Celtic Soltice Step 2 continues

I was putting the chevrons together wrong.  Fortunately I realized my mistake after only doing 4.  I found the mistake by reading another blogger,  Jo @  http://www.joscountryjunction.com/what-im-working-on-119/

So it is a positive that others are doing the same mystery and so many are posting information.  Usually when I am making a quilt I do a couple blocks and put them up on the design wall.  I find out quickly if I am doing something wrong.  Doing the production style sewing of a mystery leaves me vulnerable to making all 100 or so wrong, which may be why the other two mysteries I have tackled are still UFOs. However, I can’t rely completely on strangers so I must acknowledge that when I do production sewing I should stop, measure, and review at times to make sure I am on track.

This chevron step has been the most time consuming one for me. They look so pretty.  I think they will add some movement and sparkle to the quilt.

Christmas Table Runner

I made this table runner as part of my final gift to my Secret Pal.  It is a free pattern at http://www.conniekresin.com/2011/12/christmas-tree-runner-tutorial.html  It is very generous of Connie to post such lovely tutorials.

It went together quickly.  I quilted it with leaves in the background and spikes and swirls in the green.

Celtic Solstice Mystery

Bonnie Hunter’s 2013 mystery quilt is Celtic Solstice. http://quiltville.blogspot.com/p/celtic-solstice-mystery.html  

As I did so much quilting (R’s quilt) and so little sewing the last few months I was eager to reverse and do some piecing.  I decided to do the mystery because this is a rare Thanksgiving – New Years where I have no travel scheduled.

The first step was revealed the Friday after Thanksgiving. The second step was posted Fri 12/6/13

I changed colors. I am using purple where Bonnie is using blue, brown where she is using orange, and turquoise where she is using yellow. I am trying to use up stash and these colors along with green seemed to work best.


As I chose colors I thought if Bonnie puts blue with the orange then I will have brown with the purple and I might not have good contrast, but I think it worked okay.

I am back

I haven’t been blogging.  I want to briefly cover the reasons and then get back on track.

I finished Jane’s quilt and I think she liked it.

In late June I got R’s quilt but I didn’t plan on starting it until after vacation with the kids in July.

I was melancholy some this summer.  My son’s birthday is June 22, and then in July it’s the anniversary of his death.  We had a big vacation without him.  All of these things weighed on me at times but I didn’t want to blog about it.  I also don’t want my grandchildren reading this in the future and wondering that I don’t mention him.  I love him and wish he was still with us.

After our trip to Colorado the Memphis girls stayed one night at my apt before flying home.  Both Lulu and Kearstyn helped me quilt on the longarm.  We did some more of the arts and crafts Aunt Jeanne brought to Colorado also.  I didn’t get a picture of them sewing, nor did I get one of Kearstyn but this is Lulu with her project (in the background you cans see Brandon with a white tshirt on bent over his phone.)

R’s quilt took up Aug, Sept, Oct and a couple weeks of Nov.  I was intimidated by its beauty and doubtful of my ability to do it justice.  In late Sept I thought I was in the home stretch and almost finished and then I realized all the stitch in the ditch (SID) around all the applique had to be taken out and redone because of bad tension.  In Oct I was cleaning my machine and I got the tip of the WD40 can too close to the hook assembly and the machine gobbled up the red straw jamming everything to a standstill.  I worked for days to get the machine retimed.  Her quilt is done. I think she likes it.  I will post pictures after she show it at the guild show in Feb.

Mid May Catchall Post!

Well I haven’t blogged in almost a month so this post will catch up on various things that are going on.

First April goals:

Jane’s Quilt – it is still on the frame but progress is steady now and if I can stay home this weekend, I will probably get it finished.  I put some pebbles in arcs using a glide thread and it just looked too dominating and thready so I spent about 9 hours ripping it out.  The glide is pretty but it has a sheen and I didn't want it to be so dominant

Pineapple -I have a shoebox full of 1 ½ inch strips for the pineapple and 31 blocks made.  This is an ongoing guilty pleasure that I am working on between other things

President’s blocks – I am close to having the top together minus borders.  I ordered more sashing fabric right after Retreat, but I must have selected the wrong fabric because it is different than what I ordered before.  It works well though.  Note I hadn't pressed the bottom row of sashing when I snapped the picture

Color Study top – no work on it

Two New Starts

In April I attended a workshop with a certified Judy Niemeyer instructor to start the Desert Sky pattern.  So one block is made, the fabric is cut and labeled and I have set it aside until I get caught up……

Early May, a friend and I spent a day working on the project from Gloria Loughman’s Craftsy Linear Landscape Class.  It was a very good class and I don’t think it will take a lot of work to finish it but I have set it aside until I get caught up……

While I am happy with both projects I started them as I spent time with friends and to learn new techniques so they are lower priority right now.

