Wrapping Up 2019 So We Can All Move On

I always think this end of the year retrospective should be a quick post, but somehow

it never quite works out quite that way. Oh well. Time for a glimpse of whatever finishes 

managed to come to fruition during the past year! It always surprises me how it stacks

up. Never quite what I imagined somehow!

2019 Finishes (1)

It's been a surprisingly productive year. So many times it felt like I was just sort of spinning my wheels, or at times, chasing after ever single squirrel that popped around the corner. Some of the oldest quilt tops did get checked off the list, but it felt arduous at times. 'I don't wanna' was not an uncommon feeling at the start of some of these quilting/stitching finish-it-up endeavors.

2019 Finishes (2)

A surprising amount of larger quilts were completely hand quilted. Well, maybe not so surprising.as it was a terribly stressful year here on the home front. So happy to see 2020 roll around with the all the possibilities of a fresh new year! When life's troubles start to get extra heavy, I tend to have a habit of ending every evening nose deep in the quilting hoop. Well, right after finishing off the popcorn and catching up on Blogger and Instagram.*wink  Helps me sleep ever so much better, that hand work. Seriously therapeutic. If I didn't have so many hot flashes, I'd probably pile on about six quilts every night when I go to bed. Just bury myself in them. You know, for the good vibes?

2019 Finishes (3)

Lots of baby quilts were made and finished up, plus quite a few little bitty ones. Very fun, fast quilting sessions which felt kind of rewarding. I don't think that would be good for me full time though. The feeling lasts only a little while and then it's gone. Poof! Almost like it never happened.

2019 Finishes (4)

So now it's time for the stats. 23 Total Quilt Completions last year! Woohoo! {If you count the Barbie quilts.} But lets not. Leaving off those smaller, quickie quilting projects, it's really more like 18 for the true total. Not too shabby. And because I like to break things down even further....

• 9 Bed sized quilts finished up
• 5 Lap quilts
• 4 Baby quilts
• 5 Doll, Table Runner or Barbie quilts
• 9 of these quilts were completely hand quilted
• 8 quilts were completely machine quilted
• 5 quilts were a combination of both machine and hand quilting
• 1 quilt was a combination of machine quilting and hand tying

It was a good year. Also a good year for giving quilts away! 20 different quilts, including the 5 mini quilts, but not limited to completed-in-2019-quilts, were gifted to a hopefully happy recipient.Two or three other quilts should have been given as well, but I'm sort of dragging my heels about those. Not quite ready to give them up just yet. Still having pangs about a couple of the quilts I gave to my daughters!

Some thoughts about looking ahead:

I'm still very invested in keeping lists as per usual. The most important one is for the quilt projects that have been started, but are still in the works. These are ongoing, in many different phases, but most importantly, they have fabric cut out though not yet a completed quilt top. Its not just a fabric stack of dreamy potential! I'm committed, hopefully engaged and generally always pushing forward toward a conclusion. 

There is also a list for the finished quilt tops that are not as yet quilted. Totally separate lists for different categories of UFO's. That's because the 'in progress' quilt project list fluctuates all year long. What I've finally found to be an optimal balance {for the way that I work} is somewhere between 6 to 10 projects. Anything over that and it inevitably starts stressing me out. Anything under that and I start feeling incredibly bored. Good incentive to cross projects off the list and then promptly dive right into the new!

The 'finished quilt top' list has been slowly shrinking from a high of 28 several years ago, to this past year where I seem to have regressed. These tops are listed in order of when they were completed with a vague idea toward quilting the oldest one firsts. Ha. For now I'm going to ignore the fact that quilt tops are multiplying like rabbits and just keep on doing my thing. I really don't know what else to do.I tried severely limiting quilt starts, but that was stifling. There's only so much a person can do to put the breaks on creativity/new starts/inspiration before all momentum comes screeching to a halt. Some day maybe I'll be able to afford having a few tops long armed again, but what probably needs to happen is for me to work a little harder at {being open to} combining machine and hand quilting. That's where I seem to gain the most ground.

