Once again, just squeaking under the wire. The ball will be dropping on Time Square in just minutes (in my time zone), and December will be gone. If you recall the little Jen Kingwell Postcard Project pattern I shared in my last post, this is what came of playing with that on a few late nights when I needed fabric therapy. This will be linked with Wendy at The Constant Quilter blog, for our final monthly minis of this year.
The fabrics were gleaned from some red/black pieces my retreat buddy gave me, and the backgrounds came from a Primitive Gatherings charm pack of a new line. It finished at about 10" x 12".
Some of it is a bit wonky--I had some issues with the cutting. The templates that came with the pattern were great in all ways but one. In the photo to the right you can see the corners that are to match up. I've drawn arrows to the corners that gave me trouble. The smaller triangle has a rounded edge, while the matching edge of the larger triangle is beveled, as are all the other corners that match up. If I had been willing to mark all of the little dots in the corners and match them up that way, it might have come together more easily, but I am lazy about making and matching dots, so I suffered without them. And the rounded corner was difficult to cut, even with a small rotary cutter. I might have thought it was just an anomaly on my set, but I had purchased two sets and they were both the same.
The top did get finished with my December Circa 1880 small quilt, but knew I would have a harder time getting this one quilted than I would the Postcard Project, so this one is still a flimsy.
I had planned to make the outer border in red or green, but those black backgrounds on the stars needed some company.
Is this a familiar sight to anyone else? I let my cutting mat on my sewing room cutting table get very hacked up before deciding I should request a new one on my Christmas wishlist. I have already turned it around and the other side is not much better, so I will cut the sides that don't get as chewed up into smaller cutting mats to be taken to retreats and sew-ins, and I will replace this with the new one Santa delivered.
First I need to remove the piles of things around the edges--and this photo was taken after I had actually cleaned most of it off. :)
The last day of December brought such a nice surprise in my mailbox. Many of you have sewn along with the Temecula Tiny Tree SAL. I longed to join in, but knew it wasn't going to happen for me this year. Well, my good blogging buddy, Sarah (at sarahdidit blog), posted that she was making 5 of them, to have some to gift.
I was thrilled to find that I was the recipient of one of those trees. Isn't it fun? I have been sick for the last 5 days, and this was such a day brightener! Thank you, Sarah. One can never have too many Christmas quilts, or quilts from friends!
Also, in my initial post I forgot to include this sweet mug rug that arrived from my pal Wendy at The Constant Quilter blog. It came during the holidays and I had already put it to work. Thus, when writing my post it was covered with my mug (that is what a mug rug is for, after all) and I failed to add it here. That is now remedied. Many thanks, Wendy!
I have been very absent from blogland lately. I miss keeping up with everyone's blogs. I hope I have more time for it in the new year! Hope you all have a great beginning to a new decade!
Until next time,
Janet O.
It has been a long time without posting, but I actually had this finished about the middle of July. I just couldn't muster enough brain power, or stay awake long enough to write a post whenever I had any time.
This is my July Monthly Mini with Wendy over at The Constant Quilter blog, making its late appearance. I am calling it Deep Purple--and if that name makes you start singing the song, then your age is showing. :)
My very random scrap creation (described in my previous post) received mostly ditch-stitching with a little bit of free motion in the border. This photo gives you a little glimpse of it.
When I get a chance to spend time in my sewing room lately I find myself too mentally and/or emotionally drained or distracted to focus on a project and make progress. I end up shuffling a few things around and basically accomplishing nothing.
We took Mom to an oncologist this week. He was very fun and we laughed so much. That was a blessing, because my Mom likes to keep things lighthearted at the doctor's office, even when talking about terminal cancer. She is opting for no treatment, so we are having a hospice evaluation today.
When visiting with Mom I always take handwork with me, and if she is resting, or we are just watching TV together, I pull out my hexie flowers and stitch them to their backgrounds. I have doubled their numbers since my last post, and am currently working on #9.
One last quilty thing to share...have you heard of Quilters Select rulers (this link is just one of many sources for them)? A dear friend of mine has mentioned to me before that she happened upon them and has been so impressed that she is gradually replacing her Creative Grid rulers with the Quilters Select, as the CG rulers get too worn (for me that means I have chipped up the corners too much).
A few days ago I received a little ruler in the mail from my friend and I must say I completely understand her enthusiasm for these rulers--so much so that I have a couple of them ordered now.
You can see it against the white paper--notice the slight yellow color. That is an amazing treatment on the surface of the back side that makes them practically slip-proof.
I trimmed up a few HST I had on hand (who am I kidding, I have hundreds of them on hand!!) and I couldn't have been more pleased. I wish the diagonal lines went in both directions, but I can work around that. If slipping rulers are an issue for you, even on those great Creative Grid rulers with the little gripper dots, you may want to check these out! No affiliation here, just a very pleased user!
So much family stuff going on this summer--especially regarding Mom. Thanks to those who have checked in with me, and apologies for when I haven't responded. I have fallen asleep many times at the computer when I sit down thinking I will catch up, so instead I give up.
Until next time--whenever that might be,
Janet O.
Some of it is a bit wonky--I had some issues with the cutting. The templates that came with the pattern were great in all ways but one. In the photo to the right you can see the corners that are to match up. I've drawn arrows to the corners that gave me trouble. The smaller triangle has a rounded edge, while the matching edge of the larger triangle is beveled, as are all the other corners that match up. If I had been willing to mark all of the little dots in the corners and match them up that way, it might have come together more easily, but I am lazy about making and matching dots, so I suffered without them. And the rounded corner was difficult to cut, even with a small rotary cutter. I might have thought it was just an anomaly on my set, but I had purchased two sets and they were both the same.
Also, in my initial post I forgot to include this sweet mug rug that arrived from my pal Wendy at The Constant Quilter blog. It came during the holidays and I had already put it to work. Thus, when writing my post it was covered with my mug (that is what a mug rug is for, after all) and I failed to add it here. That is now remedied. Many thanks, Wendy! 
