A spring like day

Saturdays are usually reserved for brunch and errands and today was no different but I carried the camera along since I have a *class* assignment. I also took along my books on Dublin to do some trip planning while we waited for Carol to pick up the quilt I did earlier this week. (I don't usually quilt for others but this was a donation quilt.)

We have temps in the low 40's today and the snow is melting...which will be followed by everything freezing back over tomorrow or Monday.



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Is it February yet?

I was in the mood to play tonight so I went ahead and made my February card for our family exchange. I wonder who will get mine this time? It's time to post the exchange list Deb.



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Have you been looking for just the right present to send me?

EDIT: Red, Blue, Purple....I like all colors!
You guys know I can't sew but I want one (or 5) of these! Seriously I'm not kidding, isn't there someone out there who wants to make a present for me? Anyone? Deb??

Airplane Art Binder


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#10 is done

With a day to spare, #10 of 10 tops is quilted! Sent to me by San to quilt and send on to Alycia for her QOV project it's quilted with Ebb and Flow.

I've been amazingly productive this month with 10 tops quilted, 12 quilts bound, 2 Happy Block tops pieced over New Year's and progress made on piecing 2 other tops. Don't expect to see this kind of productivity next month. I have my sons coming to visit next weekend and I'll be going to Virginia for the last week of the month.

It's a good start to 2009!


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I've said this before....

.....and I'll say it again. I LOVE blogging! I love the people I've met, the inspiration I've found for my quilting, I love everything about it.

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of Dawn Ramirez's Pajama Quilter DVD. Although I've always done some freehand quilting her DVD not only gave me plenty of new designs to try but her approach to teaching and her encouragement to be less judgemental really spoke to me. I'm sure you've noticed that I've been much more adventursome this year with my freehand quilting extending way beyond even the designs she teaches on the DVD. She gave me the confidence to experiement and expand my quilting.

Now, If I remember this correctly, a friend of Dawn had seen some of my early posts after I got the DVD and Dawn wrote me....from there she found HeartStrings and became a member of our group.

If all of that wasn't enough....Dawn recently gave a class and demo on scrap quilting in Idaho and featured some HeartStrings quilts and talked about our group in the class. Julia a blogging friend, happened to be attending the class and was surprised (and pleased) to find Dawn talking about HeartStrings and she send me a photo.

Without blogging, I would have never found Dawn's DVD, Dawn wouldn't have found HeartStrings, I wouldn't be friends with Julia, and Julia wouldn't have attended a presentation in Idaho that featured HeartStrings!

Seriously, how cool is that?

I LOVE being inspired and getting to know you all!


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This pile of strings??

Susan commented "YOU WIN! That's the most strips that I've seen anyone have." about my photo of my string bins posted the other day.

I just want to explain....this is 8+ years of leftovers from my quilting. All my strings from straightening fabric edges when cutting, all the leftover bits of backings from trimming finished quilts, leftover strips from other projects - ALL get tossed in here for use in my string quilts.

I just can't use them as fast as I create more but I'll keep trying.


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And another binding finished

This was the top of Barbara's I quilted a couple weeks ago with the Wandering Daisies pantograph. Can you believe I had a green fabric in my stash that was the perfect shade for the binding?

And this is what my railing looks like right now with all these finishes waiting to go downstairs to be washed. I LOVE productive months like this one.


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Strips and Strings Log Cabin

I added an instruction sheet for this quilt to my MaryQuilts.com site with lots of photos but these blocks are easy to make and I'm sure you'll find your own way of doing them as you get started.

Strips & Strings Log Cabin Instructions

I've still got one more top to quilt for the month but I'm not in the mood to load a quilt on the longarm right now so I think I'll read a while. Have a great day!


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Instructions are coming

I made another set of blocks this morning for the log cabin quilt and took lots of photos to write up some instructions today. As I was getting set up, I thought I'd pose a question. How do you you all back up your computers?

About 4 years ago I bought an external hard drive for the desktop and between that and periodic burning of data to DVD's that computer is covered but I was getting a LOT of data on the laptop and while I was burning DVD's periodically, in Decmember I decided I needed a hard drive for backing up this computer too. I couldn't believe how small these drives are now.

