End of the year recap

 Bad news first:  I did not start ANY of my beginning of the year goals for 2024. I have 2 boxes kitted up to still start: Fat Cat Designs of A Southern Gentleman  with some gorgeous blues, aquas, and purple. and Crinkly Quilts pattern for Dynamite Rings with a brilliant blue background and bright grunge scraps. I still want to do them, really.

But the Good News is that I proceeded with finishing up quilts and followed through all the way to the fall before starting any major projects.  ( I am not counting the small wall hangings done for my Mom's door at the nursing home.)

So here is the parade of  large finishes:

Huge quilt with blocks from Sewcialites 2, currently on my bed.

100 inches square made of 9 inch blocks

Currently on my wall;  Bunny Hill quilt with wool snowmen

One of my all time favorites: 9 patch wonderful 

Won 1st place at my guild's quilt show

queen sized

Sewcialites fall blocks from last year:

Throw size 60 inches square

Not the finished picture. Over the River by Crabapple Hill

 I still don't like the quilting in the borders and it sits.

Wall quilt   7 year project

Nice flannel quilt from Primitive Gatherings panel and fabrics.

Throw size wall quilt

Chandelier quilt of leftover 1/4 square triangles.

 Twin size

NEW start and finish:

Hey Boo by Lella Boutique 

throw size

That is a total of 8 large quilts

And I finished 13 other small projects.

Additionally, I completed at least 2 blocks for Stash Bee each month, a Round Robin for guild 5 months. and various other starts. 

All in all, I feel good for being lucky enough to have time and fabric to complete these. Quilting is definitely a part of my life. I thank all the bloggers who follow me and comment. Their ever amazing inspiration of their own projects is incredible.      Hallelujah!

Getting ready for Christmas!

 I have been slow to the season. Usually I have a stack of presents already hiding in the closet, but I didn't collect too many thus far this year.  It is easy to buy online, but I miss the selection of looking around a shop for the best ideas. Today, I stopped at a little shop after being at the post office. It was so darn cute. 

I am getting ready to see the grandkids after Christmas; the biggest presents already arrived there.  And we will fly the day after Christmas to see them.  They are in the midst of semester end as well as testing.  The little one made the largest leap in math.  I am oh, so proud. I will miss the program at school but hope to get pictures and maybe a video tomorrow. 

They are preparing to move to New Orleans: a much greater populated area with tons of things to do for them all. So I am excited for their opportunity. We will help organize and pack some when we are down there.

In the meantime, my daughter has come for the week.  She is lucky to be able to work from anywhere. But she has unfortunately caught a bug. We hope to see a blues concert tomorrow. And then to bake Christmas cookies Thursday. I baked and she supervised but only for one batch.

But we did see Big Bad Voodoo Daddy which is a New Orleans style group:  so fun!

My biggest progress has been my Tilda blocks:  I am up to 4 large blocks completed. 

And I keep working on the sashing  for my Blockheads 1: 7 pieces per sash. 

Hope all is well with you and your family!  Enjoy the season.

P.S. Today is my Mom's 93rd birthday ! Here she is with my sister at her holiday family dinner.

2017 Blockheads

 I had the pleasure of another weekend quilt retreat. I debated a lot about which older WIP to take and get moving along. And I decided for my old Blockheads which was the very first Moda quilt along. Here is my post from the first block I completed: Blockheads and this was block 1. Here is Lynn Hagmeier's post of block one:https://my.modafabrics.com/2017/03/blockheads-block-1  The blocks are all of 6 inches big.

As I laid them out, I realized I had 50 blocks because I made all the blocks both the applique ones as well as all the alternates I had pieced. I already had a collection of Kansas Troubles fabrics and that was the color pallet I chose. I had even selected my setting and purchased the fabrics as well as making a set from one width of fabric.  It was good to have extra blocks for balancing out the colors, mostly the background ones. 

While designing the setting and working out all the math, I changed how I wanted to arrange the blocks. And that requires me to make a center focus block and I have already selected the pattern.  It will be a challenge with 1 inch half square blocks everywhere. 

So all weekend I sewed and sewed making a headway on sashing "blocks" and getting 2 smaller sections together. I feel like I hardly made a dent, but I am so pleased to get this UFO off the stack of projects to complete. And it motivates me to complete it! 

Taking part in this quilt along really helped to improve my piecing skills as the 5 designers ( Jan Patek, Lisa Bongean, Lynn Hagmeier, Betsy Chutchian, and Carrie Nelson) posted blocks with tips and tricks all along the way.  And I participated in successive quilt alongs only one of which is completed finished and that is the latest one of which I only made the 9 blocks of part 1. 

I encourage you to try any quilt along whether Blockheads, Fat Quarter's, or Sherri McConnell of A Quilting Life.  Pat Sloan also has many going on. I am sure there are oodles more. 

Happy Sewing!

New Christmas quilt along

 Each year I have started the free motion quilting from Helen Godden  from Australia.

( emphasize the word START, as all are not finished.)

Here is the link to her introductory version for this year. This is the email image taken by camera. You will not to find it on youtube.

Link to her website to download free pattern for this:

Helen Godden link

Again it is free.  You need to order it from her website and I pdf file will be sent to your email. 

I have done this in previous years. No emails or other information sent for promotions.

The video shows how she traced it.  ( I like the use of the ruler for straight lines.)

I did use a Fine Sharpie Marker.  It bled a little on my fabric at the beginning and end of the lines.

I don't know if it was my fabric choice.

I did choose to paint it using a textile medium and q-tips as the triangles were quite smallish.

(My good paint brushes were given to the grandkids.)

Website with information:

https://canarystreetcrafts.com/how-to-turn-any-acrylic-paint-into-fabric-paint/

I just purchased the fabric medium in a small bottle next to the acrylic paints. 

After all the painting is through

The green was metallic.

Now there are videos for 24 days of Christmas to practice the free motion designs in the spaces, one posted each day. I am already behind as the 9th one has been posted. 

But I hope to catch up this week.

There are several other Christmas designs that are still free, if you are  so interested: a Nutcracker, a poinsettia, a different Christmas tree last year.  The videos are free online still. And you can also get the patterns to trace. 

I so love hearing her voice with the down under accent. Helen Godden is quite talented and has visited the U. S. She also has completed a huge mural about Australia.  She uses Lumiere paints and has other classes online as well. 

Thanksgiving!

 What a wonderful celebration!  I love the celebration for remembering all the wonderful things we are so lucky to have. Being where I am in my life is such a blessing!  We all have ups and downs: me as well. But I truly know how very lucky I am to live in the United States and have a family that pushed education and experiences for us.  

 And this year it was especially wonderful to have family here. My daughter and her beaux came for the entire weekend. We have been truly delighted to spend time together with them.

I did so much cooking both prior to their arrival as well as when they were here. We had so much fun enjoying time together.  We even had several drinks to enjoy throughout the weekend. Plus we went to the Milwaukee Symphony while it accompanied The Muppets Christmas Carol.  This Movie is a family tradition usually at Christmas.  My daughter had purchased the tickets for us.  We wandered around downtown Milwaukee visiting the art hotel named Saint Kate and then this "mall" of restaurants which I can't remember the name of.  

So last week was spent getting ready for them, cleaning up the house and cooking.  

And because of that little sewing has been done. :(

But I will show you one more block of my new Tilda quilt and the pattern I am using:

Sending thanks to all of you who read me. I do appreciate it!