Next Chapter in our lives

Haven't posted for a couple of weeks because there has been a lot of activity on the home front.

My husband accepted a position with the Bureau of Reclamation as a Mechanical Engineer at Grand Coulee Dam. As exciting as this is, it means a move for my business at some point.

We've been researching residential and commercial opportunities in the area, met some wonderful people through various new connections, but nothing I can announce yet.

Last Friday went to the Wenatchee Quilt Show and met the featured quilter, Jill Therriiault. I look forward to getting better acquainted and joining her small group of long-armers that meet occassionally to compare notes and inspire each other.

Sept. 27 the North Central Washington Quilt Shop Hop starts, so I'll have a go at getting around to the 10+ shops and meeting the area shop owners and do some research about the long-armers in the area. It will be helpful to find out what are their specialties, types of machines, price structure, queue length, etc.

I have done several baby quilts, pieced by Barbara B. in our joint effort to put some together for charity. My personal challenge has been to stitch them with my stitch regulator OFF. I'm fairly pleased with the result and believe it is a good way for me to improve my skills of consistent movement even when I have the regulator on.

This one in particular was a new design in my repertoire. Shown here is the back so you can better see the quilting design.

I'm looking forward to participating in the Modern Tools Blog Hop in October. Stay tuned for that as well as a guest blog post on the EQ blog.

On my Design Wall--still waiting for the remaining JUQ-CHS-WW quilt blocks coming in via the mail. But hung on my wall is a growing collection of my BOM blocks.

BOM's Away progress--I'll be happy to add pieced block #8 in Pam Bono's Out of the Darkness to the above photo, hope to get it stitched up this week! I did get block #9 mostly cut out.

More Design Walls ....more BOM's Away Progress

WIP

Progress

• SBS center assembled and borders added. I still have applique work in the borders to do.

If you are interested in buying this poster, printed on fabric, leave a comment with the ability to respond to you directly.

A local quilt shop owner has asked if this could be a BOM program for her shop. Of course!!

This was a great way to learn a lot of skills in a very progressive fashion. Well worth it!

• Roman Stripes now pieced together and backing created from my stash. Kind of like a 'scene' with sky at the top and a tree trunk on the right. I'm thinking a name for the quilt needs to have the word 'journey' in it somehow.

 

• Another version on the design wall for the CHS-WW FB-JUQ group charity project. The idea was going too horizontal so turned it more vertical. Thinking where you see bits of dark purple vertically, I'll have a 1" strip between the center and the outer set which will only include blocks in the upper left and lower right corners. Some of these blocks were not what was requested, but I want to use them anyway and think this will make it work well. Just a couple more individuals are sending blocks in, so waiting for their arrival before final assembly.
• Got Block #8 cut out for my Pam Bono's Out of the Darkness quilt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I found this perfect fabric to make a 'cover' for my Olympic Quilt. I'd like to be able to ship the quilt around to the grandchildren of my grandfather for a while and since it is a 'white' quilt, I think it needs a nice cover when it is rolled up. I'm thinking it would be nice to be able to open the cover along the length and then unroll the quilt (rolled on its short end). Any good ideas? This is likely my next project and shouldn't take too long.

 

Ready to Quilt

• Working With What You've Got
• McCall's Mystery - Spring Time
• McCall's Mystery - Hot Jazz
• Rose of Sharon Bird Block Wallhanging  - 'Rose of Hope'
• Irena Bluhm - colored pencil class project
• WWVQG 2006 Basket BOM

No Progress

• Alaska 2007 Shop Hop --ready to do block #9
• Honeymoon Storm at Sea
• Oddie’s Wild Nature (O.W.N.)
• Snowflake BOM win/Blizzard quilt

2012 WIP Stats:
Completed: 12
In Progress: 14

Check out other WIP's at Freshly Pieced

Design Wall / BOM's Away Monday

This year I have been working on Sewn by Leila's Skill Builder Sampler.

I chose to get involved when I saw that her 'button' for her blog about this Quilt -a- Long was based on 'Rosie the Riveter'.

Finding the original poster became a quest of which I have now done and was able to get it printed. Two attempts of my own with BubbleJet2000 and Rinse with freezer paper, cotton sateen, and a large format inkjet printer and now a Spoonflower print that I have used.







I've now got the center bits pieced and assembled and still need to add the borders. Sorry it is not hanging, but circumstances today do not allow that. It is going to be a BIG quilt! :-)






The other big news of the week was winning 'Best Technical' chosen by the Judges at the EESchenck Trends Quilt Contest with '1892 Rondure'. This was originally created as part of Challenge #1 in the McCalls Quilt Design Star 2011 contest. More information about this quilt can be read here.

 

I also won a door prize that included all the fabric hanging as the backwall in the RJR Booth!

Whoo Hoo!!

 

 

I picked up lots of thread for long-arm machine quilting and several fat back bolts (108" wide), so now will have available to clients an easy solution to creating your quilt backs.

Red - Henry Glass Baroque;   Black - Blank Quilting Madison and a white quilting quality muslin.

 

 

More Design Wall's at Patchwork Times
and BOM's Away Monday Updates at WhataHoot

WIP

New Project

The 'Just Us Quilters' Facebook group has an on-going charity list of quilts that members would appreciate contributions towards. I put my name on the list a while back, and it recently came to the top of the list. I have been asked in the past to donate to our local Children's Home Society of Walla Walla's annual fundraiser. Prefering to quilt vs. piece; I thought this would be a great way to get the piecing part --at least the blocks made, and then I can do the rest.

Here were my original sample blocks.

Here are all the blocks, just haphazardly put up on my design wall. I'm still expecting one or two more envelopes in the mail, but wanted to get an idea of what I had been sent. Some of the blocks arrived with some variations on the original request, but we'll make the most of it!


Below, they are reorganized a couple of times. First was to get the darker blocks going in the same diagonal direction. Another thought is to organize those to be around the center as on point square. With the 'louder' blocks or 'darker both tone' blocks I've tried to move them to the outer edges. Any other ideas?

Progress

Roman Stripes piecing it together -- each row is stitched together, now to stitch the rows together.

Pam Bono's Out of the Darkness -- #7, ready now for #8

Skill Builder Sampler - Backing put together and major sections ready to put together. Awaiting center and then will need to make and apply the borders.

Stitched backing for Rose of Sharon Bird Block wallhanging --new name Rose of Hope.

Ready to Quilt

• Working With What You've Got
• McCall's Mystery - Spring Time
• McCall's Mystery - Hot Jazz
• Rose of Sharon Bird Block Wallhanging
• Irena Bluhm - colored pencil class project
• WWVQG 2006 Basket BOM

No Progress

• Alaska 2007 Shop Hop --ready to do block #9
• Honeymoon Storm at Sea
• Oddie’s Wild Nature (O.W.N.)
• Snowflake BOM win/Blizzard quilt

2012 WIP Stats:
Completed: 12
In Progress: 14

Check out other WIP's at Freshly Pieced.

Design Wall / BOM's Away

On my design wall is the final set of Skill Builder Sampler blocks, all put together. I now have 4 major sections of a total of 36 blocks assembled and just waiting on completion of my center so I can do the final assembly and then add the border.

Thanks to a Sew-In organized by our local quilt guild, I made some progress on my Pam Bono Out of the Darkness quilt blocks. I got ONE done! :-) ha!!
#7 - Bluebells

Now ready for #8


More Design Walls @ Judy's
More BOM's Away Progress @ Lyn's