A Finish, and then some...

 For the past month or longer, I have been quilt, quilt, quilting on my entry for Best of the Valley Quilt Show.  Sure, I had a few other quilts waiting in the wings, but I wanted to be able to enter a true Show Quilt this year.  It's been three years or longer since I've finished what I consider a Show Quilt.  Boy, does it feel good!!

This is "Sunset Stroll," a quilt that I began in my first Katie Pasquini Masopust online class.  This was actually my second project.  The lesson was on "composition."  After doing all of the applique by hand, I really wanted to continue what I'd begun, so I quilted it by hand as well.

 It involved a LOT of quilting!!  I squeaked in under the deadline, finishing the entry form at 10pm.  The deadline was last night, at midnight.  whew!!

I was also trying to transform our Sew Eclectic "Broken Shell Beach" into a single quilt for entry.    The twelve individual quilts are all attached to an "authentic" used fishing net.  I put a slat through the sleeve, and had my husband hold it to be sure it hangs straight.  If you don't think that was tricky, well, think again!!  Thank you to Linda M., for suggesting the fishing net for mounting.

 Drought-stricken California has been getting some wet and woolly weather this month.  This picture was taken in my backyard yesterday.  I ran outside to close the umbrellas, as the wind picked up and whipped my trees as though they were cooked spaghetti.  I was certain one of the Sequoias would snap.  Thank goodness I was mistaken!!  The rain has been coming down, and no one is complaining.  We might actually hit our average rainfall of 8" this year.  Season to date is 4.96".  Normal to date is 6.39".  To date last season?  1.53".  So yes.  The rain falls, and the people rejoice...even when it has the potential to cost a tree or two.

Next on my quilting agenda?  Let's see if I can get my Valley Agriculture Challenge Quilt together before that deadline of March 1.  Goals?  Oh, goals are good!!

Quilt Faster! Quilt Faster!

With the Best of the Valley entry deadline LOOMING on the horizon, I'm quilting as fast as I can.  By hand.

Quilt faster!  Quilt faster!

My quilt isn't all that large, it's just that I'm quilting it with close to matchstick quilting.  okay, so not really, but it seems like it.  For handquilting?  It's about as close as I ever want to get.  I don't have a recent picture of the quilt, but here's where I blogged about it.  I added a few more details and some embroidery before beginning the quilting.  And now I am quilting, as fast as I can.

Quilt faster!
Quilt faster!

All that remains to be quilted is the sky.  And the sky is the bulk of the piece.  oh well.  Goals are good!

Our Art Group (Sew Eclectic) shell challenge pieces have all been turned in.

Now the challenge is to decide how to link them together into a single piece.  Because they are not all the size of the section we were supposed to replicate, there are some gaps.  In other places, the pieces fit right together.  A friend suggested that I mount them on a fishing net.  What a great idea!  I've ordered one from Etsy, and am awaiting delivery, hopefully this week.  Until then, I will keep quilting on the Lifeguard Tower quilt.

I have a couple of other quilts I wanted to finish for the show, but that doesn't look like they'll be happening any time soon.  oh well.  If I don't set goals, I don't know what I'm striving for, and without a target or a deadline?  I end up finally getting around to quilting a quilt that deserved to have been finished two and one half years ago!!

And I guess that's it.  Thanks for stopping by!

Still Plugging Away

I'm still working on piece #2 for the Katie PM class, despite the fact that the deadline was 8/8.  I missed the deadline.

I was working to make a piece that felt tranquil, calm, and peaceful.  This is what I came up with:

 Tranquil?  check.  Calm?  check.  Peaceful?  check.  And boring.

I tried adding some seaweed, and wouldn't you know?  It livened it right up!!

 I sent both images to Katie, who said that yes, the green needs to stay.  She also instructed me to keep at it.  I won't get my prompts/direction for piece #3 until I have piece #2 completed to my/her satisfaction.  In the past week, this is what I've added/changed:

Yesterday, I created the palm frond.  Today, I'll begin with the applique.  I'd like to get this together soon, because quilting it should be a lot of fun.

Goals, and all that!!
Ciao!

Bits & Snippets

I'm working steadily on my second piece for the online Katie Pasquini Masopust class.  So far, so good.  I was so very proud of my sea urchin shell...

 I fussy cut the fabric, prepped it, and put it together with 10 segments.

