2020 Wrap Up

We are finally reaching the end of the year we though would NEVER end!  At the beginning of this year, I had set ambitious goals as part of the "PHD in 2020" program by quiltinggail.com.  Then the COVID-19 pandemic happened. And a house move. Instead of completing 12 quilts, I focused on advancing old UFOs to the flimsy stage. That's okay by me.

PHD in 2020 Scorecard

1. Monkey Wrench (my first quilt) - I took an old flimsy from the 80s, removed the horrific borders and put on MUCH nicer borders. I'm proud of how it looks now. The backing is on hand, a quilting design has been sketched and it is ready for quilting.

2. Winter Pines - I finished the final blocks of this lovely quilt and assembled it. Once I find a suitable backing, it will be ready to quilt. I have most of the quilting design worked out.

3. Arcadian Chain - I removed the pitiful quilting I had done and started a new design. Most of the stitching has been done; I hope to finish the FMQ over the next few days. Then I can add binding in January and finish this quilt.

4. Tessellations Formal Affair - I finished the final blocks and assembled the flimsy. The backing and binding are ready for the final stage.

5. Out of This World mystery quilt from Pat Sloan - The blocks were assembled early this year. The backing and binding is on hand. Need to come up with a quilting design and it will be ready for quilting.

6. Wendler Legacy - Not much progress happened. I came up with a cutting strategy for the sashing triangles but still have not cut any fabric.

The six other PHD 2020 projects selected were untouched. Floribunda is still awaiting assembly. The 2015 Craftsy Sampler, RSC15 Sampler, Tansy Garden, In the 'Hood and Highland Fling mystery tops are waiting for quilting.

Instead I pulled out other older projects.  

Progress on Other UFOs

1. Patriotic Tobacco Road project from 2018 - I decided to make little star blocks to replace pinwheel blocks in the original design. I will need something like 80 blocks; about 25 are done.  

2. Lady of the Lake project started in 2013 - Made about 20 blocks and cut parts for others.

3. Double Delight from 2018 - All the blocks are done (applause!!!) and assembled. It is awaiting final borders. I may have a backing; need to check.

4. En Provence from 2016 - I made a few more neutral 4-patches and counted parts again. I'm planning a concerted effort to finish this one in 2021.

Finishes and New Starts

I had finished my two RSC19 projects (Pixelated and Extra Fancy) in January 2020. Somehow this allowed me to justify starting SEVEN new projects.  

1. Heading Home - This pattern was so much fun to make, in spite of requiring a million flying geese. The flimsy is ready for quilting.

2. RSC20 Bricolage - I actually didn't follow the monthly color scheme, just dug through scraps occasionally to make some little Greek Cross blocks. The blocks are only six inches, so it will take many more blocks before being ready to assemble.

3. Awesome Land - I loved digging through my orange and black/gray scraps (and those donated by a quilting friend) to make this Lissa Anderson quilt. The blocks are assembled and are awaiting the three borders which are ready to go after collecting a bit more dust. LOL

4. Basket of Chips - I was able to use up scraps to make these blocks, and repurpose fabric that had originally been intended for Wendler Legacy. The flimsy is ready for quilting.

5. Anita's Arrowhead Christmas - I made a few blocks from Christmas fabric hoarded over the years. I'm ready to make more blocks in 2021.

6. My Neighborhood - This quilt was started once we finally found our dream home. The pattern from Moda was free and SO MUCH FUN TO MAKE!  The flimsy is ready for quilting.

7. Bear Claw Plaid - This quilt was started when we began moving into our log home. Our bed needed a bear claw quilt to go with all the black bear carvings around the house. I have nine out of 20 blocks done and the rest are cut out. 

So let's do the math. I started the year with 25 projects, finished 2 and added 7. Oooh boy. Now I have 30 projects in progress, of which 14 are tops/flimsys ready for quilting. 

How do you feel about your quilting progress in 2020? 

Kiddie Bags

Are you sewing frantically to finish Christmas gift projects, too?  I decided to sew several bags for a friend's grandkids who are facing their first Christmas without their mother (may she rest in peace). After finding out their favorite colors and searching through lots of free patterns online, I finished up these last night.  Late, late last night.

The boxy zippered pouch is from Leslie Rutland at the seasonedhomemaker.  You have to very carefully follow the directions, and there are lots of corners to square off, but it turned out really nice. This one will probably end up carrying Legos around.

The purple purse is from 7layerstudio.  I opted for smaller pleats and it was a good thing I did because following the original pattern would have made the top opening too narrow to fit around my sewing machine "cuff" (after pulling off the accessory section).  This cute little purse is just right to hold lip gloss and a small doll.

The pink drawstring bag pattern is from a tutorial by Jenni Baker at incolororder. It was the easiest to make. The drawstrings were the most tedious part to sew, but worth it. Especially because I could not find any twill tape in my stash. The bag is big enough to hold a medium-sized babydoll and her bottle.

