Paducah 2016 (Plus Late FNSI Update)

I completely missed posting after the FNSI even though I made significant progress over the weekend and actually had something to share! I took the pictures and was all ready to post early Monday morning and then that nasty little thing called work got in the way. I worked like a crazed lunatic from very early in the morning to early evening trying to get as much done as possible before heading out to Paducah for Quilt Week (which ended up being more like altered work hours than an actual vacation, but I'm getting used to that...).

Anyway, last weekend I caught up on my 365 blocks (with the exception of the center - that's still on the "to do" list). Since this photo was taken I have completed another week of blocks. The instructions for assembling the center dark border were published last week so now I am motivated to finish the center so I can start assembling some of these little guys!

I also completed a couple more of the alternate blocks for Allietare so I could see it all together.  It's kind of a weird color combination but I think it works.  Gray now seems like an odd choice with everything assembled - but it was a mystery and you never know!  I decided to forge ahead.

So, decision made I decided to go back to finish the steps I missed leading up to the final block assembly.  I finally finished all the Santa hats!

Paducah was lots of fun this year.  I continue to feel that the show is being diluted - not that there weren't some really incredible quits there, but there were a few that you just had to wonder about...and there was really nothing new and exciting for sale by the vendors either.  Part of the problem was that I am still raw from the pain of the sewing room clean-out and was not inclined to purchase anything that required me to find a place for it, but I just didn't see anything I had to have.

I went to a lecture and took two workshops from Carolyn Konig of Australia. Poor Carolyn's luggage didn't all make it to Paducah. One of her suitcases made a grand tour of the US, heading from Dulles to Hawaii and then back to Dulles and then who-knows-where. It was still missing in action when I left on Friday. She had a couple of quilts and some of her supplies in the case that stayed with her but was forced to give her lecture and teach her classes without her notes and visual aids.  She managed to do a great job in spite of the challenges, however, and she did at least have two of her fabulous quilts to share.

One of the workshops I took was "Oh George!", a hand-piecing class based on the above quilt. Carolyn's technique is a little different from the way I learned and I was a bit slow, but I did learn a few valuable tips for working with curves and pieces like this quilt.

I think I managed to get about three of these seams sewn during class.  Those curves are a lot trickier to line up than straight piecing! I don't think I would live long enough to get a quilt full of these completed. I may need to cross this one (and the ones like it) off my list!

Third Friday Already?

Wow - April is definitely flying by!  The Friday Night Sew In sneaked up on me!  I plan to catch up on this week's 365 Challenge blocks but then hope I can get some time to work on something else. My APQ UFO for this month is my Allietare mystery and I really would like to make some progress on it.  I need to get a few more blocks together so I can see if my gray can stay or if I will be starting that half over again. I really, really hope they can stay!

If you would like to join in the FNSI fun, hop on over to the Sugarlane Designs blog and add your name to the list!

Click here to sign up!

I will be back after the weekend with a progress update - and hopefully a decision on Allietare!

March Quilty 365 Count

I was so busy finally finishing the unpacking of the sewing room over the weekend that I completely missed posting my Quilty 365 update! I was so sick of trying to sew amidst the chaos - not to mention that I needed to finish going through all the boxes to get ready for our guild yard sale in a couple of weeks - so I was determined to keep going until I finished.  It took the entire weekend, but I did it!  Five full boxes plus a few over-sized items priced for the sale and everything else put away.

Here's the "before":

And here's the "after" (not much on the walls yet - I'm still trying to decide if I want to hang some of my Cardinals memorabilia or leave them blank):

My room is still bursting at the seams but at least for the moment is a lot better than it was. It's borderline ridiculous - I have enough fabric to last me the rest of my life. I have decided that I need to exercise a lot of self-control in Paducah this year!

Back to the Quilty 365 update.... I was doing SO well - I was ahead a day or two on my orange peels for most of the month.  And then I had to travel.  Usually I at least get a little sewing done while I travel, on the flights if at no other time. Unfortunately both legs of this trip were not only short but extremely turbulent. I wasn't able to sew on either flight and was tied up in the evenings with long dinners the rest of the time. I did get to enjoy dinner at the top of the Hancock building.Our waiter informed us that we needed to go up to the ladies' restroom and see the view - they claim it's the best restroom view in the US.  Given that most restrooms don't have a view, I wasn't really sure that bar was very high....but it was quite a view!  We took photos to share with the men in the group - apparently there were no windows in the men's room.

We had to go back up after dinner to capture a night shot.

So I ended the month with 26 blocks (yes, one is missing from the photo...but including it really messed with my OCD brain).

March 31 was the 91st day of the challenge, and my total stands at 83 blocks. I'm cheating a little counting the blocks I completed last year, but it gives me hope that I might actually make 365 this year. I'm on track so far for April with 5 blocks completed as of last night. I'm determined to hit the target at least once!

