still quilting- but with a broader audience in mind...

i never quite got around to working on #8 of Judy's UFO challenge. i did dig out my blocks, and also found/saved a few patterns that i might like to use as a springboard for my quilt design, but other that that: no progress to report on that design front.

however, i did think about some other quilty issues this month. namely, that i really have enough quilts. *gasp* did that really just come out of my mouth?

what i mean, is, that for the last 25+ years, I've been quilting. and quilting. and quilting. it can be fairly said that my family has at least one quilt from me. some have several. some have many.

and how many quilts do we really need? really?

sometimes i feel as if I'm being a bit too selfish, or quilting only to please myself, and satisfy the desire to quilt the latest idea I've had, or use that beautiful fabric that I've just (unnecessarily?) purchased.

i have blogged before about our church's sewing circle, Scraps to Wraps. the girls and i have been dedicated in attendance, and I've been working harder at keeping tops pieced ahead of the tie-ers. sweet baby B is bigger now, and gladly helps with the quilting whenever she can. and A is big enough to use the featherweight (almost all by herself) and seems to enjoy piecing as much as i do. (scroll to the bottom to see the adventures of her first pieced blocks.)

and recently, i was contacted by a friend of a friend, and asked if i and/or our group would be willing to piece tops for GAiN ~ basically a tangible way to show people that they are loved and important, and to give an opening to share the gospel.

this has led me to think more deeply about my reasons for quilting, and creating. i can relate to what Eric Liddell said during the 1924 Olympics: "God made me for a purpose... when I run, i can feel his pleasure."

I'm certainly not intending to sound all pompous and righteous, because (especially if you know me in real life!) I'm not! i fail regularly, and shockingly so. but, for all my imperfections and shortcomings, i truly desire to please God.

and one way that i can do that is to quilt ~ because God gave me the creativity and desire to do so, and I'd like to think that He is pleased with me ~ especially ~ when i use my talents to serve Him.

so, while I'll continue to quilt and teach regularly, i want more of my focus to be on quilting for others, and not just for my own pleasure.

below are a few of the *simple* quilts that i pieced for Scraps to Wraps this month.

January UFO: #5 ~ completed!

YAY me! i started this Friendship Quilter's Calendar quilt last January. every month, our group has made another block, representative of that month. i completed my blocks using the 9 patch sashing, with hourglass borders, and another wide, plain border.

i plan to have it hand quilted, and would like to enter this one in our local county fair in July.


today was our monthly meeting of our group, Friendship quilters. 3 more calendar quilts were completed, and brought in. how exciting to see all the different possiblities from the same 12 blocks! (sorry for the terrible pictures! i'll try to get better ones somtime...)

Janet's quilt

Pat's quilt

Peg's quilt

2012 UFO list ~ NOT for the faint of heart!

it's time for the list of UFO's for 2012! Last year Judy had the great idea for us all to pick out 12 random UFO's. Assign each project a number, and on the first of the month, she would pick a number. The goal was to finish that project that month.

apparently (obviously!) i need that extra pressure and accountability, since i got 10 of my projects done, plus numerous others as well.

here's a very loose list for 2012, to be updated with pictures and such as time allows (and as i dig out) each project!

project #1- this was #9 from last year, and started as a well intentioned pile of fabric. now it's progressed all the way to a well intentioned wanna-be *almost* quilt top. Late last summer, (before our LQS flooded out) i bought some brown and cheddar yellow to complete the borders for this quilt. maybe i can get it a bit further along this year!

project #2: another block win (i showed these before). not sure on the plans for this quilt, but the book that A is holding (if you were a penguin) has inspired some colors/ideas that I'd like to try. the white/black/blue/yellow/orange color combo really intrigued me one day as i was reading this book to the little girls.

project #3- Civil War Schoolhouse Blocks. a few years ago i bought this kit for a ridiculously reasonable price. the school houses are paper pieced, and should not be too hard!

