A New Mess

I've been working steadily in the sewing room. I was so pleased with how I got all my fabric to fit in place, but now I think I want to rearrange a bit more. I ended up with 2 big empty chest drawers. It shouldn't be hard to think of something that would be reasonable to store there.

When Lisa was here the other day she saw a quilt in my Documentation Binder and she asked if it was big enough. They liked the 96" square I made for them a few years ago.


Well, here it is and no, it is only 72" x 78". BUT it was made from scraps and it didn't have a border so we could easily make it bigger. She decided it would be cool to help me with that. So yesterday she came over and started cutting from the scrap drawer. Made quite a dent in it too. She did a great job cutting. Next I will have her cut the triangles and pair up lights and darks. IF she wants to do any actual piecing that's up to her. Otherwise I could do all the sewing. It was nice to spend the morning with her in the sewing room again.





While rummaging in the closet I came across some blue and gold squares I abandoned years ago. About 33 years ago. They were partially joined to make a checkerboard. I had plans to applique over the seams to make a Rob Peter to Pay Paul quilt. Years ago when I started it I wouldn't think of just fusing those curved patches over the seams. And satin stitch applique didn't interest me. Maybe it has to do with my hand applique skills at the time, but it was bad, so I ditched that effort but couldn't part with the fabric. I've been pushing it around in the closet a long time. I decided to shed a little natural light on it and brought it out to finally be finished.

2 Hours later I had fused some squares over the middle of each square and had it quilted! Now I just need to locate the blue to bind it. Some little kid will enjoy it. It sure feels good making room in the closet by finishing things.

I've been planning other new starts. I even cut out a quilt kit and put it on the shelf for piecing later at Studio 3. I have a few more I'm thinking of starting.When I run out of daylight then I head to the longarm. And sew it goes.

Sew Many Starts

I must be fully recovered from my gallbladder issues of the first half of this year because I've been very anxious to do some quilting again. I took a mini inventory of my current ufo's and made a list of the 12 that I'd like most to complete soon. Notice I didn't say this year. I wanted to say this summer but I'm being realistic. Actually some are small and near completion. And since I know the quilt is finished when the top is done, the end of summer is a real possibility for at least half of them. I'd really like to see a number of these actually quilted so may put them on the tentative quilting schedule for this fall. So this is how I plan dream.


Next I will need to prioritize these things. I will probably order them starting with those that are nearest completion. I have several where the blocks are done, the setting design and fabrics have been chosen, and even cut.Those that need a bunch cut will wait till I am in the mood to cut. Maybe I will bring them back to the house from Studio 3 so I will have something to work on here besides quilting on the long arm. I still want to do some of that but for some reason I find the Studio in The Cellar really cold this summer.

I was home when I made my list. I should have opened the boxes of ufo's in the closet. But those aren't what I would call active ufo's. I was thinking only of those that I have started or planned recently (the last year maybe). Those are all at Studio 3. When I went there after making the list I found more I'd forgotten about. Isn't that always the way? So those have been added to the list, one at the top and one at the bottom. This is the most current.



I was interrupted since I started this post and had a chance to work at Studio 3 a little more. While there, I calculated and cut the setting fabric for 1 and finished the star blocks for the one shown above. Those little darlings are only 4" finished.  It evolved from 1 1/2" strips cut for sashing for another quilt I don't even remember. It seems I would rather start a quilt from leftovers than from scratch. Anyway I've been interested in making some small quilts since I've started using them on my dining room table. I don't know what took me so long to put them there.  I never was one for tablerunners or placemats, but a small quilt that comes to the edge of the table, I love.  I haven't decided anything about the borders yet because I want it to fit the table I will wait till the center is done and I will know how much space is available for a border. May be this one doesn't get one.

And as it turns out today I chose to work on what I needed alone time to think about and what was at the sewing machine. So much for what was nearest completion. That I brought home so I had something to work on here.

I've joined the linky parties at
Small Quilts and Doll Quilts for Design Wall Monday with link at right. 
 I hope I got that right- there are so many blogs to enjoy out there.
I found another I think I will enjoy.
It's Beth Sellers Main Crush Monday at Main Crush Monday

Browse here and there and be inspired, then good luck quilting!


