Busy Week

With school out there is no more volunteer work although I still have to supervise my younger son to get his summer work packets done.  DH went back to work this week after being on vacation, so I decided that it was time for a quilt-a-thon!

When last I left off, I had just finished layering the UGRR/Pioneer Samplers.

And that's where they still stand.  Part of the reason I think I didn't make the PHD Challenge deadline was because I was debating about how to quilt these. I really wanted to hand quilt them and was thinking about doing an all over Baptist Fan.  I've since found some confirmation of that plan but still need a little time to think about if I am sure it's really the way I want to go.  So while waiting, I also worked on these:

The four Month 2 blocks for the Civil War Chronicles BOM are finally done.  (The little Lemoyne Star in the picture was a test block for something I'll talk about later in this post).  And thank god for triangle paper (printed with Quilt-Pro's Triangle Magic software).  It turned four pages of this:

into this:

Note:  You can also do this with Brenda Henning's Trianglulations Software.

Next up was a new project (I know, I know, I'm supposed to be focusing on UFOs and BOMs): Pat Sloan's Valor quilt using her new Tribute line of fabric for P&B Textiles.

I saw the fabric in the Spring 2011 Fabric Trends issue and really liked it and wanted to make a quilt for display for the July Fourth holiday. Unfortunately I started in on it too late for this year but expect to get the top done over the next week and it'll be up and ready for next year!

This is the first time I've done Lemoyne Stars and of course being the quilt gadget lover that I am, I couldn't resist a new tool to eliminate those set in "Y" seams.  While reading blogs, I happened to come across mention of this:

It's by Deb Tucker of Studio 180 Design.  You may know her from the "Rapid Fire Hunter Star Ruler" she also makes (and which I also have but admit I haven't used yet).  The ruler made the eight inch stars for the Valor quilt as well as the four inch star that was pictured with the Chronciles blocks.  I also have a reproduction design project I hope to do some time this summer where I will get to use this again.  The "rapid fire" in this is that the diamonds and the backgrounds are cut from strip pieced strips and then subcut and sewn to create four square units (with two diamonds each) that get sewn into the final block.  You can see it demonstrated here and here.

And finally one from the HSY (Haven't Started Yet) list -- I did all this cutting:

for this project:  It was a Marcus Bros. free pattern (pictured on the left) back in 2008 for their "Merrimac" fabric line. 

I loved the Civil War repro fabrics in the line and the "Millwheel" block reminded me of Dresden Plates which are a "bucket list" block for me.  So I decided to do the pattern but change the Millwheels to Dresdens.  Then I couldn't decide whether to do rounded or pointed blades.  But I saw "John Flynn's Dresdens" in the February 2006 issue of Quilter's World Magazine where he did plates with mixed blades and I knew I had my solution.  I am doing mine with alternating blades (like the sample block in the picture) and plan to blanket stitch the blades to the backgrounds.

Whew!  That was a lot of dedicated work and although there are still no finishes here, I feel like I got a lot of "To Do" things off my mind.  I'm trying to to sew a little each day this summer in an attempt to make that an ongoing habit.

Missed the Deadline

Despite making a lot of progress on the UGRR/Pioneer project over the last few days I was unable to get this completed by the PHD Challenge deadline.  I am not totally disappointed since I know that without the pressure of the Challenge deadline, I probably would have never gotten this project even this far.

As it stands now, the two tops are layered, having added borders to the centers and even adding some monogramming to the Pioneer top. 

I'd still like to get this done before summer's end but also have the three other Civil War fabric projects that I want to work on, a quilt I want to make to display for the Fourth of July (at this point crazy, I know) and I got the yellow solids I wanted for Bonnie Hunter's latest quilt-a-long.  But now I can relax a bit and try to work at my own pace while still pushing myself to stay on task.

Progress!

As of yesterday, the centers are done. 

Text blocks were prepared on tea dyed muslin, treated with Bubble Jet Set and printed through my printer.  The Pioneer information came from book, newspaper and internet sources.  The UGRR text was in the pattern book.

Next stop borders and layering.

The Civil War Series Has Begun

I finally got the Underground Railroad & Pioneer Samplers up on the design wall to begin my long awaited series of Civil War fabric quilts.  I really need to get this particular project done because I would like to get a finish in for Myra's PHD Challenge which ends this month. 

Once again apologies for the poor picture; late day shot on a "needs to be upgraded" cell phone!

The plan has always been to put these back to back.  Up to now I thought I'd quilt them back to back but recently I realized it might be better to quilt them separately (backed with muslin) and then layer them back to back for the final binding and hanging sleeve.  Another debate is whether to hand quilt them or not -- we'll see if time permits (probably not).

