Back (Again) From the Abyss

Whew!  It's been a very long time since my last post.  I still haven't got to the point where blogging is integrated into my life well enough that I post regularly.  It seems it's always feast or famine with it.  But I'm back now even though I've also missed out on a lot.  But I am hoping to finish out the year with a bang rather than just whimpering!

When I last posted I had just purchased some long desired rulers, one of which I had hoped to use on a commission charity quilt project that I had signed up to do with another quilter.  I also had started the very big job of painting about half of our home and I had an upcoming week-long trip down south to three states.  Added to that my oldest son, having graduated high school in June, was still in the process of deciding whether to attend college or start working.  Oh and throw in that I had made a very big and ambitious list of projects to try to tackle for the Third Quarter of Leann's 2013 Finish-A-Long.  For some silly reason I thought all those juggled balls would fall neatly into place one by one.  The plan was that by September, I would be cruising, smoothly, to finishing up my own summer quilt work as well as the commission project.  After that I would move on to a few fall projects I wanted to tackle and then set up my "To Do" list for the final year end push.

Ha!  What's that saying: "Announcing your plans is a good way to hear God laugh” (attributed to author David Milch).  In the end, only some things got done and none of those finished up as quickly or smoothly as expected.  When delivery of part of the materials for the start of the commission project was delayed, my need to focus on all the life stuff only delayed the start even further.  My son made his decision at the final hour (choosing to go to school) but then that added additional chauffeuring work to my daily schedule further changing the rhythm of my days.  So I am only now getting settled back into my little quilting world.

I can tease a picture of one project that did get done during this time and hope to do a post in the coming weeks about how it relates to bigger changes in my "studio" space.

Oh, before I leave, I also want to shout out the Fall Bloggers Quilt Festival hosted by Martingale author Amy Ellis that is going on right now at her website, Amy's Creative Side.  This is the wonderful biannual on-line quilt show that happens during the big Quilt Market weeks.
 

So first chance you get, go on over and check out what the entrants have posted for this round.  I've still got a couple more categories to check out too.  Don't forget to vote for your favorites!

Hopefully, I'll be back with another post sooner than last time!

More New Stuff For July

In addition to getting a NewFO quilt in July I also got some new gadgets too!  I'm a confessed gadget geek so had an opportunity to spring for some new rulers:

I've long wanted the Lazy Angle Ruler and finally decided to spring for it (a sale did help that along).  I wanted the "Lazy and Lovin' It" book too but it's pretty pricey so had to choose between getting it and getting the other rulers I also wanted.  The ruler comes with a small instruction book and I found a lot of free tutorials and videos using the ruler on the web.  Since I have no particular project in mind at the moment, I've decided to play with what I've got first and then see if I want to invest in the book for more options (or hope that I catch a future great sale on it too!).

I'm already a big fan of Deb Tucker's rulers (having used the Rapid Fire Leymoyne Star ruler in my "Valor" quilt and her Tucker Trimmer for projects in general). I've had to make Square In A Square blocks before and the math is never easy so the ruler will make short work of a great basic block. Also the SIS block is a great companion to Lazy Angle block designs since the points on it fall in the middle of each side.

I've also been admiring for over a year the designs of Jenny Pedigo (Sew Kind of Wonderful) the designer of the Quick Curve Ruler. She did a great Sampler Quilt Along last fall.  Unfortuately I don't follow the business blogs as closely as I follow the individual quilter blogs and since I only discovered the QAL recently, I realize I missed out on getting the ruler at a really great price at the start of the QAL!   However, right now the block for her "Metro Medallion QAL" looks like it might be great for a community service quilt I'll be working on soon so I sprung for that as well.

