Part of the Circa 1880 club is a new small quilt pattern using the uneven 9-patch blocks every other month. I am using the "April" pattern for my mini-of-the-month with Wendy over at The Constant Quilter blog.
Next week those of us participating in Sandy's "Indigo Challenge" will be posting our completed little quilts--well, I think everyone else has theirs completed. I did finish piecing mine this week and hope to get it quilted before the end of the month. But in case I don't have it completely finished, I figured I had better not plan on it to do dual duty for both the Mini-of-the-Month and the Indigo challenges. I am very excited to see what the others have done with the vintage indigo fabrics Sandy shared with us.
Here are shots that show the quilting on this. Of course, you can click on them if you want a closer view. No feathers in the border this time. I put feathered wreaths in the setting square and triangles.
And here you can see it with its sister, the February small quilt. Each little quilt incorporates the same uneven 9 patch blocks that make up the bigger quilt that is the main focus of the Circa 1880 club.
I know it is a bit after the fact, but I wanted to share a few things from Mother's Day. First of all, my Mom and three of my children (with two spouses and four grandchildren) were able to join us for dinner that day. We missed our oldest daughter's family in Oregon, but are grateful for the technology that gives us video chats!
And I loved that the air was scented with these beauties from the yard. I have probably made about 4 bouquets like this in the past week or so. This is my favorite part of spring flowers. I have 16 lilac bushes in 13 varieties. If I could figure out where to put them, I would get more!
One of many surprises for Mother's Day was a pair of tickets to a game of Utah's Major League Soccer team, ReAl Salt Lake. I am a big fan, and my sons are the ones that got me hooked. How fitting that they gave us the tickets. :) We enjoyed a day of perfect weather and a perfect score--a 3-0 shut out.
I mentioned earlier in the month that this May is the 8th anniversary of my little blog. It has been such a fun ride. I have met several bloggers and followers over the years, from Maine to Oregon, and many places in between. I hope to meet many more. And there are so many others that I feel like I know, though our paths have never crossed in real life. I am grateful for each friendship and thank you for sharing this experience with me. I am offering this little bundle to a follower who comments on this post. I know some have had a hard time getting comments to show up lately, since Blogger has changed some things. I have changed my setting for now to hopefully allow your comments to get through. If that still doesn't work, send me an email (through my profile info). This will remain open until the 30th of this month.
There is a simple little one-patch quilt, some of my herbal soap, a spool of my favorite Aurifil thread--a good neutral color for piecing, a package of my favorite extra fine, glass-head pins, and a little magnetic closure notepad with the saying "So much fabric, so little time."
Leave a comment if you are interested, and I'd be interested to know how many of those 8 years you think you have been following.
Until next time,
Janet O.
Drawing Now Closed
That was a question posed by Sheryl at Temecula Quilt Company back in a February post. I really had no idea how many little quilts there were around my house--they are tucked everywhere. So that question has been on the back of my mind ever since. Today, on a rare day at home, I had a notion to find out the answer. I pulled little quilts from every nook and cranny. My plan was to lay them out on the living room floor and take a photo from the loft. I could quickly see there were too many--even after moving the furniture. So I limited it to quilts I had made that did not involve wool applique, or that were not table runners. This is the final outcome.
I came up with 98 little quilts. If you add in the little wool applique quilts that didn't make the photo, the number comes to 123. There are another 30 little quilts that I have from swaps, gifts, or purchases. So now, months after Sheryl asked the question, I have an answer--153 finished little quilts. Actually, that is less than I had anticipated, but I realized I have given away or swapped around 60 little quilts, so mentally I was probably still including many of those.
Here is another view from a different perspective. Kind of fun to have a carpet of little quilts.
This is what it looked like in the living room after I finished gathering all of the little quilts. I had just been tossing them into the living room as I scurried from room to room, collecting them. Now I have the fun job of returning them to their homes--or finding new homes for them. Hmmm, why did I think this was a fun idea?
