Official Stashbusting UFO Top 10 List for 2011 !!!

Our Thursday Bee has a new challenge this year.  FINISH THOSE UFO'S.  Mariet suggested we do what one of her other Bees are doing, and then Gail S. sent her version of what the Bernina Material Girls are doing.
Make a detailed list of the 10 top UFO's (or Projects Half Done) that you want to complete during 2011.

Then when you show a completed UFO, you can go into more detail on exactly what you had to do to complete the UFO. Each person participating in the challenge will write on a slip of paper the number of points (1 min.-10 max) they think you deserve for the work you did. I will be the only person to see the points--and an average will be given to you on the chart I will be keeping. That's why it is important for you to go into detail the amount of work needed to complete the project.

When you decide on your 10 projects, you can email them to me. I will have a printed page for each person participating and a chart to write the point average you receive as your projects are completed. We will start our Challenge in February and the first meeting you can earn points will be the March meeting. Remember what you show for points must on on the list you turn in to me. So think about your stack of UFOs and determine which ones you really want to work on during 2011 and put those on your list.

Hope to hear that a lot of you will be participating. Have already heard from Jasmine, Mariet, Nita.  We twisted Linda G. arm and she said she will join us.   Join the fun and get some of your projects that are languishing at the bottom of the heap on your shelf or closet floor, bring them out and set a goal of completing at least 1 in the coming months. So get moving and let me know that you plan to participate.

Today is a good day to stay in--so look through your UFOs and come up with a list of 10. Happy Hunting!!!!!

"It may just need binding, a final border, or a little quilting. It does not matter how much needs to be completed because it still qualifies for a "Project Half Done."

HERE IS MY LIST:

1. Blue White square in a Square with Pink & white nine patches. Started 2003   Current Status. In process of enlarging top from double to king size. Not a whole top yet.2. Pineapple – red, White & black. Stuck on borders. Started 1999

3. Road to Fairmeadows. King size drunkard’s path variation. Started 1998 (one block has appliqué ‘2009’) Still in blocks, needs appliqué and border, quilting and completion.

4. What’s the point? Patches on point. Needs border and quilting

5. Boston Commons. Top only. Started 1987

6. BRIGHTS churn dash – blocks only. 2010

7. Piece flying geese “Fly Away” swap blocks

8. Lindsey’s wedding quilt wall hanging. Signed pieces of fabric. 2009

9. 2 panel on point lap quilt. Fabric is cut!

10. Dream Quilt. Blocks are mostly done (277 pieces per block). Needs assembly and some idea of what to do for a border.
Who else is up for this?  the hardest part was deciding on JUST 10 - LOL

A Weeks Vacation Does a Body Good!

Well, Christmas has passed, and tonight is New years... Managed to get all my Chirstmas customers taken care of, and they seemed quite happy with their quilts.  Kids have gone home, Christmas decorations are put away. the house is clean, the STUDIO is clean, and I'm almost caught up on computer stuff.  Have to admit that I spent one whole day in my pajamas watching movies on the Hallmark channel.  Life is good.    Tomorrow, our Thursday Bee is having an all day sew-in at Ann's home.  Sounds like there are going to be 16 of there.  Ought to be cozy!

Speaking of the Thursday Bee, we had our Christmas party a couple of weeks ago and one of the gals made everyone (13 of us) handknit socks.   Here is a sampling of what Mariet created for us!  Our Bee is so giving, we also got handknit scarves, handknit washclothes (YES, this is a quilting Bee), pincushions, ornaments, homemade cookies and so on.  Such a generous, giving bunch of ladies.  When we meet tomorrow, we will decide final instructions for our next block swap which are sets of 2" x 4" Flying Geese - Positive and Negitive in contrasting Batiks.  

I have been doing quite a bit of knitting lately.  Right now, I'm working on a scarf for my daughter, I think the yarn I chose was a little too lumpy to see the actual pattern - but that might be to the good to cover any mistakes I might be making.  Almost done, then needs to be blocked.  This is the Cascade Jewel Hand Dyed yarn that I got at The Hen House awhile back.

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.

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!

Old is New Again!

How is this for old is new? My buddy Michelle purchased a hand crank sewing machine. Now, unlike me, where mine is just looking cool on a shelf, Michelle is set up in a field, pretending to watch her hubby flying model airplanes, and sewing quilts with her hand crank machine! I am so impressed and feel like some sort of challenge is in order. Talk about going green! Another buddy has a hand crank and I know she has already completed a quilt top with hers. I'm waiting to see if she quilts it with her hand-crank. I'm not sure how the logistics work with that. I have to have two hands to guide all those layers around. Not sure how I would do it with one hand on the quilt and the other on the wheel. Maybe we can get a picture??

