Pine Trees Flimsy

Wanna' see what I made?? I finally have an honest-to-goodness finished quilt top to share! And I'm rather stoked about it, too!

To be perfectly honest, I have far fewer finishes to boast this year than in any other year since I retired (2009). I've spent a lot of my time doing other things and consequently have spent less time in the quilting room.

The idea for a pine tree quilt has been marinating for awhile now - since summer 2020 - after traveling through the breathtaking Rocky Mountains with just the most incredibly expansive, seemingly infinite forests one could ever see. I wanted to sear those views into my memory, so I though making a quilt would be a worthy effort.

I tried making up some patterns, and I auditioned some blocks, but nothing ever truly "spoke" to me. Most of the attempts turned out to be rather ugly, actually, like the block above.

Then at one of our retreats while we were shopping at Mae-Lynne Makers, my friend Becky pointed this pattern out to me. Eventually, she talked me into buying it. I am so glad I listened to her. The pattern was super easy and quite fun to make. Sharon is making one, too, and both of us have enjoyed the process. 

My quilt top is now finished, and is awaiting its turn on the long arm machine. I love the background that I used, and if you look at the quilt upside down, the negative space also looks like a pine tree. Cool.

In a quick review of the pattern, I would recommend it to other quilters - maybe not a beginner - but it would be easy enough for anyone with average ability. The directions say to use a scant quarter-inch seam when sewing together the three layers of each tree, and I would strongly recommend that. I was not so mindful of my seams, and the result was that my blocks all came out just slightly shy of the pattern's size of 6.5" x 8". Mine were between 7.75" and 7.875" in length. The other recommendation I have is that YES, you have to trim! I believe the pattern is written so that blocks will be slightly wider than 6.5", so trimming is essential.

Like I said, I am quite stoked to be able to share this finish for June. Finishes have been rather sparse of late.

In other news, click here to read an old post about today's significant milestone. Still no coral or jade, but then this year (the 44th!) has no significant gift. Doesn't matter. We'll have a memorable evening, regardless.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Showing My Patriotism!

In less time than it took me to write yesterday's post listing unearthed UFOs and PHDs, I finished this patriotic mini-quilt. I mean, good grief, what on earth do I think when I let things go for so long??

We'd originally planned to have a little date last night, but we talked ourselves out of it. That left me with a wide-open evening, so I decided that I ought to just get going on an easy item from the aforementioned list.

I had the smaller of the two hanging in my quilting room, so I found a piece of scrap batting, a piece of scrap fabric for backing and even a piece of scrap binding, and went to work.

This mini is 16" square; consequently, the effort to finish was minimal. I did the simplest, most basic machine quilting on it, and got 'er done in no time! The quilting shows up pretty good from the back.

So now I actually DO have a pretty little patriotic table topper for use as we celebrate over the July 4th weekend.

Celebrating big-time over here! Both our country's independence AND my checking an item off my UFO and PHD list!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

UFOs and PHDs

Perhaps it goes without saying that the down-deep-and-dirty cleaning I've done in the quilting room has resulted in my finding a whole lotta' stuff I'd forgotten about. Now that all this has (mostly) been sorted and organized, I do believe I have earned my PHD.

In quilter lingo, that stands for Projects Half Done.

Early on in the excavating process, I decided I should list all the found projects I was unearthing. This is evidence that I really do like starting things a whole lot more than finishing things. I don't recommend trying to make sense of my list; I abbreviate and misname things. I know what I'm referring to, for sure, but it's likely gibberish to anyone else. Suffice it to say that my list contains 23 items, some I am eager to finish, others, ehhh, not so much. A few might never be finished, actually.

Let's talk about the ones that I am excited about; I've actually shared them on the blog, so they will be familiar, possibly.

For the life of me, I don't know why I have not finished Polka Dots and Posies. It appears that all the blocks are made; all I need to do is construct the quilt top. It will definitely be a high-priority item for July.

