Design Wall / BOM's Away Monday

Continuing with my Mug Rugs, I got two Christmas Mug Rugs done (lame and late) and finished the piecing of the remaining CU Mug Rugs. In the end I decided that the upper portion did not need to be exactly alike, the key was to get them finished! One was done completely improvisationally because I remembered there is also a part-time worker so needed to make one more and thought it a great opportunity to try some improvisational piecing.

Skill Builder Sampler Block #2 - we were supposed to learn color values in this block.

Alaska 2007 Shop Hop Block #1 - there will be lots of trees and stars! So fun to get started on something new. This block is called Whispering Pine and was at Quilts of Many Colors in Wasilla, AK. I went to Alaska for the first time back in 1995, but returned in 2007 to attend a friend's wedding in Seward. I discovered a quilt shop while hanging out in Seward for a few days and their Shop Hop was underway. It motivated me to try and get to other shops in locations that I would be during that trip which included the Anchorage area and north to Denali. Wasilla is on the way! I don't think I actually made it to this particular shop based on the information I found today on the web, but for all the places I didn't get to, I called and had them ship me the block! More than one way to accomplish a shop hop. Each block had to be purchased, so add some shipping and it arrived in my mailbox.

oh...and I did the Block Lotto block for our local quilt guild.
King's Crown ...scrappily ;-)

Other Design Walls @ Patchwork Times and BOM's Away progress @ What A Hoot Quilts.

Back to the routine!

Happy New Year!!  -- ** DELVE INTO '12 **

Are you 'delving into '12?  ha! I thought that was a fun word to rhyme with the new year's number.

Yay...so great to back in the routine of getting several customer quilts done and also working on my own stuff. A great balance to stay creative and feel that the work I do for customers can still be fresh and continues to develop.

So typically Monday is spent working on my own creative list of items! I was able to do my first Skill Builder Sampler block (twice DOH)  and blogged about lots of other items I'm working on as well. But it was technically a holiday, right? ;-) My DH was home, so there were some other things to take care of too.

Tuesday, I try to work on pattern writing and samples. After testing and getting the feedback on these patterns, I was able to publish two new patterns (now on Craftsy) Click on their logo to the right here on my blog to go directly to my patterns that are there. I hope to get test patterns out for at least two or three more shortly. I have the two "Charmed Network" test versions to quilt and finish next.

Wednesday and Thursday are intended to be days that I work on client quilts. Four client quilts got done, from small ones to LARGE ones, free-motion fills on all four which included bones stipple on two, loops on two, and one of the loops had specially placed free-hand stars too. Three are already picked up and they loved them, so that makes me feel good! Photos are always posted on my Facebook page as I do them in the 'Customer Quilts v.X' album....this year is v.3. Key lesson this week: when the quilt top is large, I still like to attach the bottom of the quilt top to the bottom leader with my red snappers, mid-size just do the short snappers in several spots, and a small quilt, typically not worry about it. But...if the loft of the batting is quite high, attaching the bottom of the quilt top to the bottom leader is very helpful in maintaining a consistent tautness across the quilt. Do you have any other tips? The wool bat was my biggest loft this week AND it was a big quilt. Ideally I like to stay at 96" or less in the smallest direction of a quilt because of my short table. This one was squeaky close inside 100". With the simple quilting stitch, it went fine. YEAH!

Several more quilts tops were put into the queue this week as well as another 'memory' quilt to be designed and made. Just talking to the individual requesting the 'memory' quilt is an emotional experience. They clearly want something to be made as a momento of their lost loved one, but don't have the emotional will power to do it themself. It is gratifying to me to be able to assist in their grieving process by creating something that they can treasure. I remember dealing with my Great Aunt's estate when she passed away years ago. There are so many details to deal with, but those kinds of details are ones that come easy to me to handle. Though my mother was handling the estate it felt good to be able to help her during that time i.e. calling creditors, opening mail and sorting bills, getting the death certificate, etc. At one point I almost thought of doing that as a business. The people who are emotionally involved often find it difficult to focus on these types of critical tasks. To me, it was a bit of a puzzle, a mystery, an investigation. All things, I enjoy!

Enough of my musings, need to get my Friday chores done and quilt a group effort quilt for a member of our guild with a minkee backing!....hope your year is off to a great start.

WIP 2011 Recap

What a year!
Here is my photofinish of my WIP projects for 2011 and a kickoff for 2012.

When I joined the WIP linkup part way into 2011, I started off with 13 projects on the list and the possibility of new patterns.

Original List Completed Items (above, l-r, 1st row then 2nd row)
One Fabric Wonder - Table Cloth
SuperNova-BlackHole

Starlight-Flutterbright

Jinny Beyer BOM 2010 'Jinny's Garden' --my version= "My Garden"
My First Journey

View from the Old Cellar

Psychedelic America


Original List Progress
EQ7 BOM blocks completed, EQ7 layout contest now due March 1.

Oddie's Wild Nature - several blocks completed, several to go, will keep working on this!

• Lonestar Wallhanging, setting blocks re-set, but really no progress
• Basket BOM still ready to quilt --definitely a 2012 project now!
• Tulip Wallhanging -still needs to be re-quilted
• Old duvet repurposed - still ready to quilt

New Patterns

- Hugs and Kisses

- Charmed Network

now available at

Craftsy

Ready to test several more. Great feedback from the Blog Shop Hop and Giveaway post in December! Thank you! 

Added to list...Completed items (above l-r, 1st row then 2nd row)
1892 Rondure
Mi Amore
Two Christmas Potholders
WWU Baby #1/spring theme
Pulsed Illumination
INMQ Challenge
Wine Valley Placemats
Fearless Design Placemat set --fancy quilting inspired by Sharon Schamber
WWU Baby #1/star theme




Added to list...Progress
These last few items have become part of the list since the last WIP posting in December. I've got a couple of Christmas mugrugs in progress too. One that was supposed to be done for our Guild's mugrug swap in December, but at least the person who liked it said I could finish it later!
Christmas MugRug
Charmed Network - 'Terrain' version  ** NEW PATTERN **
Charmed Network - 'Eva' version ** NEW PATTERN **
BMCU Table Runner
BMCU Mug Rugs
McCall's Mystery Quilt

 

2011 WIP STATS
Completed: 16
In Progress: 12....9 of which I do want to finish in 2012 ;-)

note...I'm dropping the tulip re-do, heart duvet quilting and lonestar projects going forward.

So what is new for 2012?

I've created quite a list from my piles in my stash, but will only add a few for now. Monday I talked about how I want to go about accomplishing this in amongst the real work of my business.

*1. Skill Builder Sampler {Sewn by Leila}-- I so wasn't going to do this one, but had a crazy idea, so now I want to and just got it started this week. Hoping to do one a week until I'm done.

2. Out of the Darkness - a Pam Bono design - I'll do one block a month and will likely report this on Monday's Design Wall/BOM's Away blog post. Major progress points, I'll include here.

3. Alaska Shop Hop "Trees" from 2007. - I'll do one block a month and will likely report this on Monday's Design Wall/BOM's Away blog post. Major progress points, I'll include here.

*4. McCall's Mystery - our 'Fearless Design' small group has decided to do this. It will be in three issues of the magazine. I got started a little early (see above), but also want to do a second version of fabrics.

5. Irish Hand Block (Céad Míle Fáilte) for the International Quilt Festival of Ireland -- Due Feb. 2 --are you doing one?

*6. Rose of Sharon Bird Block - this is my block that made it into Nine Patch Media's DVD from the Rose of Sharon Block Contest. I started a large version of this in 2010, so want to finish it up.

7. Peace Park -- can't wait to do this!!

*8. Snowflake/Blizzard - I won a few blocks in a block lotto several years ago. I have a rough design that I'd like to explore more and make this one. The block lottos of course are done ;-), but much more to do here! I even stole some in the past and used them in another quilt. HA!

9. 2007 Shop Hop the Blues - the first shop hop I did locally. I got the pattern from completing the shop hop and collected fabrics as I shopped. I want to get this collection of leftovers (once the quilt is pieced) back into my stash ;-)

10. 2009 Shop Hop the Blues - leaves, some applique some pieced, all blocks with pattern and material provided on the Shop Hop.

