Design Wall Monday on Sunday

 Monday morning is going to be busy so it's Sunday night Design Wall.w

My big plans from last Monday to quilt this week were put on hold. 

It seems everyday something came up.

That's ok, I have plenty of other things to work on.

 Garden Party

I started joining blocks into rows.

I'm working both corners to the center.

I have the 5 long rows left to sew together.

I took a break from Garden Party to work on Jamestown Landing.

The broken dishes blocks are all made.

I swear I had all the string blocks made but no,

I was 35 blocks short.

I made them this weekend.

So close to laying out the blocks....

I love just dumping a couple handfuls of strings and using what's on the table.

2 blocks at a time, a leader, an ender. 

In no time at all the blocks were finished.

I have to de-paper them tonight.

Exciting happenings from the sewing room this week.

I love major progress on projects.

I am linking up to Patchwork Times Design Wall Monday 

and then it's out the door for a full day of errands.

En Provence Is A Flimsy

En Provence is a flimsy!

I love, love, love this design.

Thank you Bonnie K Hunter of Quiltville fame!

Remember the free instructions go away February 1st.

This is one of the least stressful mysteries for me.

I didn't pressure myself to keep up, to finish, to hurry.

I used my seam ripper very little,

but when I used it, 

I used it!

The very last pieced border, I sewed it to the wrong side.

It was an easy fix.

I guess I had too much on my mind.

We said goodbye to our beloved DJ.

He lived a very long and happy life.

He loved and was loved by everyone. 

You will be missed Old Dog!

Design Wall Monday

I'm so close to finishing En Provence! 

One more border close!!  

It will happen this morning.

I am planning my next piecing project and wanted covered wagon fabric.

I searched online and found a few but they are way out of my price range.

I asked daughter Crystal to please keep her eye out for some.

She said she had this piece in her stash!!!

How lucky am I.

First, I have something else to do.

The next big project!

I will baste the next UFO, Grand Illusion.

I have to make the back.

That will be easy as I bought a bolt of fabric just for that purpose.

Could this be my 4th quilting finish for the month???
That's my plan.

See great design walls at Patchwork Times Design Wall Monday.

Doing The Happy Dance!

2017 UFO Finish #3

This just  happens to be #3 on my Patchwork Times UFO Challenge list 

and the number for January.

I love all the colors in this quilt and the quilting makes me happy.

Each block is quilted different from the others.

The block backs were made from 5" squares that I won at a retreat.

I think it makes it's own fun quilt with lots of novelty prints.

I wish I could get an outside/better light photo but it is pouring buckets.

Melting snow and ice, flooded roads and general yuckiness outside.

Now I think I will build some mystery quilt blocks. 

Design Wall Monday

This is my UFO #3 from Patchwork Times 2017 UFO Challenge.

The blocks aged for 10 years, the quilted blocks for another 2 years.

After being upset with myself over procrastinating so long, 

I just giggle because I have so many great memories of receiving these blocks,

the friends that made them and the smiles they bring to me.

So no regrets, just smiles.

A few days ago, I posted my progress.

Saturday morning, I trimmed all the blocks.

That bag of trimmings bothered me for a bit.

There was so much in it, 

but nothing was wide enough for the string bin

and I not going to start making pet beds.

 I gave it to the garbage man without guilt.

The fact that all the batting used in the added sashings came from 

the trimmings of Tumalo Trail may have helped with the no guilt.

Then I set about joining my blocks. Thank goodness for Craftsy classes from Marti Michell called Piece By Piece: Quilt-As-You-Go-Techiques and Dot To Dot Quilting with Angela Walters.  I highly recommend both of these classes.  I learned so much from both of these ladies! The fact that I can take notes for the steps I don't want to forget and can go back and review just that part might be my favorite feature of these classes except the fact that I can re-watch them whenever and how often I want.  I learned the glue trick from Sharon Schamber  (you can find almost anything on you tube!). Isn't the internet amazing!!!

The status of this quilt right now is Rows A and B are joined together, C and D are complete rows ready to be added and Row E is laying on the sewing machine to start being made into a row.  Binding strips are all cut. Cross your fingers for a finish today. We still have plenty of snow and ice and the rain is coming in ready to create more chaos and I am happy to stay home and out of the way. I have my own work to do.

See fabulous projects at Patchwork Times Design Wall Monday.

UFO Progress

Like Jo of Jo's Country Junction, I set my En Provence aside to work on my UFO for the month.

The blocks were all quilted and put away almost 2 years ago!

I bought sashing and joining fabrics.

It's sad to admit that I didn't have enough of anything to do this step.

But I don't feel bad about buying new fabric to finish a project.

Action is being taken on my big plan!

Strips of fabric and batting were cut into appropriate lengths.

All 20 blocks were ready to sew.

I joined the batting to the seam allowance of the sashing and block with some interfacing strips.

A trick I learned from a Craftsy class with Marti Michell.

I love those classes!

I did some quilting and now

I have 7 blocks to do.

 I will trim them all to size and join into rows.

