Signed, Sealed, Delivered!

As you can see, I'm linking to Amy's Creative Side's Bloggers Quilt Festival.  There are lots and lots of wonderful quilts featured...so be sure to check it out.  You won't be sorry but you will need an extra Diet Coke or cup of tea!  She's an incredibly creative quilter and sponsors this opportunity for additional sharing among bloggers throughout the world!

This little quilt has had a long and unwanted life.  I finished it about 2 years ago and even put the binding on -- just didn't stitch it down.  I loved it but never could decide "who" it should be gifted to.  So, it lingered in the UFO pile and I'd pull it out, do a little stitching on the binding, and put it up.  It was truly an orphan.

I had finally decided that our four poster bed needed a quilt and that one done in 30's reproduction fabrics would be perfect.  This block has lots of names, I think, but it was called "Grandmother's Choice" in the pattern book I found.  I downsized the blocks to finish at 5" because I thought smaller blocks were more appropriate for the tiny motifs in the fabrics.  I calculated I would need 72 pieced blocks for the full size bed.

I WAS WRONG!  By about half, I think.  Ultimately, I made the 72 blocks and started to lay out the quilt and all of a sudden, it was a large lap and a long way from being a full size quilt with some drape.  I was done -- I had no desire to repeat history and make more blocks.  It was time to move on and do something else.  All of that probably contributed to my apathy in getting it done and presented to someone.

But, the good news is that "all's well that ends well".  Our search for a home has been a journey with lots of twists and turns and our realtor has been a gem.  We have used her twice before and she's been wonderful when we decided to retire and return to Kentucky but couldn't find a home that met what I was looking for.  She actually "cold called" the people that ultimately sold us their home.  She had seen a "for sale by owner" sign months earlier and knew the location and size were what we were looking for so she called to see if they would like to do a private listing for some "out of town" clients.

Once our sale was final, she scheduled some much needed and fairly serious surgery.  My husband asked if we had a quilt for her as a token of thanks and I knew exactly which one to give her.  We just had to have  our furniture delivered so I could find it!  All I had to do was finish the binding to give it to her before her surgery this week.  I think this must have been who it had been waiting for as it's perfect for her.  So - it has a home, she has a snuggle quilt to use in her recovery over the next month, and I'm happy it's finally where it needs to be.

I hope you're finding lots of time to quilt (and are NOT having math issues!).  Jan

PS - don't you love the shadow of the "invisible man" behind the quilt?

Over and over and over....again

 Another wedding quilt...but with a slightly different approach.

I learned very quickly in the making of this quilt that I am not cut out for 80 blocks of the same fabrics and same pattern.  I thought this would never end...

This pattern was selected after the mother-of-the-groom and I went on a great shopping trip for fabric.  She had never shopped for a quilt before but she knew exactly what colors she was looking for since the bride said she wanted to decorate her bedroom in brown and a deep rich red.  Easy to say until you get a in a great shop with lots of selection and then it's not so easy -- but it is such fun.

Ultimately -- she chose beautiful Moda fabrics in those colors (with a little bit of blue) and I used various creams from my stash.   And from there, I had to choose a pattern and then make 80 blocks!

No more!  The wedding quilt made out of scraps that I'm working on these days is much more satisfying.  I had always thought I'd make a two color quilt -- they are so elegant -- I no longer think that's likely to happen!

I hope you're finding time to piece!  Jan

Repurposed .... and loved

This will never go down in history as one of my "most creative" or "most intricate" quilts -- but it may be one of the most appreciated.

When my brother-in-law's aunt died, he and his brothers were charged with cleaning out the house and dividing up property since she had no children.  As the only quilter in the extended family, I was given a little cardboard box that had these eight pieced blocks, the cardboard templates, her little rusty pins, her drawing of the block on the back of stationery from her work (I love that part!) and the scraps of leftover red fabric and what appears to have been a sheet or a man's shirt that was being repurposed.  One block actually has the writing from the cleaners on it.

Now -- what in the world do you do with this?  You put it on the shelf and forget about it -- that's what you do!  And I did.

A few years later, I found the box and was looking at the blocks -- can you see the boo-boo she made in setting one of the corner blocks--and decided maybe I could make my brother-in-law a quilt for Christmas out of Aunt Hortense's blocks.  He did not have a quilt from me and I wasn't sure he would really even like to have one -- but I felt certain that he would appreciate the effort.

So - I played with layouts and knew that to stretch eight hand pieced blocks into a large lap quilt, it was going to take a lot of fabric, setting blocks, and letting go of some of my "rules".

And it began: I laid it out a number of ways, "scooched" and wiggled the blocks to square them, and made this quilt.  All I can say is -- it was so worth it!  This is a treasured and appreciated piece by my brother-in-law and may be one of the most loved quilts I've made.

Perhaps someone will come along who doesn't know me and finish something I've started one of these days....I hope you're finding time to piece and quilt!  Jan

Is patience really a virtue?

I want to quilt....

I don't want to

~ clean
~ deal with contractors who don't show up on time
~ make decisions that really don't matter
~ live without furniture and most of my fabric
~ buy stuff that's not fabric or for people I love
~ feel anchor less

But -- for another 2 weeks, those things have to happen and I have to squeeze in a bit of quilting and a bit of family and a bit of "me" time.

I know it will be worth it because I see the progress but I miss my furniture and having a comfortable chair to sit in.  Somehow, sitting on the stairs doesn't really suffice!

I will have to continue to whine and live through all the wonderful things you all are doing.  Have you seen Janet's Trailing Vines quilt -- while I have 15 Lollypops blocks by Kim McLean to do -- I think I want to do the Susan McCord quilt that Janet is graciously writing instructions for.  See -- I have better things to do than clean....

