Thoughts on Block of the Month Projects

One of the things I like about joining a block of the month group is the anticipation of a new block or 4 showing up in my inbox on that certain day every month. I wrote it on my calendar for the whole year. One year I had about 4 going at the same time so I colour coded them. Some arrived the same day. Others were spaced out. I loved printing off the pattern, making copies if needed on foundation paper, and pulling out the fabrics to pick my colours. I had all sorts of neatly labeled project boxes piled all over the place. I would spread bits and pieces all over my big tables and prep and baste and make piles of in-process blocks, sort and organize and dream and write up blog posts and put them up on the design wall and take pictures. 

I figure that if I have all the fabrics spread out in front of me, I should prep a whole bunch at the same time. And why not? It seems illogical to me to pull out everything and just prep one block and complete it and put everything away, neatly. Why would I do that when I can have a dozen half made quilts on the wall? I collected the Ella Maria Deacon blocks - 4 each month - all throughout lock down. I had the idea of making 50 blocks of the 85 offered to commemorate 50 years of marriage. Well, we celebrate 52 years this summer and the quilt is this far along. I now have countless projects in various stages of process and few completed quilts.  I love the anticipation. I love the sorting and prep work. I just don't love finishing something when I can make just one more block of something else. 

And where has Chris been for the past 2 months? That is a question I ask myself. I have not been doing much stitching. I have been reading. I have not been writing much. My Sweetie and I quietly launched a new blog called How to Stay Married for 50 Years. This has been an interesting journey as we work on writing together. He is so sweet sometimes and so doggone annoying at other times. But we continue as we have learned some new communications skills. Yup. Even after 52 years of marriage, we are learning new stuff about each other. 

I am off to the Shipshewana Quilt Retreat next week to play with my quilting friends. My tiny project box contains enough to keep me busy for 5 days. A bit of Lucy. A bit of Ella. And even a few Morrell blocks. And why not? Morrell blocks have accompanied me to Shipshewana every one of the 6 trips I have made so far. At the rate I am going, I may have to go to Shipshewana at least a dozen more times to complete it. 

I may leave  my bathing suit at home. And why? Because last time I got a horrible UTI from the hot tub. 

Blessings,

Chris

Ten Year Blogging Anniversary

I cannot believe it has been 10 years since I published my first blog post.  I had been thinking of how I can celebrate but decided to just take a quick look through the stats. I have published 717 posts. I  have 72 followers. There have been 209,048 page views. There have been 5234 comments. Did I respond to each and every one? Possibly, but I want to try to respond quicker in the future. 

I have met quilters all over the world through blogging. I even went to Australia, not once, but twice to meet up with quilters.  

Because I have this philosophy that more is better, I started not just this Quilting at the Farm blog, but I also started Quilting Jane at the Farm, Quilting Morrell at the Farm and just last month How to Stay Married for 50 Years. The previous 2 sort of went by the wayside when those projects went in to the timeout closet. The most recent one is an ongoing project where I plan to release a post each week giving an alphabetical glimpse into our long years of marriage together. Our marriage has not always been happy but we made choices to work through the stuff and have come out the other side stronger and more together than we could ever have imagined. 

This Quilting at the Farm blog has chronicled my quilting journey over the past 10 years. I figured out not only how to write up posts and publish them, I also figured out how to add pictures. I started keeping my camera next to my sewing machine and taking both the camera and hand needlework on airplanes, trains, cars and stitching memories all over the world over the years. 

I especially love process rather than actually completing projects. That is why taking pictures each step of the way has been such a part of this blog. Finished quilts are nice, but I usually gave them away and that was that. But if I just keep pulling them out and adding a few more stitches, that keeps them alive for me. But then, just as our adolescent children need to grow up and become productive adults, my half made quilts need to grow up also. I had given away quite a few ufos a couple of years ago when I reduced my fabric hoard by half. That was hard making that decision, but harder trying to do the work myself, so I asked for help from some of my quilty friends and let them help themselves to whatever they wanted in exchange for sorting and bagging and escorting fabric to other homes. I plan to donate some more very soon as an appeal went our for fabric for donation quilts. 

