A look back

    I had a pretty good quilting year in 2013. Going in, I wanted to improve my Free Motion Quilting, and I glad to say I made headway on that goal. I’m not where I want to be, but I’m closer than I was.
    According to my records, I finished 16 projects. Most were older UFOs that I used as practice for my FMQ. I’ve seen other bloggers make collages of their quilts, so I tried it:

From left, top to bottom: Stack of Leaves, Carpenter's Star, Ellie's Paper Dolls, Christmas Diamonds, Asian Kisses, Big Zig, Gabe's Quilt, Scrappy Trips in Blue, Butterfly Whirpool, Texas Braid and Sophie's Butterfly Challenge.

    This is just some of them from this year, but I haven’t been consistent about taking pictures of all my completed quilts, so you’ll have to trust me that there were five more finishes. (Three were charity quilts for the Mansfield Millennium Quilters and I don’t remember why I didn’t get pix of the other two.)
     So, what about this year? Currently I’m working on Bonnie Hunter’s Celtic Solstice Mystery. She revealed a knockout design on Jan. 1 and I have all the pieces and parts done as of this afternoon. I will probably start assembling some of the blocks tomorrow. I’m pondering a design decision on the other set and I won’t make a decision on that until this weekend.
    I chose to make half the number of units required for the king-sized quilt, so I’ll have layout decisions to make too, although I love the quilt so much I may go ahead and make the larger option. Another decision I don’t need to make immediately.
    More on my plans for the New Year in my next post. . .

Design Wall Monday Feb. 11, 2013

     This is my finished flimsy for Sophie’s Butterfly Challenge. I hope to get this layered and quilted before the end of the month since it’s on my to-do list. It’s pretty small, so it shouldn’t take long, but I don’t have a place to layer it until my new cutting table arrives.

     I’m pretty excited about the new table, but a little frustrated that they’re not here yet. DH found some work tables in a catalog that he gets, and I think it’s the best answer to my wish list. I need a sturdier table than I have (one of those folding ones from JoAnn’s) I also wanted something a little wider than the 36 inches I currently have. The new one will be 48 by 60 with a sturdy metal base.

     How will I quilt this? I have no idea! I’m pretty sure I’ll outline the butterfly and the various borders, unless I decide to treat several as one. I guess I’ll decide that when I get there.

     I’m linking this to Design Wall Monday. Check out the cyber inspiration!

My list for February

Texas Braid
 

     The picture you see at left is my Texas Chain quilt, which will be finished the next time you see it!
       I started this in October, 2010, and Michele finished the quilting last fall. I WILL bet it bound and labeled in the next month. Why did I drop the ball when I was so close to the end? I'll never understand that!
     Anyway, that's No. 1 on my list for February. But let's look back at January first. I listed four things: 1. Quilt the Carpenter's Star from Judy's feather lessons last year. Fail
2. Finish Christmas Diamonds top, piece backing and send to Michele to quilt. 1/2 done. (I was worried about the size and afraid I couldn't get it to her requirements. She told me 120x120 for the batting would be fine, so I'll go ahead with it.)
3. Make blocks for January Block Lotto. Check! Posted here.
4. Begin cutting scraps with my new Accuquilt Go! Check! (I cut a huge amount of fabric, but it doesn't look like I've made much headway. Another goal to make, hum?)
     So January wasn't too great. I need to do better in February. I also need to be realistic about what I can get accomplished. It's not like I don't have a lot of UFOs sitting around to choose from. Some are almost done, for goodness sake!
     With that in mind, here's what I need to get finished in February:
1. Assemble backing for Christmas Diamonds and get it to Michele.
2. Bind and label the Texas Chain quilt.
3. Finish the blue socks that have been hanging around forever.
4. Layer Sophie's Butterfly Challenge and quilt it.
5. Block Lotto blocks (maybe). I'm not too wild about this month's pattern and I want to see some before I decide to make them.
    A list of five rather than four doesn't look like reality, but the first two  shouldn't take more than a couple days. Am I losing touch with reality? I guess we'll see.
     To be continued. . .
    
    
    

Winding Ways to a decision

     I've finally decided what to do with my Butterfly Challenge, even though I'm way past the May deadline. The others in my Quilt Bee have all made their tops and they're awesomely creative. I just couldn't come up with anything I liked that would complement the batik panel Sophie gave me as a Christmas gift.

     But I had a breaktrough!
    While blog-surfing last week I came across a quilt that combined a panel and the Winding Ways block. I fell in love and immediately knew that's what I wanted for Sophie's Butterflies. I even had the acrylic templates I needed to cut out the fabrics.

     I made a practice block, which is what you see in the photo. I'm thinking of using the brick reds and some of the pinkish taupe on a black background. I have black and some reds that will work, but definitely don't have the taupe color I want to pick up the light colors in the butterfly's wings.

     You know that means a trip to Rachel's Quilt Shop, don't you? It's a tough job, but I guess I'll just have to do what has to be done. This challenge was supposed to be done by our May meeting, but I didn't want to do anything until I was satisfied with the design. I think this works because the four lobes of the Winding Ways block mimic the butterfly's shape. I'll have to play with a cheater border to make it fit, but that's doable.

     One thing I learned from the practice block: use starch on the fabrics for this block! I tried it without and wasn't happy. I made a second block with starched fabric and it went much better.

     I'll be using acrylic templates to cut the fabrics, which will make it fairly easy to get the cutting done. With a little luck and some careful sewing, this shouldn't take too long.

     I'm also working on a Linus quilt and the Christmas Diamonds, but no pictures of those.

     I'm linking up with Patchwork Times today. You might want to click on over to see what's going on in the quilting universe today!

     Edited June 26, 2012 to add a link to Plum and June. I love finding new blogs to follow and there are some here I"ve never seen.

What to do?



   Pictured above is a fabric challenge issued by my friend Sophie. She gave everyone in our sewing group one of these panels as part of our Christmas exchange. I've had this on my design wall for 2 months now and have no idea what I should do with it. I've considered a log cabin border -- maybe wonky? -- and also diamonds on point for another look. I want something Oriental-looking.

   I guess I'd better start researching some border books. Maybe something will "speak" to me.

Check out Design Wall Monday to see what other quilters are up to!