It's a Long Post About 17 in 2017 Progress

Committing to 17 in 2017 was a big step for me. While I personally have a lot of quilting lists, feeling pressure is something I generally try to avoid! Meredithe made it super easy though and just encouraged us to make forward progress with each item on the list. Okay, easy enough! So that's what happened and wowsers, did I even surprise myself!

The Eagle Quilt is a Finish!

I divided the list into two sections, 11 quilt tops with a goal of reaching completed quilt top stage and 6 tops to be complete, true-blue finishes. Nine out of those eleven projects made it to the quilt top stage--82% success, and five out of six tops made it the finish line--83%. I feel pretty good about those numbers because the other two incomplete projects did actually make forward progress {yay!} and the only quilt top not finished yet {in that particular list} is still sitting at my longarm friends.  Good intentions and all that....

It's been a long time coming!

So this Eagle quilt. Yep! It's my very last finish for 2017. Just squeaked in at the last minute. I was pretty determined not to stress over the lists and details-- just let it all play out. I did as always and just picked up the hoop whenever time permitted or I was in the mood. The funny thing is, this quilt has never been one that I've been 'raring to get quilting on'. Once I had the hoop in my lap and had been stitching for awhile, then I would relax into it and really start enjoying the stitching. Thankfully that doesn't happen very often, or I would never get any hand quilting done!

Loving how it looks with the stitching

This quilt was started back in 2014. In fact, Angie and I started an Eagle quilt blog for awhile with the determination to make our own eagle quilts and encourage others to join in the fun. While it was great fun initially, the fire happened here that summer and I abruptly changed my focus. This quilt top took a good long while to come together and then, well... you know me. My quilt finishes are usually lagging a year or two behind the point of a completed quilt top! I don't feel too terribly bad as I don't think Angie's gorgeous quilt top is completed yet either!

I'm glad it was on my 17 in 2017 list though. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure it would still be languishing in the drawers with others that I'm stalling on! The thing that was holding me back was how to quilt it. For some reason this was one of those quilts that I couldn't 'see' and so finally I had to just get it in the hoop and start the stitching. Yes. That means I had times where I ripped out lots of stitching and started over. Mostly though, the more I stitched, the more it started making sense. It's all stitched with Perle Cotton #8 or #12 thread, something I do for all my hand quilting anymore. And I LOVE the texture in this quilt. It really makes the entire quilt come alive in a way that makes it all so worthwhile.

The eagle design was something I drew on paper after looking at lots and lots of other eagle quilts. Then I fussed and fussed with until it started looking the way I wanted it to and also fit into the size square I wanted for my quilt centerpiece. No, I'm not a good artist nor do I draw worth beans. It's just something you have to trust yourself to make happen and keep trying! What's the worst that can happen? That's what I always tell myself at the start when I'm feeling the agonies of inadequacy. You can read more about some of the other design process here or here if you like. As the time drew nearer to putting it in the hoop, I almost took the '2015' off the quilt and replaced it with '2017'. So glad I didn't though. This quilt really didn't have much to do with this past year and that only has to make sense to me!

One last picture!

So back to the 17 in 2017 list, my Peachy Cameo Medallion quilt finally reached the completed quilt top stage as well. Last we talked, all it was needing was the corner bits. You can see that I ended up making the fabric do the bulk of the work and just kept the shape super simple.

The corner work

My youngest son reluctantly helped me get a picture outdoors as the quilt was too big for a full shot in the house. That particular day was freezing cold though and he only lasted about five minutes, before running back into the house like a little girl.*hehe  Just kidding. It really was ridiculously cold to be standing about outdoors, trying and trying for that perfect shot.

Sort of a full-on picture....

 And last but not least was a project that I mentally determined to get rid of at least three or four different times. But every single time I opened up the box to finally put all the {set aside} fabrics back with the rest of the stash, my mind started spinning and nope. Just couldn't toss this one quite yet. Finally here in the last week I decided to actually DO something with it or be done with it forever.

Shattered--The scrap bin quilt

This project has been in the works for a couple years now and the entire center is made totally from the scrap bin. The plan was to make several vertical columns of make-fabric flying geese, but that essentially involved sewing hundreds of them. Ughh.. After making 72, I threw up my hands and decided that I was done. Then, when I was faced with throwing it all away or continuing on somehow, I suddenly changed course and decided what if? What if I took those flying geese and set them medallion style around the centerpiece? When I found an old castoff shirt of my husbands in the stash tote, that decision was set in stone and I was off and running. Still don't know what I'll do with the remaining 32 geese or where this quilt will end up. Mostly for now, I'm resting on my laurels that yes, indeedy, it did make forward progress as well.*whew!  It's been a good year!

Thanks Meredithe and Ann and all my other fellow 17ufosin2017 cohorts for the wonderful encouragement throughout the year and helping to push, nudge and cheer lead each other along. I definitely needed it with some of these projects!

In the Hoop

I don't have much to show for November progress on 17ufosin2017. The eagle quilt is the only one to gain any forward motion at all, and that's only because I need my hoop time like I need to breathe. It's not by chance that this is the only quilt in the hoop at the moment. Way past time for this one to see a completion!

Eagle quilt getting some stitching time

Assuming life would cooperate and one full hoop could be stitched each day, this quilt would be finished in just over two weeks. But we are talking about December. I'd be absolutely delighted to see a finish by the end of the month! And we really never know anyway. Border work sometimes causes its own kind of momentum. Seeing the light at the end up the tunnel sometimes makes us pick up speed or ahem! knuckle down and put in that extra little bit of time. Which always adds up. I had a really, really hard time wanting to stitch in the center of this particular quilt. In comparison? The border just seems easy, peasy.....

Working On a Few of My 17UFOSin 2017

This time of month always gets to me. I look at the 17ufosin2017 list and think, 'Oh no!, another month gone! Did I get anything done at all?" And then it's time to settle down and think things through logically.

Vintage Coxcombs

Vintage Coxcombs, above, now has all the applique blocks done--20 of them! And they were stinkers too. I haven't had that much trouble with applique for a very, long time. I think it was a matter of over thinking things, trying to correctly center the applique and yet not lose touch with the whimsical placement I was striving for. Who knew that imperfect stitching could be so difficult to achieve! I guess I just thought it happened by breathing. After all, it's easy enough to get the look when we don't want to. The best part was working with these fabrics and colors. It's hard to get a good picture of these muddy looking blocks, but they are so soft and mellow looking. LOVE that!

It's been a different kind of month. My nicely stitched borders for Folksy Flowers didn't work out as planned either. I've had to use the seam ripper and take some stitches out. Going to have to extend those scallops and hope that effort will do the trick. Otherwise, I'll have to dream up something else for this border.

Folksy Flower borders

 As I mentioned in a previous post, the prep work is all but finished for the solids challenge blocks. I know if I just pick up one block and get it stitched, the others will follow quickly. For now, they're just sitting in a bag, waiting in my quilt basket over in the corner of the bedroom. Taunting me. Or rather, haunting me?

Solids Challenge

Learning Curves is hanging out over there in that corner too. It's all ready for the hand work phase of the binding. The quilting is very simple on this quilt and I'm not 100% sure it's enough. Oh it'll hold together just fine--it's got machine stitching in-the-ditch around every block as well as the echo quilting around the curves. I'm just a little dissatisfied with the overall look. But not really wanting to invest more in this quilt either? It's a conundrum....

Learning Curves

Then there's the Eagle quilt which was slated to be in the hoop by Independence Day weekend of this year. Yep. That's not happening! I could never find a cheap backing fabric {I refuse to pay full price for backings} and wasn't feeling particularly pressed to get to the stitching. Other quilts seemed more demanding than this one. Then, just the other day, I found some backing fabric at a Quilt Guild yard-sale. Fabric by the pound! The blue fabric is slightly over a yard of 110" wide fabric too, which just makes me smile. Score one for the patient quilter.*wink

Eagle quilt

So no matter what my sad sack expectations tells me, I did just fine in June. Progress is definitely being made, even if it's a slow pace, and at this halfway point in the year, there are already 9 out of 17 items checked off the list! Yay for me!

Of the three remaining projects on the list, one is at my friends for longarm quilting attention. It's not looking real good for a fast finish, but maybe by the end of the year? Nothing I can do here about that. Another item is a love/hate project and I waffle back and forth between ditching it completely or being tenacious and diving in regardless of my trepidation about liking it in the long term. The final item on the list that needs to be addressed is going to require some intensive applique border work. I have the ideas roughed out on paper and a tentative fabric selection in the works. Other than that, I'm practicing extreme avoidance. I don't wanna. At least not right now! But I will eventually 'cuz it's a lovely quilt and no matter how I whine and snivel, quilts rarely get neglected here forever....

