Ending A Productive Month

November has been very good to me as far as finishes go. One never knows when the month begins just how much can be accomplished, but as I look back, this month's efforts have been quite satisfying.

I created this collage of the highlights of the month, and still I don't have everything. The first shot is of a china cabinet at my mother's house. Several of my siblings and I helped her decorate her house for Christmas last Saturday. This is just one highlight pic of our efforts. Next is expectant-mama Elisa with the baby quilt I gifted her. Then we have a cute couple - my great Uncle John and Aunt Nina. We had a fun family-reunion-type weekend with them in Columbus. The first pic in the second row is a surprise that I have yet to write about. I will divulge more on it as we enter December. Center stage is my little Thanksgiving wall hanging. Another cute couple round out the middle row - brother and sister Matthew and (another) Elisa; the occasion for the fancy dress is Matthew's wedding, which was on the 11th. In the bottom row we have DD Emma and her boyfriend's sister with the baby quilt we made. Next is the wall hanging I made for Emma (which still needs to be quilted), and finally, the November UFO finished to the flimsy stage.

In addition to the collage highlights, these past few days I have worked on using up my Roman Holiday remnants. You saw in yesterday's post my 30" square HST flimsy. Since then, I have worked on smaller HSTs, this time with the goal of making Broken Dishes blocks. After all the HSTs are finished off, I will still have some rectangular pieces remaining in the tub and some very scrappy strips. It remains to be seen what will be done with those.

As I look ahead to December, I definitely plan to finish my last UFO for the year. I will be so glad to be done thinking about UFOs for awhile! The tub of Kaffe Fassett fabrics, above, will figure heavily into finishing that UFO. Yes, another KF quilt.*smile*

In addition, I have a quilt top needing to be quilted for that groom you met above, and his beautiful bride, Lindsey. When these are done, I think I will just play. Picking up whatever I want and doing something fun with it - now there's a luxury I haven't been able to enjoy all that much this year. With no pressing deadlines hovering over me, December seems like a perfect month to simply play.

Hope you find some time to play, too!
Happy Quilting, Friends!

What A Productive Day

Yesterday, Sharon was here to sew, and gosh! We got a lot done!

First, I will show you two pictures of some remnants that Sharon was using to create a beauty. A long time ago, she took the cut-away portions of previous blocks to make pinwheels. Then, as often happens with we quilters, she stored those pinwheels away for an ever-so-long time.

She has decided to make something of them - the quilt will be the "little sister" of the original quilt, which she called a Bursting Star. I have a vague recollection of it, but it's fuzzy. She has promised to bring it sometime, or at least, take a picture.

Anyway, the work for her yesterday was to create something out of these pinwheel blocks.

The darker fabric is a dark red toille, and alongside this neutral, we get a very soft effect. If you study the direction of the pinwheels in one section and compare it to the direction in the other section, you will understand the dilemma Sharon is fussing about. When she made the pinwheels many months (years?) ago, she had no thought other than to just make pinwheels. Today, when she began to construct something with them, she discovered the directional issue, and now has decisions to make. I will keep you posted as her results come together. I am not worried. Everything Sharon makes is unique and gorgeous.

My efforts for the day resulted in a finished table runner and a small HST flimsy. First, let's have a look at this table runner.

I bought this kit just last Friday, when I took a drive with DH, F-i-L and B-i-L into Ohio's Amish Country. Yes, we stopped at Mrs. Miller's in Charm! Always a delight! Anyway, the runner was super-easy to make! And fast! I will probably find myself making several more.

After the table runner, I acted on a whim I recently had for using some of my Roman Holiday/3Sisters remnants. I made Eventide back in the summer of 2014 and had it quilted in 2016. I haven't touched these remnants since finishing the flimsy.

I hadn't forgotten them though!

After checking out the exact nature of the remnants, I found that I had quite a few squares, some of which were even marked with the diagonal line for HSTs. And with that, I had my idea working and coming together in no time!

I stitched up those triangles and began laying them out. I distributed the colors a bit, but did not allow myself to stress and obsess about it. This little beauty measures 30" square. I used all the triangles of this size and only had 4 leftover. Not too bad. I will surely find something to do with those extras.

Roman Holiday fabric is quite scarce these days, so I was very frugal in my cutting. You can see a triangle with selvage information on one block. I just figured it was a good way to pay tribute to this wonderful fabric, so I used it. And I am glad I did.

The only colors I had left were green, brown and red, plus the variety of backgrounds. I will get busy quilting this ASAP so I can use it this month in my Christmas decorating.

I still have Roman Holiday scraps remaining. I am hoarding it. I will try to do something worthy of such great fabric - maybe soon. I would like to tell the folks at 3Sisters and Moda to re-release this line!!