 I was thrilled with the results, until I showed it to my husband.  He thought it was an umbrella.  My son asked, "A pin cushion?"  groan

 It turns out that my boys don't know what a sea urchin shell looks like.  Here is a real one, next to my fabric one.  Now, what do you think?  Close, right?

 Next on my list is a conch.  I'm hoping to get it finished today.

Goals are good!

Where Does the Time Go?

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted.  I've been sewing up a storm, and haven't had time to blog.  Well, that, and the entry deadline for Best of the Valley Quilt Show was yesterday.  Not only was I trying to finish my own entry, I'm in charge of logging in all of the entries for the show, as they arrive.  So, yeah.  I'm claiming busy life right now.

I've been working on the Charlie quilt, and he's coming right along.

 I even got so far as to be quilting Charlie's whiskers.  He really was a mess, before I buried the threads!

He is not due until March 1, so I put him aside, in the hopes of finishing another quilt for the show.  The quilt I had in mind was Harvest Barns, a quilt top that I thought I'd finished in November.  Unfortunately, when I basted it for quilting, I discovered that it was a full 1/2" wider at the top than at the bottom.  Since it's not a very big quilt, the mismeasurement was blatantly obvious.  Last weekend I spent 5 hours picking it apart, replacing pieces, and stitching it back together again.  It didn't take much longer than that to quilt it.

I quilted it a lot.  I quilted so much, and in so many different directions, that by the time I was done, it didn't know which way to lay.  And so, it lay in waves, instead of flat.  ugh.  I plunged it in a bath and soaked it, then pinned it flat before adding the binding.  While it was drying, I looked for the perfect brown with which to bind it.

 When it dried, I stitched the binding on, using the nifty leather thimble that a friend made for me.  Thank you, Ann!!

 When it was finished, I took pictures to enter the quilt show.  This is a close up of the quilting:

And here is the whole quilt.  I am quite pleased with the way it turned out.  It was totally worth the effort to take apart one of the borders, replace pieces, and sew it back together again.

 

Tomorrow we select the quilts to display in the Featured Artist's booth at the show.  On Monday, we jury the quilts.  The closer we get to April, the closer we get to crunch time.  I can't promise to post much, but when I finish Charlie, I'll try to make a point to check in.

Happy quilting!!

A New Year and a First Finish

Happy New Year!!  Happy Happy New Year!!  I was so ready to be done with 2017.  So much happened last year, it was enough to exhaust a person.  But here we are, safely into 2018, with a newly updated house and a blank calendar.  What could be better?  I can't think of a thing.

I tried to have a final finish for 2017, but I got as far as stitching on the facing before I had to put it aside.  My son and daughter-in-law came down with the flu, so I babysat for the bulk of New Year's Eve (6am-7pm).  We are all blessed that she is such a GOOD baby.  Even when she's a bit snuffly, she has a hard time complaining.  She gave me her snuffles, so we snuffled together.  kachoo!

Such a cutie pie!  She's always smiling!

We had our son and DIL from MO out for a week.  I spent time in the Studio with both DIL's.  The one from MO, put together an apron panel.

 She finished it just before they headed out to meet up with friends.

 My local DIL received a pattern for placemats.  After "shopping" in my stash, she set right to work.  She has never quilted before, but she's got two placemats ready for binding.  She'll be quilting on her own before we know it!

Just being in the Studio was enough to get me going.  Yesterday, I finished a birthday card, that should have been finished in October.  It went into the mail today.  The binding looks terrible in the photo.  It's not quite so awful in person.

 It took three days, but the facing eventually got stitched in place.

 And, ta da!!  Today I had my first quilt finish of 2018.  It feels fantastic!!

I am very excited about 2018.  I may have already said that.  My hope is that I will replicate what I did back in 2009, setting monthly quilting goals.  I hope to finish at least one UFO each month.  Goals are good, right?  Right!!

Who knows?  I was able to finish the first one on January 2nd.  I doubt I'll be finishing a quilt every 2 days, but hey, you never know.  The next one is pressed and waiting to be basted.

With the Best of the Valley entry deadline coming up on February 14, I don't want to be left behind.  I always feel like it's up to me to set a good example.  And with that, goals are good!

Happy Quilting!!

Quilt Retreat!

I have finished stripping wallpaper.  I have washed down the walls, all but the four in the kitchen.  I am ready for someone to come texture the dry wall.  I may be waiting for a while.  The earliest I've been told is "end of November."  November looks to be a long month.

