So Many Great Things in the Works!

So many of the organized creative folks out in blog land are making plans for great activities in 2012!  I mentioned signing up for "Take a Stitch Tuesday" in my last post. Then I signed up for the Free Motion Quilting Challenge (see the button to the right). I really want to learn free motion quilting and figure a monthly challenge might just inspire me to practice a bit. Now, as a result of signing up for TAST, I have stumbled across a crazy quilt block challenge that I am oh-so-tempted to sign up for. What better way to practice those TAST stitches, right?  I haven't bit the bullet yet, but I have added the blog to my favorites and will think on it a bit longer - who knows what I might come across in the next couple of weeks! The internet is awesome, isn't it?!?

Last Day

I managed to spend a little bit of my last day of the holiday break in the sewing room. I almost finished another NYB block but when I went to square it up I managed to cut one side 1/4" short so I will have to replace the background piece. I really wanted to fix it right away but the family was starting to make noise about needing dinner so I had to leave it for another time/

I did finish my second Stars and Sprigs block, however:

I love the colors in these blocks, although I can't say that all of the Kaffe fabrics are the best for applique.  They aren't bad, but some are more loosely woven than I prefer to work with. I realized when I was prepping this block that I need two of each, so I saved the freezer paper from this one and will make it again in different colors next.

Not that I need more to do, but I read about a new free online learning opportunity for next year that I couldn't resist signing up for.  It's called "Take a Stitch Tuesday" or TAST.  I've had Sharon B's online stitch directory saved to my favorites for a very long time - she is an embroidery master.  I need to work on my embroidery skills and am looking forward to playing along.  The link to sign up is http://www.pintangle.com/journal/2011/11/26/the-big-list-of-2012-tast-challengers.html.  There are loads of people participating.  I can't wait to get started!

A Few Days Off

A few days off over the holidays has meant a little extra time in the sewing room. I probably should have used the time more effectively - picked a project and spent all my sewing time making progress on it - but where's the fun in that? So instead I spent the time on lots of different things and made little bits of progress on all of them.  I started my second block for Stars and Sprigs (still in progress) and stitched the first applique block for my Farmhouse quilt.

I also started the new Dear Jane I have been planning ever since seeing the photo of the one done in Kaffe fabrics...

I started with applique blocks, of course.  There aren't nearly as many as I remember - so many pieced blocks!  I would love to hand piece them but probably should stick with paper piecing so that I actually get at least a few of them done.

I also had a blast digging out an old project I started back when I first began quilting. I have always loved New York Beauty quilts, especially the bright ones.  I started a NYB quilt in a class at The Quilted Fox. I don't think I had much fabric at the time (boy, how that has changed!) so I purchased all kinds of brights to use for this project. I was shocked at how much fabric I found in those boxes!  My original thought was to sort it into my stash, but there is clearly not enough room in my drawers to accomodate it all.  I'll have to deal with what to do with it all later... In the meantime, I decided to get back to working on the quilt.  It took me a little while to get back into the swing of the paper piecing and curves, but I managed to knock out one block on Thanksgiving.

I now have 13 of the 30 the pattern calls for - still lots of work to do there, too. 

Other projects I worked on this week include my Runaway quilt (stitching binding) and the Ha Ha Tonka rug. I am the poster child for quilter's ADD!

TGIF!

Thank goodness it's FINISHED, that is!  I finally finished my Crazy Horse rug.  I bound it while watching several World Series games and put the last stitches in the binding tape in the last inning of game seven.  I won't let anyone look at those stitches up close - I was a bit too wound up to actually sew a decent stitch!

I really like the finished rug, and I am thrilled to be able to move on to something new. Now I just have to decide which UFO I want to finish next!

New Projects

My quilter's ADD has taken over once again and I have started a couple of new projects.  I am so excited that I finally have my first Stars & Sprigs block done!  There are many, many still to make - I think 48 applique and 49 pieced blocks and a very busy appliqued border, but it's great to finally start it after collecting fabrics for over a year!  I picked up a lot of the fabrics at Houston last year.

I've also made a start on my house blocks.  They don't photograph all that well, but I really like how they are turning out so far.  There are only 12 of these blocks, but plenty of applique to add once the quilt is pieced.



I plan to spend a lot of time in the sewing room this weekend. My goal is to get the binding on my Runaway Mystery quilt, prep another Stars & Sprigs block, and piece the rest of my houses. We'll see how it goes!



Calhoun County Quilt Tour

I've heard about the Calhoun County Quilt Tour for a number of years but until last Friday have never had a chance to check it out.  The weather was beautiful and the leaves are slowly getting their fall colors - it was a perfect day for a drive! The tour consists of quilt displays with vendors at four churches in four different towns. There are 38 "barn" quilts in the county, many of which we were able to view along our route. Quite a few of the "barns" are really business buildings, and sadly many of the actual barns are in pretty sad shape and not that great for pitcures, but they were fun to look for just the same.  We found it particularly interesting that a couple of the antique quilts on display had been used as the source for the owner's barn quilt blocks. How cool is that?!?

This barn quilt was hanging on the side of a country produce market.  The painting was incredible - it actually looked like printed fabrics!

The quilts, a combination of old and new, were displayed draped over the pews at each of the churches.

There were some very unique antique quilts. I've never seen anything like the grape quilt below.  I think it was 60+ years old.

The last church we visited (below) is now privately owned.  Over half of the quilts displayed in the church were made by the church's owner.  Her work was beautiful and there was certainly a lot of it! We didn't get a chance to meet her but did get to see her current project - a beautiful applique quilt she is hand quilting.

I really loved this antique hexagon quilt. I've been wanting to start a hand-piecing project for a while now. 

I think a hexagon quilt would be tons of fun - and I know I've got a bunch of those die-cut hexagons around here somewhere!

If Only...

I had BIG plans for hooking down at the lake this weekend. I'm not entirely sure that I was being realistic, but I really thought that I could spend all day Saturday hooking and might come close to finishing the Crazy Horse rug.  I am still working on the borders - I decided to finish those before trying to figure out what to do with the motifs.  Anyway, I pulled out my rug and frame on Friday night and was all ready to get started when I realized that my hook and wool were still in the closet at home.  It's really tough to make progress without wool!  Here's where I am at as of last night:

 















I have a couple of nights' work left to do on the last side border and then need to figure out the corners before moving back to the flowers. It's hard to see in the photo, but I am thinking about the medium blue for the corners. I'm not sure that I am loving it, though.  I may need to do something different...