 

Just Do it

So I'm thinking about what I gotta do and what I wanna do. Then I stall and nothing gets done. I've been back since Sunday from a wonderful trip to Quilt Nebraska in Norfolk and can now make the time to organize and prioritize my quilting. It's not really a "got to" kinda thing but I do think I should. I've got piles of this, that, there, his, mine, theirs and miscellaneous and who knows what else.  So I straightened some piles and pretty soon I am going to get something done. Perhaps tomorrow at Studio3. I've uncovered these 3 recent projects. It is not like me to abandon them the way I did. I do have PHD's but they usually become that way because I don't know what I want to do about them next. Two of these I simply lost interest in. The third I've recently begun and just haven't gotten back to.

I don't wonder where my mojo's gone. I've been gone on several trips this summer and when I am home I'd rather be outside. Now that it is too hot I am back indoors so with any luck I should be back in the groove in no time. Besides I want to get a few of the comfort quilts from church quilted up before our festival. It helps me to have a reason.




Sunday on the way home from the airport we detoured by my sister-in-law's place to say goodbye to a nephew and his family leaving for a job in Texas. They were thrilled when I said I would take their cat. No need to think about it. It has been almost 2 years since we've had a cat leaving it's fur all over my quilts. So Buster is ours now. He is a bit neurotic. I can only hope with time he will relax and be happy here. He comes from a home with one dog and two young children. Quite a contrast to our place. Isn't he handsome?

Quilting Time

We're just a few days into the new year and I am all settled in for a long winter of quilting. I hope I find more time for blogging, but I spect it will be like usual and come summer I will be outside more than in the studio. I've looked back and reviewed my accomplishments this year and they are fewer than usual for me. I have no regrets .I feel better than I have in years, happy with the progress on the book and happy with my quilting life. I'm not one to set goals, so I won't, but I will say that I hope to be able to continue to make quilts as I desire. I hope to use the longarm more too. I think getting this book out is goal enough for the year.

I don't have tons of ufo's to finish up either, not counting 100 +/- tops and I haven't got a clue what kind of quilts I will be working on this year, but it is early.  One of the piles of blocks on my cutting table came out of the closet a month ago. I've finally taken some time to work with them. Analyzing why I haven't finished this project sooner, I have to say that I think it was cause I just didn't like it. The fabrics were kinda dull. I remember though, that the fabric was kinda old when I started this. Oh dear, now they are even older. But as I studied them, I realized I could make a simple change to improve things a bit. This is what I started with. Notice the black triangles in the corners. I decided that it had to go and it would be an easy fix.


With the pieces for the blocks was a blue print I musta intended for the borders. There was enough for me to change out the black for a blue print. The black triangles were too small. They were already sewn into the unit so I just cut them off and replaced with the blue in a better size.  I am sure I will like this more, even if the fabrics are old.

Finishing up a PHD is a good way to start the year, I'd say. I found I like it too, cause so many of the decisions have been made already. I hope you are able to keep warm and dry and stitch the winter away.

Another short list

I made a mess in my room today and the closet needed some attention too, all so I could find something to work on next.  So I spent a little time organizing things to make it easier to prioritize my projects. Here's the short list.

1. In the plastic box are the leftover pieces from a Lemoyne star quilt I made a few years ago.  I'm ready to make another one, but this time use a bunch of faded reproduction prints and mix up the prints in each star.
The Lemoyne star is probably my favorite.

2. Also ready is the border for my Birds-in-the-Air quilt I made  - was that earlier this year. I ended up buying another rust fabric for the border. It is washed and cut and waiting.

3. My Ladies in Waiting quilt  is waiting for me to take it to a retreat somewhere. Anyone know of a good one close to me? Never mind that I also need to make a design decision.

4. The antique Dresden Plate quilt for church probably needs a little attention before our next meeting.

5. My basket of scraps is full enough to sort. This time I will pull out for my Broken Dishes ongoing project and file the rest.

