Lovely Year of Finishes April

After writing my Yarn Along post for today I've realized that it would be a good idea to make a list of everything I want to finish before this year's quilt show. Since Fiber of All Sorts hosts a linky party for this every month I'll be linking up over there.

First up is to finish the binding on my comma quilt. This poor thing has had the quilting done since the beginning of February and still isn't finished. I do have the binding attached and have sewn half of it down already so hopefully this will be finished this week. Along with the binding I want to put labels on this quilt and the Hobbit quilt.

The big project for this month is the mystery quilt. I've gathered my backing, batting, and thread. Friday my quilt guild is hosting a work night so I should be able to baste my quilt then. I think I've decided to quilt this with lots of swirls. I debated doing something to highlight the ribbons and just do a single swirl in each churn dash, but then I remembered my FMQ skills aren't there yet.

Finally I'm putting my Crosshatch Bag on the list. I made the center portions the right size and started assembling the blocks when my bobbin ran out. I was getting tired so I took that as my cue to quit. I need to finish putting the blocks together and then make the bag. My focus this month is going to be to finish the Mystery Quilt so this one might be on the list again next month. One of my friends is hosting a Great Strides Walk this summer to raise funds for CF research. I'm planning to sell my mystery quilt for her walk, but I'm pretty sure people will only want to buy a finished quilt.

Focusing on the Finish Line

Last week I was happily working along on the green sweater when I saw another blogger posting about the Ravellenic Games. Immediately I wanted to set greeny aside and cast on a new sweater with the lofty hopes of finishing it in two weeks. My husband knows me very well and knows that at the end of the two weeks I'd have another WIP and would be upset with myself for not meeting the impossible goal. He gently reminded me that I have several projects on the verge of being done and questioned if this really was the best time to start a new sweater. As usual he was right and inspired me to set my own goal. In the next two weeks I will focus on finishing everything that is close to being finished. It won't count towards any competitions, but it's still a good goal.

Writer's Block is still patiently waiting for binding. I also got two tops back from my quilter so now there are three quilts that need binding and labels.

In addition to finishing the green sweater I also need to finish the button band on the brown blob (I ordered more yarn when I ordered buttons for greeny.) I need to finish sewing the ribbon onto the steeked part of the purple monster and add buttons. (I also might need to find a solution to loosening the wrists. The color work on the cuffs have made it so that the sleeves aren't comfortable.) The last thing on the list of things to be finished are my fingerless gloves.

These aren't all of my WIPs. (You'll notice the mystery quilt is no where to be seen.) These are just the projects that are one or two steps away from being finished. Last summer my husband helped me wind up my yarn mountain. The light blue yarn in the mountain is going into the fingerless gloves, the yellow yarn became Omelet (I should probably add a photo shoot of Omelet to my list of things to do in the next two weeks.) The brown yarn became a hat I made for my husband for Christmas, which leave the blue yarn at the base of the mountain. When I finish with this list I get to cast the blue yarn on for Anne's Cardigan.

Happy Groundhog's Day!

Today is one of my favorite holidays. What other day of the year do we stop to celebrate a furry little rodent and imbue said rodent with the power to predict the weather? Not to mention it's very hard to commercialize Groundhog's Day. Sure there are towns across the country with their own groundhogs or substitutes that will sell accessories and souvenirs, but the local Wal-mart didn't have a single groundhog themed item. Nevertheless I do have a Groundhog's Day gift for you. (As I type this Phil has just predicted six more weeks of winter. The way things have been going I expected it, but it's still disappointing.)

This is the Writer's Block quilt I've been making for my husband. I got it quilted last weekend and just have to do the binding. Since I've been teetering on the edge of health this week my dear sweet husband is strongly encouraging me to rest today and celebrate Groundhog's Day with a winter movie marathon. It will be a while before I can do a final photo shoot, but pictures will come when the weather gets a little better.

Writer's Block Drags On

I've got to learn not to name a quilt after a problem another creative field struggles with. In November I had my quilt top complete, went to a weekend workday hosted by my quilt guild and figured out the pieced backing. Sadly I went to lay the quilt out and discovered that my borders had more waves than the ocean. After ripping off the first border and cutting it according to the center measurement of the quilt rather than the edges (who knew quilt edges could lie) I discovered that the problem lay with the first pieced border I'd done. Originally I used my left over jelly roll strips to make an inner scrappy border, but it turns out my blocks are 7.75" rather than the 8" my border counted on. I've ripped off the first border (it's been put in time out and won't be allowed out until it agrees to play nice in a new project) and have decided to use just the solid border. Thankfully the quilt lays flat now and I was able to baste it pretty easily. My living room is a little cramped so I wasn't able to lay the whole quilt perfectly flat for basting, but I got half of it pinned and then rolled it and moved the other half to the wider floor space. 