Some projects I have not shared. For example, Sharon gifted me a gorgeous Kaffe Fassett panel which I immediately buried in a pile on the table. What was I thinking!? This can be incorporated into such a gorgeous quilt, and I sure do have all the necessary KF fabrics to choose the prettiest combinations. Initially I was thinking pillows, but now I am thinking of cutting these into squares and teaming them with fabric cut to the same size, and stitching up a very easy throw. It would be so fast and fun -- and so satisfying.

Of course, we all know I have dozens of full-size quilt tops needing to be quilted; I have a whole lot of little quilts needing it, too. In 2016, I made two Market Day (pattern by Pam Buda) mini quilts. These are still flimsies; haven't done a thing with them. Geesh. If I would just quilt them, I would have two ready-to-go patriotic decor items! Gonna' try to do at least one of these ASAP.

Probably the most embarrassing thing to admit is that I get sooooo close to truly finishing something, and then just stop. What's up with that?? 

I even bragged (not once, but twice!) about how close I was to finishing this Christmas table topper, and had a mere handful of remaining stitches in order to complete it. Guess what? It still needs those final few stitches. Somehow I allowed myself to get side-tracked. Honestly, no excuse adequately explains this behavior.

One more, then I will stop. Recall, if you will, that last fall I was nearing the finish on hand-quilting Fall Foliage. It was set up in the family room, and I worked on it most evenings while watching sports or movies. 

Well, the holidays interfered; I dismantled it and put it upstairs to get ready for Christmas decorating and entertaining. It has not had another stitch taken on it since. I do have a plan, though. Next week, the Tour de France will begin, and I will stitch on this while we watch the cyclists and enjoy our yearly 'visit' to France. Yes, we watch as much for the scenic vistas as we do for the biking.

Wish me luck with my plans for checking several of these UFOs and PHDs off my list. Already, a couple are done -- progress, slow and steady.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

A HUGE Change

 In the ongoing tidying of the quilting room, I have made a small change that has provided maximum impact. The action detailed here has yielded a couple of positives, actually.

For about 10 years now, I have had my grandmother's sewing kit sitting next to my sewing table. I rarely need to get into the kit for anything, but lately when I've needed more specific thread color, I've checked the vast thread supply in her kit. 

Click here to see the kit opened up; click here to see more detailed pics of the contents.

Lately, whenever I touch Grandma's kit, a piece of veneer peels off. It's been loose, but now whatever glue was under there is completely gone, and the veneer is coming off in large strips. Not wanting to cause any further damage, I selected what I considered to be the most treasured items from Grandma's kit to store elsewhere. Then I and put her kit away until I figure out how to go about repairs. And yes, those pieces of veneer were saved for the eventual repair.

This brings me to benefit #1: with her kit out of the way, I have opened up some space in my quilting room. I will try really hard not to fill that space with new piles of "stuff." 

Let me show you how I am dealing with the treasures I removed from Grandma's sewing kit.This is benefit #2 - displays as opposed to dusty piles. Another benefit of cleaning the sewing room is that I now have tidy, clean spaces for display purposes! Who'd have ever thought that was a possibility?!!?

For years, I've had a refurbished dresser behind Sharon's sewing table. And for years, the dresser top has been nothing more than a catch-all. I kid you not - there has been the unfinished parts of a tote bag on that dresser top gathering dust for about 4 years. The depth of the dust on this project was staggering; I'm still sneezing. 

This is a before/after composite of the dresser. Stored here are myriad craft items for anything NOT related to quilting.

No more dusty mess atop this dresser! Now, this dresser top is all spiffed up with these apothecary jars full of Grandma's goodies.

I intend to write at least one more post about the benefits of cleaning my quilting room. I am not yet ready to show anyone the top of my cutting table, but scrap management is ongoing. I won't ever get it 100% done, but I am making progress.

Happy Monday, Dear Friends, and Happy Quilting!

Pine Tree Progress

Even though I continue to whittle away at deep cleaning the quilting room, I have been sure to throw in some occasional fun stuff.

All through this cleaning process, the Pine Tree quilt that I started with my friend Sharon a few weeks ago has been out on the table. And I am happy to report that progress has been satisfactory.