What else?

I got hit with an awful, evil computer virus and lost my hard drive.  I was without a computer for a little over a week.  This one was the fbi one where they try to extort money for you to send via moneypak.  Funny the top of the page shows cyber spelled correctly and the bottom it is spelled ciber. 

My niece, Stephanie has been in flight attendant training in Houston.  I went down to Houston the last two weekends to help her out with things and we have had nice visits but I plan to stay home this weekend.

Guild Retreat

I attended retreat with ladies from my guild April 11^th through 14^th.  It was fun and productive.  I also got to know ladies from my guild better.  I had a great roommate.

I wanted to get the double friendship star blocks together in a top but I had miscalculated how many sashing pieces I needed.  I worked as far as I could, and then switched to making pineapple blocks. 

On Saturday I pieced this Debbie Maddy pattern Recess.  I knew that many of the ladies made donation quilts during the retreat and I had originally planned to make a different one, but as I was prepping for retreat I looked at the other pattern and it needed a jelly roll or 42 strips.  I didn’t feel like cutting more fabric so I grabbed this pattern and a turnover I bought to use with it a couple years ago. 

 

Quilting

It’s nice to have something on the frame.  I have started Jane’s Cat’s Meow quilt.  Those wrinkles are because I hadn’t smoothed the fabric before I snapped the picture.

Secret Pals

Special Projects at Bear Creek Guild is doing Secret Pals all year long.  I think it is a great idea, because it is a way to get to know someone else in the guild, and fun to get presents!!

While I was in Lancaster, I shopped for gifts for my secret pal who I kept mistakenly calling my secret admirer, but I can’t show what I got in case she should read this blog and find out the source of her little gifts.  But look what I received at our last guild meeting:

 

I am enjoying reading the quilt stories and certainly recommend this book.  Thank you Secret Pal, this was an excellent gift for me.

The fabric is fat eights and I love the colors.  See how well it goes with the border and sashing fabrics I picked out for putting my president blocks together?  I blogged about receiving the blocks from guild members   http://peggybsquilting.blogspot.com/2012/12/presidents-blocks.html                     

 I am planning on putting them together at our retreat next weekend.

Monthly To Do List Linky Party

I came across this blog post http://littlebitsandpieces-linda.blogspot.com/  from Linda and backed from there to Thearica’s monthly goals linky sign up  http://www.pigtalesandquilts.com/2013/04/april-monthly-to-do-list-linky-party.html so I thought I would link up and post my goals for April.

1. Put President blocks together with sashing
2. Quilt Jane’s quilt
3. Pre cut fabrics for Judy Niemeyer workshop
4. Cut scraps for Pineapple Quilt
5. Make Pineapple blocks
6. Finish Color Study Donation top

At my last bee meeting one of my friends who had lost her husband spoke of “faux living” in the period of time after his death, until her sisters pulled her more into life.  I know I have been “faux living”.  I am making progress and don’t mean that this is a woe is me post.

 I escape frequently in mindless pursuits.  I have watched all the episodes of Burn Notice, Homeland, I have read all the Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers series by John Sandford, and now I am working my way through CSI series.  Usually if I watch tv or am talking on the phone I am also playing games on the computer.  I think this is me trying to max out my brain on empty pursuits.  Oh the books are good but I have devoured these things in a rush to avoid empty space and time for contemplation.  I think I have not done as much sewing since that is a time that allows contemplation. 

What is my latest crazy, empty waste of time?  I have been playing Monopoly on the computer.  It isn’t even that hard to beat the computer on the hardest level.  Just trade properties until you have a monopoly and refuse to give the computer a monopoly if possible – then just wear him (computer) down.

These goals and more may be accomplished since I will be going to a 3.5 day retreat in April, and I am turning my tv so I can sew while I watch NCIS.

I will close with my favorite quote  " How we spend our days, is of course, how we spend our lives." Anne Dillard