OMG June Quilting Goals

I have been debating which of the 9 big quilts I am working on right now on which to commit to completing something. And the winner is . . . . . . . . The 1857 Quilt!
I plan to make the circles for the 1857 blocks. This is no easy feat. I finally located my missing Karen K Buckley perfect circles and now need to take some time to sit with them and complete four blocks. I cut out some circles with my GO cutter a long time ago. The June blocks will be released tomorrow and I can hardly contain myself!

1857 Blocks

I also plan to complete the quilting on my GORF quilt.  I have had the 16 machine appliqued blocks all machine quilted for more than a year. So now the goal is to complete the borders and quilt them. Next month I will plan to assemble it all using connecting strips. Still debating whether to use red or green. I guess it depends if I have enough of one colour or the other.

GORF in Progress

I almost started a new quilt last night. Almost. I gave in and bought the pattern for the Caswell Quilt from Sentimental Stitches. I have lots of shirting material and a couple of yards of suitable background already prewashed and ready to cut into background squares. And I got a new project box labeled with the pattern in it and am beginning to add some interesting fabrics. But alas, my daughter is arriving this week with those two little boy grand babies and I had to move  some  lots of fabric clutter from the white room to make room for them and I may forget where I moved all that fabric to. So, I just looked through the pattern packet to get an idea of what is involved. It will be a challenge to do simple back basting because the full sized patterns are black and white photos of the original blocks. There are pattern sheets for all the shapes. But I do not have to worry about any of that since I did not actually start it. Yet.

Blessings,
Chris

OMG May Quilt Completion

I chose to commit to completing one simple block for the 1857 Album Quilt. 
It was supposed to be simple. I had the corner leaves already stitched on. Then, I traced the pattern on to the back of the background to do my best back basting technique. Well, I stitched the first green piece on. It was crooked and the points did not line up with the leaves in the corners. I thought I should get it done on one of the four nights I babysat last week. So, I un-stitched it. Another day, I pressed the block and started again. This time, the points were straight and the corners lined up. Good so far.  Wrong. I pulled out my kit and found that I did not have the extra fabrics with me to continue. Okay. So the next time, I put in the extra fabrics, thread, scissors, pins and packed my my sleeping bag and pillow as I volunteered to drive a group of junior highs to a weekend camp clean-up. Great. I had two whole days to myself in my private little cabin. Sigh. I did not pack a fat tapestry needle to do the back basting. Grr. So . . .

1857 Block  18

 I continued to stitch corner leaves on the blocks I did put in my kit. I am well ahead now for the new blocks to be released June 1. 

1857 backgrounds

Blessings,
Chris

Another UFO - Biblical Blocks

 This quilt took me about 3 years to make. I took a class that met once a month for 2 hours. Not the best time line for learning totally new techniques and I lost momentum somewhere between the fussy cutting border print, the half square triangles in the tree of life, counseling theories and a nightmare menopausal journey. But I did complete it and machine quilted it using my Bernina and monofilament thread. Now I remember why I have not completed and quilted more of my quilts. Berninas hate monofilament thread.  Here is where I discovered border prints and fussy cutting. It was love at first sight. Problem is, I bought fabric to make 3 more. Story of my life.

Biblical Blocks started 2002 and completed 2005

I recall meeting my daughter-in-law for the first time late winter 2006 when I had just returned home from my first ministry trip to India. I had the pictures on a loop in the DVD player when they causally walked in. Our son left the room and I asked her where she found him? At work she replied. He came back in and beckoned her to follow him into my quilt room to show her this quilt in these same pieces on the table. He made a comment about the bugger green in it and I put it in a box. I was somewhere in the middle of my undergrad program, internship and milking cows every day. 
There are only six 9 inch blocks left to make and maybe a few more blue roses for the border, which is already machine appliqued on. Then all that is left to do, is assemble the thing and then maybe quilt it. It looks like it should finish at 100 inches square.





Biblical Bocks 2 started 2005

It looks like there will be a bit of freezer paper to remove from behind all that applique. It might stay in the box for another 10 years. I won't hold my breath on this one. At least not until I complete the one I am working on this month. Got the longarm booked for the 24th so better get working.

 

Blessings,

Chris

OMG May

Here is something that has my attention. Barbara Brackman's newest BOW  hexathon.
Now I cannot promise that I will actually do any of the hexies but I can follow along and enjoy the read each week. I have been wanting to do some hexagons for the past year or so and have collected some papers for the EPP technique. I even did a class when I was in Australia last year, just for the fun of it.

I sometimes I feel like a one armed paper hanger juggling all the things I have to do right now and quilting is high on that list, but I often get stuck and accomplish very little. However, I did finally submit my edited, revised and corrected manuscript to the publishers, and the back page info and the forward and the photos were found, scanned and submitted this morning. I feel so free and ready to start complete yet another project.

My One Monthly quilting Goal for May will be one simple 1857 block since I cannot blog about the other things I am working on.

1857 Block # 17 back basted ready to go

1857 Block # 17 ready to needle turn the edges of that stem.

Another goal for this month will be to complete one of the 3 courses I have been neglecting for  my doctorate. I figure 3 days of concentration and I should have the Intro to Psychology and Counseling done. The hard work is done, now to write a book report and a 3 page paper either agreeing with or disagreeing with an article that I both agree with and disagree with so it should be interesting to see what I finally come up with.

And because it is springtime and the grass is growing, I bought a new lawnmower today. Yesterday we took all 22 geranium plants outside to catch the rain. I fertilized them and will get them into their summer places. I have been overwintering some of them for 4-5 years and others for 8-10 and two for 20. What can I say? I love plants.

Blessings,
Chris

1857 Blocks

The May 1857 Album blocks were released late last night. I cheated. I had block 16 done a couple of months ago. I stitched up the other while babysitting tonight.

1857 Blocks 15 & 16

I am on call to babysit 2 nights a week for the next few months. I should get lots of hand stitching done. I have a couple of intense machined quilts in process right now so look forward to the slower pace.

Blessings,
Chris