I'm in a great Bee. We meet once a month, and we can crank out some quilts for Charity. Last Thursday, we hung out about 20 quilts that we have put together for nursing homes and for the Linus project. At the last guild meeting in May, we turned in 38 quilts. In the picture on the right is Michelle, Carolyn, Nancy, Connie, Mariet, Linda and Nita is kneeling in the front. A lot of this fabric is donated (those panels) , but a good deal of it comes from our own stashes. See that Log Cabin in the background? I have Blood, Sweat and Tears in that one - literally. I was cutting strips from scraps and had a major rotary cutter accident. That's the one where my finger was still bleeding the next morning, and Gail tells me to get my butt to the emergency room. Duh!


Back in April, I mentioned the strip workshop that was a lot of fun. The patterns were 'Pole Dancing', 'Street Corner' and so on. This one you can see we were all getting a lot done! NOT. Pictured left to right is Ann, Gail, Linda, Michelle and little old me, again from the Thursday Night Bee - otherwise known as the Sub-Bee! Well, we do have other names, but I can't reveal those!

Retreat! RETREAT!

I love going on quilting retreats! Just got back from the first of two that I'll be going on this month. Our Thursday Bee (yes - that is the name, thank you very much) went to Camp Allen in Waller County, Texas. It is a great place, all the amenities, and no hubbies or kids! We are all responsible for preparation of at least one meal, and everyone always brings extra, so there is plenty of food, plenty of snacks, plenty of deserts and best of all, plenty of MUDSLIDES - our official drink on retreats!

There were 10 of us this time. Usually, we have around 8, but we are experts at moving the cabin furniture out of the way (into closets and the larger bedroom), getting our tables set up, knickknacks off of the walls (so we can hang design walls), fireplace hearth cleared (where we set up a cutting table), food put away, ott-lites, irons and sewing machines all running. It is fortunate that we are not charged for electricity, and don't have any problems blowing fuses.

Retreat officially starts on Thursday afternoon, but I didn't go until Friday morning. That's OK, I still got a pile of 9 patches done for a swap that is due in May, my Smokey Mountains UFO quilt top nearly complete (need to figure out the borders), a customer T-Shirt quilt top pieced, and significant progress on the Wedding Ring quilt for my daughter that was married in 2001! Also learned how to knit/purl on 2 pointed needles (Thanks Nancy!). Also found out a new way to cast on stitches, and that I had been Purling wrong (thanks Mariet!). Oh, this was Mariets' first Retreat! A retreat VIRGIN! She did fine, was quiet the first day, trying to figure out WHY the rest of us brought so much STUFF (including our rolling comfy chairs).

Michelle 'thought' she knew what she was doing with her half square triangles, but on Thursday night, everybody started re-arranging her blocks, and 'informed' her that she 'would' be making some changes. After seeing a photo in the camera, Michelle saw the error of her ways and changed the layout. It is going to be an awesome quilt. Then she started on a 'typical Michelle' project - a miniature for the Ami Simms Alzheimer auction. She started working on teensey tiny 9-patches, starting with 1 inch strips! Of course, they were turning out beautifully, and no bulk!
Linda G. was at the end of the table chanting her mantra of "Fat, Fat, Skinny, Skinny" as she was cranking out he teensy tiny blocks for her quilt. Now, how many red strips did you cut? (something like 1100) She did complete over a hundred of the blocks (only 300 to go!), Nita finished pieceing her Stash Box quilt top and got a good start on another quilt. Gail finished some charity quilts and then pulled her BLOW quilt out for all to see. This is her first paper piecing project and she is doing a great job - even if she is left-handed - and doing it the way Michelle showed her to do it! We tease Michelle because when she paper pieces, the fabric is on the same side of the printing instead of the backside! (OK, my first pineapple paper piecing was done that way as well! LOL)

Connie put her 'floating' appliqued rooster on the wall and received lots of input on what else to do with her wallhanging. There is now a tree to one side, leaves, eggs, grass, and chickens peeking in from the side (again, many thanks Mariet!)

Once Sunday morning comes, we lay out all the left-overs, including the deserts, and have the best buffet breakfast! We sew a little more, then start tearing down our sewing areas. By 11 or so, we have restored the cabin to it's original glory, and no one ever knows the transformation that went on!