Tree and UFO blocks

I just couldn't take it anymore and had to do some quilting this weekend. Should have been working on the commissioned sewing if I wasn't going to work on homework, but it's been so long since I've been able to actually quilt that I couldn't resist any longer. This quilt started with blocks from friends on QuiltChicks (Jane, Jodi, and Pat if I'm remembering correctly). I added two tree blocks, and 2 12 inch square blocks. the 2 inch squares that wind through the top are leftover strip sets from a swap I was in several years ago. Those blocks have yet to be put together. The pic is a little dark, but the predominate colors are assorted dark greens, several shades of dark brown and a splash of red. I'm still looking fabric to use as a border but haven't decided what color I want to use.

Meanwhile, I've pulled blocks for three more UFO quilts - two set of pastels, and a set of Blue/Yellow blocks. Need to pull out the commissioned sewing as well and get cracking on that stuff as well.

And finally, I've got several block possibilities going at the present time for my next submission as well, including a quilt that I plan to submit for possible submission. =)

Gratitudes:

1. Warmer temps this weekend.

2. School is going ok so far............now to finish strongly.

The winners are.....and answers to questions

The winners have been drawn for the two copies of Volume 4 of the 100 Blocks published by QuiltMaker - Congrats to Linda and Jean. And emails contacting them for addresses have been sent. If I don't hear back from either / both of them then I'll draw another comment as needed.

Now to answer questions -
Lori L asked how the border was done on the quilt I made from the block - The border was made by using one of the side sections of the block and laying it end to end to get a continual line.

An anonymous commenter asked what I would rate the difficulty of this block as - and I would say it's on the low to middle side of intermediate.

Dix asked how I choose "Quilted Snail" for my blog name - that came about after an ill-fated backpack trip with Campfire Girls as a kid when I was nicknamed snail. Long story there, but needless to say the name stuck, and people have collected snail figurines and stuff for me ever since. I had found the snail transfers 10 or more yrs ago on ebay (well 6 of the 7 in the set). Made the blocks and put them into a quilt. And figured that since I love quilting, the name "The Quilted Snail" was a good one for me and decided to use it in my blog and website.

Gratitudes:
1. My knee is doing soooooooooooo much better after physical therapy. Still more room to improve, but I can see it working. And i'm thankful for that.
2. A mini warmup is coming in the weather...won't last, but I'll enjoy while I can. =)

100 Blocks Blog Tour

Welcome to the 100 Blocks Blog Tour! I'm glad to have you visit my blog today. I love to design quilt blocks and quilts from those blocks. And have talked about trying to get my patterns published for years, so having a block published in Vol. 4 of the magazine has been exciting for me. When designing I still do a lot of my initial sketching by hand. But when I really get down to working on block patterns and layouts I move to the computer. I have been using Visio for most of what I do because it lets me play with it and I have to admit that it's been easier to work with it because of the years of experience with it. I love to play with blocks that go together quickly and simply but look a lot more complex than they really are or have secondary patterns that develop when the blocks are put together.

This block started with the idea of ribbon winding around a square. It came together fairly easily, and I liked the secondary patterns that developed when the blocks were put together. The block started off looking like the block at the right. And one of the many layouts that I came up with is shown to the left. In the end I decided to simplify it just a little and took out the blue flying geese shown in the pics above. I don't think that anything was lost. When I made the sample quilt, I used a section of the block to make a border for one side of the quilt.

Be sure to leave me a comment if you'd like to win one of two copies of the magazine! And if you leave a comment as "anonymous" please make sure to include a way to contact you if your is drawn.

Gratitudes -
1. A new, more efficient heater with the cold temps that are outside!
2. For the good day at South Newton High School today with the kids. =)

100 Blocks Blog Tour this week

The Blog hop in celebration of the release of QuiltMakers 100 Blocks, V. 4 is this week and starts today. QuiltMaker will be giving away a copy of the magazine to one of my blog readers (will be shipped from QuiltMaker). In addition I'll be giving away a copy of the magazine to someone who makes a comment to celebrate my block being included in the magazine (i'll be shipping this one).

I'm looking forward to talking about my block and the design process that I use when designing. on Thursday.

So be sure to come back and visit on Thursday November 11th and leave a comment on my blog to have a chance to win one of two copies of the magazine! Click here - http://quiltmaker.com/100blocks

Don't forget to check out all of the other blogs that will be showcased this week. =)

Gratitudes:
1. For the priveledge of having my block pattern published.
2. For the fun that I have when designing my block patterns and quilts!