My computer crashed last month and I am still trying to sort out the unexpected changes with the new hard drive and missing documents that were saved but it is a treasure hunt looking for them. But I have so much of my life documented here on this blog. I really should figure out how to publish some of it in a book form. Great idea, but another thing to learn. 

I turned 71 this summer. This past year has had far more age related health issues than I was prepared for and am working my way through. I  had cataract surgery on both eyes in May and will have laser surgery on the left eye later this week to correct the smudge that has been blurring my vision. 

School resumes tomorrow and the girl grandchildren are very excited to be going to their new classrooms and new teachers and they have been joyfully packing lunches and chattering about the coming day. We did remember to buy some lunch worthy groceries this weekend. Daddy picked up his fancy dancy new company car for his new job so will be driving them to their schools in grand style. We plan a celebration for the first day after school of roast beast and all the trimmings. I may even bake a pie. Maybe. I have one in the freezer. Grampa does most of the cooking these days and I like that. All I am responsible for these days is washing dishes and there are plenty tonight after supper. They were away for the weekend and returned singing and laughing and I wonder if someone else's children returned in their place. 

I spent most of the day writing and I even managed to pull a few weeds and continue to deadhead the many geraniums. They seem to wither quickly in the late summer rains of which we have had a plenty. And (drum roll please) I even got a few stitches in the Wedding Quilt which is now named Laurie's Quilt. 

So to celebrate 10 years of blogging, I will rejoice in all the wonderful friends I have made around the world and the memories we share as we work on the same patterns and chat back and forth in emails and zoom and facebook and messenger and even face to face at retreats. Thank you for making this a special place by sharing it with me. 

Blessings,

Chris

August 22 To-Do Tuesday

 The list from 2 weeks ago  shows much accomplishment.

1. Put away my books and clear off the tables. DONE
2. Figure out how to correct the printer off-line error so we can print stuff. DONE but got a new hard drive so am dealing with unexpected changes.
3. Put away the clutter from the big ironing board. DONE then I promptly filled it up.
4. Take some before and after photos. DONE
5. Write up some blog posts. DONE 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. Sew up one yellow Bright Jane block. NOPE. NEW PLAN
7. Fix the mitered corners on the center medallion of the Wedding Quilt.  PROGRESS
8. Prewash the new fabric for Windermere. DONE
9. Put up the Corn and Beans blocks on the big design wall and decide on a setting. There are so many options. Getting this to a flimsy will be my OMG goal for August. DONE
10. Cut out a couple of Lucy blocks. JUST ONE AND DONE
11. Launch the new How to Stay Married for 50 Years blog. DONE
12. Find the new mouse traps I bought last week and set them. DONE 

That list took me 2 weeks to accomplish.  

One of the fun things about family visiting is we can learn new things. So I went shopping on line and bought a few new toys. And the many heavy rains we have been having this summer have turned the geranium flowers brown. So deadheading is my puttering task. 

These are the most amazing gadgets ever created for us senior gardeners. Well, for any gardeners. I did not have to kneel on all those rocks in years past. 

This week's list looks something like this:

1. Write something every day 
2. Blog posts. I got way behind this summer with people and events here so just jumped back in. I also quietly launched the new blog How to Stay Married for 50 Years. I will be posting weekly. Now to figure out how to create a button for it. 
3. Get my flowerbeds looking beautiful again after many rainstorms.
4. No playing games.
5. Work on sewing up Corn and Beans.
6. Progress on Wedding Quilt.
7. Play with some 23 ufos. I pulled  out the 3030 box to see what is happening there so I can prep for the new Sweet 16 BOW. I will be using 30s reproduction fabrics. 
8. Drink more water. A lot more.

That should keep me out of mischief this week. I have little girls here this week and they all want to earn $$$. I have a plan for that. 

Blessings,

Chris

linking with: quiltschmilt.to-do-tuesda linky-party

design-wall-monday 

wendysquiltsandmore. 

alyciaquilts. 

ninamariesayre.

myquiltinfatuation. 

inquiringquilter.wednesday-wait-loss-342

fortheloveofgeese.com/put-your-foot-down-202/

quiltfabrication.midweek-makers-

Accidental New Project

So I may have accidentally started a new project. It was not on my radar nor did I intend to start it. Now don't tell pouty Lucy that she may have to take a back seat again.

