Preparations

Where does the time go?  You think you've got plenty, and then *poof* it's gone.  The kids begin arriving in less than a week.  So much to do, and so poorly organizing my time! 

Whatever gets done, gets done.  Hopefully it will be all kinds of wonderful.  I made a batch of Toffee Squares today.  We've decided that they're better with semi-sweet chocolate, rather than milk chocolate, but now I'm out of almonds and pecans.  nuts.  I'll have to substitute walnuts, if I really want nuts.  Good thing I have a source for them, eh?

The tree is in the house.  Here it is, with my elf helper.

He's a bit burly, but I still had to help bring in the tree. My shoulders ache, and we brought it in two days ago.  I guess I'll add the lights tomorrow.  I just can't seem to get inspired.

I finished a quilt for hire that I've had for a long, long time.  I've had it for so long, its owner forgot about its existence!!  I will be shipping it shortly, and thought you might like to get a peek at it.  It really is lovely, and in my colors.  :)

If you click on the photo, you might be able to see the metallic gingko detail.

Sew Eclectic had our annual Christmas party and took our annual group photo.  I liked some of the lead-up photos best.  :)  Don't you love how each one beckons another to take her place in the group?

Merry Christmas to all!  Time to get back to preparations.

Plugging Along

When last I left you, I stated that I would be setting some goals.  hmmm.  Which ones to set?  I've been trying to get reorganized after so much time away.  And wouldn't you know?  I've still got places to go and people to see.  It's a good thing, but traveling does eat up quilting time.

I finished another UFO. 

This baby quilt is very similar to the last one, with the exception of the back and the binding.  It is set aside for the next vet baby to pop its head out.  To my knowledge, none are in the oven, but that doesn't mean much.  I believe I've found out about the last half-dozen, a week after their appearance.  (Had they been cows, not babies, it might have pinged harder on husband's radar.) ;)

I finished another quilt-for-hire.  I've told you deadlines are my best friend, haven't I?  The maker of this particular quilt is Pat Bell.  She's to the be Featured Artist at the Kings River Quilt Festival in Reedley, September 21-22, 2013.  I needed to finish the quilting in time for her to bind, sleeve, and label it.  My part is DONE.  whew!

This is the back of the quilt (it's actually blacker than it is charcoal):

 And this was on the front.  It's a teaser - you have to go to the show to see the whole quilt.  :)

Now that those are off my plate, it's time to set some goals for this week.

This is an abbreviated week.  Travel will take a good chunk, leaving me with very little time for quilting.  For that reason, my goals will also be abbreviated.

1) Finish the "Inspired by Barbara D" piece for Sew Eclectic.  This was the small green strip-pieced quilt that I put together in La Jolla.  I'm about halfway through with the quilting of it.  It would be nice to have it completely finished by next Tuesday.  Goals are good.

2) Get back to work on a quilt-for-hire that I've had in my possession for much too long.  I don't know what my stumbling block is, it's a beautiful quilt.  I suspect it is the open-ended, "I'm not in a hurry" encouragement from the maker, that has inspired my procrastinative tendencies to reach for new levels of excellence.  (I once got an "A" on an essay, extolling my excellence as a procrastinator.  I wrote it in the bus, on the way to school, and turned it in first period.  yikes.)

3) Continue to make progress on my Thimble Towne Color Challenge.  This one has a deadline, I believe it's  August 31.  I'm hand quilting, so it's not something I can put off for any length of time.  I've been quilting 2-3 hours/day on it.  When I return, that's going to have to ramp up a lot more, to meet the deadline.

And there you go:  my goals for week 32 of 2013.  Finish, make progress, make progress.

Being able to check off any one of the three will be a good thing.  Goals are good!

Still Stitching

Stitch, stitch, stitch!  I'm getting closer to the end.  In fact, yesterday I sewed all the blocks together, and am working on the seam treatments.  I embroidered about 40" late last night, but this morning?  I'm going to take it all out.  It falls short of my expectations.  I have a different look in mind, and about an hour ago I found the perfect trim to pull it together.  Goals are good.

Rejected:  Fly Stitch in variegated perle cotton, size 8

Replacement:  couched trim

It's hard to tell in the close-up, but it does the job I want it to do, at least I think it does.  The only way to know for sure is to pull out the fly stitch and couch on the trim.  Goals are good.

I still have to get the three layers together and quilt them.  More good goals, that's for sure.  I'm running out of time and that deadline is screaming forward.  Other things are getting tossed by the wayside as I focus on achieving the look I want.  I'm much closer now than I was last week, that's for sure.

I've also made a number of postcards and a couple of little quiltlet birthday cards, but I'm not sure what I did with the photos.  oh well.

And I finished up a promised quilt-for-hire on Tuesday. 

It had come into my possession right at Show Time (mid-April), and I said I couldn't do it just then.  I was told, "no hurry."  Well, I don't know if you know me and deadlines, but if you tell me "no hurry," and don't give me a time frame or "finish by" date, it gets pushed down the to do list as other things pop on.  On Monday night, I got an email from the owner.  oops.  She said she wanted to pick it up and do it herself, as I was too busy to get it done.