Here's a photo just for fun - I love it when Chesty perches on the arm of the sofa or chair - he looks so cute!


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Playing with strips and strings

These may not look like much now but I loved the log cabin quilt I pieced from my strips and string bins and my strings are completely out of control. PLUS I love making log cabin blocks and there's no cutting - I just start piecing blocks. (Make sure you click the link above or you won't know how cute this is going to be).

Before getting started, I had to finish assembling these two sections of the RWB quilt. I still need to make the two blue sections but I'm taking a time out for this top first.

I don't want to shock you, but playing in my strings is MESSY! (not this mess)

This one! That huge pile of strings on the floor haven't been sorted into color groups yet so I'm pulling most of the strips from there.




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Bound

The top pieced by Barbara in FL and quilted with freeform Baptist Fans is bound and labeled.
I'm still slowly working on my RWB top - a few more rows and half the quilt will be done and then I'll let myself start something new and alternate work on the two since I seem to be bored with just the one. I've got one more binding to sew down and one more top to quilt for the month.

Keith caved in pretty easily on the Accuquilt Go Cutter so I ordered it tonight. (Didn't even have to wait for my birthday)


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On today's agenda

Keith left this morning for Dallas so I have a few days on my own again (yes, he just got home on Sunday evening). Today's tasks will be piecing and binding but I'm not ready to start working yet. I've been reading, paying bills and as usual spending some time on the computer. I've given up any hope of keeping up with my blog reading so I'm just doing a few each day.

This is week 2 of my online Digital Scrapbooking class. I continue to learn lots and it's fun too. The class is at JessicaSprague.com and through a link in today's email, I found a bunch of online tutorials she has so if you've been playing around with Photoshop Elements go check it out.



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# 9 of 10 done

Such a pretty quilt! Carol had asked me to quilt this one and I agreed as long as I could do a pantograph. I think the quilting turned out nice.

A closer shot... I was a little worried about the white thread in the border but it looks just fine.

I was also a little worried about the batik backing - I've never quilted one before but I've heard that lots of people have problems with them. Luckily, all went well and my tension was very good. (Go ahead and click the photo, you'll see!)



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The View from my Window

I'm downstairs working during the day for a change so I have the binds open. Although there's plenty of snow still on the ground I'm ready for a fresh coat but unfortunately there's none in the near future according to the forecast.

I'm loading a top Carol asked me to quilt. I'm doing the Wandering Daisies pantograph on it and was pulling some thread to see which one might work. This quilt has a LOT of white space and I dislike dark thread in light fabric.

After laying all the strands across the quilt - I eliminated the teal as too dark in the white. The yellow's not bad but I think I'm going with cream...boring I know but safe.

If actually pulling thread off the spool and looking at it on your quilt top is NOT a part of your process, I suggest you try it. It's not unusual at ALL for me to think I know what color thread I'm going to use and then change my mind once I see it on the top. (I was thinking the teal was light enough ...wrong!)

I've also been running around this morning reading Fables. I don't do exchanges of any kind*, not ever, not in 8+ years of quilting. I refuse to take part due to deadlines, refuse to have my work judged by others as lacking in quality or creativity, and refuse to take time from my own quilting agenda.

So why am I changing my mind for the first time ever?? Vicki is organizing a Postcard exchange on my MQ Resource list with a theme of Aesop's Fables and since its a small group of people that includes Vicki, Suzanne, and Deb I thought I'd give it a try. Thank goodness I bought this book months ago after reading about it on Vicki's site. Wish me luck, I hope they're nice to me!

* the one exception to my ban on exchanges are those solely done with family like our postcard exchanges.


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Sunday's Progress report

• (3) tops quilted
• (3) quilts bound; 2 more in progress with just the hand stitching left to do
• A little piecing this week, I started joining the red sections together on the RWB quilt but didn't make much progress.

