Sunday Stash Report

When I took this picture I realized I only bought 10, not 12, fat quarters last weekend so I can deduct a half yard <g> .

Moda's "Collection for a Cause" Millbook Series ca. 1835. 

Sales benefit the American Quilt Study Group. 

If you have even the slightest interest in antique quilts, you should check out AQSG. 

There is probably a regional quilt study group in your area --

a great way to learn more about quilts and fabrics.

I'm crediting myself for the half yard miscounted last week.  And I gifted a friend with a yard of batik for her birthday yesterday.

Beginning total:  13 yds.
Incoming:  0
Outgoing:  1-1/2 yds
Current total:  11-1/2 yds.

I didn't get the backs done that I had hoped to.  This project  -- Cindi Edgerton's "Tall Tree" -- has a higher priority.  I should be able to count it out next week as it needs to be finished by Thanksgiving.  Once I add a border it will be ready to become a quilt.  A little embellishment with buttons to hang ornaments and it will be ready to go.  I used mostly scrap greens and the whites came out of my FQ collection.  The border -- well, do you ever buy fabric because it's cute but then realize the "cute factor" won't hold up to cutting it into small pieces?



That's the story for this fabric.  I think it will make a perfect border.

I'm also making progress on Cathedral Stars.  All blocks are finished and I actually have one corner section complete.  The setting triangles and borders are cut.  Hoping to get a few more rows put together.

I will be making two backs for quilts I'm sending to Terry at Quilt Crazie for tornado victims in Washington, IL.



Linking up to Patchwork Times.

Best wishes for a pleasant Thanksgiving to all!

BHUFO Challenge - Update

Cathedral Stars report:  MY BLOCKS ARE FINISHED!!  This is a happy quilt!

I have: 

1.  sewn three rows of one easy corner.
2.  laid out the very middle section (believe me, there's method in my madness).
3.  cut my setting triangles (today at guild).
4.  decided on borders (still subject to change after I audition them with the finished center).

I've also worked on the Tall Tree this week -- that deadline is more critical. 

With the holiday next week and family coming and going, it's highly unlikely that the flimsy will be finished before the first Celtic Solstice clue comes out.  I had only set my goal at finishing the blocks, anyway.  But thanks, Jo (Country Junction) for issuing the challenge.  I would not have even gotten this far without it.

Check others' progress at Country Junction.

A blessed Thanksgiving to everyone.

Jo's BHUFO Challenge

I have accepted Jo's (Country Junction) challenge to finish a Bonnie Hunter UFO before the first clue of the new mystery later this month.  I started Cathedral Stars in a class with Bonnie in March 2011.  I finished all 25 of the HST blocks (actually 30) right away but hit a snag with the Tri-Recs star points and only finished a handful of blocks before setting it aside.

Last week when I inventoried what I had already accomplished I found I was only 2 blocks short of a quilt!  All I need to do is assemble the remaining 25 star blocks.  This is what I was facing at the beginning of this week.  The lower right pile is the two sets of star points and 4-patches.

Before I left home on Friday morning, this is what I had accomplished -- 15 blocks, 10 to go!!:

 

If I can find a large enough design wall I might be able to get the center portion finished.  I haven't really put any thought into borders; maybe I'll use a combination of the gold and purple in my HST blocks.  Most likely I will have to be satisfied with getting the blocks finished and take it to retreat in December to get it all together.

Heading North

Even though I live in the South, I belong to a quilt study group located in Indiana & Ohio.  We get together about five times a year to study antique quilts.  I'm not as fanatical as some about dating antique quilts; I just enjoy looking at them and learning as much as my feeble brain can absorb at one sitting.

This weekend's program is packed with a variety of topics -- none of which come to the surface of my mind at the moment -- plus we will spend a little time planning for next year.  Even though I belong to a similar group that meets right here in Tennessee, I can't tear myself away from the Midwest braintrust, especially when I know what the next year holds in new information about old quilts.

I'll post some photos -- with permission, of course!  It's so tempting for us to show what we've seen, but it's important to remember that the quilt's owner has first rights to publication.  It's a courtesy to always ask.

DH does not share my interest so he will remain here, tending to life as usual.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Design Wall Monday

I'm wondering if anyone else out there works in a fractured manner like I do?  Here's the scenario:

Last Monday I made the bold plan to complete 10 Cathedral Stars blocks each day.  Well, 2 visits to the dentist on the other side of the county, a girls' day out terminating in a memorial service, Kroger senior shopping, and handbell practice greatly inhibited my progress.  Plus, I was asked to make a 10" block in red/black/cream for a comfort quilt. 

