Doldrums of October

Hello! It has been several weeks since my last post, but yes I intend to keep this blog active.

I've been reading lots of other blogs.What are your favorites? The quilting-themed ones I check daily are Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville and Cathy's saneandcrazy.blogspot.com. Cathy is a prolific scrap quilter, and I have been having fun suggesting quirky names for her quilts. There are many other blogs I enjoy checking periodically, although they tend to inspire me to pursue 'squirrel' projects instead of finishing the ones I already have in progress.

So why am I feeling the doldrums? My favorite part of quilting is piecing. But right now I have a tall stack of quilt tops to be quilted, and I am in the midst of quilting two rainbow quilts sewn in 2019. These require 11 thread changes because of all the colors. Ok, playing with all those colors is kind of fun. And I have some skill in ditch-stitching and several FMQ flourishes. Then I see all my imperfections - a few tucks on the back side, a bobble in my curves or straight lines, and my rudimentary stitching motifs. Ugh!

Do you feel frustrated, too, when comparing your quilts to at all those beautiful quilts online and featured in quilt shows? Do you describe your quilts as "folksy"? Maybe we need to change that attitude and feel happy when we finish a quilt all by ourselves - that we selected the colors, prints, altered the design to our style and did all the work to make a lovely quilt and those 'imperfections' are what makes it unique.

[Deep breath] Onward and upward!  Here are my quilting goals for 4th quarter:

1. Finish the three 2019 block-of-the-month quilts (don't let them become UFOs!!!).

 

2.  Quilt and bind Arcadian Chain.

3. Pick one of three other finished tops and quilt it.

 

4. Feed my piecing muse by making a simple baby quilt - and finish it by yearend. (Update: Blocks are cut and ready for assembly.)

 

Two Flimsies

September is such a great month and it was a great weekend.  I finally got to fly, lounge around the pool and turn a little pink, and catch up on some of my quilting projects.

Drumroll please...Announcing the assembly of Sandy’s two RSC projects for 2019.....

ONE:  Seeing Spots Pixelated, based on a quilt found online from Capital Quilters in New Zealand. Will frame the rainbow loveliness with a black binding.

TWO: Extra Fancy, using Bonnie Hunter’s Pinwheel Fancy block pattern from Quiltmaker magazine  Addicted To Scraps column circa 2015. Someone had made this big block version for Quiltmaker's blog, but the blog post is no longer available. Thank goodness I had saved a screenshot, although did not capture the quilter's name to give proper credit. [Update: Barb Johnson is the quilter and HERE is her blogpost about this cute medallion option]

And a HALF:  Assembled two sections of Pat Sloan's Out of This World quilt. One more block to go in this monthly program, then the third section can be assembled and borders added. Not sure why pic is upside down.

Now to ride off in the sunset after all this productivity (this is a snap from my evening flight). Hope you had a productive weekend, too!

Goodies Galore

Woohoo! Pat Sloan selected my Out-of-this-World block in her monthly drawing. Look at the goodies I received! September is my birthday month; it feels like my quilting mentor sent me an early present!

A quilting journal and bookmark plus 4 fat quarters and charm squares from Pat Sloan’s lovely Bonnie Lane fabric line.  Thank you, Pat!

Here are my blocks for September (sorry about the shadow):

September Song

September is my favorite month!  The days are usually a bit cooler (not seeing that right now in the southeast) and the trees begin turning color. Plus it's my birthday month. 

On the last day of August, I finished my light blue blocks -- just in time. And the next day I finished my purple RSC blocks.  

Today I assembled one of my RSC projects. "Spotted" is the working title for this cute little quilt. The colors are so vibrant against the black and white.  

I even lined up the various thread colors. My plan is to quilt a swirl in each color "spot" in matching color thread, round out the black spikes in black thread, and use white to echo quilt around the big spots.  But first I need to find backing fabric. It would be really fun to find large black/white dotted swiss.

The other RSC project is ready for its oversized star in the middle. And it needs backing fabric, probably the same as "Spotted".

"A Formal Affair" is somewhat stalled. I made 10 more blocks and laid them out to see how it looked. Looks like I need at least 8 more blocks to obtain the 'right' size to my eyes. Gotta dig deep in the stash to find more geometric non-floral prints in the same maroon, navy, aqua and gray shades. 

So far the first two days of September has been fruitful. Hopefully you have made progress on your projects, too!

August Finishes

Hello!  Did you melt in what the media is saying was the hottest July on record?  It seems a tiny bit cooler now that the calendar has turned to August, but it is definitely more humid where I am. Rain showers are threatening every day.

I have a few finishes to announce.

* Farmers Daughter Stars is finally finished!

* The August block for Out of This World, Pat Sloan's BOM program is done. It was a simple block and came together beautifully.

* The last set of rainbow blocks are sewn for my two RSC projects. Angela chose light blue for August, but I needed purple along with a couple light blues, so I am doing both this month. Now I can focus on assembling blocks and finishing these two little quilts.

My plan for August:
1. Finish 18 "Formal Affair" blocks and begin assembly. This was a 'squirrel' started last month.
2. Add borders to Arcadian Chain and figure out quilting plan. FMQ will begin in September.
3. Sandwich the Highland Fling wall hanging, quilt and bind it.
4. Make a few more blocks for Double Delight and Lady of the Lake projects.
5. Sandwich one of my three samplers and prep for more detailed FMQ. These will take a while.
6. Continue assembly of Tri Love Triangles.
7. Confirm count of units needed to finish En Provence and make 'em.
8. RESIST jumping into another 'squirrel' project!!!