OSU T-Shirt Quilt

Wrapped up in Christmas finery was this gift to my DH.

He'd casually mentioned early last summer that he'd like to have a quilt. Can you believe I've never made one for him?!?? I went to the thrift shop and bought all the Ohio State t-shirts they had (11) and found an old one here of ours, and VOILA! a quilt for hubby was born!

I could not get it quilted before Christmas, however, so also in the box was a note: " This is scheduled to be quilted in early January."  And it is; I'll be taking it this week to a friend who will quilt it for me.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Meet My Stars!

I'd like to introduce you to French General Stars. Or I could call it Rouenneries Stars.

Whichever I end up calling it, I love it. That line of fabric has been out since around 2007, if I'm not mistaken, and I'm just now using it in my first project! (I know I'm not the only one hoarding a few yards of French General fabrics!!) I am happy to report that I have plenty of FG fabric remaining in the old stash; I hope to be churning out a few more lovelies in this fabulous stuff!

The quilt pattern, September Stars, is from a Thimbleberries book called September Morning, from 2001. I not only hoard fabric; I hoard books, as well! Surely other quilters can relate, no??

I have a bit of a dilemma. Technically, I just put the borders on this week - Monday, to be exact. But I had all the rest done before the new year. I really want to count this quilt as a product of 2011; it was on my goals list for the year, and it ends up taking care of 2 quilts at once - it is a Christmas quilt in addition to being the French General quilt I wanted to make in 2011. So, the quandary - consider it a 2011 finish, or the first finish of 2012?? Maybe 2011 with an asterisk?

That's what I'll do - 2011*.

So, on the sewing table today, I find myself working on 2 things at once. I've got Mom's signature quilt going. I'm using square-in-a-square blocks for that. Also, I have begun cutting and stitching Chantilly, a quilt I have wanted to make for ages and ages.

I've pulled a bunch of fabric for it, and the cutting couldn't be easier - 6-7/8" squares!
the stitching is pretty easy, as well. Draw a diagonal line; stitch on either side; cut apart ~ voila!! It should go together fast. Easy-peasy. Great way to begin a new year of stitching.

Here's some of the fabric I pulled.

These are mostly Robert Kaufman fabrics from a very old fat quarter pack I've had. I have about this much more random stuff pulled to go with this. It will be very scrappy.

I was reading some blogs this morning and came across Kathie who talked about working on more than one project at a time on her blog called Inspired by Antique Quilts. Now, I am notorious for this; I like starting things, and I start LOTS of things! The trouble is I always have to push myself to finish them.  It must be a character flaw. That's why I could spend a whole year working only on UFOs, and still have work left to do! Anyway, it was nice to read her post about needing to work on more than one thing at a time. I share that sentiment, for sure.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

I Love January!

There is just so much promise in beginning a new year, don't you think? I've got lists upon lists, and they grow each day. I've started some new projects and am planning many more.

I wonder why we don't like Mondays. It's the same concept, isn't it, as January? Beginning a new week as opposed to a new year? Well, I was never a big fan of Mondays when I worked, but I don't mind them a bit now that I'm retired! :-)

Yesterday Quilt Sue and I held our first Lone Star Quilt Along. She does a very nice wrap-up on her blog today. Check it out, and then consider joining us for the fun! It's like being in a sewing circle, but not having to attend any meetings! Just work on your Lone Star, sign in using the Mr. Linky on both my site and Sue's, take a few pictures of your work and share them on the first Saturday of the month! Next month, yours truly will hostess our get-together; the date will be Saturday, Feb. 4. I'm looking forward to seeing all the progress we will have made by then!

I did want to mention one quick thing related to the quilt-along. The book I am using is an oldie (1989), but I imagine that it would be available in libraries. I also looked on the internet and found that while Amazon doesn't have it, they do list sellers who have used copies available - inexpensive, too! I found it, as well, on ebay, but it was somewhat pricier. Several quilters had mentioned that they were looking for patterns that showed strip-piecing methods, and this one does.

I offer that info just as a bit of FYI to those out there searching for a book/pattern.

What else has this new year brought to my sewing room? In an earlier post I referenced the doll quilt along that Lori at Humble Quilts hosts each January. This year's is called Pink Lemonade, and it's a real beauty! I have pulled the fabrics I want to use; now I need to press and cut. Last year, I made Midnight Stars with Lori, and the year before that I made Cheddar and Crackers. The beauty of making doll quilts is the speed with which they can be finished. I get to use super-small pieces, but I am not trying to make a bed-size quilt with them! A perfect combination: small pieces in a small quilt. I love it!

I spent the better part of Friday working on drawstring book bags for my twin nieces who are 4 now.

This project was featured in the BH&G magazine, Quilts and More. Either summer or fall, 2010. I can't wait to give them to the girls. They attend a Montessori (sp?) school 3 or 4 days per week, and are just as smart as can be. They will be thrilled to get these bags, I think. I plan to include a book, a box of Crayons, and a tablet in each one.

