2018 Planning Party

Yvonne at Quilting JetGirl is hosting a planning party for 2018.  I have not set any yearly quilty goals for myself before but I have found that I am much more productive when I do have a plan and a goal and a deadline.  

Tish at Tish's Adventures in Wonderland came up with specific definitions that I really liked for those unfinished projects.    Tish, thanks for helping me categorize!  Here is a short summary of how she defines things:

UFO (Unfinished Object):  Any finished quilt top that is waiting to be quilted.

WIP (Work in Progress):  Anything that has been cut and started

Kits:  Fabric purchased with a specific result in mind but not yet begun.

At this point in time, here are my UFO's:   I currently have seven. I will be listing my 2018 goals at the end of this summary of what I have going on.

Vintage quilt top 

Ashley's quilt

Cacey's quilt

MeadowMist mystery quilt

Quilt made by Vicki, quilted by Jen Strauser and waiting to be bound by me!

Mom's 1-patch quilt partially quilted

Mom's gift box quilt

I have I have nine WIP's which are projects that have either had fabric either at least cut out or even some sewed together:

1.  Hedgehog pillow 

2.  Kenzi's pillow.  Will be made with the scraps left over from making her quilt

3.  Pretzel twist

4.  Western quilt

5.  Stash Bee quilt #1

#6 Stash bee quilt #2

7.  On Ringo Lake Mystery Quilt

8.  Geese Migration (only 3 blocks made)

9.  Leader/Ender project

Kits and quilts with fabric purchased:

Morgan's quilt

Dana's quilt

Sweet Dreams

Quilt Camp

All Purpose Tote

Autumn quilt

Floral and black Block of the Month

Boundless Layer Cake HST quilt

My goals for 2018 are:

1. Finish two things in each category by the end of 2018.  If I manage more than that, I will be VERY happy!  

2.  Finish a secret sewing project for an upcoming blog hop

3.  Participate in the Bee Inspired Stash Bee 

4.  Possibly do another Mini blog hop.

5.  Try to do at least 15 minutes of sewing each day (when I am home)

6.  Make a scrappy quilt using only old stash.

7.  Make a new ironing board cover.

I'm excited about getting going on my goals!  Having it written down is somehow motivating.  Good luck on your goals for 2018!

Linking to:
2018 Planning Party

Best of 2017

Cheryl Brickey of Meadow Mist Designs is hosting a Best of 2017 Linky Party.  How you define "best" is up to you!

So here we go!

#1.  Most visited post of the year was the very first one of 2017 about my vintage quilt top given to me by my husbands sweet mama.  We don't know for sure who made it, but she thinks it was my hubby's great grandmother.  The biggest reason it was the most visited is because Wanda at Exuberant Color mentioned it after I asked her some questions about identifying the pattern.  That lady has a tremendous following! WOW!  So those visitation numbers were a little inflated.

#2
The REAL most visited post of 2017 was the  Quilters Laundry Day Mini Blog Hop Quilt Along that Jen Rosin and I hosted with over 1700 views.  Jen Rosin at A Dream and a Stitch was the designer and I was the organizer.   She designed the cutest pattern called A Quilters Laundry Day.  The pattern was provided free for quilt along participants but is available for purchase here from Craftsy.  You should try it!  It really was a fun easy make.  We provided the pattern and put the word out that anyone could participate that wanted to.  It was so fun anticipating how each quilter who volunteered would interpret Jen's design.   One quilter made a pillow, one appliqued her version, one made a baby quilt out of it, several made their quilts on the clothesline a 3D version.  Lots of fun creativity going on!  Here are the two that I made.  A day and night version.

Jen and I were so excited about the greats results of this QAL!  Click here to see a gallery of all the different creations.  I've even seen in a few other "Best of" posts that some of the participant's reveal post was their most viewed this year!  YAHOO!  We should be getting ready to do our third annual mini blog hop QAL very soon so stay tuned!  Let me know if you are interested in participating.  We had some nice giveaways too!

#3
My favorite post and also one with some of the  most comments (that didn't have a giveaway) was my biggest finish ever.  It was the first quilt bigger than a baby quilt that I ever completed.  As most of you know, I learned to piece years ago but just learned how to quilt in 2016.   So you can imagine how thrilled I was to finally finish a full size quilt from start to finish!  You can read about that finish here.

#4
One of my favorite posts was my reveal for a mini exchange that I did with Kate Heads at Smiles From Kate.   Here is the quirky mini I made for her, and the story behind my fabric and design choices can be found here.

I absolutely LOVE the mini she made for me!  

She is such a better seamstress than I am.

#5 

Mystery quilt.  This is the first year I have participated in a mystery quilt and I really enjoyed the slow pace of the one put on by Cheryl Brickey of Meadow Mist Designs.  Here is my post about that.

