Happy New Year!!!

Hello Everyone,

A new year has begun. Well, it did 16 days ago. Time to think and start fresh.

I did not continue to keep accurate records of how many quilts I made or how much fabric I used last year. Think I stopped somewhere in the summer. Plan on trying to do better this year.

With my quilting, I have started off the year with a bang!! Decided to start with a personal project. I got a red/tan Jacob's Ladder to the finished top stage!!! Yea!!! It is now in the "to be quilted" pile. Don't know when that will happen. LOL Have quite a number of quilts in that pile.

I then moved on to some donation quilts. I got 2 kid's tops done. Both are string quilts using a lime green center strip and bright tone on tones and novelties. I have more blocks in progress, so expect at least one or two more tops done with the lime green. These quilts measure at 40" by 58". Both will be bound in the same lime green. Here is a photo. Only one photo since both quilts look alike. I think some child will enjoy this. I was able to finish a top I had been working on since before the holidays. It is called "Saddle Tramp" and the pattern was from Quick Quilts Sept/Oct 2010 issue. This measures 64" by 91" and will be bound in the same red that is throughout the quilt. This will go to a Vet here in Maine.






I was looking around my sewing area, trying to tidy some (that did not go so well. LOL) when I found a stack of floral string blocks that I had made last year. These were left over blocks from other completed projects. Some have pink center strings and others have green. Usually, I use the same fabric for the center throughout a quilt, but did not have enough of either for a full quilt. So, I combined them together, alternating every two rows. Think it came out okay looking. This quilt will go to a long term homeless shelter next winter. It measures 54" by 72".
I also found some string blocks that had been given to me back in Sept. These were left over from another quilt. There was not enough for an entire quilt. I did not want to make the blocks to bring up the numbers because they all had the same center strip and I did not have anything that was close. So, in order to make the quilt large enough, I sashed in between the rows and then put a border around with the same fabric as sashing. It will be bound with the same fabric, also. Busted some stash with this one!!! It measures 64" by 75". It will probably be a Vet's quilt. This next quilt is a child size quilt, measuring 36" by 46". The center section was left over from a full size quilt done with these blocks. They are rectangle string blocks. The center measured only 25" by 35", so I knew it needed a border to bring it up a bit. These blocks, while specifically not made with a child in mind, did have a lot of brighter tone on tones mixed in. So, I dug through my stash and found a cute fabric that I remember getting on clearance a few years ago. It has the names and colors of crayons all over it. I first put a small inner red border and then the novelty border. It will also be bound with the same red.
Next, I decided to work on another personal project. Trying to balance my sewing between personal and donation. I had been thinking over the last several months, that I wanted to make some Friendship Star blocks throughout the year with no particular end result in mind.

Because I make mostly scrap quilts, and we all know how scrap multiply in the dark, I have not had the chance to use the fabrics that I have sorted by color. I discovered Judy L.'s monochromatic challenge and decided this was a perfect opportunity to jump start what had been floating around in my head. http://www.patchworktimes.com/2011-monochromatic-challenge/

(I don't know how to make the link smaller, sorry. )

So, January's color is yellow. So far, I have made 16 yellow friendship stars, each a different fabric. I have 12 all yellow string blocks done and trimmed with 12 more in progress. It is amazing how many string blocks you can get out of a generous handful of strings. I did not cut any strings specifically. Whatever I had from squaring up the fabric to cut for the stars. If there was less than a quarter yard after I cut the size I needed for the stars, then I cut the rest into 2.5" and 2" strips. Anything smaller than that went into the string pile.

Since the stars called for one 3.5" square and two 4" squares, and I cut a strip of each size from the fabrics, I have decided to make 9 patches from the 3.5" and 4 patches from the 4". I haven't gotten around to those yet.

Again, I am making them with no end result in mind. Just playing around. The way I figure it, by the end of the year, I will have a very large stack of stars, string blocks, 9 patches and 4 patches. OH, the possibilities!!! LOL

I started another donation quilt. Using a lot of florals in this one. I called the pattern "Tic Tac Toe". It is made up of 9 patches, rail fence blocks, and 6" squares. I have made several quilts in tis pattern. It is a great way to use up 2.5" strips and squares. My 2.5" box is so full I can barely get it closed. I probably took out enough to make two quilts and there is no noticeable difference. (sigh)

So, what are you working on??

Darlene

Two more tops done!!!

