The Party's Over

"The sky is falling!!" yelled Chicken Little!!!!

Do you remember the scare of "Y2K"  All the computers in the world were going to stop working; planes would fall from the sky; the Stock Market would crash.
"Stock up on food and water!!!" they warned.

Here we are, SEVENTEEN years later! (And, BTW, none of their predictions came true.  Everything was just fine. But didn't we all run around like Chicken Little?)

Who would have imagined that 17 years would fly by that fast!

And that is exactly what happened to 2017.
The Year flew by in a blur!!


Now that the year is kaput, what do I have to show for it?

UFO's completed in 2017

Nephew, Joseph's tee-shirt quilt.
Gifted at Thanksgiving, 2017.
Only two years after his graduation...don't judge.











Grandson's quilt.  While technically not totally completed, it IS at the LAQ and so still needs binding, but it is close enough.

Baby Sister's Wall Hanging
This cute, cute, cute little ditty made me chuckle and think of my baby sister... I do so miss her and my dad, who lives next door.

She opened it Christmas Morning and said she loves it :-)






 


New Projects started and completed in the same year!! 
(what a concept!)








Piggy Wall hanging in memory of my mom, Dona, and in honor of my quilting buddy, Aunt Nyla (mom's sister.)

Baby Quilt for my D-I-L's sister.  This was a last minute project that I put together while traveling for business.  The little family now in North Dakota...good thing I put minky on the back.















Pat Sloan's "Let's Go Sew" I made just for me, to hang in my sewing room.

Last, but not least, various and miscellaneous fun stuff.

Fabric Snowflakes; pillowcases; Flip & Stitch Wreath

Projects on the list for 2017 that will roll over to 2018

Splendid Sampler Quilt

Another sister's house warming quilt.  I had hoped to get it to her for Christmas.  Now I'm aiming for her birthday...July.

I'd like to say this is the only UFO on the list, but I don't want to start out the year telling a fib.
 






 



Happy New Year, Everyone!  May the new year bring you many happy hours in your sewing room.

A Labor of Love

Creating a quilt is a lot of time, energy and money.  But the look on their face when you gift it....Priceless.

I gifted the tee shirt quilt to my nephew on Thanksgiving day.  He hadn't even noticed his mom had snuck the shirts from his closet... he was so surprised.  And, even though it doesn't look like it, he really liked it.

It's worth it, isn't it?


With the completion of this quilt and the near completion of my grandson's quilt, I've run out of quilt steam.  The sampler quilt I'd hoped to finish for my sister and gift at Christmas just is not going to get done.... I will make her a table topper instead and regroup the quilt projects for 2018.

That does NOT mean I won't be in my sewing room...I'm just going to concentrate on small, fun items between now and Christmas.

There's No Place Like Home

Three weeks, four cities, six planes, three Uber cars, two car rentals (drove 871 miles), three hotels (stayed one week with favorite Auntie, see previous post), 147 billable hours...but I woke up in my own bed this morning.    So glad October is done and I'm home for a while.

I had BIG plans for finishing up a couple of projects while on the road.... but the best laid plans of mice and men...
I did get the tee shirt quilt for my nephew all bound and it is ready to be gifted on Thanksgiving.
But that is all the progress I've made.

Now I'm home for a while....hopefully until January.  It's time to get back on track.
I hear my sewing room calling my name!

On my design wall in this picture, on the right.  BOM blocks I made WAY back when I first started quilting (8 years ago?)  My next project.  Put 'em together!!

"Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow."- Anita Desai

That is especially true when I have the pleasure of traveling to cities on business but I am able to spend time with friends and family, also.

Spokane Clock Tower

This past week I was in BEAUTIFUL Spokane, WA.  I love Spokane!
I could live in Spokane.  It's a nice, little city.

The weather was beautiful with the trees changing colors.  They have nice quilt shops.  AND, my quilting-buddy Aunt lives in Spokane.  (And, now my cousins also live in Spokane...double win!) 

Aunt Nyla @ Charming Charlies being silly.

So I had a very nice week of work and play in Spokane.

My Auntie is a Quilting Machine!!!  She is always working on something. She wins ribbons for her quilts.  Here are a few of my favorites. (And, trust me, these are only a few!)

Jewels of the Universe....Stunning!!

She let me pick one of her quilts while I was there (I now have three.)

It is called "Yuletide Joy."  One block for each month, all hand appliqued with the blanket stitch.

Too Cute!

Thank you, Auntie, for teaching me to quilt.  I love you.

And, people, don't forget to label your quilts..... someday you and I will have graduated to heaven.
The people coming behind us will need to know where these creations came from...

We're In The Club House Turn

OK, folks.  How are you doing on your Christmas Projects?

I have three projects to be completed by Christmas.  Well, one needs to be ready by Thanksgiving, Joseph's Tee Shirt quilt. And, I'm happy to say it went to the quilter yesterday!  Yeah!!

Read About it HERE
and Here
and here

Get the Pattern HERE

Quilt number two, The Splendid Sampler.

I started the Splendid Sampler, let's see..... ah, well, quite a while back, more than a year.  It was a Block-of-the-Week-For-a-Year quilt along sponsored by Pat Sloan ...104 blocks.  My finished work will not have all 104 blocks.