*started ;-)

2012 Stats

In Progress: 12

To start: 6

Thanks Lee for hosting the WIP linkup! I look forward to another great year of inspiration and accomplishments through the motivation and encouragement provided by all of you. Let's go DELVE INTO TWELVE!

Design Wall / BOM's Away Monday

Happy New Year! Great to look back on 2011 and see what has been done (stay tuned for the WIP on Wednesday update for a review of my WIP finishes for the year) and look forward to 2012 and to create a new list. Today will focus on my current Design Wall and on my BOM's Away progress, specifically my own personal projects (not usually my business related projects....but sometimes you just might get a sneak peak!)

In general for 2012 my plan is to work on 3 different BOM's until they are done. With January having 5 Monday's....this week I'm going to play catchup on a few things and a new mystery project is on my design wall today. But normally weekly I'm going to do the Skill Builder Sampler, Week 1 of the month I will also do an Alaska Shop Hop 2008 (I think) block, Week 2 I'll also do a Pam Bono Block from her 'Out of the Darkness' quilt. Week 3 and 4 I'll be working on some project hoping to start or finish something. There are a few things from my WIP 2011 list that still need to be finished, so I hope to keep them on the back burner and get to them as I can.

EQ7 BOM for 2011 is DONE!! Whoo Hoo!!

Here is December Diversion which did get done in time last week and was submitted before month end.

I used the Square-in-a-Square technique to make the flying geese. There are 5 different greens, this photo makes it seems like only two. The center block is a pale green and each direction of geese has its own green fabric which I had hoped to be a nice variegation.

Just waiting to hear about the 'layout' contest EQ7 will host now that the BOM is complete.

We Can Do It! Skill Builder Sampler Block #1 (This is from Leila's 'Sewn' blog). I have what I think is a really fun idea for putting these all together. She started this quilt-a-long several months ago, but I wasn't interested until this idea popped into my head. I couldn't get started though until the new year with everything else going on. I missed my opportunity to create an element of 'my cool idea' while on Christmas vacation, but hope I can still execute the idea sometime in the near future. I wanted this block #1 to be a true log-cabin vs. the pattern that was given, so did my own in EQ7. Unfortunately I mis-read the center block dimension so will need to re-do this!  I cut a 2.5" square instead of a 3.5" square. DOH!!!  UPDATED --> Got it right this time!

This is my fabric selection for the McCall's 2012 Mystery. Our small group 'Fearless Design' has decided to do this and see the different interpretations we create based on our fabric selections. I've completed the instructions for part 1 for this version of fabric.

I hope to get a second version done too in the pink/blue fabric set.

So...I'm linking up my BOM's Away at WhataHootQuilts and Design Wall at Patchwork Times. Check them out!

One year of blogging!

After blogging for one year, it is exciting to write this last blog of the year and wish you all a Happy New Year!

I've used this forum to linkup with Judy's Patchwork Times Design Wall Monday, Lyn's What-a-Hoot Quilts BOM Monday, Canoe Ridge Creation's {Sew} Modern Monday and Lee's Freshly Pieced Work-in-Progress (WIP) Wednesday. The year end Giveaway Day at SewMamaSew and QuiltingGallery's Blog Hop & Giveaway brought even more followers and was exciting to get all the feedback provided through the question posed that required an answer to be eligible for the giveaway. Thank you all!

New ideas have surfaced through reviewing others work and I've met a lot of goals that I set for myself with the encouragement and motivation provided by you--my readers. I look at my business anniversary as based on the date I received my long-arm machine, so back in November I wrote a year in review post that has most of the details for 2011.

The alternate version of 'Charmed Network' was finished up this week with the help of two testers (my sister had to leave mid-progress and my mom finished it up). This is a queen size version and utilizes 42 charm squares and uses long horizontal borders. This new pattern was on my new list to get done in December...so yeah!!! Pattern now available at Craftsy

There were 5 WIP's that I put on my list that didn't get finished. Three are ready to quilt and two need more piecing work. I plan to post a WIP year in review next Wednesday as Lee kicks off the new year at Freshly Pieced.