After revisiting the blog post from 2 years ago, 

I have decided to not add an outer border.

I feel really good about the progress on this project.

It's fun to revisit these blocks and remember the friends that made the blocks.

I feel a UFO about to be marked off the list.

2017 Finish #2

Yeah! 

Tumalo Trail is finished and being used.

I took a nap under it this afternoon before it was finished.

Then I stitched and stitched on the binding.

I was determined it would be finished today.

Thanks to Judy L of Patchwork Times for a great Quiltathon over the weekend 

and to Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville for a fabulous design.

This quilt goes to my dear husband.

I have never made him his own cuddle quilt.

I think he likes it.  

UFO busting feels pretty darn good.

I'm hoping to get a good outside in the snow picture one day soon.

Design Wall Monday and...

...Mystery Monday Link Up

It was a fun Quiltathon weekend.

Thank you Judy L of Patchwork Times.

I sewed more this weekend that I have in a very long time.

It's always fun and I had plenty of encouragement to "stay in the hidie hole and work". 

Nothing better to do on a very windy, snowy, freezing rain weekend!

(And someone had complete control of the remote.)

I can't wait for the next one!

Check her side bar for the schedule.

I'm pretty excited to be this far with En Provence.

I hadn't plan to put any blocks together until Tumalo Trail was complete.

Plans changed after my whoopsie.

Instead of fretting and wasting precious sewing time,

I pulled out my En Provence basket and started piecing blocks.

I now have 4 complete blocks and 10 complete sashing units.

They all need to visit the ironing board.

That will happen soon.

First I will complete Tumalo Trail!

After some TV time (when did I start watching football!!) 

and quality seam ripper time,

quilting resumed on Tumalo Trail.

I have half of the last border to complete and

then I will go back to the blocks and quilt around the HSTs.

I'm pretty excited to have this quilt complete, on the bed and off the UFO list. 

The binding is all ready prepared and patiently waiting it's turn.

It's a fun link up day.

Patchwork Times Design Wall Monday

and

Quiltville's Mystery Monday Link-Up

It's going to be an awesome morning in Blogland.

Quiltathon Day 4

This Quiltathon with Patchwork Times has been a blast.

Until this morning!

It all started out innocent enough.

I was going to quilt while Ernie slept in.

So I started where I left off yesterday afternoon.

Piano key borders, free motion, add texture, practice straight lines.

What I didn't check when I put the quilt under the needle was my backing.

I flopped it under!

I have 21" of unpicking to do. 

I might cry while I do it.

I think I might put this aside until TV time later today.

New Plan!

I'm going to sew En Provence blocks together instead. 

I will shed no tears while doing that. 

Day 4 is going to be all about fun!

10:30 check in. 

2 blocks of En Provence have been layed out on the design boards.

One block is sewn, block 2 is partially sewn.

I'm also using the sashing for my leaders/enders.

I love how this is looking!

Maybe I can have 1/4 of my quilt top sewn together today.

3:15 check in.

4 blocks and 10 sashing units complete!

It was a good day sewing. 

I even have most of the whoopsie unpicked.  

Only about 5" to go. 

It was nice to snuggle under the quilt for a while. 

Thanks Judy L for a fun weekend.

I'm excited to be so close to finished on my Tumalo Trail quilt.

Maybe by the end of the week I can post about it's finish.

Quiltathon Day 3

It's Patchwork Times Quiltathon Day 3!!!  My mind is screaming day 3? Already! I'm kind of holding my breath this morning as the wind is howling and we are expecting snow and freezing rain today. Please powers that be, leave the electricity on. Does that sound selfish???  If the power goes out, I'll just move my chair to the window and stitch hexies....until then, I'm going in the sewing room and turn on the machine and the book and cuddle under Tumalo Trail as I'm quilting.

9 am...so far the power has stayed on. I have a couple loads of laundry going and Ernie went out to breakfast with his buddies so I quilted. I've made great progress.  One bobbin done. Time for my breakfast, another cuppa coffee, fill the crockpot with soup makings and fold that load of clothes before I go back to it.

3 pm...I'm done for the day. All of the cross hatching is finished down the center of the blocks, the 1"sashing has been quilted with a simple straight line down the middle. Now I am working on the piano key border.  A good start on side 2 but my shoulders and hands are achy and I by back is done. So ibuprofen has been taken, time to settle in on the couch and cuddle with my little dog before I have to fix dinner.

What a great day of quilting. The snow has started and the wind is still blowing and the power stayed on. Yes, it was a great day!

Quiltathon--Day 2

9:30 am  Quiltathon Day 2 with Patchwork Times has started off with a bang. Then reality set in.

Yesterday was such a successful day, my plan worked great. This morning I got out Tumalo Trail and the flannel backing that is ready to go. They both need a nice pressing before basting begins but that won't take long. I was so excited to use wool batting but sadly there is not enough. No problem, I have plenty of other batting to use. It just has to be pieced together. And that won't take long either.

I have a couple movies in my Netflix que that I'm excited to watch. I've already warned Ernie that it's my day for the tv but if he wants my time to go faster, he can help me pin baste. Think that will happen? I don't. 😕

I'll check in later....I'll continue down the page from here.