So those are my five favorite quilty things about 2017.  Now I am going to enjoy going to read the top five of my fellow bloggers!

May you have a blessed and productive quilty New Year!

Linking to:

Crazy Mom Quilts

Hedgehogs are the Cutest!

Hello friends!  Is there anyone else out there who feels like they have completely lost their rhythm and struggling to get back into a routine?  I'm raising my hand!

This post will be short and sweet as I have done pretty close to zero sewing since the last post I made several weeks ago.

I first saw this design here on Jayne's blog at Twiggy and Opal.  Seeing how much fun you can have with different fabrics has me wanting to make some more!

This project is one of the most fun and enjoyable things I've done for a while.  I made a hedgehog pillow for my daughter.  Meet Hazel the Hedgehog, designed by Elizabeth Hartman.

And here is my version made for my daughter.

This version of Hazel is just the top as I was waiting until I had gifted it to Ashley to find out if she wanted it with the glasses.  She does!  So that is my next project.  As soon as I can find a 20 x 20 pillow form.  The last time I tried to buy one they were all sold out!

I am needing to sit down and figure out my 2018 goals but I keep procrastinating!  I need my accountability partner Kate to give me a kick in the pants!  But I'll take encouragement anywhere I can get it from anyone who has some words of wisdom for me. 

I hope you all had a wonderful 2017 Christmas!

Linking to:
Quilt Fabrication
Let's Bee Social

On Ringo Lake Clue #2

I have been watching with envy all the wonderful quilts that pop up all over the internet when Bonnie Hunter does one of her mystery quilts.  I decided (even when I knew I couldn't keep up) to join in.  At least I'll get the instructions for each step and finish up later as I can.

First clue was to make tiny little 9 patches.

I have decided to make just half the amount of units she asks for.  Even that is going to be a stretch.

The next clue was a BUNCH of flying geese using a variety of corals and salmons along with a variety of low volume.  Even half is a challenge!  I'm not anywhere close, but I'll keep plugging away!  I have no idea what the layout is going to be.  This is just an arrangement for picture taking purposes.

May I talk about colors for a bit?  After all, that IS one of my favorite things.  :)  We've been living in our new house for several months now and I've only hung up one thing on the wall.  These hearts.  There are five of us in our family and I LOVE the color and texture of these hearts.

All the other pictures that were in our old house are all stacked in my bedroom and I'm really kind of tired of them.   I bought my first piece of new art in a long time.   I love this so much!  The color!  The atmosphere!

It is fun to imagine what those people are doing out in the rain and what they are talking about.  And did you happen to notice it matches the colors of the mystery quilt I'm making?  BONUS!  And not only that, both my husband and my son like it!  DOUBLE BONUS!!  I was so excited about that!  After all, they have to live with it too.

I got a fun surprise tonight.  My husband asked me if I wanted to get away for the weekend.  Umm, YES!!!!  Didn't have to think twice about that one.  That left me to think about what I could work on while we are driving to our destination.  Quickly I made some binding!

Remember the quilt top that Vicki made and Jen Strauser quilted for me?  The one I bought because I have no quilts of my own yet?

Well, this is the week it finally gets done.  And hopefully by the end of this week, I'll have a nice blog post showing Vicki's beautiful quilt top all quilted up by Jen and bound by me!  It even sort of  has a Christmasy vibe to it, don't you think?

Speaking of Christmas, check out this ornament.  Gotta love a designer who sees quilts EVERYWHERE!  I'm a big Jim Shore fan.

Well, that's all for now!   Enjoy your weekend, I'm pretty sure I will be!

Linking to:
On Ringo Lake Mystery Linkup
Needle and Thread Thursday
Sew Fresh Quilts

Just For Fun

Rachel at Stitched in Color is having a mosaic contest.  To enter the contest, you choose 9 fabrics from Bobbie Lou's Fabric Factory and put them in a mosaic and add them to Rachel's linky party.  There will be two winners picked.  If your mosaic wins, you win a fabric bundle of the fabrics you picked!  FUN!

Rachel's blog is always full of beautiful color and wonderful photography.  Come on and join the fun!

Here is my entry:

My Second Big Finish EVER!!!

The wrestling match is over!  It has been AGES since I was able to talk about a finished quilt but the day has finally come!   This quilt was made for one of my daughter's friends, Kenzi B.   And I seriously think this quilt may possibly weigh more than she does!

Kenzi picked all the fabrics and told me exactly what order to put them in.  LOVE specific instructions!

  The strip finish sizes are 2 inches,  3  inches, and 4 inches in no particular size order.  The binding is a white with pink polka dot flannel.  The back is a white chevron minky that is super cuddly.

