That Longtime UFO

Last week, I told you that I finished a longtime UFO.  I started it in, when?  1999?  I think that's when we had that Valley Oak Quilt Guild challenge, involving several fabrics.  I believe we were to use 3 and could add three.  I believe I added the muslin in the blocks, then set them aside.  I missed the finish deadline by a mile.  I don't think I have any pictures of the blocks before they were set into the top.

Fast forward to 2004, when I finished my sister's "30th Birthday Quilt."  (I promised each sibling a quilt when they either got married or turned 30.  All of the quilts were late, which probably goes without saying.)  Anyway, this was the quilt I made for sister #2.  She's a knitter and had a cat, which is why they are included.

Other than the Rose of Sharon blocks, the entire quilt was "original."  When I laid it on the floor, and looked at it from an angle, I LOVED the inner setting.  It was perfect for those leftover blocks from that challenge.
Here was the quilt, back in 2009.

I put shadow trapunto in some of the setting triangles, and quilted feathers in the gold.  The green triangles eventually ended up with feather quilting as well.  Then I decided to trapunto the gold feathers.  oh my.  As you can note by this year's year, it took SEVEN years for me to complete the trapunto.  I did it the old-fashioned way, with acrylic yarn and a 6" needle.  Look at the ripples around the finished edge.  Oh no!!

The last thing to do to finish this beauty was to wash it and see if I could get the ripples to reduce or disappear completely.  What I wasn't expecting was for the red to run.  groan.

oh. my. goodness.  What to do?

Vicki Welsh has a tutorial on her website for anyone with this problem.  You can find it here.  I wrote to her asking if it would help with dye migration as well as an all-out bleed.  She thought it would.  hmmm.  I had the Kirkland's Free & Clear, which I used, but it didn't take out all the pink.  I went to the store and bought Dawn, not realizing that I needed Dawn Pure.  They didn't have that at Savemart.  *sigh*

After 48 hours of soaking, with two different detergents, this is what the blocks look like.

It's a definite improvement, but the back of the flowers are still pink.  Here is what the quilt looks like at this very minute:

The quilt is pinned into place and drying in today's expected 100 degrees.  Tomorrow, I will unveil the final result.  Thanks for checking in!

Zoom, Zoom

For a person sidelined with a healing bone, I sure seem to be zooming through the days.  I can't believe it's been a week since I posted.  But I was busy, quilting.  And I finished, by the 1/31 deadline I was trying to meet.

"Oceans" by Suzanne Kistler

I squeaked it in for a call for entry with the theme of "Tranquility."  Nothing calms my nerves more than an ocean view, so I just had to sew it up.  On Saturday morning, it still looked like this:

 I sewed like a woman possessed to meet that deadline.  I'd planned to add beads, but then thought they would only distract from the calm of the waves of blue.

Something else I did during the week was to drop this chair off at Quality Upholsterers in Visalia, along with 5 yards of fabric from Joann's.

 Three days later, they had refinished and reupholstered it to create this delightful addition to my living room.  Not bad for a $35 estate sale item, eh?

Another thing that I did was to head out to the walnuts, to see our new tractor.  I am able to walk either with a boot and no crutches, or in shoes, with crutches.  I was wearing the boot.  I acted as spotter for my son, as we tried to clean up some of the mess left behind from the well drillers.

 This was the sky, the day before it opened up and rained down over an 1" of life-giving water.  Today, the snow can be seen so low on the Sierras that it looks like it's almost dusting the foothills.  It's a beautiful thing.

But, now that January has ended, my sewing time has dwindled considerably.  The Best of the Valley Quilt Show will be held April 8-10, 2016, and entries are due by February 14.  You can check out the website and either download entry forms or enter online.  It's pretty straightforward.  Which reminds me.  While I'm in the midst of paperwork, I really need to remember to enter my own quilts into the show.  Goals are good!

Something New

There comes a time when a person just can't face another baby quilt, even if there are still two left in the ToQuilt pile.  And face another UFO?  Again?  In January?  I have a 3/4 quilted quilt that is waiting for attention sitting right next to the machine, but I couldn't deal with it either.  I needed something new.  I needed something different.  And I had just the thing.

