Happy New Year

I'd like to wish you all a very Happy New Year. 

I would like to re-cap my 2015 quilting accomplishments, but I'm just not that organized today. So, feel free to scroll through my 2015 posts if you are so inclined (wink, wink).

May 2016 bring you many hours of happy quilting!

Boxing Day Adventures

We had a delightful hike on Boxing Day, trading winter for spring temperatures. An hour and a half of walking and enjoying the beautiful woods and streams on our way to the beach. The full moon tide had the water well above normal but we were still able to enjoy a walk in the sand.

Our Christmas was in both our opinions, “The Best Christmas Ever”. Our children agreed to a no gift Christmas, except for our 5 year old grandson. It was so relaxing and enjoyable on Christmas morning.

Ever since my children were old enough to go shopping, they would each pick out a gift (that they would have wanted) and drop it in the Toys for Tots box. This year our local family owned department store was doing something different and a bit confusing (it doesn’t take much) to me. So instead, I decided to payoff someone’s layaway (yes thankfully this is still quite popular in our wonderful local store) for Christmas. I asked a sales clerk that I know to decide how to distribute it since he is always so helpful and would know who might need it the most. There were times when my children were little when this would have been a huge help to us, so this felt like the right thing to do.

I hope your Christmas was as enjoyable! 

Weeeeeee!

I will be off the grid for a bit before Christmas so I wanted to take this time to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas or whatever you celebrate at this time of year. 

I had to share these little foxes and hope that your holidays will be smooth sledding. I have been keeping up with my Quilty 365 circles every day and a few other projects, but no photos to post at this time. So enjoy the holiday and I will join you all next week.

Mountain Laural

My December block for the Shenandoah Valley Botanical Album quilt. I rarely make quilts from published patterns and I must admit I have struggled a bit with this one. It isn’t because it is complicated. I am just making it difficult by trying to be true to the pattern and trying to make my own minute changes at the same time. Let’s face it, I have already made the biggest change by choosing my “cheddar” background. I do hope Esther would is looking down on me with a wink on that choice. Somehow I think we might be kindred spirits. After all my favorite block is the whimsical “Liberty Tree” – need I say more?

I backbasted this one just to make sure I didn’t miss one of those tiny buds. I will also share a helpful hint in the applique of those tiny stems. Whenever I have a fabric change in such a tiny spot as in these little stems I machine piece (with extra tiny stitches) the two fabric together before cutting my appliques. It reduces lots of bulk when you come to that intersection.

I have also been quilting the last two pineapple blocks. I adore this yellow. I bought this fabric in 1993 in St. Bart's. I mentioned in an earlier post that my husband travels to the Caribbean (for work) in the late Fall for boat shows. I think it may be time for me to go down next year for a little fabric shopping!

I also made two tops for our Veteran’s Quilts project. I will take them to another volunteer for machine quilting. We have a few quilt angels in our group who longarm the tops which gives me more time to piece them.

And, Audrey has inspired another of my non blogging friends to join in the Quilty 365 sew-a-long. 

My friend Charlotte has started hers with some 1930’s reproductions and they are adorable. I am so enjoying this. I love waking up to a little circle applique each morning. It’s like my daily vitamin!

What goes around....

inspires us all! Even my non blogging friends are hopping on the Quilty 365 circle a day bandwagon. I just had to share my friend Tina's bright and perky circles. 

I am amazed at all the quilters who are joining in. Each quilter’s fabric choices are so diverse and I just can’t believe how many different ways there are to make them. Mine are simply needle turn appliqued down, but they are being done in so many methods. A few have even changed from circles to something that suits their taste (ie. Leaves or stars). They are all inspiring. Please check out Audrey’s link up (here) to see them all. It’s never too late to join in the fun. This could go on for years, decades… well you know…

No Surprise!

I love that all my friends (at least those who really know me) just assume that I am going to make this (SVBAQ)  quilt in the potholder method. Well, of course I am! This kind of quilt just screams “potholder” to me, so as not to disappoint anyone, here is my first quilted block.

Back

And special thanks to my friend Cyndi (Busy Thimble) for finding me extra yardage for the binding. I could have used another cheddar, but I don’t want this to look like a potholder quilt from the front, only from the back – which I promise will be interesting.

Many of my blogging friends have asked me to explain a little about my method and post some photos of the process, so here goes.

In making your potholder blocks it is extremely important that all of your blocks are the same size or they will NOT fit when you whip stitch them together. You must also have very crisp corners on your bindings or you will have little “see though” holes at your corners. I use single (not folded) straight (not bias) binding 1 ¼” wide. (I actually use single binding on all my quilts. I have always figured it is the first thing to have to be replaced so why make it more difficult and bulky?)

