Trying to Focus: January 2023 OMG

For whatever reason, the start of a new year always tempts me to start new projects. Temptation comes at me from all angles - new quilt-alongs from my favorite designers, challenges initiated in my quilting groups, my annual January rug camp, and even magazines. I usually go for months - years even - without seeing a single project in a magazine that tempts me, but while trying to catch up on reading over the holidays I found three projects I am dying to start, two of which are hand-pieced. I am trying hard to resist temptation but know I will cave eventually. So my goal for January is to make significant progress on a couple of aging projects even if I do start something new.

On the quilting side, I plan to focus on my orange peels.  I participated in a Facebook challenge to stitch one per day from Feb 2022- Jan 2023. Most months I did pretty well, with the exception of December when I spent all my free time stitching binding.  I am on track so far for January. Unfortunately the project I am working on requires 900 orange peels, so even with the 150 or so I had before I started the one-a-day I am only half way finished.  So my goal for January is to step up the pace - aiming for 50 this month - and to start piecing the ones that I have finished into blocks.

On the rug hooking side, I started my Antique Floral Basket rug back in May 2019.  I absolutely love this rug but it is large, I am hooking it with a small cut, and it is a bit tedious figuring out what to put where. My goal for this month is to make significant progress on it while at Eureka Springs.  I would love to finish hooking it, but after taking it off the frame to take a picture I realize that I have a lot farther to go than I thought!

I'm linking up with Elm Street Quilts' One Monthly Goal again this year to try to keep myself on track.  I just hope that I don't fall in love with any other new projects while checking out what everyone else is working on! 

2022 'Done & Dusted'

Wow - I only managed to do two posts last year!  I took so many photos with the intention of posting but just never got around to it. I did manage to make a fair amount of progress on a number of projects last year, and even finished a couple. Here's what I've been up to since my last post... 

In September, the weekend following Baltimore on the Prairie, I headed back across Missouri to attend the ATHA Biennial in Kansas City, KS.  It was a quick trip, but I did attend a workshop with Keith Kemmer on coverlet rugs.  It was a fantastic class and the project was so much fun to hook I had to keep going on it when I got home. I haven’t bound it yet but love how it turned out.

Early in the year I had committed to participate in the Primitive Gatherings Red & White Quilt Show. Of course I didn’t get around to starting my project until way too close to the deadline, so I had to come up with something that could be accomplished relatively quickly. I finished stitching the binding on this one the last possible day I could mail it to meet the deadline.  I named this one "Nine Squared" (so imaginative, I know!).

I was thrilled to be able to head up to Primitive Gatherings for the second annual "Naughty or Nice" retreat in December and was able to see the show in person.  My quilt was hanging from the ceiling of The Gathering.  It was so much fun to sew while immersed in all the beautiful red and white quilts! This was the view from my table (with my quilt in the distance).

I had been trying to come up with an idea for a quilt for my granddaughter for quite a while.  Unlike her older brother, she never shows much interest in anything in particular - she basically just plays with whatever he is playing with.  When I saw this quilt kit at Itch'n to be Stitch'n I knew it was perfect for her, and decided it would make a great Christmas gift accompanied by a stuffed fox and a fox storybook. Of course, I made this decision the first weekend of December, so I had to sew like a maniac to get it pieced, quilted and bound.  She really seemed to like it.

And then I completely lost my mind and decided that I should finish this project from the Naughty or Nice retreat for my grandson. I finished stitching the binding Christmas Eve morning.  I found an adorable stuffed snowman and a couple of snowman story books to go with it. He is obsessed with snowmen and has asked for a snowman birthday party for the second year in a row, so it was perfect for him.


I did spend a little time at retreat working on my Letters to Santa quilt.  These words are really fun to make!  Here's where I got to this year.  I can't work on Christmas projects after the holidays so this one will be packed away and pulled out again around November.

Last, but not least, is the quilting project I want to focus on finishing first in 2023.  This is Stars All Around, the 2022 summer pieced project from Primitive Gatherings.  The assembly is very simple but complicated at the same time - it's like assembling a puzzle and you have to be very careful to keep all the pieces in the right places. Below is the center.  I am working on the outer blocks now.


I don't have a picture of the rug I am focused on finishing first this year.  It's the Antique Basket pattern I started at Janice's several years ago.  It's a large rug and I am hooking it in a six cut so progress is slow, but I am hoping I can make a serious dent in it when I head to Eureka Springs later this month.