• No fabric purchased (Although I did some online shopping and closed the cart before checking out!)
• (2) of the quilts finished this week had backings from my stash; The Chinese Coin quilt had sashing, binding, borders from stash; and one of the bindings I have left to hand stitch was pulled from stash.
  

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I want one

I really don't need another expensive toy but would you look at these?? There are several quilts I'd love to make but can't seem to make myself spend the time cutting them out (apple core, thousand pyramid, tumbler, etc) especially since I want scrappy versions which take so much longer to cut anyway.

Accuquilt

I'm going to have to keep this link ...maybe I can convince Keith I need one for my birthday in June.


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#8 of 10

Up early this morning (5AM) to load and start quilting #8, a donated top by Barbara in FL. I'm quilting this one with freeform Baptist Fans. Click on the photos to see a larger view.

If you love the look of BF's and haven't given these a try you really should. I've always loved Tonya's hand quilted fans but I do most of my quilting by machine. Patsy Thompson has a great DVD and free handouts at her site showing how to quilt this and other variations. And you don't have t o have a longarm to do these - Patsy quilts them on a domestic sewing machine.







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UFO finished

Yesterday was a lazy day but I did manage to make this binding, get it sewn on and even hand stitched down.

I'm very happy with the quilting now that it's completely finished! This is one of my favorites of the HeartStrings Chinese Coins quilts I've made and the instructions can be found on my MaryQuilts.com site.



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A lunch date

I walked downtown to meet Keith for lunch. There's a nice atrium for
me to sit with my book while I wait for him.

Crazy!

He's heading to Florida tomorrow but I think he broke out the shorts a little early. I was reading by the fire, wrapped in a flannel quilt at 6AM when Keith took Chesty out this morning....it was 10 degrees.



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#7 of 10

Not the best photo but #7 of 10 tops for January is done. This HeartStrings top was pieced by Barbara in FL and sent to me to quilt and donate. Quilted with Wandering Daisies pantograph. You can click on both photos for a larger view.

Here's a better shot of the quilting. You'll see the rest of the top once it's bound.



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Binding

I'm doing a better job this month keeping up with my binding as I quilt - this top was pieced by Mom and given to me to quilt and donate. It was from a kit I bought her at Tiny Stitches last year when I was in Georgia visiting the boys.



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Homework

For those of you who asked, the class I'm taking is at JessicaSprague.com, it's the 2nd one I've taken there. Don't be too impressed with this first layout....the layouts are provided and you basically just go step by step to add the photo, papers, elements, and journaling BUT I did manage to redo the template when it wasn't wide enough for my photo.
Wednesday's challenge project (this one I did do from scratch can't you tell?).....I intended to take this photo of the boys and selectively recolor the cherry on the spoon but somehow, I ended up putting another photo of them over the top of it instead.

With just 2 weeks until their visit, the boys are on my mind.



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Are you easily influenced?

In general I feel I pretty much march to the beat of my own drum - I can be rather single minded, almost obsessive at times but I don't consider myself easily influenced by what others around me are doing. So why did I grab this book instead of a mystery novel today when I headed out to the coffee shop and lunch? I'll blame Suzanne (she's also the one who influenced me to explore the digital photography/scrapbooking classes).

I bought this book in September on our trip to NY/DC when we visited the MET and the National Gallery of Art when I realized how little I actually know about art. I have looked at the pretty pictures but until today, hadn't taken time to READ it.


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I'm still awake

I doubt I'll be able to stay up all day after not going to bed at all last night but I needed to get out of the house so I worked for a while this morning and then headed to the coffee shop with my computer.

I'm taking another online class - more digital scrapbooking. The first class is making a layout using a photo that has been selectively recolored. I chose this one of Mom that I took in December when we took flowers to Dad's grave - there was just something about the red of her coat that struck me.

I put a binding on the Polar bear & Penguin quilt and started assembling the blocks on the design wall. I really want to start a new quilt but so far I'm resisting.


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National day of service

I'd seen a post on Cheri's blog about Obama calling for a National Day of Service today in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. Even though most of my days are passed in service to others, I wanted to make sure I worked on donation projects today.

