Retreat Progress, Day 4

Yesterday (Thursday) was a productive day for me, even though it started out a little slow. Early on, I was pretty easily distracted, and had trouble staying on task with anything for very long. But later on, by the middle of the evening, I got back into the groove. I finished adding borders to my The Body in the Kelp Sampler. It's hanging sideways on a not-straight design wall here, so the picture looks a bit odd. But you can get the idea, at least.


Then I got the borders added to this quilt, which is blocks from a panel, which I cut apart, and added sashing and cornerstones to. I'm a sucker for anything with kitties on it, and anything with sewing notions on it, so this panel and the companion stripe I used for the border were just destined to come home with me.
I got the Yellow Brick Road blocks assembled, though I still have to add borders. The printed blocks here are from a panel by Teresa Kogut from some years back. Some of the fabrics are from the same line, others are from my stash. The outer border will be a stripe from this same fabric line.
I got borders added to this lap quilt. This will probably be donated to charity.
And I got borders on this lap quilt, as well. This one will also probably be donated. Today, there's more piecing in the works! More pictures to follow.

Thanks for stopping by to play. Come back again soon.

Spring UFO Club

The Quilters Knitting group on Ravelry is doing a challenge every quarter of this year, to motivate and support each other as we all work on our UFOs. As a part of that, I needed to make a list of the UFOs I want/plan to complete between April and June. I've erred on the side of caution, and included a lot more than I had to. We had to list at least 5, but I've more than quintupled that amount on my list. I'll share pictures and some info in a series of posts.

This first one is a Colorwash Trip Around the World wallhanging. It measures 39"x42" and just needs to be quilted and bound. I did this in a class at a sewing machine dealer in North Olmsted, Ohio -- there were six of us who often sewed together and who all took this class together. One of the group bought the fabric and made each of us a kit, except for the inner border fabrics. So there are five others who have a similar project with the same fabrics, except they all did the heart version, and I did the Trip Around the World version. I'd like to get this one finished for my mom for Mother's Day this year.
This was a mystery design from Creations Sew Clever, called "Sedona Stones." This is about a double bed size, at 85"x95". It's hard to see the fabrics in this one, but they're sort of Victorian or shabby chic, pink roses and a grayish green accent. I'd like to finish this one for my aunt, for her birthday in late June. I don't know why, but at some point it just occurred to me that she might like it. She's a quilter, too -- the only other one in my family.

This was a design that was created by Sandy Heminger of A Piece in Time for the summer "picnic" mystery for the Quilt Sitters Circle in the summer of 2004. This is huge, at 95"x108". This one will be for me, whenever it's finished. I just love this design -- there were so many different fabric choices, and every one of them looked good in this design. I love the woven effect.

This is a Thimbleberries pattern called "Jacket Plaid." It's in two books, one of which is North Bay Christmas. I don't recall what the other book is, but I think it's something like Cozy Cabin Quilts, perhaps. This one is also quite large, at 87"x96". This one will also be for me, unless some other worthy recipient expresses an interest.

This is further along than this now -- it's a completed top with borders, and I have the binding made and a backing fabric pulled and batting cut. This is another Thimbleberries pattern, sort of. In the book North Bay Christmas, there's a pattern for a table runner, called "December Stars." It's only three blocks. I don't really use table runners, and decided I wanted a quilt instead, so I made twelve blocks. I also changed the colors from two greens and a gold to burgundy, gold and brown. As a result, I've taken to calling my version "November Stars," since it's much more autumn-y than Christmas-y. I'll post a picture of the completed top in another one of these posts, and I'll share the measurements then.


That's the first batch! More to come. Thanks for stopping by to play. Come back again soon.

More Tops Going to Alycia

Here are some more tops that are going into the package(s) I'll be sending to Alycia, to be finished and given to wounded service members.

This first one is a design called "Timberline Lodge," from A Piece in Time. It's nearly twin sized at 59"x83". This one should be completely gender-neutral.


This is a Turning Twenty, from a kit I got at Creations Sew Clever. I just made this last summer or fall. It's no doubt more female-oriented, between the pastels and the florals. It measures 64"x80".

Here's another version of the "Square Dance" pattern from Creations Sew Clever. This, too, is more feminine because of the florals and the colors. It measures 63"x76".

This is a Puss in the Corner. I made this in a class at A Piece in Time in approximately 2001 or 2002. We were doing quilts based on the titles of books by Earlene Fowler. This was (I think) "Irish Chain." The border fabric is a paisley, with the red and green in it plus some purple and a screaming bright cheddar gold. I love it, but I think it's probably another more feminine quilt. This one measures 68"x84" which is between a twin and a double, to me.

Here's one that's pretty gender-neutral. Maple Leaves in autumn colors, with a leave print border. This one's also quite large, at 71"x89". I made this as a class sample in 1999 when I was teaching basic quick-piecing techniques.


There's one more top to be included in this shipment. I'll show that one in the next post.

Thanks for stopping by to play. Come back again soon.

Tops Going to Alycia

Here are some of the quilt tops that I'll be sending to Alycia, to be given to wounded service members. I hope to get this box sent off by the end of next week.

