2015 TAS Challenge

We were planning to kick off our local TAS chapter's 2015 challenge last Saturday but the weather had other plans. Our challenge this year is to each choose a project we want to make progress on this year and commit to work on it each month and share progress. It was really tough to decide what project to choose - I have so many in progress (and of course would like to work on them all!) and there is a new project I have been dying to start - more on that in a minute. After considerable deliberation I decided to choose my blocks from my classes at Baltimore on the Prairie last year. Each year when I get home from the conference I promise myself that I will finish at least one of the projects and take it back for show & tell the following year. I've yet to finish a single class project.  Sad, isn't it? So I am thinking this year will be my year - I should be able to complete at least one of these blocks by September!

Unfortunately they aren't very far along - most of that is glued in place. Both blocks were from workshops with Sue Garmin and she believes in glue basting as much of the block as possible before beginning to stitch. The top block is part of a four-block wall hanging (all the same block). Note that I am not committing to getting all four completed, just the one.  The bottom block is the first pattern from a new Baltimore album pattern Sue is designing.  I will be taking workshops on two other blocks from this quilt in September.

Back to the new project I've been wanting to start...  It all started with a picture on Facebook.  This quilt, done in mostly (perhaps all?) Jo Morton fabrics with no fabric repeated more than three times really spoke to me. I love it!

I'm not planning to set any limits on fabric repetition, particularly for the backgrounds, but I am going to commit to doing it all from stash. I prepped about 10 orange peels last week to get things started.

I'm using the starch prep method for these since placement is critical.  I cut my own template out of heat-resistant plastic but always have a tough time getting them exactly right and perfectly smooth, so this week I contacted Brandi's to see if they could make what I needed. Three days later a box of perfectly-cut mylar templates appeared in my mailbox. That guy is awesome!  I can't wait to prep more - these will be great for travel.

Speaking of travel, I learned the hard way that it is impossible to work on a large applique project on a completely full 737.  I had started working on my house quilt again at a recent day retreat I attended and was so excited that I was making progress on it that I decided to take it along with me on a business trip.  I managed to sew a couple of leaves down on the way down to Tampa (also a full flight, but I had a window seat), but found it impossible to stitch while sitting in an aisle seat on the way back. I will not be trying that again!  I have been making progress nonetheless and hope to be ready to put borders on within the next month or so.

I hope to get a lot of sewing done this weekend.  I finally picked up my quilts that I sent to the quilter last July so I have a lot of binding to sew on, and I have to get the borders on my LeMoyne Star and piece or purchase a backing so that I can get it to the quilter. Looks like I am going to be stitching a lot of binding before the quilt show!

 

Not Much Getting Accomplished Here

It's a bit sad that I follow up a post about an incredibly productive retreat with one that sadly shows almost no progress on any projects, but I have a pretty perfect excuse.  Her name is Belle and she came to live with us exactly one month ago today.  She is the sweetest and most loving puppy!

This picture was actually taken a couple of weeks ago and I think she's grown an inch or two since then.  She's going to be a big girl!  She's an incredibly calm, well-behaved little girl. I find myself spending all of my time playing with her instead of getting anything done. Her big brother requires a little extra attention, too.  He's still trying to get used to having to share me. I'm hoping he comes around - he needs a playmate!

I attended the new Kathy Dunnigan Applique Academy a couple of weeks ago. It was a wonderful event and while there weren't all that many participants from TESAA it seemed like a very natural transition and felt like home. There was a very nice tribute to Elly Sienkiewicz that featured some gorgeous quilts.  The following picture of Elly was borrowed from Cynthia Collier's Facebook post since I was unable to get anything that didn't include a bunch of backs of heads...

My conference workshop was taught by Evelyn Crovo-Hall. We were working on a Baltimore-style beehive block that is supposed to look like this:

 

I managed to finish a couple of stems, a couple of leaves and part of the beehive during the class. Preparing the edges of the little pieces was extremely tedious and didn't really hold my attention. Add in a couple of work meetings I had to attend and I was the slowest kid in the class.  I made sure to stand at the back when we did the show and tell at the closing dinner.

