Quilty Adoption Event - 5 projects up for adoption

Edited 9/21/16 - this event is now closed.

Honestly, getting these projects out of my sewing room isn't going to free up a lot of physical space in my room, but it will free up some mental space - I'll feel better knowing that someone else is will work on these projects rather than just let them linger in a cabinet like I have.

I have no requirements for adoption - make it for yourself, as a gift, for charity, whatever.  I will ask that you send a photo of your finished project if you think of it; it does my heart good to see what has become of my orphans.  In fact, here is a  link for one my orphans from the spring that was beautifully transformed into a charity quilt by Lisa.

For this event, I have 5 projects, A thru E.  Let me know in the comments which orphan you would like to adopt.  If you'd like more than one, that's fine, list all that you'd like.  I'll keep this open until Wednesday, September 21, 6 PM EST.  I'll do a drawing if more than one person is interested in an orphan, and I'll ship them out to the winners at my expense, hopefully no later than September 24.  I am located in the US, and will only ship within the US - so sorry, international friends!

Be sure to check out the other items up for adoption at the link up on Cynthia's blog.  Ready?  OK, here goes:

A. TROPICAL FISH by Cindi Edgerton paper pieced mini
I was visiting my mother-in-law many years ago and didn't have any stitching with me, so I walked over to her local quilt shop and picked up this pattern.  I made those first 4 fish by hand, and decided, not only do I not enjoy paper piecing, I also don't enjoy hand piecing.  Back into the tiny package it went.  Whoever adopts this project will get 4.25 pieced fish, and unused foundations for 25 more tiny fish.

B. SCRAP HAPPY SPOOLS by Cindi Edgerton paper pieced mini
If you read my comments about the fish project, you know I have no patience for this spools project.  I inherited this from somebody, complete with precut batik scraps.  It looks like only 2 of the tiny blocks have been attempted, but I didn't really inventory the whole thing.  I know there are more than enough unused paper foundations to make the pattern and there seems to be enough fabric, too.  Any batik loving paper piecing mini makers out there?

C. SNAILS TRAILS PLACEMATS muslin foundation pieces and pattern
Uh, how did I end up with so many foundation piecing patterns?  Not my cup of tea.  This orphan consists of 24 stamped muslin foundations for Snails Trails blocks that finish at 5.75".  The accompanying pattern tells you how to make 4 placemats with the blocks, but you could just as easily make a small quilt.

D. CHRISTMAS STARS mini quilt
Here's another one for you mini makers out there.  I'm not sure how this made it into my possession, but this was started as a hand pieced mini quilt.  3 stars are already pieced, another one is partially pieced.  The seam allowances are already marked for any of you who do hand piecing, but you could just as easily finish this one on a machine.  There is an accompanying photo, but there is also a note on the photo saying "not exactly like photo."  I'm guessing she was planning on using setting squares between the stars, rather than the sashing in the photo.  Any takers?

E. FLANNEL 9-PATCH
OK, this one was mine, but I'll be honest, I have NO IDEA where I was going with this.  There are four 9.5" double 9-patches, eight 3.5" 4-patches, ten 3.5" colorful squares, seven 3.5" white squares, twelve 3.5" x 9.5" white rectangles and eight 3.5" x 12.5" rectangles.

Please don't let these orphans languish in my cabinet.  Won't you take one home with you?

A Productive Day

Since I own a retail business, Sunday is the first day of my weekend.  Most Sundays, I lay around, reading and napping in between snacking and bits of housework.  This morning, I did my housework early because I had a friend coming over for brunch.  Since it was the first time she'd been to my house (even though we've known each other about a decade!  Why did it take me so long to get her over here?), I gave her the two-cent tour, including a peek in my sewing room.  How embarrassing!  My sewing room is a PIGSTY!!  She's too kind to say anything, but I was motivated to do some cleaning and organizing down there today.

After pulling aside some fabric that she mentioned liking to gift to her, I listed some in my ETSY shop.  After all, de-stashing some fabric was one of my goals this year, and so far, it has gone quite well, with anywhere from 2-5 fabrics finding new homes each month.  Whatever did we do before the Internet??

Brazen Blue Birds by Patrick Lose for Timeless Treasures - I bought this fabric because it was so stinking cute, but I can't for the life of me figure out what to do with it, so into the ETSY shop it goes (after lopping off a couple yards for my friend)

I also pulled out, photographed and prepped a blog post for 5 projects that I'll be listing in Cynthia's Quilty Orphan Adoption Event this coming weekend.  Last March I was able to send out 5 other projects to new homes, and while this doesn't clear a ton of space in my sewing room, it does make me feel better about that ridiculously long list of UFOs I catalogued in January.