I have at least three (maybe four) new projects I want to start this month. I should be spending my time cleaning and organizing my sewing room as I had originally planned to do this week, but starting a new project sounds a lot more fun. I'm heading there now and will see if temptation or self-discipline wins. Happy New Year!

Catching Up (Again)!

I’m not sure where the time goes - seems like this year has flown by!  I keep snapping photos of projects with the intention of posting but then weeks go by and a post never seems to materialize. I have lots of catching up to do!

Earlier this year (Easter Sunday, to be exact) I finished The Village quilt.  It was gifted to a wonderful friend that hosted my daughter for four months while she completed her last optometry rotation in Kansas City.  It was such a fun quilt to make - I think I might have to make another one for me one of these days.

I finally finished my 2021 Quiltville Mystery top at a retreat in July.  I decided to go with an alternative setting I borrowed from a post I saw on Facebook since I wasn't a huge fan of Bonnie's final layout. My color choices turned out to be a bit odd when all together, but I’m okay with it. I think I will let this obe be my last - I don’t intend to get sucked into the mystery fervor this year.  I just have too many other things I’d rather work on!

I will save my latest adventures in rug hooking for another post to avoid this one getting insanely long. My most recent quilt-related trip was to Primitive Gatherings, a.k.a. Quilter’s Heaven.  I managed to get quite a bit accomplished while there.  I worked on my Oh Say Can You Sew, completing steps two and three, and then worked a bit on my Stars All Around summer block project.

I also got started on Moda’s Letters to Santa stitch-along. These words are so fun to make but eat up considerably more fabric than I expected.  I had to do a little web-surfing and order more so “Christmas” can match “Merry”. The fabric arrived over the weekend and is starched and ready to go if I get any sewing time this weekend.

That’s enough for this time around. I am determined to not let another six months lapse before my next post!

December 2021 Wrap-up

Where did 2021 go?  I can’t believe it’s already 2022.  It’s crazy how a pandemic can cause time to both drag and speed by simultaneously. The past year was crazy busy between work, resuming many in-person events, and having the opportunity (too many opportunities) to participate in workshops and programs via Zoom.  I definitely need to exercise more self control when it comes to signing up for online activities this year!

I have a lot of catching up to do - I actually made a lot of progress on various projects last year - but to keep this post from getting too far out of hand I will limit my update to December activities.  I started the month with back-to-back retreats which gave me time to put together a St. Louis Blues t-shirt quilt for my future son-in-law and to finish assembling the Christmas tree lap quilt I started at the end of 2020.

I finished stitching the binding on this one around 10 PM on the 23rd, just in time to get it wrapped and under the tree for our celebration on Christmas Eve.  I’m happy to report that he seemed to really like it!

I still need to quilt this one, but with the holidays over it may sit until next year.  I have a tough time working on Christmas projects outside of December.

My second December retreat was Primitive Gatherings’ Naughty & Nice event.  It was my second trip to The Gathering - the first was an impromptu decision to go for the first week they were officially open in August after hearing (to my amazement) that they had lots of openings.  I couldn’t resist going back when I heard that Lisa was planning to have the place decorated with red & white quilts.  It was a wonderful event!  The Gathering (which is an awesome retreat facility) was gorgeous!

We worked on several fun projects, including  a gingham quilt that I loved so much I bought it in three colors. I finished a queen-sized version of the black & white while there and quilted it over the Christmas break.  

We also took a tour of a small craft cheese factory, a fantastic antique/home dec shop, and of Lisa’s house.  It was a great week and I can’t wait to return!

I’m working on my goals for 2022 and may try to join the PhD in 2022. I made great progress on my 2021 list, but have quite the backlog of tops that need quilted and quilts that need bound.  All will be on my list for this year!

Making Some Progress, Learning New Things

I keep taking pictures with the intention of posting but then never seem to get around to actually doing it... My schedule has been crazy busy since life has started retuning to normal. Between Zoom commitments and traveling I barely have time to sew!  

I inadvertently learned new things about my Statler when quilting Take It Easy.  I had been wanting to try the orange peel pattern and the first row stitched out beautifully and super fast (mostly thanks to the simple piecing).  I thought I was going to have the quilt finished in no time and might even load another one that weekend.  I was SO wrong!  I started the second row and the design was way off - the points were misaligned by 1/4" or more. I caught it quickly, ripped out the stitching, and tried relocating the design to force the pattern to align. Obviously that wasn't the answer! I ripped again, tried and failed again, ripped stitches a third time, and then turned to Facebook for help.  Turns out you have to redraw boundaries and adjust the pattern for each row to align geometrics. I watched a quick video tutorial and was able to successfully complete the quilting. It was a frustrating process but I am happy to have learned something new! 