6. I had some 3 1/2" squares that said "play with me". So I started a little pinwheel/flower block. I still have to cut the green and maybe add something to the center. Or maybe just quilt a center for each block.

7.  Binding for a small quilt that I am already using on my living room table.  -That reminds me. I wanted to make a Christmas quilt for that table. It is small so shouldn't take long.

8. My Smokey Mountain Star made in June I think still might benefit from a pieced border that I have in mind.

9. Oops. Edited to add the mystery quilt barely in the picture. I obviously have to wait for the directions for the next step on this one.

This is not a complete PHD list. Just the list of active projects which at any time I could shelve and label it dormant.  So, what to do? Maybe I will sleep on it and go downstairs to quilt. Sew long.

On with the Borders

It didn't take long to get the borders on this thing. Now it is officially done. It will officially become an active PHD again when I have pieced the backing. And I think I have just the fabric. I could almost quilt this next. Sounds like fun, I have been wanting to quilt a sampler.

I have a 4-patch with sashing going in the studio now. I think I will play with some techniques that don't require marking. Cause really, if there is something about quilting I don't like to do, it is marking for quilting. This 4-patch is perfect for some freehand quilting. You'll see. Nothing elaborate mind you. It is a comfort quilt.

Oldest PHD (UFO)

      Opening my cedar chest is something I rarely do. I opened it to look for a few things I couldn't find anywhere else. Wow, I had no idea I would find these 5 sampler blocks.

       I made them more than 28  years ago. I remember because I drafted the blocks myself with no instruction and then used templates and scissors to cut the fabric. I had been quilting for two years when I got my first rotary cutter. I remember not finishing it cause the fabrics weren't lively enough. Never mind the fabrics back then left alot to be desired. I am really glad I learned the lesson of having enough contrast, both in scale of print and value of color.  Some matching fabric was still with them and I raided the church's stash for the navy. It looks a little too dark in the photo -darn. Anyways Friday when the girls were here I made the alternate Thirtysomething  star blocks. Still have to get the borders on. . .

      When I found the blocks I immediately knew I had to do something with them quickly. The gals on the yahoo group,  Stashbusters are all about finishing up those old UFO's. Thanks to them, I like to think that I have none older than 5 years. Not counting the tops up in the warehouse, and those don't count. (My house, my rules.)

Mark is home cause of the holiday but he is relaxing watching tv for the night so I am going to go  put a quilt on the frame down in the studio. Have a good one.

Year end finishes

 Happy New Year everyone. I hope you had as good a weekend as I have. Mine was real quilty. It is not uncommon for me to finish a quilt on New Year's weekend. And this weekend I have several finishes to report.

This first one has been waiting the longest. The blocks were just orphans I made in my stash.  A few of them date back over 25 years. Then about 5 years ago, I put them together.  I liked how it turned out so much that I decided to hand quilt it using a wool batting. I quilted about half the blocks and removed it from the frame and put it away for a while.  Then I brought it out about 1 1/2 yrs ago and finished the blocks.  Then it sat for almost another year untouched because I couldn't decide how to quilt the border.  Then I decided I'd rather use it this winter than let it haunt me another year so I let Lenni finish it. The quilting was all simple straight lines so I didn't want anything elaborate for the border quilting. This is how I finally quilted the border. See? That was early yesterday.

In the afternoon I loaded this quilt top for my daughter. She had recently complained that the quilt she is using is to small for 2 people. So I chose this quilt from my stash of tops and she chose simple meandering loops. What a great kid. Fast and easy.  I didn't want to invest much time in custom quilting this top.

Thank goodness I took the picture. Otherwise, I don't know when I would have noticed that I sewed the star together wrong.  And I remembered to fix it before quilting it. Yeah.

There was another top I finished I will show next time. Otherwise, there weren't many  finishes for the year. Usually there are more, but it was a tough year again. And now my time is divided between the quilting  with Lenni and piecing with Bernie (my Bernina) and...
Well, once again, Happy New Year and thanks for visiting.

Plan C

Years ago I made these blocks and even added a border, but it was never my vision for the quilt.  Later I removed the border to use on another quilt.  It was just perfect for another quilt, even the size.  This first bunch of blocks was called Plan A.