It needs to be finished and in the mail to Tennessee by December 15.  My sister and her hubby just bought a new house and I want her to have a lovely house warming (and body warming) gift for Christmas.

This is what I have so far.....

As you can see, I have a ways to go..... keep your fingers crossed.

Finally, I decided to finish a UFO (and truth be told, all three of these projects were UFOs) for my baby sister (different sister....I only have 6).  I will admit here (because my sisters don't read this blog) my baby sister, Joy, is my favorite.

Joy & Dad Summer 2017

She and the hubbs live in Kentucky, next door to my dad.  A little shout out for her here... since my mom's passing almost a year ago she (and the hubbs)  have taken good care of dad.... Thank You, Sis (and thank you hubbs.)

Miss My Sister
 by Bloomin Minds 

It's a wall hanging.

Shouldn't take too long, right?

I'm headed out on a business trip next week.  I'm planning to take Miss Ellie with me and work on one of these projects, which ever one needs the fewest number of items to tote along to get it done.

Happy Sewing.

Friends, Fabric and Food Equals FUN Every Time

Do you get together with friends to sew?  Some quilters I know belong to guilds that encourage small sew groups.  A quilt shop near me, The Orange Quilt Bee, has Fuzzy Slipper night a couple of Friday's a month.  Piecemakers  in Costa Mesa schedules regular "Open Sew" times.  As a matter of fact, that is how I met Charlotte S.  (That's a story for another time.)  My quilting-buddy-Auntie started her own group.

Because of my work/travel schedule, I can't commit to a "regular" get together so every now and then I sponsor my own Gathering of great ladies.

Yesterday was "A Gathering."
We sewed a lot, feasted on forbidden foods a lot (too much) and laughed a lot.

From R to L: Charlotte-the-Tall  (taking a think-break), Arlene & Kathy. Missing from the photo is Caren (and me.)

I was able to complete the Nephew's Tee-Shirt quilt I started last month in Portland.
It's ready to add borders, and maybe a few embellishments.

If you have not yet discovered the pleasure of sewing with a group of ladies, check it out at your local quilt shop, or your guild, or start your own.  What could be better than a Fun day with Food, Friends and Fabric?

A special shout out to Charlotte S for staying behind and helping with the clean up.  It was appreciated.

September - National Sewing Month

It starts out innocently enough, but before long......

But at least it keeps us off the street corner, right??? 
A little piece of heaven here on earth.

Happy Sewing

Creative People Amaze Me

Last night was the monthly meeting of the Flying Geese Quilters Guild.  They had an amazingly talented speaker,  

Susan Carlson.  Not only were her quilts beyond belief, but listening to her narrative on how she came up with the ideas behind the quilts, decided on fabrics and actually put them together was so interesting.

Dingo Dog Dreamng

Golden Temple of the Good Girls

One in a Million

Check out her website.  Sign up for her Blog.  Enjoy.

Summer Travel - Summer Fun

My end-of-summer travel landed me in Portland, Oregon for a week.  Such a beautiful, wonderful city.  There are so many things about Portland I miss but it is so fun going back for a visit, ESPECIALLY if my visit includes a stay with my quilting friend Dawn White of First Light Designs.

Pacific Northwest Peeps.... look for her classes at
The Pine Needle* in Lake Oswego, OR

Not only did she and her husband, Charlie, pamper me oh so much, she gave me the use of her sewing rooms (yes, she has more than one) AND let me "shop" from her stash!  So generous and gracious!

What did I work on while in Portland?  Last May I wrote about making a tee shirt quilt for my very-athletic nephew who was graduated from high school in 2015. (Click HERE)  It was one of those projects that just would not cooperate with the quilt-making process and had to be put in time out for a while..... Ever have one of those?  They eventually become a UFO.

After a time of punishment, Joseph's quilt was released from the penalty box and I took it with me to Portland.

Dawn helped me think though the design as there was no pattern suitable for all the shapes created after chopping up the tee shirts.  She also helped pick a very nice sashing fabric on one of our trips to Fabric Depot.

Of course, it is not perfect (as only God is perfect, we quilters like to say) but I think it is shaping up very nicely.
More importantly, I think Joseph will like it.

I wasn't able to complete the top while in Portland, but I'm far enough along now that I'm motivated to finish it up quickly.
No more time outs.

All good things must come to an end.

As I packed up to head back south
Princess Cordelia inspected my luggage to 

ensure I was not making off with the family silver.

*The Pine Needle and Fabric Depot have both closed their doors since the writing of this post.

Epic Movie Remake

Movie remakes.  Sometimes they are a success and sometimes you just cannot improve on the original.

But, in my case, the daughter-requested curtain remake project was a huge success!!!

I did not try the curtain grommets again....I decided I'm just not a curtain grommet girl. (That was expensive discovery...)

Instead I opted for back tab curtains.  I looked up the "how to" on YouTube.  Isn't the net grand?!
If you're interested in this technique, click HERE.

They are lined and the hem is weighted.

I'm pretty pleased with them.

Now that that little chore is finished, I can move on to something fun, like getting the binding on my mom's piggy hanging and the binding on my "plum quilt."  The projects just go on and on....