Goodby 2020

The year is nearly over and as someone recently said - good riddance. Only part of me feels that way. In this post I want to focus on the good things in my life that happened in 2020.

In January I discovered the world of quilt blogging and it has had a huge impact on me. I have learned so much from other quilt bloggers over the past year it's significantly improved my quilting life. I made the discovery through The Quilt Show, specifically their show which featured Barbara Black. I visited her blog, and then checked out the blogs she follows, and then the blogs they follow, etc. I was blown away and so excited to discover that there was a whole world of quilting bloggers out there. 

In February I started my own blog. I had been thinking about doing a quilting blog for several years and once I found that expansive world of quilting bloggers out there I just had to join in. I love sharing what I'm doing in the sewing room with others who are also quilting and want to share what's going on in their sewing rooms. By the end of the month I had chosen to stay home except for going out for necessary things, mostly groceries, because of the pandemic. My choice to do so came before any official lock down in our area of California and was due to the fact that I was still recovering from cancer treatment that I went through in 2019. I had retired because of the cancer and with the necessity of staying home I had far more time to sew than I'd had in a very long time.  I think having a sewing room and plenty of projects to work on kept me sane through this challenging year.

I've never been the sort of person to make New Year's resolutions, mostly because I simply can't keep them. I'm too easily distracted to stay the course with any one plan for a whole day, let alone a whole year. So there was no plan for what I wanted to accomplish in the sewing room in 2020. I found Patty of Elm Street Quilts and her One Monthly Goal linky party early on in the year and joined in for several months. But I lost track of that and just didn't keep up, though I kept on sewing. The months I did join in however, and actually reached my goal were very satisfying. 

Whatever I come up with for a plan, or a list of goals to accomplish in 2021, I know they will include lots of time in the sewing room. I have ongoing projects, projects that have been ripening on the shelf, fabrics pulled for projects I have planned but not started, and ideas for quilts I'd like to make someday. I'd like to get to a place where my blog posts are more consistent. I want to learn more sewing techniques, improve my machine quilting, and spend more time hand quilting. A whole year will not be long enough. 

Joining in with several linky parties and seeing what other quilters are doing brought new ideas, new tips and techniques for me to try, and new patterns - lots of new patterns, some with tutorials. I found Moda's Block Heads 3 and though I've not participated in their sew along I've saved the patterns and have used a couple of them in little projects of my own. I also came across the notion of "Squirrel" a project that grabs your attention away from things you would be doing otherwise. This little gem was a very insistent and fun squirrel to chase for a few days this year. It is made from Moda's Block Heads 3 pattern Taos by Vanessa Goertzen. I made it entirely from scraps and love the way it turned out. 

It was Angela at So Scrappy who introduced me to the world of scrap quilters and the fantastically beautiful quilts that have been made just from scraps, something I simply could not have imagined possible. Angela's Rainbow Scrap Challenge motivated me to get my scraps organized so they would be usefully available and it's been a huge improvement in my sewing room and in my ability to actually use my scraps. I've worked with fabric scraps for years without having any kind of plan to use up my scraps. I was just using what I had. This year I actually planned and have nearly completed a small quilt made entirely from scraps - my little string quilt. This quilt has a fun story that I will tell in a later post. I have a little more planned for this quilt but it's a surprise so will say no more now and will share the story when it's no longer a surprise. 

I've enjoyed very much being able to share my blog posts through numerous linky parties. I've been thinking for a while that I'd like to start one of my own. So I've been kicking around various ideas for what might make a good linky party that's not already out there, and I think I've finally arrived at one that would work. So part of what I would like to accomplish in 2021 is to figure out how to set up and maintain a linky party of my own. I will write more about that if and when I manage to figure out how to get one launched. The photo has something to do with my idea, more about that if I get it launched. 