I was minding my own business today, auditioning reproduction fabrics for a couple more Lucy blocks and, dog gone it, so many of the design elements are just a bit too big to fit nicely into the one inch elongated honeycomb paper shapes that I am using. Now, don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE-LOVE-LOVE English Paper Piecing. I am even going back to England in the spring for a family wedding. Now that is another story. 

So auditioning fabrics. I have them spread out all over the place here today. 

And then I chanced to read Barbara Schafer's blog post about the Savery Friendship Star Quilt that she is planning to make. 

And then SUDDENLY a thought pops into my head - girl, you have a whole package of those 60 degree  diamond paper shapes you bought more than 20 years ago anticipating making something out of them some day and today is the DAY. 

AND, if that is not coincident enough, I also have a big bag of one and a half inch hexagon papers.

 And if that is not enough, the see-through acrylic templates are in the BAG. And they all sort of fit together. Sigh. I had taken time recently to put all the EPP papers I have had in various location around this room into one nice neat, labeled box. That is why I recall having them and knew exactly where to lay hand on them. 

So, while I have all this fabric still on the tables for all the world to see, I could cut out a few, say 49 sets of stars. Well, maybe less. I had been lamenting not being able to showcase some of the incredibly beautiful repro prints I have been collecting for a few years. 

Maybe,  just maybe the 3 inch diamond shapes are a bit big, but a quilt will rise up out of the bins and fly onto the design wall.
I can FUSSY cut to my heart's content and see what happens. These blocks will get appliqued down onto a background square possibly. 

Some quilters actually make a practice block or two to see if they like it before actually starting a new quilt. I just dive right in IMPULSIVELY since that is what I do. and I bought one of the new Sentimental Stitches Sweet Sixteen BOM starting the first Friday of Sept. More on that later. 

In the meantime, I wrote up my to-do list before going to bed late last night instead of mid morning when I woke up. Had luncheon date with almost 16 year old Ava and we went to the Dutch Mill Store which is our secret shopping place and spend a pile of $$$ on new kitchen gadgets, jewelry, puzzles, and other stuff.  The Corn and Beans blocks are all in a pile awaiting their turn to be sewn into groups of 4 before deciding on the final layout. And the Wedding Quilt lost it's place in the queue. Again.

I ended up putting all the fabric back into the bins and onto the shelf and pulled out my journal to write. The Write With God daily group started back up this week and my commitment is to show up. They changed the time to 12 noon my time and it is for 33 minutes. That's a nice length of time to write. Got a new hard drive in my desktop computer. Cannot locate 10 years of photos. And there are bobcats on my lawn making noise and  moving dirt just outside my window distracting me to no end. More on that next time.

Blessings,

Chris

August 1 To-Do Tuesday

 I did not complete my list for July. But I did  make progress. Some. 

To-Do Tuesday list for July 

1. Write up this blog post today and post it. done
2. Write up blog post on the 50+2 Anniversary Celebration. nope
3. Finally write a post about our trip to Australia back in April. Is it July already? It is August already. 
4. Prepare to launch the new blog How to Stay Married for 50 Years. Goes live next Monday on our official anniversary. So excited!!
5. OMG goal for July will be to complete this To-Do list. It worked last time I did that. Did not work this time. 
6. Find both parts of the hexie ruler for the QAYG to send back to England with my sister who has been visiting here this week for the party. I had it with me when I visited her last summer, but forgot to leave it. I have 2 days. I did not find the other piece. What I did was  misplace the first one. Sheesh. I will be visiting her in April for her grandson's wedding. I have 9 months. So, she flew out a few days later and I found both parts of the ruler. One part was in Lucy's big project box. The other is in the small rulers box where it belonged. I have until April to not lose them again. 
7. Clear away the recent mess I made in the Blue Room and get it set up to do some serious quilting. This includes setting up 4 machines with 4 projects. Cleared the mess and set up 3 machines. Even used 2 of them.  
8. RSC colour for July is red. Get the red Bright Jane blocks out, organized and actually sew some of them. Not sure how many yet to do in red, but complete at least 1. Not even one.
   
   
   
9. Complete 1 applique block and 1 pieced block for Ella. It has been on the big design wall for the past few weeks. DONE ! ! !
10. Complete the Wedding Quilt. It went on pause yet again when I had the second eye surgery. That eye is not healing as quickly as the first one. Not a stitch. 
    