Last year saw me taking an even more intentional look at the fabric stash. Many of you know that I truly love digging deep and coming up with interesting or unexpected combinations of fabrics and colors. I'm super pleased to have a 20-30 plus year range of quilting fabric colors/prints, but to be frank, some of those fabrics are stale dated now. Over time there are fabrics which have somehow become bland or completely and totally uninspiring. It's kind of sad, but mostly it irritates me because every single time I've tried to earnestly address these dated 'colors', the ideas crash and burn. The quilting plan seems lackluster and pointless so I give up.

On a whim late last year, I tore through the green fabric totes and pulled out most of the worst offenders. Some of them really aren't that bad. Truly. They're just dated. They've sort of gotten lost in the trends of colors changing. Marketing.That sort of thing. When digging through for fabric choices, they are easily pushed aside and ignored because they don't always play nice with the new additions and then, of course, the situation compounds itself through time. Take a look at the Sherwin-Williams 'Color Through the Decades' to see what I mean. I'm totally stuck in the 70's, 80's, 90's and 2000's in regards to over half of the fabric stash! What to do?

At somewhat of a loss, I took these annoying {green} fabrics and put them in largish clear plastic bags and purposefully left it all out where I couldn't fail to look. See. Be reminded and think about solutions. Eventually I came up with a personal challenge that involves using these 'So Tired' fabrics. The first phase of that saw me making a really weird {okay, it's ugly}, purple and green comfort sort of quilt top, and since then, I've incorporated quite a few of these less-loved fabrics into the Christmas quilts. Other than the first quilt {totally an experiment}, I don't really intend to waste a lot of time making ugly quilts though. Finding a good place for them is the ultimate goal. That and using them up so they aren't in the way anymore!

The most awful of all these fabrics have already been sewn into a large quilt backing for one of the recent Christmas quilts. Extra time, but hey, the fabrics were put to good use and I save money on a backing. One way or another, I totally intend to sneak these troublesome colors/fabrics into quilts and find a way to love them again. Maximize their potential. Then I'm going to move on to a different color and start all over again. Yes! Loving this challenge so much. Look for the 'So-Tired' label at the bottom of  posts moving forward. This challenge could last for a long time.

If somehow the hours can be found, {crossing my fingers}, I plan to put together a 'Hand Quilting with Perle Cotton' tutorial this year. Yikes. So intimidating. Several people have inquired and seem to want to know how to get the 'Quilty Folk' look and feel to their quilts. Deep thoughts here. Please don't get in a rush expecting anything. My life is full of crazy ups and downs and I often barely have time to proofread current posts for misspelling, much less organize an intelligible tutorial.

Yay. This is also the year when I will be turning 50 years young. See how excited I am? Just loving the gaining-weight-at-warp speed and experiencing my lack of mind/mouth coherence due primarily to hormones. How is it that I'm thinking a specific name in my mind, but what comes out is totally different and sometimes I don't even realize?*sigh  My kids think this is hysterical and I just feel stupid. This has turned my thoughts to perhaps making a celebratory quilt such as Lori and Barb both did in years past? Why not make turning 50 into a good thing? I want to walk more and take better care of myself for sure. Will keeping thinking about Jubilee quilt ideas though. It's not a terrible idea.

And last but not least, I plan to keeping on making interpretations of antique, utility style quilts and also, continue to follow along with the AHIQ prompts. Both of these challenges, while difficult at times, seem to feed my creativity in a way that helps me to flourish as a quilter. As a maker. Very important during this particular phase of our life! Thanks so much for following along with me along the way. It wouldn't be nearly as much fun without you....

A New Fall Project and The Completed Tidbits Quilt

Someone used the word 'Autumnal' the other day and I thought it was a beautiful word. Fall is my absolute favorite season in a place where we definitely have four full seasons! Anyway, long story short, the word has attached itself to the brand new start around here. Meet 'Autumnal Tulips', pictured below!

