New Year - New Project

 Happy New Year to all! How do we start an entirely new year? With a new project of course!

I wanted something I could pick up for a few minutes each day. I've always wanted to make a tiny basket quilt but the thought of making one of these little guys (3" finished) every day was a bit overwhelming.

How about a tiny star? Hmm, I've already made quite a few tiny star quilts, and I really wanted just a bit of applique each morning. How about circles? I had such fun doing a circle a day with Audrey (Quilty Folk) back in 2016. Then it dawned on me that I already had 365 circles cut out!!

I had cut the circles out of the back of my "Crop Circles" quilt and placed them in a vintage tin for a future project. So Here we are - my 2023 daily project.

Once hand appliqued circle a day. Thanks for the idea Audrey! I may have to find a different tin, they are a bit small for the one I used for my Quilty 365 blocks. 

I am also starting a house quilt in this year's sew-a-long with Cecile and Corinne. You can join in before the deadline of January 20 on their FB page  Corinne et Cécile Quilt Along ! | Facebook  Their sew-a-longs are always so much fun. The creativity is endless. I am still in the planning stage, but two things are for sure. I will be using vintage feedsacks and I will be doing it in the potholder method. I'm choosing backgrounds from this pile of vintage feedsack pieces.

Let the fun begin!

December Monthly Mini

 I just love to wander through antique/junk shops. I can't afford to collect antique quilts, but I'm always looking at textiles and once in a while I find a little treasure. This little gem was sitting in a plastic bag in one of favorite stores just waiting for me to find it. My guess is that it was hand stenciled back in the 1980's when this was a popular thing to do. All it needed was a little light cleaning and some hand quilting and voila! It measures 6 3/4" x 8 1/4". I thought it had a holiday feeling so I chose to finish it for December. 

 

 

It is with heavy heart that I have decided to stop my monthly mini postings. I still plan to make minis whenever the mood strikes and I hope that you all will continue as well. I want to thank everyone of you who have participated over the last five (yes 5!) years. I have enjoyed seeing every single one of them. Maybe one of you would like to carry on the tradition?? If so, I would be a happy follower! 

Enjoy the offerings of our fellow mini makers! And I wish you a very Happy Healthy New Year!

Quilting Babcia (Amity Quilter)

Randy (Barrister’s Block)

Cathy (Big Lake Quilter) 

Cyndi (Busy Thimble)

Grace (City Mouse Quilter)

Barb (Fun with Barb)

Gladi (Gladi’s Quilts)

Shasta (High Road Quilter)

Nancy (Joy For Grace)

Joy (Joyful Quilter)

Julie (Julie K Quilts)

Kathy (Kathy’s Quilts)

Katy (Katy Quilts)

Sandy (My Material Creations)

Meredithe (Pomegranate and Chintz)

Angie (Quilting on the Crescent)

Barbara (Quilts, Gravestones and Elusive Ancestors)

Janet (Rogue Quilts)

The Remains of the Day

 I must confess that lately my normally bubbly "can do" attitude has lost its fizz. It came to a head yesterday when I wanted to Zoom with friends and just couldn't manage it. The plasma infusion the day before had zapped all my energy. So... as I started my little pity party about the things I cannot do right now, then I picked up pen and paper and started a list of things I am thankful for.

I am thankful that I was able to attend my local quilt group meeting a few weeks ago. I had not been since May and it was so good to see everyone! We exchanged Christmas postcards. This is the little one I made.

And this is the one I got made by Nell.

That is my friend Jennifer next to me who had a big show and tell. She cut her long hair really short and it was a hoot for her to reveal it by taking off her Santa hat! My friend Kathy finished quilting my Betsey Chutchian circles quilt. She did an amazing job!!

I was finally able to hand this over to my friend Sharon who will take it to a deserving patient at the infusion center. 

I am also thankful that I was able to spend a few hours with my Seven Sistahs last week. We had such fun. We exchanged gifts and every one of them was so unique. Including my "glass bacon" ornament from Susie Karen.

