Welcome December!

My, my, my. December. I just have to shake my head in amazement at how fast the months go by. Each time we welcome in a new month, I like to reset my focus on various projects and goals. 

I also like to recap the previous month's highlights in a little collage. I've not yet made November's collage, so that will be tomorrow's topic.

For my sewing and quilting goals, I want to do at least one more quilt on the long arm, so that I can say I met my goal for the year - averaging 2 quilts per month. Ideally, I will do 3 or 4, but I won't get too ambitious just yet.

I also have a couple of gifts I need to work on, so that will take priority. Plus, there are two or three WIPs that I could try finishing. Face it - there's always something in progress, right?

I have my Christmas cards ready to mail, and now I can focus on getting out all the decorations and put the tree up. I like to putter about when I do this, taking my time to decide how extensive I want to take things. I suspect I will operate with minimalism in mind.

To begin the festive decor, today I put the Christmas quilt Eventide on the bed. Made with 3 Sisters'  Roman Holiday fabric, I always love bringing out this beauty.

Short and sweet today, Peeps! Catch ya' tomorrow with a newsier post.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

One Day - Two Finishes

It is a rare day for sure when I can boast not one, but two finishes.

After taking the last of the commissions to Terry's, I headed straight for two quilts I'd kept waiting in the wings for binding. I have had these quilts since late July, and showed them off in this post soon thereafter.

I started applying the binding to 16-Patch Stars on Friday evening, but got interrupted and didn't get back to it until yesterday, when Sharon was here for sewing. Before lunch, I managed to complete the binding on it. Yay!

It has been chilly here, but I took it out to the front yard anyway for a photo-op. The sun was shining, but the temps were shivery.

After lunch, I decided that I would finish off the binding on Eventide. Yes, I did!

Two quilts bound in one day. I feel so good about these finishes, let me tell you! I was enjoying the sunny late afternoon despite the chill, so I snapped some shots of the two quilts together. I am afraid that these two quilts are destined to be forever linked to one another - in my mind, at least - because of their finishes.

What a great way to start the week! Hope I can accomplish lots more, too.

I am linking up with Connie over at Freemotion by the River - click on over to see what other quilters are making.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Remember That Resolution?

It was back in January that I made the resolution to get a quilt quilted every month for the year of 2016. I am woefully behind in my goal, but the few that are quilted are some of my favorites and are no longer just hanging out in the closet never to be enjoyed.

Several weeks ago, I got two quilts back from Terry and even though I still need to get the binding on them, I thought I would take the time to let you see what is waiting in the wings for my attention. I am chomping at the bit to have them finished.

This scrappy 16-patch block with stars in the sashing is a pattern of my own invention. With no particular plan in mind, I hand stitched the blocks with random 2.5" squares over the course of several months. Most were done while sewing with the Frankfort Girls at our Friday morning get-togethers. When it became time to decide how to use the blocks, I thought of using navy sashing strips with off-white cornerstones. Then I came up with the idea of adding those triangles to each end of the sashing strips to make star points. Voila! I love how it all came together.

Eventide has a long history. The longest part of its past is the Roman Holiday fabric, which I'd had in the stash since the fabric came out - possibly more than 10 years ago. In the spring of 2014, I believe, I made the decision to use the Roman Holiday in the Eventide pattern by Miss Rosie's Quilt/Carrie Nelson. What a joy to make. The gorgeous fabric and the great pattern seemed like a perfect marriage. I am thrilled with this quilt.

Let's see them on the bed. Those pictures above were taken when Terry returned them to me from being quilted, and were unfolded in Sheryll's kitchen.

Do you notice the quilt or the cat first? I just didn't have the heart to disturb Gracie when I went upstairs to take the picture. My activity in the room did awaken her, though, and her look tells me she was none too thrilled about it.

Because Eventide is just so darn gorgeous, I will give you lots of different angles and closeups on it. No cat in sight, either.

