January UFO Finished

This little Texas Pine tree star is my first UFO finish for 2010.  Just barely in under the wire, and only because I had to turn it in on the 28th for the  Tri County Quilt show.  Nothing like a deadline to get things done!  (That's weird, this new camera I have dates the pictures to the date you download not the date you took it.  Probably need to read the book.)

Can you believe it?  This is actually HAND QUILTED!!  There is a little bit of blanket stitch and the applique is fused.  A first for me, as I usually do needle-turn.  Oh well, finished is better than perfection.  Did most of the hand quilting in the car on various road trips, which is why it fell into the UFO pile.  Started it a couple of years ago, and found it on a shelf in the closet.



Been doing a bunch of knitting.  Caught that little bug at Quilt Festival of all places!  Anyway, finished several 'little' crafty projects, and am working on a felted rug right now.  It is a quilt pattern (HST - half square triangles) and will show pictures when it is done.  Another of my quilting friends has also started knitting and has already finished a hat and a shrug.  Way to go Michelle!  I realize now that my ambittion to make socks last year was a bit much, but am confident I can do it this year.  Next year I plan to join the sock club at Twisted Yarns in Spring, TX.    Guess I'll have to start a UFO KNIT project list as well.  .

No new fabric purchased this week, didn't cut any fabric or use any, but did work on several swaps where I cut the fabric last week.  Most of the swaps are due later in February.  Will show pictures after we swap.
More later.

Stashbusting January 2010

January has 5 weeks, so ought to be able to use up more fabric this month! Here is my report so far:

Used this Week: 14.5 yards **
Used year to Date: 20 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date: 0 yards
Net Used for 2010: 35.5 yards

** Used
5 yards of a beautiful blue batik for the WHQG quilt show donation quilt.
2 yards various yardage for Bricks swap (due Feb 9)
1 yard various prints for Road to Stars swap (due Feb 2) for KR Bee
2.5 yards various prints for Montana Two Step Swap (for Thursday Bee)
1 yard for 9 patches for new grandmas (great-grandmas) for KR Bee.
1 yard scraps for triangles charm quilt (1000 pyramid type)
2 yards (8 fat qtrs) of various Christmas prints cut into 1.5" strips. Sharing with Nita.

UFO Finishes!

I had bought the fabric for this quilt back in March 2008 when we were headed for our retreat in Gaveston Texas at the quiltshop Quilts By The Bay. (This was before they got wiped out by Hurricane IKE). I had shown Rachael the fabric after I had bought it and told her that I couldn't do it for her first Christmas (Dec 2008), but would do it for her first birthday. Well, her first birthday was in September 09, but we were in Mexico then and I didn't get around to it. So, after I finished up all the customer quilts before Christmas, I got started on this one. This photo is the stock photo, I'll get an actual picture when we get back to home.

The other quilt that I got finished is a Disappearing Nine-Patch done in Greens and Chocolate Browns for daughter Lindsey. This one had been started at beginning of 2009, and since we didn't do Christmas on the 25th, was able to get it completed for when we did exchange gifts after Christmas.

I think these two are a great start for the new year. I didn't get to play with my quilting buddies who had a sew-in at Ann's house yesterday. Looks like I'll be participating in several block swaps in 2010. Hopefully they won't end up on the UFO list.

Things I Wanted To Do in 2009

At the beginning of 2009, I put together a list of things that I wanted to do or try. These weren't necessarily resolutions, but things that would help me in my journey towards allowing myself to be more creative.

Happy to say I accomplished most everything on the list. Even if I didn't finish it, I at least tried - and maybe decided that wasn't for me. I think I will have to have a 2010 List that will keep me motivated. How about you?

Stashbusting at its Best!

I have been sooooo good the last couple of weeks. Definitly no fabric shopping (Oh, except for some 50 cent Christmas fabric fat quarters from Hobly Lobly) The big news is that I used over 40 yards of fabric finishing up seven lap quilts (approx 60 x 72). Then, I got started on several swaps that are due the first couple of months in 2010. I figure another 3 yards so far on that. Today, I almost put together a whole top for 1 year old grand-daughter from fabrics that I bought in 2008. I guess I can count that as stashbusting as well as working on a UFO! Hope to get it done before we see the kids for Christmas next week. Need a better way to keep track of what I've used and added.

A friend of mine in Colorado sent me a big ole box of Alpaca roving? It has been cleaned and is super soft. I think I still need to card it it make it more like the roving that I have bought for my needlefelting. I asked Santa to bring me a hand weaving Spindle for Christmas, but I don't think the hints (or the list on the refrigerator) helped at all. I might still be surprized. We'll see. It's killing me not to get started working with the wool that Jan sent. I've been doing a lot of reading on the internet. I've decided that the hand spindle is all that I have room for right now. Hubby would probably shoot me if I asked for another room to start another hobby (spinning wheel). As long as I can keep it in the existing rooms, it shouldn't be a problem. (No picture, because it just looks like a black blob. Going to have to try differnt lighting.)

I found a great website for instruction on hand spinning at Joy of Hand Spinning Learned several new terms and found out a couple of other tools that I will need as well.