Here is proof of that progress - 50 pine trees! My forest is growing! I have the makings of about a dozen more read to stitch up. And I only need 64 trees total, so I am in the proverbial home stretch.

Now, all these need to be trimmed. That will be a tedious job. But I tell ya' - the best way for me to do tasks like that is to commit to doing 10 at a time. As I sew the blocks, I pin or clip 10 in a bundle. That helps me keep track of my progress. Then, when I trim I just take a bundle at a time and work through it. If I have an audio book going, it can be easy as can pie.

On another topic, we celebrated the first day of summer this week, and while it's been so cloudy and dreary, I did take a picture from our back yard just as the day ended - the golden hour, I've heard it called.

 

Today we get to spend the afternoon with our granddaughter, and then this evening we will go to see a movie at the Ohio Theater - Goldfinger, a James Bond classic. The Ohio Theater has a 50+-year-long tradition of their Summer Movie Series in which a wide variety of classic films are shown for just $5/person. Cheap entertainment! We've been going to these movies since the early 1980s. Last week we saw Rear Window, an Alfred Hitchcock classic, which neither of us had seen and which we both really enjoyed.

Hope you are making the most of this first week of summer! 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Preferred Method of Organizing Projects

I'll continue the saga of cleaning the sewing room today with a quick look at how I organize my projects. These can be future, as yet-to-be-started quilts as well as UFOs. I also confess to having tubs which contain remnants of finished quilts. 

For example, if I made a quilt using American Jane fabric, then all the AJ fabric that was left is still in that tub. My reasoning for this is that maybe I will at some point want to make another AJ quilt, and by keeping the remnants together, I am saving myself the trouble of pulling it all out of storage. (This is what I tell myself; perhaps I'm delusional.)

Under the far end of the cutting table.

You can clearly see that I have a tub devoted to Roman Holiday fabrics. Same sort of deal as the  American Jane. All the labels help me find what I want without having to pull the tubs out and open each one. Especially helpful for the tubs on the bottom.

Under the near end of the cutting table.

Note that I am not showing the top of the table. There's a reason for that, and I probably don't need to spell it out for you.

I have some major scrap-cutting in my future, plus all the pine tree green is spread out up there. 

So, my work continues....

Happy Quilting, Friends!

A Daunting Task

It all began with a search in my sewing room for one particular fabric. If you recall, in my attempt to make progress on Lake Effect, I needed to make more hexies. I found the necessary fabrics and went to work making a few hundred more. 

However, one fabric in particular was missing from the collection and believing it was necessary to include it, I began a basic search of my sewing room.

Arrow points to fabric I am trying to find.

 

You know, searching comes in a couple of different forms. One is the basic glance through this or that tub, or in this or that little pile which usually results in finding the desired item. I did this type of searching for about three days. I'd look for awhile, then stop, moving on to other tasks. But my mind continued pondering possible places I could have put the piece of fabric. 

Because you know about me, my fabric stash and my penchant for keeping all scraps, I wouldn't have thrown it out, and I am sure I didn't use it for any other project.

So I returned, tackling previously unsearched places.

By the third or fourth day, I was driving myself crazy trying to find this fabric, and that is when the simple search ended up becoming so much more. I was becoming really agitated with the fruitlessness of my searching. 

Note the sprinkling of the dark print.

And so the next-level searching began. We are talking deep, dig-in-the-back-of-the cupboard  and pull-out-all-the-tubs stuff here, folks. I am finding things that have been buried for decades.

And no, I have not found the fabric I was looking for. 

 

However, all is not lost. I have accomplished something significant - my sewing room is getting some long-avoided attention. It both thrills me to be tackling this, but also overwhelms me to accept the reality and impossibility of beginning new projects alongside those that need finishing (UFOs). 

For proof that progress is being made, I will share this tub full of empty tubs. Formerly, all these contained miscellaneous items - fabric, projects, remnants from projects, etc. I consolidated huge amounts of items; in other words, I actually dealt with them. Instead of a temporary plastic tub for a home, I moved things to the real home - what a novel idea! Years of stop-gap measures have been corrected for the long-term solutions. 

