Category: UFO

I could have waited a year…but I didn’t

Sometimes, life gets in the way of life. That is the only thing I can say. It has been nearly a year since I have written a blog post. There are a host of reasons. I haven’t stopped quilting. I don’t think I would ever stop doing that. It is likely the only thing that keeps me sane.

This quilt top was made during the guild retreat. It was a lovely retreat back in March. Much fun was had by all. It is a lovely design by GE Quilt designs named KIRA. Looks complex but super simple.

This was a wintery table runner I did. I liked this, except for the end where there are 2 od the same snowflakes together. Poor planning on my part there. I did the sections separately. Did not work out as planned. Oops. Still pretty though.

This is my Kite quilt. It came out cute. It has some shirt 3d kite tales. The back has grey fleece, so super soft. This was just me entertaining myself. Nothing special and I did not have anyone in mind when I make it.

I finished this quilt that I started so long ago and gave it to my sister for her 70th birthday. I had actually hand sewn a few of these blocks together

My quilting Godmother, Nanette sent me a few orphan blocks (purple and white) along with a half yard of the purple and I made as many additional as I could. This will be a donation quilt to one of the Guilds charities. I hope to get it on the long arm this week. On the list, but we will see.

There are many other things that I have done. As I find picture I will share.

The Non-Quilting stuff

It’s been a year. If you don’t want to read this nonsense, feel free to stop and move on. A very wise person tells me to write stuff down. So, I am. Not sure if I am supposed to share it or not, but some I will, some I won’t.

So many changes this year. I spent a long time recovering from spinal surgery only to learn there are quite a few things I will never recover from. I added another auto immune disease to my list of stuff that totally sucks. I turned sixty. Not a whole lot different from 59, honestly. I said goodbye to a 10 year relationship that I should have said goodbye to 9 years and 10 months ago, but I didn’t. More on that later.

I am a widow, twice and honestly it totally sucks. Once was bad enough, but come on, twice. The second time, he was my person. the one you read about in the romance novels. The one you think only exists in fairy tales. It can’t be real. That kind of thing. He was someone that looked at me, not the outside, but me. To him I was the most beautiful woman on the planet. Well, that is how he made me feel anyway. He did not see what I saw when I looked in the mirror.

So now what? I read dark mafia romance novels and dream of him. No, he was not in the mafia, but all these books talk of tall, chiseled men with tattoos, which he was. Funny, I never found tattoos even remotely attractive and used to get mad at him every time he got another one and now, I find it extremely attractive. Odd. It is all very confusing to me. I want him back. I miss him. It makes for sad days and nights for sure. More quilting is needed.

Happy sewing

Happy Quilting

Ho hum.

Started this one at least 20 years ago

And just like that another quilt top is completed.

I am trying to complete some of those half-finished projects. Pretty sure this one was started 20+ years ago.

While I remember that it was BOM, I have no memory of hand-sewing these blocks together. None whatsoever. It was during a rather dark time in my life, when I have fairly large missing time blocks for various reasons.

Pretty sure this BOM was from Jo Ann fabrics. I believe dead husband #1 bought me them as gifts (Don’t be shocked, I deal with my “situation” with humor). I didn’t have them all and remember buying the rest of them on clearance, including the setting kit. Odd that I can remember all those details, but not hand sewing them.

While it does not look bad, I would say that it is not really my style. It is very traditional, which is not my usual path. Don’t get me wrong, I like it, I just can’t imagine wanting to make that quilt now. I tend to be unable to follow directions, and always veer off the intended path in some way.

I am preparing for a retreat later in March and starting to look for projects to take along and this was starting at me, begging to be completed.

Every box I opened revealed some other “Chinese Spy Balloon”, oh wait I mean UFO.

At this point, I would imagine 20+ half-done projects. One of them I will take to the retreat with me. It was one of those “Cake Mix” patterns by Moda. It is scrappy so we will see how it turns out. I do not have the original photo of what it is supposed to look like, so I will be winging that.

Yep, I have a dog batting box, just for them. Ruger seems to enjoy spending quality time with Mom.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

I swear, I really do make stuff….

I do not know why I am finding it so hard to write a blog post. I really do have the best intentions, but somehow it never gets done. I have made things….I did, I really did.

