Temecula's Rothermel 25th Anniversary SAL quilt, sort of

I tried to follow Temecula's SAL directions all the way to the end, but I just couldn't make it work for me. So, with my apologies to them, this is the resulting flimsy.

Most of my CW stash is in the form of FQs. I tried to find fabrics to make the long vertical pieces in between rows, but from my limited CW yardage, nothing emerged that clicked for me. My default setting is sashing and cornerstones, so that is where this went. The outer border fabric is a Judie Rothermel design. I didn't have enough of her fabrics to make the whole quilt, but I thought I could at least surround the blocks with one of her designs. This isn't the best looking border I could have put on this piece, but it is the best of the two "Judie" fabrics that I had in large enough quantity to cover the territory. This was a fun SAL. The blocks made up quickly and the quilt is a little larger than most mini quilts.

 I don't know if you recall this little quilt that was a New Year's project on the quiltsbycheri blog, she called "Counting Down the Hours." I thought the little hourglass blocks were a clever idea for the new year. I made them from a French General charm pack that was gifted to me by Kris. On Tuesday, after having a delightful lunch in town with Kris the day before, I decided it was about time I quilted this up. I used the Sally Terry Twist stencil for the blocks and then called upon my SewCalGal FMQ Challenge experience to feather the border. Patsy Thompson's excellent December tutorial gave me the courage I needed to attempt this. On the first photo you can see the line I drew (using a bendable ruler as guide) to create the spine of the feathers. No, the feathers aren't perfect--far from it, but they are coming along. On the back side you can see the overall effect.

I have also played with another design of Patsy Thompson's that I want to use in a quilt sometime soon. I really enjoy quilting this one. It is on her website in her free downloadable designs, and you can buy the DVD where she demonstrates this one and many others.

'Gathering Patches" is the current SAL on quiltsbycheri blog. She is making three mini quilts from nine patches. I opted to only make the first two, which she has now posted. I followed the directions for the first one, but when it came to the border, mine just didn't look put together right. I know there isn't a "right" way, but I should like it, shouldn't I? So this is my flimsy--just added a narrow border before the outer one. So many of my fabrics were dark. Just thought it needed a bit of something to lighten it.

Don't cringe, but I think I will bind it with a red that came from my Homestead Hearth scrap bag. I have the second little "Gathering Patches" quilt on a design board, ready to sew together. I'll save that for another time, because I want to show you this...

I played in Kool Aid with my wool again on Wednesday. It is so fun! I left some of them bright for now (though the camera flash makes them appear brighter than they really are). Who knows, I might actually use some of it that way, but I really like creating a color and then making it "muddy" for a vintage look. Now I need to get busy and use it!

 I have made some progress (quite minimal) on Easy Street, and have almost finished hand quilting  Abundance. By next time I hope to have my Rancher's Daughter QAL blocks ready to link up with John'aLee at The Scrappy Appleyard.
So much fun stuff going on! : )
Janet O.

Post #100 Giveaway (and some show-and-tell)

As promised, there will be a giveaway involved. (There are so many in blogland right now, surely you should be able to win something!)
But first, show-and-tell. I finally got my "Random Roses" block #7 to come together. It was a relief because I like the pattern and I didn't want to have to sub something else.

In my last post I was whining about using the paper templates to make these blocks. Well, my sweet friend, Teresa, from Quilt and a Prayer blog, is loaning me her acrylic templates to finish cutting my blocks. What a generous gesture, and one I greatly appreciate. I know this will save me a great deal of frustration with the last 5 blocks. Did I mention that she lives in TN and I'm in UT?

Another dear blogging friend has also been more than generous, but I will save that for another time, if I have her okay to share it with you.

Lately I have really been a sucker for mini quilt QALs--Temecula's 12 Days of Christmas, Lori's Pink Lemonade, Temecula's Blessings Baskets (begins with the March 1st post), and Cheri's Puss in the Corner. So why not join in on the Temecula Summer Stars (starts with the July 6th post)? I told myself "no" when I first saw it. But when I was putting away the scraps from my version of Cheri's Puss in the Corner, I realized that the leftover triangles would be the perfect size for the stars if I just cut them in half. After all, how hard can it be to make one 4" star each Friday through August? These are the stars so far--only two. It would be so easy to catch up if you haven't started yet (misery loves company).

Each week's star will have a different little center, so I have all of the "star" parts cut for the eight blocks (I'm guessing there are eight because that is how many Fridays there are through July and August) using my CW scrap basket, and I will just have to cut the center each week and sew it up. I've even thought of using the flying geese units of the stars as leader/enders through the week and then I'll really be ready.