This first one is a terrible picture of a throw (56"x76") in a design called "Love Knot," by my friend Peg Bingham. We did this as a guild mystery in about 2001, and I've had the top completed since at least 2004. The background is a purple fabric with a sort of Jacobean floral design in it, so this is one that will likely have to go to a woman.

This is a design called Jellystone Park. I can't recall the name of the line I used for this one. It's 70" x 80". I'm not sure if this one is gender-neutral enough or not, really. The outer border is a paisley, and there's some pink in it. I know some guys who wouldn't think anything about that, but a lot of others who would. I've got to work on more guy-friendly stuff to send to Alycia next time ;-)

Here's one that's pretty guy-friendly. It's another design by Sandy Heminger of A Piece in Time. She calls this one "Almost No Intersections." This one is nearly a twin, at 60"x84".


Here's another version of the same design, in brushed cotton plaids and stripes. Thie one has more blocks than the first, but no border, and it measures 60"x74".

This is a design that was originally a mystery quilt, by Creations Sew Clever. This one measures 55"x74", and again because it's got a fairly large amount of a floral fabric, it probably will need to be for a woman. It's called "Argyle Sox."


Blogger only lets me upload five pictures at a time, and I find it frustrating to try to go back and add more photos to a post, so I'll do another post or two with the rest of the tops I'm sending to Alycia.

Thanks for stopping by to play. Come back again soon.

For the Boys (and Girls) in Blue (and Green, and Camo)

Do you know about Alycia? She's committed to getting a quilt to every wounded service member who crosses her path ;-) I've been wanting to help her with that goal for some time, and I'm finally getting some things sent to her. I've got 5 or 6 completed quilts I'm sending her, as well as a number of tops that she'll need to quilt or have someone else quilt.

First, here are the finished quilts I'm sending her. This first one ended up sideways, but it's a rail fence throw, with safari animals in the border. My friend Sally quilted it (she was looking for practice quilts when she bought her Gammill with Statler Stitcher a while back) with an allover design with animals -- tigers, elephants, and more. It's perfect for this quilt!



This next one is a large throw or a twin. The pattern is Take Five, and it's all in browns and pinks. This one will no doubt have to go to a female, but the sad reality is that women who are serving in the armed forces are getting wounded too, so I'm sure it will go to someone who will enjoy it. My friend Sally quilted this one as well.


This next one is flannel, and it's oh so snuggly! This one is a pattern called "Chain Link," by Creations Sew Clever. My friend Sally also quilted this one. It's a nice throw size.

This is another pattern from Creations Sew Clever. This one is called "Square Dance." This is a largish throw size. This was also quilted by Sally.

This one is half log cabin blocks, in bright batiks and black. This was a design created by Sandy Heminger of A Piece in Time in Akron, Ohio. We used to live about 4 miles from that shop, and when we did, I took a LOT of classes there. That's when I really started accumulating UFOs! This is a large throw or almost a twin size. I quilted this one, with a fun meander-y design in bright variegated thread.

This is a throw made from fabric with Australian aboriginal designs. The orange is a shot cotton by Kaffe Fassett. My friend Sally quilted this one, too.



Tomorrow I'll show you some of the tops I'm sending to Alycia in the box(es) I'm packing up for her. Thanks for coming by to play. Come back again soon.

Tops Completed at Retreat

I've got photos of some of the tops I completed at retreat that I'll show today. There are still one or two I need to get pictures of, but it was raining here yesterday. All of these just needed the last borders added to them, so finishing this many isn't as impressive as it might otherwise sound ;-)

Once again, my lovely photo assistants are Celeste and Julie.

First is a nice twin size top, a mystery from Debbie Caffrey called "Chip Off the Old Block." I didn't really get enough contrast between my blue and green fabrics -- in real life these seem a lot closer in value to each other. It measures about 64"x88" .

Then there's another mystery quilt, this one is called "Sedona Stones," and was from Creations Sew Clever, in Chillicothe, Ohio. This is a double bed size, at around 85"x95".

Then, yet another mystery quilt. This one, as far as I know, doesn't have a name. We did this as our Quilt Sitters Circle summer picnic mystery in 2004 at A Piece in Time. I'm pretty sure it was designed by the shop owner, Sandy Heminger. This is really big, at 95"x108".

Finally, a Thimbleberries pattern called "Jacket Plaid." I also did this one at A Piece in Time -- it was the Thimbleberries Club project one month, back in the days before the club was quite so organized as it is now, with a year-long project each year. I think I probably started this one in 2001 or 2002, though I don't remember for sure. We used to just decide what Thimbleberries pattern we wanted to do as a club project each month -- which led to me having a LOT of Thimbleberries patterns started, but not finished. This one is also big, at 87"x96".

Can you tell it was windy outside when we were trying to take these pictures? The girls had a bit of a fight on their hands on occasion, just getting the tops to stay still long enough to have their pictures taken.

So now I have four more to add to the "needing to be quilted" stack. Or rather, not "stack" but "totes." Yes, plural -- I think I have two, maybe three, large plastic totes of quilt tops that need to be quilted. Probably about half of them have the backings already prepared. I think that may be my next project I tackle, preparing backings for the rest of them. Then, I think a quilting marathon is in order.

Thanks for stopping by to play. Come back again soon!