This quilt is the TRIAD Puzzle Quilt. What does that mean? Triad is my daughters school and their colors are red and black (she claimed this one early). “Puzzle”? When Nanette send me tis bunch of blocks. I had no instructions and just figured out how to put them together. Certainly not what it was intended to look like, but it works.

This was also the quilt that sat on my long arm for nearly a year as I recovered (sort of) from my neck surgery. It is an accomplishment that I finished it and got it off the long arm.

As you can see my daughter immediately put it to use. It has a lot of crazy quilting on it. Messages to her…..practice stuff etc… All that matters is that she loves it.

The Recovery

So, I am still recovering and feel like I may be doing it the rest of my life. I have taken my walks from the neighborhood to the walking path. The town that I live in has a very nice/beautiful walking/riding path. I ran out of mailboxes (and sidewalk) on my side of the street and did not like crossing the street. I am just too slow and it is a main road. So, I am not counting mailboxes any longer, but distance. Some days I can get to .64 miles. SO, just over 1/2 mile. Other days, I am lucky to walk 100 yards. I do not understand the rhyme or reason why some days I can do it and other days I feel so weak that I am holding on walking around my own house. To me this is the really frustrating part. I have gone for well over a week without being able to walk very far. When this happens I do try an increase my steps within the house, but sometimes even that is a stretch.

I have been spending time with my daughter. Last week she had her wisdom teeth out. If she knew I even had this photo she would be annoyed. It was last Wednesday. She is better but still can’t open up her mouth well. You would think I have silence, but I do not.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

Happy New Year – What’s going on?

I decorated Easter Eggs!

/Sounds a little weird for the beginning of January, but all the same that is what I did last night. Of course, not the traditional ones, but more of the fabric ones that I will put on my Easter table topper(Nanette should recognize some of these fabrics)

I found a shape/style that I liked and of course I am going to put my own spin on it. I could never follow the directions. It was actually a topper of the Bernina site that had a bunch of machine embroidery on it. Not my thing, so, I am going to do my own thing. Along with al my decorated eggs will be some brightly colored peeps (fabric of course).

I had a nice long break from work, where I did very little of anything, other than some cleaning and organizing, which was needed. I did sew one top, which I will get to on a later post.

Christmas was nice. My daughter got me a Baby Yoda. Yes, I am a grown woman who still loves some toys. He sits right next to my build a bear Wookie (yes, I am a sci-fi nerd). I do love The Mandalorian. Baby Yoda coos when you squeeze his hand. I am easily entertained.

What’s Coming?

So many people are working on their plans for next year. I am not good with year long plans, so I will be planning sorter spurts. I also got this cool new tool, called a Rocketbook. I plan to show you all it does, as I am finding it quite a useful tool for planning.

UFO’s – Good God – There are so many, that I don’t know where to begin. There are the tops that are completed and need quilted. Will have to count those. Then, there are the projects that are in the piecing stages. They are all in various stages. I would guess there are at least 15 of these. Can you tell I have Quilting ADD? I get bored and have to move to something else for a while. Likely why I am decorating fabric eggs instead of working on a UFO. We are not even going to discuss the quilt on the long arm that has been on the long arm for months. It glares at me when I walk by.

Then there are the things I want to do. I have finally figured out a plan for memory quilts that will include my sister clothes as well as my parents. I will need to make 5 of these ( or 6 f I do one for myself). These take a lot of prep work. Many of the clothes are not woven so they need some interfacing. I spend an evening here or there cutting the clothes into usable pieces. It is really hard to cut into the clothes knowing who they belonged to. But, I keep thinking about my niece and nephew and carry on.

I even tried to figure out what I will be making for gifts for Christmas next year. I only make a few, so not super critical, but it would be nice to get them done in advance.

In between, I work on my charity items, pillow cases and dog beds. I have about 5 dog beds filled with scraps ready, but I wanted to make Dog food Bags to put each one in (pictures later). They don’t take a lot of time, it is just a matter of doing it.

Need to update my blog in general. Have not done that in quite a while. Slacker, I am.

Hoping that I get better at blogging and reading everyone’s blogs. You would think with covid I would have all the time in the world to do it, but nope. Seem to spend a lot of time aimlessly staring into the abyss. Need to stop that.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

An Ancient Alien—UFO

This is an ancient Alien.  Can you tell I am a Science nerd?  Yes, I have watched that show.  My daughter and I even have nick names for some of the people.  If you have ever watched it, you will know who Crazy Hair is.