I'm reserving the right to swap this one out for something else, or even not complete it at all *GASP!* since it's technically not an UFO...

project #4- a tiny table topper from this pile of leftover scraps from a previous project.

project #5- a friendship calendar quilt/blocks that our local quilting group worked on this year. each block represents a month of the year. (although the EQ drawing is a bit messed up, so don't go from that...)

project #6-friendship 3" block exchange. fix the rows that got mixed up!

project #7- technically not a UFO, but something that i should work on, since the bin is overflowing! i have a bin of strips that i stash all the strips and what not from cutting all my quilts and other projects, and every once in a while i sew the strips into 6" X 12" blocks. eventually I'll make them into an applique quilt of some sort...

project #8- 1930's blocks. first i have to find them! after deciding on a layout, i plan to piece the blocks into a top- hopefully something interesting!

read more about #8 here!

project #9 homespun 9 patch/snowballs. i really like the simplicity of these blocks, and i love the muted colors of the homespun. these are leftover blocks that our sewing circle had after piecing a quilt for our new pastor couple.

this year I'm only going to commit to 9 projects. in the spring, summer and fall months we garden extensively, and have a CSA with *15* members, so realistically i won't have time to do much sewing. I'll re-arrange numbers as needed when there is a month that i can not sew.

meanwhile, you can hop on over to Judy's and see who all is participating!

just a little sneak peak for all my faithful readers. *ahem*

Modern Christmas Christmas

Create personalized Christmas photo cards at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

finallly done- procrastination and all!

Judy drew #4 from the list for April, and just a few weeks ago, here is what my project looked like:

a big (but promising) pile of red, white and black strips. (6 friends from my quilting group participated in this strip exchange.) some of the reason that i was dwaddling on this project is that I wasn't quite sure what i wanted to do. i had several ideas floating around in my head, but just couldn't seem to agree with myself as to which one i should do.

finally, i settled on this one, from modabakeshop.com, and I'm happy with how it turned out. it was easy, and with just a few modifications, it worked really well with the strips that i already had. i used all the extra wider strips to piece the back, and managed to use up nearly all the red, white and black strips.

yay for me!

yesterday was our regular quilt meeting, and my friend Cathy was kind enough to take pictures of the other quilts, and send them to me. it's very interesting how we all started with the same fabrics, and look how different the quilts are!

i love how Janice's quilt looks like houses- a happy quilting neighborhood! she also made a matching pillow.


this is the quilt done by Janet. i wonder why it reminds me of an hourglass?

the color value and depth in Ginny's quilt is superb!

Cathy went for a radiating star. she's a prolific quilter who is also lucky enough to have a basement all set up for her quilting friends to come over and sew. i think i might need to be jealous for a moment....

my friend Betty did bazillions of stars, and she's the only one that didn't have to trim strips, since she followed the instructions. this is the quilt that's featured in the book where i got the idea for this exchange.

also, she used genuine wool batting. from a sheep that she grew herself! how amazing (and cool!) is that?

FQ Calendar Quilt: April

April is here, and hopefully dragging spring reluctantly along behind it...

this month's block is birdhouses. the pattern can be found on http://www.quilterscache.com/, or right here.

if you don't know how to paper piece, follow the links included on the page, and you can print out some pages to practice with right here.

but, please, whatever you do, puleeese actually FINISH your block before showing it off to the internets.

*ahem*

April is here, but what about spring?

project #4: this was a red/white/black strip exchange i organized through the Friendship Quilters. several members have already completed (quilted AND bound!) their quilts, so as the "organizer" i really should get going on this one!

i was "gently" reminded at our last meeting that these RWB quilts were to be done by our April meeting. some of my delay had been in not really knowing what pattern i wanted to use for this. finally, i decided to use the pattern i found here, with a few modifications.

click here for the progress on March's project #1.

if you're feeling extra generous today...

this is just one of those quilts that hit me upside the head, and said "make me, make me! please, make me!"

(you may remember, i blogged about it before, here) there is a monthly contest being sponsered over at the Moda Bake Shop, and lucky me, i finished this quilt just in time to enter!

i love to haunt the moda bake shop for cool, interesting and neat-o patterns. ( but not necessarily in that order!)

the pattern is "Charming Stars" if you'd like to make one for yourself. it was easy, fun and i like the way it's turned out. i'm even thinking of makieng another one with brown stars and the bistro line of fabrics from moda.

yes. it's THAT fun!

UFO 2011 challenge: a head start on #8

does it seem as if I've nothing to do with myself? although there could be nothing further from the truth, it does begin to seem that way...