    
    
11. Complete one Lucy block then glue baste a few more squares. Hand stitching on this has been very difficult for the past few months. Done the one I started in April at Scrub Stitchin.
12. Revisit 23 ufos for 2023 and make a plan. done and pulled out the Corn and Beans blocks to started to put up on the big design wall. 

Now to be more realistic in my planning. This week's list includes:

1. Put away my books and clear off the tables.
2. Figure out how to correct the printer off-line error so we can print stuff. 
3. Put away the clutter from the big ironing board,
4. Take some before and after photos.
5. Write up some blog posts.
6. Sew up one yellow Bright Jane block. 
7. Fix the mitered corners on the center medallion of the Wedding Quilt. 
8. Prewash the new fabric for Windermere. 
   
   
   
9. Put up the Corn and Beans blocks on the big design wall and decide on a setting. There are so many options. Getting this to a flimsy will be my OMG goal for August.
10. Cut out a couple of Lucy blocks. 
11. Launch the new How to Stay Married for 50 Years blog. 
12. Find the new mouse traps I bought last week and set them. 

That should keep me busy this week. It is really quiet here these days. We have had record rains this past week and the weeds are incredible. I have discovered that pulling them out of the mulch around the patio is a lot easier than pulling them out of the other flower beds. I get someone else to do that. 

Blessings,

Chris

Linking to: OMG

RSC

To-Do Tuesday

Design Wall Monday

Friday Night With Friends FNWF

Back in the Game

 To-Do Tuesday list for July

1. Write up this blog post today and post it.
2. Write up blog post on the 50+2 Anniversary Celebration.
3. Finally write a post about our trip to Australia back in April. Is it July already?
4. Prepare to launch the new blog How to Stay Married for 50 Years. 
5. OMG goal for July will be to complete this To-Do list. It worked last time I did that.
6. Find both parts of the hexie ruler for the QAYG to send back to England with my sister who has been visiting here this week for the party. I had it with me when I visited her last summer, but forgot to leave it. I have 2 days. 
7. Clear away the recent mess I made in the Blue Room and get it set up to do some serious quilting. This includes setting up 4 machines with 4 projects. 
8. RSC colour for July is red. Get the red Bright Jane blocks out, organized and actually sew some of them. Not sure how many yet to do in red, but complete at least 1. 
9. Complete 1 applique block and 1 pieced block for Ella. It has been on the big design wall for the past few weeks.
10. Complete the Wedding Quilt. It went on pause yet again when I had the second eye surgery. That eye is not healing as quickly as the first one.
11. Complete one Lucy block then glue baste a few more squares. Hand stitching on this has been very difficult for the past few months.
12. Revisit 23 ufos for 2023 and make a plan.

This should keep me busy for the next few weeks. I could have added prewash the fabric that my sister brought me from England for Windermere, plan a short trip away with my Sweetie, and consider the new BOM that Sentimental Stitches has been teasing us with the past couple of weeks. But, alas, the house is still full of family visitors, even though the house is empty for this hour and I get to use my own computer, and there is a wedding celebration in the back yard this Sat but we are only providing the venue since everything is already in place after our party.

Oh, and I finally found the battery charger for the camera when I was looking for new post-it pad. 

Blessings,

Chris

Slow Sunday Stitching

 

Now that both eyes have had their new lens put in and I can see clearly out of both eyes, it is time to get some more hand stitching done on the next Lucy blocks. I had this all set up on the patio a month ago before the surgeries. It was not so easy to do those tiny stitches when I could not see them so clearly. I had taken the photos on my phone and just now got them moved over here from a facebook post. Slow internet. Still have not found the battery charger for the camera. 

I love this block. I had it started a few months ago and took it to Scrub Stitching in Australia in April. I put in a few stitches and Sylvia gave me the red print on the corners. I do plan to write up about Australia. Soon, I hope. It has to do with moving pictures and focus. I did get a lot of white hexies glue basted for the sashing units. Now to stitch them into groups of threes.

I have my small group ladies retreat on next weekend and now that the eyes are both focusing at the same time, I have a gzillion details to attend to. 

Linking with Kathy at Slow Sunday Stitching, 

Blessings,

Chris