I started this quilt about 20 years ago.  It was oddly a paper pieced project.  I obviously had no idea what I was doing.  I am not sure how a paper pieced project could have blocks so wonky.  I don’t think there are any 2 the same size.  I actually think I participated in a fabric swap for food fabric.  I still have a ton left, but I think it’s time to see if I can make a wall hanging that does not look too awful.  If it comes out, I have a spot in my kitchen across from my pantry for it.

This will be my One monthly Goal.  My plan is to complete it entirely.  We will see.  It may be to wonky to put together.  I also seemed to use a lot of starch back then.  weird.

If any of you need some pieces (maybe 5×7″) food fabric let me know.  I have a stack.  I was going to use them on the back, but just went with black.

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SISTER STORY

So, I have been having such a difficult time with the loss of my sweet sister Kellie.  It had affected me far more than I expected.  I know loss all to well, but this one is so very different for me.  Anyways….. I was coming home from the grocery store today…alone (very unusual) and thinking.  I had not dreamed about Kellie since she died. It bothers me a lot.  So, I talked to her and told her of my concerns.  I just wanted a dream, a sign, something.

I came home and put the groceries away.  I went to the family room and turned on the TV.  As I was sitting on the couch flipping through the channels, I noticed an odd flickering out of the corner of my eye.  I ignored it, thinking I was crazy.  It kept happening.  I turned and looked and one of a string of recessed lights was slowly going on and off.  It stopped, I looked away.  It started happening again.  I turned and looked at it and said “Is that you Kel?”  It blinked on and off quickly and then did not happen again.  I am not sure what I believe or if I am half way to crazy town.  Odd coincidence.  In the photo, Kellie is on the left and I am on the right.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

Treasure your Family

 

An Oldie but a Goodie

So, this top had been stuffed in a storage bag for years.  I had it in my head that the quality of the maker (me) was bad.  So, I was going to turn it into a Duvet cover, because I could use another one of those.  I had been thinking about it for quite some time.  Decided I would use a flat sheet for the other side.  Spent several weeks looking to buy just a flat queen sheet.  Hardly anyone sells single sheets and I don’t have any queen beds at my house so it did not make sense to buy a set.

Well, found a sheet.  When I got this top out and hung it up, I decided that I liked it.  I even had some backing stuffed in the bag with it.  So, no Duvet cover until I dig up another top.  I will finish this one that is Circa 2002.

This past week at the local guild meeting, they had Lunn Fabrics in to go over how they make batiks.  I had no idea this company that makes Robert Kaufman batiks is right in WaterMark_2018-06-09-21-20-21my backyard (about an hour or so away).  The went over how they design their fabrics and had a slide show of how they are made.  They even make the white fabric.  IT was fascinating. I knew how they were made, but watching the slide show filled in a few gaps.  Then they brought stuff to sell, and surprisingly it was very reasonable.  I bought a 4 yard bag of blue scraps for $15.00 (this is the pile after I washed and ironed them).  There were no little tiny pieces.  I have already cut them all up for a blue batik scrap quilt.  More on that later.

I never get accomplished what I have planned.  My napping schedule is currently out of control.  One of the many side effects of Rheumatoid Arthritis is severe exhaustion.  This was a side effect I had not experienced, until the last few weeks.  I have been coming home from work and sleeping on the couch until I went to bed.  Then, this weekend I slept in both days, which is totally out of character for me. Sleep 12+ hours and still wake up totally exhausted.  It totally messes up your sewing schedule.  Hope everyone has a wonderful week.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

2017 Q4 Finish Along – Can I do it All?

Well, I this is new to me.  Seems like a really good idea.  I have had much success with the One Monthly Goal.  I am hoping that this one will give some extra incentive to get projects done.  I have ambitiously put 6 projects on here.  Yikes!  I hate to lose, so I hope I can get them all finished along with the 10,000 other projects I will start along the way.  If you are interested in Participating, Please go to She Can Quilt.

So, for Quarter 4 I am going to finish the following:

20170905_203052_resized#1 Flannel Baby Quilt – Needs quilting and Binding.

 

 

 

 

20170813_185057_resized (1)#2 Safari Baby Quilt – Needs quilting finished and Binding

 

 

 

 

20170816_193127_resized.jpg#3 – The Ugly Quilt – Needs quilting and Binding.  Jeez, I hope I can stand it.  still Might have to change something on this in order to tolerate it.