UFO challenge #8 is a quilt that i started with a friend 20+ years ago. literally. really! we intended to donate it to our local Pregnancy Care Center. however, life has a way of putting aside our plans sometimes, no matter how well intentioned we may be. Marcia and i just got busy raising our families, and i had forgotten all about this quilt until i stumbled upon it again last month.

now i have a new quilty friend, Lorraine, and we love to sew (and bicker) at Scraps to Wraps a couple Wednesdays a month. yesterday i ironed all the pieces (you'd be amazed at how wrinkly fabric can get after being in a bag for 20 years. or maybe, the more amazing part is that the triangles were not more wrinkly after being in a bag for 20 years...)

and today i brought along the pitiful little pile of triangles that was intended to be a potential quilt. together Lorraine and i pieced a few more pinwheels, added some solid blocks to tame it down a bit, and now the quilt is ready to be sewn together the next time we meet.

I'll keep you posted on our progress...

a year of quilting: January

what better excuse to start a new quilt than just the simple fact that it's a new year? now that it's January 1, I'm posting the link to our FQ Calendar Quilt.

the block for January 2011 is the Centennial Tree, which can be found here.

I'll warn you- it's a bit twiddly, but hang in there! you can see from the photo that i did the trunk a bit differently, but i like the way this looks better anyway. ( i just omitted the last, lower triangle)

it's not too late to hop on board for this quilt- you can search FQ calendar quilt in my search engine (on the right) or just look here. you'll find any info that you might have missed.

it's still not too late to join Judy's UFO 2011 project, either. details can be found here, or click on the logo on my sidebar. (on the right)

happy quilting!

here we go: the UFO challenge for January 2011

it's a new year, and Judy has drawn the number for January: #6

there is alot of stuff going on right now (almost all of which i didn't get a chance to blog about) but I'll give it my best shot to get this P & B Dresden plate done!

a little bit of inspiration, a big kick in the pants!

recently i was wondering around bloggy land late one night when i couldn't sleep and i came across a really neat thing: a UFO challenge for 2011. (for the more disciplined and focused folks among my readers, a UFO is an Un-Finished Object)

basically, to participate all you need to do is pull out 12 UFO's and number them one through twelve. every month, Judy will pull a number (1-12) and then we all work to complete that project, that month.

sounds easy, right? at first i was not sure that i had 12 unfinished projects. *snort* (who was i kidding anyway?) i found 12 projects, and here they are:

(I've added the 2011 UFO challenge button to my sidebar; you can click on that to find out more info, or you can go see for yourself right here.) you'll also be able to see all the others participating. (and be sure to take a quick peek at all the lovely projects that we'll all be working on!)

project #1: bear paw. i won these blocks at my quilt guild years ago (9+?). as you can see, i have a good start, but still need to finish the corners and border.

project #2: another block win (i showed these before). not sure on the plans for this quilt, but the book that A is holding (if you were a penguin) has inspired some colors/ideas that I'd like to try. the white/black/blue/yellow/orange color combo really intrigued me one day as i was reading this book to the little girls.

project #3: another quick quilt. this one is for sale, if you want it when it's done!

project #4: this was a red/white/black strip exchange i organized through the Friendship Quilters. several members have already completed (quilted AND bound!) their quilts, so as the "organizer" i really should get going on this one!

project #5: this thimbleberries pumpkin table runner is nearly done. it just needs quilted and bound. the long edges get binding, while the shorter have prairie points on them. ( i had the prairie points all cut and pressed but somebody seems to have thrown them out! i can only find 2 out of the original 16!)

project #6: this is a pink/brown dresden plate wall hanging/table runner that i started for one of my classes at the BF. some applique work, and then piecing/quilting is all that is left to do here.

project #7: i recently picked this up at Joann's fabrics, for 75% off the original price. it's 8 kits, plus the setting fabric to piece this top. i was intrigued by the colors, and it was a good price. what more needs to be said?

project #8: this is an ancient UFO- maybe started 17 years ago? it's been so long that i can't even remember! a friend and i started this as a quilt to donate to some charity (can't even remember that!) so I'll finish this and take it into our scraps to wraps to be knotted and donated to the MCC.

project #9: civil war flying geese. this was a project that was keeping me awake at night last winter, but got put aside and forgotten in the rush of other projects.

project #10: a "quickie" quilt- easy and fun. the pattern can be found here. i made B one of these for her birthday (using chicken flannel fabric) and i can honestly say that it's one of the warmest quilts I've ever made!
project #11: here is a quilt that i made in a workshop with the Friendship Quilters. it only needs quilting and binding. the tutorial for this one can be found here.

project #12: homespun 9 patch/snowballs. i really like the simplicity of these blocks, and i love the muted colors of the homespun. these are leftover blocks that our sewing circle had after piecing a quilt for our new pastor couple.