2021 Wrap up

 Productive year!   Really!  Covid helped, but so did retiring to make this year the most big quilts I have done in 12 months.

Large quilts completed:

January  (DD birthday)   Queen sized.

February  Christmas quilt top done, quilted bound and finished by May

(Currently on  my bed)

March: completed top at the retreat: all the rest in the summer

        Plans are for this to go in the guild's quilt show in March under scrap category.queen sized

August: Petals and leaves   This was a graduation quilt. Loved, loved loved the wonderful fabric line with its springy colors.  Extra long twin quilt

October: aMAZEing  for my dear daughter in law

This one was only a lap size.

Mom's 30s quilt

Donation quilts for Healing Hearts, a grief support organzation which meats in terms of 13 weeks for one night . My husband and I are facilitators.  A lap quilt.

And lots of little quilts: baby quilts,   baby doll quilts,  wall hangings,  and more. 

And of course, many more to finish: some in the top stage, others in block stage, and a couple only organized and started. So next year, I will have many more to enjoy working on. 

Hope your year has been productive.  I love the quilting community and all the inspiration and support out there. there are many people like me doing what makes their heart smile while contributing to others. It makes me feel more normal. 

Best of New Years to you all!

Merry Christmas!

 This has been a most unusual holiday month for me.  

Normally, I am sewing up a storm and a whirlwind of fun activities.  Several factors for the lack of blogging:

A) The Christmas parade before Thanksgiving really took a toll on our community. So much pain and grief felt in so many ripples.  Being part of a grief support team, I helped in a few gatherings and it was hard.

B) I had my booster shot for Covid and it really sapped the energy out of me for a few days. But I would rather have it, than catch it and be knocked for a loop.

C) My sister and I drove 700 or so miles to visit my mother for her 90th birthday. I had not seen Mom in 3 years, partially due to Covid and partially due to the other issues within my home while she was put in the nursing home for Alzheimer's. We had the best visit EVER. She loved the gifts from our brother, appreciated the new bras I bought for her and we selected ones that fit. ( such a simple task and yet so hard at the same time not being in a store.) Mom has lost some 40ish pounds since I had last seen her but is in good health. (She did survive Covid 2 years ago.) We reminisced about the times past and long lost family members on many sides. We recalled Christmas memories and family traditions. Seriously, I am so thankful to have the treasured time with her.  

D) We did have small Christmas with my daughter and my husband. I love how having adult children can create a special time to share and make meals together. We always love watching the Muppets Christmas Carol. But we are preparing to leave for Louisiana in a few days to see my son, his wife and my two grandsons. So fingers crossed that our flight is not canceled as in the United and Delta airlines. 

Coq au vin made by dear daughter for Christmas Eve.

Needless to say, it has been a busy month.  Thanks to those who check in.

Happy Holidays from the cat!

And some evening needle work on navy aida cloth.

December

 Good news:  I have now been blogging for 5 wonderful years.  

 I have had 359 posts and 66000 views. It seems like an awful lot.    I have shared lots of ideas, and it has made me accountable to accomplish things. The very best part is that I have met lots of wonderful people and learned so many things.  I have done challenges, exchanges, and some donation quilts. It makes my heart sing.

Christmas plans are coming:    I had a big cookie bake with my daughter and a friend on Saturday. 2 kinds of chocolate treats and 4 batches of cookies.   Yum yum!

For the guild meeting tonight, I have a Christmas doll quilt : It started with the pad lining made by someone else needing a quilt and pillow to match. I did my easy 4 patch and solid alternating.

Then I added some borders to get it to a 9 by 13 inch piece. 

Lastly, I have finished the applique for the grandboys on navy t-shirts. 

I used golden threads on the back to assist with the movement.   Bad move, the little pieces paper left in the zigzag are a huge pain to get out. 

But I really hope they like them.  Either it will be a hit or not. I hope it is not too hokey.

And I hope they fit... 

Off in the MAIL tomorrow with some Christmas pajamas and assorted little Christmas goodies. 

Sew or not

 It has been a long while since I have sewn.  I really don't know why. In the past month, I visited my sister in Indianapolis, and moved my daughter,  helped her clean, unpack and begin to decorate her new apartment. We have painted furniture, selected and assembled some furniture, and purchased and put various wall decorations around the rooms. We are so so happy she is in a nice neighborhood not too far from my husband's upbringing and in an apartment that has 7 closets which together would have fit in her the bedroom of her tiny studio.

Plus I did a thorough house clean as we had 2 contractors/interior designers in to look at the kitchen for our remodel.  And as they are overbooked, it will be in spring before it can happen.   We also did a major organizing of the basement and filled up a couple cars with items for  donating including some unused furniture. Hooray!  It feels good. 

Then of course, we have had Thanksgiving. I made the whole traditional feast except with a turkey breast.  The two pies were scrumptious: apple and amaretto pumpkin.  We love Thanksgiving:  the 3 Fs: family, food, and football. That is according to my dear daughter.  Unfortunately, both my son and his wife worked  and the kids spent time with their other grandparents and extended family in faraway Louisiana. 

I have a couple of things just sitting and halfway done by the machine. 

