2016 - Finish Along - Q1

I had listed 7 items on my Q1 FAL list.  Several of the items were for multiple pieces. All in all this was a wonderful incentive to get things done,  including the piece I finished last night.  If it wasn't on my list I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have gotten done.

This posting contains 3 of my finishes.

#6 from my list is a finished Helmet Liner, I try to make a few a year for the group Forgotten Soldiers.

The second #3 on my list was to make 2 mini quilts 24 inches square for the group Giving Dolls. This is the second and the piece I completed yesterday.

My Quilty 365 project which I started on January 1 was the othere #3 on my list. By end of day today I needed to have completed 91 blocks.

(I'm sure she is helping me count not hindering my picture taking, HA).

I have 11 rows of 8 plus 4 for a grand total of 92.  This was a very tough goal mentally. Much easier to keep up on than I ever imagined.

I totally missed the 3 items that were #5.  Looking back at my posts for the past 3 months I can't complain that I only missed #5 as I did accomplish a lot of other stuff.  Maybe I'll put it on the list again or maybe not. I have a week to figure that out.

Thanks to all of the coordinators across the globe for taking this awesome project on. It's been wonderfully motivating.

HAPPY EASTER

Happy Easter from not so sunny Florida.

Enough said.

I spent some time over the past 2 weeks catching up on projects. These 2 houses are the March block for Quilt Doodles BOM.  My goal this year is to keep up.  This is part 2 of #4 of  Q1 - FAL  So far so good.

Next up was to start on my Hand2Hand2016 quilts.  I hope to finish 1 for each of this years 3 organizations by end of May. 

Routing through my many boxes of "quilt stuff" I stumbled across a zip lock bag containging these goodies.  After a lot of thought on the subject I remembered what and where this baggie came from. Several years ago I tripped over a pattern on Moda Bake shop called Lawn Chair Quilts. The pattern called for 2 Jelly Rolls, one in prints and one in white.  The end result was 2, 54 x 75 inch tops. One of my quilt buddies and I split a Jelly Roll and I cut my own white strips, I put my parts in a baggie and there they have sat for several years.

That is until this week. I now have my 2nd H2H 2016 top done.   It really was easy.  I did the bulk of it Friday Night and Saturday. Saturday while marathon watching NCIS.

Happy Easter, Happy Spring.

March 11 Update

We have been away for the past week enjoying time with family and friends at Disney World.  The down side to the vacation was the pollen and its adverse effect on my ability to breath. I've been home for about 20 hours and am feeling sooooo much better locked in with the air conditioner running.

I've been keeping a hand written log of what I have worked on in my world of crafting since the beginning of the year.  One side of the book notes what I want to do or have committed to do and the other side shows what I have done each day. Each night I make a note of what I worked on even if I only worked on it for as little as 15 minutes.  I must admit it has been eye opening  and it is keeping me on track for my commitments.

Since my last posting I have been making Mickey and Minnie hats for Angel Snugs. (yes they do get permission from Disney) I turned in the Mickey's before the trip and the Minnie's got dropped off on the way home.  I managed to make 6 of each.  Totally forgot to take pictures of the Minnie's before I turned them in. Blaming the pollen for that oversight. This is a picture of  the Mickey's before the ears were attached.

I made a couple of the Pixie Baskets, the tutorial has been all over the internet.  They were a fun project that I did in an evening.

I've also been keeping up on my Quilty 365 blocks.  Before the trip I was one ahead. Last night I prepped 8 and stitched 4. I think that I am now 3 behind.  I hope to get them done today.  I'm so afraid of getting behind on this project and then dropping it. I've started to put the blocks together in groups of 8 just so I can keep track of them.  They outgrew their space on my wall way to quickly.

I made 2 additional sets of rope coasters and baskets. One set was requested by my cousin and the other was a gift for the friends we met up with at Disney. My friend can't wait to try making them on her own. Always a good response when making things for crafty friends.

I finished quilting and binding the Honor Flight quilt I was working on with my guild. Turned that in before I left for Disney.

My girls like to hang with me when I am sewing so I made them a rather large bed for the sewing room floor from an old Mattress pad and a fleece blanket kit I got on sale and with a coupon from JOANN's.  This photo shows Nets testing the in progress bed. Shes seems pleased.

And then because I have nothing else to do I started a new hand quilting project just for me

These are my dotty clam shells.  I love them.  I had 3 fat quarter bundles of these dots just hanging out in my sewing room.  I saw a clam shell quilt posted somewhere and my brain started to click away at the possibilities.  I had always wanted to "quilt" a quilt with that pattern but had never given any thought to making a quilt with them.  Not having a clue where to begin I started to google. This is where I am on the project.  It is truely a learning experience and I am enjoying it completely.  The info available out there is amazing.

February to date projects

I've been pretty productive so far this month.  I started with a couple of pot holders for my grand niece.  In January I received a tin of my most favorite cookies from NJ.  She is 11 and has started to bake and these were her first attempt.  They were wonderful, I'm so glad that she remembered me.  

In return I made the new baker a set of potholders of her very own.

I have finished the February block from Cindy at

quiltdoodledesigns BOM 2016

I love the trees but I will admit that they were not my favorite type of block to make. The finished block is 8 1/2 inches. Way to many tiny squares for my general quilt making skills.  

This is part 1 of #4 of my Q1 FAL

My latest yarn related project is for a fund raiser for Angel Snugs.

This is my first attempt. It is new born size. It is supposed to have 2 big white buttons on the red portion.  My job is to crochet.  someone else will assemble.