My personal quilting goals for 2012 include the Irish Hand block (Céad Míle Fáilte) for the Int'l Quilt Festival of Ireland welcome quilt (are you joining me?), Rose of Sharon Bird Block, continuing with some Block-of-the-Month (BOM) quilts that I've had in my stash for a long time, the McCall's Mystery currently being published (2 versions) as a project my small group is doing together, a couple of shop-hop patterns with stashed fabrics, some block lotto wins from past years in my local quilt guild, several personal t-shirt quilts, some WWU wedding quilts that have been sitting way too long, and a quilt I designed on our honeymoon almost 3 years ago!

My business will include long-arm machine quilting for customers, pattern writing, and creating treasures from client ideas --I've got no less than 4 currently in the queue and several others who have expressed interest in having me create something for them. Exciting times ahead!

Have a merry and safe Happy New Year!! Delve into 12 !!

Design Wall Monday

This has been a productive week in Arizona. Great to have time with the family and celebrate the Christmas season, but to also make progress on ideas.

One was this table runner. I'm currently the board chair of a credit union and they desperately need new placemats and could use a coordinating table runner that would be used each month prior to board meeting when the board members are fed a meal. The colors in the room are teal walls light wood furniture and burgundy covered chairs...kind of old school banking colors. I searched a long time to find a border print to use in this table runner that would incorporate those colors. I also had some 'money' fabric that I thought would be fun to incorporate too. This print seemed to have all the pieces and so this is what I finally put together. It is a Jinny Beyer pattern that I modified to fit the dimensions of the fabrics I had as well as the needs of the long board room table. I still might add a border print on the ends. wdyt? I don't have enough to border it all the way around and once it is quilted I'll trim it straight on the top and bottom before binding it. Maybe the binding should be out of the border print? Hmmm...not sure I have enough for that either.

I plan to make placemats with the border print's coordinating print and back them with burgundy. I hope that just putting a big piece of fabric on the quilting machine will allow me to quilt the whole piece and then just cut it up and bind it.

I also produced a new design "Charmed Network" and tested it (posted yesterday), and here is a second testing version in progress.

 

While helping my mother at her church's outreach program, I noticed a set of decorator 'leather' samples they had been given to use as they can to help with raising funds to pay off a school building loan that their church is paying. Recently Jinny Beyer sent out a trinket box pattern that required no sewing. I thought maybe that type of material would work well and be super easy. The sample pieces of leather were too small, so I sized down the pattern to make it fit. Here you see the template I made, a blue one that is cut out, and the red and brown ones are folded up in their 'finished' form. Fun, easy project. Maybe the non-profit group can use them as a fundraiser.



More design walls linked up at PatchworkTimes. What a great 2011! See you next year!

Happy Christmas!!

While preparing for Christmas festivities last night, I made one of my husband's favorite traditions of the season...affectionately called 'Christmas Log', also known as 'Hurry-up Roll'.

This seems to be basically a german chocolate cake done as a roll-up....it is always so yummy at my MIL's home, so I am excited to have made it for the first time this year at my parent's place. The 'snow' on this log is the only bit at this house here in Arizona this year.

As promised, here is my Christmas present to all of you..."Charmed Network". A new design using a charm pack and yardage from the same line. I challenged myself to design something using a charm pack and 5 fabrics that include a background, two contrasting colors, and a medium and large repeating motif in the borders all selected from the same line of fabrics (backing and binding could be the same or additional elements). Of course you could do anything you want, but this was the challenge I gave myself. Sew Lux Fabrics asked what I would do with the Terrain by Kate Spain for Moda fabric that I won from their weekly customer order drawing and this is what it is! My sister (a novice quilter) is testing it, as I write this, in another fabric line and using a full 42 piece charm pack. This version uses 35 charms and creates a more rectangular quilt. A modern twist on a churn dash and shows how repeating motifs can be used to create a mirrored mitered border. I hope to have the pattern ready for publication next week!

Happy Christmas 2011 !!