They all joke about my love of bacon and this will now have a place of honor on my tree. Karen showed her amazing quilt that she started in one of the recent workshops. Look at those circling geese!

Tina showed us this fabulous top made entirely of leftovers.

And this one boggles my mind.

She took the cutoff pieces of my "Dear Jane" failed border and made the most beautiful design for the center.

So creative! of course there is never enough food at our gatherings...

I am thankful that my blog book will cost a whole lot less this year! Every year I use "Blog to Print" and make a book of all my blog posts. It is fun to look back through the year in one easy volume. This year's will be skinny and "cheap" to print! 

I am thankful that I am able to now sit and sew most days. I have to limit it to 15 to 20 minutes at a time in between rests, but I am very thankful to be back in the sewing saddle! 

And, most of all I am thankful for a wonderful family and network of friends who have been with me every step of the way. I feel better already!! 

Enjoy your day and hope you find lots of things to be thankful for!

November Monthly Mini

 November's monthly mini is aptly called "Leftovers". I used all the tiny triangles leftover from my October mini and pieced them in rows with a tiny strip of this fabulous Betsy Chutchian stripe and voila! I can't remember who designed the serpentine stripe border print, but I love it and it seemed to fin (almost) perfectly. 

 

I must thank all the merry minimakers for sticking with me this year. It has been challenging and I hope to get back to reading and commenting on a regular basis!!

Quilting Babcia (Amity Quilter)

Randy (Barrister’s Block)

Cathy (Big Lake Quilter) 

Cyndi (Busy Thimble)

Grace (City Mouse Quilter)

Barb (Fun with Barb)

Gladi (Gladi’s Quilts)

Shasta (High Road Quilter)

Nancy (Joy For Grace)

Joy (Joyful Quilter)

Julie (Julie K Quilts)

Kathy (Kathy’s Quilts)

Katy (Katy Quilts)

Sandy (My Material Creations)

Meredithe (Pomegranate and Chintz)

Angie (Quilting on the Crescent)

Barbara (Quilts, Gravestones and Elusive Ancestors)

Janet (Rogue Quilts)

Tazzie (Tazzie Quilts)

My Eight Year Quilt

 I started this quilt back in 2014!! At the time, I hadn't intended to us it as my "filler project", but that is just what it became. I finished all the 9-patches and hand appliqued and quilted all the circle blocks fairly quickly. 

 

Then, other hand work came along and I took my time hand binding each little 3" block (all 219 of them) whenever the mood struck. I even kept a tin of them in the car for "road trips" or waiting at extra long traffic lights (just kidding!). 

It took a few years to get all the bindings done and then they sat dormant in a box, waiting and waiting for assembly. 

So, after surgery in September, I needed something super simple to start my quilting journey again and the box came to light. I arranged the blocks as best I could and placed each row in baggies and started to assemble them. 

 

And, 3 months later... 

 

back

True to naming my potholder quilts with some sort of cooking or food reference, this one has become "Donut Holes"!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 Happy Thanksgiving to all! 

I hope you get a little quiet quilting time amongst all the cooking!

Community Supper - the story lives on...

 I have good news for all of you who participated in the "Community Supper" potholder quilt. I decided the best way to share this truly "community" quilt, was to donate it to an institution where the public would have a chance to view it from time to time. My first choice was the New England Quilt Museum and I was pleased to have them accept it! You should all be very proud! I will do my very best to contact each participant whenever the museum puts it on exhibition so you may be able to see it in person. Thanks once again to all who had a hand in it!

back

So much has happened since my last post. I fully intended to be a better blogger, but, I still have very limited energy and since I have been able to quilt again after the infusions, I have a choice of quilting or writing posts. Hmmm.... I will be better soon!!

One thing that happened (while I was sleeping) is that my "Petaluma" quilt (made with a pattern by Collector with  Needle) was displayed at the Houston Quilt Festival.

Dawn took some wonderful videos of the exhibition. I hope to someday go down the rabbit hole and attend the festival!!

I wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!! Hope your holiday weekend will be filled with quilty fun!