I intend to explain with more depth a few of these in future posts.

And yes, I know, the truly long-term solutions involve FINISHING what I start!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Special Slow Stitching

In the last post I teased that I would share more about my cousin Marilyn's beautiful creation. Quite honestly, calling it beautiful does not nearly convey the absolutely marvelous array of colors, textures and designs. It is a stunning work of art. Needle art in the truest sense.

I'll rerun the picture of the full quilt here.

This is wool applique at its finest, ladies and gentlemen. The decorative stitches and the whimsical objects combine to offer up a feast for the viewer's eyes. Wherever you look, the incredibly detailed workmanship is evidenced.

I want to share some closeups. While I could have lingered over every single panel, I did not. I snapped a few random shots of various elements on the quilt. To best see the detail, I recommend clicking on each photo to enlarge it.

This work amazes me in a couple ways. First, I cannot even fathom what sort of creative mind thinks of drawing up a design like this and then bringing it to life in wool, thread and decorative embellishments. Second, I wonder where in the world needle artists find the patience to tackle such an intricate project as this.

I know. Many people say those same things about straightforward quilting, so I get it. Everyone has their own unique niche. Thankfully, Marilyn's preference is applique and gosh, is she good! This will truly be a work of art when finished.

The pattern called Fresh Cut is by Sue Spargo from her book entitled , interestingly, Fresh Cut. Her shop which is located in Ohio sells kits. Wouldn't that be an enormous shopping bag?? 

Marilyn tells me that she has twice visited Sue's shop in Uniontown, OH, and dreams of someday taking one of her classes. Sue was actually there in the shop both times she went, so Marilyn got to meet her. Marilyn says the shop is not your typical quilt store. Sue sells unique gifts made by indigenous African women, as well as a wide array of threads, ribbons, fabric (including wool) and kits.

If you are interested in seeing more of Sue Spargo's amazing designs, I recommend visiting her Instagram page. I have scrolled through quite a lot of her feed and have learned so much! She does have some video tutorials and sells some instructional books on getting started with embroidery and embellishing. She travels quite a lot to teach in some very exotic places  - Orvieto, Italy, for example. She just seems like a very fun lady to know. Here are two links to her IG account that relate to this Fresh Cut- here and here, but you should definitely browse it in its entirety!

I am offering up Marilyn's stitching for your Slow Sunday Stitching today. After seeing all this amazing work, I think I will stop moaning and groaning about the bit of simple applique I have attempted over the years. Yikes! I'm such a whiner!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Friends' Quilts

I recently have had several opportunities to enjoy seeing the quilting of friends and family. Today seems like a good day to share those here.

You all know that I have a sweet and fun quilting group - The Frankfort Girls. We definitely have a lot in common, yet we all seem to have our own special preferences which inspire and fuel our creativity.

This darling doggie quilt is Terry's creation - and guess what kind of dogs she owns??? Yes, these little cuties pay tribute to her own sweet Millie and Cooper. Notice that a few of them have their little pink tongues showing. Just adorable!

Sheryl shared this Dr. Suess quilt made with panels and yardage. No doubt this will be going to her granddaughter or maybe it will stay at Grandma's house for when little Alice comes to visit.

Becky had this Judy Rothermel version of a Carrie Nelson pattern called Tag Sale. I love it! Actually, in recent months I've even considered making a Tag Sale quilt. I made one long ago when the pattern first came out, so I can get started straight away. Hmmm...

Becky also shared this Grandmother's Flower Garden with a striking black background. What drama! It totally has the "Becky" look, and is quite eye-catching with those lovely reproduction fabrics.

This next quilt is one my cousin Marilyn is making. We visited with her a couple of weeks ago, and I asked her what she'd been working on lately. I gasped with amazement when she brought this out; my jaw literally dropped. What a beauty! This is a Sue Spargo pattern called Fresh Cut. I've done some investigating of Sue Spargo's designs and have learned quite a lot. I hope to bring more on this quilt in my next post.

So there you see - inspiration is everywhere!! I will never run out of ideas nor will I ever be wanting for inspiration.

Happy Quilting, Friends!