Quilting and Life Update

Wow, it has been  5 years since my last post.  Time does fly by even when it crawls along by the day. 

I left off when I had just gotten a full time job and was attempting to juggle many balls. Sadly, the balls didn't stay up in the air. Then, I lost my job to a Corporate buy out and I thought life might go back to the way it was before! Ha.

I got a pup, which took most of my days for a few months.  And I was getting caught up and reacquainted with my routine.

Then we had a couple deaths in the family, and of course we had COVID lock down. It was at this point that I got injured badly with a dog accident and I needed to do PT a couple times a week and get back on my feet.  It was a frozen shoulder type of injury, so I couldn't do anything, let alone quilt or walk. It seems the shoulder muscle is attached to all the muscles in the arm, back and ribs.  Anyway, I spent 1.5 years in therapy to get back to 95%. I'm still working on sore muscles in the arms where they must have torn. 

Early on, soon after I went back to work, I sold my APQS George sit down quilting machine.  I figured the next many years I would not have time to use it much and it was too much money to sit on the table waiting for me.   I did find that after using George, I found the Long Arm quilting machines through the quilt store much easier than learning to glide the quilt around on the table rather than move the machine across the quilt.  It is a totally different method. I also felt like learning to quilt was a totally separate hobby from piecing!  There is so much to learn on both sides.  At least that is what I have decided after looking way back. 

I left off with Project 1 Vol. 2 where I did finish the quilting on my George, but it didn't get binding or finishing. This project shouldn't take too much time to finish up. I don't know that I posted the picture after I got the new border on.  If you have followed along, the first outside border just didn't fit color wise.  So, this is the new one. 

The next project I had in the can was the Vol 2 project 3 Small log cabin on diagonal.  I had finished the top, basted it to the back and was ready to quilt. 

And, according to my post earlier with my sister's wedding, I was working on Proj.2 a lattice piecing.  I have no idea where that is hidden!

I have only completed 147 flowers for my Grandmother's Flower Garden Full size quilt. These are a separate project from the Quilter's Academy projects, and is intended for the guest bedroom.  I had wanted something that I could do when my husband was home and we were sitting together in the family room. It was also using my favorite 1930's fabrics. They are just so Happy and make me smile. 

I had a Queen quilt kit I bought back when I first started quilting, thinking it would be a great project for our Master Bed. I had only 1.5 squares done and felt like I was not capable of finishing.  My mother came to visit a couple months ago, and I had the bright idea to let her have the project!  I had cut out every piece and had instructions and pieces in ziplock baggies for 20 years!  It took her only 2 months to get all the squares done!  This is the picture she sent me. 

It is a 'bird house' theme and mom thought it was pretty easy since the hardest part was done, the cutting!  She did notice that the colors are very boring to her, but I remember asking my husband if those colors would be something he could handle for a Master Bed quilt. He didn't think it would be too feminine. Popular colors definitely change over the years.  Now, she will pass it back to me at Christmas time and I will need to put the sashing and edges on and get this quilted. 

Looks like I have a lot of quilting projects and no piecing project started.  Except for the flowers.  It's a good recap of where the sewing room got left off and now that I have dusted it and cleared away the things that have gathered over the last 5 years, I will have to assess what I can do!

I wonder what is the best way to get the quilts quilted?  I am not so eager to use my sewing machine since that's why I bought George.   And I know I would have to retake the longarm classes in order to certify to use the quilt store machines. Is that worth it? Hmm.  I can't imagine finding a cheap small longarm machine used, but maybe someone was like me and found they weren't using it and saw a while before they would be back to it.  

I am not sure I will be diving back into the Quilt Academy projects too soon, but I thought I would update on what has been going on.  The Hargraves have retired now and the Forum is dead for questions. There were a few blogs I was following back in the day and I was disappointed to find that they just quit their blog, and I had no idea whether they had quit quilting or if they just got tired of recording it.  I imagine it could have been exactly like what happened to me, a different season with different activities. I have been using this blog as a diary of sorts to remind me of the process and mistakes so that I can go back and find out how to progress, but I know there are others that have been working through the QA books and want encouragement.  So, I am here and think about the quilting I left behind. Even though I  have not been quilting, it isn't a dead hobby yet.  :) The season has just not been right. 

A Wedding and Four-Patch Lattice Project

My sister was married this weekend!  

We traveled back to California last week and was busy preparing for a backyard wedding.  The end result was a beautiful wedding between my sister and her wonderful man. 

Not much really accomplished last week in the sewing arena, but I have put together what I DID get done just before we left. 

My progress on the next project in this class:

I have cut my strips:

I sewed them together

I cut the strips to make 128 half four patches

I counted them.  I was ONE short. There was no left over space on the ends to sqeeze one more out, and I thought to myself.. Do I really have to make 2 more strips to make ONE 2 patch?
I decided I better recount.  WHEW, exactly 128!  Never been more grateful for miscounting! Usually, we have half strips left over. I just didn't even consider I would be THIS close.

Now, I sew the 2 halves together and I have instant Four Patches!

The other blocks are just squares! That is next on the task list.

I suppose the main lesson is reinforcing habit, and learning the sashing with corner stones.