Wonky 12-Patch Pattern

This weekend I started and finished up a quilt top that will eventually go to Sunshine Quilts. And wanted to share the pattern. The pattern can be found on my website by clicking on the top most link on the following link: Http://thequiltedsnail.com/quiltpatterns.html

Enjoy! If you make the quilt, I'd love to see pictures of the finished quilt.

One note - the size of the finished blocks in the quilt can be changed by just changing the size of the squares that you start out with. Remember to allow an extra 2" in cut size when cutting your squares. For example if you wanted 14" finished squares you would need to cut 16.5" squares of your fabrics.

Gratitudes:
1. Allergy meds are a good thing when the nose is all stuffed up!
2. Rainy weather is much better than threats of snow!

Got to Quilt!

Most of what I do here at home these days seems to be tied up with getting homework done or working on commissioned stuff that I have piled up here......but everyonce in a while I just gotta do something quilty so that I don't go nuts...lol. This weekend was one of those weekends when I needed to do something quilty, of course I had to work on my homework first and get the urgent stuff out of the way first. The next 5 weeks will be crazy busy trying to finish off projects for school, but the end of this semester is in sight.

After that I pulled a piece of fabric that had been in a pile of smaller pieces of fabric that I'd inherited after an online friend passed away a yr+ ago. It had been one that I had not been sure of what to do with. I finally decided to use it as one of the two fabrics in a wonky 12 patch block design. I'll post the pattern for the quilt in a bit so that any of you who read this blog can make it if you want to. Eventually when finished the quilt will go to Sunshine Quilts in Bev's memory.

Meanwhile I've pulled a bunch of orphan blocks that work together to put together as a quilt for American Heros. Just need to get some of them trimmed up and then I can start laying out the blocks to see how they'll fit together. =)

Gratitudes:
1. This semester is starting to wind down and the end is about 5 weeks away now.
2. PT is helping my knee feel some better! Slow but sure seems to be the key to healing of the torn cartiledge.

QuiltMakers Blog Hop is coming!

The Blog hop in celebration of the release of QuiltMakers 100 Blocks, V. 4 is coming next week. I'll be giving away a copy of the magazine to someone who makes a comment to celebrate my block being included in the magazine (will be shipped from QuiltMaker), so be sure to come back and visit on Thursday next week! Click here - http://quiltmaker.com/100 blocks

Meanwhile, don't forget to check out all of the other blogs that will be showcased next week. =)

Gratitudes -
1. For having signed up for Student Health Insurance with the troubles I'm having with my knee.
2. For my knee feeling somewhat better (part of the time at any rate) with the PT exercises and icing.

Rick-Rack and Quillts

One of the members in a yahoo groups that I'm in was asking how to use rick rack in quilts, which brought to mind a couple of quilts that I've made in the last year and embellished with rick-rack. The first quilt I made with it can be seen here - http://quiltedsnail.blogspot.com/2011/05/ufo-project-finished.html .

I ended up with lots of scraps from the first project so I took them and cut strips of the shorter pieces and made 30 blocks from them. I then took the rick-rack that had been left from the first project and sewed it onto the blocks I finished for this quilt on top of the seam between the two different fabrics in the blocks. I used a zigzag stitch to sew the trim on. And love the little pop of color that it gives to the quilt top.

I used the jumbo rickrack in these two quilts,but the smaller sizes could be used as well, maybe even multiple rows of them for more of an impact.

Gratitudes:
1. Fall Break in my observation school gives me an extra day to sleep in this week!
2.For all that God provides.

Finished something for me!

Started cleaning up around the apt this weekend - something that has been totally neglected lately with everything else going on. Thankfully there isn't anyone else to gripe at me for that, on the other hand that means there is no one else to help clean either. At any rate, while cleaning up the piles around here (or trying to any way) I got distracted by a project I'd started a while back....I ended up working on and finishing up a purse organizer made from leftovers from a quilt made 5 or more yrs ago. Love the colors in the squares. Will be using it in my tote bag that I take to school. =) Now to make myself a pretty tote bag to go with it....lol.

Gratitudes -
1. Lots of work to keep me busy and help pay the bills
2. Lovely rain - even if that means the humidity in the air made my sheets damp last night.

Surfacing....

Seems like forever since I've been able to post here, much less actually quilt. =( Grad school and work have been keeping me busy to say the least. And things don't look like they will slow down anytime soon. Starting next week I'll be observing at the school where I'll be student teaching and am supposed to be teaching 2-3 hrs a week as well. Student teaching starts in the Spring and goes for 10 wks. Still working on the commissioned sewing as well.

