Mission (almost) accomplished!

This will make fifteen little finishes just this year, once it is bound. That pile of little flimsies is getting tamed, slowly, but surely! This was Temecula's Summer Stars SAL, in a different setting than they used.

The number 15 doesn't include the wool mat and 2 pincushions I have squeezed in, too. Oh, it feels so good to see the pile of little flimsies down to almost nothing! (We won't talk about all of the bed-size ones hanging in the closet, okay?) Most of these were pieced between one and three years ago and have been languishing ever since!

This is only the second time I have tried curved cross-hatching on anything other than a practice sandwich. 

I love the look, but it is a bit fiddly to do.

You have to measure and mark the guidelines in each triangle.

Then you sew each individual arc going one direction, using a curved ruler as guide. Next you reverse and make the arcs coming from the other direction to create the cross-hatching.

All the while I have my straight edge ruler handy for all of the backtrack in the ditch you have to do when creating this design.

The curved rulers I use are from Jamie Wallen. He has videos on this same page that show how to do the curved cross-hatch in squares and triangles. Very helpful.

After finishing the cross-hatching, I couldn't find a design for the outer border that fit the dimensions and also matched the density on the cross-hatching.

I finally took a stencil, masked off one side of it, and tried staggering the pattern on a practice sandwich to see if it would fill in the way I hoped.
(I like to make my stencils work for me. I try to see them as more than just the obvious design.)

Then I marked the design in that overlapped way all around the quilt and stitched it in.

From this close-up you can also see that the sashing around the stars is a navy blue with a print in it. The outer dark border is solid navy. I ran out of the print and it was old enough I couldn't find more. I even had to piece it in a couple of places to sash the stars.
                                                                                                                



Now that same fabric has been reprinted as part of "Jo's Favorites", so I will be able to use it for the binding. The color is very true.

Here are the before and after shots of the latest batch, minus the batik mini. It is already gifted, but I have replaced it with the log cabin mini, which was a new start and finish this year.

The next batch of little quilts got basted Friday. Five of these are from past SALs (see why I am avoiding them?). I won't be getting these quilted as quickly--at least I don't think so.  I know how I will be quilting a couple of them. On the ones that currently elude me, I just start with the ditch stitching and hope that inspiration strikes before I finish that step.

I only have 6 more little flimsies left in the pile, and another 5 or 6 minis in the works. I want to do better in the future at not making as many starts until I catch up on more finishes. I know not everyone needs that, but when I have a mountain of unfinished business hanging over me it becomes oppressive to me. This doesn't mean I will not have UFOs anymore--not by a long shot!! But I don't like it when it gets too far out of hand!

Well, I have done it again--another lengthy post. My apologies. 
Until next time, when I hope I don't have so much to say!
Janet O.

What I am learning.

Finally getting some little quilts off the "to be quilted" list! Been home sick all week and I have been learning (or reminded) that I don't "rest & recuperate" very well. I have to be "doing."

As I quilted this I realized how "pointless" that upper left basket is.
What was I thinking?

 Two years ago this Saturday, Temecula Quilt Co. began their Blessings Basket SAL.  I went out of control and made 4 of them, pictured below on my design wall in their flimsy stage.

Since this time I have been learning to live without
making every Temecula SAL that comes out.

This is the third one I have quilted--only the batik remains.

Something else I've been learning is curved cross-hatching. This was my first attempt on anything other than a practice piece. Can you see it in the dark blue setting triangles?
 There is a lot of backtrack or overstitching to this process and my skills in that area are not up to speed. I show you this photo of the back so that you can see the cross-hatching better, but you can also see my mess of threads in many places.

Another thing I have learned as I have quilted this week--I still think like a hand quilter. I tend to want to do stitch-in-the-ditch through the pieced areas and fill the large, solid areas with simple designs. I know that is not how everyone hand quilts, but that was my M.O.

It shows on the other two pieces I have done this week. "True", my little companion quilt to "Faithful", from one of Lori's SALs, was also completed. The quilting doesn't show here, but it is entirely straight line stuff around the piecing and a spiky design in the border.








The other piece I have quilted this week is another example of my hand quilting mentality. I have named this one "Poor Lil' Punky Loves Pineapple". The pumpkin design in the center is from Julie Letvin's Poor Lil' Punky pincushion pattern (and, of course, I made 4 of those, too). I did SITD around the black parts of each pineapple block and around Punky and his features, and put cross-hatching in the rail blocks. It is ready to bind and I hope to get to that today.

