces are still in  the 'flimsy' stage, and some are yet in the 'thinking' stage.

I am getting better on the longarm, thanks to Charlie and the ladies at "Country Lady" in Roseburg... I'm so pleased that she is letting the guild (I finally joined a quilt guild) use one of her big Gammills to quilt the donation quilts we have made/collected. Amazing to be able to practice on a longarm when you don't own a machine! I'm now good enough that I've topstitched three of my own quilts as well as a couple for friends, and about 50 donation quilts for guild.

To recap my quilting year:
I took a quilt class at Charlie's and have a lovely Amish-Style quilt that needs topstitching to show for it. The bright solids really pop against the black. My first quilt using solid fabrics, it has no home yet.

Bonnie Hunter came to our guild in September, and Kerstin and I attended her workshop. Made a string quilt (not my favorite style) called "Spiderweb" and now I'm in love with this quick way to use up scraps that are too small for anything, but too big to discard! After our quilt retreat in a few weeks I'm sure I'll have the borders finished and on, so I can post a photo.

Several of Erin's friends had babies, and were gifted quilts. The Moms and Dads were the ones who seemed most pleased, but the babies looked pretty cute wrapped in their  new quilts.

Finally finished the Hawaiian pillows for Nora and the Kids, they were very appreciative of the gesture.

My table-runner of the month project stalled with only four made. But I've finished "January" now with one day to spare while participating in Judy L's Scrappy Challenge of the Month. I'll post a picture in a separate post so everyone from the challenge doesn't have to slog through the verbiage. I'll make the February runner at the retreat, and March just needs quilting. More of Judy's scrappy challenges will probably come into the picture as table runner Multi-Taskers this year.

I'm off  to the quilt shop to finish topstitching a gift quilt (which I can't show yet either, it is a secret) and do some townie errands. See you all later!

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.

Frankenquilt !

The rains have started up here in the PNW,
and the animals are coming in with muddy feet. The kitty spot in the window gets lots of use, and the way up appears to be across Nan- Nan's teacart. I have a few pieces of antique furniture that I'd rather weren't too badly damaged by water (actually mud), so I decided table runners were in order. This is the first one: "Frankenquilt".

Miss Parker thinks it is a nice addition, but she objects to the colors, even though grey does go with everything.

Only One New Baby This Year.

This Summer, Erin and I only made one special Baby Quilt.

Amanda chose periwinkle, lime green, and yellow for her quilt colors, and Erin went through the stash... finding fabrics she liked. We did a Disappearing Nine Patch with two borders. Very quick and satisfying... and cute, too! DNP has become my "go-to" baby quilt.

Kids and Quilts

When Erin and I made the baby quilts for the "New Moms" last Summer, she asked if we could make one for Claire, too... so she wouldn't feel left out of all the new baby goings-on at their house. Of course we made Claire her own special quilt. I posted a picture of the baby quilts a while ago. Mom Sarah sent me an eMail saying it was really sort of hard to get the quilts AWAY from the kids so they could be washed (the quilts, not the kids!) Don't Claire and Grant look happy and snuggly?

Twins' Quilts are FINISHED!

I'm pretty excited this weekend. I finished the Graduation Quilts for the twins. They've been sent to Kerstin for topstitching, and will be presented to the kiddos on June 4th at their party. I know this is a bit of a risk, but the chances of either one of them looking at my blog are so slim that I'd rather my friends see what I've been doing than worry aboout it.
Kaylin's is the top one; the dark blue batik was purchased in Roseburg last year when Kerstin was up for the Sisters' Quilt Show. It is fish.




John's is the second one... "Super Surfer". The light blue came out with a very green cast in the photo... it is actually a pretty true blue, but I had to take the picture in the house. It was raining, DUH! It is OREGON in Winter.

And now, for something totally different...

It is String Hearts for "Block Lotto"!

One of my "Bloggy Friends" mentioned she was making some string hearts for her Block Lotto group... and it looked like so much fun, I emailed Sophie to see if I could join their group. I thought one or two blocks a month until I manage to finish Kaylin's quilt would be do-able. These heart blocks are a bit addicting, though. Very quick to make and really good stash busters. All those little bits that are too narrow for the strip bins, but too big to throw out... what a good way to use them! This one is my first (and the one I like least - the strings are too wide and the colors need to be brighter).

February's UFO is Number Ten

Well, I figured out which UFO I need to finish for February!

Judy L. drew #10, and for me that was the "2006 North Bay Shop Hop." I had managed to put all the blocks for the quilt (still unwrapped) as well as the backing and setting fabrics for it into a bag to keep everything clean and tidy. Nice Fall colors in the fabric selection and I chose an interesting setting pattern, too.