The start of a new project

This project was inspired by a lot of things, though no doubt primarily by this post. It somehow gave rise to feeling of longing to make yet another tulip quilt, because really, can you ever have too many of them? The kicker was a cream blouse I pulled out of the fall/winter clothes tote. Lots of these lovely fallish colors on it and everything just sort of clicked into place later in the week. Autumnal. I must make something Autumnal. The season just sort of demands it, right?

Tidbits is finished!

On another note.... as you can see, Tidbits is a finished quilt. Totally and completely! The hand quilting went so quickly on this one. The little bit of pre-marking {outside rings on the hills} really helped speed things along. Later, while in the hoop, how hard is it to freehand mark and stitch a couple frames every evening?

So hard to get a good full sized quilt pic around here...

This quilt was started as a result of not wanting to throw away the itty bitty cut-out pieces {the small appliqued hills}. Originally they went directly into the trash. It was only after the fact that I looked at them and thought, 'Seriously? Surely I can do something good with those!'

Did you make the connection from this older quilt to the current one? Yep, the seeds from one quilt so often influence the beginnings of another. I'm not nearly as good at cleaning up the leftovers and cast-offs as Julie is, but some of the most interesting quilts can come from the leftover bits. From the very impulsive beginnings, this particular quilt expanded into something much larger. Of course it did! So typical. The default setting seems to be 'bed quilt' size around here, though I do try and listen to when the quilt decides that it is plenty large enough, thank you very much!

Looks very snuggable

There's just something about this quilt that has never quite made sense. It's not perfectly designed, graceful or even exceptionally beautiful. But it has always felt very endearing to me. Charming in a subtle, hard to define way.

The quilting makes me so happy on this one!

It might be because I'm a huge fan of the log cabin block design, which is what the border add-ons are all about. They almost always seem like a cozy element in most older quilts. Who cares if this particular experiment sort of got out of hand! Then, the folksy hand quilted hills, the quiet color palette and a little bit of simple applique? Love it, love it, love it. Unabashedly my kind of quilt, though I'd never deliberately plan to make a quilt such as this one. Oh the beauty of playing with the abandoned parts and pieces! Things just happen. You never really know where you might end up, and that's the most exciting part of the process if you are brave enough to take the opportunity!

Started from little pieces that would usually go in the trash!

There are a lot of fabrics in this quilt that I suppose you would call 'taupe'. They are neither gray nor brown, but somewhere in between. While these colors are attractive to me, they haven't always been easy to include into just any old quilt project. When at times the quilt came off as a bit drab or unexciting, all I had to do was fold it up to gain a different perspective.

After the quilt top sat in the drawers for a good long while, I took it out one day to look at. Something seemed missing, and so being me, I added the appliqued flowers on the corners. I kept the shape simple though the fabrics were very carefully chosen to add just a little more touch of a blue. Oh how I dithered over them. Take them off? Leave them on? Why did I sew two on in the white fabric and two in the dark blue? How ridiculous is that! In the end, they were left as is and now, I'm very happy to see them holding down the corners of the quilt. If I could change anything, it would be to remove the much larger green applique units at the bottom of the quilt. They are whimsical, but a bit weird. I think that I was 'playing with scale', but now they seem unnecessary.

When it came time to choose the binding fabric, nothing made sense except to add more green. The quilt simply refused to play nice with any other color. When I couldn't decide between lighter greens or the dark? Well...., might as well include all the colors in the running and make it scrappy! What surprised me was how much more I liked the quilt after that little pop of color arrived on the scene. It's been a long time since I've seen the effects of adding a perfect color of binding to a quilt. And for whatever reason, this binding feels perfect. Maybe I need to try harder? Or maybe this was just one of those rare quilts where it matters more.

Loving that binding!

