1Q FAL and Prairie Moon 2017 Final Countdown Challenge

When the FAL challenge comes around I have been laundry listing all my UFOs. Sort of cheating really. Not very thoughtful about what I really hope to accomplish. Then Shelly at Prairie Moon Quilts had her 2017 Final Countdown challenges. The third challenge is to make a list of 12 quilts you really hope to finish in 2018. In other words, a call to be thoughtful about what you want to accomplish.

Here is my list no particular order.

1) Carleens Matchstick Marimba
2) Double Four Patch
3) Strip Stacks - green and pink
4) Mystery Quilt LQS
5) Renees navy top
6) 4 patch on point - black green pink
7) Happy Block Jean Quilt - Jason
8) Pieced together contest
9) Double Wedding Ring
10) Renees yellow top
11) tumbler
12) Rays Horse Quilt
13) Any charity quilt I have languishing here for FAL purposes.

Most of these are unquilted tops. 3 are in beginning stages of piecing. 2 need to be checked over for popped seams and then quilted.

Quilting is my stumbling block but I’m trying to get over that. I am linking with Shelly at the above link for her challenge and Leanne at She Can Quilt for 1Q FAL 2018.

Hugs,

Swooze

January OMG

Time to declare my January OMG. I will finish my second Matchstick Marimba. It needs to be quilted and bound.

Linking up with Elm Street Quilts.

Hugs,

Swooze

4Q FAL and 2017 in Review

I set my quarterly goals here. It is my laundry list of my UFOs and WIPs. I did accomplish a few of them.

There was my Purple Cow baby BQ. Then Ricci’s quilt. Both finished in the 4th quarter.

For the rest of the year I finished:

- 2 big bags.
- churndash table topper
- Hugs and Kisses
- 2 sided bandana shirt
- wool pincushion
- Matchstick Marimba
- Happy Blocks table topper
- 3 pillowcases

13 little finishes. I’ll take it!

Now that was complete finishes. How about some flimsy (unquilted top) action?

- Wanderlust
- Writers Block
- 3D Bowtie
- Crossroads
- Matchstick Marimba
- 2 wall hangings
- Double Fourpatch

8 projects moved along. Major progress on a double wedding ring. New start on Bright Hope blocks. There’s another new start so watch this space 😁

Here’s to a productive 2017 and hopes for an even more productive 2018.

Hugs,

Swooze

Purple Cow Finished

I started this quilt back in 2009. I love cow print and had this lavender in my stash so decided to make a purple cow. I didn’t have my Avante back then and hadn’t really given the quilting design a thought.

I had cow print I planned to use for the back. After some thought I decided to outline the cow spots from the back. When I practiced moving the machine over the quilt I quickly decided all those starts and stops weren’t going to work for me. I landed on a design that pretty much is a meander. I think it turned out well.

it’s 47” square and the BQ pattern by Maple Island quilts. I accidentally cut the binding strips at 2”. Was a bit of a squeeze but it worked.

I set my 4Q quarterly goals here. This was #17.

Hugs,

Swooze

OMG Finish

It’s swimming in the tub right now but I declare it done!

My goal was to quilt and bind this quilt. After several missteps through the year I finally got it together and finished it last night.

Linking up with Elm Street Quilts for December finishes. I set my 4Q quarterly goals here. This was #44.

Hugs,

Swooze

OMG Progress

This has been loaded for a bit. Quilted it today with embroidery thread of all things! Also did ruler work.

Now to trim and bind. I’m pleased with how it came out.

Hugs,

Swooze

Bright Hopes Block

Earlier this year the stashbuster yahoogroup was talking about Bright Hope blocks. I thought they were cute and a little more interesting than Happy blocks. I have the rest of the year off so decided to go to my favorite LQS and sew. I took a mystery quilt to work on that is being offered through this same store but decided to start something new. More about the mystery later.