One of the "orphans" I'm putting in the Quilty Orphan Adoption Event.  I learned after starting this that I don't much enjoy paper piecing.  I'm listing 2 paper piecing minis and one foundation pieced project.

I selected, cut and washed the backing for the quilt I pieced last weekend.  The plan is to pin baste it tomorrow and attempt to machine quilt it this week.  Those of you who know me know that I am a hand quilter, but I don't want this quilt to be added to my To Be Quilted pile.  Besides, I need to learn how to machine quilt, and the only way to learn is to do it, right?

I cut into a small mountain of scraps, clearing my cutting mat of the clutter that had been encroaching upon it from all sides, yielding 61 precut scraps for the scrap bins.

Doesn't look like much, but there are 61 squares in those piles, everything from 1.5" to 5"

And I even managed a little bit of sewing!  I'm up to 7 blocks for the Quilts of Valor Block Drive.

Add to that the floors I swept and mopped, the loads of laundry I did, the dishes I washed, the meals I prepared, and I'm surprised I'm still standing.  Time to go finish my book and drift off to sleep.

Quilts Show 2016

Our local quilt show was held at the end of July at the county fair.  I meant to post photos right away, but...

As usual, I was putting my last stitches in my quilt as they were hanging the last quilts.  When will I ever stop procrastinating??? Despite the proliferation of machine quilted quilts these days (which I totally understand and admire and am NOT knocking!), I love that nearly 15% of the quilts in this year's show were hand quilted!  Here's mine:

3rd place small/medium hand quilted

Close up of the hand quilting

I volunteered to be a hostess at the show and enjoy the quilts at my leisure.  Here are some of my favorites:

1st place hand quilted small/medium by Maureen G.

2nd place hand quilted small/medium by my friend, Sandra S

Surprisingly, the only 'modern' quilt in the show, by my friend, Sue L

She realized she was never going to finish her hex quilt, so she chose a different setting, by Maureen G

The colors of this grabbed me, by my friend Joan W

This one is also by Joan W.  Can you tell she doesn't do muted colors?

Isn't the quilting fabulous?  Quilted by my friend, Gail C.

Best in Show by Cynthia A - I love traditional quilts!

Close up of Best in Show winner

The quilt I'd most like to snuggle up with.  My friend, Gail C, always includes so many fabrics and fun details in her quilts.

Isn't it fun?  Stars & circles & butterflies & ric rac & yo-yos & buttons, oh my!

I admire Judy Niemeyer quilts so much, probably in part because I know I'd never be brave enough to attempt one.  This one was made by Gwyn C.

I love color!  This one by my friend, Helen W. 

When I first saw this one, I thought it was a photograph!  By Lori H S

I love minis, and the scrappier, the better!

And finally, Judge's Choice was this wonderful crazy quilt.

Can you see those wonderful details?  I could study this quilt for hours!

Ah, finally, I can free up some room on my phone for more photos, yet still enjoy this year's quilt show here online.  I'm already hoping to submit TWO quilts next year, including a mini.  I love them, but have never made one.  I think it is time!

Arkansas Crossroads Donation Quilt

I try to introduce service projects into the goings on at my shop.  This summer, I invited anyone who came in on a Saturday to piece scrappy 4-patches to go into a quilt we are making for a Silent Auction at a charity event in November to benefit Project Horizon, a local organization dedicated to ending domestic violence in our community.  I had volunteers as young as three years old,

families,

couples,

and unsuspecting solo shoppers that I talked into taking part.

 Some got a little carried away - couldn't make just one block!

Overall, I had more than 50 people make blocks.  They slapped their blocks up on the design wall, and it was fun to see the project grow and grow!

As happens with any group project, I've had to trim all the blocks to the same size, and even re-sew a couple, but the quilt is starting to come together. (rows are not yet sewn together)

We are making the Arkansas Crossroads pattern, using instructions I found online.  What a wonderful scrap project!  And I love being able to put all my precut scraps to use.

Quilts Of Valor blocks

I discovered a Quilts of Valor block drive while exploring blogs yesterday.  I LOVE an opportunity to contribute blocks to a cause, particularly if I can use scraps!  Here are my first two blocks.

