‘Tis Awesome

Check out the progress on Awesome Land. I am obsessed with this pattern! But I think Sue Hoover, mentioned in my last post, has the right idea of using a constant black polka dot for the monkey wrench pieces. I chose to use up my black scraps and am finding it’s a big pain to lay out the blocks so that the black sets for each monkey wrench are together. The whole quilt is completely scrappy. It feels good to use up my scraps!

Here’s a tip I read somewhere: use a cheap flannel-backed vinyl tablecloth for a design wall. It works very well. Mine is hung over a bookshelf. When assembled rows or columns get too heavy for the flannel to cling, just pin it to the tablecloth. You don't have to worry about holes in the wall or fiberboard. When the tablecloth vinyl gets too holey, just toss it in the trash and spend $3 for a new one.

Up in the Air

It was a rare Saturday - light winds, clear blue skies, no particular plans to highjack my time. So I went flying! Just did a bit of landing practice. I'm happy to say my skills have not atrophied. My airplane was very happy with the cool air. A change in the wind direction on that last pattern made things a bit bumpy so I called it a day.

On the quilting front, I finally began quilting Arcadian Chain. The chain squares will have a big chain link - that looked great sewing it freehand.  I tried a couple designs I had sketched (and practiced on a dry erase board) for the colorful spaces, but my freehand was too wobbly and the blocks are a bit too big to play with rulers on my midarm. So now I will simply do a couple passes of echo stitching and let the colored blocks stand out without excess stitching.

Do you participate in the Rainbow Scrap Color projects by Angela at SoScrappy?  For 2020 I have been cutting fabrics in January's green and February's orange colors. I was inspired by Cathy's False Positive quilt. I like the easy Greek Cross design (see my Red Cross quilt on my 2018 Quilts tab) and figured this would be a good way to use up my scraps. Eventually I will post pics of the resulting blocks. Here's is Cathy's quilt:

February's RSC color is orange, and besides the Greek Cross cutting, I have begun cutting orange scraps into pieces for Awesome Land designed by Lissa Alexander from her "Oh, Scrap" book. Both the Greek Cross and Awesome Land blocks use 2.5 inch strips. Lissa's pattern uses black prints for the secondary monkey wrench formed by the sashing, but my black scraps are pretty sparse so solid black is my choice. Sue Hoover is using this block design for her RSC quilt HERE.

PHD in 2020

You find the most interesting things randomly surfing the web!

For the past several years, the theme of my quilting plan has been to reduce UnFinished Objects (UFOs) or Works in Progress (WIPs). QuiltingGail has challenged us to earn a PHD in 2020.


PHD stands for Projects Half Done. We have to select at least 12 projects to complete in 2020, tell everyone about them via blogpost and track their progress. Okay, I'm in!

That means I need to change my game plan for 2020 a bit. Rather than making 2020 the year for Plaids with three or four projects, I will drop that idea and focus on finishing several of my oldest projects interspersed with a few 'squirrel' projects.  Here are my 12 goals:

# 1 - Arcadian Chain. This is a quilt I began in 2018 that must be finished quickly so it can be gifted. The top just needs pressing, then it can be sandwiched and quilted. I sketched out a quilting plan yesterday.

#2 - Beginning Quilt. I made this quilt from an old Eleanor Burns book back in the 1980s. It has been languishing for more than 30 years [OMG thirty?!!!].  I have decided to remove the top and bottom border and rework it so I don't cringe every time I look at it. Then I can quilt it and be done with this one. [It needs a catchy name, Cathy or Joyce--HELP!]

#3 - Winter Pines, another project from the 1980s. My late grandmother loved this pattern. It only needs a few more blocks sewn and will be ready to finish off with simple quilting. I need to find a white-ish backing.

#4 - Floribunda, a project began in 2012 based on Bonnie Hunter's design. I believe all the blocks are made and the pieced border is nearly finished. I found a great backing a few years ago at Connecting Threads. What on earth am I waiting for? Oh yeah, assembling all those blocks.

#5 - 1960's Revival, a project began in 2013 from an obsession with the Double X block pattern. I did not have enough denim blue for the background so purchased another blue. It's time to finish this up! I found a toile fabric as the backing for this one. It's the background fabric and quilting plan that has held up this finish.

#6 - Craftsy Sampler from 2015. I got stuck trying to decide on the border. Now I will slap on a 5 inch white border, sandwich with the backing fabric I chose, and play with the FMQ plan included in the class materials. The backing is a white with light blue print.

#7 - RSC15 Sampler. I made a concerted effort in 2018 to finish this top, then put it aside to focus on other projects. I need to add some plain white strips to float the edge. This is my favorite sampler and I have a cool backing fabric ready to go. Time to move this one to the Done pile.

#8 - In the 'Hood, an evapaigedesigns quilt sewn in 2017. I have the backing fabric and a great quilting design ready to go. Beth, I promise to send you a pic once it is done!

#9 - Highland Fling mystery, another evapaigedesigns quilt, this one sewn in 2019. I saw a great example for the quilting plan. It just needs a little bit of effort and I can cross this one off the list.

#10 - A Formal Affiair, using the Tessellations line of fabrics from Connecting Threads. I need to lay out the blocks again and make a few more to bring it up to a lap-sized quilt. I have no idea how to quilt it, so would love to hear your suggestions.

#11 - Crap! I need TWELVE projects for this list?  Okay, then I choose Tansy Garden, a top I made in 2018 with Pepper & Flax fabrics. It is simply waiting for me to find a backing and design a quilting plan.

#12 - Out of This World mystery by Pat Sloan sewn last year. This was a fun one to make, and the backing is super cute. It needs a custom quilting plan and that is what has been holding me back. That, and the fact that I finally assembled it only two weeks ago.

