Final Friday in February Finish

Say that three times fast!

I finished this quilt last night for our step-daughter Michelle's son Broden and it's only a few months (like 9 months) late.

It was made entirely from stash a couple of years ago at a guild meeting. One of our talented members, Melissa, does an annual "Mystery Quilt" after a meeting and I finished the top right away and it lay languishing in my closet. Now it is a finished project and one more UFO off the list.

Next up: Borders on the Verna Mosquera Halloween quilt.

Happy February, Happy Friday!

I've Been A.W.O.L.

But I have excuses, a million of 'em.

The first part of the year is busy for me with quilt guild activities. I'm the newsletter publisher, so each year I have to "break-in" the new committee members who write reports for me to publish. I also help the membership gals by keeping the database and prepping the printed roster for them and that is another first-of-the-year activity as well. With all that and traveling, I've been a busy gal who isn't sewing much.

My first finish for February can now be revealed, my grandson Benjamin's annual birthday quiltlet. I decided to do these quilts for his birth and annually until he is five, so this is the next-to-last. We visited them last week and Kate had the quilts all hung on the special hanger I bought last year and they were very cute if I do say so myself. I present this years' addition, a celebration of the fact that my boy started preschool last month and is loving it. Kate reports that he loves the peek-a-boo door on the quilt this year, so maybe I can think of something 3-D for next year.

It is hard for me to believe that this little guy is four years old already! Kate, Benjamin and I had a wonderful time making Valentines for his classmates while Alex was napping.

Mrs. Goodneedle is right--life is good!

A Tisket A Tasket

I finished January's basket!

In the nick of time for the challenge, I finished block one of Bunny Hill designs free block of the month for January. The buttons are tacked on for pictures and storage, but will be removed before I quilt and sewn back on later. Isn't he cute??

15 Little Quiltlets

All of our little Round Robins have been received and posted and you can see them at Quiltgranny's blog. This was a great project and many of us are going to do it again. Now to think of a theme. My quilt is El Dia de los Muertos, the third one down.

Thanks again ladies!

And, just because I really need another UFO/WIP, I've decided to do the 12 Months of Baskets, a free BOM from Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill Designs. It is just too cute, and how often can you get a FREE set of designs from such a great designer?

Home Again

And all shopped out!

I left on the 14th to meet up with Kathy, Kat and Becky at Road to California and we had a wonderful time, but I forgot to take any pictures of us doing so.

We got home today from three days in Mendocino and our last stop was Sew n' Sew Fabrics in Fort Bragg, CA. If you are ever in Mendocino or vicinity, I highly recommend a trip into this shop. It looks like an old feed store building, but trust me, you will not be disappointed. She has darn near something for everyone in there and I found a pattern and template set by Terry Atkinson that I'd not seen at the entire show and five quilt shops in the Los Angeles area. This in a town of about 8,000 people! (This picture, from Terry's website does not do the pattern pictures justice.)

I'm definitely ready to sew and hope to post something quilty in a day or so.

Do You Love Quiltville?

Then go visit ForestJane Designs and grab her great little sidebar button to promote Bonnie Hunter's site. She also has one with a white background for pages with colored backgrounds.

Thanks ForestJane!!

First Finishes

In keeping with May Britt's challenge for 2009, I am posting my first finishes of the month. They aren't huge projects, just a couple of panel quilts for baby girls born to my daughter's friends. I bought the panels and flannel backings at M & L fabrics when I visited in July, so they were technically UFO's, and at least they aren't sitting on my cutting table anymore!

Since I'm leaving for Road to California on Wednesday, followed by two days at my MIL's in Carmel, CA (straight from the airport), a brief pitstop at home and then up to Mendocino with my love to celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary, I thought I better finish my monthly goal early. I'll be gone for 9 days!

Another of my goals is to get more comfortable with machine quilting. It is one of those things I can do, but I'm not very good at it and I dread it. I'm working on a table runner today and tomorrow, and will hopefully be able to post that tomorrow.

Round Robin Received!!

And nobody is luckier than me. Nobody.

As you may recall, we started this project in the fall of 2007, using an idea we got from MayBritt at Abyquilt in Norway. Because it was autumn and I love Halloween and its Latino cousin El Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), I chose that as my theme with a starter block you can see here.