Ah, I thought, I made a mockup in those colors some time ago.  Indeed, the block would finish at 10", but the snowball corners were too white -- wouldn't play well with the other blocks. 

I had kept all the fabrics together because I liked the block and intended to do something with them "someday."  I'll just make another block and substitute cream corners, I thought.  But, as long as I'm cutting, why don't I just go ahead and cut all the fabric to make myself a quilt.  A 4x5 setting would be a perfect lap size, sez me.  Trouble being, I only had enough fabric for 20 blocks -- not 21.  Are you following me here?

Nevertheless, I began making blocks -- maybe like the loaves and fishes I would miraculously have enough for the charity block.  NOT!  So this is what is on my design wall today.  Because I've used a variety of reds and blacks, as well as a variety of creams, I'm waiting to lay them all out before adding the snowball corners.

Meanwhile, Option 2:  I took a pineapple class with Anita Grossman Solomon this summer at North Carolina Quilt Symposium.  I finished one block in black and cream that would finish at 10".  I could applique a red heart on it.  Or, better, I could finish the second block already cut out and incorporate the red in the center.  That took most of Sunday morning but I'm please with the results.

Bottom line:  I only finished 5 Cathedral Stars blocks last week.  But the good news is that when I inventoried what I had standing by, I was only 2 blocks short of a quilt!

This week's goal is to make two backs that I can count in my stash report, finish 13 Asian pinwheel blocks, finish 4 blocks for a December block exchange, and knock out some more Cathedral Stars blocks so I can use the December retreat to lay that one out on a bigger design wall.

Be sure to check out Judy's blog at Patchwork Times to see what others are working on.

Stash Report #2

October Total:  -4 yds
This Week Fabric In:  15-1/2 yds
This Week Fabric Out:  1-1/2 yd (gifted)
Total:  +10 yds

OK, so it doesn't look so good.  But three quilt shops in one week -- really, how often does that happen?  At least just knowing I intended to report kept my buying in check.  And I concentrated my purchases on backgrounds.  I'm slowly beginning to realize that I can use up any of my weirdly colorful fabrics when matched with an appropriately calming background.  It's only taken me 13 years ......

On Tuesday there was an evening memorial service for a quilting friend in a town about 50 miles north.  So four of us decided to make a day of it.  After convening from 3 corners of the Midstate we headed over to Quilters Attic for their Fat Quarter Frenzy.  I came away with 14 WOWs and neutrals.  Not too bad, especially at half price.

Then we ventured north of Bowling Green to Whittle's.  I held myself to two backgrounds and a Moda "Scrumptious" charm pack (they were sold out of the layer cake that I went for) and another yard that I gifted to a friend who drove me around yesterday.

We still had time to stop at a winery and have dinner before the visitation.  A whirlwind day, but the weather was nice and the friends nicer.  Love my quilting buddies.

Yesterday there was a small quilt show about 50 miles west.  So another group of four piled into one car for the trip.  We met up with others in Waverly for lunch and to celebrate a birthday for one of our "adopted" daughters.  The show was nice, but small, and though we intended to stay till 4 to pick up our quilts, we left early.  Giving us time to stop at Granny B's in Dickson and use the discount coupon we got at the show.  Out goal was to select fabrics suitable for "stacked repeats" since we have upcoming opportunities to work on One Block Wonder and Four-Patch Posies. 

This piece I got will go into a One Block Wonder. 

 

It will be very subtle, I know, but I think it will be surprising.  I cut up some photo copies today just to test it before I start cutting and I was pleased with the results.

If it needs some perking up I'll add some colorful cubes.

I'll be linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times.

A Big Day, A Good Thing

Today was the day -- actually, 9 a.m. CST was the moment -- when registration for Mountain Quilt Fest at Pigeon Forge opened.  Eight of us are going to share a couple of suites near the new convention center.  We were all sitting at our respective computers with fingers poised, ready to register because classes fill up fast. (And, indeed, many are already full.)

E-mails were flying between 8 and 9 as the registration form did not appear until the stroke of 9.  About 10 minutes till 9 the class list went haywire and I had visions of this being like Obamacare signups.

But, great news!  It went smoothly and we all got what we wanted.  A week in Pigeon Forge in March is a good thing!