One of the patterns that caught my attention this year was posted with a tutorial by Joy of The Joyful Quilter - the Magic Stars pattern. It's taken up a big portion of my time in the sewing room this year because I chose to make a queen size quilt and then a lap size quilt with the fabric left over from the queen size. I got to add both of those quilts to my 2020 finished projects list. I finished the the queen size quilt on my birthday in November and the small one last week. 

The small one was especially satisfying because it was the first leader/ender project I'd ever tried. When I started blogging I'd never heard of such a thing but read so many blog posts that mentioned it I finally went looking and found Bonnie Hunter and her tutorial explaining what it was and how to do it. What a gift. In a way it felt like my small Magic Stars quilt did come about by magic - because it got pieced so quickly while I was focused on getting other things done. 

I also made a pillow for my niece Abigail from one of the Magic Stars blocks that just didn't fit into the original quilt. The colors were off, but the fabrics were perfect to go with the quilt I gave Abby for her birthday. It is the first time I've made a pillow with a zipper instead of an overlap backing. It was a good learning experience. 

I finished the Stars bed pillow cover to go with the Magic Stars quilt. Different stars than those in the quilt but they look good together. The cats love it and sleep on it often. I made it to keep them off the pillows. 

One of the other things I did this year was join in my very first sew along. It was Pat Sloan's "Cozy".  I joined because it was just one block a week for only 9 weeks and I thought maybe I could actually accomplish that. And I did - all 9 blocks are made. There are still setting blocks to do and then getting it all put together. Just this week I found the fabric at our lqs to use for those setting blocks and to tie it all together. I have so many other projects in progress and ideas for quilts I want to do that I probably won't be doing another sew-a-long this year. 

The funny exception to that is the Jelly Snowflake quilt that I'm currently working on. The sew-a-long from the Fat Quarter Shop is long over but I've seen so many pretty photos of the completed quilts that I decided to make one too. I hope to have the top completed by Monday. It's all in blue and white, just two fabrics, and I'd like to have it as a tablecloth for January, but we'll see if that is a realistic goal. Snow still works for February right? I don't have a valentines quilt so snowflakes should work. 

If you would like to check out the pattern, you can find it along with a YouTube tutorial from Fat Quarter Shop here.

Another 2020 finish is a Christmas runner for my kitchen china cabinet from fabrics left over from the Christmas table cloth I made last January. I quilted the tablecloth for the Christmas in July Blog Hop hosted by Carol of Just Let Me Quilt. My first Blog Hop, and I hope to join in to the same again this year. I have a couple of quilts in mind I would like to have ready for next Christmas. Having the two completed Christmas quilts has helped make my home a little more festive this year, which was good for me since we did stay home and have Christmas alone this year.

That brings me down to the year's end. I've been thinking about what I would like to accomplish in the quilting room in 2021. Though I mentioned previously that I am no good at following plans - especially plans that extend for a year - I think it is a good idea to have some goals in mind. Launching a linky party as I mentioned above would be one big goal for the year, for the rest I think it would be finishing the many works in progress I've got hanging around waiting for my attention. They include the Charm Square Heart quilt, the pink string quilt, the Boot quilt, not a full list. I would like to get the quilt tops I've finished this year quilted in 2021. They include the Ladybug quilt, a stars tablerunner in Fall Colors, and the Afternoon Delight tablecloth for spring. I would also like to get started on another Afternoon Delight tablecloth quilt, start the Stepping Stars tablecloth, make a Christmas tree skirt and a small quilted topper for the drop leaf table in my entry way. And more, I want to do so much more.  I will begin with One Monthly Goal for January, to complete the top for the String Quilt and possibly to get it layered and ready to quilt. 

I'm linking up with: 

Kelly at Needle and Thread Thursday

Alycia at Alycia Quilts for Finished or Not Friday

Patty at Elm Street Quilts for One Monthly Goal

Angela at So Scrappy for RSC2021

Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!