I've been plugging along on my Square Deal blocks.  I think I have three sets left after the current one is finished.  I would really like to get this top completed during my next retreat.

I have attended a couple of virtual events recently.  One, the Penn Dry Goods Market, I will talk about in a separate post as it was the inspiration for a new rug I started last week.  The other was the Vermont Virtual Quilt Festival.  I took three classes, one of which was the Flowering Snowball workshop taught by Irene Blanck. It was a great workshop although my hotel sewing setup wasn't ideal for piecing curves. 


I finished three blocks during class.  I was working with a little mini-iron so these are still in need of a good pressing.  They were so fun to make!  I want to get back to this project once I finish up Square Deal.  Fingers crossed I am really productive on my next retreat!

Building Villages and Collecting New (Old) Quilts

When the pandemic lockdowns first started, Moda and Miss Rosie's Quilt Company shared The Village pattern as a free download. I've always loved house quilts, and have been tempted more than once to try the one with 365 tiny hand-pieced houses, so this one definitely caught my attention. The houses are so quick and easy to make!  Of course, I started off strong and made about 20 of them and then was distracted by other projects and set them aside.  My friend Pat recently finished her version of the quilt, though, and it turned out so stinking adorable that I decided I needed to get back to mine.  I have "built" quite a few houses over the past month and my total is now around 100, so only about 32 left to go before I can assemble the top.  My goal for this month is to finish all of the houses and then to work on setting the blocks in May.

I also managed to make a start on my TAS challenge.  My first block is from this quilt that I acquired fairly recently:

Here's a close-up of one block.  As I started to trace the shapes to create the pattern I noticed that no two blocks were the same - the placement of the pieces varies a bit from block to block, and the number of berries came down to whatever fit the space. You would never notice to look at the quilt overall. The quilting is absolutely phenomenal!

I'm not sure if this first block will be the center of my project or one of the surrounding blocks - it all depends on what other blocks I end up doing. My "cheddar" looks far more yellow and not at all close to the original in this photo, but they are in reality a bit closer in color.  I struggled to find a yellow or orange that was similar in color. The block is around 20" square.

I'm not sure what block I will work on next - that will be a project for next weekend.  It may be one of my corner cross sprays assuming my latest purchase arrives on Friday as projected.  I had to find a quilt to add to my collection to satisfy the challenge requirements as I didn't really have any with cross sprays.  Here's the one that is making its way here - it gives me a few options for those corners!

I also managed to make a little progress on my Huguenot blocks.  I am still a block behind, but hope to make some headway on that this week.  Here are the last two blocks I finished:

They are really the same fabrics - poor photography is to blame for the differences. This week I will be participating in an applique workshop with Veronique Diligent of Australia.  I am really looking forward to meeting her and learning her techniques.  One more project to add to my list!

Starting New Projects

While I have been doing fairly well at avoiding starting new projects this year, in spite of  accumulating them (patterns and fabric) at a fairly rapid rate, I can no longer resist temptation.  A couple of new challenges/stitch-alongs have recently started and I am excited to play along, so my goal this month is  to develop plans and get started on both.  

The first is a challenge for my local TAS chapter. I was originally planning to look for an orphaned workshop project to use as my center/theme block and spent an afternoon digging through a drawer of workshop projects.  I had narrowed it down to a couple of options, but upon further consideration decided to go a different direction and instead design this project from quilts in my collection.  Here's the suggested layout:

My goal for this weekend is to figure out my center block.  I have acquired a couple of new quilts in the past week that definitely have to be included.  One of them arrived yesterday and it is absolutely gorgeous!

The other group project/stitch-along I am planning to get involved in is based on the alphabet.  The guidelines are fairly open, and I think many will likely be stitching actual letters, but I am leaning toward a floral theme.  The goal is one letter per month - I can keep up with that, right? So my goal for this month is to design my "A" block - I'm thinking an amaryllis, anemone, aster or azalea.  

I missed my opportunity to link up with Elm Street Quilts OMG this month, so my one monthly goal for March will be to remember to post in time to link up in April!