I received my finished quilt yesterday and color me happy--I can't imagine it having turned out any more perfect than this.

Thank you Round Robin Bloggers so very much--you absolutely hit it out of the ballpark for me!



PS: I already have an idea for Round Robin II and am ready when you ladies are!

As requested, here is the fabulous back of the RR quilt.

And yes, it is on top of the assembled top of my Verna Mosquera BOM.

I just need to add the borders and applique them and I'm nervous about the scallops and procrastinating.

Stashbusting With Judy

OK, I took the pledge--New Year's Resolution #1: I'm stashbusting for 2009 with Judy.

I started yesterday by tackling one side of the fabric storage closet. I took all of the fabric pictured at right out of the large plastic container that you can barely see at the bottom of the picture. It now contains a quilt that is in the process of being machine quilted by me. I'm avoiding it because I'm a serious novice at machine quilting.

The other items are:

A. Several flimsies and their backings. The two you can see are a 1930's Christmas quilt from a kit I bought in Maine in 2007. The other is a "Just Can't Cut It" made from the most gorgeous Autumn fabric with rusts and blacks. I'm going to see if my Sistah Becky wants to have them on hand to quilt at her leisure. That way they are outta here.

B. Stack-O-Fabric. Since my husband reads this blog, I can tell you that it represents my entire stash (multiply as desired)....LOL.

C. Is a beautiful line called Scarlet Night that my Sistah Kathy and I both bought after we went to Linda Ballard's retreat in Trinidad in 2007. Linda made our mystery quilt out of this fabric and we had to have it. Perhaps she and I need to challenge each other this year to finish the tops?

While we're making resolutions, I've also joined May Britt and Kris's challenge to finish one project a month in 2009. Sounds do-able and will help clear those UFO's out!

Why don't you visit their blogs and check it out and join the fun--all you have to lose is your stash and UFOs.

Ten days until I fly to Ontario to meet my Sistahs for Road to California, so I need to fondle the fabrics big time to prevent my feeling the need to buy more. Especially since we will be visiting M & L fabrics again.

Yikes!

OK, OK, I Get It!

Leader/Ender......what the heck? My longtime internet pal Bonnie Hunter has been extolling the virtues of leader/ender for years and I had the hardest time understanding this concept, much less putting it into use. Since much of my piecing is one-project-at-a-time ( which is not to say that I don't have many, many UFOs, PIGs, WISPs, etc), I couldn't get why leader/ender sewing was of any use to me.

Enter Pepper Cory and the class I took from her at Quilt Festival in Long Beach last summer. The Swartz Creek Quilt (scroll down to near the bottom), with its endless numbers of half square triangles and four patches seemed like the perfect way to try this technique. So, sitting beside my machine are stacks of 3" squares for the HSTs and 2 1/2 " squares for the 4 patches. As I was putting together the flimsy from the previous post, I used the heck out of my stacks and was amazed at how much easier it is to not have to clip endless pieces of thread!!!!!

Yesterday, to celebrate the New Year, I watched my favorite chick flick of all time, Bridget Jones's Diary and cut a ton of squares from the $1.00 fat quarters I got at PIQF to add to the project. What a great way to start the year!

The image is a shameless plug for Bonnie's article in the new issue of Quiltmaker--check it out!!

Year End Flimsy

I hustled and got a flimsy completed so I can send it to Kat for quilting later this week. Several months ago, I was the lucky lotto person for my online mini-group and I sent them all different blocks using some Civil War fabrics I'd received for Christmas last year from my friend Kathy.

I love how this quilt turned out! Kathy and I, using the same fabrics (we split a fat quarter pack), both made samplers using a finishing kit from one of the participants in a designer sampler from an online shop. We both used blocks from Marsha McCloskey's Block Party and I was lucky enough to get many of my blocks made by pals in the group.

Now Kat will work her magic on it and I'll bind it in time to deliver to a special someone who will remain anonymous for now.

I also completed stitching on the first block for my latest Halloween endeavor, "Hocuspocusville" by Crabapple Hill. I found the kit at the Napa Quilt Show at Thimble Creek's booth and had to have it!

Is it possible to have too many Halloween quilts?

Merry Christmas!

Best wishes to one and all for a Merry Christmas and Happy Hannukah. I hope you enjoy your celebrations with family and friends as I am. Be back in a few days!

