Two January Goals

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.

 

I made my units for this quilt half the size in Lori's directions, and I added one more row, and a border of HSTs all around. It finishes at 14 1/2" x 18".

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.

The Snowman Post

Last year I threatened to do a snowman post one day, and it looks like this is it. The weather is appropriate (several days of snow in our forecast). All but one of the chilly guys are wool.


Four years ago this month I took my first wool class. Lisa Bongean taught wool applique at the little shop over the mountain. We used one of the snowman blocks from her Warm Winter Blessings pattern. Not only was this my first wool experience, it was my first snowman as well. I was hooked (but I still haven't done anything with this particular block--I can't even find it).


 





Using the same snowman pattern, and a table runner pattern from Primitive Gatherings, I cobbled together this little snowman wall hanging.




Eventually I did make the whole Warm Winter Blessings, in the mini size, of course.

I had made one other block in the full size before switching to the mini. As you can see here, I turned that one into a pillow.


Other Primitive Gatherings snowman projects include this little candle mat, from an issue of Primitive Quilts and Projects a few years ago, which  can now be found on the Primitive Gatherings website as  Snowy Gathering.













And there is this larger candle mat, Winter Cabin, that I made in a class with Lisa at our state guild Quiltfest in 2015.




















With Karen's help, I began making the 2015 Attic Heirloom ornaments of the month a couple of years ago. The first one was a snowman. I loved the little designs, but didn't like making them into the ornaments after stitching the design. So I gifted this one, and then started over again.







I made them into little quilt blocks, and after making 9 of them (3 snowmen) I decided I liked it as it was.


 Snowball, from HeartToHand was finished up last year at this time.

Looks about the same outside right now as it did then, but I think we have more snow this year.

This jolly fellow was an adaptation of a  patterned offered by Stacy at Buttermilk Basin a year or two ago. I used him to replace her last block in her free BOM last year. All of the blocks are finished, but I haven't decided if I will set them all together, or make small holiday banners with the holiday themed ones and put the others together into a smaller wall hanging.

The only snowman left is NOT wool. He is paper pieced from a free Carol Doak pattern. I reduced it a little (of course).
I made the nose on this little guy a bit too big. Maybe I should name him Jimmy Durante. : )


 





Have you built any snowmen lately? If you'd like to make these snowmen, say so in a comment and I will choose a name by my next post.
Until next time,
Janet O.

 

2016--What Didn't Get Finished!

It was my year to finish a pile of mini quilt flimsies. I began 2016 with 30 small-to-mini quilt tops, and it was driving me crazy to have that many unfinished little quilts, with more in the works. I wish I had a photo of the 30 waiting to be quilted, but I didn't think that far ahead.
I am happy to say that the photo below shows the current pile of 2016's minis waiting for quilting.



And the two on the right are the only ones that were in the original pile of 30. They are some of the smallest minis, and yes--I am afraid to quilt them. I have purchased fine silk thread for the task, but still I drag my feet. Whatever I do, the quilting is going to be more obvious on these little things and I don't want to mess it up.
The HSTs in the top one finish at 1/4" and the Mariner's Compass in the bottom one is 3" across. These are small!!
I hope to gather my courage this year and actually get these quilted. But for right now, I am still a wimp!

So there are only 2 left from my pile of 30, but if you followed along last year you may recall that I finished 46 little quilts (well, ALMOST finished--the binding on the two below is still in the works, but I am counting them anyway). If you do the math, that means there were 18 new little quilts added in along the way. That should come as no surprise. There are always little quilts taking form here.

"Give Thanks" from Buttermilk Basin & the 10th Anniversary SAL from Primitive Gatherings

Finishes at 7 1/2 x 9 1/2

Like this one that I assembled yesterday after a long dry spell of no stitching.  Just scraps and pieces in a package from a friend that were crying out to be made into a little patriotic quilt (the 9-patches finish at 1 1/2"). Since Christmas is over, it is time to think about patriotic quilts again, isn't it? : )


I had thought that maybe I should tell myself I couldn't start any new little quilts this year until I had finished some large ones, but the truth of the matter is I could make little quilts for months to come without "starting something new". I'll show you what I mean.


I have a large collection of design boards and I often use them to hold parts for little quilts. They may be scraps from friends, or I might have some of my own scraps and leftovers that I decide could be made into another little quilt (scraps beget scraps, you know) and I lay them out to see what will come of them.There are a couple more I can't show here because they are surprises for people that read my blog.
 



It wouldn't be so bad if it ended there, but it doesn't.  This CD tower in my sewing room, that I have outfitted with extra shelves and wire baskets, holds scraps and parts that are also going to become small quilts one day (okay, 3 of the shelves hold parts for large quilts in early stages, but the other 7 are small quilts). They just haven't reached the "lay out on a design board" stage.









