Kansas City Here I Come!

Just 24 hours from now I will be on my way to Janice Johnson's for a short hooking retreat.  I can't wait!  I am resisting the temptation to start another rug and will instead work on the Kaleidoscope rug I started when I was there last year.  I am hoping I can figure out the last of the color combinations (I think I still need one more medium) and make a lot of progress on it.  Hmm....wonder if I could finish it in time for the hook-in?  That's probably a little too ambitious...April 2014 might be a bit more realistic.

I went to a quilt show over the weekend and saw an X-block quilt that was absolutely gorgeous.  I didn't get the name of the gentleman that made it, but if I remember the description correctly it was his first quilt (amazing work for a beginner, isn't it?!?).  I have wanted to make one of these for quite a while.  Seeing this version inspired me to move the project at least a little higher on my "one of these days" list.

I am trying hard to complete my hand-piecing homework for this month after falling short last month.  I am getting a little burned out - not that I am tired of working on the blocks because I do truly enjoy it, but it is somewhat frustrating that keeping up with the homework means that I don't have any time to work on applique or to hook.  That being said, I really love my first block this month:

Just one more day....I can't wait to hit the road!  I will post progress on my rug and hopefully a few pictures of our hook-in at Janice's next week.

Where Does the Time Go?!?

I can't believe it's almost half way through March already!  This year is flying by and I certainly don't seem to be getting much accomplished! I am only able to report some success in chipping away at my February goals because I waited so long to post!  So first the good news:

February goal #3 - I finished my January Sue Spargo blocks a couple of nights ago.

I didn't add all of the suggested embellishment stitches to the tail of the bird in the middle - I liked him better without. I find that I am not a fan of doing bouillon stitches...I like how they look, but they are certainly hard on the fingers!

February goal #6 was to prep the next two Prairie Peony blocks. While I didn't completely finish prepping these, I did get the piecing done (the part I like the least!).

As far as goal #7 is concerned - finishing my hand-piecing homework - I really fell short on that one.  I finished one of the two 12" blocks late last week.  I haven't even started the second one.

I did manage to make a lot of progress on the Easy Street mystery quilt at a guild retreat a couple of weeks ago.  This is my stack of finished blocks:

I have two more blocks to finish and then can begin assembling the quilt.  I would like to finish the top in time to have it quilted for the show.  That would be three quilts that need to be quilted for the show.  Hmm... that's a LOT of binding!

So now for my list of goals for March:

1. Find a quilter for Lisa's Garden 
2. Finish Easy Street top
3. Finish February Sue Spargo blocks
4. Catch up on Wool Club hooking (Jan-Mar)
5. Finish March hand-piecing homework

I'm keeping it a little shorter and more realistic given the month is half way over and I am heading off to a rug retreat in the Kansas City area in a little over a week.  I still have to decide if I am starting a new project there or working on an old one. I have an awesome sampler rug I would love to color-plan, but really should go back to my Kaleidoscope and finish figuring out the colors on that one. Decisions, decisions!

Applique Academy 2013

I just returned from a wonderful few days at the Applique Academy where I took a class from Jeanne Sullivan.  She is an awesome instructor!  She teaches a prepared applique technique that might have actually changed my opinion of sizing and freezer paper.  I need to get a little farther on the block to make up my mind for sure, but I have to admit that even as a diehard needle-turner I wasn't minding the prep at all and was actually really liking the end result.

I was able to break away from the computer for a while on Thursday to visit an exhibit of Baltimore Album quilts at the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum in Colonial Williamsburg.  It's an interesting museum - it's actually a collection of museums in a building that used to be the public hospital in Colonial Williamsburg.  The quilts were wonderful, but it was the overall display that really caught my eye.  The area was fairly dim with special lighting on the quilts and quilt block designs projected on the floor.



The museum had a nice variety of quilts.  While all Baltimore-style, they were quite different from one another. (Note that the lines in the photos are seams in the glass - between the dim lighting and  glass display cases it was tough to get a good photo!)

I was fortunate to have a beautiful sunny day to explore the museum and a little bit of Colonial Williamsburg. I didn't have time to visit any of the houses, but did stop in a couple of shops in the merchant's area and enjoyed a delicious lunch from The Cheese Shop.

I will post more pictures from the Academy and pictures of my latest work (my January Sue Spargo BOM blocks are nearly complete!) later this week.  I'm off to the sewing room to unpack my class supplies...which seem to somehow have doubled in volume over the past few days!

Sad, Sad Story & February Goals

I fell a bit short on my January goals - I finished my hand-piecing homework and one of my Prairie Peony blocks, but that's all.  I contacted a quilter for my Lisa's Garden quilt and learned she had a bit of a backlog...as in she just might be able to do it in time for our 2015 show...so it's back to the drawing board on that one.  I haven't been home much so I didn't get a chance to finish up my January work on my Wool Club rug.

At my hand piecing class this weekend we had a chance to put all of the blocks we've completed so far on the wall to look at the colors. I usually dread that type of thing because I almost always end up liking other people's color choices better than my own.  I was thrilled and amazed to find that I really, truly like my own best!  I'm very happy with the mix so far and love the Japanese taupe fabrics.

I'm short one 12" and one 6" block - both from the first month, I believe. I've been on time with all the rest.  I hurried home from class and immediately started prepping my blocks for March.  My goal was to get everything ready including an extra 6" block and finish all while on the road this week (yeah, I know that isn't at all realistic, but you can't blame a girl for dreaming!).  I was very happy with my collection of pieces and parts.

