A Finish Is Still A Finish...Right?

Back in July I took a workshop with Bonnie Hunter and had a perfectly wonderful day making blocks for a scrappy My Blue Heaven quilt.  I came home all excited after Bonnie's lecture about how we could piece the quilt using her leaders and enders method and the quilt would practically sew itself.  I set the box of scraps on the corner of my sewing table and there it sat for 6 months...untouched.  Nope, this quilt wasn't going to sew itself.  I do like the idea of leaders and enders or even just sitting and doing some mindless sewing for a few minutes each day, but the desire to make this quilt just wasn't there for me, so I decided to put the finished blocks together and make something with them...anything!  It's now a table topper instead of a bed quilt, but a finish is still a finish...right?

Beach Party

A couple of weeks ago I attended a beach party workshop sponsored by the Mountain Laurel Quilt Guild.  It was a fun beach themed day which not only included learning a great tube method for making double hourglass blocks, but also beach music, a pizza lunch, and for those who were brave enough to wear beach attire in January...flip flops! The quilt pattern was based on a video by the Missouri Star Quilt Company and I was amazed at how quickly my quilt went together using this technique!  It also helped that I was the winner of a 100% cotton batting door-prize (even though I wasn't wearing my lucky flip flops), so I had no excuses for not finishing my quilt right away.

 

Silent Sunday

Vintage quilt at the Packwood House Museum

Enough For A Top!

January is the last month of the Scrappy Star Sew Along at  Terry's Treasures and now I have enough blocks made for a quilt top!  I've been looking through my stash for something to use as sashing, but can you believe that I don't have anything that will work?  I guess I will have to do a little fabric shopping before I can finish this one.

As If...

As if I don't have enough unfinished quilt tops of my own, so what made me purchase this vintage top from Possibilities?  I don't know, but sometimes something just calls my name and I can't ignore it!  It could have been the sweet little hand stitched 9-patch blocks, or the beautiful pinks and browns, or maybe even the wonky setting, but I think it was the combination of all those things and the fact that this top needed a good home that made me want it for my own.

How Did The Giraffes Get In The Flower Garden?

Here is my Finish 6 Challenge quilt for January...all finished!  It's quite the quilt, isn't it?  I rescued this top from the thrift store, so I can't take credit for the pattern or design on this one.  You can probably guess why this quilt was moved to the bottom of the "to quilt" list.  I mean, honestly, what is up with that crazy giraffe block in the middle of all those flowery calico pints?  As I was quilting I pondered on that question.  Just what was the maker thinking?  Did she have a sense of humor?  Was she out of calico?  Was she out of her mind?  I don't know, but as I was quilting, this quilt began to grow on me and now that it's done (I am almost afraid to admit this) I like it! 

Silent Sunday

Much Work To Be Done

This week Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative contributors received news that executive director, Ami Simms, is retiring and the AAQI will be suspending operations at the end of 2013.  To date, the AAQI has raised over $883,000 dollars for Alzheimer's research, an amazing number in itself, but the goal before the end of the year is to reach the $1,000,000 mark!  Yes, retirement is coming, but there is still much work to be done!  I will continue to make quilts for the AAQI throughout the year, but I think my main focus will be working on building my personal AAQI art quilt collection.  After December these little gems will no longer be available for sale, so the time to shop is now!  Let's help Ami reach that $1,000,000 goal before she takes that much deserved retirement!

Three of my quilts are currently up for sale on the AAQI website...

10152 - Good To The Last Scrap
12046 - Pink Reminders
12227 - Ripple Effect

Read Ami's retirement notice at www.aaqiupdate.wordpress.com

All Polished And Pretty

It took me awhile, but here is my birthday machine all put together, polished up and pretty!  I did put a new motor and foot control on it because I didn't trust the wiring on the old motor, but other than that, it just needed a good cleaning and a little TLC to get a nice straight stitch.  I hadn't thought much about a name for her, but it came to me as I was putting her back in the case...Big Bertha!  This is one heavy gal and being that she arrived on my big birthday, Big Bertha just seemed to fit!

Scrappy Tumblers

While looking at the pile of Go!Cutter tumbler scraps that I brought home last week, the idea came to me that I should use my Go!baby and cut the scraps into 3" tumblers!  My plan is to sew these little tumblers together a la Bonnie Hunter's leaders and enders.  I'll need to add more tumblers to the pile to make a quilt (Please don't send me your scraps.  I have plenty...honest!) but this stack will get me off to a good start.  I love scrappy quilts and I think it will be fun to watch this one grow from saved bits and pieces!

Silent Sunday

What Was I Thinking?

Several of my friends and I got together for a much needed sew day yesterday.  A couple of friends were piecing tops, a couple were hand quilting, one was working on needle turn applique, and another was cutting tumblers with a Go!Cutter.  It was a wonderful day catching up with everyone after the holidays while each of us was doing our own thing.  One topic of discussion was sewing resolutions for the new year and everyone agreed that 2013 is the year of using stash fabric and finishing UFO's, so what was I thinking when I brought home this huge pile of Go! scraps?  I just couldn't let them go into the garbage!   There's a lot of good usable fabric in this pile, but did I really need another project or more fabric?

Flannel Scraps

I started this quilt simply to use up a bag of flannel scraps that has been taking up space in my sewing room closet.  I cut as many 6" squares as I could and then put them together in a Disappearing 9-Patch pattern.  Daughter-in-law #2 happened to ask what I was working on one day, so I snapped a photo for her.  She immediately questioned who it was for and when I told her it wasn't for anyone she said that she was putting it on her Christmas list!  I couldn't ignore her request, so I got it finished just in time for it to be under the tree for her!

Silent Sunday

Tools Of The Trade

My daughter-in-law inherited a sewing machine awhile ago and has now decided that she wants to learn how to sew!  I spent an afternoon showing her the way around her new machine, but I quickly became frustrated with her lack of good sewing supplies.  I knew if I was frustrated with cheap thread and dull scissors that she would be too and sewing would never be fun for her!  For her Christmas gift I purchased all the necessary tools and then made a sewing caddy and matching pin cushion to keep all of her new notions close at hand. I'm sure her next sewing project will go a lot smoother now that she has the right tools for the job! 

Drawstring Backpack

Miss One, our 12 year-old granddaughter, asked if I could make her a bag for her gym clothes.  Easy enough!  We searched the web for bag patterns and she decided on a drawstring backpack like the one in this tutorial from Material Girls Quilts.  Then we went to my stash to find just the right fabric.  I really thought she would pick something a little more girly than the USMC emblem fabric, but she insisted that was the fabric she wanted.  Maybe there will be another Marine in the family someday!

Happy New Year!

  
Wishing you a happy new year, full of success, love, health, wealth and joy!