Such an easy block!  There will definitely be more from me before this block drive ends on November 4th.

Labor Day Labors

Oh, the blog posts I have written in my head in the past month and a half!  But how many did I actually type out and add photos to?  None!  I'm such a lazy slacker sometimes!  Before I opened my shop three years ago, I blogged almost religiously.  I think it was because I spent so much time on the computer for work that it was no big deal to log in for pleasure, too.  Now, I spend just minutes a day on the computer, and most of that is for bookkeeping purposes, so blogging isn't just at my fingertips - I have to consciously carve out time and pull out the laptop.  It's a shame because I get a lot of enjoyment out of blogging, both the writing and the reading.

Anyway, folks always ask me, as I am sure they do you, "how long does it take to make a quilt?"  A while ago, I started documenting my time in the sewing room - how much time I spent there and what I did while I was down there.  Usually, I work on several projects at a time, so it is hard to say exactly how much time was spent on any one project, but this weekend, I made a baby quilt top, start to finish, without working on anything else at the same time.  The amount of focus that took for me almost killed me!!

I certainly didn't need a new project - I have plenty in progress right now - but I was perusing simple baby quilt photos online, just for kicks.  I came across this photo:

Zig Zag Zoom Quilt Photo Credit

Thinking about a stack of bright geometric 6.5" squares I had, I decided to make a block.

My block finishes at 10.5" with a 6.5" square and 2" squares & strips

Easy peasy, so I decided to make the whole quilt, not realizing that I didn't have enough of my white background fabric to complete the borders as they were done in the quilt photo.  I did what I could, but I'm not sure how I feel about the final result - it seems a little incomplete to me, too narrow and unbalanced.

Finished size (for now) 35" x 52"

That's what I get for not following an actual pattern with fabric requirements and all.  Oh well.  I'm going to let this sit a bit and see how I feel about it later.  I may take off the two sides strips and incorporate another white-on-white background fabric to make the borders the same all the way around.  What say you?  Is it worth the frogging and the substituting of another fabric to make it more like my inspiration quilt in the photo?

Either way, I can actually give someone an answer when they ask me how long it takes me to make a quilt top.  This one is smaller than quilts I usually make, and with bigger pieces, so I'd say most of my quilt tops take longer, but this one took me 8.25 hrs.  Not bad for a full day's "labor"!

I'm linking up with Oh Scrap and Monday Making.

I have NO BUSINESS joining a Quilt-Along!!

I need to turn in my entry for the quilt show in TEN DAYS, and I'm only 1/4 done hand quilting it.  But did that stop me from starting a new project?  Of course not!  Here's how it happened:

After Guild meeting on Saturday, a friend brought by a bag of donated fabric.  I didn't get a chance to go through it until this morning, at which point I separated it all by color or genre and put it away with the other donated fabric that I use for classes.  Some of it was Christmas fabric, so I stuffed it into the overflowing Christmas fabric bag that I have at the shop.

Then, at lunch time, I decided to visit some quilt blogs while I ate because I haven't been keeping up with blogs the way I'd like.  Somehow, I came across a Christmas In July QAL at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  It got me to thinking about that overflowing bag of Christmas fabric, and when I read that an hour a day for 12 days would yield a 76" quilt, I thought, "why not?"  The blocks are big, (which is not how I usually operate; most of my quilts are built from blocks anywhere from 1.5" to 3", and the smallest piece I cut for this QAL is 4.5") and I'm only using 3 fabrics (which is REALLY out of character for me, the consummate scrap quilter!).  However, the fabric is cut, and I am all caught up with the first step - these fussy cut snowmen will be the centers of the four big blocks that make up the quilt.

Back to the quilt I am finishing up for the fair...I had seen a basting technique using boards that eliminated the need to crawl around on the floor while basting so I gave it a try on this quilt. OMG!!! I'll be doing this on EVERY QUILT from now on!  I sat in a chair at my dining room table to baste and it was a breeze!  And the backing is the smoothest I've ever achieved while basting any quilt.  And the whole process was quick, to boot!  I encourage you to give it a try!  The link I used was for Color Me Quilty.

Well, gotta get some Zzzzs tonight.  This week has been exhausting, teaching at Summer FAIR at 8 AM each day, and staying up past midnight quilting each night.  This week I taught the kids how to weave circular rugs on hula hoops using old t-shirts.  They did a fabulous job!

And I was thrilled that I had 6 boys and 3 girls in my class - how's that for thumbing our noses at traditional gender roles?