If you are looking at these and wondering "how is she going to put them back to back - they don't have the same number of blocks?", know that I will be adding one text block to the UGRR set on the left explaining the symbolism of the blocks used and two two-block text boxes (or maybe one four block box) to the Pioneer set on the right explaining some of the history of the Pioneer movement.   The making of the blocks was covered in this series of posts.

But the title of this post is Civil War Series so that means there must be other things that are also going to be going on.  I have another Civil War fabric project I hope to get started using Marcus Bros. "Merrimack" fabric line from three (!) years ago (didn't realize this one's been "simmering" that long!).  There was a free pattern on their website at the time that used the fabrics to make circular pie wedge blocks but I am doing mine as dresden plates with both pointed and rounded blades.  Fortunately, this has no deadline so I can work on it when time permits.

I had also signed up this year for the Civil War Chronicles BOM that started in January so I am hoping to play catch up over the next two months and bring that one up to date.  Then finally with all the fabric leftovers from these three projects, I hope to use them to catch up with and follow along with Barbara Brackman's Civil War BOW project.

To make my immersion complete, I am also reading books and watching shows about the Civil War period.  I had downloaded Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" to my e-reader a few months ago (when I thought I would start this project) but got diverted by another book so now am going back to finish it.  This week I also downloaded "The Red Badge of Courage" and hope to get "The Boy's War" from the library.  This week is also "Civil War Week" on the History Channel and I just watched their "Lee and Grant" documentary today and have the one on "Gettysburg" also on the DVR.   Also on the e-reader are two of Jennifer Chiavarini's fiction books that take place during this period:  "The Sugar Camp Quilt" and "The Union Quilters" (having already read "The Runaway Quilt" previously).

I am thinking that when this is done, perhaps a formal visit to Grant's Tomb here in New York City might be a fitting finale.  I have been to it before but only for the exterior views.  I will be interested to see if given the anniversary of the Civil War this year, if there are also interesting exhibits on display there.

Top Finished!

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Memorial Day weekend and took the time to give thanks to and honor our troops past and present.

After a long(er than anticipated) and torturous journey, the Aunt Grace "Circle of Friends" BOM top is finished!

Note: the top is laid out on my bed sideways to get a better shot of it.

  Actually the only real torture was the fact that I constantly butted heads with my own finishing deadlines and expectations.  I actually enjoyed working on this one, especially the applique, something I see myself doing more of in the future.

One change I made to the pattern:  in the cornerstones of the pinwheel border, there are fussy cut square-in-a-square blocks that are supposed to use this fabric:

I was surprised that given the name of the project, this fabric only featured the little blond Gracies.  Years ago, I can remember there being an Aunt Grace line of prints that had a different little girl with different names on each print (and might have been called "Aunt Grace & Friends" -- does anyone else remember these fabrics?) .  Although I came late to the 30's repro party, at the time I was able to score the "Annie" fabric and it has been in my stash for years and now I finally get to use it.  I decided to take some of my fabric markers and make my "Circle of Friends" a little more diverse.  So here is how the girls are featured in my blocks:

I already have the backing fabric for this one (the white with yellow flowers print at the top right in the picture of the top) and have started to think about how I want to quilt it.  But I don't know how soon I'll get to that since I really need to start on my Civil War projects and try to get something done for Myra's PHD Challenge which finishes up this month.

I've searched the web and am surprised to find very few other people doing this BOM project (or at least posting about it) even though there a large number of online stores offering the program.  And it must not have sold well because I've also found at least two sites selling the complete kit at a fairly big discount. 

So now onto the Civil War!!

What's Going On?

Had hoped I would have gotten so much more done by now but I have been really getting distracted by....well everything! Trying to get the house in order, trying to return to normal routines, volunteering, sewing, surfing the web, whew!  So what's going on right now...

Once again, apologies for the picture quality -- still taking pictures with my (old) cell phone because I still haven't found my camera charger cord!

I am still plugging away at the Aunt Grace project.  The good news is that the last block (and a biggie), the center block is now done!  This one had to be appliqued and I decided to brush up on the hand applique I had learned at the end of last year.  The center Dresdens were stitched together and the tops were "back basted" by machine and then stitched by hand.  The border "stubby" Dresdens were prepped using the starch method which made them easy to then stitch. I was hoping to get the the top completed by weekend's end so that I could (finally) start on all the Civil War projects I have in the pipeline. I've cut out some of the finishing elements but it looks like this one will go into another week.  I'm not going to fight it any more, that's just the way it'll have to be.

Now for some housekeeping:

This just in!  

The new Sarah Fielke (formerly of Material Obsessions and now a solo author) book just arrived from the U.K. yesterday!  I saw this one on a blog tour and was intrigued by some of the quilts in it.  The book was released in Europe May 1 but won't be released in the U.S. until August.  It can be had now from this distributor with free world-wide shipping.  Note: Cutting and quilt measurements in the book are in metric AND imperial.