Work in Progress: Flower garden and Quilting

Grandmother's Flower Garden is coming along.

I've mentioned that I am working this in a traditional 1930's fabric, in 1/2" hexagons. However, I am not working the project in the traditional sense.
I have 1.5" squares cut, 6 of same fabric

I have 1/2" iron-on water soluble hexagon cut outs. This is so handy, so I dont have to remove the cardboard hexies.

I press them together

I cut the extra fabric off edges, which saves time from trying to cut out perfect hexagons to start.

I glue the edges over the stabilizer with my Sewline water soluble glue

Then sew together using Wonderfil 100 wt. thread, a polyester thread cotton coated.

I am happy with my flower garden. It grows by the day.
Soon I will have to pick out my white solid fabric and start the path between so that I can estimate how many it will really take to complete.


My quilting project for now is first project from Volume 2.  Thankfully, I followed the directions, and basted the quilt when finished.  We were told that quilts set on point have a tendency to get out of shape if left as quilt tops and not basted.  It has been over a year since this was completed, so I'm happy I finished up with basting before the hiatus.

So, this week began the quilting part.   I have put George to work!  It is all Free Motion, except I will be using a ruler for the strips and the star on the four patch.   It is looking like a beginner, which is why she has you quilting beginning with quilt one in Volume 1.  I wish I would have learned on the first quilts, as now my nicer quilts are getting the ugly treatment!  Oh well.  They are all learning projects.  I noticed after I did 2 rows, that my tension may not be good, the back is a bit loose.  I will need to work on that before I get any further!

V2 Four-Patch Lattice; Class 240 , Lesson 6, Project 2

New Project started: Four-Patch Lattice

Fabrics chosen. I decided to keep really close to the project colors.

The peach color was very off grain cut.  I made a cut 1/2 way through yardage and attempted best I could to align in 2 sections.  I still need the green fabric for the lattice, but since I could not find anything to fit the requirement, I thought I would get started with the beginnings.  I think the lattice is next to last anyway, last part being the triangle side settings.

Grandmother's Flower Garden:

Here is a Pintrest picture of the quilt I want to make. I don't have any calculator to determine how many actual flowers I will need.  I was told by someone who knows about these things, that this quilt picture is indeed 1/2" hexie flowers.  I intend to put the white path and green "leaves" in the same pattern as this one.  I estimate there will be 1000 flowers for a full size quilt if  I decide to make flowers edge to edge.  I was told that will be about 14000 hexies total! I am thinking I may just do the bed top rectangle with flowers, and make borders that drop over the sides of the bed.  This might cut off 1/3 of the flowers this way :) This is a long term project.  I will keep a tally on the side bar as to progress.  62 flowers now completed ! I'm working much faster than anticipated.  I purchased new Wonderfil thread.  It is much thinner so threads a needle better, and disappears better so my stitches don't show so much :)  And, they came in many light pastel colors which blend wonderfully.

Lastly, I have been working on basting my Log Cabin on Point quilt top.  I have finished that, and am in the process of deciding on a quilting pattern for quilting my first try on George.

That's it for now.  

2017 is in the Bag, 2018 Here We Are!

I am not disappointed that 2017 is over. There was a lot to deal with, and my quilting time suffered.

I did tally just under 50 books read for the year, which surprised me since I felt like I was hardly reading.

My full time job has put a damper on the quilting and hiking time, my favorite past times.

But I am determined this year to keep juggling all the balls in the air.

Home Goals:
January started off with a complete room decoration. This was my son's room, and is now transformed to an official guest room. The only thing we didn't change was the wood trim paint and the ceiling light. The dresser and side table are from Wayfair!  They were cheap, and shipped fast, and were not that hard to assemble.  All good things when making up a new room!

I also intend to do some serious purging of STUFF.  De-cluttering is the go word I think people use these days, but that just doesn't do my project justice.

Quilting Goals:
I have been working really hard on my Grandmother's Flower garden hexies.

I have many more than this now, and they have moved away from my design board and into a plastic storage bin. My plan is 4 flowers a week.  That will get me 1/3 of the way, but steady I will go toward progress.  This shall one day turn into a full size guest room quilt for that bedroom pictured above.

I am taking a Craftsy Class on ruler quilting.  I hope to finish it by the end of February, and start quilting on 2 quilts that will be ready.

First I needed to figure out how to change my foot to the ruler foot:

Hubby and I managed to figure it out, but after seeing a YouTube video demonstating the new ruler foot, I see I have the old one!  This one is curved on the back side, which does not allow even contact with my ruler when I use it on that back side. Imagine that, It is already outdated, and it is the first time I opened the package.

Here is my Craftsy homework number one: testing the ruler on a square. It makes for nice even "straight" curved lines.  Just need to work on my length of stitch a bit more.  Poor George has had no usage since I bought him! But this year he will get to work.

Once I finish the class I will be quilting these two quilts:
This one completed over a year ago but the only finished QA project  not quilted.

and this one, my recent Quilt Academy Project, Log Cabin set on point.