Judy of Small Quilts and Doll Quilts for Design Wall Monday

Beth at Love, Laugh, Quilt for Monday Making

Susan at Quilt Fabrication for Midweek Makers

Jennifer at Inquiring Quilter for Wednesday Wait Loss

Christmas in July

Hi Friends,

I haven't posted in a while because I've been busy with a single project that I had to wait to post about. I was getting my Christmas tablecloth quilted for the Christmas in July (then and now) blog hop hosted by Carol of Just Let Me Quilt. Today is my day to post. My thanks to Carol for hosting this blog hop, and I hope that you will take some time to visit all the other quilters who are sharing their Christmas creations in this blog hop this week. They are listed below with links to their blogs.

I finished this quilt top in early January and put it aside with a plan to quilt it in July since I had Abby's quilt to get completed for her birthday in June. I was so glad to find Carol's sign up for the Christmas in July blog hop since it coincided with my plan for quilting my Christmas tablecloth.

I started this quilt back in October of last year but wasn't able to get it done by Christmas due to health issues. I'm very much looking forward to having it on my table for the Christmas season this year.

Finishing this quilt was also my One Monthly Goal for July, even though I didn't get it posted with Elm Street Quilts at the beginning of the month. I did reach my goal and so I am linking up with Patty to share my completed project.

https://www.elmstreetquilts.com/2020/07/one-monthly-goal-july-finish-link-up.html

I've made this pattern before and will make again. It's called Afternoon Delight and is designed by Ann Laure for Grizzly Gulch Gallery. The outer border isn't part of the pattern, but I added it to get the size I needed to fit my kitchen table. I have one in fall colors and another top in spring colors is nearly done and waiting for my attention. I have plans and fabric for a fourth one in black and gold that I want to hang on my living room wall. That's a someday project.

                                                                       Here is the finished quilt on my table.

My focus fabric is a holly and poinsettia print. I really like using the fabric print as my quilting pattern. I quilted around the poinsettias, leaves, pine cones, and a little bit of the swirls. My favorite part of the quilting though is the ivy leaves that I used in the triangles shown here and on the inner border. The outer border is done in bells. I'm not as happy with the quilting on the star points shown here, the holly berries and leaves just don't show up very well.

Over all I'm pleased with how the quilt turned out and am enjoying it on my table for today, maybe for this week. Then it will get put away for Christmas.

Thanks again to Carol at Just Let Me Quilt for hosting the blog hop. Here are the other bloggers. I hope you will visit their blogs as well to see what they've done for Christmas in the past or present.

July 27

Creatin' in the Sticks

Just Because Quilts

Words & Stitches

Quilt In A Not-Shell

Ms P Designs USA

 Scrapdash

Selina Quilts

Days Filled With Joy

  

July 28

Life in the Scrapatch

Cynthia's Creating Ark

Karrin’s Crazy World

Vroomans Quilts

Quilted Delights

Songbird Designs

Websterquilt

 Karen's Korner

  

July 29

MooseStashQuilting

Beaquilter

Day Brook Designs

Seams To Be Sew

Little Penguin Quilts

Bumbleberry Stitches

Samelia's Mum

Canyon Rim Quilting - You Are Here! :)

  

July 30

Quiltscapes

Mary Mack Made Mine

DesertSky Quilting

For The Love Of Geese

Quilt Schmilt

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Becky’s Adventures in Quilting and Travel

Quilting Gail

  

July 31

Just Let Me Quilt

Pieceful Thoughts of My Quilting Life

Den Syende Himmel

Quilt Fabrication

Sew Many Yarns

Just Sew Quilter

Shirley C.

Kathy's Kwilts and More

A Friday Finish

I pulled my Pinwheel quilt top out of the closet this week to work on while I waited for a chance to get more fat quarters for the Magic Stars quilt and embroidery floss for my Charm Square Heart quilt. It's a smallish wall quilt so I was able to get it finished this week.

I only found two fat quarters for the Magic Stars quilt which made one block. It went together very quickly, so didn't take much time away from working on the Pinwheel quilt. I also found the embroidery floss I needed but I haven't worked on that just yet.