Hello Everyone,


It is another cold, but clear day here in Maine. I am glad about that. The snow can stay away!!!

This first picture is of my green and yellow string top. I love the way it came out. I cannot take credit for the setting. A year or two ago I saw a blue and yellow string top set this way. I made a copy of the picture for my "someday" file. When I started thinking about making green and yellow string blocks, the picture, literally, fell out of my file and onto the floor. Someone out in the world is meant to have this quilt. So, whoever you are that was the original inspiration for this quilt, I and the future recipient thank you for sharing your artistic talent with us.



This next photo is my pink/purple/white string top. This is a very girly quilt. there are several more like this in my future. I still have lots of pink strings. Purple strings are getting scarce, but I will think of something. Anyone out in cyber space have purple they don't want anymore??? :)

Both of these quilts will go to a homeless shelter this coming winter. I like making string quilts for the shelters, because they are pieced on a foundation and therefore, are a bit warmer and heavier.


I wandered around my sewing area after finishing these two tops this morning, trying to decide what to do next. Decided I am still in a string mood, so cut the rest of my foundation fabric and started another green and yellow set. I think I have just enough foundations for another top.


What is going on in your sewing room??


Darlene

Three quilt tops done!!

Hello Everyone,


I finished three donation tops this week. This first photo is a string quilt made with all kid's novelty prints. I used a bright lime green for the center strips and it will be bound in a bright green. This will go to a long term homeless shelter this coming winter.

These next two photos are also string quilts. I used all red, white, and blue strings. I have my friend Bev to thank for the many patriotic scraps. I used all the same blue for the center strings. I feel it brings a nice balance to all the different fabrics.
On one top I used a smaller inner border of red and a larger outer border of navy blue with stars. That quilt will be bound in the same red. On the other top, I used the same red and blue, but reversed the placements. The second top will be bound in the blue.


On a stashbusting note.....all three of these quilts came from stash. I used all but one strip of the blue with stars, so none of that went back into stash. That last lone strip got put into my container of red/white/blue strings.


I am currently working on another set of string blocks. These are being done in greens and yellows. Never did this combo before, but I am liking how they are coming out. I hope to have that top done by the end of this weekend.


I also have a set of pink/purple/white string blocks done. Well, almost done. I recounted and found I am 3 blocks short, so will need to get those done this week, also. I would like to get this top done by the end of the weekend, also.


After finishing these next two string tops, I plan on working on a personal project or two. I have a number of finished tops that I got backings for already. I just need to piece the backings and cut the batting. I want those ready to go for quilting. I also have a quilt that I am making for a friend. It is the "Stretched Star" pattern from the "Nickel Quilts" book.


What are you working on??


Darlene

Still sewing!!

Hello Everyone in cyber space!!!

It is a bright sunny, but cold day here in Maine. I plan on staying in and spending most of my day sewing. I am currantly working on pink/purple/white string blocks. Felt like doing something different.

I just finished trimming some novelty blocks that I finished last month. Trimming is my least favorite part of the process. Since I make large stacks of blocks at a time, my trimming gets done a little at a time.

I am almost done trimming up the red/white/blue blocks I have been working on. Should have those all trimmed and counted by this evening. I started a list on my side bar to tally my string blocks for the year. I like to watch the numbers grow. This will keep me motivated.

Last Saturday I spent the day in NH sewing with a great bunch of women. We had a wonderful day!! So glad I got a chance to meet them all. It is always great to make new quilting friends. Our machines hummed for about 7 hours!!!

I never did get a chance for photos. Camera batteries were dead. (heavy sigh) I really need to make charging batteries habit. I know that lots of photos were posted on the HeartStrings yahoo group. This is where we all met in cyber space. So nice to put faces to names.

Will have photos of some tops soon. Hoping to put together a novelty string top and a r/w/b string top this weekend. Just need to decide how big I am going to set them and if I am using borders or not.

Have a wonderful day!!!

Darlene

Got my computer back!!

Well, time to start a new year. I know, I know, it is already a month into the year, but I have been without a computer for 2 months. Finally getting caught up.

Tomorrow, I am off for the day to sew with a group of ladies. Most of them are from the yahoo group of HeartStrings. I am looking forward to meeting them. I should have pictures to share when I get home.

Today, I need to finish a donation top and then get everything ready to take with me tomorrow. We are off bright and early for the drive to NH. Also, I need to go pick up my machine at the shop. It was in for some maintainance work. Will probably be humming along nicely, tomorrow.