Tonight, I'm working on quilting this cute top that was pieced by my Mom. She'd given it to me to quilt and donate and I'm in the mood to work on another kid's quilt after finishing up the binding on the Happy Block quilt earlier today. I'm doing some freehand swirls and when I'm finished - it will be #6 of the 10 tops I'm quilting in January. (It will be finished tonight!)



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A walk, football, a binding

I didn't sleep this morning after working all night but I did need a little nap this afternoon. We watched Philadelphia lose and Pittsburgh win and I managed to hand stitch this binding tonight.

If you're interesting in making your own Happy Blocks, you can find instructions at my MaryQuilts.com site.


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Sunday Progress Report

• 2 tops quilted
• 2 quilts bound and a 3rd almost finished
• Half the blocks are now finished for the RWB top
• Fabric pulled from stash for 2 backings, 2 bindings, and all the RWB blocks are from stash
• No fabric purchased
• 5 of 10 tops for January are quilted and the 6th is loaded on the longarm
  

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The halfway mark

I really thought I was much further along on this quilt until I pulled the blocks out the other day and put them up on the design wall but now I've finished half of them. Since this quilt has 4 distinct sections, it will be easy to assemble. Here are the red sections, I'll play a little more with the placement of the blocks and then sew them together.

Before I started making blocks tonight, I was binding my first Happy Quilt. I made two versions and hadn't planned on making another top but as I was ironing, I noticed the pack of charm squares sitting on top of my pink fabric.

I've been trying to think of a way to use these (a gift from Deb) and I think a pink and brown Happy Block quilt might just work. But first I have to finish piecing the above top.


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Killing time

After losing tonight (by 4 points) to Keith at Scrabble, I messed around with our new Roku player trying to get it set up to play Netflix movies. While it was a little bit of a pain to set up - it's very cool. We rejoined Netflix and in addition to the movies they deliver on DVD, we get unlimited free *Play Instantly* movies. I'd been watching some on my laptop but the TV is better because I can bind quilts and watch.

Tonight I saw Arranged while Keith slept on the floor. I thought it was interesting and I enjoyed it. Last night on the laptop, I watch Impromptu . I wouldn't call that one good but I did find it interesting and I spent some time looking up information on Chopin and George Sand and then downloaded some Chopin music from iTunes.

Now, I'm going to go piece blocks for the RWB quilt and maybe even get a binding made and sewn on.

Is anyone else in love with technology??


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#5 of 10

Keith got home tonight and after watching a movie with me headed up to bed and I went downstairs to finish the quilting on top #5, this is the Happy Block top that I pieced with HeartStrings over the New Year holiday. What could be more fun than Bubbles?



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Trust me on this

If you're going to set a project aside in the middle of piecing it for 6+ months, you need to put all the info you need to resume work with it.

I SO want to start another project, I need to be loading another top to quilt, but with JudyL as an example, I decided I needed to finish this top. Unfortunately, I didn't mange to jot my cutting instructions down....

....and it's only partially cut out.....
....and I had this project in 3 different bins....and it's not a project I'm doing from a book BUT there is a chart in one of my HUNDREDS of books that will quickly tell me what size I need to cut my block and from there I can figure out the rest.....

.....only I can't find the book anywhere....I have books in 5 different rooms ...on shelves ...in stacks on the floor....but finally after an hour I find the ONE I'm looking for....
....trust me, if you're going to stop working on a project before you're done piecing it...keep your book or instructions with the rest of your project!


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No quilting yet today

I did brave the cold to walk downtown to meet Laurie for coffee....I walked very briskly and took the quick route NOT the scenic one via the river. These photos were taken the other day....but you get the idea. It was MINUS 9 (with wind chill MINUS 26) and if you'd told me a couple years ago I'd be out walking in weather like this I'd have laughed at you - but I love it and no, I didn't even duck into the skyway!





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#4 of 10 is quilted

Well, I'm not 100% happy but I'm not unhappy with this either. The frond like feather is a little threadier in some places than I'd like but overall I think it's pretty good for a first attempt. All the photos should enlarge when you click them.