Keep piecing and I'll try not to whine again!  Jan

Procrastination.....

Well -- let's be frank.  Procrastination can be fun when you're a quilter.  There are lots of dips and turns and creativity that can come as you work on one project and are distracted by another.  I am certainly guilty of that this week.

The cover quilt for the October issue of American Patchwork and Quilting came at just right time.  I needed to make a quilt for a special friend's son who is getting married and most of my fabric is in storage.  Lucky for me -- I brought all my FQ and smaller pieces for our foray into temp living and the bride loves all things Autumn -- particularly the colors.

So -- with the blessing of her soon-to-be-mother-in-law, I started cutting 2.5" and 3" squares out of my browns, reds, oranges, deep yellows, greens, and a few purples -- and every scrap of "neutral" I had that fell in the buttercream family.  This quilt requires 50 blocks and each block requires eight HSTs at 2.5".  I am one of those quilters who cuts the squares at 3", does the double seam, and then after pressing them open, trims every single HST to 2.5".  I could have avoided this "fun" by cutting the original square at 2 7/8" but I prefer the accuracy.  The tiny little pile with the red paisley on top is the stack of "trimmed" blocks -- the mountain still needs trimming and squaring up!

This has been a marathon of sewing and sewing and sewing followed by  trimming and trimming and trimming -- not to mention pressing seams open.  You get the idea.  The pile felt insurmountable.  The wedding is in mid October.  I need to be making stars and stars and stars.

But -- instead, I got sidetracked and started playing with the scraps.  I have never been taken by the "crumb" fever that has been prevalent since Bonnie Hunter made the very valid point that scraps still cost $9 per yard (and now $10) and need to be used.  Jo at Jo's Country Junction has been hosting a "Crumb Along" and I've been reading along but not crumbing along.  Until now. And I just had to make one 6.5" block which took much longer than the star.  This is not good.  My scrap bin exploded and I know how big the basket of scraps is that is packed and coming in three weeks.  I do not need to get started with this -- but it was kind of fun and it's so rewarding to be using little pieces that are too small/thin for strings.  Oh, dear......

One down and  49 to go!   Keep piecing -- no matter how small!  Jan

PS -- I'm linking to Lily's Quilts Small Blog Meet (button to the right).  She regularly sponsors this as a way for smaller bloggers to get some new readers and possible followers.  Check out her blog as well as the Small Blog Meet!  Both are worth your time!

Whew!

Things I've learned in the last three weeks!

1. Retirement is fun and thus far, no adjustment necessary.  I've fallen right into not working and loving it!  Probably means the time was right.
2. Hawaii is beautiful.  Colors reminded me of batiks wherever I went.  Weather was grand, food was mediocre, company was great, culture is fascinating, and getting there and back is a chore.
3. Destination weddings are challenging.  But if the bride is happy, we're all happy.  My niece was a beautiful bride and her sister was equally radiant!  
4. Moving is a pain -- and we don't even have furniture yet.  Living in a house on twin mattresses and box springs and whatever kitchen accouterments we had in temp living has its moments.  We at least have a fridge so keeping Diet Cokes cool is easier.  We have at least another month of this as we deal with painters, electricians, tilers, plumbers,  and counter people.  In many ways it's easier because you don't have all your stuff to keep moving and working around -- and I have to keep telling myself that when I need something that is in storage.
5. Quilting is harder -- lacking furniture is the first problem (solved with a borrowed table) -- but being tired and distracted is the other problem.  I so miss it.  I've stayed connected with a few quilt bloggers from my iPad and am envious of new starts, finishes, focus on BOMs, designing, and hearing about normal life.  Since patience has never been a virtue I've excelled in -- I will have to continue to live vicariously through all of you and relish your work, pin it to my Pinterest page for inspiration and reminders, and keep dreaming of what I want to do.

I'll leave you with an idea of how much fun we have ahead of us!

Keep piecing and I'll keep enjoying your progress!

Jan

What's the diff?

I think I'm giving up -- and that goes against my grain!  The photo on the left is a project I started 2 years ago and I managed to get 8 of these made with various beautiful Asian prints.  But I've lost steam and can't even seem to be able to get myself focused to finish one more so I could at least use them in a 3 X 3 layout.

It's all paper piecing and intended to use up my leftover Asian fabrics.  It is based on an incredible quilt that was made by a Japanese quilter from old sari fabric and called "fireworks".  And it was aptly named if you've ever seen it -- it was beautiful and huge.  I would love to see it in person because I suspect it really glows.

I think the crux of the problem is that I don't really like paper piecing and maybe this is too much of the same thing over and over -- even though the fabrics were beautiful.  I contrast that with the New York Beauty which is more intricate piecing but every element was different fabric and challenging. I'm sure it's not the fabrics -- I love both types.  And it's not the process because I feel the same about it when I'm doing it.

So -- what is it?  Monotony?  Goodness knows that I've gotten bored with piecing a quilt where it was the same block (and even fabric) over and over.  But I usually persevere.  Not this time.  I've waited over a year for my "clean up" mode to kick in and re-motivate me to finish leftover projects.  Hasn't happened with this one.

I'm curious -- what do you do when you lose your mojo for a project?  I really do love these fabrics and I think it has the opportunity to be a striking quilt (wallhanging?  8 small pillows?).    I've kept the fabric in its own tote since I want to make sure to preserve the black I'm using so that I don't have a shade shift if I end up having to use a different black.  It's obvious, I haven't had the heart to mainstream the fabrics back into my stash which tells me I still have a little attachment to it.  But somehow, I'm not feeling it (of course, that's good since it's in storage with all our furniture somewhere!).  Any suggestions?

On a personal note, we close on a house today and leave for vacation tomorrow.  Timing is everything and this is a bit crazy.

Aloha!  Jan