as if anybody is keeping track anymore... ('cause I know I'm not!)

i know, i know... it's been a busy month, and the quilt below is slightly cheating, but it's the thought that counts, right?

this quilt is further along than it was a mere 30 days ago, and I'll quickly complete it, as I'd like to have it as a Christmas gift.

some of the other things that I've been working on are this I Spy quilt. we had a free exchange at our local Ben Franklin (where i teach quilting classes) and this is the quilt that i made. it turned out MUCH BIGGER than i had in mind (but then again, most, if not all of my quilts do...) but I'm really pleased with how it turned out. the plan is to get it quilted for the little girls for their Christmas present.

I'm thinking that the I Spy quilt will make a great sick on the sofa, or traveling quilt, but some certain other people don't seem to share the same sentiment... those unnamed people shall be allowed to remain nameless... right, Dave?


finally, I've pieced all the blocks for our Friendship Quilters Calendar Quilt. i had a few stops and starts, and ended up making 5 of the blocks over, but now it's "done". below is the EQ5 drawing that is the final plan. (I'm not as good at tweaking the EQ5 as some others are, obviously.)

and the final drawing for this year: 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.

I'm not holding out much hope that i get this quilt top done this month, but maybe if i do it as a leaders/enders project, my chances will dramatically increase!

not much to harvest, but the harvest quilt is done!

due to the all the flooding that we had in September, our gardens were abruptly done. that's left me with more time for quilting. (after cleaning, laundry and cooking, of course. of course!)

finally finished this cute little table runner, and with a few modifications, I'd make it again. thimbleberries can be so frustrating and twiddly sometimes.

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

here's the project drawn for this month- and a great one to do before Christmas comes!



this is a "quilt" that i recently finished. the husband stopped, and wanted me to make a quilt for his wife. while the final result was a surprise, she did stop by one afternoon, and designed this quilt from pictures that she saw in one of my books. i say "quilt" because it's really a duvet cover, although sometime it could be bound like a traditional quilt. although i would say this is the first and last quilt I'll do with so much applique, I'm happy with how it turned out!

we had snow last Saturday (crazy weather around here!) and i had previously promised A that we would sew together during the first snowstorm. although she was initially disappointed that we were sewing the simple 4 patches, and not a doll dress, she was very pleased with the final results.

A is 5, and she was so proud of the 7 blocks that she pieced. she's got them sewn into a table runner, and would like to finish it to give to her Sunday school teacher.

it's a most fortunate day!

i managed to finish BOTH #11 AND #7 in Judy's 2011 UFO challenge!

this quilt is #7 in the challenge, and the official one for September. you can see a peek of both the quilting and backing in this picture. I'll do the binding today- a perfect project for a cool, rainy day when I'm not feeling well....

this quilt is #11, which was pulled for august. despite having gotten a head start on this, i was unable to completely finish it last month. now it's done, and ready to go to the quilters. i really love the fresh, bright colors in this- it's different from most of the quilts that i would usually pick to do.

i had fallen behind in last month's project (#7) because of the gardens, but was determined to finish this month's project (#11). i was feverishly quilting last night, and even though I'm going to do the binding today, I'm calling it finished!

here is the UFO project pulled for October: #5 ~

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!)

since this is "all but" done, I'm pretty certain (and pleased) that i should be able to get this one done! and what perfect timing, Judy- this fall table runner will look perfect on the pie safe in my hallway this harvest season! (and i don't think I'll be waiting until midnight the night before the deadline to be finishing this one!)

they say that the third time's the charm.....

i didn't get the august quilt done, but i did work on it a bit. i did the 4 applique blocks, and even purchased wash-away stabilizer, but never got any further than that.

i tried, i really did... but the garden in august is truly relentless! recently i told a friend that if we can make it through august, we can make it through almost anything!

so now August is officially over, and the garden is definitely winding down. fall is in the air, and the mornings are crisp and refreshing. soon i can start sewing again!

this is project #11, and since it's almost done, needing only quilting in the ditch, and binding, i think that i can manage to get this one done!

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.

i'm not making excuses, i've just been busy...

really busy.

EDITED TO ADD: i didn't get this quilt done, but i did make some progress! i cut and ironed the 4 applique blocks, and just need to stitch them down. i even bought the thread! that counts for something, right? i pulled out the setting kit, and pondered putting it together, and would have loved to have the time to do it... but winter's coming!

i can't believe that July has just flown by, and it's august already! that means that it's time for Judy to draw August's UFO number- #7

unfortunately, i never got July's project done....

with 14 members in our CSA, and the gardens really producing- buckets and buckets full- we've been busy keeping up as best we can....

if you want to see what i HAVE been doing, you should be able to take a peek here.

and here's my #7. thankfully, i started this one way back this winter, figuring that the number would prpbably be drawn at the height of the gardening season. turns out i was right, but i'll give it a shot anyway!

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?

would the real July please stand up?

does anybody even read this poor, neglected blog anymore? sometimes i wonder if I'm the only one that thinks blogs are a bit like a pyramid scheme. there are so many people who have blogs, how are there any persons on the earth left to read all the blogs?

does my mother-in-law even read my blog anymore?

but i digress....

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.

Judy picked #2 for this month, and my project is above. (I'm so glad that i got a head start on June's quilt, and started it back in February. )

the garden is in full swing, but is it even possible to say that we have a good handle on all the weeds? i think that maybe i can squeeze in a little bit of sewing time this month....

June's UFO- and a perfect #8 it is!

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.

this month Judy drew #8. and it's perfect! i worked on this quilt this winter at scraps to wraps, so it's already pieced. (a friend took it home to hand quilt it)

since I'm so busy in the garden, ( i really should do a post about our CSA/market garden one of these days...) and i have a few other quilts that I've been hired to piece, I'll use the "extra" time this month to do them!

i can't really believe i managed to get even this far!

this is (was) my #9 project from the UFO list that i made last December. civil war flying geese.

it's been a very busy month with the garden. and the rain. oh my. the rain.

but i was still able to get the blocks pieced. considering that we have a week of dry weather coming up, and we're struggling to get the sweet corn in, I'll call this UFO finished for this month.

here's what it looks like with the blocks properly aligned. I'll just store the strips on a hanger until I'm ready to finish the rest of the quilt. (UFO challenge 2012, Judy?)

i have enough geese left over that I'll also make matching pillowcases.

maybe- in between the raindrops!

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.

this month, Judy has drawn #9 from the list. this will be something new for me, as I've never made a flying geese quilt, and I'll be trying the method that Elenour Burns developed.



we're busy (trying) to plant the garden, but maybe between the raindrops i can get some sewing in!

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?