February OMG

I've had a tough time deciding what to focus on for February since there are so many things that I want to work on! I do want to finish hooking my Fraktur Floral rug this month and get it ready to bind, but was thinking that my OMG choice should be something that is a little farther from the finish line. So in the end I decided that I need to get busy on my Frolic! project to clear away all the piles of loose pieces that have accumulated on my treadle table (sadly because every other surface in my sewing room is covered with other things...).  My goal for the month is to get the top assembled. 

I need to figure out what to do with the borders to make it a little bit larger.  I haven't done the math but it looks like increasing the number of blocks would make it too big. The pattern finishes at 82" square but I prefer to finish somewhere in the 90" to 96" range. I like what @mindyquilts did with her HST borders, making them into flying geese:

I've seen several finished tops with a plain outer border added which would be the easiest way to go. And then there's this one from @justlikegreatauntjulie.  It turned out great but I am definitely not this ambitious!

Perhaps the geese arrangement with a plain outer border (4") would do the trick for me?

I'm linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal for February.  My other goal for this month will be to post progress before the finish party ends...

Whirlwind Month!

The past few weeks have been just short of insane!  I definitely took a couple of tiny steps forward and a few huge leaps backwards as far as projects are concerned.  I managed to make a bit of progress on the last couple of steps of Frolic! before leaving town for a rug hooking retreat. I am working steps 7 & 8 simultaneously, trying hard to keep track of all the sets (this is definitely a time when chain piecing is NOT my friend).  The reveal was posted while I was away so I hope to have time to assemble a couple of blocks soon to see if all of these colors look cohesive in the final product.  They are looking like a bit of a hot mess right now....

And then there's my OMG goal - Maggie Macguire.  A complete FAIL!  I had set a target of getting 12 flowers done.  I do have more than 12 prepped, but I am slow at EPP and didn't have nearly as much time to work on them while traveling as I had hoped.  I only have 3 flowers to show for the month.



I had a fantastic time at the rug hooking retreat and made a lot of progress on my Fraktur Floral rug. I had been stuck on colors - the leaf colors completely died when I started adding background - so I was happy to be able to figure it out and move forward.  The retreat is attended by a great group of ladies and there are so many amazing rugs!  I will have to share some of my favorites from the rug show in a later post.



The dark green was exactly what this rug needed.  Looking at the picture now I think I will remove a bit of the dark that is surrounding that bubble on the upper left.  I am trying to bring just a little more of the dark into the top to balance the values...



So while I can report great progress on my rug (I actually filled in even more of the background since I took the photo), I offset my forward progress by purchasing two more patterns.  One I can sort of excuse as it is for a class later this year that I had previously committed to, but the other was completely new and not in my plans.

Then there were the new quilt project starts.  Irene Blanck will be returning to teach her new basket design in October this year.  She sent us the pattern for the center baskets in advance so we can get a head start.  I decided that I want to do mine in Japanese fabrics.  I completed two blocks and prepped a third. I also prepped my first two blocks for Afternoon Delight but didn't make any progress on getting them stitched.



Just three days after returning from rug hooking I was off to Ireland for work. I was busy with work all my waking hours there (other than dinner which was with my coworkers) so there was not much sight-seeing other than the rides to and from the sites.  Sadly the only photos I took were from the plane.



I did learn a bit more about Irish culture during the trip. Like the fact that they don't use much salt (at least not compared to the US) - they put the salt in the shaker with the fewest holes - and they have no idea what the corned beef is that Americans eat on St. Patrick's Day.  They have nothing like it there (which I think is brilliant because I can't stand it!). 

While I was traveling home a friend found an antique quilt on Marketplace that I felt needed to be added to my collection.  I picked it up in St. Louis on Saturday and it was much filthier than it looked in the pictures (to be fair, the description said it needed a good cleaning).  I set out to clean it, my first attempt at cleaning one myself (terrifying!!!).  I soaked it overnight in Retro Clean.  The water was disgusting!  I then washed it with a little detergent and spread it out to dry.  It has a rust stain that faded quite a bit but is still very visible - I may try to treat that next - but overall it came out great.  The binding is very worn and there are a couple of small tears in the outer red border but the quilting is amazing!  There is a small amount of sun fading on one motif.  Not sure how it was folded to only fade in one small area?