I have been trying to get caught up with an online crazy quilting class I am participating in (trying to, anyway).  I finally pieced my block yesterday.

In retrospect I think I needed to switch fabrics 2 and 4 (the tan with scribbles and the light one that you can't see the print on).  I really don't have the time or desire to do it over again...I want to get started on the stitching.  I am hoping the instructor will let me move forward even though my contrast isn't all that great.  I will submit it today and see how it goes.

One other small thing I did manage to finish last week was the stitching on the first block of my Sunflower Gatherings BOW.  I also made progress on block two - I hope to finish it this week,

My goal is to have this top pieced before the new BOW starts at the end of May. Perhaps not realistic, but a girl can dream!

Most Productive Retreat Ever!

I'm a little slow with this post - my retreat is really a distant memory after the crazy four day, 60-hour work week that followed it...  The weekend before last I went on a four-day quilting retreat with friends.  It was probably the most productive retreat I have ever had!  I took along multiple projects - a couple of which I never touched - but I did manage to finish one top and nearly finished another.  Both are on my top twelve UFO list so I am off to a strong start for the year.

I originally wasn't in love with the teal cornerstones in the Grand Illusion mystery quilt setting and had started using black instead.  Then a very creative quilter posted a slight variation of the pattern on the Quiltville Facebook page and my mind was changed - the simple addition of a teal inner border completely pulled it together!  She also added a couple of other 2" borders that increased the size to around 96" square which worked better for me.  So, following her lead, here's what I ended up with:

I absolutely LOVE it!  I am very happy with how it turned out, crazy bright colors and all.  I decided that I will use some black batik that I have on hand for backing. Now I just need to find a quilter....

After that top was complete, I moved on to my LeMoyne Stars. I had ordered a couple of pieces of Japanese taupe fabrics from Homestead Hearth as possible sashing and luckily one of them worked out well.  The blocks were a bear to work with!  I have definitely learned an important lesson about hand piecing - cut the outer seam allowances really large!  I will also pay better attention to where the bias falls next time.  After all of the handling in piecing the outer edges were a little off-square and required a lot of finessing to get right.  By the time I got the center together I was too exhausted to deal with the outer borders. It took the better part of two days to get it to this point:

I am very happy with how it is turning out!  I have two more borders to add - a 2" blue one (the same fabric as the sashing) and a wide (6") one of background fabric - and then it will be ready for quilting.

This past weekend was our annual Wool Club Camp at Nola's.  I didn't accomplish much - it was very crowded and just not conducive to working on my giant rug.  I also think I was too exhausted from the week and too distracted by a rescue puppy I fell in love with on Facebook (she's still available and I am trying to control the impulse to call about her....) to do much hooking.  Here's a peek at where it stands currently:

I still have quite a way to go, but I am making progress. I also made some progress on a couple of other projects this week, one which is on my UFO list and one that is not.  I made a bit of progress on the second diamond wedge for my Rising Sun while flying to and from New York this week - it wasn't picture-worthy.  Over the weekend I pulled out a project that has accompanied me to several retreats but returned home untouched - My Garden Album.  I did all of the scrappy cutting for the sashing blocks and even started piecing them.  

At this point they are just a messy pile next to the sewing machine, but it's a start!  Considering I have had all of the applique blocks finished since 2010 or so it's about time to get this thing together.

All things considered, I feel like I am off to a strong start for the year! There are about three new projects calling my name but I have resisted temptation thus far...  And then there's that puppy...Not sure how long I can stay strong!

Slow Sunday Stitching - Baskets

I haven't had a lot of time for slow stitching this week as I have been pushing to finish my Grand Illusion Mystery (which still isn't finished, by the way!).  This week I pulled my baskets out from the depths of the UFO pile and, after checking to verify I could still find the fabrics I was using - there was a brief moment of panic involved, but I found them - I started stitching little basket again. I managed to finish two:

This brings my total to 23.  I was convinced I was in the 30s when I sat them aside.  I wish I could say there might be more around here somewhere, but I am pretty sure this is it.