But I am starting on Christmas:  lots of online shopping  

and hopefully lots of fun projects. 

I have Green Bay flannel plaid for some pajama pants for my daughter and husband.

I also have 2 navy shirts for my little boys to put reindeer on. I don't know how many years I can make matching outfits for them. ( ages 5 and 7) 

I might make a couple different table runners for gifts. 

Oh, I am starting on a exchange project for Pieceful Gatherings in Fox Lake, Illinois.  ( Chicago suburb) https://www.piecefulgathering.com/  ( I could not find the starting kit on their website, as I ordered from their online sale.  There is another one on scraps this Thursday morning, usually about 10:30.

I think I will make a different arrangement of the enormous amounts of half square triangles. 

It will be fun to exchange and get a variety of half square triangles. 

Here are the fabrics I have to start with.  I will add more after these are finished. 

And this week is the starting of other quilt a longs. I am not doing Bonnie Hunter's. 😢😪 I have done several and love all the parts.  Her colors are so bright and fun this time and every time.  It tempts me so.  But I just struggle with the assembling and all the seams that come together in the points. 

But Corrine and Cecile ( They are from France and on facebook!) will reveal their theme this week.  I can't wait.  I have completed 2 of them, assembled the top and started the quilting on one, and only started the piecing of last years. 

Sad day in Waukesha

 Now is the time for getting ready for the holidays.  Buying turkey and stuffing baking pies, making lists for presents, creating with family, and shopping through stores and internet sites. 

However yesterday, our city had its Christmas parade downtown, loved by one and all. And if you follow the news, you would know of the most horrific turn of events.

 One red SUV : maybe Santa or a spoof. No, it instead was a plow mowing down people in its way through the parade. It went right through the back of one of the local high school bands, nearly missing a girl's dance team and continued on through a group of grannies who were dancing. 

40 injuries and 5 deaths and numerous people traumatized

It is incomprehensible.

 Lord, wrap us in your arms and comfort us as we mourn our losses and look to find meaning in these events. 

Weekend

 My dear sister is going to have her 2nd grandchild in spring.  And for her 2 year old granddaughter, she is getting her a baby doll for Christmas. So when I heard that, I asked if she wanted the cradle I had for my dear daughter when she was that age. This cradle came from my grandmother as I had the only girl grandchild. 

My sister and brother in law were happy to get it.  He reassembled it and added a fresh coat of paint.  I made a mattress and a quilt to match my daughter's bed. 

So onto the new quilt :

It is 12 1/2 by 18 1/2.  All made from scraps of a charm pack and matching fabric sitting in my stash. 

It was fun to whip up and practice some cross hatch quilting and a machine binding. 

Wool ornaments

Wool ornament

One subgroup from guild focuses on wool.  Yum!  I do enjoy handwork.  Another set of fabrics to collect, too.  And now I am starting with the pearl cotton as well ( Valdani if you choose).

This is a 4 inch ornament made for the Christmas Tree at the church where we meet. 

This was part of the collection that others made as well.

 

Long time coming

 I have had this back from my quilter for a few weeks.   Today I finally cut off the extra fabric and batting around the sides. 

This is how it looked prior to going to the long-armer:  It is a large quilt.  I don't remember the dimensions. But to give you an idea, each heart is 6 inches on point making it 85 inches long. 

I reallly LOVE, LOVE, LOVE  how she quilted it.  Oh, my GOSH.  I did ask for custom quilting versus an edge to edge design and wanted to accentuate the piecing I did.   

The back, boring, is  stippling down the stripped rows of 30s fabrics and the heart designs with cross hatching are amazing.  It is a light turquoise/ green color. I had purchased 9 yards for it. I have since become used to being extra wide backing fabric which is cheaper at 15 dollars a yard versus 9 yards of something. 

Different views.  It is tooo cold to take it outside.

A close up of the beautiful scrolls, cross hatch and hearts between the pieced log cabin hearts.

This quilt was started with the intention of giving it to my mother, born in 1931. While she now lives in a nursing home and no longer needs it,  it is a memory made by me and I thought of her through the whole process.   Ode to MOM!  Lots and lots of "Hearts" to you!

Louisiana visit

I worked like crazy to get this quilt ready to go on our trip to Louisiana. My daughter in law had selected the pattern and fabrics over 5 years ago when she lived with us in Wisconsin. She had even cut it out, but I hadn't taught her how to sew on a machine yet.

So I put it together, had it quilted by my long -armer and then attached my first machine binding.  For this purpose, it was the quickest and easiest way to get the binding on quickly,  nd it worked fairly well for my first attempt. 

I have included other views:   It finished as 66 by 77 or so. And the pattern was very easy to make. I enjoyed working with the batiks and felt the fabric was easy to sew for accuracy.

The colors are bright, which she LOVED!

The back is a wide blue minky which she also LOVED. The quilt motif is a geometric zig zag which I felt went perfect with it.  

And I mean she really loved it and immediately took it to put on her bed. 

It is not queen size, but she did not want to share with all the boys. 

I think I will have to get her a solid duvet or coverlet. 