Fun Times

This blog post title is a bit tongue-in-cheek for 2020. Fun in 2020???  Although, it was rather fun to have a couple small finishes to show off.  Two of the ladies in my quilting group have birthdays this week, so I made a couple mug rugs from a pattern by Patchsmith on Etsy.  The directions were easy, but I should have noted the outside seam allowance when lining up those little flames. Take that as a tip if you try this pattern, too.

On a higher note, another fun thing this week was getting back up in the air. Not in my airplane (due to a dead-and-not-revivable battery), but with a generous friend who took me for a flight in his plane on Saturday. The weather was simply too beautiful to not enjoy some air time!  

Bearly Moving

Hello! We are still spending every weekend doing manual labor, gradually moving our hoard to the log home. We FINALLY finally finally have the end in sight. When it came time to clear out the little barn, I swore we were in the midst of an episode of “ Hoarders”. Hmmm, maybe I should have filmed our activities.

Because every weekend has been dedicated to THE MOVE, I have not had much time or energy to sew. Yet...I did find energy to start a new quilt. It’s a bear claw quilt to complement all those cute little black bears around and inside the log home. I’m using all those plaids I’ve been collecting.

Sewn under proper supervision, of course.

Sewing room is operational

Throughout September we have been slowly moving into our new home. There is still more Stuff to move (OMG we have way too much!), but at least my sewing room is set up as of tonight. I pulled out blue and yellow scraps that were already cut for little bitty 3.5 inch friendship stars and stitched 8 blocks. Wow that felt good!

Tonight’s work was the only sewing I’ve been able to do in September. I made it to two weekly sewing group nights where I started cutting plaids for a bear claw quilt - which I will not let myself sew until at least one of my TEN unfinished quilt tops is quilted and bound. 

Here are a few pictures of my new sewing studio before fabric scraps migrate and take over.

Back in that shadowy area (forgot to flip on the light), there is a long closet that is now filled with hanging quilt tops, extra batting, and projects in progress, plus another set of shelves filled with boxes of scraps sorted by color. Eventually I will finally empty out the rest of the moving boxes, hang up some decor and my makeshift design wall / tablecloth.

While packing up my sewing room, I discovered another old UFO and lots of orphan blocks. I also found a disturbing quantity of precuts - layer cakes, charm packs, fat quarters and even two packs of 6-inch strips. Confession time...is your stash of precuts nearly nonexistent, okay or wildly large?  

Visit my neighborhood

Welcome to my neighborhood! In 2016 Moda published a free pattern "Be My Neighbor". It's a fun and easy collection of 16 big blocks. It was so much fun to make! Now the quilting part begins. The windows will get drapes or blinds or a couple doors. The rooftops will be striped tin, scalloped tile, or shingles. The cream background will have gentle wavy breezes and clouds.

Making this quilt was a stress reliever over the past couple weeks. We closed on our new property a few days ago and are in the process of moving. I haven't even touched my sewing room yet. I shudder to think about packing those overflowing scrap bins.

Want to see a glimpse of the new place?  I'm so in love!

Linking up to #MCMQuilts (Main Crush Monday), #SlowSundayStitching, #MondayMaking and #TogetherWeQuilt (Connecting Threads hashtag), #ModaBeMyNeighbor.

Book Review and House Progress

Jocelyn at Happy Cottage Quilter inspired me to join NetGalley as a reader.

This past week I read The Dyodyne Experiment by James Doulgeris and V. Michael Santoro. It's a free read for Kindle Unlimited users on Amazon HERE.

I truly enjoyed this book! This action-packed story with a technological edge was similar to a Clive Cussler, Michael Crichton (Congo) or Steve Alton (The Meg) novel. The scientific breakthroughs involved in the storyline were believable with just enough detail to make you think, hmmm, that's alarming, brilliant, and amazing, then a few complications were dangled which kept the story moving.  Wow, what if the DaNA technology became reality in a few years?  I enjoyed the interplay between Sarah and Tim plus the secondary characters. Uncle Billy seemed a bit too much of a superman to be true, but that doesn't detract from the fun.  The book ends with an imperfect happy-ever-after (some characters have to die, after all) and a glimpse into a topic for the next book. If you like to read about chillingly potential technology and fast-paced action with some love interest (but nothing explicit), then grab this book! I look forward to reading more by authors Doulgeris and Santoro.

I received a complimentary ebook copy from the publisher, through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

On the quilting front, I finished blocks 9 through 12 this week on the Moda "Be My Neighbor" quilt (no new pic yet). The last four blocks should be finished up this weekend.  This has been such a fun quilt to make!

What are you working on this week?

