Design Wall Monday Week 11

On my wall today is the finished flimsy for the UFO challenge My hexagon Stars baby quilt. I am hoping to get the quilt that is on my machine finished today, so that I can load and quilt this one. For the first time, I designed my own pantograph pattern for this, so I'm curious to see how it works out, and how the rows nest together when it is done. With the desire to finish that quilt on the machine in mind, this os going to be a short post. The second picture here is a close up of the border fabric that I think is just so cute. To see more design walls, go to Judy's Patchwork Times 

UFO challenge

As I posted yesterday, in my design wall Monday post, I finished my UFO for February, Crazy Curves, I decided, after all that work, it deserved its own post to honour it. LOL. The pattern is Crazy Curves, and I really can't say that it is my favourite quilt in the world. All of the batiks were purchased quite a few years ago, when I had a dream of making a New York Beauty quilt.  After doing a couple of the complex squares for it, I realized that it wasn't going to happen in this lifetime. Hmmm, now would not be a good to to realize that I should have put the ones that I did finish into this quilt, would it? Oh well. Judy, at Patchwork Times has pulled this month's number, which is #1. Checking my list, #1 is the Cactus Rose quilt. I really, really want to get that one done this year, but, with the amount of work left on that one, to finish the complex paper pieced borders, it isn't realistic to think that it will happen this month, with grandbaby stuff to finish, and a backlog of customer quilts also to finish. So, I'm going to switch it out for the Hexagon Baby quilt which needs to be finished soon. Good thing the rules for this challenge are flexible.

Design Wall Monday Week 9

Monday, again, and the last day of February, which means that spring, according to the calendar at least, is only 3 weeks away. I am soooooooooo looking forward to the warmer weather, and the first day that I can take my morning coffee outside and enjoy my swing and the sounds of the birds, and the wind in the leaves, and the breeze on my face. It feels like this winter has lasted forever. And unfortunately in Southern Ontario, it tends to last far into April. But maybe this year it will be an early spring.

 

 

 I've managed to finish, and hang up on the design wall, 2 quilts this past week. Chocolate Swirls is done, and quilted, and waiting for a binding. And my UFO #10 is up to flimsy stage. It was a struggle to get that one done, and had it not been for this challenge, I don't think it would have gotten finished. However, it's not going to get quilted just yet, so it will join the others in that pile of my own quilts waiting for quilting. Since the challenge rules are so flexible, no matter what number she draws tomorrow, it is going to get assigned to the one that has the least left to do on it, or to the hexagon baby one, since I need to get that one done. I'll decide that tomorrow. For sure it will NOT be one that requires a lot of time and thought, since I don't have a lot of either of those, at this point in time. But, since I finished the last of Evelyn's cross stitch quilts yesterday evening, today is going to be a play day. I'm going to see if, in between browsing design walls at Judy's Patchwork Times I can't get caught up with my 100 block challenge squares. I'll post either later today, or tomorrow on my progress. Then tomorrow, it's back to customer quilts again. I think I'm down to 4 left, but one of the is a 100 x 100 kings size, so it will take quite a while to load and finish.

Design Wall Monday Week 7

I've been working on my UFO challenge which was # 10 on my list of 12, which turned out to be my Crazy Curves. It's a good thing this number was pulled, since it is totally out of my style range, which is, I guess, the reason why I wanted to try it, last year.  I suspect, though, if I hadn't added it onto my list, it would have sat, all cut in pieces, in its box, unfinished, for years. I'm still not sure if I like it or not. I think I'm going to put a fairly bright green 1 1/2 inch border around it, and then a border of smaller crazy curves, aka drunkards path, blocks, that finish at 3 or 3 1/2 inches. I have a bunch of those cut, and ready to sew. There might not be enough of them to go around the whole quilt, in which case, I will put them on opposite sides, or around opposite corners, and finish with plain fabric of some sort. Once these are done, I don't think I'll be doing more. I'm mostly a speed, don't pin things, sort of piecer, and these things need pinning. I know there is a way out there to do it without pinning, and I've watched the video on how to do it, but just can't seem to master it. (sigh). So, I think that's what I'm partly going to do today. I might give myself a daily assignment of 10 or 12, to get them done. I have a customer coming this afternoon, to drop of a quilt, and I need to get working on my 100 block challenge squares, as well. To see more inspirational design walls, go on over to Judy's place at Patchwork Times It's always a great way to spend part of Monday.