 

 

 

20170702_182615_resized#4 Zipper Quilt – Needs quilted and Binding.

 

 

 

 

20170310_094411#5 The Fourth and Final Dog Bone Dresser scarf.  This is an EPP project and is partly pieced.  I am so tired of these, since it is the fourth one I have done.  Ughhh.  The last one is taking forever.

 

 

20170511_184141#6 – Table Topper that has been laying around for quite some time.  Needs borders, quilting and binding.

 

 

scan q

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

#2017FALQ4QuiltingNeeds

I got brave on an actual quilt….

This was going to be my One Monthly goal for August, but I got carried away at the end 20170728_233052_resizedof July.  I just decided to stop being  a chicken and just go for it.  So I quilted my little batik baby quilt with my little flowers.  I am not sure I like the thread I chose, but I am stuck with it now.  Since this was a rainbow quilt I chose a rainbow thread.  I should have chosen something more pastel.  It looks OK, but since it is darker than I would of liked, I can see things I would not have if I had chose a lighter thread.

I quartered this quilt and worked n 1/4th at a time.  Made it seem20170728_233146_resized a little less daunting and scary. It went much quicker than I expected, which is why I can’t do it for my one monthly goal project.

I am becoming less scared of the actual process, which is good.  I will have to view a few more videos and learn a few more patterns.    The quilting on the back doesn’t look too bad.  I am not sure what I am going to do with this quilt, but when the right opportunity presents itself I will know what to do with it.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

Practice Quilting makes quilted Minion potholders and One Monthly Goal-A Finish

So, after my June free motion quilting seminar, I have decided to branch out a bit.  I am going to quilt an actual quilt, in the very near future (could be my August One Monthly Goal Project) with something other than meandering or a version of meandering. Big scary move for me. So, my “Zipper Quilt” top, I want to use a flower free motion design.  However, I plan to do it on a smaller baby quilt first.  I already have that top ready to go.  Just need to get up the courage to do it.

Needless to say, I have been practicing (Using my cheap grill liner as a slider).  All the practice got me thinking.  My square sandwiches looked like potholders.  So, I decided to make my final practice pieces into potholders.  I bought a piece of the special thermal batting.  I made all my practice sandwiches and on the last couple,  when I had the hang of it, I made Minion potholders.  I need to bind them, but I have plenty of binding scraps I can use.  I have found that I make better flowers when I work from left to right and I like them best with 5 petals.  Then. as I bind my potholders,  I can also practice my corners.  I don’t like binding corners either.  Jeez, I have so many issues.  But now, I have a few handmade gifts when needed.

The quilting on my Minion potholders is not too bad.  I hope I can do the same on my baby quilt and then off to my “Zipper Quilt”.  It is hard not to smile at a minion.

20170716_122738_resizedMy one monthly Goal for July was to trim and bind my 9 patch.  Yeah. 20170716_122258_resized Completed.  This quilt has a loopy meandering.  It is not too bad.  Pretty sure I have meandering, and multiple variations of it, down packed.  At this time, I have no plans for this quilt, just glad I can consider it finished.

 

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

What not to do. Another lesson learned.

OK, I feel like a total idiot.  So, my one monthly goal project was to trim and bind a quilt. Here is the problem.  This was a UFO quilt that had been around for quite some time, so I decided to wash it before I quilted it.  So far, not to dumb, but wait…  At the lat minute, I got the crazy idea to wash the piece of batting that I was going to use also.  So far, not a problem, except for the fact that I washed them together and the pieced top was mostly black. Needless to say my quilt top came out with a ridiculous amount of lint all over it.  OK, so I deserve that for not thinking.  But wait there’s more.  I thought OK, so I will have to spend more than the usual amount of time removing lint and dog hair.  I proceeded to quilt it with all the lint all over it, like an idiot.  Then this morning as I was attempting to de-lint it and most of the lint was quilted into the quilt and would not easily come off with a lint roller.  I worked on if for …way to long and all the lint is still not gone.  I have to brush it with a toothbrush and then use the list roller before it even thinks about coming off.  I am so mad at myself.  It was like a parade of dumb mistakes.  In case it isn’t obvious, the photo are sheets from my lint roller.  Ahhhhh.  Stuff happens.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting