Where did the summer go!!?

 I had such high hopes to quilt all summer when I went to visit my Mother. BUT, life intervened! I hardly sewed at all. I think that I actually sat down and sewed at my machine 3 days... out of 2 months!

May Quilts

I have high hopes for my May quilts! I have been cutting out  multiple quilts from my stash of 30's and 40's Reproductions fabrics. I brought the box out in January to complete a quilt and it is still sitting out. I decided that I want to make a whole bunch of quilts from that fabric stash this year, so I have began cutting. I have plans for at least 3 quilts from this stash...Feedsacks, Disappearing Pinwheels and Flowerpots... all from free patterns that I found on the internet. That makes me very happy!

April Quilts

I didn't finish any quilts in April. I have been traveling to visit family for most of the month and didn't take any quilt work with me. My focus for the month of April was family- Grandchildren, children and their spouses and my Mother. It was a great month!

But, time to get back to quilt work!

5 Friends Quilt

I love this quilt and the idea to have 5 different people create 1/5 of a quilt! Just take a picture, divide it up and have your friends piece a portion of the quilt. It's fabulous!

View of Arles with Irises was made by The Fab 5: Carole Pirruccello, Cathy Brorby, Phyllis McCalla, Jan Bawart and Jan Soules. It was awarded first place in the Art Representation category at the 2016 Northwest Quilting Expo.

This was in my morning email. I just had to share it with you!

Stuck in a Rut?

(I saved this question because it is a question that I have asked myself many times. I have lots of unfinished projects, so this is a perfect email for me!)

A morning email from Pat Sloan, asked the question,

"What do you do if you get stuck in a rut about a project?"

This is Pat Sloan's answer.

"So many times people ask me what to do if they get in a rut about a project.

I've been mulling this over, I even got solutions from my Guest Emily Herrick on my talk show last week (Listen HERE)

Last month at Instagram one question was to share your 'oldest UFO' and then I wondered.... WHY is it the oldest?

Ask yourself "Why don't I work on a project?" There is a reason.

It might be
* You felt you didn't have the skills needed, so got stuck
* You only have a little bit to do and for some reason don't work on it, maybe it's bulky and your table needs cleared before you have room to work on it.
* You actually have fallen 'out of love' with this project.

Here is my (Pat's) solution. 
1. Pick ONE item to deal with. NOT all of them... Just ONE. 
2. Pick a project you know you CAN decide on easily 
3. Evaluate your skills, I'll bet you have them now! (or take a great class to learn!) 
4. Fix whatever is keeping you from getting to it. Clear the table, make the binding, find the floss, or give it to someone else to do."

I LOVE Pat's ideas! 

It's time to Pick One!

February and March Quilt Tops

The end of March is here. Where did the month go? Where did February go, for that matter?

February was a Quilt Productive month, but not as fantastic as January.
In February, I finished 3 quilt tops.

Bringing Home the Christmas Tree (2017)

Is it weird that the quilt is a night quilt? My memories of bringing home a Christmas tree always are about night time. We went out to get the Christmas tree after Mom and Dad came home from work and in the winter it gets dark early. So, Bringing Home the Christmas Tree is at night, under a full moon!

This is from a wool quilt pattern, that I just changed it up a bit. I made it much bigger. I added a dark starry sky and a full moon. I added a hill and several stumps where the trees were already cut down. It is a cozy quilt from cozy memories. It makes me very happy. 

Black and Green Garlic Knots (2017)

This quilt was done with my Mom's quilt group in Washington during their quilt retreat. I, of course, made my completely different than everyone else. I chose black for my background and a variety of greens. (Everyone else used white background and a mixture of colors.) I also made my quilt much larger than theirs. I just like twin size quilts.

Red and White Nine Patch and Snowball Blocks (2017)

I made the Nine Patch blocks for our BYU Alumni Quilt Retreat two years ago. We did a group exchange and I made a quilt top with these nine patch blocks and some churn dash blocks that I made. I didn't like the quilt top at all!

So, I took it all apart and seperated the nine patch and churn dash blocks and set them aside for a year. Then I was recently looking through Pinterest and saw this quilt design- nine patch and snowball blocks. I like how the reds blend together and the quilt looks rather old fashioned.

And, I made 3 Sewing Bags. 

Sadly, the free pattern is no longer available on the RJR website.

They are so cute!

I am making more sewing bags today. They are addictive!

In March, I finished 2 quilt tops. Only 2!