Re: the Quick Curve Ruler: after buying it, I happened to be surfing around and went to check out Cheryl Phillips at Phillips Fiber Art, a designer I haven't heard much about in the last few years.   I know her for her "Rings That Bind" DWR technique (when she appeared on "Simply Quilts") and also have her "New York Beauty" and "Mariners Compass" books. It turns out she also has a ruler called "The Simple Curve" ruler that's been out since about 2010.   It seems very similar to Jenny's ruler and is less expensive so if you are already a fan of Cheryl's tools, you might want to check that out as well. I downloaded her free "Simple Coins" quilt pattern to see if it'll also work with Jenny's ruler. 

So it's on to the dog days of August and all that entails!

Reporting in on the July NewFO

Well it's August and the summer is now officially winding down.  I had planned to spend July working on items from my list of 3rd Quarter Finish-A-Long UFOs but instead I just couldn't let go of the Red, White & Blue phase I was in for all of June.  I had hinted at it here and now I can present another patroitc NewFO for this year:

 

This is my version of the "Liberty Hall" wallhanging that was featured in the Summer 2008 issue of Fons & Porter's "Easy Quilts" magazine and also now appears in their compilation book "The Best of Fons & Porter: Patriotic Quilts" as (just) "Liberty".  I made mine a little smaller than the magazine version to fit the space I plan to hang it in.  Even better it was all done from stash! 

 

After the top and back were finished, the ensuing debate has been over the quilting or actually the batting.  I thought the elements in the center panel would look good done in the trapunto style.  I know how to use two layers of poly batting and prep for machine trapunto but the amount of detail would make doing that difficult.  But after looking at the description for a free-motion quilt class, the supply list sent me in a new direction:  using wool batting to get the "puffy" look I want.  

 

Fortunately it just so happened that I had some wool batting scraps leftover from my "Merrimac Dresdens" project and I was able to "Frankenstein" enough together to make the batt for this earlier in the week and finally got the layering and basting done last night.

And while I don't want to sit on this too long, I know I really need to get back to the Finish-A-Long projects so we'll have to see what wins out. 

The print I used for the center has many elements that to my mind symbolized "bountiful"  so my name for this wallhanging will be "Sweet Land of Liberty" from the song "My Country 'Tis of Thee".  As quilting serendiptiy would have it, the Summer 2013 issue of Primitive Quilts and Projects magazine had a small wool project called "Let Freedom Ring" (you can see a peek of it on the right in the picture).  Wool has become one of my interests and the project name happens to be the last line of the first stanza of the same song so I'm hoping to add this little project to the R/W/B list too!

Want to see more NewFO goodness for July?

Head back over to Barbara at CatPatches and see what other quilters fired up in July! 

3rd Quarter Finish-A-Long List

First off, while revewing everyone's 2nd Quarter posts, I noticed an omission on all of mine:

 

Just want to make sure that from here on in I get Leanne's button on the post!  Now on to the meat and potatoes.........

 

So what'll it be for the 3rd Quarter?  Well last quarter I talked about working on two that definitely have to go on the list so...

 

1.  Crazy Quilt Jewelry Pouch (and this time I can share the picture).

 

 

Originally I had hoped to finish this to participate in an online crazy quilt competition but time and inspiration got away from me.  (And good thing I didn't, I wasn't ready to compete with these ladies yet!  See the beautiful entries on this post at Thearica's Pigtales & Quilts blog---scroll down and click on the "Competition Album" to see detailed photos of all the beautiful entries.)  But now I REALLY want to get this one done. 

 

It's one of my oldest UFOs (going all the way back to 2007).  This was supposed to be a gift for a close friend---thank goodness we've know each other long enough to overlook how long this has taken.  The thing is, the construction of it is pretty much complete---all it needs further embellishment.  And that's the problem:  up to now I haven't been able to give myself the mental room (aka courage) to relax and play to see what I can come up with.  But a couple of weeks ago a LQS had an anniversary sale and I picked up the beads you see in the picture really cheap.  When I picked up a new foot for my machine in early June, I saw the yarn you see in the picture and thought it would be great for couching on this too.  The fabric at the top is a Kaffe Fassette Shot Cotton chosen for the binding.  All this has jazzed me up a bit and it would really be a load off my shoulders to finally put this one to bed.