 Then I made another quilt that better fit my first idea and called it Plan B. I put the pattern for this one in Save the Scraps

. 

Then I decided to make Plan A more to my liking and, of course, had to call it Plan C.  I had to separate the blocks, but that's no big deal. I just put the speaker phone on and let my friend entertain me.  I guess tv would work, too.  I had it all cut out and sewn - even the border was cut!  Then just before I was about to add the border I decided to add another row of blocks.  Can you tell I'm still in that "bigger is better" frame of mind?  Actually, Mark liked this one too, so I thought as long as it's a keeper it oughta be useful.

Life can be stressful at Christmas time so I want to be able to sit down to sew when I NEED to.  This is one top I hope to finish.  And I will probably start work on one of the kits I put together a few months ago.  Sure glad I did that.  Now is not the time to concentrate on sewing.  That mindless sewing will do tons to keep me relaxed.  I hope you can find some time to relax by quilting this season. Happy Holidays.

I decided to put an end to this PHD. There wasn't a pattern for this sampler, and I was tired of it sitting on the shelf so after these 12 blocks I decided it was time to finish it.  And as has been happening lately, I am almost sorry already that I didn't make it bigger. But I didn't want to add an elaborate pieced border and I am out of the print I used in the sashing, so that's as good a reason as any to finish it.

Now with so many tops finished, I feel like I can get on to starting something new. I just put 6 kits together in the last month. Yesterday I  pulled one off the shelf and saw that I  already forgot that I started a kit for it. I don't know what  anybody does with dozens of UFO's. With Christmas on the way, I think it will be a while before I can really put some time into piecing again.  I want to focus next on some quilting and before you know it I will be working on comfort quilt kits again.
I am convinced- Whoever figures out how to bottle time will become very rich. Sew long.

Auditioning borders

So now I can't decide on which border to use on this Kings Beauty quilt top that I made about 25 years ago. I ran out of the light peach for the setting triangles.  OOOOps what a liar.  I just remembered that I cut them too small. That is why I added some of the last border fabric to each triangle and it appears that the green corners overlap the narrow rust border a bit. A mistake?? no. Let's call it a design opportunity.   I have other rusts, but narrowed it down to this top one.  I have plenty of matching light green, but won't use that very wide cause it doesn't work. I like the last one with light green middle border and plain dark green final border because the quilting would show up nice with it. I didn't get the proportions just right and that can make a difference, but this helps too.

 

This top is 82" already and I love it so I want to make it big enough for my bed (as opposed to my balcony).
I've had the quilting planned for years and just may move it from the dormant phd pile to the actively waiting pile. Okay, not a pile, a list. A list in my head AKA a fantasy.  I have lots and lots of those. Don't we all?

If Only

If only I wasn't too lazy to add another pieced border to this quilt when I  first made it. Wouldn't that have been pretty? I mean, if only I hadn't run out of fabric when I was making this quilt, I could've made it bigger to begin with. I mean, if only  I had bought more fabric in the 1st place.  Really, let's get it right. That's the real problem.  I tend not to buy large enough pieces of fabric.  Lesson learned?  Probably not.

I'm pleased with the addition of these 2 plain borders in this quilt top.  At least now it's big enough for a twin or double sized bed. This is Alien Star Flower and was originally shown in my book, Infinite Stars.  I just checked the publication date and that was 1992.  That means this quilt top is  20 years old.  I'm still not in a real big hurry to get it quilted. I'm waiting for my doodle quilting to get better.


If only I got more of the borders done in that pile of 9 quilts I decided to enlarge - I could be starting another top. But I just got one done. And I did go shopping and find the fabric  I need for the border of one other quilt.  And it's washed, pressed and ready to go.  I also finished 2 bindings.

I think that's enough sewing upstairs for a little while.  Now I think I'll rummage around in that pile of tops and see if I can't find one that I have a back for and put something on the frame downstairs. I will save the other borders to work on when I am on the phone.  I use the speaker phone feature so I can chat without holding the phone and can get lots done at the same time. I find it helps to plan ahead,  and will probably have figured out how wide I can cut the strips from the fabric available before I even pick up the phone.
Sew on and sew on. 