I used a new marking pen on the dark navy squares. Marking dark fabrics has always been a challenge for me. This new pen worked pretty well. It's a Clover white marking pen. I marked it prior to basting the quilt and found when I went to quilt it that the marks were not always visible enough for me to follow. I wound up marking a number of them over again. Next time I'll just wait until I'm ready to quilt before marking with this pen.

I'm glad to have the Pinwheel quilt finished for a couple of reasons. First, those little blue pinwheels were a UFO that hung around for about 18 years. Secondly, I've been wanting a quilt to replace a painting I had hanging in the hallway outside the master bedroom, and this quilt is the perfect size. We hung it up this morning and are very happy with the change.

It's difficult to see the colors in this picture, so I'll put in one below that I took yesterday afternoon out in the sunlight. It was HOT out there, it's a wonder the quilt didn't wilt!

I've always loved a blue and brown, or blue and tan color combination. So I had the other fabrics in the quilt boxed up with the pinwheels for quite a while knowing that I wanted to include them in whatever I came up with to do with the pinwheels. The design on the dark navy squares is a tan print that perfectly matches the tan corner triangles around the pinwheels. I think the white and blue fabric in the center give the quilt a little sparkle.

I hope you have a great weekend. I've got more projects to work on so better get with it. Stay safe and stay well.

I'm linking up with Alycia at Alycia Quilts for Finished or Not Finished Friday at http://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/2020/06/cowboy-quilt-top-and-finished-friday.html?m=1

Monthly Goals for May and June

I've been concentrating on getting Abby's quilt finished so haven't made any posts in a couple of weeks. Some things about the marking process didn't work out well and really slowed me down. I had hoped to have it finished by the end of the month since finishing it was my one monthly goal for May. I missed it by about a week. I finished it on Friday but was too tired to make a post at the time. Saturday I drove up to Abby's place to give it to her, just in time for her birthday. I don't think I've ever completed a project on time before, especially a few days early.

I hadn't seen Abby since January so was very glad that I could deliver it in person and share in her excitement as she opened her gift and realized it was the quilt we had started together when she was 10 or 11 years old. It grew significantly since that early beginning, but she had chosen the fabrics she wanted from my stash so I knew her desired colors and was able to add fabrics that stayed within that scheme.

I miss seeing it on my design wall but I have other projects waiting for my attention so my design wall will soon be full again. Today I finished a crib size Ladybug quilt top. It's been hanging around on my design wall waiting for me to finish Abby's quilt. Yesterday I sewed the four patch units together and then sewed the rows together. Today I finished sewing together the blocks for the border and got the borders sewn on.  I don't have anyone in mind to gift this to. I had originally planned on making it for my great niece Blaire, but her Mom had other ideas about the colors and fabrics she wanted for the quilt.

That was five years ago, I was working in Flo's studio at the time and was reveling in having so much space to work in. I completed several quilts that year, this one for Blaire included. I have no idea now how I got those prairie points onto the outer edge of the quilt. As you can see, it's very different from the idea I had in mind for her quilt. But I think it turned out to be a very sweet quilt.

Choosing one goal for the month is hard when I have so many projects in mind and quite a number of them in various stages of completion, like the Ladybug quilt. There is the boot quilt, which I want to have ready for Christmas. I found the perfect fabrics (shown here) for the background, sashing, and cornerstone blocks for that quilt this week. I'm pretty excited about it, it's going to be a fun quilt to make. And I have quilt tops done for two tablecloths, my Christmas tablecloth that I had hoped to be my One Monthly Goal for July, and my Spring tablecloth, that I had thought of quilting this month. But all this will have to wait.

