What have I been doing?

Seems like everything but finishing projects.  Not that I haven't been trying.

I have quilted a couple for a customer.

Mary's Nine Patch.

I used a pantograph called Brilliance.

And her Quilting is my Therapy BOM by Angela Walters.

The block quilting is designed by Angela.  Mary printed the designs for me to use as guides and then I used continuous curves on the background.  I must say Mary's quilts are always so square.  It sure makes my quilting life easier.

I stretch a tape measure across the front of the frame near the belly bar for two reasons.  First, I mark the edges of the quilt so when I advance it, I can make sure I'm in line.  Hers have never been more than a quarter inch off.  And the second reason is so I know the limit of the longarm, so I don't bump the bar and have a jerk in the quilting.

Then, to prepare for our in-town quilt retreat, I made a large basket quilt top so we could make a collage quilt with each participant creating flowers using Steam A Seam II on floral prints, cutting them out and we will adhere them to the basket creating a large "center piece." 

When I finished the original basket, it was WAAAYYY too big so, I took it apart, cut it down and made it smaller.  Then I took the extra fabric so the winner of the quilt can add borders.

It measures 42 x 45.  The retreat is in progress now and this is going to be awesome.  Flowers have been added and more are to come.  I will post a picture at a later time.

Remember the retreat girls I posted about last year?  We did a random drawing and I won them.  They now hang in the room where we all sew on Thursdays.  After doing that, the planners of this years' retreat were concerned that the basket would be won by someone that didn't sew with us on Thursday and they want it to hang on our wall too.  So, this year one of our Thursday stitchers wants to quilt it so we decided we would do a random drawing for a "prize", but not the quilt.  Selfish of us?  Maybe.

I also got one of my own quilted but the binding hasn't been added yet so you will have to wait for it also.

So, until then.... Wishing you more stitichin time than I will have.

Rose

Demo is behind me!!

 The demonstration is finally behind me.  I was a little shaky but all in all it went pretty well.  After all, most of the attendees sew with me every Thursday.  I consider them friends.

The only picture was one of me with the quilt that I will show a little way down the page.

I was demonstrating the QCR (Quick Curve Ruler) by Sew Kind of Wonderful.  And the quilt sample was Metro Rings.  This was the first demo I have ever done so I made a design board for each picture in the instructions.

I have made this quilt twice.  One for my friend, posted here.  And one for the motorhome here.

I cut all the parts for the entire quilt.  But I really wasn't planning on making another one at this time and I didn't want another UFO on my list so, after the demonstration I asked if anyone would be interested in taking the KIT and finishing the quilt.  Multiple hands went up so then I asked if anyone was NOT interested in it.  There were none.  So, I took the sign in sheet and used a random number generator to choose.

It was a true kit.  Some of the parts still needed the curve cut made so I loaned the ruler along with the instructions.  The winner was tickled.  I think, but not sure, that she is somewhat of a beginner.  I told her if she had any questions, I would be glad to help.

So here are the other quilts I finished for this demo.

Chic Picnic is also a Sew Kind of Wonderful pattern using the QCR.  The prints in this quilt were all picked up from the free table at guild meeting a year ago.  There was even enough for the binding.  Makes me feel good to make do.

It appears that I may have cut it a little close on the length of the backing fabric.  That was a little scary.

The next one was made with the Mini QCR.  I put this one together with nothing but scraps.  That also makes me feel good.

It's quite a small quilt so it will be donated.  It was a fun one.

I passed the books around during the demonstration and the woman that is in charge of our Quilts of Valor found a flag pattern made with the Mini QCR and has asked if I would make one that she could use for the center of a QOV.  So, I have added it to my to-do list.

And I'm back to rolling the dice and have already finished a flimsy, moved it to the to be quilted tub and drawn another to go in tub #6.  YYYAAAAAYYYY!!!!

Until next time.....

Wishing you more stitchin time than I will have.

Rose

Finally Caught UP!!

 It's 3 1/2 months into the year and I haven't even rolled the dice. Well, I have rolled them just to see what it would have been, but I haven't opened any of the tubs.

That doesn't mean that I haven't had finishes, I have.  Here are a few of them.

I completed the Bee Bag that I started at retreat in February.  I think I'm going to like this bag better than the By Annie bag that I made earlier.