Week 49 (wow) Stash Report

OK, so I lost track of fabric months ago. But, I have really been going through a lot of it lately. Sometimes it is hard to differentiate between fabric I use for my stuff and customer quilts. BUT, if I use fabric for backings that have I have had for more than a year, that should count as stash-busting. In that case, I have been doing awesome.

I joined a new group with some friends of mine that while we only meet once a quarter, we have really been busting the stash. It is strongly encouraged to use only fabrics from our stash. The first exchange was 6 inch 9 patches, and the 2nd swap was HourGlass blocks to go with the 9-patches. I would have to do the math to figure out how much fabric I used to make 100 9-patches and 80 hourglass blocks, but I did not make a dent in the fabric. . The 3rd swap was with Black on White with BRIGHTs making Churn Dash blocks. Think I made 60 of those.

The fabric stash grew when a friend of mine moved to San Antonio and she passed on a bunch of fabric that she did not take with her.

My Thursday Bee is doing another swap that is not due until after the first of the year, but I have already started on the blocks. (Montana Scrappy from Lynn Roddy Browns 2nd Book - a "Texas 2 Step" variation) These blocks consist of smaller Hourglass blocks and 4 patches.

The Katy Rotary Bee (my Monday Bee) is doing two swaps. One is for the quilt that was on the cover of the June 2009 McCalls Quilt magazine. Then we are also doing a Thousand Pyramids triangle quilt and we are all swapping fabrics so that we can go for each triangle a different fabric (500 lights, 500 darks).

Now, I must brag that at Quilt Festival this year That I only bought 4 yards of fabric. 2.5 yards were fat quarters that were .75 cents each and the other was some woven stuff I bought (and have already used) in some Halloween projects.

Well, after looking at this list, guess I better go get to work on some of these projects!

Out of the loop

Have really been off the radar lately. Youngest daughter is now offically married, the reception is over and everyone is back home and back to work. This is the year that the kids visit the husbands family on Christmas, so we'll be having several celebrations this year. Plans are to go to Atlanta some time during those last two weeks.

Well, grand-daughter Chloe was just barely walking when we saw her the last time. The next week Rachael reports that not only is she walking, but that she is RUNNING! Good grief they grow up fast!

I'm in a lot of new Block swaps. Always sign up for way more than I need to do. Well, I do plan on doing most of them from my stash. My Thursday Bee are all going in together on 7 bolts of of ICE fabrics (that is Ivory, Cream and Ecru). I need to take some pictures of the swap that we just finished from my NO PITA Blockbuilders that meets once a quarter. It was Churndashes done with BRIGHTS and Black on White or White on Blacks. The new swaps all are using the creamy backgrounds and either civil war repros or scrappy fabrics.

Well, I thought I was getting rid of a LOT of fabric. A large container packed and overflowing with fabrics. Donated to the ARTITUDE bunch that is going to make a crazy quilt for a fund raiser for the next quilt show. I ended up coming home with a car packed to the gills with 'stuff' from a friend who is moving to San Antonio. She was having the junk movers come at 4:30, so we were all 'rescueing' good stuff that was just going to get dumped. Still going through things, but I think the neatest thing was the stone tumbler doo-hicky thingee. Can't wait to put some of the Huatulco shells and glass that we brought home in there and see what comes out.

PC or Mac?


Don't you all enjoy those Mac ads where PC is valiantly trying to prove himself as good as Mac? Well, I've been a PC user since the mid 80's and you would think that when I asked for a new computer for my birthday that I might consider a Mac. Well, I didn't, and I got a new Dell. Actually, it has been a pretty painless switch-over from my old pc to the new one. I was also afraid of Vista, but apparently I've got Microsoft 7. I actually kinda like it. Guess I'm that nerdy PC guy.

Quilt Market Houston

Back from Quilt Market. It was early this year, but I was more than ready. Didn't really see any new 'gadgets' that I couldn't live without. Lots of new fabrics, patterns and books. What I'm noticing is that the patterns really are not 'new', but the same old traditional thing done in current fabrics. Does that consitute a 'new' pattern? Reminds me when I was 'little' and Mom would take me to Cloth World to look at dress patterns. She would remind me to look at the 'lines' of the pattern not the colors that the pattern was presented in. I mean really, a Churn Dash or Hole in the Barn Door is still the same. Do we really need new patterns for them? Now, if the 'artist' is presenting a new technique, that is something else entirely. The same thing when your favorite author (Merced Lackey) releases a book and you get it because it is your favorite author after all, you get it home and you figure out it is a book you read 15 years ago, just has a new cover and a new title. Bummer. OK, off my soapbox, and back to the Market report.

I think I only took one picture, and that was of Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts. She has a couple of new books. HOP TO IT and FRIENDSHIP TRIANGLES . Friendship Triangles will be available in November 2009. Edyta was doing a book signing, and these were available to us at Market. She loves doing half square triangles and apparently one shop made about 50,000 of the little squares! I don't think it takes THAT many to make the cover quilt. LOL. I'm already doing the HOP TO IT applilque quilt. Well, lets just say I have the first block cut out. Not sure if I have actually put an applique stitch in yet. BUT, this will be one the of the projects that I'm working on while babysitting the OLD FASHIONED QUILTING BOOTH at Festival. I'll be one of the ones sitting around the quilting frame showing others how to hand quilt. Be sure to stop by and say hello!