Yesterday I prepped a backing for a t-shirt quilt; it's now ready to take to the quilter's. Today I want to cut and attach the borders for my French General Stars. It was supposed to be finished by the end of 2011 - the center was, but not the borders, dang it! (I am still going to count it as a finish for 2011, though.) I'll get pics of those to share in the coming days.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Lone Star First Saturday!

What a pleasant surprise! I am farther along on my Lone Star quilt than I realized! Happy New Year to me!! *big, goofy grin*

The first Saturday of the month is supposed to be the day when we check in and report our progress on our Lone Star Quilts. If you recall, Sue of Quilt Times and I are teaming up for a quilt along. Her desire to make a Lone Star quilt and my desire to finish an ages-old UFO of a variation called Broken Star have brought us together for the quilt along. Hope we get a few quilters out there motivated to begin and/or finish one of these stunning beauties!!

As Sue said, there are no rules for this quilt along. We just invite quilters who are interested in beginning or finishing one of these gorgeous quilts to click the Mister Linky button above, register your progress and perhaps share a few photos, as well.

Now, let me show you what has made me such a happy girl. I'd brought the tub down from the shelf, but hadn't really taken out and examined the contents until last evening. Whoa!! I'd made a lot of progress on this quilt!!

Of course, when a UFO is nearing 20 years old, one needs to take stock of the progress and determine a course of action. I truly had no idea what to expect as I delved into this tub. To find this thing so far along is a complete surprise. It makes me wonder why I ever quit on it in the first place! If, in fact, it was the bias edges and some occasional  "wonkiness," they aren't too bad as far as I can see, and I am uber-excited to get back to work and finish it!!

Doesn't that look great? I astonish myself! (I don't mean for that to sound like bragging.) This is the center section. That central blue star is not as flat as a purist might want it to be, but it pressed out rather nicely, and considering all things, I will be happy with it just as it is.

Here are three sections of the outer ring - the starburst, I guess I could call it. A few pictures down is the picture from the pattern book; you'll get what I mean. Not all the points are matching, but again, I am not objecting because it's really not that bad. The main thing is that they lay (mostly) flat and the look is definitely established, so why complain? (I have never been known to be a purist/perfectionist when it comes to quilting!)

Finally, I found 15 of these units ready to be sewn into the remaining starbursts. There are a total of 8 starbursts, each containing 3 of these units. The math works (thankfully!).

So, like Sue, I've not sewn a stitch this week on my Lone Star. I am, however, eager to get back to this and finish it! Pressing it (carefully!) and examining my earlier work was fun. I am so pleasantly surprised at how much of it was done once upon a time, and am ever thankful to Sue for providing the prod I needed to drag this UFO down off the shelf.

Here's the picture of the pattern from my book.

The book is by Better Homes and Gardens from 1989.

So come on, quilters! Begin the new year with a Lone Star quilt! Or, if you are like me, begin with finishing a Lone Star UFO! Hop on over to Sue's blog to see her progress. I have a significantly smaller following than she does, so I imagine there'll be quite a few folks already signed in on her Mister Linky. She has already done several posts today (sorry, Sue, to be such a slacker!!). Check hers out here, here and here!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

25 Things To Do...

... Instead of playing Scrabble or Spider Solitaire on the Internet:

1. Sew buttons on DS's shorts and pants. DONE!
2. Finish hand-quilting brown/pink quilt.
3. Put Civil War patterns from last year's Brackman-sponsored quilt-along into sleeves and binder.
4. Finish hand-quilting Schnibbles.
5. Make book covers.
6. Work on Wendy's pillow.
7. Work on Robin's pillow.
8. Sew batik leftover strips into a quilt top.
9. Make Farmer's Wife block(s).
10. Make Civil War block(s).
11. Stitch decorative designs on white jacket.
12. Finish curtain for closet.
13. Make little book bags for twins. DONE!
14. Cut out blue/beige quilt.
15. Cut out floral stars quilt.
16. Cut out Thimbleberries red, gold, blue quilt.
17. Cut out red and white quilt.
18. Cut out pastel triangle quilt.
19. Finish Adam's t-shirt quilt.
20. Work on Lone Star quilt. DID SOME!
21. Begin Pink Lemonade doll quilt-along. FABRICS PULLED!
22. Clean off sewing room dresser.
23. Finish 5-pointed star quilt.
24. Get a package ready to send to Amie for her postage stamp quilt.
25. Work on Mom's signature quilt.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Big Plans

You've probably heard the saying about one's eyes being bigger than one's stomach? Well, that's the same idea applied to quilting projects for me. I wanna do 'em all!!

I've already got my start on the Lone Star Quilt-Along. Hoping to see lots of pretty quilts and inspiration from that.