One thing I always struggle with is the corners of my borders, on this quilt one turned out good (below) 2 aren't bad, and 1 isn't all that great. Notice I'm only showing the good one!


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In 3+ weeks...

Both my boys are coming to visit....I can't wait!

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I decided to be brave

I don't know how well you'll be able to see the quilting in these photos but click on them to increase the size and maybe you'll see some of what I'm attempting.


Don't you just love the curls in this sashing? I've seen them on several quilts at MQ Resources and they're just gorgeous. Mine aren't perfect but I'm not too unhappy with them for a first attempt.
There's a lot more of this top to be quilted so we'll see how happy I am by the time I'm done.

By the way, as nice as it is to have someone shovel the sidewalks and driveway, and clear the stairs, there's something creepy about having someone clomp around on your steps after midnight when you're home alone.


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The last one

No more binding to do so I guess I'll have to quilt something now!

This was pieced by the St. Mary's quilters in CT for HeartStrings and it's the one that I struggled with the other night....you'd never know that I had problems thank goodness and I'm hoping I don't have any issues tonight when I head down to quilt.

Here's a closeup of the leaf quilting which I really like. It's not a densely quilted top so it should be nice and snuggly.

We had 5 inches of snow today but I didn't get out to play in it at all. They're calling for snow again tomorrow and our temps are dropping so I won't go far but maybe out to the coffee shop sometime tomorrow just for a walk in it.



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The last stitch

I love quilting HeartStrings tops sent to me by Deborah to finish and donate. This was her latest one...she called it Surf and Sand and it's quilted with the swirling/dwirling design that I like so much from the Pajama Quilter DVD.

I know I just showed you a quilt with this design but this one was quilted in November and the other one was quilted in January....it just so happened that the bindings were being finished at the same time.

Here's a low light photo that shows the quilting a little better.

Can you believe with all these finishes, I only have one more binding to do and that's on the one I quilted the other night. I never did get another one loaded but that will be one of my Monday tasks.


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Sunday Progress Report

Quilted the first 3 of 10 tops for January
Bound 5 quilts and am working on the 6th one
Finished up my January postcards (4)
Pieced 2 backings

No fabric purchased this week.


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Over the river and through the park

A walk in fresh snow, a pot of chili, football, another win at Scrabble and now a little binding....life doesn't get any better!













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Drawing

I think I'm going to load a Chinese Coins top next and rather than using my Swirls template again, I might quilt it freehand.....so first I'm drawing...

and drawing

and drawing

and drawing

Because I have no natural drawing ability (don't laugh at my drawings!), I fill pages and pages in my sketchbooks before I even think about trying to quilt something. How about you? How adventuresome are you with freemotion quilting and do you draw designs first? A few times? Or over and over like I have to? I have a theory that naturally artistic people are better quilters.


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I'm on a roll

Another binding finished - this HeartStrings top pieced by Barbara in FL and quilted with my Circle Lord Swirls - doesn't it give great texture to the quilt?

I had the nicest offer yesterday from Karen, a member of the Quilting Queens, a local quilting guild to help me with bindings. Hand stitching these bindings, taking my photos and posting the quilts online are one of my favorite parts of the process so even though it would be more efficient to let someone else bind them, I'm just not able to give them up. I thanked Karen for her offer but declined. By the way, I'm not as fond of making bindings and machine stitching them, but it's worth it to get to the hand stitching part.

How about you? Is the binding process one you love or one you hate?


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A good day

A sunny winter day

Brunch out with Keith

Winning at Scrabble was icing on the cake!

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10 days into 2009

I decided that it was time to finish these up and get them mailed out so armed with a glass of wine, I headed upstairs after Keith went to bed and got to work.

I didn't realize until I got ready to upload this photo that the stitching in the 2 cards in the middle didn't show up - they just have embroidery stitches like this beaded snowflake card that was already sent to my sister Ann but it looks nice (at least I think it does).
I'm over my distress of last night. It wasn't so much that I didn't like my quilting as the fact that I struggled with everything while quilting it...the longarm, the backing, the top, the batting....it was just one of those nights.