Happy early birthday! ( November 2)

As a part of our visit, I had asked that my son take my HB to the Army base where he was stationed as a combat medic for 6 years in the 10th Mountain unit and now works as security as a civilian. 

He took us all to see it.   One huge piece of land where there has been lots of newer construction in the past 10 years.  The base was an old World War 2 built facility.

We enjoyed their mini golf range on a warm (80 degree) day as well as the go carts. 

The boys got their Halloween costumes and Iron Man wanted to wear his gloves all the time even though his hands become sweaty.

We took the kids enjoyed walking down by the river in Natchitoches, which is  their nearest shopping town to where they live.  We had fun at their library and park, something which the boys always enjoy. 

I so had the time of my life reading books, playing games and spending quality time with them in my lap. It was their fall break, although they had been off school for a week and a half as the little one had Covid.  They kept begging me to stay longer. 

But we are making Christmas and spring break plans to solve that. 

 

Retreat

 This past weekend we had a Quilt Chicks retreat in Madison, Wisconsin. The weather was dreary, but maybe that was a good thing so we could get more sewing done.   It is always a blast to have a bunch of quilters in the same room.  So many ideas floating around and lots of creative ideas to help get the juices flowing.  

Here are two of the projects I was able to put together:

The first one is a retro panel from a fabric line called Kitty Corn.   I thought it was so cute, but loved the more muted colors.  I had fun with the borders and even had some inspiration from my fellow quilters.

The second was a table runner using a charm pack.   I thought it was a little bright when a put it together for my dining room table, so I added lattice to calm it down a little. The pattern was a mini yellow brick road by Terry Atkinson. 

Both of these need quilting. But this week I have 3 meetings in the evenings and 2 sew dates for the guild.  Busy, busy.

I have another lap quilt made from batiks, but I forgot to get a photo once it was together and now it is at the long-armer to  take to my daughter in law this week. 

My dear spouse and I are looking forward to seeing my son and family, ( mostly the boys, right) this week.  Covid is going around.  In fact our little guy the 5 year old came down with it early last week. We hope that is the end of it.  So far no new cases in the family. Fortunately, the parents have all 3 vaccines. This will be me in a week. 

Hand work

 GOOD NEWS!  I revisited my heart doctor, the one who prescribed the month long wearable heart monitor. And the conclusion was that he saw no evidence of the atrial fib which had been identified some 5 years ago. I am so happy!  No blood thinners for me.  Plus I was able to keep my weight down a little.  This was a tricky one as I had gained a few pounds on retreat a couple of weeks ago. What a relief! 

So onto quilting: I have been doing lots of hand work in the evenings in front of the TV. 

I have steadily been working on this wool project. It was purchased from Primitive Gatherings a few years ago. Granted, it will not be summer when it is finished, but it will be great for NEXT year. 

The Valdani green pearl cotton is actually a little variegated. It was easy to assemble. I purchased a kit with the shapes pre-fused and mostly punched out. Such a life saver for all this little red flowers. The pattern is still available; I don't know about the wool kit. 

This is a photo of the whole project before I started the leaves. The words at the bottom will be last.  I haven't decided whether to do the half square triangles around the borders.

The other project for now is a cross stitch.  I do not know what kind of fabric this is, but I love the beige with the flecks.   I am using variegated floss for this project.  The pattern has 3 different leaves each in a different colorway. 

I just made my own diagram to see the count better. 

Here are all the flosses I purchcased.  I think the red is too dark.  But it is still fun to stitch it. 

I leave for retreat in 2 days.  I will have lots to show afterwards. 

Time flies when you are having fun!

 It has been a busy month.  And I have accomplished some good things. Although I have not blogged in a very long time.  

There have been 2 trips for the month, 3 quilt store visits, and so much more.   I am beginning to get much more busy with activities; a book group, facilitating at a grief support group for kids, and tutoring. 

So in no particular order, here are the projects that have been worked on: 

A block of the month for guild

Bindings and bindings.  One is my Christmas quilt that came back from the long armers. That was a large bed quilt. 

The quilt retreat was a small group of 8 and I enjoyed getting away. It was a wonderful house in middle Wisconsin. I didn't feel like I accomplished much.  But in hind sight, I have a project stashed away to finish that took quilt a bit of time.

These are projects that others completed:  another Quiltagous Esher Christmas tree: Quilt kits listed here.It is much brighter in person as these are Kaffe Fasset fabrics and oh, so pretty.

A kit that was found in our guild's bargain bin sale this summer

A beautiful sunset out our sewing window.   We had rain and sun and such a relaxing pretty view.

And I gained a little weight from the good food that we each made. 

A quilt designed by one of the girls to donate to 4 H.

I worked on my round RSC log cabin blocks for September. 

I had started this last Christmas and then put it away.  But the top was assembled on retreat.  It is a lovely group of flannels by Bonnie Sullivan.  I followed the center of the wall quilt, but changed the pieced borders.

I have since quilted and bound it.  The quilting was just free motion outlines of the shapes except the snowflakes.  Here is the back of it with a different flannel.

And lastly I have done about half of the wool applique to this Primitive Gatherings wall hanging.