I'm not real big on goal setting for my quilting. It is truly my therapy and deadlines just create more of the stress I am trying to alleviate. But with recent events in life I have really been on hold in the quilting department and I needed a push. So I gave myself a couple of targets to aim for in January. I wanted to stitch-in-the-ditch on my "Quilters Madder", but when I tried to get started my machine wasn't functioning. It was WAY overdue for a spa treatment, so I sent it away for a few days. I actually picked it up a week ago, but didn't have a chance to sit down and work with it until today. That baby just purred. Hasn't sounded like that in....well, I am too embarrassed to admit.
But this is what got quilted.
I decided to do the whole thing with SITD and diagonal lines.
My other target was to get "the beast" off of my design wall. I thought about just pulling it off the wall and calling it good, but that would be cheating. So while my Pfaff was away at the spa, I sat down to Nellie (my featherweight), and that little workhorse assembled the whole beast!
This is a king size quilt, so it was no small task. (This is my second quilt like this. The first one is here.)
I know some of you thought I was crazy for fussy-cutting each of the 71 sashing strips from the plaid fabric, but when I laid it out on the living room floor and stood in the loft to take this photo, I was glad I went to the extra effort. I think the blocks are so busy to start with that keeping the plaid uniform in the sashing prevents it from being a hot mess!
Here is Nellie (who is pretty proud of herself) posing with the magnetic pinbowl I won in Lisa Bongean's 12 Needful Things giveaway at Christmas time. Thanks, Lisa. :)
And more happy mail came in the form of this bundle from Sandi. What a fun early Valentine! Thank you, Sandi! If you know me you know I love useful things made from rulers and yardsticks!This year I will be putting more effort into getting some larger UFO quilts completed, but that doesn't mean I won't slip in a mini whenever I can. In fact, I think I have earned a treat. I am going to whip up Temecula's little Box of Chocolates Valentine mini. How about you?
One last thing--Rebecca in AK won the snowman pattern from my last post. Please send me your snail mail address and I will send it your way.
Until next time,
Janet O.
From my sewing room window last evening.