My little quilt obsession began a few years back when I was asked by a good friend to do a trunk show for her mini quilt guild. I panicked because I had given away most of the little quilts I had made. After a few months of very focused little quilt production, I was ready to go--with the help of a few people lending back the quilts I had given them. I have now done 3 trunk shows, and I still give away little quilts, but since I keep plenty on hand for a trunk show, no one asks. Isn't that the way of things? :)
Do you have little quilts around your house? Are you crazy enough to gather them and share a photo on your blog? Or if you have no blog, send me a photo and I would be happy share it. Maybe I am the only one that wanted to try making a quilt carpet. We'll see.
The winner of the drawing for the patterns in my last post is Barbara--more than one Barbara commented, but only one expressed an interest in the patterns. She has been contacted, and responded very promptly. Thank you, Barbara. That makes it easy.
Until next time,
Janet O.
This post may come as a shock to some who know that I don't spend a lot of time on hand work. But since most of the piecing I have done this week has been for the Indigo Challenge with Sandy, to be shared at the end of the month, I had to scrape the bottom of my quilting barrel to come up with anything to share.
First off--quilting on my BIG hand quilting project that has been basted and waiting for years! (I can see from the photo that this needs more lines for the background quilting.)
When I started quilting this I was having shoulder troubles and finally gave up on it until I could have the surgery. That got postponed a couple of years. Then my healing was slow, and I felt like I couldn't stress my shoulder. But eventually it got better, and now I have no more excuses. I gave myself a swift kick recently and committed to at least quilt 30-60 minutes a few nights a week. Back issues keep me from doing more at a time.
This quilt was to commemorate my youngest son's time as a missionary in Brazil--he has been home for almost 10 years (yikes)! He'll get it eventually.
Then there was the stitching I did while we were on the road for about 3 hours today (Saturday). My Stars in the Garden mini hexie quilt is my "go to" road trip project. The problem is that I don't enjoy stitching hexies and this little thing could very well be my lifetime project. I forced myself to attach 3 hexies to this flower today. That was all I could manage.
I keep a photocopy of the potential finish in the lid of the project box. As I finish a section I cross it out. When I look at what I have crossed out I try and tell myself that I am making progress. Then I remind myself how many years this much has taken and I realize I am practically standing still on this one. (Don't roll your eyes at me, Sarah--the hexie queen!)
I also made a smidgen of progress on my Circa 1880 quilt. I stitched my final "rogue" block, and laid out the row it will call home. This was foundation pieced, and I still have to remove the papers from the block. This will be in row 24--it is the last one I will make from my own blocks. The final three rows will be made from swapped blocks, when the last of my swaps are completed. This one is so close, I can almost taste it.
I have a few more patterns that want a home where they will be loved. Most of them are wool projects. Some are patterns I have already made, some are duplicates, and some I'm just sure I never will get made. I am not separating them--I just want to send this out as one bulk group.
If
you are interested, please mention it in your comment--and if you don't
know whether or not you are "no-reply", please include your email
address if you are serious about it. I will choose a random name from
the interested parties.
Just for fun, I am sharing a photo of me that was taken exactly 60 years ago. I came across this as I have been working on my Mom's history lately.
And exactly 8 years ago I began my blog. What fun it has been to build a blogging community with so many kind and generous, fun-loving and mischievous (you know who you are) quilters. Thank you all for reading, commenting, lurking, or whatever it is you do here. :)
Until next time,
Janet O.
Here are shots that show the quilting on this. Of course, you can click on them if you want a closer view. No feathers in the border this time. I put feathered wreaths in the setting square and triangles.
I know it is a bit after the fact, but I wanted to share a few things from Mother's Day. First of all, my Mom and three of my children (with two spouses and four grandchildren) were able to join us for dinner that day. We missed our oldest daughter's family in Oregon, but are grateful for the technology that gives us video chats!
And I loved that the air was scented with these beauties from the yard. I have probably made about 4 bouquets like this in the past week or so. This is my favorite part of spring flowers. I have 16 lilac bushes in 13 varieties. If I could figure out where to put them, I would get more!
One of many surprises for Mother's Day was a pair of tickets to a game of Utah's Major League Soccer team, ReAl Salt Lake. I am a big fan, and my sons are the ones that got me hooked. How fitting that they gave us the tickets. :) We enjoyed a day of perfect weather and a perfect score--a 3-0 shut out. 