Back in November, I heard of a call for entry that ends January 31.  I knew immediately what I wanted to do for it, even going so far as buying about 30 yards of fabric to facilitate the process.  But then Christmas loomed and I slipped in the mud and all that fabric sat in the bag, languishing.  I finally began washing it about 10 days ago.  Then I cut 6" strips from each piece, and they waited and waited and waited for the next step.

I cut the fabrics with freeform curves, and lay them carefully in order, so that sewing them together would be effortless.

 Then I dropped them.  So much for that organization, eh?

 I sewed the light blues together, and let the dark blues stew in their puddle for 24 hours before I was ready to face them again.

 Eventually everything was sewn together.  When will I learn that it is impossible for me to make "ocean foam" with a strip of fabric?  Foam calls for beads, not fabric.  One of these days I'll get that figured out.  Maybe.

Better whack off the bottom, and see what happens.  Hmmm.  Too much light blue.

 If I fold it up like so, maybe I like it better.  Yes, I think I like it better.

 Let's cut it here, and here, and there!  All better.

At this point, the quilt is pieced to my satisfaction.  I spray-basted it - an experiment for something this large, but I wasn't going to wait for someone to set up my basting tables to pin it - and began quilting.  Yesterday I did all of the stabilizing quilting.  Today I hope to do most of the detail quilting.  Goals are good, and all that.

My vivid imagination tells me that I can finish the quilting, trim it, bind it, label it, sleeve it, and bead it before January 31.  Okay, so maybe I can quilt, trim, bind, and bead it.  Or some of the above, by the deadline. 

Even if I don't make the deadline, I will finish the quilt.  I like this one.  I know, I know, I've done a lot of ocean views lately, but I find them to be very calm, soothing, and settling, and that's just the thing to get me through January.

I have another xray scheduled for today.  I have no idea what to expect, but the foot is still quite swollen, and sometimes it hurts.  I am scared to take the boot off, so I kind of think it's not quite healed.  I guess I'll know, soon enough.  Until then, I need to quilt faster!  Quilt faster!  :)

Plugging Along

My living room was a living room, until the first of the year.  Then I started shifting things, to make sewing accessible.  I started small.

 Then added a few things, like two chairs and a light,

 And then thread, and more projects,

 And before you know it?  I've taken over the whole room.  How much space does one quilter need?  As much as she can get, apparently.

The good news is that the productivity has not stopped.  I finished another quilt yesterday.  This one is a Many Trips Around the World, aka, Trips Around the Nursery.

I'm not much for new gadgets, but in November, I picked up two packages of these handy red clippies.  In December, I received another 10, bringing my total to 30.  It is the perfect number, and I really am enjoying using these.  I've always pinned my bindings, but a few years back we had a teacher who started bending and breaking ALL of my slightly bent pins, saying they were "useless!"  I was quite taken aback, but since that time, I've been very aware of my collection of bent pins.  These little clippies are the perfect thing to keep me from ruining any more pins on binding.  I don't remember what they are called, but I believe they are from Clover.

In other quilt news, I've cut 6" slices from my stash in preparation for trying to get an entry done before the deadline of January 31.  I feel like I've finished enough utility quilts this month, and it's time to do something that requires a bit of creativity.  Goals are good, and I keep setting them!  Quilt faster!  Quilt faster!  yep.  That's my mantra, until this leg is healed.

On a Roll!

I finished the binding on another baby quilt last night, woohoo!  Looks like hubby was a bit bleary-eyed when he snapped the photo.  A flash might have been called for.

 I'm starting to feel pretty good about the slowly-growing pile of finished baby quilts.  The bottom one was completed BBL (before broken leg), but the other three?  They're all recent finishes.  They are awaiting labels, and then will be sent off to babies who have long been awaiting their arrival.

What is next on the list?  Well...