New House

At the end of this week we are scheduled to close on our new house - a log cabin. Is that a quilting-themed house or what? Our realtor pulled off a last-minute sweetheart deal to make this sale happen. And she is a sweetheart, too.  So.....I am making her a house-themed quilt.  After searching the web for ideas, I settled on the Moda "Be My Neighbor" pattern.  The price is right, too (FREE ---here).  

The blocks in this pattern are huge (15.5 to 18.5 inches) and not too 'fiddly' but not too simple, either.  There are sixteen blocks in this top, some with applique and all begging for scrappy, colorful fabrics. In one week I had eight blocks done, except for stitching down the ironed-on applique, and last night I finished 1.5 more blocks (just need to cut and stitch the tree fabric). I may actually have the top done by Friday!  I am using fabrics from a couple Connecting Threads fat quarter packs (Heirloom Manor and Oh My Darling) with a cream background.

This pattern is from 2016 and it is finally the right time for me to make it. The houses are cute, cute, cute! Plus this is a pattern that begs you to have fun with the quilting process, too. I can't wait to stitch curtains in the windows, clapboard siding, bricks, roof shingles, a slight wave in the background simulating a soft breeze, and play with cursive Ls in the thin sashing.

Oh, quick question....should I change up the top left tree and make it all the same green print like the second tree? I'm leaning toward fixing that.

Linking up to #MCMQuilts (Main Crush Monday), #SlowSundayStitching, #MondayMaking and #TogetherWeQuilt (Connecting Threads hashtag), #ModaBeMyNeighbor.

UFOs Abound

Oh boy. I fell off the wagon. I started new projects without finishing the ones hanging in the Black Hole closet.  Twenty lashes with a wet noodle (pasta, not pool noodle, please).

First, I dug through  my yarn-dyed plaids to make a dozen napkins for OUR LOG CABIN. [This week we finished negotiations on a log cabin home - really, an estate with acreage and a huge workshop for my hubby. We are beyond excited!] The napkins were a breeze to make. Kelly from myquiltinfatuation was my inspiration.  Done!

Then I decided the Jamestown Landing quilt on my bed needed matching pillow covers. So I found a stash of blue and neutral triangles leftover from making that quilt. Several Broken Dishes units later, I began contemplating a solid blue scrap to frame the units. Will need to think on that a bit. [sigh - UFO alert.]

Then I pulled out the project box for Old Tobacco Road, a free Bonnie Hunter pattern. Several years ago I had cut 108 red bricks with the thought of making this a red, white and blue patriotic quilt called Freedom Road.  I wanted stars instead of a pinwheel in the column between the red bricks. I had decided to frame the star blocks with light blue and neutral 4-patches. The holdup in my mind was deciding how to make the star blocks.  Applique or piece?  The answer was obvious once I finally thought it through.  Piece!!!!  But should I make a paper-pieced 5-pointed star or a 4-pointed Friendship star?  The Friendship star uses 1.5-inch dark blue and gold scraps and it is much simpler. After all, this is an itty-bitty 3.5 inch block. One test block surrounded by the other units quickly formed on the design wall. That's what I wanted!

I began cutting 1.5-inch strips to make 90 (NINETY!) star blocks. Seventy gold sets and twenty navy blue sets later, that got boring. I needed to sew some 4-patches and star blocks. These little star blocks are so cute! This will make a great leader-ender project. [UFO alert - although I had already counted this one as a UFO, so hey! Progress has been made.]

Okay, now for the real confession. For the past two Monday evenings with my quilting friends, I have been cutting 10-inch squares from my stash of Christmas fabrics to add to a layer cake purchased last year. I have been wanting to make a Christmas quilt using the free Anita's Arrowhead pattern. Anita published an alternative block size guide which included instructions for using 9.75-inch squares. I decided to sew a test block without trimming down my layer cake.

After cutting and sewing the pieces, the block was trimmed down to the nearest 1/2 inch which was 11.5 inches, the same as Anita's instructions for a 9.75-inch starting square size. One less cutting session. That works for me!  [UFO alert - 41 more blocks to go unless I get bored and decide to make the quilt smaller.]

On a higher note, I flew my airplane to a nearby airport so it can get outfitted with a new ADS-B transmitter so it will comply with the new rule for flying in controlled airspace. It was awesome to get back up in the air again. I brought the airplane back to its hangar home yesterday. I called a local instructor and made plans to go flying again and practice landings. Not that my landings were bad, just not as perfect as they should be. Really!

Border Bonanza

Hello! This weekend was a border bonanza! While staying inside in the afternoon to avoid the super hot temperatures and high humidity of South Carolina, I got busy and added borders to THREE quilts.

First up was finishing the Pine Trees flimsy, from an old EZQuilts brochure. I think the binding should be that dark emerald green. Will have to buy more because that scrap I found to finish the last inner border did not leave enough for binding strips.