I love a challenge.

I got up at 6am Tuesday and went to work.  By the time she called at noon, her quilt was done.

I didn't quilt all of it.  She had done the in the ditch, around the applique, and the stippling.  All she wanted me to do was the free-motion work in the borders.  It was a lot of fun, once I actually went to work.  And it was a very nice break from all of the handwork I've been focusing on.  I echoed some of the patterns of the applique blocks.

 And there you go.  Photographic evidence that I am alive and well and quilting like a maniac.  I am hoping that the next time I check in, I'll be able to tell you that my quilt sandwich is together, and the quilting has begun.  Goals are good!

How Long Does It Take

to make a quilt?

People ask that all the time.  My answer?  "It depends upon the quilt."

I can tell you how long it took to make a surfboard quilt.  It took:

2 hours to cut apart 13 shirts.
25 hours to hand applique 50 surfboards.
46.5 hours to piece the tops.
14.5 hours to quilt them.
2.5 hours to make and attach the binding.
~10 hours to hand-tack the binding.

For a grand total of 100.5 hours divided by 2 = about 50 hours/quilt. 

whew!  No wonder I was tired!  I delivered the quilts yesterday.  Doesn't Tiffany look happy?  :)

For relaxation and unwinding, I am at Road to CA.  This morning's drive was a bit harrowing, with the pouring rain.  I'll admit that I was less than thrilled to pay $9 to park in 3" of mud.  :(

 But the rain stopped and the sun came out, and SoCal once again worked its magic.

I looked at quilts and shopped.

Tomorrow I have a class with Allison Aller...I am definitely looking forward to it.  By Saturday, I should have plenty to post about.  See you then!

Zoom, Zoom...Again

Where were you when the sun came up yesterday?

I was approaching the Grapevine, on my way to Ontario.

There was snow on the Grapevine, but it's leftovers from last week, not new-fallen.  It looks cold, but it's actually warmer here (on the mountains) than it was on the valley floor.  I went from 34 to 59, in a mile or two.  In Ontario, it was downright hot.  My car said 80 when I got in it at 5pm.  SUCH a change from the valley.  toasty SoCal.  I'm just glad it's not Santa Anas!

I finished Surfboards #1, and am stitching binding on #2.  I'm halfway around.  I hope to deliver both quilts to Tiffany some time tomorrow.  woohoo!  I think I actually met my goal for the week!

I'm not sure you can see the quilting, but I put ripples in the sand, water, and sky.  They turned out really, really cute.  Now I want one.

But not today.

Can you believe it's already the 4th week of 2013?  It is.  wow.  This is a scary way to mark time.  It goes so fast!! 

Anyway, my goal for week 4 is to enjoy Road to CA.  I'm helping behind the scenes in the judging room yesterday and today.  On Thursday, I'll view the show, and on Friday I have a class with Allison Aller.

So much to do, so little time!

And yes, I am missing Pixel. 

On Saturday, I was watching her, and she ran into the Studio, carrying her leash.  Can you believe she thought I needed to get up and go for a walk?  It's impossible to resist that 5 little pounds of cute.

Still Surfin'

I'm 3/5 of the way through the piecing of Surfboards #2.  sew, sew, sew!  Yesterday was quite productive.  I took this picture early in the evening.  By 10pm, the remaining sashing was on the wall, ready to be sewn.

 While I was in my Studio piecing, my embroidery machine was in the hallway, stitching out labels.

 I found the shirt labels, that I'd removed from the collection of shirts.  Look at this one, from "Hilo Hattie's."  I know Hilo Hattie's!  We were there in November!  :)

 I'm not sure you can see this one.  It has a nice palm tree in the logo.

Guild meets today.  When I get home, I will sew, sew, sew.  I'd LOVE to get that second top pieced before I go to bed tonight.  Goals are good!

Grasping at Goals

So today is January 8, the beginning of the second week of 2013.  Am I where I'd hoped to be, quilting-wise?  No, not really, but I helped my daughter organize her house, and that trumps beating this week's quilting goal.

I met my goal halfway, in that one of the surfboards is pieced completely.  I have proof - the proof is in the pictures.

 Above is the finished top, below is the empty design wall.

 Wait, what?  You wanted to see the quilt?  Here it is on the wall:

 Here it is in my hot little hands.

It is supposed to measure 68" x 86".  I've been afraid to take out my tape measure.  Surely it is the proper size.  oh dear.  I just did the math, again.  (Like for the gazillionth time.)  It's only 84" long.  No wonder I made those 1" strips that I was trying to insert.  They were supposed to travel the entire width of the quilt, not just the width of the border.  arg!  oh well.  There's nothing I can (am willing to) do about it now.  :(

I've started the second, matching quilt.

I've actually already sewn together the first row of blocks, plus sashing.  yay! Unfortunately the bulk of my day was spent watching Pixel.  *sigh*  The dog is NOT cute, when all I need to do is sew and all she wants to do is play outside.  Not a good combo for a pleasant day in the Studio.  I got stubborn and sewed.  She got me back by leaving a "present" on my new carpet.  Can I scream now?  Or do I take yet another deep breath and try to let it out slowly, minus the sound?

