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!