2014 - A Year in Review

All the presents have been opened. The dishes washed and put away. The turkey bones have been simmered and awaiting the rest of the soup stuff to be chopped and added. The house guests have all gone over to visit other family and I have time to sit back and reflect on the year that is almost completed. I was reading over my  2014 quilting goals  to see how I did in meeting those goals

On my 2014 wish list of quilts to start with all fabrics ready to go in project boxes:

• JT2 Benjamin Briggs BOM from Dear Jane and Sentimental Stitches beginning Jan 1. I started quickly but have only 1 block complete with the 4 corner buds, several without the buds and several cut out, prepped and sitting awaiting the machine applique.
• Dear Jane 2 in Brights as soon as I complete DJ. I started the DJ2 in brights on white and have about a dozen blocks done. I started a new blog called Quiolting Jane at the Farm . My intention was to make and post 10 blocks per month. Well, I posted some blocks each month. I had 7 quilters who wanted to take the course and 7 of them dropped out so, I cancelled the class. However, I still plan to make the quilt at whatever pace works for me.    
• Bali Wedding Stars from Judy Neimeyer in a king size as soon as I complete DJ. I pulled out the pattern sheets and made a plan but did not get it started. 
• Love Entwined 1790 Marriage Coverlet by Esther Aliu after I complete DJ. I still cannot decide what colours to do the center compass and did not start it. I think I will wait until later in the year or next year after I complete some other projects. There is a certain skill level needed to make this master piece and I do not think I am there yet, but getting closer.
• Di Ford's Antique Wedding Sampler on impulse when I forget what else I have to do after I complete DJ. I kept looking at the progress of some of my blogging friends making this quilt and impulsively signed up for the BOM from Homested Hearth that begins in February. I will receive blocks every other month to save on postage. This will be pricey, but it will have all the fabrics to make the complete top including the background and all the broderie purse.

My 2014 goals included completing at least 1 quilt. I completed the Civil War Dear Jane Quilt  but it is not yet quilted. I plan to do this sometime this winter. It will be a simple over all design and I have the threads sitting here ready to go.

Quilt starts include Benjamin Biggs Wedding Quilt and Beyond The Cherry Trees from Sentimental Stitches and Dear Jane and a new Dear Jane in Brights.

I counted up all the trips I made and have been away from home for 70 days. Keeping in mind that I usually prepare and take along several hand applique blocks and at least 2 textbooks, I got a lot of work done way from home. I visited my daughter three times. I visited my sister in England. Visited my aunt and met a 91 year old aunt for the first time in Poland. And I got to the American Quilt Society QuiltWeek in Grand Rapids. Nice.

Held  my first GORF weekend retreat. I did not finish mine after all. I had too much time. And my quilting machine has been in for repairs ever since I got home Nov 6. That's a long time. 

I filed 1 course for my DCC. I am working on 2 others but have not progressed much in the past few weeks. I got a new desk top computer with a very very large screen this week but have not yet plugged it in.

The greatest event of the year was the birth of our grandson. After 16 years of doctors telling my daughter that she was not able to conceive and after a high risk pregnancy mostly on bed rest, she gave birth to a very healthy beautiful baby boy in June. Praise God for His goodness.

Blessings,
Chris

I Won the Bag

Gay at sentimental stitches  offered this bag as a draw prize after being at the big Houston Quilt Festival this fall. I won and love it. I discovered her website Dec 30, 2012 and joined in the fun as they started the just takes 2 red and white sampler quilt BOM 2 days later with no less than 6 blocks. It was a response to the Red and White Quilt show in New York a few years ago.

I decided to make mine from fabric in my cupboard and used many different Jinny Beyer Pallet colours on a plain white background. I still have a few blocks to go. Some of them are patterns I had never seen before and techniques that were new to me. When completed there will be 100 blocks in varying sizes.

Serendipity

I might put this on my 2015 goals list. Or I might pull it out, lay it on the bed, gloat about it a bit them fold it up and put it back it its box for another year. After all, there will be lots of time after I complete the biggest goal for the year and that is completing my doctorate.

Blessings,
Chris

CCCQ Update

I completed this block babysitting the other night. It is one of several that I had stitched on in Poland in October. I really must learn how to center pictures so they do not look so distorted.

CCCQ #23

The house guest will begin to arrive in 2 days. It's going to be a lot of fun . . . and probably noise . . .

Blessings,
Chris

Ben Biggs Catch-up Marathon

When I started the Benjamin Biggs Wedding Quilt in January, I told myself that it should be quick and easy to do one block a month by machine applique. I was wrong. I had all the reds and greens from the CCCQ quilt and enough background fabric in my cupboard to start immediately and I had a whole roll of Floriani wash-away fuseable web to use for the shapes and not have to remove like you do with freezer paper. Maybe because I thought it would be quick and easy, I did not get to it as fast as I could have. Or did I? According to my calendar, I was away 5 times this year at the beginning of the month when the blocks were released and I just downloaded the patterns and saved them to print off later. That backfired on me when I could not find the files for 2 of the blocks and frantically tried to find them. They did show up accidentally when I copied the link and, then I found the patterns I had printed off in a note book.