My friend Renee was having a little destash sale several months ago. I bought three jelly rolls from her. Two of them are plaid fabrics in multiple colors. When I got them I decided to make Bright Hope blocks. I did a little math and decided to cut 2 2.5” squares from each strip then cut the remainder into 2.5” x 4.5” segments. This will yield about 38 6.5” blocks from each roll.

I used this pattern to make the blocks. It uses a partial seam on the first segment. I sewed the partial seam and realized I had accidentally used an 1/8” seam. I corrected that and sewed again. I went to sew the next segment on and it was too short. I measured the length of my segment and it was the right size. I measured the width of my segments and found it was at least 1/16” too large. I had to go back and trim all the pieces I had cut.

Luckily I had only cut half the strips into 4.5” segments.

Once I got that worked out I sewed the first two segments to the square. I trimmed the remaining strips and subcut them. I’m ready for my next sewing session.

Hugs,
Swooze

Double Wedding Ring

Six years ago I bought a partially made Double Wedding Ring quilt from a Project Linus garage sale. There was a bunch of melons made and then even more arcs ready to put into melons.

The pattern they followed was John Flynn’s and the book and templates were included. If you are not familiar with his method he strip pieces the arcs and then there is additional sewing and trimming to achieve the curve. It includes several sizes.

The background they used was a purple that I would use, just not in this project. In fact I would call it hideous in this project.

A year later my parents were visiting me at my house. We had just spent a week together at my brothers house then they came to mine. I had had a house fire one year previous and they wanted to see the remodel. I came down with a stomache bug and didn’t want to infect them so I hid in my bedroom. I asked my mother to pick apart the melons and remove the purple. She happily did so to avoid boredom. I call this the last quilt “we” worked on together.

Fast forward to earlier this year. My stashbuster pals can correct me here. There was a discussion on the list about curved projects. Anything curved. Over the course of the year I searched through my stash and found a white on white that looks like lace.

I started cutting out the melon shapes and the centers of the blocks. I decided on a size that will be a bed topper so about 60x80. I needed 71 of the melons.

In the most recent months I’ve been piecing the melons back together. Do you know me? Have you read my previous stories? I got down to 65 melons and ran out of the fabric I was using for the connecting squares. Dated fabric!

I am part of a club at my LQS called PhD club. Projects half done. Back in September we made a list of 6 projects we wanted to finish. Yep you guessed it. My goal for yesterdays meeting was to finish my melons. Argh!

I lucked out and met with my sewing group at the church Friday night. Several of them looked at what I was trying to match. I sent a pic, crossed my fingers and went shopping the next day. I got a text asking if some fabrics one of the ladies had would work. I went and visited and will let you decide how well they worked. I did meet my goal on Sunday.

What do you think?

Hugs!!

Swooze

Progress on OMG

When I found myself struggling with the quilt I repaired last year I realized I was not following the right approach. The repair job was fine but the reassembly got way off track.

First mistake. I tried fixing the back when what it needed was replacing. Second mistake. I tried fixing the “batting” which also needed replacing. I have now replaced both. It was all loaded on my frame tonight.

For the past few weeks I have been looking for the right thread. I had one in my stash that I wasn’t sure about but decided to go with it. It’s a lightweight embroidery thread. I talked to my Handiquilter dealer and she encouraged me to go for it.

Now for the quilting design. I had thought about stitching along the seam lines and then quilt wavy lines in between. My issue is the lines of the quilt are not straight so will that just highlight the fact? My other idea is to just quilt wavy lines across the top without regard to the seams.

If you click on the picture you can see the gentle slope on the top of the ruler. You can also see one of the strips where the width varies...tucks and all. I left the tucks. His grandma made them. It’s part of the quilts character.

If you have any suggestions just leave me a comment please.

Hugs

Swooze

December OMG

Repeating Novembers goal.

I plan to quilt and bind Ricci’s quilt this month. I am currently working to get it loaded on my frame. It’s a tad wavy but I’ll get it! Semi have a quilting plan but the placement of the first stitches will tell for sure.

Linking up with Patty at Elm Street Quilts.
Hugs!