Okay! That's the June 17ufosin2017 wrap-up. I feel so much better now getting it all in proper perspective! Thanks to Meredithe for the monthly prodding to be accountable!

Making Progress on 17 UFO's

Knowing May would be a busy month, I worked hard on my 17 ufos in 2017 list early on in the month. It felt good to knock two quilt tops right off the list: Rising Sun and the Improv. Woven Basket. 

Two more finished quilt tops!

And all through the month I made myself keep plodding away at the Vintage Coxcomb blocks too. The star pieces took a surprising amount of time and it took forever to figure out the most efficient way to get them into place. Finally after sewing {and then seam ripping} the fifth block, I got smart and marked the circle shape onto each block. It's not a perfect solution, but it really helped with placement of the star tips, of which I did not want to be same-o, same-o from block to block. There seems to be enough variation to satisfy my imperfect soul and now I'm just looking at sewing the circle shape onto the remaining 10 blocks. This part is easy and by the end of the month I should definitely be playing with layout!

Vintage Coxcomb blocks

Learning Curves is in the hoop and making very slow forward progress as well. There have been a lot of interruptions the last couple weeks and also, I've been focusing a lot on the applique projects. All my hand work time seems to be in the late evening and there often is a choice that has to be made, applique or hand quilting? Occasionally, the applique wins out, especially if I'm really pushing a project completion such as with my Vintage Coxcombs blocks above.

Learning Curves in the hoop

This latest border on Folksy Flowers was a mixed applique/pieced border and so of course it had to be slipped into the queue too. I tell myself, 'Oh it's just a little bit of hand work' and then three days later I finally finish up.*groan   There will be two more rows added onto each corner of the quilt and then there will probably be one large row to enclose the entire quilt. I've been trying to make sure the corners of each of the latest rows are not cut out on the bias, but there definitely is a bit of wonkiness with this quilt. Hopefully not enough to ruin the quilt! Crossing my fingers with this one.....

Folksy Flowers border

So that's that. Two more items marked off the list and forward progress on three others. Not bad for a crazy, busy month!

Marking things off the list!

Time to link up with Meredithe and other fellow quilters over at Pomegranate and Chintz!

17 in 2017 and Other Misc. Stuff That I like to Chatter About

Don't forget to check in with my Quilty 365 Linkup and Giveaway. Lots of great variations and creativity on display! Also, I have EQ7 software for Windows that I've decided to sell. Shoot me an email if you're interested and we can discuss the details! So... there's been a little progress on Meredithe's 17ufosin2017 challenge. I'm lagging a bit behind for linking up, but wanted to record my forward motion.

Another border for Folksy Flowers

Folksy Flowers {above} has the next border all planned and prepped. What you're looking at will have to be appliqued as I don't like to sew fiddly little blocks together. Much easier to hand stitch! It looks so simple, but actually represents at least an hour or two of contemplation and fabric play to come to a final decision.

All of my alternate Rising Sun blocks are now appliqued and ready for the next phase. There are 12 in all as I quickly determined that the 9 initial blocks were not enough. Sometimes I have to laugh as my quilts always seem to grow and expand at rapid rates, quite beyond my control it seems! Bed size {or close to those measurements} just make me happier than most little lap quilts that won't even properly cover our toes.*wink

Looking at the alternate blocks for Rising Sun quilt

And yes, you've seen this border work already for the Improv. Woven Basket quilt. I haven't progressed much past this yet, but honestly, this is the project that I'm dying to work on. Every single time I get to work on these leaves, it just makes me smile. But... there are other things in the queue and these borders are {so far} working as a great carrot and stick approach!

The border work for Improv. Woven Basket quilt

Then, there's a totally completed, get-to-cross-it-off-the-list quilt finish! Woohoo! My Big Broken Dish quilt, otherwise known as 'The Creative Process' is DONE. After a conversation with my husband, I ended up gifting it to a longtime friend. It just seemed like a good fit. Hard to ignore those urgings!

So, at the beginning of May, I have managed to cross 7 out of 17 items off my list. Not all were actual completions, but the ones that weren't, were brought to the 'quilt top' stage which was the goal for about half of my projects on the list. Real progress. And what's funny is that it's not a whole lot different that what I've been doing for the last couple years. The thing is, I'm a lot more aware of the projects that seem to be languishing. Ahem. Could it be because I'm going to totally ditch them in the near future? lol  So very tempting!

The Creative Process quilt is finished!