Wednesday goals

Judy Laquidara pulled a new number yesterday for the UFO Challenge and drew #10, which on my list is Crazy Curves It hadn't progressed any further than what was in that old post. There are enough pieces cut to make 56 of the 7 inch squares, and 30 of the small ones. So, I'll do them up, and see where it goes from there. The good news is, the big ones sew up fast. I did 17 of them last evening in about 20 minutes. The 3 1/2 inch ones are a bit more challenging.

I finished Amalia's last quilt yesterday, and it is HUGE! There is no place in my house big enough to spread it out. I think it must be for a large king size bed. It's a double 4 patch with Civil War type fabrics, which called for the always classic baptist fan quilting design. I really like the way she laid out her squares to get the barn raising design with the light squares around the outside, and the cross hatch in the middle.

Now, to today's to do list:

1. Load, and start quilting Shakespeare in the Park
2. Sew a couple more rows of the baby quilt
3. Laundry
4. Sew some more crazy curves
5. call Amalia
6. Prep applique shapes for 100 block challenge square.

Card Trick finished

 I'm participating in a UFO challenge through Patchwork times I went through some of my UFO's back in December, and numbered them 1 to 12. Judy picked #6 for January, which was this Card Trick quilt. At the beginning of January, all it had was 12 card trick blocks. Last night, I put the last stitch into the binding, and so can cross this off my list, and call it finish #2 for the year. Yippee, woohoo, and happy dance! I quilted it with an allover pattern called Fay Feathers, I'm not sure, off the top of my head, the name of the designer of that pantograph. I used a variegated medium blue Rainbows thread. The quilting doesn't show on the full picture, but it does on the smaller pic below this one. And then there is a pic of the backing, which took 6 of those yards that I've bought this year.

 

Design Wall Monday Week 3

It's Monday morning, again. I love Mondays, for the opportunity to look at all these lovely walls at Judy's Patchwork Times but I'm not so fussy about the morning part. We don't get along too well, mornings and I. I've worked
3-11 for so many years, that, even though I would like too, my body simply won't sleep much before 1 am, and that only accomplished with medications. So waking up the next morning is always a long process. However, I have my second cup of coffee in hand, and can now think clearly enough to put down a thought or 2. My Card Trick quilt, which was my UFO challenge #6, is now a finished top. The picture is a little too much on the grey side, but I don't know how to compensate for that. I am really happy with how this turned out. I had somehow goofed, and ended up with too many 1/4 square triangle units, so I put them on opposite corners of the border, to use them up. I was going to add another dark border to it, but when I hung it up to look at it, it told me that it was done. So, I'll use the dark blue for the binding instead, which actually will add the finishing dark border that I originally wanted, just very narrow. So, my goal for today, provided work doesn't call and offer me a shift, is to get the backing fabric out and ironed (groan), pieced, and hopefully this quilt loaded onto the machine. I think it is going to get an overall type feathery thing on it, in blue variegated thread.

Design Wall Monday Week 2

I just looked at the design wall posts at Patchwork Times and the are already 71 different walls posted. WOW! These are really taking off this year. Tons and tons of eye candy and inspiration. What a lovely way to spend the time over a cup of coffee or 2 while my brain engines try to get into gear. I managed to get all the alternate blocks for the Card trick quilt, UFO #6 done last week, and they are on the wall .My job today, once my brain has cleared, is to figure out the math for the setting triangles. Both EQ5 and Quilt Pro programs show the setting triangles as partial blocks, and the are showing half square triangle units and quarter square triangle units made of the same fabrics. Somehow, that seems like a silly thing to do. So, I want to convert them over to squares and rectangles, which is where the math comes in. Subtract 7/8 inch from measurement given, to find finished size, then add half inch to get cut size, for the half squares. For the quarter squares, subtract 1 1/4 inch from given size to find finished size, ad then add half inch. It's one thing to know the formula, it's another to actually get it to work out.
The other thing on my wall today is the setting I am planning on using for the blocks for the 100 block challenge The idea for this setting came from a book by Judy Martin called "The Block Book" I need six of these to make a twin sized quilt, before borders, so I'm over halfway there with the 12 inch blocks. The nine patches are being done as leaders and enders. Today, I hope to get my next 2 challenge blocks done, and get the setting triangles at least started. But first, another cup of coffee, and some more wall browsing.

Happy New Year!!

Wow, January 1st, 2011. That is a total freak out kind of thing. I just got used to signing 2001! LOL. Do you remember all the fuss about that year, and the comparisons to the movie 2001? Do you remember the fuss over the year 2000, and how everything was going to come to a stop? so, how did it suddenly go from that, to 2011?  The saying goes "time flies when you are having fun". Well, I must be having loads and loads of fun. (giggle). This past year was fun, starting with our daughter's wedding in June, and all the preparations that went into it. And it ended with finding out that we're going to be grandparents to a little boy, somewhere around May 22nd of this year. That's a picture of him, Done by 3D ultrasound on Dec 29. The technology absolutely blows me away!