I am trying to get geared up to actually do my first full-size quilt on Gidget. I know, I am such a wimp. Most of you would have churned out a dozen quilts by now. I have done several minis and table runners and a couple of baby quilts, but have yet to venture further. So I sit down and play for a few minutes whenever I get a chance and I really do enjoy it, I just lack the courage to face a "real" quilt. This was from my brief play session last night after most of my side of the world was in bed.  Just doodling. I even did another piece with feathers, but I won't amuse you with that one.

Okay, let's get down to business. This 100th post giveaway is a collection of items that reflect me, I think, and I wanted to share them with you loyal and very patient followers. In the upper left corner you see a gift bag of my handcrafted soap. This bag contains 1 bar each of three scents: mint blend, cinnamon/orange, and peppermint/pine. in the center top position is a charm pack of Sandy Gervais' new Christmas line, "Merry Medley". I think it would make a great Christmas mini or runner. I don't buy a lot of whimsical fabrics, but when I find myself attracted to one, almost without fail I discover it is designed by Sandy. I just like her style. 

On the right is a little patriotic pin cushion I made using a tutorial you can find here. I love all things patriotic. And finally, the little 7" square sampler that I made and hand quilted using the scraps leftover from the mini I made from the cuttings of Kathie Holland's cheddar, red, and green 9-patch set on point (you can see it in her April 28, 2012 post). That is always such a mouthful to explain, but once this little quilt goes to its new home I won't have to explain it anymore. I do have fun creating something out of trimmings from other projects. I was visiting my Mom today and she showed me the little jar where she is tossing the bonus triangles from her current project--saving them for me. She thinks I'm crazy, but she's willing to oblige me.

Well, there you have it. If you are interested in entering please leave a comment on this post. You can enter no matter where you live. I will select the winner on Monday the 23rd, 9 p.m. MDT. 

Thanks to all of you that put up with my long, rambling posts, and tolerate my sometimes late-night induced silliness. I have learned so much from you during my 1+ year of blogging and have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know some really nice people. You have touched me in many ways. This is my little token of thanks.

Until next time,

Janet O.

First FMQ Piece and ... My First Quilt (Yikes)

I posted my FMQ sampler last time around. Now for the reveal on the first "pieced" item. I must say--it is a whole different ball game. The photo of this little table topper doesn't show the stippled center and curlicue border well, and they are the parts about which I feel the best. The part that really shows is the awkward leaf border that didn't turn out anything like I hoped. This was a hostess gift for my sister who hosted our family Thanksgiving celebration. I was up very late the night before finishing it and was so tempted not to even give it to her, but I swallowed my pride and gifted it. I am tempted to make another one, do a better quilting job, and trade her.

Okay, I broke down and dug out the "quilt journal" for a photo of my first quilt. I'm joining Bonnie's "share your first quilt" post, and here it is. I didn't have a digital camera when I took this and this is the best shot I could get of the quilt journal page. If you click on the photo you can probably read the story behind it. I did the quilt on the top, and my Mom pretty much did the bottom one. The next two quilts I made actually got worse so I guess I should be grateful they aren't on the same page. These two were true scrap quilts. I made most of my daughter's and my own clothing, and some of my boys' clothing. The wild, tropical prints were very popular among the girls and these quilts were made from scraps from the many outfits I had made my daughters. They were tied, not quilted, so maybe they don't count, but this was my beginning. I had hand quilted on my Mom's quilts and those of my church quilt group for years, but had not pieced a top until this. I wasn't sure I would ever do another one!

There you have it. After these photos I may never be able to show my face in blogland again. Hope all you brave souls who ventured out on Black Friday were not a part of any of the violence I saw on the evening news. I stayed home and sewed.

Until next time, from the little mountain valley where the sagebrush grows,
Janet O.

Fun Mail, and Free Motion!

Halloween Day brought three large envelopes in the mail addressed to me. Love days like that! The first one I opened was totally unexpected. I recognized the name on the return address and knew it was from my good blogging friend Doniene, in Texas. It was totally unexpected and completely overwhelmed me. Look at this lovely little quilt she made. She had pinned a note to it saying she thought I could use it for family dinners--especially Thanksgiving. How sweet is that? It is beautifully hand quilted, which I couldn't seem to capture no matter how many photos I took. I love it, Doniene, and will use it and treasure it! Bless your heart!!

The next envelope was from another good blogging friend, Grace, in Maine. I knew this one was coming, but it was still great fun and I am enjoying it. Grace remembered that I don't subscribe to any quilt magazines and rarely buy any. She offered to send me some of hers that she was finished with. I hadn't seen any of these issues, in fact two of them are magazines of which I have never seen any issue.