I had some chalkboard fabric and chalk markers that I used to label the contents of each pocket.

Then I quilted Mary's QOV using an eagle pantograph.

When she picked it up she brought three quilts to be quilted and told me that she'll have two more when she gets the backings ready.

And then, several of our Thursday Stitchers were making the By Annie bag.  Susan, who is a very talented quilter, got mad at hers.  So much so that her husband said it would be okay to trash it.  I told her to bring it with her and I would help her.  Little did I know, I was bringing it home to finish for her.  It was a fairly easy finish.  All I had to do is put the binding on the pages.  She had sewn a very generous quarter inch seam on one of the pages and the binding wouldn't wrap around the edge.  To fix it, I trimmed the seam allowance and completed the binding and then applied the bindings on the other pages.

I also prepared for a demonstration that I will be doing next week.  I'm demonstrating the Quick Curve Ruler by Sew Kind of Wonderful.  I completed two quilts for that, and I will post once that demo is completed.

So, it's not that I haven't accomplished anything, it's just that I haven't rolled the dice.  And we all know how I like to roll the dice.

Until next time.....

Wishing you more stitchin time than I will have.

Rose

SAHRR Parade

 I joined Gail at quiltinggail.com for her annual Stay At Home Round Robin for the first time.

All of the ladies that co-hosted with her were

Kathleen at kathleenmcmusing

Anja at anjaquilts

Wendy at piecefulthoughts

Brenda at songbirddesigns and

Emily at thedarlingdogwood

Each suggested blocks for a round making up the quilt.

I surprised myself by keeping up with each week even thought I haven't gotten it quilted yet.  It was a lot of fun trying to come up with a particular block for each round.  It turned out to be kind of a story of my life.

The center block is a paper pieced block of the lighthouse from my hometown in Michigan.

Round 1 prompt was a block that starts with the first letter of your first name.  I chose Road to Oklahoma that is where I met my husband.

Round 2 prompt was half square triangles.  Mine is called Fox and Geese, a game we played as kids.

Round 3 prompt was stars.  Friendship Star was my choice because I've made a lot of friends during my journey.

Round 4 prompt was slice and insert.  Perfect for the Alabama State Flag which is where we reside now.

Round 5 prompt was partial log cabin.  I chose a wonky log cabin to represent the rundown mobile home we had on the lake.

Round 6 prompt was a kite or another starting with the first letter of your first name.  I opted to include both.  Some kites and a block called Roll of the Dice because that's what I do to decide which project I will be working on each week.

Thank you, ladies for hosting this project.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and hope to get it quilted soon.

I actually had some finishes during this time that I hope to get posted soon.

Until next time.....

Wishing you more stitchin time than I will have.

Rose

6th and Final Round for SAHRR

This week Emily from The Darling Dogwood chose the block for the next round.  She chose the kite block or choose another block with your first initial.

Thank you, Emily, for the alternative.  I do like the kite block, but I have had another block in mind the whole time and was hoping to be able to work it in.

My block starts with an R.  It's called Roll of the Dice.  I found it while looking for an R block during week 1.

Sticking with "the story of my life".  Anyone that has followed my blog knows that I roll the dice every week to decide which project I will be working on for the next 7 days.  It's a fun way to make decisions and not get bored with any one project.

I also am adding some kite blocks.

I have really surprised myself by keeping up with this challenge.  Although no rolling of the dice has happened since it started.  

I can do this!!!

Until next time.....

Wishing you more stitchin time than I will have.

Rose

Round 5 SAHRR

 This week Brenda from Songbird Designs chose the block for round 5 of the SAHRR.  She chose the quarter or half log cabin.

In keeping with the "story of my life", I picked a wonky quarter log cabin.

It's not a log cabin in the woods with a fireplace, more like a run down 1968 mobile home on the lake with a campfire.  It was definitely run down but we enjoyed it while we had it.

I really like how this is turning out.

Looking forward to round 6 so I can get the top completed.

Until next time....

Wishing you more stitchin time than I will have.

Rose

Round 4 SAHRR

I joined QuiltingGail, along with other hosts for the SAHRR (Stay at Home Round Robin) this year for the first time. 

Wendy from Peicefulthoughts is in charge of choosing the 4th round.  She couldn't have picked a more appropriate block to continue "the story of my life". 