I am not nearly as far along as I thought....  I think I need over 250 for the quilt.  This project is definitely slow... I just have to finish before I stop liking the fabrics!

See what other slow stitchers are doing on Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching link-up.

2015 UFO List

It's that time of year again - that time where I set a bunch of goals that I don't achieve. I've never really been into resolutions, but I am a proponent of setting goals, even if they are a stretch. I actually made pretty decent progress on my 2014 plan to reduce my backlog of UFOs. A couple of quilts I started in 2012 are currently at the quilter (they've been there since June!), a couple more are much farther along than they were at the beginning of the year, and I made a decision to part ways with a bunch of older projects I am no longer interested in. This year I have been inspired to create a "Top 12" UFO list by a blogger I found through Bonnie Hunter's Monday Mystery Link-up.  I'm not promising that these will be the only projects I work on, and I am certainly not committing to not starting anything new (I already know of at least two projects I will start this year!), my goal is to make significant progress on the projects on this list.

1. Hunter's Star - easy one; just needs to be bound and labeled when it returns from the quilter 

2. Easy Street - another one that just needs to be bound and labeled when it comes home

3. Celtic Solstice - top finished; need to purchase backing and find a quilter 

4. LeMoyne Star - sashing fabric ordered; hoping to start assembling soon (this won't be the final layout...when I finally got the dog to get up off of the blocks I saw that I had two of the same blocks right next to each other) 

5. Grand Illusion

6. Sunflower Gatherings

7. Baskets - I am dying to get back to these...I love them!

8. Sister's Choice

9. Rising Sun

10. Prairie Peony

11. Blessings Quilt - another project I completely love and want to get back to

12. Tree Skirt BOM - mainly because I desperately need to replace the sorry excuse for a skirt that I have been using for 25+ years

My Memory Bouquet project was a runner up for the list - I finished two blocks over the holidays. We are doing nine blocks of this one as a BOM for our quilt guild. I have a feeling that after I have finished the nine this one will sit for a while.

On the rug hooking front, my goals are simply to finish Stacey's Floral Runner (the gigantic rug I am currently working on) for the April 25 rug show and then to finish Grandmother's Garden (another gigantic rug) before my November workshop with Sally Kallin.

Here's to a very productive 2015!

Grand Illusion Reveal

The solution to the Grand Illusion Mystery was revealed at midnight EST on New Year's Eve and it appears that some dedicated participants started sewing right away - I was amazed to see completed tops on Facebook when I woke up New Year's Day!  Many other finishes have been posted since then - I am amazed!  I wasn't sure how I felt about the layout at first...when I assembled some of my pieces to look at how my version came together I was not loving it. My teals and greens really don't play well together!  I auditioned a couple of other colors for the cornerstones (black and yellow) and decided black worked best. The teal just wouldn't work that close to my greens.

I managed to finish various parts of the top but am nowhere near having it all together.  All of my center and sashing blocks are assembled, and I put together part of one row just to see what it looked like.    

It is definitely bright! Blinding, perhaps.... But the more I looked at it laying on the floor of the sewing room, the more I liked it.  It is certainly different from anything else I have done!  I'm back to work today so progress will be much slower, but I hope to keep plugging away at the rows and have the top together in the next couple of weeks.

The Monday Link-up on Bonnie's blog is already full of finished tops - people amaze me!  It's fun to see how  the alternate colorways came together and how different they all look!

Grand Illusion Week Five

I am incredibly excited to report that not only did I finish this week's step, but I also managed to complete steps one through four this week! This is the first time in the four years I have been participating in Bonnie's mystery quilts that I have actually been caught up!

I am enjoying Bonnie's posts about the Grand Hotel. I have no memory of the decor from my visit there (I think I was four years old at the time) or from watching "Somewhere in Time" a million times when it was on HBO back in the day. I find the colors amusing...and charmingly tacky!  I am anxious to see how all of these pieces come together. They certainly don't look like they belong in the same quilt! I have complete faith in Bonnie, however, and know that it will turn out awesome!

It seems that most everyone is having great success at keeping up with the mystery this year - check out the Monday link-up on Bonnie's blog to see the fantastic progress!