This past weekend I took a workshop  with Lee Heinrich's (FreshlyPieced)  for Advanced Piecing.  The blocks we made were paper pieced and are from her book  Vintage Quilt Revival .

I am not generally a paper piecer. I was therefore rather impressed with the outcome of my blocks from her class.  If you have the chance I would highly recommend a class with her.

The chapters of the Quilt Guild of the Villages are committed to making 135 quilts for Honor Flights this year.

My chapter spent this weeks meeting working as a group to get a few started. Members donated patriotic fabrics. Several members cut the fabric into the building blocks while others pieced and others pressed. There are also members who will assemble and others will quilt. Great team project.

I managed to sew 20 blocks, the number needed to make a top.  I took them home and got a top pieced. I'm hoping to get it quilted by the next meeting.

Last but not least are some more placemats.  MJ has decided that he is tired of me making placemats so he can watch them walk out the door ( including holiday gifts, we are talking 20 +).  He requested that I make a set for us to keep and use.  This is really not a great picture of them.  The various browns actually match a lot better than this picture lets on.  No matter, he's happy.

I am still enjoying doing the Quilty 365 project, and am right on target. I might actually be a block or 2 ahead.  No picture at the moment because I needed the design wall for the Honor Flight quilt. 50  6 inch blocks take up a considerable amount of space. 

Where did January go?

January certainly flew by.  Looking back I can see I was busy, and actually accomplished way more than I thought. Great thing taking pictures of everything that happens in life ;-}

This is my Quilty 365 project that I started on January 1.  So far so good.

I also managed to finish this baby quilt for my cousins first grand child.

This is #2 on my Q1 FAL

Love the fabric I found for the back.

So very little girly.

The big happening in my life this month is that my little sister moved from NJ to 4 blocks from me here in Florida.

I really missed having her near by this past year.  What I forgot was that she is my biggest quilting fan and that she isn't shy about asking me to make her things. And being the wonderful big sister  that I am, I don't know how to say no.

She told me she was in need of new placemats and some matching rope coasters.

This is her set of reversible mats.  

And a close up of the matching rope coasters.

She asked for them after seeing this set made for a local church. They supply weekly meals to their seniors.  A placemat goes out with the first meal and at Christmas all mats are replaced.

Fronts and backs

Our guild is taking on this project.

I have a personal goal of 2 per month for the year.  

Another local group, Giving Dolls, hand makes dolls for various Childrens Organizations.  When they send their dolls to hospitals they include 24 inch square quilts.  This size works well with wheel chairs.

This is part 1 of # 3 of my Q1 FAL

I had some great monster fabric 

I'm hoping to make at least 1 of these a month for 2016.

I had this great fabric in my stash for the backing.

Come on February, bring it on.

Quilty 365 Update

 I started participating in Quilty 365 on January 1st. Click on the button for more info.  This is the box of scraps I am using for this project.  They are all from a friend in the Carolina's who felt the need to clean out some of her scraps. This project is dedicated to her.  

My general plan of attack is to pull out a handful of fabric (no matching required) and prep several blocks for the coming few days.

Up to now, I have used 5 inch squares and a few blocks where I  pieced together a couple of narrow strips to make my circles.  Last night I decided to change it up by making a slab of fabric and then cut it into circles.

This rather ugly slab made these very cool circles.

These are my blocks prepped for the next few days.

Here are 18 of the 21 blocks I have completed so far.  

This project is very interesting. 22 days in (ha only 343 to go) and it still has my interest. Actually it's a nice little diversion when you don't want to tackle or start a bigger project.  For me it's also a challenge to stay on track because I know it will end up as a UFO if I get to far behind. That's one of the reasons I try and prep 6 - 8 in advance when I have a chunk of time.

January Updates

Where is time going? We've already passed mid January. Yikees!

I have been productive, I am happy to announce that I have finished my Christmas gifts for 2015. 

 They are now in the hands of my very patient friend.  This was the first item to be crossed off my 

Q1 - FAL list.

BA is the recipient of just about every Christmas thing I have ever attempted to make.  Going to her house at Christmas is like going to  a  "crafts my Selina show". Room after room.  We have been crafting friends for upwards of 40 years. Sharing gifts, ideas and challenges the entire time.

So for this Christmas I decided I needed to do something for spring instead of winter.  When we were together in the fall she mentioned that she liked to use placemats.  I have made her Christmas ones in the past.  Spring sounded like a great idea.

As I was finishing them up I came across this tutorial by Julie Hirt  for making rope baskets. Great tutorial and so easy to do. The fabric scraps in the basket and coasters are from the placemats. A great addition to the package. ( she called to thank me and to have me send her the tutorial info )

For Christmas I participated in another postcard swap.  This lovely tree was made for me by       Eglea Senna . It came to me in Florida from Brazil.  I love it.

The  winter bunnies were done by me based on a pattern by Michelle over at The Raspberry Rabbits. They made their way to Brazil and I believe they had a very Merry Christmas there.

My sister saw the basket and coasters that I made for BA and she wanted a set.  Of course she wanted them to match her placemats.  The ones I made last year.  Good thing I am a scrap hoarder.

The basket is about 14 inches across and 4  inches high.

The coasters are about 4 inches across.

It's a good thing that they are addictive to make because we had company for dinner on Sunday who saw them and wanted a set. She went to my stash to pick out her colors.

And I have been able to keep up with the 365 project in spite of the temptation of the baskets and coasters.