Staying Organized

I guess in order for me to get anything accomplished, I like to keep things organized.  My mother seems to think that I am very organized and could put my fingers on things in my sewing room rather quickly.  I wonder what she would've thought if she had seen me yesterday.  I spent nearly 5 hours organizing again. When my sister was here just  2 weeks ago, we spread out all the quilts on the extra twin beds upstairs.  My quilt tops were left  in a drawer and a pile and I knew I would get to them soon.  My thoughts were that I would go through  them to decide which ones I would want to quilt next.  But recently there was a discussion in the Yahoo group, Stashbusters, about what size quilts we make. The discussion made me realize something I've known for some time.  I have not been making many quilts big enough for beds.

 So yesterday I ended up pulling out 9 quilt tops that I decided I could still make larger.  I rummaged through all of my fabric, and I mean all,  looking for any remaining matching fabric or other fabric that I might want to add to these quilts to make them larger.  One of the great things is I think I will only need to buy border fabric for one of the quilt tops, and binding for one other.  I guess I'm glad I hadn't quilted them yet.
 

 

 
I also organized my binding bin. I was dismayed to find  many of the bindings were not labeled and there were perhaps 8 quilt tops that I had not set aside binding  fabric for.  So I'm glad I took care of that.

 

I don't particularly enjoy adding borders, but I want to take care of these soon.  Most of them will probably just get a plain border, but 3 of them will get pieced borders.  I've always wanted to participate in a round robin and now's my chance.   Here is one quilt top I'm thinking of setting on point, and making it larger with additional blocks and borders.  I only have one of the original fabrics left, but  I don't really think that matters. These fabrics look pretty good with it. I'm sure I can find more.


I got a few bindings done, and I have a few more ready to sew on.  Also, I really enjoyed getting acquainted with Karen at the quilt show in Madison.  It turns out we enjoy pretty much the same kind of quilts. And if that wasn't enough.  I went into the Whitewater shops today with Lucrecia.  There was a sale I just couldn't miss. Well, I'm glad it's never ending.  I hope your glad too. Sew long.

Measure twice, cut once

I guess it's back to the drawing board for a quilt to hang on my balcony. One would think by now that I learned the lesson to measure the space where I want to display a quilt, and plan accordingly. I finally got the border on the log cabin quilt that I made last winter. It looks like the quilt was too big even before I added the border! I did make sure though that the quilt was big enough for my bed, so someday I'll use it there. Unless of course, I could convince my husband that with a little creative carpentry we could make it fit.

I also got the border on this Infinite Star quilt. I am undecided, about what I want to do in the background area of the star. I don't know if it'll just be the quilting or if I want to do some couching of some colored yarns or what.

We had comfort quilting at church today. I had so much to bring, I packed my big suitcase. It was heavier than when I travel on the plane to do lectures. I brought the raffle quilt back in and maybe eight kits I was returning after cuttings strips for them with the studio cutter. I also brought this big Sunshine and Shadow quilt that I had on the frame this last week. Someone had donated the quilt top to church.





I still have borders to add to 3 quilt tops that I listed three weeks ago. But I changed my mind about one of them. It's maybe 4 feet across. And rather than just border it I think that I'll add some smaller stars around and make a medallion quilt with it. So I've moved that quilt top to the PhD pile. Another top waiting for a border is a comfort quilt and I'll add the border When I prep the back before I quilt it. The 3rd is on this weeks schedule.

It is still amazing to me how motivating it has been to get my projects organized. I would like to reward myself for getting so much done, and start another quilt, but I think since I'm on a roll, I'll wait another week and see how much more I can get done. So that means I have to go now, sew long.