Swooze

Petroglyphs

Well due to the colors I could argue this is a petroglyph. Sadly it is just the casualty of a closed door. That was probably a kinder death than some of his siblings or cousins experience at my house. I remember finding babies on the fur of my dogs. They’d drop onto them for a free ride into the house. I try not to think about that too much.

Now that Artemis lives here let me just say there is carnage. We try to rescue them....
Bad cat!!
Hugs,
Swooze

Cats Beg?

My daughters cat sat in my lap while I was eating dinner the other night. Mind you I was sitting in a recliner so it isn’t hard for her to get on me. All of a sudden I had a paw in my bowl. At least a dog whines when they want something....

Hugs,

Swooze

I Would Ask What Was I Thinking....

...but apparently I’m not. Ive been wasting time and resources on this quilt repair.


- What I did was try to patch the sheer backing and add other fabrics that matched in color to make it big enough. I then loaded this flimsy, stretchy, oddly shaped thing on my frame. I will unload it tonight
- What I should have done is find a suitable new back and load it. I bought that backing last night and got it pieced and pressed. Will load it tonight

THEN

- What I did was try to piece additional batting onto a too small, lumpy, mixed material filler. I will unload it tonight
- What I should have done is load a nice, shiny new batting onto the frame. I might load it tonight

At least I’m working at it. I’m not quite sure why my mind isn’t right about this project but it will soon be complete!

Hugs,

Swooze

November OMG

I plan to quilt and bind Ricci’s quilt this month. I am currently working to get it loaded on my frame. It’s a tad wavy but I’ll get it! Semi have a quilting plan but the placement of the first stitches will tell for sure.

Linking up with Patty at Elm Street Quilts.

Hugs!

Swooze

Maybe It Wasn’t the Best Idea

I measured the top, center and back I showed yesterday. Each time I got different measurements and realized the top isn’t square.

There was a 3” difference in length from one side to the other. Then on the width there was a difference of 2”. Obviouly I needed to even it up.

I folded it lengthwise on my kitchen floor and could immediately see the issue. I got the scissors and measuring tape. Glen, you might want to go pee before reading further. I got down on the floor... I measured the length again to confirm what needed to be trimmed and trimmed it. I now needed to refold it to take care of the width.

Here is where the “Not the Best Idea” comes in. Back on August 22nd I was walking out of the office and I heard the bone in my right foot snap. I have neuropathy so it didn’t really hurt. Long story short I have a Jones fracture and a lovely new accessory...a boot.

It hasn’t been the easiest thing to get around with but I’m better at it. Well as soon as I sat on the tile floor I thought...this isn’t going to work out for me. Luckily I carry my cell phone around like a life alert.

I called Ray, my significant other, and asked if he could help me with a couple things. He walked in and gave me that look. He knew. We started with the most important thing which was refolding and trimming the quilt. Mission accomplished.

Then came the fun part. Can he get me off the floor? I got to my knees and he grabbed me to stand me up. I said wait! I walked on my knees to the kitchen counter. I pulled myself up on the counter while he pulled me around the waist. I needed the extra boost to get that boot out from under me and stand upright again.

Now I have a trimmed top. Do you think he’ll rescue me when I work on the backing??

Hugs!

Swooze

The Hurrier You Go the Behinder You Get

Are you familiar with that phrase? I first learned it when I visited Amish country in Lancaster, PA.

Sometimes I chastise myself for being so slow to do things. In this case it was getting the next quilt loaded on the frame.

I’m glad I was so slow because while working on enlarging the back I remembered that I wanted to load this with it running from side to side so that I can avoid the thick seams. This also meant I needed to enlarge the backing differently, more width than length.

If I had rushed I would have had to do a lot of rework. I layed out all the layers and took measurements tonight. The white part which is very gauzy and thin is the “batting”. I’m trying to decide what to do with it. Will probably enlarge it and use it too.

There are a lot of different fabrics in this quilt. I am just going to keep it simple and quilt straight lines to anchor evetything down.