I've always suspected that the main reason this quilt ended up being the size that it is {82" x 87" before washing}, was because it was so very much fun to finally find a place for many of these odd colored fabrics. While quilting this one, those same fabrics whispered sweet thoughts to me and felt very 'right'. When you're buying random colored {for you} fabrics through the years, and haven't yet found a good project for them? Don't despair. Their time is coming! It might be a couple years, but there IS a quilt coming up that will soak up all those shades and tones and thank you very nicely indeed for it!

Easy to stitch the applique onto the striped fabric...

This quilt might present as a little bit more modern than others made by me, but it actually kind of defies being lumped into a single, specific category. It's just too scrappy and make-do'ish to not come off as 'utility' too! That feels good. Interesting quilts are the best, those that practically dare you to put them into a box and leave them there.

Very simple backing choices

Gonna link up to The Peacock Party once again. Wendy is showing off a beautiful, bright new quilt there this week. I could never do what she does with Kaffe fabric, but it's wonderful to have a look and be inspired!

Enjoying the Hand Work

It's been a very productive couple of days here lately. Always good to take advantage as it won't last forever! The hand quilting on Tidbits is coming right along. I cut out a cardboard template in the shape of the outer 'hill' and then marked the entire quilt. One hill fits just inside my frame with a little to spare {yes, I totally planned that}. All the inside hills are marked completely freehand, frame by frame, once I get to them.

Tidbits in the hoop

As always, starting out with the freehand stitching is a little bit nerve-wracking. It usually takes me a couple rows {or three or four} before I can totally relax and feel good about the look. Side by side comparison never looks quite as good as the whole enchilada. That's the hard part to freehand hand quilting that nobody ever wants to tells you! You just have to listen to your gut instinct and move forward regardless of the screeching naysayers trying to stomp out all of the fun. I've never had to rip out all the finished stitching, not even one time. That gives me courage to try again on yet another quilt. I tremendously enjoy the wonky freehand look though, you may not!

Patchwork Garden

I've also been plugging through the hand work on Patchwork Garden. These pictures don't do the quilt justice, but it's been a joy to have this one in my lap. Loving these colors! The picture above is at the point where I am supposed to be done. Uh huh. Then I laid the quilt out to peruse everything and just wasn't quite feeling it.

How about some more baskets?

Hmm... what if I add just a couple more baskets? While rummaging through the stash totes I discovered a fabric that I've always wondered why it even came home with me. Never been able to use it because it's just so busy compared to what I usually use. It really seemed like serendipity in regards to this quilt though! Could it be any more perfect? 

In the second pic {above} you can see where I cut out three baskets in that particular fabric and then put them at the base of those lanky looking flowers. I also cut one more smaller basket in a dark teal to stick up there in the top right corner. I'm seriously considering adding a tiny dark coral flower in that basket as well. It just seems needful somehow? We'll see. It would have to be a very small flower.

Trying to decide

Is the quilt getting too jumbled looking and chaotic? None of the latest additions have been stitched down yet as I'm still pondering. There was just something unfinished looking in the first perusal of the quilt top. It haunted me a little. Finally I decided that while I adored the pattern, all the flowers needed to be in a basket or none of them did. Does that make sense?

As you can see, I made several other changes to the original pattern. Only one bird, no stars at all {they looked terrible in any color and fabric I tried} and lots of extra little baskets. It's pretty much impossible for me to properly follow a pattern, so I don't even try anymore!

Next up, I have no idea what will happen with the border or if there will even be a border. All the good fabric options in this quilt are about tapped out already and it's just gonna take some more time simmering for a solution to pop to the surface. Nothing wrong with that.

Referencing the pattern

I wanted to show you the flowers in one of the larger baskets. The inner fabric on the flower was driving me crazy, how it was competing with the pretty coral fabric. So I flipped it over and muted the boldness of fabric. Works wonderfully every time! As you can see, the fabric stem got twisted just a little when it was stitched down. Not paying enough attention! It's something that annoys me {I can do better!}, but not enough to rip out and redo. Once the quilt is finished and washed and dried, it's something that I'll never notice again. What about you. Is this something you'd have to fix?