Studio Stats

So the last thing I wrote was that I was going to go get my sewing organized for the next opporunity I had to sew. I never thought that would entail cleaning and organizing my sewing room. I feel so rejuvenated! It didn't take much to go through my stuff, but I work best if things don't get toooo out of control. I have no priorities or immediate plans for my quilting right now, so I just thought I'd survey the workload. Next thing I knew I was actually dusting. This is the situation:

quilts needing binding 5
tops needing borders 8
tops needing quilting 103
tops in progress- PHD’s 15

So, I really got organized. First I removed two chairs from the room and moved a table to a better position. That alone made me feel great for 2 days! Next I put away a few piles of fabric then stacked up some of the work waiting to be done. In a little while I could see that this pile of tops waiting for borders is the first I'll focus on. Ripping, pressing, tea-dyeing and designing are required on some of these which might just be why work stalled.


As I was working I came across this red and purple print that just might be perfect with the red and purple stripped triangles that I made in March and April. I never had any real plans for those triangles, so now I'll come up with a plan to incorporate the print. Sort of my own personal mystery. What fun.

So did I actually get any sewing done? Yes, actually I quilted more on Brian's extra long log cabin quilt and I cut background triangles for the red and purple mystery quilt. I also put blocks together to move it from the PHD pile to the needing pressing and borders pile. I think I will take the ironing to the basement this week. Even with the A/C on I'm hot all the time. Ask Mark!
Sew long till next time.

Spring Retreat Report

Good day everyone in blogland.

I am happy to report I recovered quickly from last weekend's retreat. That doesn't mean it was less wonderful. I just took better care of myself. I got a walk in every day and didn't overdo it. Also, a massage therapist was there this year. I was long over due for a massage so signed up for half an hour. So many of the other ladies did too, that she came back the next day. Instead I got a 5 minute mini chair massage on Friday night and half hour on the table on Saturday night. Amazing how much that 5 minutes helped.


I had hoped and expected to get more done. But it isn't a big deal cause I didn't have any deadlines. I first had planned to finish this applique. But I only brought the one bobbin in the machine and it had the wrong color.


So I worked on this star first. I didn't finish it because I wasn't sure I was going to like how the light golden inner borders looked. We didn't have a flannel wall at our disposal so rather than be unhappy and want to rip it, I brought it home to study. Still undecided that it is dark enough. I am thinking of tea dyeing the border first. Yes I realize the fabrics for the 60" star are rather plain, but won't the quilting show up nicely?


Then I started making red strip-pieced triangles for a mystery quilt like Sharyn Craig's Strip Tease or Margaret Miller's Strip's That Sizzle. I often call a quilt I've started a "mystery" because I don't have definite plans for it yet and it is a mystery to me what I am going to do with the blocks I have started.
After that I worked on some nine-patches for another mystery. Not sure if I will set them with half-square or quarter-square triangles and won't even think about it till I have made many more - someday.

Well, I am sure that all the inspiration from this retreat will last me a while. I should have thought ahead and gotten my taxes done before hand. Now I have to stop and take care of those, and just when I was on a roll. Thank goodness they have gotten easier with the computer.

Stay tuned for a report on progress on these 3 new projects. Sew long,

My own mystery quilt

Greetings fellow bloggers. Do you blog more than you quilt? Seems I do.

It also seems to me that I have been jumping around alot from project to project. Maybe that is because I am attempting to finish up some PHD's. I jump when I don't have what I need or know what I want to do or have to think about what I need to do next. All good reasons to have more than one project in the works at a time. I think I would get bored if I finished each project before starting the next. And likely very little would get done.

I finished this top with the exception of the green border I still need to buy. I started this about 15 years ago, so it will be a challenge to find fabric that goes with it. The border fabric wouldn't be an issue if I had planned this quilt from start to finish. Seems I rarely do that. But I had planned an entirely different quilt with the Thirtysomething star blocks and didn't like the way it was turning out. So I ditched the plan and 12 years later came up with this idea. The half blocks around the edge were also an afterthought. I didn't want just a plain light border and it was all the fabric I had left. I guess it doesn't really need another border, but right now it is only 72" square. I wonder if I will ever find suitable border fabric. Looking tomorrow. Wish me luck.
Sew long,