I miter all my corners and start and stop with a straight seam. I do sometimes get comments from judges about my “straight” binding, but I have learned to ignore them because I am not changing. I do however stitch down the little miter on the top and back. That is one concession I have made to the judges over the years. It doesn’t take very long and I like to please people when I can.

Now I have to get started on my December block – the Mountain Laurel. I don’t want to fall behind!

Please feel free to ask me any question about my potholder method. I try to get back to everyone who leaves a comment. Enjoy the day.

Quilty 365 - One month down - Eleven to go!

They say it takes 21 days to make or break a habit. I am now on day 24 so I guess I have made it! I am absolutely loving my Quilty 365 circles and to tell the truth (because I always do) I really didn’t think I would last this long. I am so enjoying waking up every morning to a little circle in my hand. I began on November 8 and since then I have made one every single morning (except for Thanksgiving day as I was at my sister’s so I made two the day before – see I always tell the truth). Here are my November circles – 23 in all. (actually the little green one in the bottom right corner is my first December one – see I always tell the truth!).

I love feedsacks and I have tried to incorporate as many little novelties as I can.

Once again, thank you Audrey (Quilty Folk) for giving us all the nudge!

Happy Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving. It is my favorite holiday. I get to see (almost) all of my very large family in one place to enjoy wonderful food and laughter. Since I will be off the grid until after Thanksgiving, I would like to wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving. I know a lot of us take time during this busy holiday to inventory all the things we are thankful for. I have so much to be thankful for, but this year I can add all of you to my list. Thank you to all who read this blog and comment and inspire me.

I couldn’t decide which of these lovely images to use to I am giving you both!

Have a wonderful holiday!

All leaves present and accounted for!

I put the last quilting stitches into my Burning Leaves potholder blocks last night and finished all the hand bindings (there are 36 blocks in all). It seems like I’ve been working on this forever, but in fact I started this at my retreat in June and fully intended it to be the “slow” pick up project that it turned out to be.

I made lots of other quilts this summer including 3 baby quilts, 2 wedding quilts and 4 veterans quilt tops. But this was my “go to” relaxing hand work project and I was almost sad this morning to not have it to pick up (I do need to stitch them all together but that will come later).

Thank heaven for my new Quilty 365 project. I am absolutely loving these little circles. I started on November 8 and have appliqued one circle each morning as I sip my coffee. So much fun. Thanks again Audrey (Quilty Folk) for giving me the nudge. It’s not too late to join in the fun!

I know what you are thinking. What is she going to do with the little circles?? I have to cut out the backs as sometimes feedsack fabrics are so lightweight they show through, so I end up with yet another little circle. Hmmm???? I will probably keep them for a giveaway next year of 365 little circles! Stay tuned.

California here we come

I just found out both of my little quilts were accepted into the Road to California Show coming in January. I just wish I could pack myself into the box with them. Maybe I will get out there next year!

Happy Hexagons

 Pan Blackened Applique (a potholder quilt)

If any of you get to go I would love to have a photo of you with one of these little guys.

Have a great day.

Twice in one day?

I’m not sure I have ever posted twice in one day. But, after reading Barb’s  (Fun with Barb) post for today I felt I needed to share something to my fellow quilters. I hope I don’t blather on too much, better get something to drink.

One of favorite shows is Quilter’s Gathering which is now located in Manchester, NH. I love the fact that it still has quite a few hand quilted entries, but also has lots of modern and pictorial quilts. A really good mix. I usually go with friends and we have a super time. It is only 3 hours from home, but for some reason this year, I just didn’t make it over there. So, I was surprised to see not one, but two ribbons in the box when my quilts came back.

Thanks Judie (over 600 different Judie Rothermel prints in this quilt) won a second place for hand quilting.

Stone Soup (a potholder quilt that I started in 2012 but hope to add to soon) won a third place ribbon for color compatibility

Quilter’s Gathering doesn’t send you judge’s comments (although I think they have in the past) so I can’t tell you what the judge(s) were thinking. These are in no way my best quilts but just fun little pieces to make and I love sharing them with others.