So.

Goals for week 2:  Perhaps I'll find the time to update my blog's sidebar.  And I really should do a 2012 recap, although it was not a very productive year.  But the main goal?  To have both surfboard quilts quilted by January 15.  I know.  Crazy, right?  This week it is my intention to be an overachiever.  :)  Goals are good!

It's a New Year!

Christmas is over, and Pixel misses her tree.

I took a break from sewing surfboards yesterday to take the tree down.  The surfboards now look like this:

 As you can see, I still have to put sashing between the bottom two rows of blocks.  I smile every time I look at them.

Another thing that makes me smile is green...

That view means that I'm within a few hours of this view:

No offense to Pixel, but Penny trumps her.

 By a lot!

The diversion is brief, as always, then it's back to the surfboards.

2013 Week 1 goal  (ending Tuesday 1/8):  To have both surfboard quilts pieced completely.  Basted and some quilting would be icing on the cake.  If I don't post between now and then, I should be working on my goal.  Goals are good!

5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

Counting down for the New Year?  No, that's what everyone else is doing.  I'm counting down surfboards...50 to be exact.

Or not.

When I counted my finished appliqued blocks, I had 52.  oops.  Two identical sets of 26, when I needed two sets of 25.  oh well.  over achiever!

I'm finally to the point where I can spread them out and see how they look.

 Not bad.  Not bad at all.  My surfing son gave it his seal of approval. 

After looking at the image on the computer, I see that I've got a lot of grey surfboards in the 4th row.  I've already switched them around, but I didn't take a picture.

(Yes, Lisa, that is your partially quilted quilt in the bottom lefthand corner.  I hope to get back to it soon.  Goals are good!)

I have a specific size for the finished surfboard quilts.  These blocks are 10" x 14", so it's been kind of a challenge.  I've just gone with the flow, to see what happens.  Actually, it's all working out quite nicely.

Vertically between the blocks, I'm piecing sashing that is 2" 1" 2" 1" 2" 1"....2"  until it measures 14".  The finished sashes are 1" wide.  I think the horizontal sash will be made of 2" x 1" pieces.  This will be surrounded by a border made of 4" squares.

I've supplied all of the beachy background fabrics.  The Hawaiian print surfboards, sashing, and borders are all cut from shirts.  My client hired me to make memory quilts for her boys, using her father's shirts.  I think they're turning out very nicely. 

They weren't done by Christmas, they're not done by New Year's, but they'll be done soon.  Goals are good and all that.  My goal for 2013 is to once again become a productive quilter. 

Happy New Year, one and all!

Some Stitching

Stuck in the middle of Christmas prep - though if I were to admit it, I haven't done a lot of Christmas prep, I'm still trying to come to terms with the calendar flipping to December - is a project that is very overdue.  Remember the memorial quilt I made back in March?  I wrote about it here.

Well, my client subsequently ordered a matching pair of bed quilts, again made with her father's shirts.  Our communication was not the best, as I missed a key email and waited months for it.  It was summer, and I figured we both were busy.  oops.  But now I'm buckling down and trying to get these done.

Each block measures 10.5" x 14.5".  There will be 25 in each quilt.  Yikes!  I need to get moving! 

Actually, as of this writing, I have most of the background blocks pieced.

I think the applique, and the project in general, would go faster without my assistant/supervisor.

She wants to be as close as possible to eye level, even if she can barely keep those eyes open.

I hoping that my puppy sitting duties are about at an end, at least between now and Christmas.  Both of us (Pixel & I) are looking forward to the return of her guy this evening.

Happy Stitching!

How Long Does It Take...

to make a quilt?

I'm sure that every quilter out there has been asked that at least once, if not a dozen times. How long? I don't know. It depends upon the quilt.

Well, I can tell you EXACTLY how long it took to make this quilt...sort of.

It was/is a quilt-for-hire, that I delivered this morning. It started with this collection of shirts. My customer wanted me to make a memory quilt from her dad's Hawaiian shirts. It needed to be something special.

I went shopping in both my stash and quilt stores to find some coordinating background possibilities.

It took 5 hours to dismantle the shirts. Twenty minutes a shirt - I timed myself three times - to cut off collars and buttons and labels and buttonholes and sleeves...you get the idea.

Once dismantled, they needed to be cut into useful pieces. At the front of the photo are pieces of an inner border. At the back of the cutting mat are outer borders.

Making the top took the most time. This includes cutting

and sewing

and designing. It took 14.5 hours to make the top.

Basting usually takes a couple of hours, but I don't baste on the clock. When I work on a quilt-for-hire, basting is a freebie.

Quilting was the easy part, coming in at 5 hours and 22 minutes.

Binding is time consuming. It took 1 hour and 39 minutes to make the binding and attach it by machine. To time the handstitching on the back, I stitched for 10 minutes and measured the distance covered. I can stitch down 16" in 10 minutes, if I'm completely focused. We'll calculate 3 hours to bind 300", even though it really took about 5 hours when all was said and done.

And there you go. Thirty hours, give or take, and you have a quilted memory.

We delivered it today. I think they like it!!