Response to my nativity pattern has been a nice surprise. Sales are brisk. I'm hoping that everyone who bought the pattern is busily making the quilt! It looks difficult, but is more time-consuming than hard to make.
I'm working on a pattern purchased who knows when. It is one of those "I'd like to make this" projects that I'd collected all needed fabric but stuck in a box and forgot about. At the beginning of the year, I picked twelve such projects, numbered them, and asked my hubby to pick a number each month. The funniest thing happened with this one. I had the main instructions for the sashing, etc. but thought I'd lost the block patterns. So I drew them using EQ7 as foundation paper-pieced blocks... then I found the patterns. Actually, that was a good thing. I love FPP and they are going together easily that way rather than cutting all those squares and triangles.
Here are three of the blocks so far. The reds are too dark in the photo. They will finish at 12" and the sashing is 9-patches with strips in the same colors. It looks a bit like an Irish Chain.
We are downwind of the wildfire in Fort McMurray so have some smoke in the air now and then. This has been a horrible event in our province, as you've seen on the news. People are making quilts, yet the greater need has been basics like toothbrushes and underwear for the 80,000 people who had to leave that city. Some homes have burned and this week, several simply exploded, even though the fire has moved away. It is still not a safe place for those waiting to go home, even to find out if they have a home to go to.The fire is immense and still out of control.
Oh, my last course was a tough one... now it is over and I'm taking Beginner Greek, which is even worse. However, so glad that the sewing machine (and relief for an over-taxed brain) is just a few steps away. Also that some bright fellow posted a youtube that helped me learn the Greek alphabet in less than 10 minutes. It is corny, but it worked. Learning how to write the letters is another story.**
I only finished a couple more blocks for the Lord of the Rings quilt so will take pictures when the third one is finished... it is close. There are two more after that, then comes the challenge of selecting fabric for the sashing/borders, and arranging the blocks. What a journey this has been. I wonder if the time it took has any relationship to the length of those movies?! :-)
Now and then, Pinterest attracts me away from doing any work. Can you believe all the marvelous quilts that are out there! I've been saving those that inspire me, and have very itchy fingers when I look at them. Btw, I graduate May 15, so hope all that ambition and my sanity are still with me so I can turn some of the vision into reality.
In the meantime, here is a photo that makes me want to sew a tree ...
** I'm finishing a Masters degree online, started it in 1993 so it is a huge UFO project!
After all the encouraging comments from the last post, I decided to read it again and realized how muddled it was. Sigh. The photo is the Dear Jane queen-size quilt that I completed a few years ago. The quilting on it is perfect because I sent it out and it was done by computer/long arm -- and it cost a bundle so it should be perfect!
A triangle border normally goes around a Dear Jane, but I didn't put them on mine. However, I decided to make them, all 52 of them. They are now done, but in different colors than this DJ quilt and in a setting and quilt all of their own. I'm calling it "Dear Jane and Her Edgy Friends." It is about 60+ inches square, sort of. If you go back a few posts, there are some pictures. It is two colors and I did a good job of the triangles. The quilting on it is what I'm not happy with. I did part on my HQ 16 and part on my DM (the detailed work in the triangles). It has taken so long, and I just want it done. It had been in my UFO pile for too long, causing lots of procrastination. So I determined to do nothing else until it is finished. Sigh... only 25 more triangles to quilt and then the binding and label.
Thanks to all for the cheerful and encouraging comments. It is great to be a quilter (even when I wish I could wrinkle my nose and this one would magically be totally completed!)
Since I've been busy quilting Dear Jane and Her Edgy Friends and not posted for ages, here is a photo of my Dear Jane with the 169 blocks. As you can see, I didn't lay it out or make it in the traditional manner. This works for our spare room queen bed.
I thought maybe I'd do another one sometime, but now that the border triangles are done (didn't put them on the first one) and the resulting top is being quilted, that might be abandoned. This pattern seems to take forever. So does the quilting, partly because I'm putting lots of stitches on it. I'm not happy with my workmanship, but that is what seeing computer quilting does to you... perfection, no skipped stitches, etc. After beating myself up and suffering from green-eyed monster bites, I've decided that the Dear Jane slogan is correct after all: Finished is Better than Perfect! I can live with that.
My DH held it up and I took the picture --- one or both of us must have been shaking (or laughing)! Sorry for the blurry, but I am celebrating. This Dear Jane leftover triangle top is finished. Now for a name? Crazy Jane's Edgy Friends comes to mind. Any other suggestions?
I've still to sandwich and quilt, but this is a major dent in my UFO pile. I'm still arguing with myself whether to put it on the EQ 16 or do it on my DM because I've planned some intricate quilting in the background spaces to pull this rather odd arrangement into some sort of order. Now I have to go buy some thread...
Seven more done. I'm taking my time, making mistakes, but what does a poor grass widow do when her DH is golfing 3-4 times a week!! Note that I have the names of each triangle pinned on, but keeping track doesn't matter much since they will be rearranged differently on my quilt from the original Dear Jane.
We are doing all sorts of things besides golfing and quilting. One is seeing some of the best fine art in the southwest. As a child, I remember wanting to go to Scottsdale to see the paintings. What we have seen in the past couple of days was worth the long wait!
This one is another UFO finish. It was made from the leftover blocks of a group quilt (see Dayspring...), It is about the right size to put across the knees on those days when this city is the second coldest city in the world! (Last weekend, -46 C)
I decided to use this one for quilting practice also, so quilted different motifs and filler patterns in each square. That was fun and a good idea because practice is helpful yet a six inch square is not too intimidating. It helped me know which motifs are fun and which ones I would rather never do again! Also, this produces a more useful result than practicing on muslin, and uses up orphans and scraps!