Because I am using several different reds and greens, I laid out the blocks I did have done on a table in order and then started picking colours for the rest. I did not want the same colours together. Have I ever mentioned that choosing colours is not one of my better skills?

I had traced and cut out all the pattern pieces last week and this week I ironed them onto the wrong side of the fabrics and cut out the shapes leaving a small seam allowance. I have not yet glued these under. I will do that another day. All the blocks have been neatly stacked and returned to their project box for another day.

Ben Biggs Block # 10

The sun sure was shining brightly through the geraniums on the window, casting deep shadows on the light table. Did you know that too much light in the top does not allow the light under the table to shine through? I did not know that before. I do now.

Ben Biggs Block # 12

I thought I had counted all the pieces needed carefully. I missed 2 flowers here since I was layering 4 sheets of the wash-away stuff and then I could not find a piece to cut out the rest. That`s one of the problems when you start tidying up and putting things in their rightful place.

Ben Biggs Block # 11

 The sun eventually moved on and the light under the table started to shine through.

Ben Biggs Block # 9

I bought a  glass topped table last year to use as a light table.  I was planning to start  the Love Entwined 1790`s Marriage Coverlet last year, but so far have downloaded all 18 of the free patterns and obsessed about what colours to make the center compass. After reading all the posts about the process from many different quilters around the world, I realize that my applique skills needed a lot of learning and fine tuning. So, Ben Bigg`s is  my tutor for machine applique using the wash-away iron on fuseable stuff. LE is so detailed and finicky that I do not want to mess up. CCCQ and BTCT have been my tutors for needle turned hand applique. And now I have discovered a new approach to freezer paper applique. I love reading the quilt blogs that have come my way this past year.

Blessings,
Chris

Is it December Already?

My goodness. Where has the time gone? It seems like just a few days ago I was packing  my bags to go to England and Poland.Then after I was  home for 2 days I flew off to New Brunswick to spend time with my daughter and grandson. Now they have been here for the weekend for my husband's family annual Christmas dinner, which now takes place the Saturday after the American thanksgiving so his brother's family can all come back to Canada to celebrate with us. Since we were hosting this year, I made 3 turkeys and now  all the turkey bones and leftovers are in the freezer awaiting another day to make gallons of soup, since I cooked way too much. Not to mention that as I sat at the dinner, my throat started to close up and here I am, 3 days later with laryngitis and a deep bronchial cough. But I did spend lots of time looking after Devan when she was sick last week so, I guess she shared. 

Last night I printed off and taped together 5 pattern layouts for the Ben Biggs quilt that I am way behind in. I traced off the patterns onto wash away fuseable web and took time to cut them all out. I did remember to label them first. Two boxes of new fat quarters arrived from Craftsy. I had them in my cart and responded to a flash sale 2 1/2 weeks ago and got a better price then than they were offering last week, so I am happy. I have been slowly, oh so slowly, working on my simple tutorials for the Bright Jane quilt blocks. The sun is shining so brightly in here today.

In 2 weeks the house guest start to arrive for Christmas. Most recent count is 4 guests staying at my house, and 24 for Christmas dinner here at the Farm. Six of the nine coming from Saskatchewan will be staying in other homes. First guest arrives from Qatar Dec 18 and the last 2 leave for New Brunswick Jan 10. Both of these will be making quilts while they are here. Now, in order to sit 24 people at the same time in the same room, I need all 4 of my quilt tables cleared off, moved to the living room, that is 25 feet long, and I think there are enough chairs throughout the house to seat everyone at the same time. I have more than enough dishes since I bought all of them from a hotel auction 30 years ago and only broke one so far. Stacking chairs came from a local church auction 25 years ago.  One of the joys of living in a really big ole farm house, is that stuff seldom gets thrown out since there is so much room to store things. However, I did give away the 100 year old church piano (bought from the same auction) last week so have a whole wall empty in the living room. I am dying to fill that space with book shelves to house the hundreds of books sitting in boxes right now. Maybe. Just maybe, I could ask for bookshelves for Christmas? My daughter and my husband have had an annual luncheon date for the past 30 years to go out and buy my Christmas present. She always asks to make sure that I am happy. Hhmm.

And I drew up a 2015 goals diagram. Instead of writing a linear list like I usually do, I thought this might be more effective. Its like putting rocks into a jar. Only a very few large ones will fit, so the largest rock is completing my doctorate. The smaller stones are also important but not so big. Sand to fill in the gaps will be regular stuff like blogging, retreats, quilting, travel. And water to fill all the tiny spaces is everyday stuff.  I might change it but that is what came to mind immediately when I started.

Somehow, all the farm files made their way into the quilt room and this is the priority this week. The corn got combined yesterday and looks like a good crop this year so should have enough from selling it to pay for all the fertilizers, spraying, seed, combining, drying, silo filling, fuel for tractor and wages for workers. Then we get to start all over again with orders for next year's seed corn in the bills to pay file.

Blessings,
Chris