Tonight, I'm going to take another glass of wine upstairs along with my book and see if a hot bath doesn't help make me sleepy by 3AM....I need by be up at 10AM tomorrow.


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Pride before a fall

I was going to write about what a terrible longarm quilter I am - it was that kind of night as I quilted the 3rd of 10 tops for January. This one pieced by the St. Mary's quilters in CT and sent to me to quilt and donate for HeartStrings.

You probably can't see the quilting (leaves and loops) which wasn't the problem but if I ever tell you here that I'm thinking of quilting for hire, please talk me out of it. I felt completely incompetent tonight although in the end the quilt will look fine. (Not great, but OK).
I think I must have been admiring my quilting on the last few quilts too much. You can't tell so much from this photo but I liked the swirling/dwirling quilting I did on this one and was admiring it as I finished the binding tonight....just before going downstairs to quilt the above top. I must have jinx myself.

Here's a photo of the back, certainly nothing complex but I thought it had a pleasing flow.

At any rate, that's one more quilted and one more bound. Progress is being made.


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Another binding finished

And another top pieced by Barbara in Florida. I quilted this one in November too and now it's bound and labeled.

Can you see the quilted flowers? These were freehand quilted - from the Pajama Quilter DVD. I really need to watch the DVD again and choose another design to practice. Wonky Feathers, these flowers, and dwirling variations have been my favorites so far. You can click the photo for a larger view.

I don't know if you've notice but I'm completely on a night schedule (again). It's 6:15AM and I'm getting ready to head to bed in a little while (yes, I've been up all night). Quilting is on today's agenda when I get up this afternoon.


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Working but no photos

I've been doing my quilting chores today - bindings and backings.

Bindings were made for 4 quilts and machine stitched on, and I've got the hand stitching almost done on the first one. Backings pieced for two tops and a HeartStrings backing pieced by Sheree pulled for a 3rd quilt. I had to buy fabric for 2 of the bindings because I didn't have anything that worked but I pulled from stash for the other two and the two backings.

Tomorrow I'll need to get another quilt loaded on the longarm and started.


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Done!

This was the HeartStrings quilt I had tossed across the chair the other day. The blocks were pieced by Betty and assembled at our last MN/WI sew-in. I quilted it in November with my Circle Lord Swirls template and now it's bound and labeled. Doesn't it look great? I think Betty did a wonderful job choosing strings to use in this one.
That's 2 bound and 2 quilted...not too bad but I'll have to pick up the pace a little if I want to be sure and meet my goals this month.


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#2 of 10

This HeartStrings top was pieced by Barbara in FL and quilted with my Circle Lord Swirls template tonight. It's #2 of the 10 tops I hope to get quilted in January.

Is anyone else out there saving selvages? I won't ever make an entire quilt (although I do plan to do Karen's Red Zinger in strips & strings this year) but I want to play with some postcards. I need to find a place for these since they seem to be multiplying.

I have another question for you too - does anyone have date nights with their husband? I was thinking this evening as I was walking downtown to meet Keith for a date tonight how good these have been for us. We started them pretty early in our marriage and my favorite ones have always been when we meet somewhere after work rather than Keith coming home first.


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Fun

Today's (Jan 6) was the last prompt for my Journal your Christmas class. I had such fun with this. My pages are certainly not elaborate or the most artistic but I enjoyed spending the time creating them and looking back through our family photos.

You can see the entire album if interested : Mary's Christmas Journal . I will have these printed out and bound together as a memory of Christmas 2008.

Speaking of fun, it is such a joy to me to work with HeartStrings quilts. This gorgeous top was pieced at our last sew-in from blocks made by Betty and the colors are so warm and rich. I quilted it in November with my Circle Lord Swirls template and now I'm hand stitching the binding on it.



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#1 of 10 is quilted

The light is not the best for taking photos in my longarm room at 3AM although the track lighting provides great light for quilting late at night.