I finished the wallpaper work Wednesday night, and headed for the foothills on Thursday morning.  Valley Oak Quilt Guild had a retreat, and boy, was I ready to retreat!  I got more quilting/sewing done in those four days than I've done in the past ten months!

On Thursday, I pieced the bulk of a baby quilt for my new granddaughter.  I finished the top before breakfast on Friday.

 I spent Friday cutting and placing 1.5"x3.5" rectangles to make the frame for this 2016 quilt from the Katie Pasquini Masopust online class.  It looks so finished, I am ready to finish it!

 On Saturday, I pieced together some Grandmother's Flower Garden pieces.  I have a top that I began back in the late 80's, so the flowers were already assembled.  I added leaves and pieced them together.

 My plan is to add them to the bottom corner of a quilt that I have been working on for the past 3 years.  I started it in a David Taylor class.  I am excited that it is finally coming together.

 And finally, on Sunday, I finished quilting this Tartan landscape.  It was another project from the Katie Pasquini Masopust online class. 

I may end up adding a bit more quilting in the sky, with Sulky, to add some shine to the implied rain.  I've thought of adding the car and road sign from the original photo, but they might distract from the landscape.  This quilt is all about the landscape.

And there you go.  More quilting in four days than I've done in ten months.
I've been back since Sunday afternoon, and I've yet to get the urge to get back on that ladder and wash down the walls in the kitchen.  I will, eventually, but most certainly not today!

Moving Along

So, I finished decorating the tree, and it is beautiful.

 Then I cleaned the dining room, in preparation for a dinner party next week.  I moved the dining room chairs into the living room, and, poof!  The place was again a shambles.  Good thing I had a meeting the next day in the living room.  Everything was put back to rights.  Well, at least the walkway was clear and the chairs easily accessible!

That's Pearl, up front.  Oh, the stories she could tell!  She's been in the family for years, and has had many starring roles in high school videos, etc.  She kind of hangs out in whichever corner happens to be available at the moment.

I haven't done much sewing, other than to make a block for our outgoing Valley Oak Quilt Guild President.  It was to have a green background and a flower.  I went with simple, because there's simply not enough time for anything.

 Notice the little bee in the flower's center?  I thought it was pretty cute.

I don't know if I ever mentioned the summertime drawing I won from Vicki Welsh, hand-dyer extraordinaire.  I'm not even sure what I did, maybe liked her on Facebook?  But she drew my name, and sent me this amazing selection of her hand dyes.  I've been meaning to at least make a postcard to thank her, but time is running faster than I am these days.  You should click on the link and check out her shop, because she has a lot more than just fabric.  She is one talented woman, that's for sure!

The only other quilting thing I've got to share is that I signed up for the next Katie Pasquini Masopust class, which begins in January.  This one is on working in a series.  I'll have 15 weeks to create 5 new quilts.  If only I had the time to finish the "old" ones I put together in the last class!

So much to do, not enough time.  Spend it on the things that matter.  Hug your family, smooch your pet, smile at a stranger.  The world is better for it.  And on that, I'm off to the next thing.  (Boy is the next family member to walk in the door going to be surprised.  I might just grab them and give them a great big hug.  After all, it is the season!!)
Joy to you!

Wrap Up

Now that the Katie PM class has wrapped up, I thought you might like to see the debris field it left behind in my "sewing annex."  You can see most of the projects from the 8 lessons (7 on the board, 1 on the bed), as well as the fabrics I'd pulled to make said projects.  The green quilt and the kelp quilt have their sleeves hanging across the front of them.  oops.  To date, 3 quilts are finished, 5 are waiting to be quilted.  I will be finishing each and every one of them, hopefully before too long.  :)

 I was in Target the other day, and saw this display.  I may have burst out laughing, because this is the silliest thing I've seen in a long time.  Organic candy?  Really?  Do Trick-or-Treaters really care?  I don't think so!

And that's all I've got for today.  Gotta go make that flower girl dress.  Goals are good!

Ta Da

This is the top, as submitted for my final project.  I'm not sure if it's finished or not.  Last night, when I headed to bed, I thought that it needed a brown 3" "picture frame" around the edge.  Or not.  For now, it is set aside.  We have a wedding coming up in...11 days?  And I still need to make a dress for the flower girl.

Sew, sew, sew.  Better get on it!!  :)

Still Here

wow!  I hadn't realized the time gap since my last post.  Sorry about that.  I've been...busy.  Is that what I've been?  Since I last posted, I made another card.