And then there is the ever present, "never finished in my lifetime" hexie project, Stars in the Garden. I actually have another flower almost finished.


 I really hope to get some large quilts finished this year--you know, make something that will actually keep people warm, and not just sit on a table or hang on a wall. I think it is time to awaken "the beast". It has been monopolizing my large design wall for most of the year. Sashing and cornerstones are both cut. It just needs to be stitched together. What am I waiting for?!?


My deepest thanks to all who have sent condolences, and for the little surprises in the mail that have brightened my day, like this cutie from sweet Julie.


 Until next time,
Janet O.

p.s. It was a winter wonderland around here until this week when the rains came. Now the snow has been greatly reduce, but it used to look like this. 

Things that matter most.

A selfie taken a few months ago with Dad.

Some things are so much more important than quilting and blogging about it. I have taken a little unplanned break from blogs and stitching since my last post.

At age 93, my Father, my hero, my friend passed quietly from this life on Thursday, after having taken a sudden turn for the worse two days before Christmas.

Father's Day 2016

Through the holiday weekend their small home was filled as family and friends who loved him wanted to be there for a last good-bye. Mom and all of his children were beside him as he took his last breath and I felt his hand go limp in mine. It was a tender moment as this valiant warrior in God's army was taken home to rest. We are at peace with his passing, and I personally have no regrets. But missing him will be a daily occurrence!

So did I make it to 50 small finishes for 2016? No. Does it matter? Absolutely not! What matters is loving those who are important to you, and making sure they know how much you care.

There have been a few more sweet surprises in the mail. Pat (Amity Quilter blog) sent along this pretty star. She has made bunches of them, and I just discovered last week that my younger sister has started making them. Maybe this old dog will learn a new trick.

 
Mary (Quiltin' Grandma's blog) sent along these lovely things, and I think there was a treat included, but it was probably consumed so quickly that now I can't recall. : )





Pam (Heartspun Quilts blog) included me in the dispersal of some of her beautiful repro scraps.
Thanks to each of you!






And thank you to those who have emailed or called with your love and concern.
I will be back in a little while. Until the funeral is over Tuesday and family disperse to their homes, time will be filled with visiting and reminiscing. 
I am wishing you all a new year of love and choosing to be kind! My Dad was all about being kind to everyone. I think that will be my motto for 2017--choose to be kind.
Janet O.


p.s. It is a frosty world here right now. Pretty, but very cold!

Lots of green things, and happy mail

Deadline met!! Even as I type, this quilt is winging its way to little Maggie in Oregon.

I don't know if this counts as finish #47, since all the others have been small and mini quilts. Should this be included  among them?
The pattern is Tic Tac Who? by Joanne (Canuckquilter blog). I was a pattern tester, but she hopes to have the pattern available soon--maybe early in the new year! It is well written and was easy to follow. It also includes a dog and a duck block. You can choose which animal you want to use.

This upside down photo shows the quilting designs the best--except for the owl, which I hadn't yet quilted. I had to keep the whole thing simple, or it would never have been in the mail in time.

This is the largest thing I have quilted for a while, and my shoulder was not happy about it.


I didn't feel like I would have to work that hard to push this crib size quilt under the needle, but tell that to my shoulder. Since I have mostly quilted minis this year, it hasn't been an issue.

When I decided to try Kevin's tree pattern (in a smaller size, of course), I just started cutting 1" strips, and then cutting them down to 1" squares.  I had enough squares for 8 trees, and I finally got ONE assembled.






This gives you an idea of the size of the finished tree. I'm pretty sure I won't have seven more of these assembled before Christmas!






Here is what came of those pinwheels I was playing with recently. It is about 9" square. I would think I could get this quilted before Christmas, but if I do count Tic Tac Hoot as #47, this would be #48 and then I would feel pressure to get two more done so that I could say I made 50 little finishes in a year. Can I deal with that kind of pressure on top of everything else going on during the holidays? I guess that remains to be seen.

Now for the happy mail. My delivery person has been one of my favorite people lately.




The beautiful little ornament (it isn't as big as it looks) was made by Grace (citymousequilter blog). It is already on my tree! The wonderful scrap quilt made from orphan blocks is from a dear friend who shall be nameless. It has kept me warm and cozy while curled up with a good book. I won a giveaway for shower tabs from Barb (funwithbarb blog), and she included other goodies and a birthday surprise. I keep forgetting to put a shower tab in my shower, but I am going to put one in the shower right now so it is just there and I can't forget!! And Julie (meandmystitches blog) sent some of the fruits of their labors with their beekeeping.  I have to say, these are such cute little things. And the wax has already helped keep my thread smooth and tangle free while binding Tic Tac Hoot!

Enough for now. I'm going to be having a very Merry Christmas this week with lots of family time. Whatever you celebrate (and even if you don't), I hope you have a wonderful week!
Janet O.