Monday, January 29, 2018

First Finish - 2018

My first finish for the year and it was a fun one.




The pattern is Lloyd and Lola by Elizabeth Hartman.  I made this quilt for my daughter, she rarely asks for a quilt but this caught her eye and I have to admit to being a llama lover myself.


The faces have a lot of pieces, around 50 each I think, and took some time, but I love their look and and think they really do look like lamas.


You may have noticed that the pattern has two full size llamas, my daughter requested a mama llama and a baby llama.  I thought cutting the fullsize pattern in half would result in a baby llama that was too small, so I went with 3/4 the original pattern.  2/3 might have been a little better but the math would have been a killer.  If you're ever playing around with patterns reducing or enlarging by 25, 50 or 75 percent is a breeze,  because you usually end up with pieces that have 1/8ths or 16ths, manageable and on rulers.




This is Lifetime Quilt Number 219
The pattern is Lloyd and Lola by Elizabeth Hartman
The colored prints are Sundrops by Corey Yoder for Coriander Quilts for Moda
The llama prints are Merrily by Ginger for Moda
The background fabric is a Peppered Cotton, the color is fog
It finished at 56 1\2" by 70 1\2"
It has approximately 393 pieces.

I've pieced the backing but had to order binding fabric, so I"m allowing myself to start something new, even though technically that's not my new goal, to finish backing AND binding before starting something new.  I think my next project will actually be something from my 2018 goals list, I may finally get that black and white quilt off my to do list. 

I hope your year is off to a great start, I'm finally over the flu and a sinus infection and packed up the last of my Christmas decorations yesterday, Christmas was a long season at my house this year.  But now I"m feeling better and expect to spend some quality time in my sewing room the month of February.


Wednesday, January 17, 2018

2018 - Here I Come

I always like to blog about what I want to accomplish in the new year.  One benefit is if I lose my quilting mojo during the year, reading my goals post gets me back on track. Plus I'm just a planner at heart, I never feel like I have to accomplish everything on my Quilting To Do List, the list is really more like guidelines, and I'm a gal who likes guidelines.  And finally, I always get a chuckle at the end of the year when I compare what I wanted to accomplish to what I actually accomplished.

So here's what I'm thinking about working on this year.

One goal stays the same year in and year out, to finish 12 quilt tops, one per month.  Anything more than 12 is gravy.

A goal I had for 2017 was to not start a new project until I pieced the backing and binding for the last project, plus work to get caught up on the backings and bindings from prior projects.  Well I met the not start a new project goal about 50% of the time and worked on the prior projects a little, leaving me in even worse shape at the end of 2017 than the beginning.  So my new goal is to not start a new project this year until I'm caught up on my binding and backing from prior years.



And I'm happy to report that I'm all caught up on my binding!  A first in my quilting life for sure and it feels great.  Plus I only have one more backing to piece and I'll be totally caught up.  A new project is just around the corner for me.

This year I would like to make a quilt top using solids.


Nicole at Sisters Choice made this beautiful Triangles Gatherings quilt while sewing along with Primitive Gatherings.  I think it would look great in solids.  I've printed off the block patterns, all I need to do now is decide on my solids.

Another annual goal of mine is to piece a Red and White quilt, I don't think anyone can have too many Red and White quilts.


I have a long list of Red and White quilts that I would like to make, but 2018 may just be the year I piece A Red Letter Day.


I have two kits I hope to piece.



Merrily, which I have, I just need to put it together, hopefully next month.

And this Swell kit,


which I've preordered from Green Fairy and hope to get to this summer,  so I can get it quilted before Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas quilts, it sure would be nice if I finished about 6 of them.  I would like all my relatives to have new Christmas quilts this year.


I love making Christmas quilts but I love them so much it's hard to give them away.  I should make two Winterville's this year, one for me, one to give a way.

I love this AP&Q quilt along quilt.


The pattern is On the Bright Side.  I think I have enough Bonnie and Camille scraps to make this quilt top without having to buy any new fabric.

And speaking of Bonnie and Camille, I love both these patterns,


but am thinking maybe I could mesh the two together by substituting the bobbin blocks for the stripes separating the spool blocks.  I just love it when I can knock two quilts off my list by piecing one combo quilt.

Last year I finally made Swoon,


maybe 2018 is the year I make Swoon Sixteen.

I've signed up for two Blocks of the Month.  I've not participated in any in a few years.  I enjoy that good feeling of accomplishment each month when I make the blocks but when I stop and figure up how much fabric I could have bought with the money I spent on the BOM it's mind boggling.  But not having to make fabric decisions is worth something, right?  I've signed up for a Kaffe Fassett Mystery block of the month and a Fig Tree Red and Cream quilt.  I'm really curious about the KF mystery quilt, I've made one Kaffe Fassett quilt and really like it, but it's really hard for me to pick out Kaffe fabric, let alone use it.  This BOM will free me from having to make fabric choices and just enjoy the process of piecing the blocks.  I'm trying not to freak out about the mystery part of the project and just enjoy the monthly surprise.

A couple more carry over goals from 2017 are a low volume quilt and a black and white quilt.

Last year I couldn't shake the feeling that I was running out of time, so many quilts to make, so little time, it was exhausting.  This year I'm feeling more mellow, and appreciate what I have been able to accomplish,  I think my one overriding goal is to enjoy every minute I get to spend in my sewing room and love any project that I'm working on, a pretty easy goal.


Saturday, January 6, 2018

Miss Rosie - Year of Thelma Sew Along Parade

It's parade time.   Remember how back in February I asked for folks to sew along any Miss Rosie Quilt Co pattern to help me celebrate the year of Thelma?  Well I ended up piecing 3 MRQC tops and had a few friends sew along.  If you have a quilt for the parade please send me a link to your blog or a pic and I'll add it to the parade.

Another quilt for the Year of Thelma MRQC Parade!


This Lucy was made by my Australian quilting friend Helen.  That's the nice thing about technology, we make quilting friends from all over the globe.  Far away friends, a wonderful gift for the year of Thelma.

And here is an addition that Kristen finished in May that I completely forgot about but am so happy to add to the parade.


Cracked Pots - This happy colorful version has me thinking I need to add this pattern to my 2018 Quilting List.  Read more about this quilt on Kristen blog Meadowbrook.


Here are my three, first up, perfect timing, Due South just got home from the quilter.


Connie from Quilts Plus in Indianapolis finished this top for me.  I'm so happy to have it home I put it immediately on the guest room bed.  A nice January quilt while I'm trying to decide where to travel to this year.  With the temps we're having right now, due south sounds perfect.

I also finished two Lucys


Halloween Lucy
and
and Falalalala Lucy.


Sinta and Gail also pieced Lucys.


Here is Gail's version of Lucy
and


 here is Sinta's

And here is Tracey's parade submission


Jellystone.


Great job ladies and thanks for sewing along.

I traveled between Christmas and New Years and then came home with the flu.  I'm just now starting to feel better but still have all my Christmas decorations to contend with.  It will be at least another week before I'm back in my sewing room, but I am working on my 2018 sewing goals which is the next best thing to sewing.    I hope to have that list done by next week.

I hope your sewing year is off to a great start, thanks for stopping by.