In Alaska, the first snow is called Termination Dust. This is the Alberta version and the view out my bedroom window this morning. Gasp and dismay - the leaves are not even off the trees!
On a happier note, this is a UFO from a class I took in 2005. The applique leaves/hearts are now fused to the border. They need to be stitched. I did the inside ones in a satin stitch, but am feeling lazy. Should I or shouldn't I just lightly zig-zag these in place? Finished is better than perfect?
The stem is sewn. It is purchased bias tape. I opened it and sewed one side with normal straight stitch, then closed it and used invisible thread in a hemstitch to catch it in place.
I'm thinking of quilting it with lines in the background that line up with the logs in the log cabin blocks. This one also needs a name, so Susan, if you are listening...
Tomorrow we get on an airplane to fly back home. This was an interesting day. We drove from Couper Angus to Perth where we attended the church of a friend. She had to work, so wasn't there herself. However, they had an outdoor service and baptized six people in a round, children's inflatable pool. It was about 18" deep, so a bit of a feat! It had rained and the wind was cool enough for jackets, but hearty Scots... they were not even shivering after being dipped into the water!
Then we drove south to Stirling and easily found the 250' or so tall stone monument you see here on a hill that is also about that height. This is the William Wallace monument. Think "Braveheart" -- only the real Wallace used a sword that is over five feet long. It is encased in glass about 1/3 of the way to the top. Experts think he was about 6' 6" to be able to use a sword that large. (Sorry, Mel Gibson. You may have been better looking, but certainly needed camera angles to fill this man's kilt.)
After lunch there, we drove south to the town of Falkirk and had a spin on the Falkirk Wheel. This simple and terribly impressive marvel of engineering takes small boats from one canal to another using a process that is rather unbelievable unless you see it. This is a picture. A boat goes into one of the 'gondolas' cradled in the circles at the bottom at water level, and another enters at the opposite one at the top. Then the whole thing turns round like a wheel and brings the top one down and the bottom one up. Silently. Effortlessly, about 80 feet from one level to the other. It was an amazing ride! YouTube link
Now I'm ready for some sleep, but have to say a word about quilts... I found one quilter in Old Deer, a sweet woman who lamented of her one UFO of about six years. I comforted her with my own sad PhD stories and we had a great visit.
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Quilt Qua is having a "Tell a Friend" Giveaway. Click the link to put in your name. These are the lovely fabrics in the prize!
I'm hitting into my UFO pile with great determination. Lord willing, this is the summer to catch up!
The monthly "Grad Club" that I belong to (grads from a local stores 'Quilt by Degree' program), offered a challenge. We are to bring a list of our UFOs plus all the PIGs we have on hand. (PIGs are 'projects in a grocery bag' and can include patterns with some of the fabric and kits.)
This list will enter participants in a UFO challenge. The details are not yet revealed, but the last time they had one, it involved points for progress made, even if a project was not completed. Of course, the whole thing is designed to keep us working and maybe even purchase more fabric in the process.
So I sat down last night and started to tally them. The UFO part was easy. Those are in bins and listed on my PhD site (see link at the right). I have about 22 and notice that some are still not posted online. The kits were easy too, as I generally don't buy them. I have only three.
It was the next category that shocked me. If I found them all (big IF - LOL), there are 37 patterns or design ideas, with all or some of the fabrics, stashed in various drawers and shelves. Thirty-seven? How did that happen? This doesn't include all the ideas in my head, nor all the books and magazines with bookmarks in them and filed in a box called 'Possible Projects' (which should be titled 'impossible' or 'am I crazy?').
I'm not going to set the ridiculous goal of trying to get all 62 done this year, but it did cross my mind. Having them written down works as motivation for me, but this would take a staff of ten. Where is that houseboy that I keep telling my husband to hire?
All joking aside, each year I'm directed and encouraged by a Bible verse (this year it is John 15:5) and some words to keep me on track for each thing that I tackle, quilting or otherwise. My attention-deficit mind seems to need this type of prompt. So the 2009 words are: Focus, Plan, Do, and Tidy up.
Enough said. I need to get busy!
Today I'm going to make a list of UFO's (unfinished objects) and projects that I've got pattern and fabric but haven't started yet. The thought frightens me. I keep letting my wandering mind govern what I'm doing, which translates into, "Oh that looks nice! I think I'll make another quilt!" and another UFO is soon added to the pile.
Do I finish anything? Oh yes! A few weeks ago I took a class at Earthly Goods. It was called "Kool Kaleidoscopes" and taught by one of my favorite teachers, Kim Dalmer. Kim had gone stateside and took this class from Ricky Tims who gave her permission to teach it and sell his pattern.
What fun! No one in the class had a clue what their quilt would look like until it was pieced and put up on the wall, just like looking through a real kaleidoscope. I enjoyed it so much that this quilt had to be finished. I brought my partly done triangles home, put them together, made the background, sandwiched it, and then quilted the dickens out of it. I added a binding and label and completed the entire project in less than a month. It is about 50" square and hanging on my studio wall. I called it "No Star Shines Alone" because of the great encouragement flying around in that class. Each of us designed an amazing quilt as we were cheered on by Kim and the other quilters.
Now if I could just put the same focus into the rest of my ideas, and that pile of UFO's. . .
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