Happy New Year!

I have found the perfect diet, simply bite off more than you can chew!

It seems that I have said “yes” to a number of new sew-a-long and other projects for 2019.

Here is my list to date:

My current “monthly mini” challenge - which anyone is welcome to join in on any given month. No rules!

Monthly project form Pam Buda’s, “Vintage Patchwork” book. There are 12 little projects in this sweet book and I invite you to pick up a copy (here) and join in the fun. (Or, if you are lucky enough to live in Maine you can pick one up at Busy Thimble in Litchfield.)

Pam Buda’s C1880 Quilt. I’ve been secretly sewing (along with Janet and Cyndi) on another Pam Buda project for quite a while and I will do a separate post on this one after the “c1880Club” begins in January. I am so excited about this new project and I hope many of you will want to join in the fun. Her new fussy cut templates make assembly and trimming a breeze. You won’t want to miss this one!

Barbara Brackman’s (Civil War Quilts) 2019 challenge “Hospital Sketches”. I haven’t followed one of Barbara’s for a while and this one is right up my alley. Only 9 blocks and ALL applique – woohoo!

Lori’s (Humble Quilts) string piece blocks. This will be an easy (and fun) one as I can use it as a feeder project while working on other things.

Bea and Cecile’s quilt-a-long theme this year is flowers. How could I resist? This is doable as well, since it is only January and February with a 16 block minimum.

Maine Bicentennial Quilt Project. Maine will be celebrating her 200^th birthday in 2020 and I am looking forward to helping with a “potholder” quilt project that will include PTQG (Pine Tree Quilters Guild) members from around the state. We will also have a fabulous exhibition of quilts (in two parts) at our Maine State Museum under the guise of Laurie LaBar which is not to be missed!

I also plan to start a long term applique project of my own design that has been in the works for a long time. It will be something I pick away at in my spare time (tee-hee).

This list does not include my regular activities in the making of veterans and other charitable quilts (animal shelter, hospitals, etc.). Don’t worry, I’ll still fit them in too!

Apparently, I’m just a girl who can’t say no! Of course this extensive list means I will have less internet time, so please forgive me if my comments on your posts are shorter and later than usual! Obviously, I will not have time for cooking or eating, so I should end 2019 twenty pounds lighter and quite a few quilts richer!

I wish you all a Happy New Year filled with fun quilting projects. I hope a few of you will join me in some of my quilty antics!

December Mini - UPDATE

Once again, I am in “under the wire” for my monthly mini. I was really scrambling to find something easy and quick for December since it is such a crazy month for all of us.

As usual a special friend came to the rescue. I met up with my friend Laurie for lunch a few weeks ago on my way to Cyndi’s. She gave me this fabulous Blazing Star block made from feedsacks (she knows they are my favorite fabrics) that she found while attending the AQSG seminar in Maryland. 

 I started digging through my stash and found the perfect feedsacks to finish this mini to go with the new paint job in my kitchen.

Thanks a million Laurie! 

Barbara's mini this month fits December perfectly! I love her fabulous Santa toile! Take a look (here).

Janet also piped in with a fantastic December finish. I wish I could beam myself to Utah and take a few lessons on mini piecing from  Janet. (here)

Kyle's December mini is a Christmas delight! Absolutely stunning! (here)

And, Randy's December mini is now hanging in my house! Lucky me!!! 

We are going to continue the monthly mini celebration of quilts in 2019 and would love to have you join in. You can do one month or twelve! I've had a ball and I thank all of you who have joined in this year (Barbara, Janet, Randy, Kyle, Pat and a few stragglers I may have missed) and hope to see some of you toss one into the ring in 2019!

The Christmas Spirit

Wow, December is screaming by! I’ve been sneaking in a little time for my Noah and Matilda assembly in between other Christmas projects. Since I have nothing finished to show I thought I would share these two “Christmas Spirit” stories.

My local quilt group (Kaleidoscope Quilters) is very productive in quiltmaking for those in need. One of our endeavors is to make quilts for Maine veterans. The following is a quilt that I assembled from blocks made by our group and was quilted by Sharon Patterson. Christina Cromwell has taken dozens of our quilts to veterans around the state. This quilt was raffled off by the 5 County Credit Union to benefit “Cabin in the Woods” which was established to provide permanent housing for “homeless veterans”. (Now there are two words that should never be in the same sentence!!) What makes this story even more special is that the winner is a daughter of a veteran who took her father to visit the “Cabin in the Woods” as it was being constructed. A very heartwarming story indeed! 

The next Christmas Spirit story is in Lori’s (Humble Quilts) own words and you can visit her Facebook page (here) as well. The quilt is the one I made in our “Gwennie Inspired” round robin which you can read about (here). I sent it to Lori in her efforts to help the victims of the horrific fires in Paradise, CA.

I've had a good old fashioned cry this morning!! Here's your quilt! Carol is a beloved sub at Paradise HS. The kids love her and it's not because she always has candy! Carol also serves the ridge community in a very unique and purposeful way. She is the founder and director of the food and book bank in Magalia, “Food For Bellies, Food For Thought”. I couldn't have picked a better quilt for her. It was full of images from her childhood like paper dolls and cowboys like Hopalong Cassidy. She was in awe of the needle turn applique and beautiful details of this lovely quilt. Enjoy it friend!

The recipient wrote: This quilt is an absolutely wonderful, amazing, beautiful, marvelous, obviously made with love, quilt which I will treasure for eternity (I'll probably be buried in it!!! Yeah, I love it that much!). It was a walk through memory lane for me as I could relate to each of the nostalgic panels, and I could tell that there was love poured into each stitch. Thank you, thank you, thank you .... ad infinitum!

I am thrilled that this quilt went to Carol. I just know we are kindred spirits! 

Merry Christmas to all!