 

2. Heart & Home Wool BOM. 

 

 

I had participated in Sinta's Pink Pincushion BOM Rehab when I started this.  She's closed that facility (Rehab, not her blog!) so now it's time to move this over and out through the Finish-A-Long.   I've also got another new wool project that I really hope to work on while I'm doing this one which leads me to my next entry.........

 

3.  I'm also inluding my Sage Sampler on the list for this quarter. 

 

 

Both the Heart & Home Sampler and the new wool piece are for display in my bedroom.  If I finish Heart & Home, it won't be hung until the Fall.  The new wool project is meant for now (and for the  spring in the future).  This old Sampler UFO was also slated for bedroom display so if I do get to finish the new wool piece this month , I'd also love to put this one to bed (pun intended) too! 

 

4.  Can't make a Finish-A-Long list without including a couple of  "To Be Quilted" items.  My other big priority this year is to finish working on my series of Civil War quilts. 

 

 

The Chronciles BOM top is the last of the CW flimisies I have on hand so I'm putting the quilting of it on the list for this quarter as well.  I think getting to this one will depend on how well I do early in the quarter so I'm crossing my fingers on this one.

 

5.  Another "To Be Quilted" to add to the list is my "Paisley Park" crumb quilt.  I'm adding this one and the next quilt just to give me some flexiblilty on what I actually get to work on.  This one is already partially quilted but needs to be finished.

 

 

 

6.    Again just to give me some flexibility, I'm also adding my "Colorblocks" quilt which is also partially quilted and from the "To Be Quilted" list.

 

 

 

So I that's it for this quarter.  There's a lot to do so let's get to work!

Happy Fourth of July!

On the Design Wall

The Red, White & Blue phase is not quite done yet!

Reporting In on Quarter 2 of the 2013 Finish-A-Long

It's July 1st and I need to report on my finishes for the 2nd Quarter of the Finish-A-Long which is being hosted by Leanne of the She Can Quilt blog this year.  I did about as well as last quarter -- out of the five projects listed on my original Quarter 2 planning list (see it here), I managed to get 2 out of 5 done.  I'm all for that because anything that whittles the UFO list down is a good thing!

The first thing I got done for the quarter was my "Brrr!" quilt.  The quilt design and fabric were by Minick & Simpson from way back in 2009 and I look forward to sporting it when winter rolls around again!

This finish was a two-fer in that it was also my entry for the Spring Bloggers Quilt Festival.  The Festival is hosted twice a year by Martingale author Amy Ellis at Amy's Creative Side to coincide with the big industry Quilt Markets.  I was glad to finally have a finish in time for the festival this time around.  You can read the details about the making and finishing of the quilt in my festival post here. 

The festival has been a wonderful part of the quilt blogging experience since 2009 and has grown phenomenally since it first started.  If you did not participate earlier this year, think about which of the projects on your Finish-A-Long list for the 3rd quarter might make a great candidate for your entry for the Fall Festival which should be in late October/early November while the Houston Quilt Market is in full swing.

My second finish is detailed in this post (so if you will be returning to Leanne's linky you can also pick the post up from there) but I'll include a quick pic of it here as well:

This one is Pat Sloan's "Valor" quilt that was designed to showcase her "Tribute" line of fabric for P&B Textiles that debuted back in 2011 (and another indication of just how long some of my UFOs have been sitting around).  I'm really happy to have gotten this done because I had always planned for it to be made to display during the Memorial Day and July 4th holidays.  So I'm happy to say it will have its first public showing later this week when I hang it off our terrace!

With the reporting all done, now it's time to make up my 3rd Quarter list!  But first I'll swing back over to Leanne's to check out what everyone else has accomplished this quarter.  And if you haven't joined in before how about coming along for the ride now?  Even one finish frees up space for some new projects or any attention given to a project moves it a little closer to completion.  It's win/win!