I hope that January will turn out to be my least productive month of 2020 and that February will be much better!  Now I just need to figure out what I want to focus on next month....

PHD in 2020

Continuing in the spirit of setting goals for the new year, I'm going to take a stab at joining Quilting Gail's PHD in 2020 challenge.  The challenge is choosing which 12 of my "PHDs" to include!  I have sooooo many UFOs (no way I'm counting!) and quite a few projects that I really want to start.  So, here we go:

1. Good Fortune (2018 Bonnie Hunter Mystery)

I'll start off easy - this one just needs to be loaded into the longarm, quilted, and bound.  Should be a no-brainer to get this one done.

2. Frolic! (2019 Bonnie Hunter Mystery)



Up until 2019 I had a fairly decent track record of finishing the previous year's mystery before starting a new one. I will try hard to get back on track and finish this one off before November when the next one is launched.

3. Afternoon Delight 

This is not mine - it's a picture borrowed from The Quilt Show (TQS) - but this is a pattern I have owned and wanted to work on for years. I purchased mine when I took my first class with Sue Garman. Now that TQS is doing it as their BOM for 2020, I am inspired to get mine started.  So far all I have done is take all the patterns out of their packages, put them in a binder, and selected some fabrics for it but I am considering that a start.  I will try very hard not to let this become a long-term addition to the UFO collection.

4. Maggie Macguire's Garden

Another recent start that I want to keep pushing forward this year. I have one of the many stars completed, and a second in progress. Still a long way to go on this one....

5. Dresden Star


All of the Dresdens are finished and just need to be appliqued onto backgrounds and assembled into a top.  I think I have one block completed so far.

6. Clamshells

While I recognize that I am getting way too ambitious with the handwork projects I am adding to my list, I really would love to get this quilt together. I need 12 of these panels to make a queen-sized quilt and so far have 4 completed and 1 in progress.  I have quite a few additional clamshells basted to prepare my next panel.

7.  Starlite Skies (Primitive Gatherings 2017 Pieced SBOW)

This one is ready for quilting, but will be my first foray into doing custom work.  I have a couple of tops I have purchsed on eBay that I plan to practice with, but I definitely want to try my hand at doing custom quilting in 2020.

8. Hazel's Diary


I have the center and one of the eight blocks completed with another one in progress. Six more blocks shouldn't be that tough to complete, right??

9. Star Penny Mat


I couldn't wait to get this one laid out, but once it was it ended up being set aside and (it was seriously fun to lay out!).  I just need to start stitching those pennies...

10. Triangle Gatherings

 

I have all of my blocks completed and actually started setting them but ran across another setting that I absolutely loved, so I plan to take apart what I have done (it isn't much) and start over with the different (and far more complicated) setting.

11. Circa 1880


I have 92 of these little blocks completed but need 564 for the pattern's version (roughly 76" square), more if I decide to go bigger. Still haven't decided yet.

12.  Square Deal (Primitive Gatherings 2019 Pieced SBOW)



Adding this one because I have made good progress on it (6 of 12 weeks' blocks completed) and really want to get another one of the SBOWs across the finish line before I start my 2020 collection.

I could go on...and on, and on... There are so many projects that I want to work on!  It will be interesting to see just how many of these I can push across the finish line. The first status update is set for Jan 15.  Will I have anything to show by then?  We shall see!

Welcome, 2020!

It’s hard to believe that my break has come to an end already!  I somehow didn’t manage to cross off very many items on my vacation “To Do” list.  The sewing room is still not organized, the pictures still aren’t hung in my office, and, other than making some progress on my Frolic! Mystery quilt I have very little to show for my time off.

I was very happy Tuesday morning when I found myself completely caught up on Frolic! - or so I thought.

I opened up Facebook and saw the “surprise” clue that Bonnie posted that morning.  Really?!?  That feeling of satisfaction lasted less than ten minutes.  So I was back at it on New Year’s Day, making flying geese.  I only managed to complete about a fourth of the new clue so far.  I will have to play catch-up this weekend.