But I still haven't made the labels for those baby quilts.  groan.

I made Penny's Halloween costume, and sent it to her.  It arrived a few days ago.  She is Princess Jasmine.  Always a princess.  :)

I have the makings of her flowergirl dress waiting for attention.  My youngest son's wedding is November 5.  Better get sewing, Gramma!

I added the binding to the green Lesson #7 quilt, from the Katie Pasquini Masopust class, so it is finished, except for the sleeve and label.  Those labels.  They're holding me back!  ;)

Lesson #8 - the last one in the class - is due on Monday.  A day or two after it was assigned, I enlarged a photo from Oban, Scotland, thinking I was going to focus on boats for my final project.  When it got to Friday, 10/21, I realized the boats would never be finished by 10/24.  I made a much smaller enlargement of a much simpler photo, and I am now in the middle of sewing Harvest Barns.  Here is my photo:

 This is what I had by about 5pm Friday afternoon.

I have since filled in all of the pieces, with the exception of the bottom 2 x 7 block quadrant.  I should be able to finish the piecing today.  Goals are good.  I highly doubt I can have it quilted by tomorrow midnight, which is its deadline.  I'm not sure if I will even try.

In other news, I now have a new dishwasher.  The door kept falling off on the old one, and the handle broke.  I have yet to use this one.  It seems to hold a lot more dishes than the old one did.

Also in other news, the local Joann's closed their super store and opened a cleaner smaller store in a different shopping center.  I may have gone hog wild when they marked apparel fabrics down to 90% and 95% off, when you finished the bolt.  I "saved" over $2000.  Such a thrifty shopper!  Most of my haul consisted of tulle and costume fabrics, in pink, purple, and turquoise.  I also got some "grown up" glitz, which I sent to my teenaged nieces.  This is some of what I sent to them:

 Within 24 hours of its arrival in Alaska, my eldest niece had made this pillow out of the grey roses.  For $24.99/yard?  I never would have purchased it.  For $1.25/yard?  I bought the whole bolt!

I was not the only one bargain hunting at Joann's.  One of my sons bought dozens of fixtures, which he is using to organize his garage.  When he was leaving with the last load, the liquidator asked, "Don't you think you could use the cash register counters as well?"  Yesterday we were over there, dismantling them and hauling them off.  Seven register cubbies, plus the electrical, plus the huge customer service booth are all now fighting for space in the garage.  Such a deal, such a deal!  Who could pass up free?!  I am thrilled to know that my thrifty ways have been passed along to the next generation. 

And with that, this has just been too long.  Stay tuned for my finished quilt top from Lesson #8.  It's definitely not my usual, though you can probably tell I made it.  :) 

check, check

I am so behind on baby quilts.  I think baby Adali was born in February.  I finished her quilt last week, except for the label.  Once it is labeled, I will be happy to deliver it.

 How do you like the yellow bird fabric on the back?  I absolutely LOVE it.  I bought it years ago in Napa, but didn't know what I was going to do with it.  The bird fabrics on the front were purchased at Best of the Valley at least 2 years ago.  They've been set aside since then, waiting to be cut and pieced.  It feels good to put them together, but unfortunately, I pieced them with half of the 2" birds upside down.  oops.  The baby won't care, will she?

Lesson #7 for Katie Pasquini Masopust was turned in last night.  The assignment was to do a study in analogous colors, with one complementary color thrown in for pizzazz.  It is hard to tell, but all of the fabrics used are either bluegreen, yellowgreen, red, or 7 shades of green.  The way they butt against each other makes them look white and blue and all sorts of colors in between.  It's incredible.

This quilt has been quilted.  All that remains to do is to bind it, and I think I will bind it in the usual way.  I don't want those little strips to fall off the edge, which I think would happen if I faced it instead of binding.

I have another baby quilt pieced and ready to go.  Perhaps I will be able to get it quilted today.  Goals are good!

My eighth and final assignment from Katie PM has arrived and is under consideration.  I've got two weeks to complete it.  wow.  I don't know if you can tell, but this has been the most amazing, intensive, productive class that I may have ever taken.  I've taken wonderful classes that have taught me new techniques and others that stretched me, but this one?  It's run the gamut and shown me that I have good quilts within me.  All I needed was the incentive to sit down and sew them out.  I can't wait to see wait I come up with for Lesson #8.  woohoo!!