Hugs!

Swooze

OMG Finish

I put the final stitches in this Matchstick Marimba on Friday night. I was commissioned to make this quilt by a high school friend that had admired the other one I completed.

She and I discussed possible colors for the backing and binding. We decided on pink or purple with purple as our first choice if it went with the top. Purple and white were our school colors. We thought it would be a nice touch.



I went shopping for the fabric Saturday and found three possibilities. Of course my favorite was the blue which wasn’t in our plan. We texted back and forth after I shared the picture. Her response was...Oh I really like the blue. I laughed and told her me too. She wasn’t ready to give up on the purple so I suggested blue back and purple binding. Now to quilt it!

Getting the top completed was my October OMG. I’ll be linking up to Elm Street Quilts.

Hugs,

Swooze

Purple Cow

I quilted this today....finally. I just told myself I won’t inow if something will work if I don’t try. I certainly won’t I prove if I don’t try. So at 9:30 this morning I stood at the machine and got started. I’m a member of a PHD club. Projects Half Done. I knew that this quilt was the selected item for probably two minths. It was also my September OMG which Obviously was not done.

So maybe the inventive of winning a $25 gift certificate from my LQS was what I needed to get me moving. The meeting was at 2 p.m. today and I was pulling this off the machine at 1:40. Luckily the declared goal was quilted and not finished!

I loaded this one with the top face down and had decided I was going to quilt it from the back. I had this crazy idea I wouls stitch around all those spots with all those stops and starts. Maybe that’s why I let it sit. Then I decided to try and stitch around the white sort of like the black spot idea but the white was all connected. Hmmm....a stipple. I don’t care for stipple. But it is done. It is cute. The recipient won’t care.

Now to load another one and continue the momentum. Oh, my next PHD is in December. I have to make 80 DWR melons. Arcs are all done and the melons have half the arcs atrached. I can do it!

Hugs!!

Swooze

4Q FAL

Last quarter was not very successful. I only finished my Matchstick Marimba. So here is my entire list of UFOs. Plus I was asked to make another Matchstick Marimba but longer.

Leanne at She Can Quilt hosts a Finish Along each quarter. You link to her blog, or one of the other hostesses, with a post about your proposed finishes.

1 Strip Stacks - purple borders
2 Strip Stacks - red border
3 Double Four Patch
4 tumbler
5 4 patch on point - black green pink
6 Avignon Picnic
7 Matchstick Marimba
8 Strip Stacks - green and pink
9 Renees navy top
10 Nancies Floral and White Blocks
11 Pieced together contest
12 Pink Poppy BQ
13 Bloomers
14 Garden Party - Bonnie Mystery
15 Wanderlust
16 Pfefferneusse
17 Baby BQ
18 Lazy Sunday
19 Strip Stacks - green and pink
20 Original Orca Bay
21 Rainbow Orca Bay
22 Stepping Stones
23 30's Dog prints
24 Happy Block Jean Quilt - Jason
25 Row by Row Quilt
26 Antique top to quilt
27 Garage Sale top to be quilted
28 Dizzy
29 Grand Illusion
30 Freeze Frame
31 Double Wedding Ring
32 Nancies 30's Red
33 Nancies 30's Green
34 Christmas Packages
35 Razzle Dazzle
36 Stepping Up - yellow lavendar
37 Awareness - red black
38 Hopscotch - yellow green
39 Red and White bow tie
40 Red and White Burgoyne Surrounded
41 Turquoise blocks
42 Crossroads
43 Renees yellow top
44 - Ricci’s quilt

45 - ? Find and quilt all the charity quilts I have lingering here

Here’s to a more successful quarter.
Swooze

October OMG

I almost didn’t join this month. It won’t hurt to join and not do. But I can’t join later.

I was commissioned to remake a quilt I finished earlier this year but longer. Here is where I am today.

My goal is to make the top to flimsy stage. Linking up with Patty at Elm Street Quilts.

Hugs,
Swooze