Quilted with a swirling/dwirling variation from the Pajama Quilter DVD, this HeartStrings top was pieced by the St. Mary's quilters in CT and is the first one of 10 tops that I plan to quilt in January. By finished, I mean the quilting...it will go upstairs and wait it's turn for binding!



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My first finish for 2009

A top pieced by Sue or her Mom from blocks donated to HeartStrings. Sue gave me several a few months ago and I don't remember which one of them pieced this one.

Quilted with freehand swirls.



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Sunday's Progress Report

JudyL is stashbusting again this year and I'll continue to join in and report both my quilting progress and my stashbusting efforts although I may not report every week especially weeks that I travel and don't accomplish anything.

• I started some postcards to celebrate the New Year - I still have some embroidery stitches to add and to finish the edges.
• I made blocks and assembled 2 Happy Block quilts - all from stash
• I did an inventory of HeartStrings tops here waiting for quilting and organized them together with backings.
• I finished the binding on a red HeartStrings quilt that was pieced from donated blocks by Sue or her Mom.

I did buy some fabric on sale for backings - about 12 yards. I'll mix it in with some stash for the backings of the two Happy Block Quilts and may end up in a 3rd I Spy type quilt.

Goals for this coming week are to start quilting - I have 10 tops I want to quilt this month and the first week is almost over already. I'll also work on binding one or two quilts.


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And here's where we ended up.

Do I pull for the Vikings or the Eagles ( one of my favorite teams)?

I think I'll root for whoever's winning.

A walk in the snow!

Blocks assembled

The Christmas tree is back on the deck and I want to thank Darcie for sending the snow my way!

I don't particularly care for assembling blocks into a top but I like reaching the finished top stage. Tonight I worked on a binding while we watched a movie and then went ahead and assembled these blocks.

Now, it's on to quilting. I'm setting a goal of quilting 10 tops by January 31st. With the organizing I did yesterday pairing tops with backings, I should be able to make good progress this week.


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A few photos & a gift

Silly to take a photo of this but I love it when I find the perfect backing fabric for a donation top in my stash....this fabric was bought years ago and it's just perfect for this top.
I did a bit of organizing....this is my downstairs closet with tops & backings ready for quilting.
This is the CUTEST little quilt sent to me by San (Gypsy Quilter). It's just beautiful and I love it! It came with the QOV quilt tops before Christmas but I didn't want to open it early....then I didn't go down in my longarm room again until today. What a wonderful surprise.



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It's a new year

So I guess it's time to take stock and gear up for 2009. I don't do resolutions but I would like to get more of my personal quilting done this year. They'll still mostly be for donation through HeartStrings but I haven't pieced as much this year as I would have liked.

Review of 2008
64 tops QUILTED
1 - for me
6 - for family
12 - my donation quilts
44 - tops donated to Heartstrings that I quilted.

42 quilts finished and DONATED by me
14 of them made from start to finish by me

11 NEW quilts started in 2008
2 are still in the piecing process
3 are finished tops
6 were completed

17 UFO's were complete
9 of these were my quilts
the remaining ones were either pieced by Mom or HeartStrings members but were here at the beginning of 2008.

133.5 yards from STASH USED only finished projects are counted!

Projects carrying over into 2009

HeartStrings
1 quilt to label
2 quilts to wash
2 quilts to hand stitch binding
3 quilts to making binding/bind
15 donated tops to quilt

UFO's for 2009 (my projects only)
16 ( I may find others as I go along)
11 are finished tops



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Scrap quilting is messy business!

It's helpful to have the right tools.....

and some company.

The results are worth the effort (and mess!). Here's the 2nd set of blocks for the HeartStrings Happy Block Party. These aren't assembled yet but I'll work on that over the next 2-3 days.


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More progress

I got a late start today but have been working this afternoon and will get back to work after dinner on these twisted Happy Blocks for our HeartStrings New Year's Party.

See my new pincushion? A gift from Deb.

And here are the twisted blocks that have already been made....there are 34 of the 48 I need done.


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Happy New Year!

I'm out running errands and heading home now to make more Happy Blocks
for HeartStrings.

Happy New Year!