Close up of applique

This is the baby quilt I've been working on. As you can see, those square-in-a-square blocks were the starting point. They aren't fabulous, but it gave me something to easily build on. Baby quilts are so small, sometimes I muddle around wasting time doodling through a hundred ideas. I sewed them together with a dark blue fabric and then that length became the official 'quilt length'.

Sewing the strip units together

Everything else progressed from there. Most of the strip rows were sewn from repeat cuts of the longest length of a fatquarter. I tried to piece the lengths so that it wasn't immediately evident that they've been pieced, but also, didn't stress if/when the print didn't match up perfectly.

Auditioning the extra blue and also the green fabrics

There wasn't enough of the darker blue fabric on the left side, just a little shy of having the right length. On impulse, I grabbed the last little bit of the darker blue print used between the blocks. Just slapped it up on the wall over the top of the solid blue and then of course, loved the make-do look. Nothing to do, but try to recreate it! Now it's my favorite part of the whole quilt.

A completed quilt top

This quilt went together really fast. The main goal was to end up with a definitely 'boyish' quilt and this seems to work. In fact, it almost looks like a sports quilt if you didn't know better! All the fabrics came straight out of the stash totes and only two of them have been in the totes for less than a year. The totes even coughed up a complimentary backing fabric so we're good there too!

Sandwiching the quilt

I don't intend to start keeping track of the total yardage being used, but I am trying to make a more concerted effort to move the older fabric along. I'd love to incorporate some old orangey fabric into use as the binding fabric, but somehow don't think that will happen. There's an older 80-90's calico print in blue that might be just the thing. Would totally make my day to move that particular piece along!

Nothing Very Inspiring

Where to start? I don't seem to do very well with being over-scheduled and/or missing out on having good chunks of time for my own pursuits. In fact, it really messes with my creativity which we all know is of absolute importance in the general scheme of things. Right?

Patchwork Garden applique prep

After fiddling around in the quilting room here and there, mostly wasting time, I finally was able to buckle down and get the applique prepped for Patchwork Garden. This quilt has been quite the roller coaster ride of loving it and then hating it. You know how some projects seem to have the highs and lows primarily intended to keep us on our toes and second guessing every other decision. 'Ha, ha. You only thought navy blue was the absolute perfect color for ALL the baskets.' And many other self defeating thoughts that can lead to hair pulling and a dreaded feeling of malaise.

Replacing some of the fabric

The lovely tiny-print floral fabric that I just had to put into the quilt has turned into an eyesore. It is way too yellowed looking in contrast to the other whiter background fabrics. After wincing at it one too many times, I decided to take some of it out. Make it less obvious. Not having a lot of extra of the background fabrics {or actually anything else that might work well} created another dilemma. Do I buy? Turn fabric over and use the back of something? I did all the problem solving, decided to piece and make-do, and then happily found justification to add the stripey larger floral print in two separate places. 

Trying to figure out the best placement for the new fabric

When you throw a much loved fabric out at the start of a project and then later find reason to add it back in? Yass!!  Lets just say that it felt really good...  The seam ripping didn't even faze me at that point! As a reward, I started a new project, 'Roman Stripes'. The fabrics had been simmering together for over three years and were really starting to annoy me. I wanted to throw it all back in the fabric totes but just could not make myself take that particular step.

Roman Stripe, the new project

I love and adore this blend of fabrics, but.....every time I thought to start the project {a forever type applique project}, something held me back. Finally, in thoughtful, contemplative sort of reasoning, I ditched the slow approach and went at it from a totally different angle. If I love the fabric, how about making the quilt all about that and forget the fancy hand stitching details? You all know what comes next. Of course you do. NOW the fast and easy seems boring and so I have shelved the entire project until a later day when I am almost craving the tedium of chain piecing. Because that's a real thing.