Stay warm and safe, everyone!!! A good day to stay in and sew, here in my neck of the woods.

Darlene

Goals

I have decided that I get more accomplished if I write my quilting goals here. So, even though the week is half over, I am going to list what I want to get done by Sunday evening.


1. Finish top of Lattice quilt
2. Trim the rest of QAYG blocks
3. Make the rest of the red/tan 4 patches needed to finish double 4 patch top


I had originally planned to make 350 QAYG blocks. I have changed my mind on that. I find I am getting a little overwhelmed by that goal. I feel as though I am not able to spend any time on my own personal projects. That being said, once this batch is trimmed to size, I plan on getting them in the mail to Sue by Sat. I have over 150 blocks done.


Still stitching,

Darlene

Cupcakes

Hey Everyone,


Do you love cupcakes?????


Sweet Pea over at Coffee Time Stitches is having a giveaway to celebrate her 400th post!!! Way to go, Sweat Pea!!!!! Go on over and check it out.

http://coffeetimestitches.blogspot.com/

Family Photos

I am back. Have not been around recently, so decided it was about time.

We got a chance to go visit my son, Steve, last week. He was able to get his son, Stephen Jr., for the afternoon. We got some cute pictures.

These first two pictures are of my Hubby on the floor playing with Stephen, Jr. and his tool bench. We got him the tool bench for Christmas. We remembered how much Steve liked his when he was that age. We were very glad to find one. He loves it.

In the background of this second picture, you can see my daughter, Lydia and my son, Steve. Lydia just turned 12 last week. Steve is 21 and you may be able to tell by the photo, but he is very tall, 6'4". The long legs give it away. LOL

These next two photos are of Lydia, Steve, and Stephen Jr. on the couch with Boo. Or, as Stephen Jr. calls him, "shitty shat". LOL (Stephen Jr. is 2 and a half) Apparently, he can't make the hard C sound yet. LOL

I have to give Boo lots of credit. She tolerated being chased and picked up and carried around quite well. Especially, given the fact that half the time she was upside down. She never hissed, bit, or clawed at the grandson. She must know that he means no harm and he was being as gentle as he could. She did run away occasionally, but not far. She would lay down in the middle of the floor where he could just pick her up again. What a good "shitty shat"!!!!!!!!!

This last photo is of Stephen Jr. and Lydia coloring together. I have both pictures on my fridge. LOL Even at 12 years old, Lydia stills likes to color. Actually, she is becoming a very good artist. She draws very well. We are hoping to get a scholarship for her to take a week long Cartooning class this summer.

I realized as I was loading the photos, that I did not get one of Summer, my son's financee. Tried to find the one of us at Thanksgiving, but can't find the file it is in. I'm sorry, Summer, my oversight. Summer is a beautiful girl and we welcome her to our family. She and Steve have set a date for the August 9th. We are all looking forward to the wedding.

On a quilting note, I have been working on "Quilt As You Go" blocks to send to JanMac in Australia, to be made into quilts for the bush fire victims. My goal is to send 350 blocks by the middle of summer. I have just about 150 finished and another 50 ready to go. So, well on my way to my goal. I must say, that without the string and batting scrap donations from others on the Heartstrings Group, I wouldn't be able to make this goal. Thanks to all of you!! You are the best group!!!!

What have you all been working on???

Darlene

Busy weekend!

Hello Everyone,

Saturday was a Make a Blanket Day for Project Linus. Even though I don't donate my quilts through this wonderful group, I decided to dedicate my weekend sewing to making kid's quilts. I got four tops completed and have two others in progress.

This first photo has Snoopy and Woodstock in St. Patrick's Day fabric. It measures 41" by 58". The binding will be the gold fabric. I used all of the Snoopy fabric and have less than half a yard of the gold and green fabrics left.

The next photo features John Deere fabric. I used the same gold that I used in the Snoopy quilt. In the John Deere farbic there is a touch of light blue, so I used that as the other alternating color. This way the quilt is not too dark. I have none of the blue or John Deere fabric left. The binding will be in the gold fabric. This quilt measures 40" by 57".

This next quilt has little orange fish in the center squares. It measures 43" by 52". I used up every bit of all three of these fabrics. Don't know what I will use to bind it, yet.