Things were starting to look good for this quilt being finished before Christmas and my main machine jammed. I do have a second machine, but it doesn't have a cabinet with a nice flat bed and table to support the weight of the quilt. I'm hoping once my husband looks at the machine he'll figure out an easy fix and I can still use my main machine for quilting this thing. I might yet be able to get it under the tree this year.

Writer's Block Continues

Perhaps it wasn't such a great idea to design a quilt around the concept of writer's block. When my husband suggested the name after I brought home the fabric I fell in love instantly and my brain immediately started thinking of how to design a quilt around it. This week I've had nothing but frustrations with this quilt. After I began attaching the first of the white strips I discovered that my 6.5" blocks were really 6.75". A quarter inch feels so small until it's there or not there. I was good and picked out all of the stitches, trimmed the blocks (again) and did it right. I was hoping to have the blocks finished (possibly even sewn into a top) but life has yet again gotten in the way. 

There's one more step before I sew the blocks into rows, but I wanted an idea of what the quilt will look like. 

Does anyone recognize this pattern? My quilt was inspired by one I saw online, but now I can't find it. I would really love to know who made the original so I can give credit. 

Writer's Block

Now that I've finished the Penguin Quilt (still need to get good pics and edit the tutorial) I've returned my attention back to the Writer's Block. In cleaning and rearranging our living room we've created a reading nook where this quilt will be right at home. 

It's fairly hard to explain where I'm going with these blocks so I'm afraid you'll just have to be patient as this quilt evolves. The quilt in my head is somewhat complicated so it will still be a few weeks before I'll have a completed top to share.

I am taking notes of what I'm doing and will publish the pattern when it's done.

Introducing Writer's Block

In May my husband served as the night watchman at my guild's quilt show. He spent a lot of time walking and got to look at quilts and the vendors' stands. One of the vendors had pre-cuts of Moda's Comma. Every morning he would tell me about this fabric line and how much he liked it. Then he'd say the perfect husband thing...he liked it but I didn't need to buy it. I should buy whatever fabric I wanted. He pretty much guaranteed he was getting a Comma quilt with that phrase.

I wasn't able to go to the quilt show until Saturday. Since husband had been up the past three nights I let him stay home and sleep. When I came home I surprised him with a jelly roll and charm pack of Comma. As I talked about ideas for the fabric he suggested the name "Writer's Block" for the quilt. I love that my husband not only listens when I talk quilts with him, but offers valuable suggestions.

Once he suggseted "Writer's Block" I had a pretty good idea of how to make the blocks. I quickly got the fabrics sorted and sewn for the first step. I plan to make them a bit wonkier and then sew sashing around them so it feels more like the frustration that is writer's block.

Unfortunately I got distracted by another quilting project (I should be able to share more on that next Sunday) so these blocks have been languishing on my shelf. I'm hoping that by sharing this here I'll start focusing on this quilt again and might have it finished in time for Christmas.

SPQG 2013 Quilt Show part 2 (and some sneak peeks)

This is the second half of my pictures for the quilt show. (There were many more beautiful quilts, but if I share everything I'll be posting quilt show pictures all year.)

It's hard to tell in the picture, but lots of the accent pieces have touches of color. 

Not Quite Black and White by Natalie Brummel

Virg made this quilt when her brother retired from the Post Office. It honors his years as a mail carrier and his military service in Korea. 

(This quilt won member's choice.)

May America Always Be Free by Virg Oordt

Mary graduated with her Master of Science in Nursing this year. 

She made this quilt to hang in her exam room. 

Dragonflies in the Office by Mary De Young

This is one of the quilts from our Winter Workshop. 

Dancing Daisies by Mary Zagaeski

These are three of the challenge quilts this year. In order to encourage people to vote for the best quilt rather than their family or friend's quilt these are unlabeled aside from their voting number. 

(Out of the Box was my entry into this category.)

Finally here's a sneak peak of this summer's year's new quilts.

The first time I saw Comma I knew it would be perfect for my husband. After talking with him he came up with the name "Writer's Block" and I've come up with a pattern to match the name.

I'm joining Kathi from Design Originals by KC for her hand quilt along. This is going to be a memory quilt in honor of my puppy. I plan on machine piecing blocks from the light fabric and then hand appliqueing paw prints with the rainbow blocks.