Slow and Steady...

I am still in the working stage of life (and truth be told, probably will work until I graduate to heaven.)  My job requires that I travel A LOT.  I just returned from Vancouver, B.C. yesterday and am leaving for Fresno, CA today.

So, how does a body continue to move forward with their UFOs while on the road?

For me, it depends on how much time I'll be in a particular city.  For example, sometimes when
I travel to Vancouver, B.C. I will be there a as long as two weeks.

In those instances, I take Miss Ellie with me and set up shop in the hotel room:

It is always a bit amusing to hear the comments from the TSA agents..." Is THAT a sewing machine?!"  Why, yes.  Yes it is.

Other times I'll take some sort of handwork.  This past week (and this next week) I'm working my way through a pile of scraps; trimming them into useful sizes.  I don't have any particular project in mind.

Sizes will start at 5" and graduate down by .5" to 2".  I also cut strips to use in Bonnie Hunter's scrap patterns.











My grandson made his quilt with 5" squares I'd already cut from scraps.

The secret to moving forward is.... slow and steady wins the race.

Happy Sewing.

Desert Lily Quilters Guild Quilt Show Entries

The Desert Lily quilters are a talented group.
There were so many beautiful quilts at the show.  Here are but a few.

This quilt was hung very high so I could not get a very good shot.
I think it is stunning.

Some day I'm going to make a Hunters Star.

A selfie.

Paper pieced starts in soft purples
The picture does not do it justice.

This quilt gave me a good idea... take the extra, left over blocks I have and add a cat silhouette.  Instant, cute quilt.

I love paper pieced stars.

Auntie with her second entry "Tuxedo Tales"

The Desert Lily Quilt Show is always the second weekend of January.  Pretty quilts, a good variety of vendors and nice, nice people.  And, there are lots of inexpensive places to stay.  A fun, inspirational weekend for not a lot of cash.  Mark your calendar.

Road Trip !!

Road to California?  No.
AQS in Paducah?  No.
Quilt Con?  No.


Desert Lily Quilters Guild Quilt Show in Yuma, AZ! 




Most every year, on the second weekend of January I travel to Yuma, AZ to visit my quilting-buddy and snow bird Auntie and help out at the Desert Lily Quilt show.  This year I'm taking my quilting pal, Charlotte-the-Tall with me... yep, the two Charlottes on the road.  
Thelma and Louise?  More like Mutt and Jeff.  I'll let you figure out who is who.

It's a long drive from So. Cal. to Yuma, AZ.

The landscape is rugged, but with a rugged beauty.


As we drove, we chatted away and solved all the world's problems; world hunger, global warming, the next door neighbor's barking dog.




 

And, truth be told, Yuma is a nice little town...in the winter...Not sure I could handle those summer temps.

The Desert Lily quilters are a very talented bunch, but the MOST talented of them all is my very own Auntie,
Nyla Stoughton.

She won first place AND the Silver Dollar award (100 Silver Dollars) for her "Birdies."
A set of 12 wall hangings, one for each month, hand appliqued in wool.

Nyla Stoughton

She is so talented.  I am blessed to call her "my auntie", quilting buddy and mentor.

Charlotte Smith, Charlotte Q (me) and Auntie

Tomorrow, I will post more show entries...beautiful, all.

Welcome 2018 - The Year of the UFO*

I am associated with a number of quilting Facebook pages:  Quilt Along with Pat Sloan, Scrappy Girls Club; Panel Quilts; Thrifty Quilters .... there are tons of quilting-related Facebook pages to choose from.

It is so fun to follow these pages!  I get a lot of inspiration as well as making friends.

A consistent theme for the new year seems to be finishing up UFOs.

And if that is not enough to motivate you.... Pat Sloan is having a "UFO Challenge."

If you want to participate in Pat Sloan's challenge, click HERE.

Even though I did finish a few UFOs last year, I have more... So I think I'll jump on the UFO band wagon.  How about you?

I spent a little time this afternoon putting together my list.  They are not all quilts, but they are all sewing projects.











 So here we go! UFO completing into 2018.














*Unfinished Object

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!!