11:30 am  Batting is pieced, ready to set up the tables, turn on the first movie and get to pinning!  Maybe I'll have a little lunch before I begin.

5 pm

Pin basting is complete!  Yeehaw!! Sometimes that's a big job. I couldn't persuade anyone to help so I turned on my movie (The Fundamentals of Caring--great movie) and got busy.  Bobbins are wound, machine oiled, new needle, walking foot on and thread is through the needle.  I'm ready to start quilting bright and early in the morning or later tonight. I don't know. 

It's Quiltathon Day1

7:30 am
Yeah! It's Quiltathon Day 1 with Patchwork Times. I have to confess, I thought it started tomorrow. Somewhere my brain told me Friday. So I'll take care of a few things this morning and then It's Quiltathon Day!! Dinner is planned and needs a little prepping for the dinner cooker, a couple loads of laundry need to be taken care of and then.......watch out!

Judy L at Patchwork Times is hosting a monthly UFO Challenge and a monthly Quiltathon. You can check these out at her tabs and sidebar. So my grand plan is to work on the UFO of the month during my own marathon sewing times and for the Quiltathon work on one of my Bonnie Hunter designs that need quilted. I'm retreating with her in May and need my show and tell to be completed quilts. These Quiltathons work for me when I have a grand plan for my projects.

I had big plans for this Quiltathon before I got so sick. So my plans have changed a bit. I will be working on my Quiltville mystery today. I am close to completing part 6, just have a few blocks left to trim and then I will get busy on part 7. That's my plan for today, tomorrow my plans change my original plan.  Ohhh the plans we make and what really happens! Cross your fingers.

My original plan was to quilt Tumalo Trail. It's been aging since September 2015. I have flannel for the back, wool for the batting and the binding is ready. Simple quilting and this will be ready for Ernie to use as planned when I started it.  Maybe tonight will be a good movie watching/pin basting night.

Let's get this party started! I'll check in later with my progress.

.

Check in #1--8:30 part 6 is done and in the basket.






Check in #2--1130 Part 7 is all cut and ready to sew. After lunch I'm ready to sew. I have a good audio book playing-too bad I can't remember the name of it.  I feel like I am making good headway with my plan for the day. I even brainstormed about the thread color for my quilting and got it out of the thread box, LOL

Check in #3--6:15 I am done for the day. All of my parts for En Provence are complete. It was a good sewing day.  We went for a nice little walk through the snow this afternoon while the sun was shining bright and the wind was howling. It felt good to be outside. Came back in and went right to the sewing room. I had to lay out one block just to see how my fabrics work. I'm using one yellow for all the blocks as I didn't have enough variety. But that's ok, I like it!

Can't wait to start day 2. I don't think any pin basting will happen tonight.

2017 Finish #1

Yeah me! 

The Quilt As You Go String Quilt is finished!

It's fun to turn on a good book and just sew. 

The string bin doesn't feel any lighter. 

I know it is.

I love using up scraps of batting and

deep stash fabrics that I'm not in love with any more.

I also love the randomness of the backing.

There is no pressure when you just pick a block and 

join it to the previous block.

It is now in the washer almost ready for the dryer.

My favorite part of quilting is pulling the warm quilt from the dryer the first time 

and having a good, toasty snuggle.

Design Wall Monday

Happy 2017 Design Wall Monday Readers.

I have 3 things happening this first week of the new year.

Under my needle right now is row 6 of 8 rows for a charity string quilt.

This is a Quilt As You Go that I was going full speed ahead on until...

that dreaded cold/flu slapped me to the floor.

(I think I am over it finally.)

So between Quiltville mystery clues,

 I have been joining the blocks into rows 

and then joining each row to the last.until the last 3 rows.

I just had to change things up a bit!

I have the last 2 rows sewn together so I am going to keep going until it's finished.

Everything is done by machine, including the binding which is ready to use.

Today, maybe??

afternoon edit:  Yeah it's finished!

Last Friday we got the clue for part 6 of En Provence.

I was working on the string quilt so I haven't started those yet.

Then yesterday Bonnie gives us the final clue!

As much as I want to jump right in and get this going,

I'm going to finish my string quilt first.

You can bet that some of these blocks will happen this week!

I've seen some fabulous blocks coming together on the Facebook group.

This is a photo of UFO #3 from Patchwork Times UFO Challenge.

I belong to an internet quilting group and we used to do monthly block exchanges.

I'm embarrassed to admit these blocks are from 2005!

But in February 2015, I quilted them and posted my plan.

Well, that plan was a bust!

I'm making a bit of a change to that plan 

and these blocks will become a fabulous quilt soon.

So it's time to get busy and make it happen now.

We welcomed in 2017 with a blanket of beauty.

I love early morning light photos.

We spent the day with a group of friends,

had a wonderful time and 

now I'm ready to hunker down into my winter hibernation,

See fabulous design walls at 

Patchwork Times Design Wall Monday.