To recap my resolution: January-Breath of Avignon; February-Scrappy 16-Patch; March-Eventide; April-Abby's Wedding Quilt; May, June, July, August - no quilts. Now the 'glass half empty' folks would find fault with 50% completion of a goal. I, however, am a 'glass half full' kind of gal, and I see 4 quilts done that otherwise would still be hanging in the closet. A goal was all I needed to get some quilts moved out of that closet and onto a bed.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Resolution Update

My big resolution for 2016 is to try to get one flimsey per month off of a hanger in the closet and out to be quilted and finished. As most resolutions go, I am already off track, but I am optimistic that I can get a few more done by year's end. Which is the whole point, anyway.

I did January's - Vincent, my Van Gogh-inspired quilt using Avignon fabric by American Jane. Below is a picture of it, and here is the post of its finish.

For February, I sent off my scrappy 16-patch stars. It will be coming back to me this week ready for binding. A bit late, since we are nearly through April already, but there have been some snags along its journey to being finished. Terry, my friendly quilter, had some health issues and then the backing I sent was causing her machine to skip stitches - these were the most significant of the snags. Hopefully, we are back on track now, though, and last I spoke with Terry, this Tuesday is the target delivery date. Below is February's quilt.

I was in a quandary about what to do for March, and since now April is about over and May is looming, I don't know which month to assign to this quilt. I suppose I will call it May, and just accept the fact that I skipped March and April. *sigh*

May's quilt is my beautiful Eventide made from Roman Holiday fabric by 3 Sisters. The pattern is a Carrie Nelson/Miss Rosie's Quilts design, and I love everything about it. Having such a pretty quilt hanging in a closet is almost criminal, so off it will go to Terry for quilting. Here is the post from when I finished the quilt top clear back in August of '14.

One final this afternoon; several essays to get graded; another final on Wednesday; a book to get read by Friday; bridal shower for niece Abby on Saturday; final grades to be submitted as early as possible. Just a normal busy week around here. Whew.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Deadline Met!

Earlier this afternoon, I slipped upstairs to the quilting room and put the last border on Eventide. Then I went ahead and stay-stitched the outer edges, something I really have to force myself to do. And then I pressed the dickens out of it!

 

 

And THAT is how you meet a deadline. This quilt has been a long, long time in the making. Fabric purchased about 6 or 8 years ago; pattern acquired just after it was released, about 2 years ago; decision made to pair fabric and pattern in June; cut out at 2014 Quilt Camp; slowly pieced through July and August. What a journey.

Now on my plate: finishing a t-shirt quilt for a friend of my mother's; putting borders on those pastel 9-patch quilts from the retreat and then quilt camp (I made 2 of them); finishing the UFOs in our challenge; getting two  quilt-alongs up-to-date.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Eventide Top Comes Together

I am so close to having Eventide put together! Have a look!

 

I think I will spend this evening cutting out the rectangles that will form the outer border. I can then  sew them when I have time throughout the rest of the week. I still think I can make my Sept. 1st deadline for having this top completed.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Crazy Busy Times Around Here

Yeah, I know I have been conspicuously absent from my blog for about a week. Sorry about that! It seems that I am not the juggler that I thought I was. My DH's computer is in the shop, so he's using my laptop a lot more than I counted on when I offered it. That laptop, though, is the one I usually blog from, so I'm limited.

Want more excuses? I've got 'em! The OUC school year has begun! I am teaching 3 classes, which required me to get 3 syllabi ready. That required the laptop again, so when I did get access to it, the top priority was school, not blogging.

Excuses, excuses! Maybe, but it's also just life. So we roll with it.

I have been working in the quilting room. Still Eventide. But I have advanced to this step in the directions:

Assembling!! Yay! It makes me happy to see it coming together. It is so, so busy! But with Roman Holiday fabric, who cares?? It is totally scrumptious! The pattern is by Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.