I've pulled out a queen-sized hand-quilting project that I finished piecing when my son was in fifth grade.  He's now 26 years old, and a years-ago college graduate.  I worked on it last night, and am wondering if I could possibly find the wherewithall to finish it in time for Best of the Valley Quilt Show.  The entry deadline is February 14, and I have two-thirds of the quilting left to complete.

There is a SAQA (Studio Art Quilts Associates) call for entry that is due on January 31.  I know exactly what I want to make for it, I just haven't progressed further than pulling fabrics.  I started the project BBL.  Now that I can stand, I might pick it up again.

I have three other calls for entry, for very small projects.  One is 6x8", another 10x10", the third is 12x12".  Will I or won't I attempt to meet the deadlines?  I tell you, I can lay the best plans, but each day seems to be full of surprises.  The only sure thing seems to be the neverending pile of basted baby quilts, waiting to be finished.

And so, I dream of future projects, hoping that I can sew at least one or two of them into reality.  In the meantime, I continue to sew what's in front of me, trying to decrease the size of the "to do" pile and increase the size of the "finished" pile.  Goals are good!

First Finish 2016

I started a post a few days ago, but it was one without pictures, and seemed to be too much of a pity party to finish.  On Tuesday, a check-up with the orthopedic PA resulted in removing the by then much-too-big cast, and putting on a new one.  Again I chose red, because I wasn't yet tired of it.

Things that used to be automatic and no-brainers now require a lot of thought and preparation.  Do I REALLY want another cup of coffee?  It's no longer a matter of taking a cup to the coffeepot, pouring, and returning to the table.  What took 30 seconds is now a 5 minute production.  I've passed on a lot of coffee, as well as a lot of other things.  Who knew that a leg was so useful?  I can honestly say that before Dec.22, I never once gave thought to my fibula.  In fact, the only thought I ever gave to anyone's fibula, was to memorize its name and location, to pass a few Biology classes in high school and college.  ironic, right?

But you didn't click on this to read about my broken leg.  You wanted to see my first finish of 2016!  I asked my husband to take a picture, and this is what he took:

 I told him that although I was pleased with the way I looked, it wouldn't do at all.  What I wanted, since I was going to be in the picture, was to include the foot.  I want to be able to look back on this and remember what a challenge sewing can be.  I want evidence of my victory.  :)

My mind continues to paint wonderful pictures of all the things I could do, now that I am housebound.  But reality has truly arrived, and high level productivity will not be the order of the day.

Then again, I submitted my first entry for The Best of the Valley Quilt Show, and I encourage you to do the same.  Entry forms can be found here, and our online entry option is pretty slick.  It worked beautifully.  The deadline is February 14, 2016.

And with that, I need to decide if I'm going to a) dig through fabric trying to find suitable binding for the baby quilt I have finished quilting, or b) quilt another baby quilt.  I suspect I will choose option b, though with my husband home for the next couple of hours, maybe option a would be better.  Trying to do something like that when I'm home alone isn't the wisest choice.  Either way, I'll try to have something new to show you in my next post.  Goals are good!

Inching Forward

Usually the New Year brings a time of looking back at where I've been.  Somehow, this year is different.  I am focused on the here and now, just trying to rearrange the day to accomplish something.  Apparently a broken leg will do that to a person.  Or at least to me.

I've learned to operate my machine with my left foot, and finished quilting a baby quilt on Saturday.  It still needs to be trimmed, and to have the binding made and attached.

 I worked on the first quilt with my leg down, which resulted in too much swelling and discomfort.  Yesterday, I tried putting my leg up.

 I quilted half of a baby quilt, but find that sitting 24" back from the machine is not the best.  It is not very good at all.  Today, I will be experimenting with different angles, trying to find a way to get that foot up and yet be closer to the machine.  Goals are good.

According to my sidebar, this year I finished 13 quilts, only 4 of which were UFOs.  Wow.  I really fell down on the finishing department.  Perhaps this year I will make a more concerted effort to put a dent in that UFO list.  I also recorded 13 quilted cards and 50 postcards.  hmmm.  The postcard number seems right.  The card number?  Seems awfully low.  Then again, I know that I wasn't terribly productive in 2015.  I was busy running around on vacation, etc., too mobile to get anything finished.  Mobility is NOT the word of January 2016.  I will be home, I will not be running around.  I guess the question is, "Will I be productive?"