Why Quilters Do What We Do

This picture is totally staged, but I love it just the same. Benjamin loves all of his quilts and that is all one needs to do to ensure a continuing supply, isn't it?

Christmas Meme

Here's a fun one from Diane at Going to Pieces

Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate, but only the real deal. The occasional egg nog is OK too, but the calories....oy vey!

Does Santa wrap presents or set them under the tree? Santa always wraps presents. Lately, though, Santa has been making reusable fabric bags in an effort to go green.

Colored lights on tree or white? We change from year to year, but usually colored. This year we bought a live potted tree that we hope will stay small enough to bring in for a few years.

When do you put your decorations up? The first week of December if I'm "on it."

What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? It has to be the stuffing. Mom's recipe using Mrs. Cubbison's seasoned dressing (NOT cornbread) and adding chestnuts.

When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? To borrow a quote from Francis P. Church, Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. You can read the entire text here.

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? When the kids were small, I adopted a tradition shared with us by our neighbors on Kate's first Christmas. New P.J.'s were given and opened on Christmas Eve so the morning photos would be sweeter.

How do you decorate your Christmas tree? I have ornaments I've collected for years, but since I'm now using a small, live tree the branches won't hold the weight of the heavier ornaments. I'm using some lovely blown glass old-fashioned ornaments my daughter gave me. They are light and they remind me of the few old ornaments my Mom had from her childhood. I also use some tin icicles a friend sent me from Amish country as part of a Secret Santa exchange years ago. This year the tree is on a tabletop with part of my Christmas village around it.

Snow! Love it or Dread it? I love snow, but mostly when I don't have to go out in it too much. Learning to drive in the snow when living in Ft. Collins, Colorado and Reno, Nevada was not too much fun. A good book or some hand quilting and a cup of hot tea in front of a snowy window is nice.

Can you ice skate? What, are you kidding? I'm too klutzy.

Do you remember your favorite gift? A Kitchen-Aid mixer.

What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Taking time to see family and shopping for gifts for the kids on the Salvation Army tree. One year we bought for a whole family and that was a blast.

What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? My husband's fudge--there is none better--except his Mom's, but it is her recipe. Oh wait, my (step)Daughter Sarah makes Rocky Road that has addictive properties once likened to crack cocaine. Either/or is good.

What is your favorite tradition? When I was a little girl (and up to my teens) we would have hot chocolate and home-made doughnuts after the annual Christmas parade. The parade was always held on the Monday night after Thanksgiving and we always observed the tradition. When I moved back to Visalia with my two children, we observed it too but with bakery doughnuts. Then, they started letting everyone and his cousin be inthe parade and it wasn't done until after bedtime on a school night!

Which do you prefer, Giving or Receiving? Giving, definitely. Occasionally, someone will surprise me with something great and unexpected (size and cost unimportant), but I'd much rather be on the other end of it.

What is your favorite Christmas Song? "I'll Be Home For Christmas."

Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? Neutral, but I do like peppermint.

Ever recycled a Christmas present? Never.

Christmas Quilts For My Boys

Unlike their mother, who had to wait 18 years for her Christmas quilt to be finished, my little boys will have their Christmas quilts tomorrow.

My "Sistah" Becky started it all by giving me a Sandy Gervais "Holly Jolly" Jelly Roll for my birthday last year. As I was trolling that very dangerous website The Fat Quarter Shop, I saw this pattern, so I ordered it and another Jelly Roll and was off to the races. Last January at Becky's winter sewing retreat, I got all the blocks made and during the ensuing months, I did the applique of the boy's names and put the tops together. I did modify the original pattern by deleting the top row and adding their names. I also made matching pillowcases with their names for use during the holidays and then for storage of the quilts in the off season.

I bought backing in LA at Quilt Festival and gave all to Becky over the summer and she quilted them up on her HQ16 and got them back to me at PIQF. Now they are bound and will be dropped off by the UPS guy tomorrow.

I also included in the package, a little something for Mommy, a tiny quilt made in the Snooze-You-Lose Mini-Group. The stockings are fabrics I saved from Kate's original Christmas quilt started in 1979. This mini-quilt is cool because it sits over a plastic 8 x 10 self-standing frames and can be removed for other seasonal quiltlets. This picture is Kate "helping" me quilt it in 1980. No wonder I didn't get it finished until 1997!!