Starting to see progress already

Being so very busy tends to make my brain feel sluggish and awkward. Hand quilting is the very best antidote, even if the quilt that's being stitched on is not terribly exciting to any of us. It's very important in my day to day survival of all things life, and so I tend to jump into the next quilt up for the hoop with reckless abandon. {I'll have to throw up a post for the finished Make Beautiful Things here in a couple days so you can see the extremes to which I swing, hand quilting-wise.} Not sure that's a good idea to go from such a bright, happy quilt to such a dullard, but well...., what can I say? Things happen.

Coins and Baskets getting sandwiched and pinned

It's mostly because here is a LIST that keeps up a steady drum beat in the background of all conscious and probably, subconscious decision making. Coins and Baskets was next up on the list of Have-Too's and my brain was just too fuzzy to fight it. I started out with machine stitching in-the-ditch style to stabilize the quilt and make the successive hand quilting a breeze.

A little stitch-in-the-ditch work

Then into the hoop it went and wowsers! While the colors weren't making the endorphins sit up and smile, hand quilting the pieced coin sections definitely made everything feel much, much better. Repetitive hand stitching and minor amount of marking? Total walk in the park. Which just goes to show that even the subconscious knows what its doing at least some of the time!

In the hoop for maximum enjoyment

I hand quilted all the baskets, coin sections and then was quickly moving on to the top and bottom borders when.... ta-da!  I had a late night brain wave. What if? Oh yeah. What if I took this really unexciting quilt and added some sweet little 'Count your blessings' words onto the quilt?

Trying to cut out the perfect letters

Having decided the quilt was destined to go live with a friend of mine, it all made perfect sense.*sigh  Even sleeping on the idea and revisiting it in the morning didn't diminish the 'Oh this is such a great idea' balloon taking up real-estate right above my head.  No pressure for myself at all. None whatsoever. Just needs to be done by this weekend!

Ready to trace the letters onto fabric

Want a piece of advice? Don't applique words to your quilt after it has been sandwiched and MOSTLY quilted. Really bad idea. I tell myself that every single time that  I've ever done it and the fact that I've done it more than once tells you an awful lot about me. The time to applique is before the sandwiching and quilting, and anyone who thinks otherwise is a blooming idiot. So sad. I'm not even sure it makes the quilt look better 'cuz this one is design challenged as well. It's just that, once the idea presented, it wouldn't leave. It felt right. Like I would be denying the quilt the very most important thing it needed in order to be loved. So it got done in spite of a very intense feeling of resentment. Do I dare admit to liking the quilt better now? After all that work has been accomplished and that cramping feeling in my hands has faded away?

Time to finish up the binding!

So yeah. That's my brain waves on stress, over-scheduled days, exhaustion, inward pressure and the importance of having a good dialogue with my very own quilts. I'm not crazy, my quilts are. Or my quilts make me crazy. Or I'm crazy about my quilts. Something. I'm sure I'll figure it out some day.

Having that out of the way makes room in the hoop for something that I'm lots happier to look at every single evening. Even though it will end up being gifted too and there's sort of, kind of a deadline here as well. Nothing hard and fast though. It could take clear up to Thanksgiving to work this quilt through the hoop and that would totally be fine.

Loving having Tidbits is in the hoop

Plus, it's unlikely that I'll be able to generate an excuse to add applique to this one. It probably already has too much of that, and in fact, is another one of those clunky design efforts. At this house, not every quilt is going to end up amazing, but hopefully it will end up 'finished'. That's a good thing. Finished is better than perfect! Too, this one has a wonderful 'feel good' sort of vibe while in the hoop. {I'm loving these serene looking fabrics!} Hopefully its the sort of vibe that will translate well into good times snuggling and sleeping. Gotta get our priorities straight!