And in other news, the city museum peoples approached me about putting my Fire Quilt in the museum for an extended period of time. There had been talk last year, but this time they wanted it asap as the 'firestorm' exhibit was finally coming together and there was a tour planned for the County Historical Society. The museum {which is in the converted old firehouse} only had a small room for the new exhibit and the quilt rods available were too short. Thinking outside the box, my husband and one of the museum volunteers suggested hanging a new rod directly onto the wall in the meeting area, immediately to the right of the exhibit. It ended up being a wonderful place to showcase the quilt as people come around the corner before they 'see' it and so the impact is magnified. Plus it brightens up that drab corner considerably!

I had lots of pains of anxiety, but weathered through it while frantically trying to find a good hanging sleeve tutorial. Both of these tutorials were of great help to me and to my relief, the quilt hung very well from the pole--no pooching out at the rod or having the quilt sleeve poke up over the top sort of issues!*sigh   {A big thanks to my husband for reminding me make two sleeves with a gap in the middle for the bracket hardware!} One long sleeve would have been such a disaster! Oh, and they wanted me to type up a legend for the quilt. Yeah. Uh huh. It ended up being a two page, abbreviated story instead and I was a wilted, wet tissue afterwords.

Things Will Never Be The Same on display at the local museum now!

But it's done now. Another chapter in the life of my crazy story quilt! I heard it was very well received by the Historical Society so that's something. It's just all so interesting as I really am generally very low key about my quilting adventures to the people I live around {immediate family and Internet blog posts aside}!

AHIQ Start and 17 in 2017 Progress!

It never seems like there's proper time to get a post written these days. Guess I'm spending too much time playing 'Words With Friends' with the family, catching up on my reading, or getting pulled away from what I'm doing by my husbands requests to accompany him here and there. Well, that and we just bombed through February already. Does that mean winter is mostly over?

Mock up of potential sashing units

Crossing my fingers fiercely on that one. Ughh. Am I ever tired of the snow and ice! However, there is still a bit of quilting going on behind the scenes, no matter how sporadic the approach these days. I dithered around, played with a quilting project idea, slept on it, then slept on it some more, tweaked my color choices and then finally, finally started the AHIQ-Chinese Coins challenge. These colors ended up being the pick of the day as they will probably end up being 'background' in the quilt and not a focal point.

At the moment there are only four sheets of strings sewn together. After getting through the initial work and checking to see that 'Yes, these can be cut to the appropriate strip widths and lengths', then I went ahead and free cut the approximate amount of strings needed for the entire quilt. Part of my initial reluctance to dive into this project was the feeling that Chinese Coins usually present in a formal 'evenly measured' manner. Then Kaja put into words some of my feelings about what was really stopping me from starting this project! We're all sort of inspiring each other I guess, because she referred to Sue {I personally was thinking about Ann's lovely string/coin work} and around and around we go. Mine will eventually be cut into 2 1/2" x 8" strips to be joined together in 6" sashing sets. And I want the imperfection of mismatched seam alignment although I did make an effort to not have extremes in width of fabrics cut. We'll see how it turns out, but whatever. I'm actually glad to have some mindless sewing in the works again!

Strips ready to be sewn into sets

So then, there's the 17ufosin2017 linkup. I thought there was very minor progress made during the minuscule month of February {hardly worth talking about}, but as it turns out, more was accomplished than I realized. Yay! My Peachy Cameo Medallion quilt gained another border. Hardly inspiring as it is identical to the previous one, but well... it just works. The quilt could almost be done right there, I'm so happy with the look, but it's gonna have to have that applique border I've been envisioning since the birth of the project. Yep. I can't help myself--always adding a bajillion more hours to my quilt tops, thinking applique will make it extra special wonderful....

A repeat border for Peachy Cameo Medallion quilt

Improv. Woven Basket also gained a border {very simple one} and then I've spent time drawing out and prepping for the next border. That always takes so much more time than we want to admit to doesn't it? And yes, the plan is for it to be an appliqued border as well. The picture below is what I have ready for the base of a simple flower design, mostly leaves with a very small little flower detail,that part to be determined after the bulk of this stitching is done. The flower stems were mostly gleaned from my orphaned applique bits and pieces totes which makes me smile and ensures a bit of unpredictability in stem width and color. Love that!

Prep work for border on Improv. Woven Basket quilt

Next up for gaining ground with a ufo is another border for Folksy Flower. This time I made sure to add triangular shapes to the end of my border lengths so as to address a little of the bias stretch that I will be dealing with. The math has been particularly tricky for me and so honestly I've just been avoiding it altogether. The border pieces are terribly wrinkled because I crammed them in my hand stitching bag for our recent long weekend to Oregon. Not much stitching happened tho as I found myself driving a lot instead of being passenger!