She chose Sliced Square with Insert, for lack of a better name (her words).  Check her link above to see the block that she made.

You see, my husband and I left Oklahoma 47 years ago next month and moved to Alabama.  The Alabama state flag is nothing other than sliced squares rectangles with inserts. 

My block is my rendition of the state flag made up of sliced squares with inserts.

I'm loving how this is coming together.

So, I'm off to make more.  

Until next time....

Wishing you more stitchin time than I will have.

Rose

Linking with Wendy

SAHRR Round 3

 I decided to join the SAHRR (Stay at Home Round Robin) hosted by Quilting Gail this year.  

Monday Round 3 was released by Gail.  She was the person to determine what the round would be this week.  Stars.

She chose the Friendship star, as did I. 

I chose this star because of its relative simplicity and because, in keeping the story of my life theme, I have had a lot of friendships throughout the years, and I have always tried to be a good friend.

I'm reminded of the poem Reason, Season, or a Lifetime.

As long as I've been quilting, 20+ years, I don't think I've ever made this block.  And the simplicity?  Not!!  Making sure the HSTs are turned the right way was a challenge.

So far, I'm still working current with the challenge.  But I will get behind on Round 5.  My sister is escaping the snow that week and she's not a quilter so there will be little time in the studio.  

I have another block picked out that I really want to use for one of the rounds.  If I can't squint my eyes just right to make it work, I'll substitute it for one of the chosen blocks. 

Until next time...

Wishing you more stitchin time than I will have.

Rose

Round 2 SAHRR

 The SAHRR (Stay At Home Round Robin) hosted by Quilting Gail continues.  

Round 2 was announced by Anja from Anga Quilts.  She chose HSTs (half square triangles).  I probably should have gone simple, but nah, I can't do that.

I chose a block called Fox and Geese.  Lots of HSTs.

I chose this block because we played a game called Fox and Geese as kids.

Unlike the town I live in today, in the "olden days" the school bus didn't pick every child up at their front door (except kindergarten).  Back then all the kids in the neighborhood gathered at a central location to wait for the bus.  Imagine that, getting some exercise before school.  Anyway, our bus stop happened to be in front of the Catholic church.  The church had a large front yard.  In the winter we would tromp down the snow in a huge pie shape and chase each other around the pie.  One person was "it" and the center was goal.  We played it every morning while waiting for the bus and sometimes the neighborhood kids would gather on the weekend to play.  When the snow melted in the spring the grass was yellow where our pie shape was so we could continue to play for another few weeks on the grass.

So, following the theme of the story of my life, I chose the Fox and Geese quilt block.

I have kept up with the challenge so far, even though I'm only exposing my block choices.  My other projects have pretty much taken a back seat.  Last week I rolled the dice and didn't even open the tub.  This week I had completed round one before the deadline, so I rolled again and worked on that one for a couple of days.  Now I'm going to be back on the SAHRR for round 2.

I'm linking with Anja at Anja Quilts 

Until next time...

Wishing you more stitchin time than I will have.

Rose

Plans Change for SAHRR

I've joined the SAHRR hosted by Quilting Gail.  I was going to use a block left by my mom because I didn't think I would be able to finish the original idea.  But.... 

Yep, I finished the lighthouse block.

Just completing this block is on my project list so I'm counting it as a finish.  I purchased it several years ago not really expecting to ever finish it.  Paper piecing with LOTS of little pieces is not really my thing.  I purchased it because this lighthouse is in my hometown.

I added 3" to the top and bottom because I prefer a rectangular quilt.  I hope my quilty math works out correctly.

Actual lighthouse picture from travelthemitten.com

Round 1 of the SAHRR was chosen by Kathleen.  She suggested King's Crown or choosing a block that started with the first letter of your first name.

I chose Road to Oklahoma because it started with an R and because DH and I met in Oklahoma over 47 years ago.

Maybe this quilt will end up being the story of my life. 😉

Linking with kathleenmcmusing

Wishing you more stitchin time than I will have.

Rose

First Finishes for 2025

I actually had this quilt together on last Sunday, but it took me 4 days to "rag" it.  I never would have dreamed it would take that long.

                Front                                   Back

The completion of this one emptied tub #2.  After drawing from the Alabama box (more about that here), Scrappy Moon (Summer Moon made with scraps) will replace it in the tub.

