Inching Forward

I may be stuck in a rut.  However, this rut is filling gaps in September birthday card giving.

Moving faster than I am, is the change in seasons.  These were my gingko trees on Friday:

And this is what they look like today, three days later:

I can't wait for the full-blown yellow, before everything falls to the ground.  Absolutely beautiful!   Enjoy!

Another Finish

wow!  I'm actually posting again!

It feels like it's been a while, since I was regularly at the computer.  Maybe it's the change in weather that has me invigorated.

I made a (belated) birthday card for my son.  My baby boy, is SO old!  :)

I stitched out some labels, and finished some binding.  This is my third string quilt this year:

It's Edgar-approved.

I'm not sure which project I'll be working on today, but I know it will be something.  Today's goal:  forward progress!!

Happy Quilting!

almost clean

I finished quilting a quilt on the Tiara.  It sits folded by the machine, waiting for the binding to be tacked down.  I'll have pictures soon.

 I cleared off most of the sewing surface of my favorite Bernina 150.  I haven't seen that much formica in months!

 oh, look!  Pieces of the wedding quilt being sewn together.  Baby steps, baby steps.

 Here is the strip quilt, when it was still in the process of being quilted.

 Charlie monitors my activities, when he's not sleeping.  Yes, he's still around, but he's such a lump, every picture of him looks like the last.  :)

 Here is the one thing I finished yesterday:

Today's goal?  To finish binding the quilt, and maybe make another dent in the piecing of the wedding quilt.  woohoo!  Goals are good!

Little Steps

Two quilted cards (quiltlets) went out in Saturday's mail.  I have a stack waiting for embellishment.  Goals are good.

Today's goal is to finish quilting another strip-pieced quilt with my Tiara.  It's back in action, and I'm trying to master it.  So far, it has been mastering me, but goals are good, and I'm hopeful that this time, we'll come to an understanding. 

Stay-tuned, because I'm creeping closer to another finish.  whew!

Quilt Faster, Quilt Faster!

And, it's done.  This was my entry into our guilds "Song Challenge."  Can you guess my song?  It was "Under the Sea."

 I originally made this little portion, with just the pieced blue with green seaweed (no fish).  When I measured it, it was much too small to meet the challenge 80" minimum perimeter rule.

 I thought a border or two might bring it to size, so I pulled out my tropical UFO box.

Do you remember this image from light years ago?  It was taken in 2008.  Notice the turquoise pretties on the wall?

 Here they are again, in 2009.  I never could seem to get them together in a satisfactory arrangement.

The blocks were stuffed back into the box, to percolate.  I know I've taken them out since then.  Surely it hasn't been 5 years?  Where does the time go?  Apparently that box has been generating blocks for close to 16 years.

It started with leftovers from this quilt:

"The Wowie Gazowie Quilt"

Suzanne Kistler 1998?

umm, yeah.  I don't think I'll ever make it to the bottom of the Turquoise Treasure Box, but I am going to cross off  "Turquoise Tropical Medley", #17 of my 2014 UFO List, as "finished."  After all, I did use up the majority of the pieced blocks for my Underwater Adventure quilt.

huh.  That might just be the name for this new little gem.  Whatever.  Quilts in these colors always make me smile!

Catching Up

whew!  I was out of town for four glorious days at WonderValley, retreating with my fellow guild members.  Can you believe that I forgot my camera?!  I remembered when I was 15 minutes into the drive, and decided to see if I could rough it. 

Apparently if I don't have my camera with me, I don't pay as much attention to the things around me.  Several times I reached for my camera, but groaned once again with realization that it was still on my desk.

Two days in, I remembered my iPad.  I took a few pictures, but the quality leaves a lot to be desired.

I worked a bit on the stained glass piece, but hit a snag when I machine-pieced a wedge.  Applique works better.  And this is not precision-piecing, it's Folk Art.  :)

 You can see how lumpy the machine-inserted arch looks, both on top and bottom.

The one on the left was by machine, the one on the right, by hand applique.

I also worked on a wedding quilt for D&M.  The wedding was in July, my goal was to have the top by Thanksgiving, and quilted by Christmas.  That's not likely to happen, since it's a bit more time-consuming than I thought it would be.  These are the two alternating blocks.  This is as far as I got over the four days.

 oops.  I had a bit of a pinning accident.

 I didn't feel it at all, so I was surprised when I put the pieces down and found them to be attached to my finger.

The only thing I finished over the weekend was to quilt and bind this little quilt of Christmas leftovers.

Finally!  Another UFO is finished!

Which reminds me of a notice on my nametag at retreat.  It said, "Working on her PhD - Projects half done"   hahaha!  I might have been working on a double PhD, with Projects half done, piled higher and deeper!

yep.  Not moving forward very quickly, but it's baby steps.  I'll get there eventually.

Secret Stitching

shhh!  I'm sewing.

Seriously, it's hard when I'm spending time working on a challenge, and I'm not supposed to share it, but it's what I've been working on and I want to blog and, well, now I have nothing to say.

whew!

So today, I took a break, and sewed together the pieces that I made back in September, in Laguna Beach.  It's the start of something big, and I'm glad to see that it's kinda sorta still round, even with all of those seams.

The picture is a bit dark, but I'm not as concerned about it as I thought I might be.  The lights and dark play well enough together that it sorta kinda sparkles, right?

I've also made the tops of several cards, to use for handwork, just in case the power goes out.  You see, we had a storm over the weekend, with real rain and everything.  There was thunder, there was lightning, and there was over an inch of rain in a 24 hour period.  The ground was so water starved that it soaked right in.  In a "normal" year, there would have been flooding.

And I guess that's about it.  I just didn't want you to think you were forgotten.  I doubt I will finish my project by next week, but don't worry.  Finished or not, I will reveal it before Thanksgiving.

Carry on.  Happy Quilting.