Now, I've just read Lori's blog, Humble Quilts, and I know she always starts the new year with a doll quilt-along. I've done 2 of them and I simply adore them! So, of course I am going to do this one, too! It's been given the name Pink Lemonade as its primary colors are pink and yellow. Go take a look at it and see if you can resist!

One other quilt I really want to get going on is the signature quilt from my mother's 75th birthday party. I put it on hold through the holidays and now I'm psyched to get it going!

Image from Google.

In other business...did you know I got an iPad for Christmas? I was entirely suprised. My dear children and their father DH were the responsible parties. Gosh, I wish I knew all the cool uses for it. It takes pictures and videos. I've downloaded a bunch of apps for it. It can be both a Kindle and a Nook. I don't know 1/100th of what all it can do. I'm spending a lot of time playing games on it so far, but I want to make it do useful organizing and creative things. Any suggestions, readers?

Image from Google.

And, my new camera came. I've been trying to learn it in addition to the iPad. Techno-overload for me! Let's just say teaching an old dog new tricks is a process.

I've taken just a few pics on the new camera, getting a feel for it, you know. Here are some Christmas pics that turned out okay.

Our tree. Red and off-white quilt for a tree skirt.

This yo-yo table topper is from a Thimbleberries book. It was a lot of fun to make. Guessing: I made it about 12 years ago(?).

This throw pillow is one I made many years ago. It's over 20 years old since I remember having it at our old house (we moved here in 1992). I hand-pieced and hand-quilted it.

Finally, I'll show you this jolly guy. My dear friend Kay made this squishy Santa for me even more than 20 years ago! I used to have him sit in the little rocking chair that my kids had, but now that they are all big kids now, he sits in the big rocker.

Wish me luck on executing these big plans!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

A Challenge to Begin the New Year

Happy New Year, Quilting Friends!

Whew! What a whirlwind couple of weeks we've had around here!

We had 29 here for dinner on Christmas Day - my mother, siblings, their spouses and children and grandchildren. And a few extras, too - boyfriends, brother's in-laws, etc. Christmas with family - a blessing beyond measure!

Just after Christmas, we traveled a couple of hours across the state for a 2-day visit to my father-in-law's and got a chance to see very nearly everyone on hubby's side of the family. Again, it was a wonderful opportunity to visit with family.

On Friday, I hosted the Frankfort girls here for our regularly scheduled get-together.

Then we had our annual New Year's Eve party with 2 other couples. Those 2 couples have been doing New Year's together for 25 or 26 years; we have been a part of it for the last 18 years. The three families rotate homes each year for hosting duties, which makes it nice.

In between all those functions, there was the usual hustle and bustle of preparations - fixing special dishes; wrapping; decorating, and then keeping up with the cleaning and laundry of having extra family in the house - these sure can keep a gal hopping!! But NOT sewing, doggone it!

I will make up for the lack of sewing and quilting by getting right to work now in the new year! Oh, the promise of a new year!!

Now, let's talk about that challenge I mentioned in my title, shall we? Last fall, my blogging friend Sue Abrey at Quilt Times shared a UFO that she had a hankering to finish. I chimed in with a comment that I, too, had the same quilt in UFO condition that I would love to finish. So we've cooked up a little quilt-along. Read about it here.

Step into my sewing room and take a look at my shelves with project bins (and other stuff) lined up there on the wall.

Locate this bin on the top shelf.

The stuff on the top shelf is the really old stuff. My Lone Star UFO is around 20 years old. I was spurred to make it when my then-ten(ish)-year-old son admired the quilt in a book I had, and told me I could make that quilt for him. I began it in the summer time, possibly at a quilt camp at CHS.

As you can see, I have made some progress on this. I remember that I was running into trouble with the bias edges. I think I have improved in my abilities in 20 years, so those biases won't intimidate me as much as they did back then.

Here's the inspiration photo from that long-ago book (still on my shelves).

So, the quilt-along is on! Thanks to Sue for the prod I needed for getting this UFO out after all these years! I hope others out there will join us! There are no complicated instructions to follow; just sew along with Sue and me! Here is what Sue has on her blog:

1. We will not be providing patterns or instructions, but we will try to suggest places where patterns are available;
2. You can write posts about your progress on your blog, and then sign in to a Linky on one of our blogs on the first Saturday of the month, so we can see each other's progress (or not);
3. There are no other rules/timescales/competitions/etc. except Rule 4 below;
4. You have to encourage me cos I think I might struggle with this quilt.

Sue is putting an awful lot of confidence in me that I will be able to do things like Linkys - I'm not at all sure that's such a good idea, Sue!! My computer skills are not as advanced as yours! :-)

I have added the Lone Star QuiltAlong button to my sidebar; feel free to grab it and join us, won't you?

Happy Quilting, Friends!