I certainly hope so.  Goals are good!

A New Year

hmmm.  A New Year.  New Beginnings. A Time For Goal Setting.  Where does one even begin?  I guess at the beginning, right?

 My Studio is still in the state of chaos that it was in on Dec 21.  On Dec. 22, I broke my leg.  It seems more than the leg was broken.  The rest of my Christmas preparations came to a halt, and I've spent the past 10 days learning to ask for help.  It's a steep learning curve, and one that I find exceptionally difficult to navigate.  I was raised to think that needing assistance was a sign of weakness.  I've learned that asking for help is more accurately a sign of courage and trust.  I feel like a stranger in a strange land, but my kids have been terrific in terms of helping me to adjust.

The one who is not adjusting well is Scruffy.  He used to have the run of the kitchen, and was dependent upon us to let him outside.  Now his indoor space has been severely decreased, by a relocation of the indoor doggie fence.  My son installed a doggie door, which took Scruffy 48 hours to learn to operate.  He thinks its purpose is to allow him access to the slider, where he leaps and jumps and barks demanding entrance to his kitchen.  Sorry, Scruff.  Go back to your doggie door.  His unfortunate reward for his noisy behavior is to wear a bark collar.  He acts like he's being punished, which is not the case.  But try explaining that to a dog...I'm not getting very far.

So, anyway, back to goals for 2016.  My first goal is to figure out how to operate the foot pedal of my Bernina with my left foot.  And then I have a stack of 6 baby quilts, just waiting to be quilted.  Good thing I got all of that basting done, back when I was able to do it! 

And with that, Happy New Years to you all.  I hope you each are able to set an attainable goal, something that really gives you a sense of accomplishment.  Right now, it doesn't take much to make me feel victorious.  Sometimes just getting up out of the wheelchair is huge.  Quilting a quilt?  That will be a dream come true!

Time

Back in October, when I was in Houston, vendors would stop me and ask, "What are you looking for?"  I would reply, "Got any time for sale?"  Others would ask, "What do you need?" I would reply, "I need more hours in the day...I need more time."

"Ask and ye shall receive."  Apparently that holds, even when one is being a smart aleck.  :)

What I got for Christmas was a boatload of time.  Hours of time.  Days and weeks of reclaimed time, in which I cannot drive, and am limited in the household chores I can perform.  I asked for it, but now that I have it?  What am I going to do with it?

Well...

Yesterday I began to tackle my household desk.  Actually, this was the third time I'd gone after it this week, but I decided that taking a picture of it would be very motivational.  A friend wrote back, delighted to see that, "Someone's desk is worse than mine!!"  hahahaha!  yep.  You should have seen it LAST week.

 I got a section of it cleared off yesterday, but I'm going to have to go back and begin with the drawers.  Much of the stuff on top needs to be filed away, but the drawers are too full.  I see shredding in my future, before I continue this archaeological dig of my desktop.  I found an envelope of photos for Christmas cards from 2013!  I can't wait to see what else I uncover.

 A couple of hours of digging through the desk was enough.  My son's girlfriend brought down my knitting, and I put in a few rows on the mostly wool poncho I started long ago.  Maybe I'll even get a chance to wear it in 2016.  Goals are good.

 Here is proof that I'm behaving myself.  Before the cast, my foot was as fat as an overgrown zucchini, and my toes looked like little gumdrops glued on as an afterthought.  Now my toes look like toes again.  I hope to keep it that way.  The great thing about the cast, is that when swelling starts, I have to elevate it.  With the boot, I just readjusted the straps and let the swelling continue.

So, anyway, today is a good day.  Rather than list all of the things I can NOT do for the next couple of months, I will seek out the things that I have not been doing because of lack of time.  Just think!  I might write past page 45 in my novel.  Wouldn't that be something!  Ahhh, yes.  Goals are good, and I've got a brand new year coming, just waiting to meet them.