This fourth quilt has Bugs Bunny in the center squares. I pulled the orange and green from the small carrots in the fabric. Love the green, which reminds me of the leafy part of the top of the carrot. This quilt measures 41" by 58". I will bind this one with the green. I have none of the Bugs Bunny or the green fabric left. Have several yards of the orange left. Just bought that a few weeks ago.

My quilting goals for this week.........

1. Quilt, bind and mail a baby quilt

2. Finish the pink/purple/white Jacob's Ladder blocks

3. Continue working on some QAYG blocks for the Australia project on Heartstrings.

What have you all been up to?? What are your goals for the week??

Darlene

Been sick, Yuck.

Hello World,

I have been sick, so no blogging or sewing got done for over a week. Just got back to sewing some yesterday. Hopefully, will have some progress to share after the weekend.

Going to catch up on blog reading. Talk to you all later.

Darlene

January's stats

Hi All,

I am a few days late posting my January totals. Here they are...

1. Used 81.5 yards of fabric

2. Spent 75.5 hours doing something quilty

3. Finished and delivered one quilt

4. got several donation quilts to the finished top stage.

This is a picture of a Happy Block top I finished. This measures about 43" by 53". This was made with a stack of 5" squares I had left over from making "I Spy" quilts a few years ago. All the framing fabrics came from stash. A very easy way to use up scraps.

This second quilt is about 36" square and made out of flannel. I have a friend expecting her first baby and she knows it is a boy. I thought this would be great until I finished the top. That is when I noticed the words on the basketball flannel say Varsity Girls!!!! After my husband and I finished laughing, back to my flannel stash I went and this third picture is the top of the baby quilt I will send her.

For the last several days, I have been sub-cutting strips that I sewed last week. Been pinning them into 4 patches while I watch TV. Also, have been squaring up HSTs. Will soon begin constructing the blocks for the pattern, Idaho Beauty, from the book, "More Nickel Quilts".

What have you been doing lately??

Darlene

Tops finished and goals met.

Hello,



I am back again. Sunday, I spent a fun day sewing with some friends. I got three kid's tops done and the blocks for a fourth. Today, I put borders on two of those tops and got the fourth top all done.

This first photo is bright flowers bordered with blue and pink. I purchased the border fabric at a quilt shop that is closing down. Otherwise, all the fabric came from stash. The top measures 41" square. A nice size baby quilt. This will be bound with the pink. I used all the floral fabric and all the blue. Any left over pink fabric got sliced into 2.5" strips and put aside for more Happy Blocks.

This second quilt measures 40" by 48". The center squares are ballet slippers. All the fabric came from stash. This will be bound with the purple fabric. I used all the focus fabric.

This third top has fairy fabric for the center squares and border. The peachy pink and green really compliment the focus fabric. This quilt measures 40" by 48" and was made all from stash. This will be bound with the green. After cutting the binding, there was nothing left of any of these fabrics except a few small scraps.

This fourth top uses the same pink and purple as the ballet top. The focus squares are done with Pink Panther fabric. This quilt will be bound with the pink. It measures 40" by 57".

After cutting the binding strips from the pink and purple fabrics, there was only a small amount of the purple fabric left. I cut that into a 2.5" strip and put that in the project bag for Happy Blocks. I had enough of the pink fabric left to cut into 12 - 2.5" strips. Those have been set aside to be combined with another co-ordinating fabric for another planned top.

Between these four tops, I have used 6.5 yards of fabric. All, but a half yard of that, came from stash.

One of my goals last week was to get the borders on a string quilt. This top is now ready for quilting. Plan on binding it in the green. It measure 84" by 108".

One of my goals two weeks ago was to get the borders on my NYE mystery. I did, but never posted a picture of the finished top, so here it is. I put a thin light green border and then a larger border of the focus fabric. I will bind this one with the dark green.

Well, I think that is all that I have accomplished since the last time. My only goal this week is to make a baby quilt for a friend who I have watched grown up. She is having her first baby.

What have you all been doing??

Darlene

I have been busy.

Hi All,

I have not posted much this week, but I have been sewing. I had a few days that all I wanted to do was mindless sewing. Just feed fabric through the machine. Usually when I feel this way, I end up starting a new UFO, but not this time.

One of my goals for the week was to work on the Idaho Beauty ufo. When, I pulled that project bag, the next step needed was to make light and dark 4 patches. I already had the fabric cut, so I could just sit and sew.