And hereby lies my reason for this post. Barb was surprised a bit by one of the comments the judges gave her about the binding on her stunning Jubilee quilt. I was thankful she shared these comments with all of us as it allows us to learn how others feel about our work.  This was my comment on her post:

Hmm, where to begin? I don't like to make truly negative comments about judges and judging otherwise, why would I even enter quilt competitions? I enter to share my quilts and learn from the comments and from viewers. That being said, it is perplexing to get these kind of comments about bindings. I used to be marked down every time for using straight binding. That doesn't happen as much now and I'm wondering if they have finally figured out (in judge school) that bias binding is really a 20th century thing. 99% of the antique quilts we see here in NE have a straight binding and often with only 3 mitered corners - it starts on a straight edge like yours. So maybe they are learning. It is one area that I am not going to change so I guess I'll never win the big Kahuna award! I love your dolly quilt! And thank you so much for moving those scraps along. I'm sure the winner will appreciate them.

So what I really want to say here is don’t be afraid to enter your quilt in a show just because you may get a negative comment. I love to see ALL quilts in shows. I love getting ribbons and awards, but I can TRULY say that my main reason for entering shows is to share my quilts with other people.

Please check out Barb’s quilt (here) as it is absolutely beautiful.

And go enter a quilt.

SVBAQ Blue Flag finished

I have finished the second block (actually I made 4 of the first “Pineapple” block) in the SVBAQ sew along and I couldn’t be more thrilled. I did do a little pattern re-work. I didn’t like the little stem on the buds. It’s not perfect now but I like it better. I am in hopes that this will mean I can keep up with this project in a timely fashion.

I mentioned last week that I have taken on yet another sew-a-long with Audrey from Quilty Folk. I have found the perfect little case to keep my little circle blocks in. My plan is to prep 7 blocks on Sunday and pick one at random every morning to applique down. A circle a day keeps the boredom away – seriously?? Are we ever bored? 

When the Cat's away

The mice will quilt!

My husband has to go to the Caribbean Charter Boat shows in the late fall for his job as a yacht charter broker. He goes for a week in early November and again in early December. My non quilting friends (yes, I have a few) say, “Are you crazy? Why don’t you go with him?” and my quilting friends say, “Lucky you! How much quilting did you get done?”

So, here’s what I accomplished in a week of no cooking, cleaning or dishes!

I made 3 throw pillows and two dish towels for my Mom who is moving into an efficiency apartment at my sister’s house. She loves paper dolls and Peter Hunt so I incorporated both.

I’m up to date on my Time Warp stars:

Week 43: Provincial – (oddly enough I bought this fabric on a Caribbean sailing trip in 1993, so I do go with him when he is not working the show!)

And week 44: Early roller print clouds and storms

I am in charge of the Veteran’s quilts for my group and I try to make at least one top a month and also one with blocks from the group. I made two tops for our group’s Veteran quilt project, but unfortunately gave them to the quilter before I photographed them.

I made pretty good progress on this month’s block (Blue Flag Iris) in the SVBAQ sew along.

And, for some unknown reason, I started another sew-a-long thanks to Audrey at Quilty Folk. This one was right up my alley and I just couldn’t resist. She is calling it Quilty 365 and it consists of making one circle block a day. How hard can that be? Audrey is such an inspiration. If you have never read her blog, do check it out. Her quilts are so delightful. She has a fantastic and often daring color sense and she is very creative. Anyway, I love appliqueing circles, so I am in. I decided to use feedsacks as I have a ton of scraps and need to move out a few boxes! I started on Sunday the 8^th so here are my 5 blocks so far. I am making one each morning before work which seems doable so far!

So I had a productive an relaxing week and I am looking forward to his return tonight!

Thank goodness for the Time Warp stars!

Otherwise I would have little to post about this week. Busy, busy, busy! Anyway here are the last few weeks worth.

Cadet Blue and Celestials

Neons - whoohoo!

and Sprig Muslin and Indiennes

Now I am only 1 week behind! Woohoo! Happy stitching.

WooHoo Winner!

First, I would like to thank each and every person who commented on my giveaway post. I truly enjoy hearing from people.

When I did a scrap giveaway a year ago, the box went to Vic in NH. I didn’t know her at the time and have since read every delightful post on her blog. I have made so many blogging friends this year and have actually met one face to face (Sue from the UK).

So, I was delighted when I found out the number (55) that my husband chose (he was less than thrilled that I woke him up this morning to pick a number from 1 to 63) belonged to Barb from Fun With Barb! Congratulations, you are the proud owner of a box of scraps!

It has been a fun year and I hope to continue to post things of interest, or whatever tickles my fancy.

Enjoy the day!

Woohoo!

Hard to believe, but I have finished all 4 pineapple blocks just in time to start the November block on Sunday.

Since I am exchanging one of the tulip blocks for a pineapple, the only other block that is duplicated is the wreath.

So after that those two, at one each month, I just may be able to keep up with everyone after all! 

Don't forget to "weigh in" on my last post to get a whole pile of yummy scraps!