My one monthly goal for June is to begin a quilt for my husband that I promised to make for him long ago. Not just begin the quilt but get as much done as possible on it in the coming weeks. I want to have the blocks cut and at least begin sewing them together this month. If they are simple enough, then I'd like to have all the blocks made by the end of the month. Here are the fabrics I got for Dan's quilt, they've been sitting in this project box for far too long. Purple is his favorite color, I added the teal. My original idea for the quilt was a two block pattern but I decided I didn't really like that pattern so I will be using the Magic Stars pattern that Joy from The Joyful Quilter posted on her blog in March. Joy also posted a tutorial for how to make the blocks. They look great and not too difficult, and I hope will work well for a two color quilt.  You can find pictures of the blocks and the tutorial here:  https://thejoyfulquilter.blogspot.com/2020/03/magic-star-tutorial-with-tiffany.html 

I'm linking up with Patty at Elm Street Quilts for One Monthly Goal at https://www.elmstreetquilts.com/2020/06/one-monthly-goal-june-link-up.html

I'm linking up with Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts at https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com

I'm linking up with Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt at https://lovelaughquilt.blogspot.com

I hope you have a lovely week. Stay safe and well.

April Finishes

April Roses

Well April is nearly gone and my OMG for the month has not been met. Not only not met - I've done no work on it since I posted my April goal here early in the month. My goal was to get the quilt for my niece Abigail layered, basted, and at least half way finished quilting.  However after posting that goal I realized I didn't have enough fabric for a backing and with stay at home orders in place in California I couldn't go to our local quilt shop to buy fabric. My only option was to find and order fabric on line, which I did right away. It hasn't come yet. I got an email from the company over a week ago asking me to be patient, that they had to reduce their work force to maintain a safe distance in their work environment. They promised to get my order shipped as soon as they could. Their email came two weeks after I placed my order. I haven't gotten any notice yet that my order has been shipped.

Saturday Blues

Happily Abby's birthday isn't until June, so I still have some hope of getting the quilt done, if not right on time, at least not terribly late. I'm glad that the company is working to keep their employees safe from the virus, so I will continue to wait and hope. In the meantime I've been busy in the sewing room. Today I finished and hung my Saturday Blues quilt for the April RSC in the hall outside my laundry room. In the old house my kitchen and laundry room/pantry were blue and white. This house however doesn't lend itself to that color scheme so the only place I can put my blue things is the laundry room. But there's no wall space for it so the quilt brings the blue out into the hallway.

Nigel

Nigel came to keep me company while I stitched down the binding on the back, which was fine while he stayed put and watched. But being the big sweet boy he is he decided he wanted to "help" me stitch. Of course I didn't want his paw to get damaged by the needle, nor the thread by his claws so I had to resort to a little deception to move him along. I managed to make my thimble tap loud enough on the underside of the table to make him think someone was knocking on the door, which did the trick. He got down and went to investigate and let me finish my task on my own.

Pinwheels Quilt

The Saturday Blues quilt is the second finish I managed this month, I also finished  the Sparkle Stars quilt that I started in February. It's a little quilt for Nigel and you can read about it in my post Sparkle Stars Finish. I've also gotten some work done on the dark blue and tan pinwheels UFO that I ran across in February when I organized my scraps and rearranged my stash. The blocks are sewn into rows, but the rows still need to be sewn together. Then I will have to figure out what I'm going to do to it next. As you can see Abby's quilt is still on the design wall, I'm now just pinning other things over it. Orange bits on the pinwheel quilt are just row markers.

Spring Tablecloth

Lastly I decided I wanted a tablecloth in spring colors, so I spent a couple of days last week working on that. It still needs a couple of borders to get it to the right size for my kitchen table, so it will keep me busy for a while yet unless the back for Abby's quilt shows up. The pattern is Afternoon Delight designed by Ann Laure for Grizzly Gulch Gallery. I have a tablecloth in fall colors from this pattern and have another top finished in Christmas fabrics which is just waiting to be quilted. I used my favorite colors in this one. It is also pinned over something else on the design wall waiting for my attention.