Each diamond in the new block is made up of 9 diamonds, so there's a lot of piecing to do. 80 pieces per block.  I busily set to work piecing the first 12" block on this morning's flight. I knew early on that it just didn't right, but kept thinking that maybe the pieces just LOOKED big.  That had to be it, right?  All the seam allowance creating an illusion of largeness?  Not so much.

See the diamond on the right?  That's the one I pieced.  The one on the left?  It's the template showing the size the finished diamond is supposed to be. So I have 144 diamonds that are the wrong size.  Sad, isn't it?  I figure I can re-purpose some of them to make the missing 12" block from the first month and to make some of my other 6" blocks, but the rest will have to be re-traced and cut down.  Heavy sigh...

So on to my goals for February:

1.  Find a quilter for Lisa's Garden
2.  Finish second Prairie Peony block
3.  Finish January Sue Spargo blocks
4.  Complete January & February Wool Club hooking
5.  Finish stitching first Birds of a Feather block
6.  Piece and prep next two Prairie Peony blocks
7.  Finish hand-piecing homework

The list is long and my time at home is minimal, but I'm feeling optimistic.  After all, I have a little vacation time coming up!

Sewing at the Lake

I'm at the lake for a couple of days of uninterrupted sewing this weekend.  I dropped my daughter off at school yesterday and headed on down here with the intention of sewing non-stop until Monday.  I've been pretty much doing just that...except I find that I have to take the occasional break or my hands start cramping up!  I managed to finish my first 12" Lemoyne star:

 

 

It didn't take as long as I thought it would to piece, but it did take quite a bit of time to prep.  I will need to choose fabrics and prep the second block before I head to NY next week.  I'm going to have to find some time to sew on the road if I am to have any hope of getting my homework finished.

I also finished one of my two Prairie Peony blocks.  It really doesn't look much different from the basted version so I don't figure it's worth a picture.  I do have to whine just a bit about the pattern, though.  Don't get me wrong - I truly love it and love pretty much everything that Edyta designs.  Therein lies the problem, however.  Everything she designs seems to have those same leaves... I call them kidney beans.  I think I've appliqued a hundred of them so far between My Garden Album and Applique Affair.  There were five of them on this first block.  They get old fast.  Really, really fast.  I haven't head the heart to look at block two to see if there are any on it or not.  I'm not ready to do another one just yet.

I took a break from stitching to trace the pieces for my second Simply Bloom block on Steam a Seam.  I didn't figure out until after I had cut them all out that I completely forgot to bring the wool with me so I won't be getting that block prepped this weekend.  I always manage to forget something.  At least I brought plenty of other things to keep me busy.

Tomorrow I am looking forward to starting my first Birds of a Feather block.  I prepped part of it before leaving home yesterday. The colors are so fun - I can't wait to start stitching.  Better get off the keyboard and let my hands get some rest!

Limping Along Easy Street

Where does the time go?  I meant to post my weekend progress on Easy Street last Monday but didn't get around to it until today.  I spent a few hours in the sewing room and made quite a bit of progress on Step 7.  I have to admit that I really, really stink at repetitive work.  I have the attention span of a gnat.  I managed to get 11 of the 16 triangles constructed before I hit a wall and just couldn't stand any more. Here's what I have so far:

I hope to finish the rest of the triangles (unfortunately all the ones that are left are the large ones!) and start building the blocks this weekend.  It's certainly going to be a bright quilt!

While off over the holidays I decided that I would go back to setting sewing and hooking goals this year to try to stay focused (reference my previous comment about my attention span).  I didn't stick with it so well last time, but I am truly a list-driven person and figured I should give it another shot.  I find it immensely satisfying to cross things off of a list so it is extremely motivational for me. So here goes - keeping it short since I am getting a late start:

1. Complete January hand-piecing homework
2. Make arrangements to have Lisa's Garden quilted
3. Plan monthly work on 2013 Wool Club rug and complete January portion
4. Finish two Prairie Peony blocks
5. Finish Easy Street Step 7 and complete at least a few blocks (Step 8)

I really should have a goal around working on my Ace rug, but it is so tedious and time-consuming that I don't want to promise anything.

I'm off to Wool Club tomorrow to start yet another project (it's a sickness...really!).  I will post pics next week.

Back to Work

It was such a bummer to have to head to the computer instead of the sewing room this morning!  The only thing keeping me going is knowing that the weekend is only three days away.  I like easing back into things after such a long time off!

I spent a lot of time over the weekend trying to catch up on Easy Street before yesterday's big reveal.  I didn't get everything done, but did make a lot of progress.  I am even more excited by the quilt now that I have seen it.  I have 64 more flying geese to make and then can start putting all the pieces together.  I am enjoying how the colors are coming together so I am anxious to see it assembled.

I finished my hand piecing homework over the weekend.  I'm not sure my background goes with the color of my diamond tips on this one, but by the time that thought occurred to me it was too late in the process to make changes.  I decided it isn't that bad...not bad enough to warrant that much extra work!

I also finished prepping my first two Prairie Peony blocks.  I love it when I have the time to baste my applique blocks so that I can pick them up and work on them whenever I get the chance.  I actually managed to get in a couple of hours working on one of these last night (my reward for finishing my homework early!).

I love this pattern, but did find that the "Y" seam construction was not a lot of fun.  I am not really looking forward to assembling 23 more of these.  I guess I should look at it as an opportunity to practice my machine skills.  I have to confess that I had to resort to doing a couple of these seams by hand...the machine was getting the best of me and making me cranky - and thanks to my LeMoyne Star project I am a master at doing these by hand!