 It is hard to see the quilting design on the back but I like the way Punky's gold threads shine there. : )

I have one more little quilt basted and I am going to force myself to try an all-over design on it. This may be difficult!

My Little Quilts corner has had some recent additions, thanks to Julie and Michelle. Most of the quilts to the left of the corner were made by blog friends, five of which were AAQI quilts . So glad I was able to support the cause and have the work of friends in the bargain. On the other side of my quilting room I have a couple of pillows, a wall quilt, pincushions, and some ornaments by friends. Blogging has certainly provided me with the quilting community I lacked. Since blogging is my only computer vice--no Facebook, Instagram, gaming, and though I Pin, I don't browse Pinterest--for now, I am happy to keep blogging. I am just learning that I can't start everything I see on blogs, that I love. Some lessons are learned the hard way. : )

Until next time,
Janet O.

Catching up, ruling out and playing along

I've been very sluggish about posting lately, but I do have a few things to share. My "Practice What I Preach" top from Pam's workshop has been fully assembled for about a week. (No, I didn't notice that my hourglass blocks weren't all going the right way until I had it completely assembled. I am NOT going to fix them!)

 It does lay flat, I just didn't smooth it out well on the design wall before taking photos. Now I need to "quilt as desired", whatever that will be. I'm thinking I may get some good feather practice in on this.

I've had people ask me about doing ruler work with my sit-down HQ Sweet 16 quilting machine. It is doable. Definitely a different process from doing it with a longarm, and I find that putting loops of good quality masking tape on the back (cheap stuff leaves residue) helps hold them in place as I work. This photo is from the clamshell quilting I did on my version of Lori's Pink Lemonade--see the tape? I posted about it here.

Still on the ruler theme, lately I have become enamored with the curved cross-hatching I've seen on many of the FMQ blogs I follow. When Linda Hrcka finished the quilting on Pam's Settler's Puzzle quilt, she posted a link to the Jamie Wallen rulers she used. Jamie has a great video tutorial on how to create the curved cross-hatching--and I was sold! It was foolish brave of me to splurge just before going to retreat, but I did it. I kept thinking about this purchase when the temptation to spend lots of money at retreat would get strong. : )

My ruler set was waiting for me when I got home.

Though I watched Jamie's tutorial twice, I still failed to mark my registration lines when I played with the rulers, so I got the feel for them, but didn't get precise results. However, I believe the potential is there. I had quite a booboo as I was starting out (see bottom of photo), but then things seemed to settle down.

At the top of the photo I was playing with a wavy ruler Santa put in my stocking, and after making the design with it I decided to fill it with feathers, just for fun.

When I determined that this was the Year of the UFO, I told myself that I could not start new large projects, and my only minis had to be for seasonal decor or gifts--with one exception. I knew I would need to do Lori's new SAL. Hence, here is my progress on Midwinter Blues (and I love that name so much I don't know that I will rename this one).

 Most of the fabrics for these blocks came from contributions to my stash by very generous blog friends--thanks Karen and Carole! Lori just posted part 2 of this SAL today--not too late to join!

And I did allow myself one BOM for this year. You have to have at least one of those going, don't you?  I was happy to see that Barbara Brackman's new Threads Of Memory SAL was a monthly block instead of weekly. I can't keep up with those weekly things. Here is my version of block #1--Portsmouth Star.

I want to tell you about two of my heros before I close. If you have followed me for a while you know that DD#2 has a young son with Dravet Syndrome, a rare, intractable form of epilepsy. Last week he set a personal record of 19 seizures within 12 hours. His poor little, exhausted body was wobbly for days. DD#2 copes with courage and faith that astounds me. And I see that same courage and faith exhibited in DD#1 as she received a diagnosis of MS last week. She is gathering information and doing her best to stay positive and do what she can as she awaits an appointment with a specialist. These young women are putting their trust in the Lord that He will give them the strength to deal with whatever the future holds. They both constantly leave me in awe. I am privileged to be their Mom. My thanks to all who have been privy to these situations and have offered their prayers, encouragement, and insight.

Until next time,
Janet O.