 I'm linking up with One Monthly Goal at Elm Street Quilts at
https://www.elmstreetquilts.com/2020/04/one-monthly-goal-april-finish-link-up.html

Sparkle Stars Finish

Sparkle Stars is my second 2020 finish. These little quilts go so much faster than the large ones I typically take on. It feels really good to have accomplished something, even if it's small. This little quilt will live on our antique dresser. Nigel loves to hang out up there, it's by the window where he watches out for the neighborhood cats that often track across our front yard. We've had an old ragged blanket up there but it looked pretty shabby and I wanted to make a whole quilt using the Sparkle Stars pattern after making a sample block in teal, the RSC color for March.  A small quilt was all I wanted to do, so decided that the top of the dresser would be an ideal place and a good size for the piece I wanted to do. It also gave me a good place to start practicing free motion quilting. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, even though a couple of the points got cut off when I put the binding on.


 

I wanted to get a picture of Nigel on his new quilt, but he has disappeared, most likely under a bed. So instead I've got Suzette on her Strawberry Basket quilt.  It's a little scrappy quilt I made the summer I got to work in Flo's studio.

There is a little swallow's nest in the eves just above the window there. Suzette likes to come in the afternoon and watch the swallows fly, she also likes to sleep in the sunshine and just hang out with me while I work in the sewing room. It's not sunny today, warm but overcast, kind of dreary. But I hear voices wafting up from the neighbors, so some folks are enjoying the outdoors.

The RSC color for April is light and bright blue, so last weekend I made another little sample quilt with my blue scraps so I could practice some more free motion quilting. It's a little larger than the Sparkle Star quilt. Today I got it basted and ready to quilt. I just have to figure out what design I'm going to quilt.  That is turning out to be a challenge.

I've been doodling for a little while trying out different motifs but I'm not very good at drawing so they all turn out looking pretty funky. I would like to do an all over pattern, something that could just skate up each row. I really do sorta mean skate, Abby's birthday is in early June and her quilt is queen size. I need a pattern that is not too fussy or detailed, something that will work with the Roman square blocks. I'm open to suggestions.


Well, I think that's enough for today, I need to get back to figuring this out, more doodling ahead.


I'm linking up with Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2020 at So Scrappy at http://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

First 2020 Finish

My OMG for March was to get the elephant quilt marked, layered, basted, and at least the elephant quilted. It may not have been a very ambitious goal but I kept going after reaching that goal two weeks ago to complete the quilt. Having so much time to spend at home this month has helped me accomplish this first finish of 2020, even after spending an entire week chasing squirrels.

I began this quilt in July of 2018 before my niece’s baby was born. Beckett James Rosenbaum is 19 months old now. I don’t have a very good record for getting baby quilts done when the recipient is still a baby.

Now that it’s done I’ve got to figure out how I’m going to get it sent. I understand the post office is open but I’m reluctant to go out when I don’t have to, I’m in a high risk category for this virus.

Here is the quilt partially done in November of 2018 and the squirrel of a runner that sidelined it for many months. Thought I needed a new runner for my kitchen cabinet. Of course the Camp Fire also happened in November of 2018 and though we didn’t lose our home in the fire we had to be out of our home for six weeks because of the fire. Then medical issues happened that kept me from quilting for most of 2019. I was so glad when last year was over, only to find the whole world in jeopardy in 2020.

Not to end on a downer note, here is the finished runner. Each little section was quilted individually so the whole thing took quite a long time. But I’m very happy with the result. It was a 2019 finish.

Another baby is on the horizon, Beckett will have a little sister soon and I hope to have her quilt done in time for the baby shower in May. That is an ambitious goal. The pieces are cut and arranged on the design wall, sewing the pieces together has begun too. This quilt won’t be such a challenge as the elephant was, but I think it will be sweet all the same.

I hope you are getting in some good quilting time during this new shelter in place reality. Please stay safe.

I’m linking up with One Monthly Goal at Elm Street Quilts.
https://www.elmstreetquilts.com/2020/03/one-monthly-goal-march-finish-link-up.html