Another border for Folksy Flower quilt

While I completely finished up Geese Tracks and Black Shadow Applique {happy dance for a lovely, lovely finish!}, it doesn't feel like quite enough. If I'm going to be churning out quilt tops like a busy little beaver, then more domestic machine quilting is in order. Not just the feel good hand quilting stuff which is easy, fun and very low pressure. Ugghh. It never feels good enough, this machine quilting, but at least I'm starting to feel 'unashamed' of my unpolished efforts. Okay. That definitely feels like progress in and of itself!

St. Paul quilt sandwiched and ready to quilt

And my lovely husband tracked down some better tape for sandwiching my quilts. All of his own initiative too which makes it even more sweet. {Tired of hearing me grumble I'm sure!} I have had a terrible time with getting painters tape to stay attached to either the fabric or the floor and duck tape has been forbidden for use with my worn out, old wooden floors. This green tape is an auto body quality tape which so far is working wonderfully with everything but one fabric I tried it with. For some reason it didn't want to adhere to that particular fabric, but with everything else, I can actually pick the tape up and re-attach it!! Will wonders never cease. Now maybe I can get my quilt sandwiches to be taut and wrinkle free, something that machine quilting distinctly requires....

Progress on the 17 UFO's

Last week saw me with the quilt top finish of Chunky Crossroads. This week Gather Ye Roses and My Quilty 365 got crossed off of the 17 in 2017 list as well. I only committed to quilt top finishes with these particular projects as Meredithe assured us that progress was the point!

The three latest quilt top finishes!

Gather Ye Roses started out as tumbler block leftovers and then eventually morphed into a large tumbler basket after one day of play. At that point, I knew it needed more, but wasn't sure where to go from the over-large basket piece. Medallion style quilt? Pieced blocks? More flowers? There are so... many options you know!

Gather Ye Rosebuds looking a little washed out..

Finally I settled on a very rough draft that included smaller basket blocks, a flowing vine and space for some appliqued words. The baskets were easy, just took some time for the details. Then for the rest? Hmmm... In the drawing, my vine had what looked to be fat berries on the vines, but when I settled on 'Gather Ye Rosebuds' for the saying, the berries looked extremely wrong. Not that I'm a purist, but seriously, mentioning the word 'rosebuds' might, just maybe? create an expectation of buds on the vine as well as in the occasional basket.*sigh  These quilts, so demanding!

A look at the bottom of the quilt

However, the flowers are all just a mishmash of whatever blooms I decided to cut out at the time. Tulip shapes and other assorted floral shapes that made sense to me. I refuse to get too worked up over making sure every single detail is just 'so', and I do so love the primitive look to this asymmetrical quilt. Especially done up in the classic, traditional colors that I'm seemingly drawn to, over and over and over again through the years. I will say though, that the applique was a bit brutal at times in the overall effort of making this quilt. Hardly any machine piecing at all which means progress always comes along at the speed of the turtle, not the hare....

The large tumbler basket centerpiece

And then there was the day I spent appliqueing the centerpiece for my dear Quilty 365 quilt. Nothing else quilty that day at all, just this deceptively simple addition to my circle quilt! Words are tricky, but oh, so fun looking on the occasional quilt.

And now it's a quilt top finish!

Surprisingly, I've also moved a very little bit forward with the make-piece triangles for Shattered. It's a quilt that is primarily going to be made out of the scrap bin and while I love the look, it does get a bit tedious at time. Just saying! 76 out of 208 triangles made so far, which by my calculations is just over a fourth the way through. Every time I think, 'This is it! I'm done making these forever!'. Then I take a couple days break, think about it and come back with fresh eyes. It may be a project that takes the entire year to plow through, but I know it will be worthwhile if I just stick with it long term.

Make-fabric triangles

The really exciting progress was finishing up the hand quilting for my Geese Tracks quilt. Yay! It needs binding of course, but it's always such a great motivator to get this close to a true-blue finish. I don't even have to put the binding on for a month and I already feel like it's amazing progress.*wink

Geese Tracks and Black Shadow Applique quilt

So far, it's been really good for me to have this list, reminding me every single time I walk in the quilt room, but the years' young! There's a whole long list of projects I still want to attack, most not even cut out yet. When there's time, I'll be checking out everyone else's progress over at Meredithe's 17 UFO's in 2017. Right now, my youngest son thinks dinner is much more important that mom's quilting stuff and you know how hungry teenagers get when their stomach is empty!