Headed North (2017)

This pattern was from the Modern Quilt Guild online named Meeting of the Geese..

 I chose gray and white with a dark turquoise for the geese.

To me, the gray looked like a color called Seattle Gray. Seattle gray, rainy skies.

So, I changed the quilt to fit my impressions of Seattle.

The geese all are going the same direction- North to Seattle.

I added extra rows at the top and bottom to make it twin size and added a few more flying geese.
And, for the backing, I chose fabric called Rain, rain, go away!
Fantastic!

Nita's 30's Reproduction Feedsacks (2017)

I started this quilt years ago but decided to finish it and give it to a friend, Nita.

They are all 30's Reproduction fabrics with a muted green background.

I love the calmness of this quilt.

Cozy and Calm.

January is for Quilting!

January was an amazing month for me...Quilt-wise. My Mom has been here visiting with me since Christmas. She is a Quilt Pusher! She asked me to look through my boxes and bags and forgotten spaces and find some quilts that I had abandoned.

Mom is a Finisher. And, I am a Let's-Move-On-To-Another-Exciting-Project kind of quilter. So, I've taken advantage of Mom's support/enthusiasm and have finished 8 Quilts this month!

I have been very enthusiastic about piecing quilts this month...old, sitting in the closet unmade, UFO's, some as old as 11 years old unfinished Quilts. This is my list:

I have finished the Mama Made It Celebration Sampler that I started in 2005.

I have finished the One Block Wonder Quilt made from Kaffe Fassett fabric that I started in 2007.

I have finished the Grandma's Scrappy Stars 30's and 40's Reproduction Quilt that I cut out in 2008 and started sewing the blocks last September. I was reminded of the quilt by my Mom. She had wanted to start sewing her blocks for the quilt and so, I brought my bag of cut blocks to sew along with her. I made 24 blocks and ended up only using 20 blocks.
So, my Mom has 4 more blocks to add to her collection.

I have finished a Black and Brights Squares and Stripes Quilt #1 that I started last summer. I had to rethink it and remake it and I finished it in January. (2017)

I have finished a Black and Brights Squares and Stripes Quilt #2 with the leftovers from #1. I had to make a few more blocks and I had an almost instant second quilt! (2017)

I have finished a Black and Brights Squares and Stripes Baby Quilt. After making a few more blocks I was able to make a 9 block baby quilt. Those darn blocks just kept growing!
I made 2 quilts from the "leftovers"! (2017)

I have finished a White, Cream and Tan Texas Blocks Quilt. I was part of an Exchange Group in 2012 that we were focusing on making white, cream and tan blocks. It was hard for me to keep the fabrics so calm! I found some quilt fabric at Creations Quilt Store in Kerrville, Texas, that was a Texas toile. I used it in some of the blocks and highlighted certain scenes from Texas... The Alamo, the stockyards, oil derrics, cowboys on horses, longhorn cattle. It was perfect for my calm quilt!

I finished a Hot Pink X-Plus Quilt that I started at the first part of January.
It was fun to put the focus on the center with hot pink cute animal faces fabric.
(I realized after the quilt was finished that I made it wrong!
The X's are supposed to be going OUT.
I made them with the X's going IN, forming a circle.
I'm surprised how much it changes the look of the quilt.)

That's 8 quilt tops finished in one month!

So, my Mom is a Quilt Pusher! She encouraged me to work on old projects and get them finished and ready to quilt. I appreciate that! I really do! I'm excited to move on to the next projects! On to the February quilts!

Live Contentedly with Quilts!

Double Wedding Ring

"...Search your past for clues as to how to live contentedly 

in the present."

"Return to the home of your childhood."

Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach, February 22

In my childhood home, I remember there always being antique quilts. They were quilts made by my Great-Grandmother, Flora Belle Riley, or we always called her Grandma Johnson. These are pictures of the types of quilts that she made. They are cozy and sweet. A perfect clue of "how to live contentedly in the present".

Grandmother's Flower Garden

Trip Around the World

Yo Yo

Let Go Of The Struggle

"Whatever situation exists in your life right now, accept it... Let go of the struggle.  Allow the healing process of change to begin."
Simple Abundance by Sarah ban Breathnach

Binding Your Quilts By Machine

I have always wanted to learn how to bind my quilts by machine, so when I found this website that had a tutorial, I just had to share it with you. It is from Color Girl Quilts.

Sharon shares how to make the binding, sew it on the quilt, connect the binding ends and either finish the binding by machine or by hand. It looks pretty good to me!