As I was sewing I remembered that several other UFOs started needed the same thing, so I went digging around in my baskets. I pulled out 5 others that needed the same size 4 patch. they all had the fabric cut and ready, so I grabbed all of those pre-cut strips of lights and darks and spent about 5 hours total sewing strips.

Just because I am a bit odd I took a photo of all the strips before pressing. I even counted them. There are 287 strips of all sizes. some are width of fabric, a lot are from FQs. Decided to measure the stack. Ten inches worth of strips, a few are not shown, because I had already started pressing.

I try to keep my scraps tidied up by cutting and sorting them into boxes. I can, at almost any given time, grab a box and start a new quilt. Usually, the only thing I need to cut would be my neutral or lights. This being the case, I can go a long time without having to cut lots of fabric.


Well, after spending a day sewing, I was in the mood to cut fabric. I LOVE to cut fabric. I LOVE to take big pieces of fabric, cut it into smaller pieces, mix it up with other fabrics and then sew it back together.


Problem was, I didn't want to start a new project. I am trying to work on my very large collection of UFOs. What is a gal to do????? I know!!!!! Find a project that needs fabric cut to move onto the next stage!! And, so I did.


I have been working on Happy Blocks to make children's donation quilts. I had plenty of novelty fabrics, but was running out of my framing fabric. So, I spent 4 or 5 hours one day, digging through my stash and finding suitable fabrics that go together. Remember the photo I posted of my nice CLEAN table?? Well, here it is after a day of cutting.


This photo shows some strips that I cut both for the 4 patches I was doing and for the Happy Blocks.

This photo shows piles of fabric sorted for various things. One thing I did during my day of cutting was to kit up several planned Happy Blocks quilts. I have kits that feature fairies, butterflies, Pink Panther, ballet slippers, and bright flowers. I have all the blocks cut and all the framing strips. Yes, I know, all girly quilts. I have some sports fabric that I plan on making some quilts for boys, just haven't got co-ordinating fabrics, yet.

The next time I post, I hope to have a few pictures of some finished tops. I am having a sewing day with a few friends on Sunday. Planning on working on those Happy Block kits I got together.

What have you been up to???

Darlene

Quilt Done!!!

I just finished putting the binding on this quilt. It measures 72" by 97". I have had this top done for a year or more. Ran out of batting before Christmas, so this had to wait until Joann's had their sale over New Year's weekend.

This second photo was taken while I was pin basting the quilt. My ever faithful companion, Smokey, always likes to try out the quilts first. They get her "Meow" of approval.

I had three goals for this week....

1. tidy up an area of my sewing space - I had to clear this table off in order to baste, so check, one done.

2. quilt and bind the batiks squares - as you can see by the picture, check, two done.

3. put borders on NYE mystery quilt - I have the borders all pieced. Plan on getting them attached tomorrow.

Not bad for reaching my goals this week. Will post an updated photo of the NYE mystery tomorrow after I put the borders on.

Goals for the week of Jan. 18 - 25

1. Press Happy Blocks and put one top together

2. Work on UFO - Idaho Beauty from the book "More Nickel Quilts" This has been cut since last summer. Have the HSTs done, now need to begin piecing top.

3. Put borders on my floral string top.

Hope you all are staying warm and sewing up a "storm".

Darlene in ME

More Pictures

Hello,

I am back with more pictures. This first photo shows Hubby with the toilet roll holder. You can get a better idea what it looks like. It is very cute. The second photo, I forgot to rotate it before uploading it. Can't figure out how to do it now. Sorry.

This is a photo of a quilt top that will be finished and donated. The pattern is called "Hen and Her Chicks" from the book "Quilts from the Heart". I love this book. I have made several patterns already and have almost every pattern started in my UFOs. The small 9 patches are made with 1.5" squares. This is a great scrap user, as is most of the patterns in the book. Only the border was cut from yardage. The rest of the quilt, including the white, was all from scraps. I had the 1.5" and the 3.5" squares all pre-cut in my scrap boxes. I dug through my scrap basket and pulled all the white from previous projects, spent a little time pressing and trimming and in no time was ready to put this top together.