Then I rolled the dice, #3.  That one is the Storm at Sea made with Shot Cottons.  I'm not sure how big this one is going to be, but I know it's NOT going to as big as the picture that I found on The Secret Live of Mrs Meatloaf.  I don't know the size of her blocks, but the size of mine would be bigger than will fit on the quilt frame if I used as many as she did.

I finished a customer quilt.

Green Tea and Sweet Beans pattern by Jen Kingwell

Pieced by Mary

Stitch in the ditch was done by our friend Sylvia and then she moved so I finished it with custom quilting.

Wishing you more stitchin time than I will have.

Rose

Linking with:

    Oh Scrap

    Sew and Tell

SAHRR

 I have thought about joining the SAHRR hosted by Quilting Gail and I wanted to use this block that is on my project list as the center block.

But this block is FPP, and it has LOTS of little pieces so I didn't think I could complete it on time.

So, I dug out the tub that has all of the orphan blocks in it and found this one.

You can see it's kind of wonky, so I trimmed it to 12.5".  I also put some Fabric Fusion on the ends of the decorative hand stitching so I wouldn't lose it after trimming.

This block was left over from the blocks that I inherited from my mother.  You can read about them here and here.  I estimate they came from the late 1960s or early 1970s.

I'm not sure what I will do with it but I'm going to try.

If I happen to complete the lighthouse, this could change.

Wishing you more stitchin time than I will have.

Rose

Linking with Quilting Gail SAHRR Center Block

Making Progress on UFOs

 I was reading some posts from Heather at The Sewing Loft about organizing your UFOs so they can become completions.  You know, things like making a list and creating kits.

I thought I would take this time to show how I organize my projects.  

I do make a list.  Below are the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025.

    

You can see how it changes.  This year I have eliminated about ten that have been pushed back and pushed back, so I decided they could be put on hold.  They were patterns only, not fabric bought or pulled from the stash.

Those of you that follow know that I roll the dice each week.  Those six projects are the current WIPs and they are stored in these tubs.  This method keeps me from getting bored with any one project.

When the top is completed, it goes in one of these drawers to be quilted.

And another project from the list will be drawn from this container to see which one will replace it in the numbered tubs.

This year I'm trying something new for the "to be quilted" drawer.  Except for Chic Picnic, which has a self-imposed deadline, and Mary's QOV, the next on the frame will be drawn from this container.  Let's hope I don't really need this size container.  😆

On top of all of this, I am constantly trying to use these scraps for leader/enders.  These drive me crazy!!!  But I can't bring myself to throw them away.

I organize my projects this way because I like to spend my decision making on necessary things like what to cook for dinner or what groceries need to be purchased.

By the way, I rolled a 2 this week, which means the snowman gets another week.  He should be completed by then.  We'll see.

Maybe this information can help someone else.  Maybe.

Wishing you more stitchin time than I will have.

Rose

First Post of 2025

 I guess the first post for the year should be goals.  I can set them, but it doesn't mean a whole lot because I will start more projects, I know me.

The PHD challenge is hosted by Ms P Designs.  

I have listed the top 17 projects.  The ones in the shaded boxes are to be quilted.

I haven't participated in a couple of years.  The spreadsheet I use is from when Quilting Gail was the host. You can get the current spreadsheet here.  

Speaking of starting new projects this year, this came in the mail today, yep, mail on Sunday.  Who woulda thunk it.

I love scrappy quilts, and this book is full of them.

Progress made this week?  I started with this kit that was purchased years ago.  The squares had been cut and the batting was cut.

And the progress made in 6 days.  The design wall.

And most of the rest of the blocks are prepared.

This will get a couple of extra days because I normally roll the dice on Wednesday but because of the holidays I rolled on Sunday last week.  Maybe I can get it assembled, maybe....

I'm also going to try to join Kate at Life in Pieces for the 15 minutes to stitch each week.

• 15 minute days/week =  4/4 days
• 15 minute days/Jan = 4/4 days
• 15 minute days/2025 = 4/4 days
• Success rate = 100%

Until next time.

Wishing you more stitchin time than I will have.

Rose

Linking with:     Life in Pieces for 15 minutes to stitch.

                  Melva Loves Scraps for Sew and Tell