I have linked up with the party over at Let's Bee Social.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Hello, Pam! Guest Post

Back in the summertime, I took this picture of a gorgeous quilt that my Frienzie Pam shared with us. Pam brought us a guest post last year, if you recall.  I saved this picture and a few more all this time in the hope that she would provide another guest blog about her fund-raising efforts, and today is the day, dear readers. Take it away, Pam!

Guest Blog # 2

I have made another Zentangle quilt! This one got its start at my 40 year high school class reunion! One of the guys that I graduated with is married to a quilter. I told her about my 2016 Zentangle quilt and the mission auction. Later that summer, she won some fabric in a quilting contest and donated part of it to me to use for another quilt for missions! The fabrics are Moda fabrics from the Simply Colorful II line. I received the green and purple fat quarters from Ann and the planning began!

 I decided to involve the church youth again and traced some shapes onto white fabric for the Zentangle. The youth selected the shape they wanted to work with and completed the Zentangle with scripture references. Their enthusiasm for the project had increased since last year. I think that is because they had a better understanding of how their drawings would be part of the finished quilt.

I selected the Ohio Star as the quilt block. I cut pieces for each block and made kits. Each kit contained one purple fabric, one green fabric, and a completed Zentangle to use as the center. I went to the monthly meeting of The Scarlet Thread Sewing Ministry and the quilters assembled the blocks in one day! I had 30 completed blocks when I left the meeting!

Next, I sewed the 30 blocks together. At this time, I had to order more fabrics to complete the borders, back, and binding. I was able to order fabrics from the same Moda line. I did have to do a little piecing on the back and binding. The end result did not suffer from the piecework that was necessary!

I made a label that included the names of all of the contributors and included it as part of the back. My friend, Pat, did the quilting and my friend, Terry, did the hand sewing to complete the binding.

The quilt was auctioned off recently and sold for $820. This money will go to the Lottie Moon Christmas Fund which supports missionaries through the International Mission Board. Just like last year, the party who bought it gifted it to the person that he outbid!

 

As Jayne mentioned in a previous post, I like to scrapbook. Above are photos of two scrapbook pages that tell the story of this quilt.

Thanks, Pam! Below are more pictures from this summer.

In the summer, when I first saw this quilt, I was so taken with the wonderful colors. As I study it now, I am still very interested in seeing if I can find similar colors to do my own raspberry and green quilt! I love the combination!

Awesome project, Pam. This is a wonderful way to bring many hands together for a common cause. I love that you are so willing to share this with me! And I love you, too! *grin*

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Another UFO Bites the Dust

Never in my life have I made a resolution in January that I have remained faithful to for eleven months, but I can say proudly that the November UFO is now a finished quilt top! I am so glad, too, as it makes me very happy to gaze upon it. I will let you know right up front that you are going to see lots of pictures of this one!

I am calling this quilt Dusty Trails for the plan all along was to have a quilt that looked reminiscent of quilts from our pioneer ancestors. Over the years, I stored away several fat quarters and yardage of selected fabrics that seemed suitable for this quilt, and I think I hit a home run with it, don't you? I am glad to finally have this top finished.

The history on this quilt has been recounted here before, but I can briefly repeat for you. I saw a store sample displayed in a now-closed quilt shop in Portsmouth, OH, about 20 years ago. I just loved it, so I bought about 5 or 6 FQs of the fabrics in the sample. I made up a pattern to imitate the one in the shop and then made about 9 Broken Dishes blocks. Who knows why I stopped there, but I did. For the last two decades, the blocks and the remaining fabrics have lived in a tub here in the sewing room. I added fabrics occasionally - especially if they seemed in the same historic time period I had in mind - roughly the time of the Oregon Trail pioneers. (Thus the name - Dusty Trails.) Click here to see the first few blocks I made and the additional fabrics I added to the collection.

Last Tuesday and Wednesday I constructed the quilt and added the borders. Ta-da! November UFO finished!

The border fabrics came from my stash, and I made 4 more Broken Dishes blocks to use in the corners. the whole quilt just came out so great - I am giddy with delight at how it looks. Sometimes quilts show their age, but this one seems just as fresh as the day I dreamed it up oh-so-many years ago.

Here we are, now, with just one week of November left, and then one more month of 2017 left. Wow. I  have big plans already taking shape for 2018, but first I still have the December UFO to knock out; I am definitely going to see this New Year's resolution through to the very end.

Finally, I have linked with Beth at Love, Laugh, Quilt and her weekly Monday Making.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Thanksgiving Blessings

Greetings of many thanks and blessings to you all, dear readers! Without a doubt, I have much for which to be thankful.

I am upstairs in the quilting room prepping this post, and the incredible aroma of the turkey is wafting all the way up here! Heavenly!! It is set to come out of the oven in about an hour. The festivities here at our house will be quite low-key, but we are set to make the most of visiting family and friends through the rest of the weekend.

I hope your table is surrounded by those you love, laden with foods of the season, and your hearts filled with gratitude. I always take a moment to remember those loved ones no longer with us, as well as our brave military.