Over at a yahoo group I am on called Heartstrings, there is a project going on called Happy Blocks. Basically they are a framed square. This is a picture of just a few of the 116 blocks I have made so far. I pulled as many different brights out of my scrap basket and my stash as I could find. Dug around and found two baggies full of pre-cut novelty squares. This is going to be an ongoing project for me this winter. Not sure how many I am going to use per quilt. Will decide that when I am ready to put a top or two together. These will be donated quilts. There are several of us who make children's quilts and donate them to a local family crisis center.

This is my computer companion, Smokey. She often sits up on that shelf and keeps me company while I am at the computer. The quilt she is laying on was the second quilt I ever made. It is a full sized scrappy Irish Chain. It is completly hand pieced and hand quilted. It was a gift for my then 12 year old son. What was I thinking???!!!! Giving a quilt with so much white to a 12 year old boy? I must say, he absolutely loved that quilt. He was very rough with it, so now it needs some major repair. He keeps asking when he will get it back. I really need to make that a priority in the next few months. That quilt took me two years to complete start to finish. Every little 2" squares was traced from a template and then seam allowances were added. No rotary cutting. I did win a second place ribbon at the county fair. Was very pleased at that.

As you can see by the picture, this is also an area where I keep most of my stash. Those messy shelves actually hold boxes of pre-cut scraps. I trim my scraps into the largest size I can. I have boxes ranging from 1.5" up through to 6.5" by half inch increments. If I took a photo of the other part of this little room, you would see larger boxes where I store my stash by type and/or color.

Now, a bit of an update on my goals for this week. One goal was to tidy up some of my sewing areas. This picture shows my cutting and sandwiching table. It is now all cleaned off, so that I can work on another of my goals. Please ignore the messiness around the table. I keep my UFOs in large ziplock bags under the table. I have several laundry baskets into which I sort my UFOs.

The folded quilt on the table is the one I will be basting later today. The backing is washed and just needs to be pieced together. I have my tin of pins next to the quilt, so all is ready. I have several drawers in the white cabinet. There you will find my duct tape and junky scissors. I use duct tape to tape down my backing while basting. I find it works so much better than masking tape.

This final picture brings me to another of my goals for this week. This is a mystery quilt that I did over New Year's Eve. I love how it came out. I am planning on putting a small inner border of the light green. Then an outer border of the focus fabric. I have the borders all pieced and pressed, just waiting to go on. Will bind it in the dark green. I haven't decided if I am going to donate this one or keep it on hand. It is larger than the children's quilts I usually make, but would be a nice quilt for a boy.

That is what I have been up to so far this week. What have you been doing??

Darlene

Busy Week

Hello Everyone,

This has been a busy week for me. I spent at least 16 hours sewing this week. One thing I did was to put a group of string blocks together that my DH, Rick, has been working on. He made these blocks all out of bright and novelty strings. This will be donated locally to a family crisis center. I am sure it will make some child smile. Here he is with the completed top. It still needs quilting.

This is his first quilting project. He started the blocks last winter when he couldn't get out to his workshop because of snow and ice. He finished them this week and when tried to put the blocks together, his sewing machine kept jamming up and he was getting frustrated. Because the blocks are pieced on a foundation, there is extra bulk. So as to not discourage him from more sewing, I agreed to put the blocks together. He did a wonderful job on the blocks.

Here are some pictures of woodworking projects he has been making. We will have better pictures later. The camera batteries died and needed to be recharged.

This first picture, you cannot really tell what it is, but it is a little wooden toilet that holds a spare roll of toilet paper. It really is cute. I will get another picture at a different angle, later.

This is a picture of a duck planter, painted red, although it looks pink. He can just imagine some red geraniums attracting humming birds in this planter.

Here is another duck planter. This one he stained rather than painted. This was made out of a very lovely cherry wood, so the staining shows the beauty of the wood.

Rick gets a lot of his wood at the recycling center. Brand new wood that people toss out.

I finished the top of the NYE mystery that I was working on. It came out cute. I decided it needed borders, so I have those all cut and ready to put on. When the borders are on, I will post a photo.

I have decide to try and post some weekly goals. I am hoping this will help me stay focused. So this weeks goals are..........

1. put borders on NYE mystery

2. sandwich, quilt and bind Jeff's quilt

3. tidy and organize sewing areas

Okay, that third goal is an ongoing process. It seems I am always trying to tidy and organzie. But, I figure, if I write it down, at least I will spend some time doing it.

I am off for now. Will post again soon.

Keep Sewing!!

Darlene

Fabric used

Good Morning!