It's Never Quite As 'Quick and Easy' As It Seems

Sometimes we have quilt projects that just need time to simmer. Dozens of potentially good ideas spin around in our brains for precisely how to move forward. And tho at times it feels really complicated, the minute it all 'clicks' into place, then we feel so relieved that we gave it time and space to get things right. In the meantime, there are generally lots of other projects that can more than fill up our creative time.

Adding a simple round of borders for Tidbits quilt

It's really is good to have numerous quilt projects on the go, all in different phases of completion. I like how it somehow works to keep the mind engaged and subconsciously focused on the 'in flux' quilts--those balky phases sandwiched in between moments of almost effortless momentum. This impulsive start {from the throw-away bits of another project} hasn't ever felt especially demanding or persnickety. No grandiose design ideas that may or may not pan out. Mostly, it felt that the quilt was just wanting to BE. And so...., me being me, I decided to make it a scooch larger so as to actually put it into practical use some day in the future.

Cutting and sewing strip units for log cabin type borders....

I love the look of log-cabin type borders, especially when they aren't perfectly matchy-matchy. It seemed like an easy-peasy way to make this quilt larger without an enormous amount of effort expended. After all, this wasn't on any priority list!*sigh   Digging through the stash totes culled two larger lengths of fabric that could be easily be used on opposite sides of the quilt, exactly mirroring each other. The other two sides of the quilt, well... they seemed fairly happy with a hodge-podge of cream, gray, taupe and lighter black prints.

Is it large enough yet?

It felt good to use up some of the odd yellow gray and weird taupe colors that never seem to settle well into any other color palette. I also threw in remnants of two text fabrics that brought a little extra energy to the quilt. It was an eclectic mix of neutrals and oddball colors for sure, but actually felt rather calm and confident once sewn together. There's just something about blending blues and greens with neutrals that makes good sense! And of course, our AHIQ challenge of 'playing with scale' found its way into this surprisingly spunky quilt too. How could I not include those larger 'hills' or buttons or whatever else they're called? I do so adore a touch of whimsy and 'what in the world was that woman thinking' in a quilt!

Yep, it can handle a couple more border rounds!

It definitely took longer than expected to finish stitching all these borders to the centerpiece. I was thinking an evening or two, zippity, zip. Ha! It took four evenings of dedicated time and effort! Lots of auditioning, then measure, measure, measure, cut, pin, pin, pin and then the sewing of course. {The applique work on the extra three pieces don't even count!} And even with all of my very careful measuring, the inside of the quilt {in only one direction} was approximately half an inch narrower than the outsides of the quilt. Oh I am so traumatized! Not!

Always trying to measure twice, cut once!

Another simple quilt top hiding out in the drawers is good stuff. I know this one can be dragged out and finished up lickety split for another niece or nephew wedding, right? The minimal, almost modern look to the quilt should make for an easy, well liked gift.

Tidbits finished up at 82" x 87 1/2" inches!

So there it is, my latest rabbit hole of a project. Gonna have to take a good hard look at all my lists and get serious about those projects that really matter. What do you think. Was Tidbits a worthy distraction?

Every Stitch Counts....

I just couldn't stand it any longer. This quilt {Quilty 365} needed to be in the hoop and that was that. You know how it is. Once a decision is made about the next quilt-in-the-hoop, it's just seems to be time!

Next up in the hoop!

I did manage to wait until the Tree of Life quilt was ready for binding, but it was touch and go. Not that this quilt was hard to work on at all. Oh no. These colors were perfectly satisfying to have in the hoop. The binding was an interesting choice as I really thought the orange/peach would give it a too matchy, matchy vibe. Nothing else popped though and using a brown or black just seemed boring. Surprisingly, this drab peach works well, especially when it's folded over and such a tiny little bit of color is all that will be showing. It was thrilling to find an larger, much older piece of plaid fabric that worked wonderfully for the binding. It's been hanging around in the stash totes for years and years! Now to get it all hand stitched to the back of the quilt.