Easter Weekend Progress Report

I had a very busy weekend cooking, running errands and cooking...not to mention judging the family Easter egg coloring contest....but still managed to get a little sewing done. I guess I have to concede that I am officially behind on the 365 challenge now as I was not able to finish last week's blocks, but I managed to get four of them finished,

There are a couple that were assigned later in the week that look incredibly painful.  I'm hoping to get back on track next weekend because if I get too much further behind I will be overwhelmed!

While sewing the 365 blocks I got back to working on my leader-ender tumblers which actually made them more fun.  I finished my third row (57 tumblers) and got started on a fourth.

I have been spending my evenings working on my newest project, a Baltimore album quilt. In what might have been a moment of crazy....under the influence of incredibly inspirational applique at this year's Academy - my friends and I decided to embark on making an album quilt.  One each, not a group effort.  And a complete quilt, not just a few blocks. It has been so much fun so far - we are all comparing notes and progress and keeping each other motivated.  We are still on the first block so we have a long way to go, but I am so excited and inspired by this project!  Here's my first block so far (please excuse the wrinkles!):

I also spent some time prepping more orange peels to be sure I had plenty for my trip.

I had a very turbulent (and thankfully short) flight and have been busy both evenings I've been here so I haven't even opened my little bag.  I'm hoping to get at least a little sewing time tomorrow - I am so close to making my one a day goal this month!

Easter Weekend Sew-In

I'm hoping to wrap up work early today to allow a little time to get started on the Easter Weekend Sew-In. I'm not sure how much time I will be able to spend in the sewing room with family in town, Easter activities and a business trip beginning early Sunday afternoon, but I plan to do my best!  If you would like to sew along with the rest of us (or try to, anyway!) you can sign up on the Sugarlane Designs blog.

Sign up here!

I had a chance to visit the Bits 'n Pieces 2016 Fanfare of Quilts last weekend.  What a fantastic show! I could tell it was going to be a good one from the moment I walked in the door.  

Look at all the beautiful applique! This one was my absolute favorite:

The colors were absolutely beautiful and the applique was spectacular!

Once again I have a bunch of lousy pictures - I think it is time for a new iPhone... This was a very striking quilt (hard to tell in the washed-out photo):

Here are a couple more excellent examples of the appliqued quilts on display:

The show was very inspiring!  One of these days I will have an applique quilt in a show...I have a solid start on about 50 of them. I just have to live long enough!

365 Challenge Dilemma

I've been plugging along with the blocks for the 365 challenge and have been able to keep up for the most part. I'm not sure why I can't get a decent picture - the colors don't come across correctly on the iPhone - but here is most of my progress since I last posted them.  There are a couple more that I finished after this was taken. 

Here's my dilemma, though - I spend almost all of my machine time trying to keep up with these. Thankfully they are assigned in a level of difficulty progression by technique so there are usually a couple of quick ones in the mix each week, but they still require a lot of time. My interest is starting to wane. But given that I have 72 blocks completed I feel a little trapped!  I could put them all into a small quilt but where's the fun in that?? I was just about ready to cry uncle last week and stop trying but then spread these all out on the floor and felt like I had to keep going. Given I feel this way now I'm not sure I'm going to last 9 more months!

I stopped working on 365 blocks long enough to prep a bunch more orange peels. As of last night I am caught up for this month so far - 16 peels completed by the 16th!

I should know better than to have committed to two blocks per day between these two projects. What was I thinking?!?

February Wrap-up

February was a busy travel month for me!  Applique Academy in Dallas at the beginning, New York for work in the middle, and a quick trip to Kansas City at the end. My daughter and I attended the Lenexa hook-in this past Saturday. I hadn't hooked a single loop since the beginning of December so it felt good to get back to it.

This was the 20th year for the hook-in and the group that works with Marilyn Schmidt to organize it every year had a few surprises in store for her. They set up a surprise display of some of her rugs including the family history one pictured below. I should have grabbed a better picture of the detail - this was just something I snapped when everyone was taking pictures of her posed by it.  It is amazing!

Amazingly enough, I didn't buy a single thing. I was very, very tempted by Anita's braid rug.  She had a couple copies of the pattern with her. She's making quick progress on the one she is hooking and it looks very cool!  We were sitting close to her booth so the pattern was calling my name all day. I was just about to give in to temptation and purchase it when someone else bought the last one. Such a relief! Anita offered to order another one for me but I regained my self control and decided to pass...for now.

All of my travel has been good for my orange peel project!  I managed to finish 22 this month.  Not quite one per day but a strong showing for the month.  

I decided to count my progress so far....I have 57 finished peels. I thought I had a few more than that, but it is definitely progress! I figured out that I need 900 peels to make a queen-sized quilt (97.5" square).  So at a pace of 20 per month we're talking 3.5 more years just to get to the point of assembling the top. Sigh!