Second was reapplying the sawtooth border to Ice Cream Parfait, based on the Basket of Chips pattern on quilterscache.  This time I flipped the half square triangles so the colorful edge was on the outside.  I admit the border is still a bit wavy. The triangles are perfect, so it must be the center of the quilt.  That diagonal set did it to me. If you have any suggestions on how to fix, I would love to hear them! I am ready to be done with this one, so I may just leave it alone and "quilt it out". Adding the final border was my OMG goal for July. Done! 

Third was finishing the borders on my very first quilt. I ripped off the awkward borders applied over 30 years ago. Although I'm not quite finished, this border layout is so much better. The ticking stripes of the final border finish it nicely and demand a mitered corner treatment. This quilt is long overdue for its finish. I am MUCH happier with it.  I have several clever ideas for FMQ in those plain tan sashings. It will have to marinate a bit while I prepare a few other quilts for the midarm.

Stay cool my friends!

Everything Old is New Again

Friday was a holiday from work in honor of Saturday's Independence Day. That extra day helped me catch up on old and new quilting projects. Some yard work was also done, plus a bit a swimming and lounging in the pool.

First, I finished my OMG (one monthly goal) by adding the sawtooth border around Ice Cream Parfait.

BUT... I don't like it. I had deviated from the suggested border by turning it out (colored points on the outside). So I am changing my mind and flipping the border to have the colored edge on the outside. Why didn't I follow the original pattern??? Rip, rip, ripping tonight. OMG version 2 will be done this week.  I will adjust to remove some of the ripples, too.

Then the Pine Trees quilt took center stage. The blocks and sashing are now connected into an almost-finished-top.  Then it dawned on me that there was a thin inner border of dark green which was NOT in my project bag. Yikes! This project is nearly 30 years old! What are the chances that the solid green is still in my stash somewhere? Ahhhh, I unearthed the green, matched it to the fabric already used and voila!  Cut and ready to add.

This is such an old project. It was interesting to see how my precision had improved, and my choices about the block assembly was so much better (no guidance given in the pattern). This project felt almost new again. I really like the bold graphic design. It appealed to the younger me and it still appeals to the (slightly) older me.

Hope you had a productive weekend, too!

July Goals

For several years I have been keeping a spreadsheet of all my quilting projects awaiting completion. At the beginning of the year, the spreadsheet lists all works in progress down one column, with months stretching out to the right. I schedule which projects will be touched in each month. New projects are added to the list.  As the year progresses, some of the scheduled tasks are moved out or erased.  There are several WIPs that I know will remain untouched during the year, but they are not forgotten -- because they are still on the list.

Then as I work on each project I color in the month's square so I can see progress.  This spreadsheet is very colorful! New projects are listed in red text. Monthly progress is colored blue. Projects left to marinate until next year are shaded light green. Focus projects are shaded bright yellow (remember that "PHD in 2020" goal?). Completed projects are marked in bright orange with a big "DONE" in the month. This spreadsheet is what helps me stay organized.  Please share your project organization ideas!


My goal in July is to accomplish the following tasks:
1. Finish the Ice Cream Parfait flimsy. I sewed and trimmed 50 half-square triangles last night. Only 33 more to go to assemble the sawtooth border. This is my OMG (monthly goal).

2. Add borders to Beginning Quilt. I finally ripped off the original borders. This project is my first attempt to quilt, before I knew to use a smaller stitch length. It was ridiculously easy to remove the border seams. The new border fabric is on hand, along with backing and binding.

3. Sandwich and quilt Tessellations / Formal Affair. Quilting will be diagonal, possibly with a couple loops around each block's bowties. If you have any better ideas for a simple quilting design, I definitely would welcome them.

4. Make final blocks for Pine Tree. Earlier this week I cut more greens for five blocks, but need to cut more background. All the block borders, sashing and outer border pieces are already cut. This is an OLD project and I really want to finish it in 2020.

5. Add borders to Awesome Land. While perusing Etsy, I found an awesome light gray for the outer border. I will shop my stash for the orange and dark gray borders. 

6. Stretch goal - Cut new setting triangles for 1860s Revival. I calculated how to cut the 3.5 yards of dusty blue to make setting triangles and a final 2.5 inch border. It's a complicated plan involving cuts down the length rather than width-of-fabric, but not all the way because I need an extra half inch for two of the big squares.

7. Stretch goal - Rip and fix quilting begun for Arcadian Chain. This quilt is blocking my midarm from touching any of the other numerous quilt flimsies hanging in the Black Hole Closet.

In between these tasks, I have several Lady of the Lake blocks to piece as leader-enders. This should keep me busy and distract attention from the 45-100 new quilts on my wish list. Hopefully.

Linking to One Monthly Goal at Elm Street Quilts
Linking to Oh Scrap