Do you want to join me in the PHD quest?

Finishing Touches

Distractions and a couple health issues derailed my plan to finish my 2019 RSC and BOM quilts by year end. Last week I finally had a burst of productivity that brought about the completion of two RSC quilts.  First one was Pixillated.

The next finish was another RSC project Extra Fancy. Both are destined for a future grandchild. (To my daughter - don’t be in a hurry! Pick out a good husband first!)

Then it was time to add borders to Pat Sloan’s BOM Out of This World. The top and backing are ready to sandwich and quilt. 

And that productive period continued. I finally decided to NOT add more rows to Arcadian Chain, which meant it was time to add the borders. The inside borders are sewn and the accent color is cut and ready to apply. 

And that’s where the productivity period ended. I dug through the UFO Storage Facility (sewing room closet) and found my first quilt top — still unfinished. Those borders are awful!  Should I remove them and “do it right” or just finish the darn thing? If I change the border, any ideas on how to add a little flair to this rather plain quilt? At minimum I would keep the cream/muslin inner border and navy outer border, removing the extra tan top and bottom piece. That’s probably the easiest. Then a great quilting design would transform this boring quilt into a beauty.

With all those projects finished or at least moved to their next phase, I rewarded myself by starting a new quilt. I am cringing while typing this, thinking of all the unfinished projects in that closet....so will set it aside until two more projects are completed. Do you make deals with yourself like that?

Balanced for 2020

After a few minutes of careful thought (LOL), I decided my theme for 2020 will be Balanced.

It's funny in a way because I am an accountant by trade, which requires my journal entries, accounts and financial statements be Balanced.



My astrological sign is Libra which is depicted by a set of balancing scales.

Being Balanced also means that I balance work with play, mix old things with new things, eat a healthy diet that is balanced nutritionally, and that I maintain balance in many other aspects of life.

As a quilter, being Balanced means that I will mix old projects with new ones. And that means I will continue to balance finishing up Works in Process with new projects that catch my eye (squirrels).

As a mother of an adult daughter, it means that I will balance my worry with pride in her steps toward true independence.

As 2019 comes to a close and we slide into the 20s, here is my Quilting Scorecard:
Began with 21 WIPs, started 9 new quilts, finished 7 (3 old and 4 new), ended with 23 WIPs. That's assuming I finish quilting and binding my two RSC projects over the weekend. As for achieving my four quilting goals for 2019, I missed the one about reducing WIPs in half but did achieve three out of four. I tried new techniques, used leader-ender method (albeit intermittently), and began documenting my quilts with an information page on each one plus a log (quilt #75 was begun this past month). Venture was the theme for 2019, and I did venture out into exploring more flying, building friendships and enriching my life with new experiences.


My goal for 1Q 2020 is to quilt and bind four WIPs (3 are already tops ready to quilt). Do you have a pile of quilt tops aging in a closet, too?

Overall for 2020, my quilting plan is to clear out old projects while making time for new. Three of my WIPs are long-term projects requiring several blocks a month to be sewn in a slow yet steady progress toward the finish line (Lady of the Lake, Double Delight and Bow Tie).  My RSC20 quilt will be Garlic Knot blocks for which I want to make 4 blocks in each month's color. Also, I am finally ready to begin using up plaids collected for several years to expand a few test blocks into actual quilts (Moth in the Window, Sugar Bowl and Double Pinwheel).

One of my goals is to participate in a project with a partner, not necessarily to swap blocks, but to sew a similar quilt at the same time. I promised Cathy at saneandcrazy.blogspot.com that we would each make a quilt based on the Endless Chain pattern. Cathy sewed her test block using a gray background and I will soon cut into the brown fabric chosen for a background. I'm sorta trying to wait until the calendar switches to 2020 so I can count it as a new project rather than a WIP.

Another goal is to make a Christmas-theme quilt. I have four patterns on my wish list.  Most likely I will use a layer cake to sew Anita's Arrowhead blocks.



Would any of you out there want to join me in making the Arrowhead quilt?

Merry Christmas 2019

Merry Christmas to you and your family!

Side Projects

Slowly but surely the Works in Progress are, well, progressing.  But recently I took a bit of time for a couple other projects.

My quilt guild president is stepping down, after several years of leading her team to give us high quality programs and wonderful quilt shows. We are secretly making a commemorative quilt for her. During a recent trunk show of antique quilts I found out her favorite quilt block is the Bear Paw. I decided to make that block, but oooh boy, the size they wanted was 5.5 inches finished. Yikes! That is some small piecing!  But I was determined to do it.

After calculating that the triangles needed to be 3/4 inch finished, I carefully cut them out. I changed my sewing machine needle to a brand new sharp size 12. Then I used tissue paper under the triangles so they would not get drawn down into the feed dogs. That worked perfectly!  When the block was assembled it was 1/8 inch too small. Aargh!  I picked out the seams of the inner sashing and re-sewed them with a more scanty seam allowance. That did the trick.

The next side project was to make a hostess gift for a family member we planned to visit during Thanksgiving week. Pat Sloan had a little fall-themed table topper on her website that was just what I wanted.  In just a couple hours it was done, quilted and ready to bind. I decided to use a single fold binding and quickly stitched it on. It turned out so pretty I almost don't want to give it away.

Now back to the THREE quilts I am in the midst of quilting....

Fall colors must be on my mind now that it is finally cool in the South.  Both of my side projects used brown and rust shades. Sometime soon I will begin an Endless Chain quilt with a medium brown background  once I decide on the block size. I ordered the fabric from my favorite online source, Connecting Threads, and it arrived a few days ago. I will allow myself to start once I finish one of the WIPs.

Please leave a comment and share what you are working.