I've been pacing myself and still have one I haven't cracked open yet. I am savoring them. Thanks for thinking of me, Grace!

The third envelope was a pattern I had ordered earlier this week. Sandra, at kwiltnkats, shared in a post some photos of the quilts she had on her walls for this time of year. The one of falling leaves particularly caught my eye. I checked the website for the magazine she said it was from and even though it was a few years ago, they actually had the pattern in stock--and on sale!! I know what fabric I will use for this. A couple of years ago DH and I took my parents with us on a trip to New England. It was peak fall color time and Mom and I collected fabrics in the Ivy Thimble quilt shop in Victor, New York that replicated the beautiful colors all around us as we drove through Ohio, New York, and Vermont. Mom's  quilt is finished--even hand quilted--and hanging on a quilt rack in her computer room. I, on the other hand, have changed my mind over which pattern to use about three times already, but I think this is finally it! Sandra told me she loved how it looks like the leaves are really fluttering down, and I agree.
That is all for the fun that came in the mail. Now for the free motion stuff.

You may recall that recently I took my first class in machine quilting. I posted my attempts from the two sessions of the class and received much encouragement from many of you, for which I am grateful. It is easy to think you will never master the techniques, but I was reassured that there was hope for me.

Yesterday I had my first session of a second machine quilting class. This class is taught by the woman from whom I learned the perforated paper piecing technique on the Mariner's compass in this post and this post. She is teaching three sessions and during this first one she had us doing stippling, echoing and pebbles.  We didn't do any of these in my first class, so this is new ground for me. As I tried the stipple I kept inadvertently making little loops or sharp turns. I definitely need work on smooth shapes--and everything else, for that matter. But I will admit it is becoming fun. Okay, don't snicker so loudly that I can hear, but this is the result of Tuesday's play.
I didn't use such contrasting thread this time. I also left my feed dogs up. Barbara concurred with what Leah Day says here on her website--that some machines have better tension on free motion quilting if the feed dogs are left in place. Mine seems to be one of those machines.
Finally, this quilt shop where I have taken these classes has a tradition of 30% off all of the bolt fabric on any fifth Saturdays, such as last Saturday. After a day like that you should always be sure and check out the remnant baskets--they are 40% off! Look what I found this week, following the sale. See all of those CW prints--and some fun fall Sandy Gervais prints with a matching orange? I'm not usually one to gush over designer lines of fabrics, but I must admit that when one catches my eye, it is more often than not hers. I have two charm packs of her Late Bloomers line to which I am itching to apply my rotary cutter!

Enough of my ramblings. Just want to close with something totally off the subject of quilting. This afternoon I heard Temple Grandin speak at the local university. She did two presentations--one dealing with her work with livestock, and the other dealing with living with autism. DH, my daughter and her husband and I attended the latter one. Fascinating! Now I want to see the movie of her life and read her book. If you know and love anyone diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, I highly recommend you check out her website.

Until next time, from the little mountain valley where the sagebrush grows,
Janet O.

Need a giggle?

Check out my lovely machine quilting on this muslin "sandwich" from my very first free motion quilting class. How pathetic is this? We did our little sample block the last 15-20 minutes of a two hour class, after learning all about the best tools to use and what settings on your machine are helpful, and where to find sources for ideas and inspiration, how to prepare the quilt and guide the fabric, etc. When we got to the actual free motion stuff we were supposed to give ourselves permission to"play" and try out some of the simple things she had demonstrated--circles, stars, hearts, pumpkins. (I think I lost my permission slip!) If you can detect a pumpkin in there you are my new best friend! I felt I did better at stars than the other things--no need for smooth, round curves on those. When I was trying the hearts, I couldn't seem to get back out of that center point well, so I pretended that I was trying to make leaves all along, not hearts.
As I looked around the class at those working near me I saw that some people really could get the stems attached to their pumpkins, and their hearts didn't look like leaves! I also began to understand all the fuss at the beginning of class about the Bernina machines with the "stitch regulator".
I haven't given up hope yet. There is still another class this week, and then there is a three-part class in November I am considering (depending on whether or not I HAVE given up hope by then). But this is obviously something that I don't take to naturally. Time will tell whether I take to it at all.

Enough of that. On a more serious note, I finally got my star blocks finished to send to John'aLee.

The block to the far right had some issues. Even on Barbara Brackman's blog there is some uncertainty
about the cutting instructions. I did lose some points in the stitching, so now I understand why there was a question about cutting measurements. I did switch out the center fabric on that block, too.
Now to get these off in the mail.

That is all for tonight.
Until next time, from the little mountain valley where the sagebrush grows,
Janet O.