I found out AFTER I sewed it together that you don't need to use batting with minky.  No wonder I had to wrestle with it so much!  It was so thick, the only kind of quilting I could do is a straight line cross hatch with my walking foot.

Here she is!

Not really twin size but definitely a decent size lap quilt.  No fancy piecing here, just plain strips as Kenzi requested.  You know the old story about how Amish quilters leave in at least one mistake as a reminder that nobody is perfect?  I have LOTS of those reminders in this quilt.  Hee!  Hee!

I texted this picture to Kenzi to give her a sneak peak.  I hope she likes it!  I'm going to take it to her tomorrow as she is attending the university where I work.  I'll try to get a picture added of Kenzi with her new quilt!

So happy to have this finish!  Oh darn!  I forgot to add the label!  Pooey!  I'm going to have to show it to Kenzi and then take it right back home again.  Oops. 

Next up will be to start quilting Ashley's quilt.  I'm going to have fun doing this one.  I'm going to try to do a different quilting motif in each stripe of color.  Not sure what I'm going to do in the white squares yet.     What would you do?

Wow!  I am not sure why these colors are so vivid in this picture!  The bright oranges are supposed to be coral and the purple is actually periwinkle!  Oh well.  I am looking forward to quilting this!

Linking to:

Midweek Makers

Needle and Thread Thursday

Crazy Mom Quilts

There's a Wrestling Match in my Quilting Room and I am Losing!

See this pretty white furry stuff I'm using on the back of this quilt?  Run away!  Run away!

My very first baby quilt was made using a super soft,  velvet-like fabric I've never used before which quilted up beautifully with no struggles.  I sure wish I knew what it was called.  I thought it was minky but apparently not.  THIS stuff, which is definitely minky, is much thicker and if I ever use it again, I will NOT be putting any batting with it  (but please slap me upside the head if I do use it again).  It makes my quilt sandwich so thick, I am literally pulling that quilt through.  The feed dogs are not moving it even with the walking foot!

I spent most of the day quilting one direction of a cross hatch grid and hope I can get through the other direction tomorrow.  My shoulders are killing me!  This quilt is going to be one heavy puppy!

After I get this quilt done, I am planning on giving you a tour of my new quilt room.  It's not anywhere near what I would like it to be, but making things pretty and cute takes time and I would rather spend it quilting.  Priorities!  It will be a journey and a gathering of pretty things.  Here is one thing I've done.  Just a few simple baskets, color coordinated with bows to tell me what color of scraps are in the basket.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, one of the things I am thankful for are new quilt friends I have made.  Do you remember my cutting mat mishap?  I tried several things and although I did get some of the warps out of it, I never was able to get it perfectly flat again and was advised by quite a few that is was probably a lost cause.  A kind fellow blogger, Preeti of Sew Preeti Quilts sent me a 50% off coupon for JoAnne's so I could buy a new one without having to break the bank.  I got the 24" x 36" size and I love it!  THANK YOU Preeti!  

Next I'll have to figure out a better way to keep my rulers handy, but for now they are just sitting on top of a little side table that fits under the end of my cutting table.

Another friend I met is Patty of Patty the Quilt Lady.   This lady is amazing!  She never stops moving and is one of the most productive people I've ever seen.  Patty in cleaning out things she didn't need or want, offered up a pretty little beaded purse to anybody who would pay the postage to send it and I was lucky enough to be the first to "raise my hand".   She sent it to me and here it is!  Thank you, Patty!  I will be sending you the postage for sending this little gem my way.  I just love vintage ladies things!

My college freshman daughter will come and visit me in my office once in a while and I recently passed on a Starbucks gift card to her that someone gave me (I'm not a coffee drinker).  While we were chatting she doodled this!  How cute is that?   Love seeing her creative side . . . 

Here are the blocks I've made for my November stash bee groups.  Here is the one I made for Laura . . .

And here is the one for Paige 

(with the 2nd one in progress)

Oh, I almost forgot!  I won another giveaway this week.  Thank you,Wendy Sheppard of Ivory Spring for sending me the newest Quiltmakers 100 Blocks and these gorgeous new fabrics from Anthology Fabrics.   I don't understand how I get so lucky but I'm not complaining!  These batiks are gorgeous!

I have missed you all!  I haven't blogged for a few weeks due to my Bernina being in for servicing.   I didn't have much to blog about when I was without a machine for 11 days! Frustrating!   I tried using my old Singer, but realized I don't remember where the magic 1/4" seam allowance on that machine is and my blocks were not turning out very accurately.   Well, that is the latest from my sewing and other adventures.   I hope you get lots of sewing done this weekend!

Linking to:

Crazy Mom Quilts