Ready to stitch down the binding

Trying to keep up with the 6and6in2018 was problematic this month, just like last month. This little Tidbits quilt has most of the little 'hills' stitched down though. Only a few left to go now. Well, maybe it's more than a few, but still.... My granddaughter was at our house for five days and nights so this little bit of hand work felt like serious progress! The applique probably would have been all finished, but there was so much up and down, putting it aside etc., that finally I just folded it up and put it away. Didn't want a loose pin to find it's way into her foot or something equally traumatic!

Just a little more applique left...

Also for the 6and6in2018 challenge, I pulled out the Solids challenge quilt and finally, finally made a decision about the border. I've been agonizing about where to take it from these simple, punchy blocks. I've dithered between a clamshell type border, pieced triangles, applique work and everything in between. The funny thing, is that it probably won't even matter what the border looks like. It's just that the quilt is so small at this point, it's going to need something! I'm still cutting out the pieces, but as you can see, solids are not much in the equation anymore either. That was a huge decision too, as solids was the initial 'challenge' goal. It's a relief to let that go and just do my own thing, unfettered from restriction, from here on out.

So yes, it's a little strange, but I'm not sewing the center of the quilt together until I know exactly how long the borders will be. Of course I know what the measurement is supposed to be, but that doesn't mean it will actually happen. It feels safer to wait and adjust the sashing widths as necessary rather than try for a skinny coping border solution. Lots of confidence that my border will be wonky huh? Yep. It's gonna be a three deep sawtooth border. Lots of wiggle room there with the way I sew!

Starting to cut the border pieces...

And here's the little munchkin who kept G'ma and Papa hopping this past week. Wowsers, was I tired by the end of her time with us. Two year olds just don't fit seamlessly into our lives anymore!

Taking over Grandma's bed...

Good times though. She's such a little bundle of sunshine and love! Wouldn't trade it for all the quilting time in the world. Although.... now that my time is more freed up? Can't wait to get back to the quilting room! Linking up to 6and6in2018! Only worked on those two projects {Tidbits and Solids Challenge} for the month, but even a little bit of progress is better than none?

Little Bites of Progress

Not getting very far with this yet. I just pick it up when there's a few minutes of time before dinner etc. and so it's hard to get much done in one setting.

Tidbits

I'm really enjoying working with these serene spring-like colors. However, the rounded edges are not exactly quick unless I quit coaxing a smooth line and just allow them to get really bumpy looking. Such are the joys of needle-turn applique! It's good to have a pick-me-up sort of project even if it does feel like it's gonna take forever.....

Just Can't Help Myself....

When I cut the basket handles for the stringy improv. baskets, there were all these leftover bits and pieces. I started to throw them into the scrap basket and then at the last minute, set them aside. The next morning I impulsively hunted down a striped piece of fabric bought on clearance awhile back and started laying them into random rows.

Tidbits

Why not? Someday soon I will applique them onto this background fabric and then let it tell me what needs to happen next. Right now it looks a little Carolyn Friedlander-meets-up-with-the-frugal-quiltmaker, but hey! Some tidbits of scraps are just too intriguing to go to waste. 

In other exciting news, our oldest son got married this past Saturday evening! We traveled to Portland, Oregon for the big To-Do and got to spend lots of time with family and friends coming to help celebrate. Our new daughter-in-law is a lovely person and makes our son so very happy.

A wedding in the family

It will be awhile before the professional pictures are available, but I couldn't wait to share the wonderful news. Especially the bonus round. As of Saturday, we are also brand new grandparents!

And a sweet little bonus

Miss Lucy is our very first grandchild and what a sweet, spunky little girl she is! Her daddy died shortly after she was born and so my son gets to step in and be a father to her for all the rest of her growing up years. As you can only imagine, it was a very emotional, but super sweet wedding for everyone involved. We couldn't be any happier for the three of them.....