Blessings - they are a'plenty!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Busy Weekend; Busy Week

We are coming into the time of year when our schedules get packed full of family and holiday obligations. Both DH and I have large families; consequently, our calendar is filling up fast. And I love it! Seeing family we haven't seen in awhile, reconnecting with them and making plans to visit and share - I just can't get enough of it.

Over the weekend, we had a happy getaway with my mother's side of the family. Several of her cousins live out of state - Montana and Maryland, mostly. For this crew to get together with any regularity is challenging, as you can imagine. Somewhere along the line, someone figured out that choosing a weekend in the fall when the OSU Buckeyes play at home would be ideal for also scheduling a mini-reunion. We book a hotel near the campus; some have game tickets; some do not; we have big gatherings for breakfasts and late-night pizza; those who don't attend the game hang out in a sports pub nearby - it is hugely fun! And it's always better when the home team wins, don't you know! *wink*

With all the fun and frivolity of activities like this, sewing and quilting are the furthest thing from my mind. All I have to share today is the gifting of the baby quilt I recently finished to my nephew's wife. I had no idea she was using teal in her color scheme, but she is, and this quilt fits perfectly! What a happy accident!

I attended the baby shower yesterday afternoon with my mom, sister and niece. We had a nice car ride down toward Cincinnati for that fun event. So you see? Family stuff all weekend long. No complaining about it from me, at all! Elisa was genuinely thrilled to get the quilt; this makes me ever so happy.

I bought the fabric at the Circleville quilt show in August, and made the quilt top earlier this month. I quilted it last Thursday and stitched the binding with the Frankfort girls on Friday morning. I have to remark that a quilt made, finished and gifted all in the same year the fabric was purchased is a rare occurrence for me, as is giving the quilt prior to the birth of the baby! What is up with me?? Have I turned over a new leaf? (It's doubtful.)

This week, even with a low-key Thanksgiving, we have many places to go and family on both sides to see. I am always happy to report that not one ounce of shopping is ever included in my Thanksgiving week plans, with the likely exception of groceries.

Sharon is coming to sew tomorrow at which time I plan to construct my November UFO quilt top. I will be sure to bring you progress on that as well as a couple of surprises (hopefully) as we near Thanksgiving.

Hope you all have a great Monday! If you have time, pop over to Monday Making, where I am linked.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Many Random Projects

It has been ages since I have shared projects from the girls I quilt with regularly. This all stems back to the blogging slump I was in, I guess. From my recent little stretch of blogging output, I think my slump might be over (hope so!), and I need to clear this unfinished business.

I will do this in roll-call order, since time order is completely irrelevant at this point. By first names, we shall begin with Becky, and the last time I sewed with her she was binding her Generals' Wives quilt! What a gorgeous quilt this is! (Do a search of the web; you'll see!) She has a comfy visitor there beside her - Chuck the cat curled up for a nap.

Below, is Jan's "Eye Spy" quilt made for her little grandson Geoff. He will get lots of mental stimulation from this! As a retired primary school teacher, Jan loves all the primary colors and the matching and counting activities inherent in this kind of quilt.

Above, Jan is demonstrating how she personalizes items with her embroidery machine. We were at her house recently and in just a 2-minute demo, she whipped out this towel for me. It was fun to watch.

Other projects from Jan in recent months involve EPP - she is prolific with creating these beautiful blocks.

One final project from Jan is another for her grandson of crayons in primary colors. This will be so much fun!

Laura recently spent a day with us at Terry's and devoted the entire time to cutting out projects. I think she worked on 3 or 4 - maybe even 5. She is prolific, so this must be part of her time-saving methods, tested and true over time, I'm sure. Laura prefers little quilts with tiny pieces - and they always look amazing.

Next is Sharon who loves to hand-stitch smaller projects - the wall hanging and table runner variety, mostly. These are hand-stitched. Yes. See what I mean about tiny?!

Sheryll has many wool applique projects in her past, and she continues to crank them out with amazing speed. Her home is filled with lovely creations similar to this.

Finally, Terry produces gorgeous creations as fast as ever. On top of piecing and quilting her own stuff, she has a small long-arm business on the side, making her productivity all the more impressive. Below, she has binding to finish on this pretty fall table runner.

More recently, she was making a gazillion stars for an impressive quilt. I don't have an exact count, but there could easily be 80-100 of these stars in that particular quilt - lots of stitching! Lots of fun!

Finally, I will show a quilt that Terry entered into the Ross County Quilt Guild's quilt show which was held in August or September. It's been awhile. I never get tired of gazing at this beautiful quilt made from a Kim Diehl pattern.

Well, this has certainly been a hodge-podge of quilts. I hope you haven't been too distracted by my scattery methods. Now that this old business has been dealt with, I can work on trying to stay a bit better caught up.

Have a great Friday!
Happy Quilting, Friends!