Even though these are just blocks laid out on the bed, I now have them sewn together, I have the red hourglass blocks attached to each vertical side, as well as the outer side borders. I will have an up-to-date picture tomorrow. All that is left is to attach the remaining border which will go all the way around. It is made of 58 rectangles -- measuring 3.5- by 6.5-inches. I have not cut these out yet, so this step could be awhile.

I have been sewing with Sharon P. more regularly lately. We are both doing quilts with our stash of Roman Holiday fabric. Hers is also a Miss Rosie pattern - Three Coins, if you are familiar with her work. After bemoaning how slowly we get our projects finished, we made a goal together of having our quilt tops done by September first. Sharon has reached her goal!! Because it is so pretty, I'm giving you 4 pictures at which to gaze longingly. (You can thank me later.)

Sigh. It was such a bugger to make - those star blocks were killers! But isn't the end result fantastic? It motivates me to get going on finishing my Eventide by the September 1 deadline.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Still Hangin' Around

I don't know if you pay attention to how long it takes me to finish things. I certainly hope not. I seriously doubt that anyone does, and let's just keep things that way, if you don't mind. I really do allow projects to hang around way, way too long.

I began Eventide in late June at Quilt Camp. I spent about a day cutting out what seemed like endless parts. I have not been following the directions as they were written, and maybe that has slowed my progress somewhat.The pattern, which is by Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosie's Quilt Company, instructs you to make all the sub-units first. But I want to have a star! Right now! So I made enough sub-units for one star, made the star, and just kept on doing it that way.

The trouble comes when I am away from it for awhile - I forget what I'm doing, what I've done, and how I did it!

Here we are in mid-August, and I should have this quilt top together by now. Yet I find myself still making parts and sub-units. I suppose I let too many other things take my attention away from regular stitching. Since the end of June, I have had the following things interrupting my attention to Eventide:
1. Cleaning and prepping for the fraternity bash
2. Making pillows
3. Cleaning out Grandma's closet
4. Finding a place for the stuff from that closet
5. Writing for the Historical Society
6. Trying to stay caught up with 2 quilt alongs
7. Trying to finish things for the UFO challenge

Not big stuff, to be sure, but stuff nonetheless. And then I also do a fair amount of running around whenever the offer is made. I've spent several afternoons at a friend's pool, a day at the Columbus Parade of Homes, an evening Reds/Indians game, Frienzie activities - well, you get the picture.

And, let's not forget - I am a world-class procrastinator, too. 

Why don't I quit blabbing, and just show you some pictures of Eventide? Good idea!

These blocks feature the half-square triangle in each corner. These are sprinkled through the quilt.

Here's a close up of one.

I've laid out blocks for the center portion of the quilt on the guest bed. I'll be rearranging these to distribute the colors a bit better. On each vertical side of this section are borders of red quarter-square triangles. I am currently making those.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Seeing Stars

Old news, but still worth sharing: I made some significant progress on all those Ohio stars needed for my Eventide quilt. This past Monday when Sharon P. was here, I really doubled down and got over 30 of them sewn together. They are all gorgeous, but some are definitely prettier than others. I will show you a random few from my stack.

This stack is unpressed, obviously, but I just couldn't wait to take pictures.

 

I am loving this Roman Holiday! I've had it for so long, and waited so long for just the right quilt to use it in, and I think I am going to be very pleased with this match.

I've not done much on this quilt since Monday, sadly. I will get back to it asap!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

Flowers and Stitches

Aren't the flowers in my husband's gardens looking great? He loves lilies and they are showing their exceptional beauty this week. We are enjoying these wonderful splashes of color all over the backyard.

From the sewing room, I can show you a few more bits of work on Eventide. I do love the way these blocks are coming together. These units will become part of all those Ohio Star blocks - if memory serves, I need 42 Ohio Stars.

I said earlier that I was concerned that I'd end up with more brown than I wanted; from looking at this, I think I should be more concerned about green! I will wait to withhold my opinion until I have it more of it together. No sense in worrying now - just get it sewn together!

Happy Quilting, Friends!