I liked the idea of making this quilt "someday" and reliving memories of the Shop Hop trip Kerstin and I took... driving around to the twelve different quilt shops, miles and miles apart in the North Bay, to collect all the blocks in one day. It wasn't getting any closer to becoming a completed quilt, though, hiding in those bags-within-a-bag.

So far I have completed two of the blocks, and on the third one I'm doing a "new" thing for me... needle-turn applique. I'm glad I have joined Judy's UFO challenge. Soon I will have two quilts from the list finished! YYAAY!

UFO #10 for the Challenge...

OK, at least I looked it up. Number ten on my UFO list for the challenge is "NB Shop Hop - 2007". I'll have to go upstairs and see which one that is! I should have put Post-Its on the bags containing the numbered UFOs! Definitely a "to-do" for today... right after I finish planting the apple trees.

The kids have District Swim Finals this weekend - so not a lot of sewing will get done. I am going to be a "Bad Auntie" and take Kaylin some fabric scraps from her quilt as a teasing sort of joke! Tee Hee! She thought it funny when I did it with Alex, but we'll see her reaction this time around. (Johnny just looked a little confused when I brought him three miserable little fabric pieces and told him it was his quilt.... boys??!??)

Two Down, a Gazillion to Go !

This is the Christmas Quilt, made from "Friday Block Party" 12 inch-ers ... I decided that I had done enough blocks in that colorway to make a throw that would see use one month out of the year. At least that is the plan when we have the insulation and the nice new window in. Right now my Christmas quilt is covering the open space where the window goes in the East wall of the living room. Our lovely pink insulation and the bare studs can be seen in the photo as well - but HAVING insulation is nice and cozy! No wonder it was so hard to keep our house warm last winter, there was NO insulation in the walls at all.




Next comes the January UFO, #6 on my list from the last post - for Judy L's "UFO CHALLENGE". I started this one as a BOM in about 2006 (?? is that right, Kerstin??) in two different color ways. I really like the Asian fabrics, but some of the blocks aren't my very favorites. Makes a nice throw, though. Since I had to put away all my Christmas stuff, I need a throw for my couch. This little throw is small enough that I may decide to try topstitching it on my machine, but right now it is in a bag with it's binding and backing... ready to go down to Kerstin in California. ALL DONE!
I'm still working on Kaylin's Grad quilt, but I've moved the deadline to Valentine's day... I think that is possible. I chose a block for her quilt that I used to complete this one, since I had only seven - and one didn't really match the rest. Kaylin's blck is the one in the upper right of the photo. I'm getting pretty good at HSTs; there are 200 of them in her quilt!

Judy's UFO Challenge List

The Christmas Quilt is back from Kerstin's! It is one of those finished projects that I'm not sure I like, but it may be growing on me... Right now it is hanging over the open space where the window goes (there is a reason for all those tapestries in European Castles!!) in the living room, and keeping the cold out.

Since we have so many unfinished projects, Kerstin and I decided to join the Patchwork Times UFO Challenge instead of doing a BOM this year. She is a much more prolific quilter than I, and has many more UFOs (many more finished quilts as well!) but I have at least 12 that are needing anything from "just one more block" to "cut out and ready to go". There are at least 12... perhaps I'll have to choose which to put into the monthly challenge!

First order of business, though, is to finish Kaylin's graduation quilt! The goal is to have it completed by January 1st... wish me luck!

Here is the list of quilts to finish so far, I still haven't been to look at the box(es) so I won't have a complete list until a bit later.

1. Drunkard's Path Variation BOM
2. QA - Marty Michell (butterflies)
3. Cathy's quilt - Bento Box
4. Snail Trail -Blue and Cream
5. Country Stars
6. Green Asian Stars - Jan. Drawing, FINISHED 1-27-2010! picture on Jan 31 post.
7. Six-Inch "Strings"
8. Black Fossil Fern Stars
9. NB Shop-hop 06
10. NB Shop-hop 07
11. Chickens - not funky
12. Funky Chickens

Pigs Are Flying!

This is the FBP Block for last week... called "Farmer's Daughter". It is a 10" block, but it had been so long since I had done and FBP block that I swapped colorways, using the 9-inch "Baby" colors instead of the Jazzy "Kids Prints" that were supposed to be for the 10-inch blocks.

I'm taking a short break from Johnny's quilt; the twins graduate from Roseburg HS this June, so I've got TWO special quilts to do this year! The blocks are made, so today will be setting them... and tomorrow I can put the borders on. That means Monday the quilt will go to Kerstin in California for topstitching! I really like this one, it is definitely a Man's quilt... Batik brown and blue, with a sand colored BG and just a hint of bright green to make the colors pop. I'll post a picture of one block, just in case he looks here... HS Senior boy? I don't think so!!!