On another note, it has been a year since I started this blog. I really had no idea of what I was doing, just thought that I wanted to chronicle some of life's moments, and keep track of the various projects I was working on. I've done that, and discovered, not very surprisingly, that I start an awful lot of things, but sure don't finish very many, if finishing counts as being quilted and bound. I've finished at least 6 quilt tops this past year, but they are still waiting to be quilted. But, one of the totally unexpected things that has happened is the people that I have met through this medium. So many kind, caring, thoughtful and talented people. I have one of those "feedjit" things on my blog, that tracks who is visiting, and from where. A lot of people come from the design wall monday posts, but there are a few that show up regularly, sometimes several times a week, just for visits, I guess because they like what they read, and are curious what is going on around here. I'm not sure if this is good "blog etiquette", but one of them is someone from Engadine, New South Wales. I would love it if you would introduce yourself, and tell me a little about yourself, my curiosity is killing me! There is something intriguing about a country on the far side of the world, whose summer is during our winter, where our today is already their tomorrow. And, anyone else, who visits regularly, please introduce yourselves. I would love to "meet" you.

I'm participating in the UFO Challenge sponsored by Judy over at Patchwork Times, and this morning she drew the first number of the project we are to work on, with the aim of getting it completed this month. I don't know if mine will get completed, but it will get to a stage further than it is now, which is all I'm aiming for, since there are customer quilts piling up, and grandson sewing to do as well, which should be so much fun. My number 6 project is my Card Trick swap that I did with the Canadian Quilt swappers which is a yahoo group for Canadian quilters, which helps keep it in the country, and therefore keeps postage costs down.

 This is the layout that I am planning on using, which I designed in The program "Quilt Pro" I am not fond of that program, but, since I have a Macbook, I can't run the Electric quilt software, which I love. This is a 2 block quilt, set on point. I really like this setting, because it makes it look like there is fancy sashing in between each block. All the card trick blocks are done, so I need to get the alternate blocks cut, and sewn. And, the bonus is, that it is a very simple block to make. Can you find it? So, that is my goal for today, before I go to work at 3. Pull the white and blue fabrics for the alternate squares and, if I can clear off the mess from my cutting board, get started on cutting the units for this quilt.

I'll do it

 I've been wavering back and forth on whether or not to join in on the UFO challenge, which aims to list 12 UFO's, and finish one per month. Or, if not finish, at least get some work done on it. I've been wavering back and forth, mostly because I'm not sure if I want to put that kind of pressure on myself. But, further reflection has brought me to the conclusion that there really is no pressure. It is my choice, depending on what is happening in life, whether I work on the UFO during the month or not, but it seems like it would be a good motivational tool.  Judy L., over at Patchwork Times is hosting this, and providing some motivation to achieve the goals. One the first day of each month, she will draw a number from 1 to 12, and that will be the project we all work on that month. If we get the project done, she will draw for a small prize. So, here goes the list, most of which are projects I've been working on, off and on, for the past year. If you click on the ones underlined, it will take you to previous posts about these projects.

1. Hexagon baby quilt
2. Double Wedding Ring
3. Grandmother's Diamond Ring, from Judy Martin's Creative.... (I can't remember the rest of the title,       off the top of my head, and the book has temporarily gone missing in the disaster zone of my sewing room) I've been working on this as a leader and ender project, and it is ready to start going together
4. Freeze Frame, just needs the last 2 borders
5. Endless Chain
6. Card Trick Swap
7. Roll roll cotton boll, this is actually a current work in progress, but I listed it, since it has the very great potential to end up a UFO, because of the 600 1 1/2 inch half square triangles needed for it.
8. Cactus Rose
9. Disappearing nine patch
10. Crazy curves
11. Kitchen Sink
12. Cosmati Stars, this is only going to end up table topper size. I actually haven't had this one out of its box in quite a few years, so it could probably come in as the oldest of my UFO's.

This list doesn't cover all of the UFO's scattered in various bags in a tote container I have, but it lists the ones I would really like to get done. I was tempted to add the 12 that are currently waiting for quilting to this list, as well, but that would be putting me into overload, since I would like to get into the habit of actually quilting a top, and binding it, so that it can actually count as finished, rather than adding it to the 12 that are already there.