Moving Things Forward

I am always uncertain about committing to any QAL involving finish-it-up goals. Frankly, it sort of panics me, which sounds very odd as I actually do finish things occasionally! But... Meredithe is a great friend and her '17 in 2017' sounds very no pressure. Thanks to Kyle I had access to a nifty little pdf and so now, after much pondering, here is the list.

17 in 2017 QAL

After perusing the other links, I noticed everyone has their own way of listing the projects.  Mine is simple: #1-11 are quilt projects still currently ongoing. The only really dusty one is 'Shattered', and I totally credit Meredithe for helping me dig that one out. #12-17 are completed quilt tops that hopefully will become a full fledged quilt sometime this year. Along with others of course, but I can't know exactly which quilt tops I'm in the mood to get started quilting. This leaves me lots of wiggle room!

Vintage Coxcombs

In the meantime, I've been trying to be very disciplined about not starting a new quilt project just yet. Tho I am itching, itching, itching to do just that! My tentative plan is to get three of my eleven ongoing projects to the completed quilt top stage before allowing my greedy self to jump into something new and shiny. Lots of applique work here, so I need to get cracking!

The quilt above, 'Vintage Coxcombs' includes 20 blocks. {Because I am insane and don't know when to stop.} Most of the background blocks are sewn together in similar, but different looking fabrics, pieced together as the leftover bits dictate. Since I mostly buy fatquarters, getting 20 similar background blocks can be complicated at times, but I love the look of this way versus made up of all of one fabric.

After I complete appliqueing the coxcombs to the oval shape {done!}, then next up is the possible star background. I'm going to do a test block to see if the triangles are large enough and proportions work out properly. This is the part I hate--thinking the triangles look perfect as is which would means re-cutting and adding the seam allowance once again. And yes, I've already cut out ALL of the triangles for 20 blocks.*sigh Thus the test block. I've been fooled once before.

Chunky Crossroads

Don't judge me by my crinkly looking applique, It's all coming along rather nicely! Two borders out of four down with two to go on the Chunky Crossroads improv. quilt. I ended up adding the fat looking flower buds as it just looked too barren without. I'm still a little {okay, a lot} waffle-y about whether the quilt sincerely needs the applique borders or I'm just indulging myself. Ahh... Self doubt. Always there to rain on our parade.... Too, I get kind of jumpy after sewing the same exact thing for hours on end and usually make myself a bargain or two just to keep going. It helps to have perspective and not let sheer tedium come up with our answers!

After completely two borders, then I gave myself permission to go straight to work on the 'Gather Ye Rosebuds' quilt which includes the  Big Tumbler Basket and a whole bunch of smaller baskets. It's going to be an asymmetrical quilt with a vine running down the left side and across the bottom before connecting with the text block on the right side. I'm trying to do as much applique as possible before joining it to the larger basket and thus making a big 'ol awkward mess to do my stitching on. Lots of work to do here, but then I'll probably jump back to the Vintage Coxcombs test block before yes, you guessed it! finally diving back into the Chunky Crossroads borders once again. I really do like to mix things up and having smaller goals helps keep me on track for feel-good finishes along the way. Hey, whatever works!

Gather Ye Rosebuds

And of course, there's always a quilt in the hoop around here. The middle portion of this quilt is finally done and next I'm going to be starting in on the outside two borders. Last night I marked off a simple grid pattern and with stitching one or two frames an evening, this could be done by the end of January!

Geese Tracks & Black Shadow Applique

I put this particular quilt off for a long time as I just wasn't 'feeling' it. And honestly, it took getting the entire geese-tracks/applique section getting stitched and finally working of the basket quilting before I finally settled in and started loving it again. So funny. I've always appreciated this quilt, enjoyed working on it so much and then when it's time, I can't feel the love while starting to quilt it.

But that's the way quilting works with me. I often have to reconnect. Just the steady stitch, stitch, stitch, hearing the needle slide in and out, staring down at the quilt, remembering the whys and wherefores. It all works to remind me of what's so great about quilting. This quilt? I'm the one making it, but it has a few fabrics from my grandma who was a quilter too. Just another in a long line of 'makers' allowing the work of quilting to quiet and soothe our {often} worried and troubled minds. I can tell--this quilt's gonna be a keeper...