Sandy on a recent post on her "Quilting For The Rest of Us" blog and in her recent podcast asked everyone to update her on the quilty resolutions we made at the start of the year.  I had posted my goals there but have to admit almost mid way into the year I've not gotten far.  Here's my recap:

1. No UFOs for 2011.  So far not so good.  I signed up for Myra's PHD (Projects Half Done) Challenge but haven't gotten one thing done due to the move!  I had pledged six and still hope to try to get three done before the June deadline (and the Civil War pipeline should yield one of them). 
2. No new UFOs for 2011.  Considering that I am still pushing to get the Aunt Grace project done this might happen.  At this point it's my only new project started so, so far so good.
3. Empty existing (haven't started yet) project bins.  Having moved, this is now one bin and a couple of cabinets.  Haven't pulled anything out of either of them yet though.
4. Shop the stash, no new project purchases for 2011.  Crashed and burned shortly after moving.  The new place has yielded new ideas for projects and I couldn't resist investing in a few.  So shoot me.
5. Keep up to date on all BOMs.  Again, Aunt Grace contributes to this and if I can get started on the CW stuff there's a contribution to that (Civil War Chronicles) there too.  So I am sort of on track for this one.
6. Gain confidence on choosing stitch patterns for quilting.  So far I haven't quilted anything this year yet so the jury is still out on this.  

ATTENTION QUILTERS!!!!!

(and anyone who loves gorgeous quilts)

 

 
 The Bloggers Quilt Festival started Friday!  I can't wait to go look but it looks like I, once again, won't get to contribute.  But it's way more fun to look anyway.  You can get there by clicking the link above.  So go take a look!  Go, right now and have fun!!

Quilty Plans For The Merry Month of May

There's been a lot of work going on at the machine lately and I have a long list of things I want to try to get done in May.  This is my design wall as of today:

The picture is not great because it's from my cell phone (and I've got a really old phone).  I've been meaning to post this for awhile but I can't find my camera charger cord and the last time I turned it on, the camera battery was real low.

But back to the quilting.  So the big project getting the most attention right now is the one on the bottom right.  Those are my "Aunt Grace Circle of Friends BOM" blocks.  I started receiving the monthly packets back in October and had planned on starting them in January but then the move was announced.  I received the last of the packets in April and had planned to start work on them during the break of the last two weeks.  Instead, I  wound up starting them late in the second week with the hope of completing the blocks before May 1.  Didn't happen but there are only six block sets and the last month is the finishing kit (borders and cornerstone blocks).  The blocks have been pretty easy to do so I am powering through in the hopes of getting the top done by either the end of this week or next week at the latest with the layering and quilting schedule to be determined later.

To the left of those are the blocks from my "Striped Squares" project.  This is an old, old UFO that is on my PHD Challenge list.  I made a few more blocks recently and really feel I'd like to get this one done before the challenge ends in June plus I have a spot in our new home where I'd like to put the finished quilt.  Originally they were going to be straight set but up on the design wall they weren't sparking me (although I DO need to make more blocks).  Setting them on point energized it a bit for me so for now that's how they will display until I can take this further. 

At the top of the wall are my Blue & White "Many Paths" blocks.  Also slow progress on this one.  The third block (on the right) is the one most recently made.  This project was also on my PHD Challenge list but I've decided at this point I'll be happy if I just get all the blocks (there are 12) made up.  This was originally planned to be hung on a quilt rack that I had in the living room of our old apartment.  But I won't be using that rack here so this project is less urgent now.  I am also thinking about getting real creative with the layout of the top but don't have the mental focus for that right now. 

Speaking of the PHD Challenge, back in December (before I knew I'd be moving in a few months) I had committed to completing six projects.  Well the challenge ends in June so I know that won't happen!  I am still shooting for three and hoping that I'll finish at least one.  Once I'm finished with "Aunt Grace" I'll be adding two other projects to the wall:  I want to try to finish my "Quilt In A Day Underground Railroad/Pioneer Sampler" project and start the blocks for the "Civil War Chronicles" BOM I signed up for last fall and that began mailing in January.  In fact, the plan was for the real focus for May to be on all my CW fabric projects in honor of the war's anniversary.  The UGRR/Pioneer project is also on the PHD list so it would be great to get that done.  One of my other goals for 2011 was to finish all the BOMs I had by the end of the year and "Chronicles" would be the second of three that I now have on hand.  I also have one other CW "kit" that I'd like to make and I hope that I might do the history blocks Barbara Brackman is currently offering each week using the leftovers and scraps from all the other CW projects.  

As always probably too ambitious for my own good but I've got to lay it all out to know and remind myself where I am trying to go.  Let's hope I can keep quilting daily.  If I meet even half my goals I will be ahead of the game!