Just this weekend, I attached all the sashing and setting triangles. All that is left are my corner triangles.  I think it will end up as a baby quilt, it is smaller than all that work seems!  I cannot even tell you how frustrating it is to attempt to pick up this project in the mid progress of squares. I have ripped more seams on this one quilt top than I have in my life time of projects.  Even considering I picked out an entire quilt worth of quilting!
This will put another project in the finished category, and it is only January!

I hope to finish the next 3 quilt projects in QA Sophmore Year. I think that is finishing through class 250. Turns out I will have been a Sophmore for 3 + years.  I know of only one other blogger that is working through the series that is further than I am. She is also working sequentially through and in Jr. Year, but has not posted anything in the last year.  Seems we both took off this past year.  I wonder if anyone is actually working through the 3 or 4th book yet? I suspect many people bought the books and pick projects they want to work on. But, I will continue to plod along at my turtle pace and actually finish the race someday!

Reading Goal:
I have managed to figure out how to keep up my reading list, so I am working loosely through the 2017 Young Wife's reading guide, based on Tim Challis' reading list template. She recently posted the 2018 Reading Challenge, but I will save that for next year!  My plan is 3 books per month plus a classic and any other reading assigned last minute through our small group participation.  I think there are 42 books on the Reading Challenge list, and 12 for the classics list.

Outdoor Goal:
We bought backpacking gear last year but didn't get to adventure out. The location we were going to use as our test hike was full of ash from fires.  This year I hope to take 2 weekend trips into the great wild outdoors, with a hike of about 10 miles in.

We also enjoy 4x4 with our FJ, and bicycling. I have one overnight bicycling trip planned on a Rails to Trails path about 3 hrs drive from home. It is short, about 12 miles each way, but the Teton Range is in full view and the path is flat.

Bible Study:
There are 3 book studies I have on my agenda, and I am half way through the first one!
I finally settled on reading through the Bible on a slow pace this year, using the Bible Project plan, and their Read Scripture App. I appreciate the video intros.  I've been reading from Horner's plan for so long, I really need to put things in order again.  I was planning on a chronological plan, but then this one came along, and I jumped with more enthusiasm.

Of course, I am not listing my many regular things I do, since those are habits that do not need a poke and reminder.

And, that is my plan for 2018.  Here is to being intentional and productive.

V2 Log Cabin Progress- Tiny Squares

I got all the tiny log cabin squares completed this week!
Thankfully, I am a patient type person. Otherwise, I think I would have closed the door to the quilting room and taken more time off.  It does not work well to take a year off and then attempt to start back up without a hitch.
I think I picked out seams 3 times this week, on almost every square.   I put the new log on the wrong side, or cut it too small, or added a strip that wasn't wide enough.  Ugh. The main key to building a log cabin: always put the new log upside down on the top of the new strip with the new log at the top (first entering the machine), right sides facing each other!
But, I persevered and finished the goal for the week.  10 small squares completed!

I am also making progress on my Grandmother's Flower garden. More flowers added to the bouquet!

Short, sweet progress.  Makes me happy.

A New Job and different Life

Ever feel like you were bored at home, too much quilting time and needed a job?? You know, for socialization?
No, me either.
But my husband thought that we should start saving for dual retirement and that is a hard thing to do on one income. And one spender on quilty things.

So, he volunteered me for a job!  A FULL TIME job!  In my prior life, before kids, I was a C.P.A.  I've been home now for 23 years.  I think I forgot most of my Accounting, but he thinks I can do anything, so I'm now fully employed, doing "accounting" work again.

The past 12 months have been an adjustment. A Father-in Law's death, a son moved out, another son pronounced with Crohn's Disease, and a new full time job.  Did I forget to put quilting in there?  No, I have been busy figuring out how to make dinner and clean house in my spare time.  I used to have all day to do those things!  I thought I was just organized, now the real humbling story is.... I just had a lot of time available.

My quilting left off with this project still on the design board:

And, I was ready to start with the smaller log cabin squares for the outer edge.  I cut my left over strips too small, and threw them away, and never went back to the room!  Yes, sometimes a mistake is enough to derail a whole lot of motivation.

Today, I stepped in the sewing room and decided I would at least make a small accomplishment.

And, here they are. the tiny little center squares for the tiny squares.  Makes me feel like some progress is finally happening!
But, just so you know that I have not been totally giving up: I started a new project a few months ago, that didn't tie me to the sewing room.  I have started a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt!
Yes, it will be a lifetime of hand sewing baby 1/2" flower petals.  It is something I can do in the evening while sitting downstairs with my husband.  It is not at all something in the Quilter's Academy at this stage, but I have really wanted to do something like this for a while.  It will end up someday as a full size quilt for the guest room. Here is my first batch completed.

I think I will need about 500 of these baby flowers before I can piece it together for a bed quilt.  Life time project, yes indeed!

And, just to prove that quilting is not going to be a major part of life any more, we filled the bonus room with a new addition.

I thought this room would make a great play room, back when the kids were home.  Never got around to buying the table. It was always on the "some day list".   More recently I was hoping sooner than later I would make this room my quilting room. George takes up the right side just outside of the picture.  Seems lots of things have gone back to the past!   Ping Pong anyone?  Its a FUN game :)