On one of my groups, Stashbusters, they have had a challenge the past few years called "100 yard dash from stash". One year I kept track and was amazed at how much I used.

This year I have decided to keep track of all my fabric usage. To be counted, the project must be done with binding or my part is done and it has been passed on to someone else for finishing. For example...I make children's quilts to be donated to a local domestic violence center. I make the top and then pass that on to a friend of mine who has a long arm. She finishes the quilting and binding. So, once the top is out of my house, for my calculations, it is "done."

This being said, I have already used 56 yards of fabric this year. Yesterday, I mailed out three boxes to a friend who makes quilts for homeless shelters. I sent her 210 string blocks, 2 completed quilt tops, 100 log cabin blocks, and 24 chinese coins blocks. Roughly estimated at the 56 yards. All of those blocks and tops had some work that needed to be done. That is what I did the week between Christmas and January 4th.

I am going to try and keep track of the amount of time I spend sewing, also. So far in January I have spent roughly 20 hours sewing. I was working really hard to finish up the things I mentioned previously.

So far this year I am off to a good start. Let's hope I can keep the momentum going.

Keep Sewing!!

Darlene

Happy New Year

Hello Everyone!

I hope your 2009 has started out well. Mine has. I have been very busy working on some mystery quilts. This first picture is called "Mosaic Tiles" and this was a mystery posted on Christmas Day. I got the chance to pop up and get the clues and get some sewing in that day. Finished the top on the 26th. It meausres about 40" square. What looks white in the photo is actually a very light lavender. The focus fabric has butterflies. I thoroughly enjoyed making this quilt. The directions were very clear and easy to follow. I shall make more of these. What a perfect size for a baby quilt. And I am very happy to say that ALL my fabrics came from stash!!!!!

This second picture was also a mystery quilt. I bought the fabric before I had the clues. Since this was the very first mystery I was going to do, I decided to just make a lap quilt in case I didn't care for it. Well, I think it came out gorgeous!! Wish I had purchased enough fabric to make it a queen. However, I think this is big enough for a twin bed. Again, the directions were very clear and easy to follow. I want to make another like this with snowman and snowflake fabrics. This is called "Swirling Snowballs".

My friend, Mavie, has recently gotten me hooked on mysteries. She always makes these beautiful quilts and I asked her where she gets the patterns or ideas and she tells me they are mysteries. So I recently signed up for three or four mystery groups. Be on the look out for more pictures.

I have a New Year's Eve mystery that I am still working on. All the clues were posted throughout the day NYE. I got over half the quilt done. It is next on the agenda to finish. Again, I am really pleased how it is coming out.

I had to set that mystery aside to finish some string blocks and two tops for a friend who makes quilts for several homeless shelters. She wanted to make sure she had a quilt for every resident. I enjoy making quilts for others, so today I was able to send her three boxes full of blocks and two tops. There was the equivalent of 9 quilts. This should help her have enough for both shelters.

One goal I have for this year is to be a better blogger. I am going to try and post at least once a week. I also would like to keep track of how much time I spend quilting. I think that would be very interesting. I plan on keeping track of how much fabric I use, also. Here is hoping that I can keep to those goals. I do need to figure out how to do things more on this blog, too.

Have a happy day!!

Darlene

Challenge

Paula, over at Coffee Time At Home, has announced a challenge entitled "Need This?". I have decided this is a good kick in the pants for me to tackle some cluttered areas in my home on a regular basis. Here is the link http://coffeetimeathome.blogspot.com/

I decided to start with two drawers in my kitchen that hold various gadgets. One drawer is mostly for baking gadgets. Here is a before picture.

And here is the after picture. I threw away a few things and put several things in a box. Now there is just what I need, measuring cups and spoons, rubber spatulas, candy thermometer, biscuit cutter, pastry blender and a few funnels.

The second drawer is by the stove. It holds all the odds and ends that every kitchen has. Here is the before picture.

And here is the after. I am amazed at what I found. I threw a bunch of stuff away. Some of it I didn't even know what it was for. LOL I probably haven't organized that drawer since we moved in 12 years ago.

It now holds my garlic press, pizza cutter, soup ladle, spaghetti utensil, potato masher, and can opener.

I can't believe how good it felt just to do that small organizing. I am hoping to get brave enough to tackle some of the bigger clutters in my house over the coming weeks and months. Breaking it up into small chunks makes the entire task less daunting. Thanks, Paula, for a great idea.