As it is a new year, it is time for my annual attempt to set project goals and hold myself accountable. While I have not as of yet succeeded in meeting those goals, I haven't given up trying (yet).  I will start by linking up with Elm Street Quilts' One Monthly Goal.  While the obvious goal for January would be Frolic!, I figure I will be working on that anyway so I should choose something else that I want to move forward.  I finally received my first BOM shipment for Maggie Macguire's Garden and have finished my first flower:

I've made a start on a second, but I am slow at EPP.  I need to figure out how to pick up the pace a little.  My goal for January will be to finish at least a dozen flowers. 

The biggest challenge will be to avoid getting distracted by all the shiny new projects popping up everywhere.  I've seen at least three that have piqued my interest in the last two days....

Falling Behind

As usual, I’ve fallen behind on the mystery.  I’ve been busy with shopping, baking, wrapping, cooking (I feel like I’ve spent the better part of the last week in the kitchen) and then various family festivities and haven’t had much time in the sewing room.  My vacation time is winding down too quickly -  I have so many things I want to do! I finished up step three today and started cutting for step five.  I figure I will stick with the half square triangles while I’m on a roll and then go back and catch up on step four.

I finally finished my monster log cabin quilt right before Christmas.  I thought I finished it the week before but then laid it out for a picture and discovered a block turned the wrong way.  I had to remove the binding, pick out the quilting, rip the seams, turn the block and appliqué it back in place, re-quilt the spot, and reattach the binding. Luckily it was on an edge or I’m not sure I could have done it.  I had to repair the quilting on my regular machine which was no easy task given the weight and size of that beast.  So the quilting is a little wonky but it’s unlikely anyone could find it without knowing it is there.

I’ve acquired a couple more antique quilts in recent months and am looking forward to receiving my belated Christmas gift of a display ladder from my daughter.  It’s supposed to arrive in a couple of weeks and I am really excited about displaying more of my quilts out where I can see them often.  It seems a shame to have them all hidden away in the basement.

I had fun sharing a few of them at our last TAS meeting.

I will be back in the sewing room tomorrow, hopefully getting caught up on mystery clues and thinking about what new projects I am going to start in the new year - there are so many that are calling my name!

Frolic! Week Two

I love it that the first two clues of this year’s mystery have been easy!  I didn’t have a lot of time to spend in the sewing room this weekend but still managed to complete the second clue. It doesn't make for a very exciting picture....

And this picture didn't work well at all, but I ran across this pattern when I stopped by Nola's over the weekend for help with another rug.  I couldn't resist - it's so cute!  I want to finish a couple of other rugs in progress before I start any others, but I'm adding this one to my list for 2020.

I'm anxiously awaiting the start of a new BOM, Maggie Macguire's Garden, through Homestead Hearth. Here's the picture of the quilt from their website:

I stumbled across the pattern when a friend from Australia posted it on Facebook, and the shop was able to connect with the designer and get it set up as a monthly program. I can't wait to get started on it!

Frolic Time!

I know we won’t be doing the link-up this year but figured I would post my Quiltville mystery quilt progress anyway since it gives me a reason to post (I haven’t been getting much accomplished lately).  In spite of a late start due to holiday festivities, I did manage to finish all of step one of this year’s mystery, Frolic.

I decided I should break out and actually use my Accuquilt this year.  I figured out how many feet of strips I would need of each color, pressed all my fabrics, and ran them through the cutter. It was only when I started sewing the first two strips together that I realized I had somehow cut neutral instead of purple (my substitute for the raspberry).  So it was back to the cutter for more strips.... hopefully all those neutral strips can be used somewhere else!

Once I had the correct fabrics these little four patches went pretty quickly.  I’m using several pieces from a  Laundry Basket fat quarter bundle for my blues so there are going to be lots of polka dots in this one.  


I worked on binding my monster quilt this evening - I’ve been working on it every night for a couple of weeks - and finally turned the second corner.  I might even get all 39 feet of binding finished by Christmas!

Until next week.....