120 tops and counting

January dreams
First thing Monday morning, January 4th I sent the quilts and manuscript to the publisher. The feeling of relief lasted several days till it switched to burnout. I did practically no sewing. I did clean my sewing room and closet pretty well though and it felt good to get most of it organized again. At one point I counted my quilt tops. I don't virtually count them all as they are scattered about the house. I usually go though my photo album and count. Yikes! Was I shocked to see it was up to 120. Last time I counted it was at 88 and I thought I was keeping it pretty steady since I got the longarm. I think I need to track them in some other way. That should help inspire me. I see some gals post on their blogs all the fabric used/bought, quilts finished etc. So I am going to think about that. Watch the sidebar for that. I also gathered, organized and counted all my PHD's and came up with around 20. Again that is higher than ever for me. Typically after a manuscript is done I work on finishing up some of the phd's so that is a small goal for the next month. I wanted to post that theme, but again I had issues with the new computer and now want to redo it. So watch for that too.

I found one of the pictures of the comfort quilts that I couldn't find yesterday. It was just an uneven width log cabin. I'd made the blocks long ago and turned them in for someone else to finish the quilt and this is what was done with them. Of course, I turned the blocks in to me. But I bagged them and labeled them a kit and put them in the kit bin at church. And then some little quilt fairy took them home and made them into a quilt. I am not sure if I'd like those fairies visiting my quilt closet. They'd take the fun out of quilting for me. I know a few quilters that wished there were basting fairies. If you know of any, let me know.


I quilt with Shaggy a few times a month and she finished her top with a hunting theme for a friends son. She used one of my Thirtysomething patterns. It turned out great.
So what are you working on? A quilt I hope. Sew long,

Busy Week

I have had a pretty busy week. Lots of it quilty. I dug out this applique quilt I started a year or two ago. I put it away cause I wasn't sure how I wanted to applique the swag border. Then as it sat on the shelf, I kept dreading it because I was thinking it was a vine border. Remember how I put off doing borders. Well, combine that with little interest in applique and you have a probable long-term PHD on your hands. Then I remembered that I planned a swag border, and not a vine. So I dug it out and searched my patterns for a swag I could adapt and made up a sample- just to be sure I knew what I was doing. Now I am excited about it again, so the top will be done before long.

 Also this week, or was it last week already, my sister-in-law and good friend, Sue, brought over her childhood best friend/cousin to meet me and see some quilts. We had a great time. Marybeth brought along an antique quilt for some advice. As she was leaving she commented that she felt like she was on vacation somewhere and just took the "Gayle Bong tour".












A friend came to sew and brought along her 5 year old for an hour long quilting lesson. She actually did a great job and didn't even loose interest. By then it was her bed time.







I made a few blocks for this sampler quilt started in a block exchange when I was a member of a guild about 8 years ago. The block in the upper left hand corner is featured in a quilt in my book, Save the Scraps. Two of the other blocks will be in quilts in my next book on scraps. It is due to the publisher after Christmas. They require that a sample block be sent for all the quilts in the book. I thought I might as well make a block or two I can really use.


I also bound two little quilts. And we had quilting at church this week. Here Lucrecia Pawlak is excited to show off her quilting. She has a new Voyager longarm.

Next week I hope to focus on some longarm quilting and updating my website.

Finally a Border!

So I have been busy, what else is new? With DH home, my time is not my own, but I did get a few things done with him home. For one, I finally added a border to "Oops, I Did It Again". I was a bit stumped with this one, but here is what I decided. I chose this border because except for the corners, all the pieces came from my box of 3 1/2" squares that was getting a bit full.

Before I decided on this border I toyed with other ideas. I didn't want to take this one to Electric Quilt so instead I pulled out other Thirtysomething quilts that had pieced borders and layed OOPS over the corner of the other quilt to just show what that pieced border would look like. Take a look.









This first one did nothing for me. Nor did the second one.



Granted this border is the wrong scale, but the idea would work. Perhaps reversing lights and darks. While I was looking at all these ideas, I remembered I had 3 1/2" squares I wanted to use. Yes, they are hard to see in the border in the quilt at the top of this page. I trimmed off one 30-60-90° triangle from each square before sewing them together.









Well, it feels good to get this piece off the to-do pile. I was afraid it would become a longtime PHD.
Sew long,