I did get to do some quilting though in August when I scrambled to make a sample quilt using the block that has been accepted for publication in Vol. 4 of QuiltMaker's 100 Blocks From Todays Top Designers. Pics of the quilt will be posted later after the magazine has been published and is for sale.

I do have to say that I am very happy to have had the block accepted for publication in the magazine because one of my long time dreams is to have my patterns published. Finally decided that this was the year I was at least going to try to accomplish this. Have designed a quilt pattern that I plan on sending in to see if I can get it published.....just need time to actually put it together and quilt it. Am hoping to get that done by the end of the year. And am also working on my design for submittal for volume 5 of the 100 Blocks. =)

At the present time I'm waiting for info back on ordering wholesale copies of the magazine (have the opportunity to do so since my block is in it). Sent out an email to various lists asking how many, if any, would be interested in buying a copy from me and having me sign it. Am now trying to decide how many copies that I am willing to order. So if anyone reading this wants a copy - let me know now so i can add you in to the total that I'm looking at getting.

Hopefully tonite I'll get a little bit of time to work on my top for the Dorinda mystery...am three rules behind on it. But at least I know what I want to do for the first one of those. =) I also need to get the binding onto my niece's quilt so that I can get it finished off and back to her.

Gratitudes:
1. Wonderful, cooler temps here!
2. God's manifold provisions in all areas of my life

Going crazy...........and excitement

Life has been a wee bit crazy this summer with three summer school classes in two sessions. Have also been doing a lot of commissioned sewing these days - scrubs, muu-muu style tops and dresses, and a few quilts. Have what seems like a ton of commissioned sewing yet to get sewn up still here as well. Needless to say I haven't gotten a lot of quilting for me done with everything else going on. A couple of the quilts that I was commissioned to finished for a friend are shown in the pics below. Work at the store is still happening as well. One of these days i might actually get caught up on all that I have to do here........

But the excitement for me the last week has been that the block design I submitted for publication in the Fall 2011 issue of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks from todays top designers was accepted! It will be in the issue that goes on sale mid-November 2011. Getting my designs published has been a long held dream, and one that I decided to go for in the midst of all the craziness instead of just talkin about it it. Now I'm working hard to get a sample quilt made so that it can be photographed for publication in the same issue. Will work on that next week....have the fabric, and know what I'm going to make. =) And have the design drawn up for my next block submission as well....just need to get the sample block made for it.

Gratitudes:
1. For a long-time dream coming true.

2. for all of the opportunities for extra income that God has provided.

Quilting Again!

Summer School derailed most of my sewing & quilting for June, and now that the first class is over I've got a couple of days to quilt and sew again. =) Of course my sewing /quilting these days is made of the various commissions that I've got in house at the moment. At the moment, I've got 10 more scrub tops cut out and in process, and also have 8 other tops / dresses also cut out for the same gal. Also have a quilt going onto the frame that is for a friends daughter.

And finally am working on a wall-hanging that I've been commissioned to finish for another friend. I've got the satin-stitching finished around 3 of the pine trees so far, and am getting ready to start on the 4th one. Not hard work, just fiddly to say the least. Worst of it is that the colors are very close in shade so I'm having a wee bit of trouble seeing where the edges are because I can't find my clear open-toed foot.......argh.....need to go take another look for it. While I'm working on the stitching, I'm also thinking about how to quilt it....esp. the outer two borders of it......any ideas anyone?

Gratitudes:
1. Thankful for the commissioned work that is helping me to be able to set aside some money.

2. Thankful for all of my good friends everywhere.

UFO Project finished

A year or more ago I had taken a work shop led by Karen Stone.......finished the I started in class during teh actual workshop. But that's where it stayed until yesterday. Had intended to make 3 more blocks to go with this one...........but after all the headaches of taking the paper out (it's paper-pieced) I decided it was time for a change in plans. Ended up setting the completed block on point (after repairing it that is) and used coordinating fabric for the setting triangles. Used more of the rickrack as an edge treatment in the binding. Added a hanging sleeve to the back and got the binding on late last nite. Got everything sewn down today. Haven't decided what i'm doing with this one....will decide that some where down the road.

Gratitudes:
1. Got a great price on an Ott Floor lamp. =)
2. Making progress on the commissioned sewing that I've been working on.

Empty tote!

As I've been going thru things here in the house I've been working to condense, get rid of or use up things that I moved this last time....now that doesn't mean I'm trying to get rid of my stash - but it does mean that i'm working on using what I have without adding a lot to it. This weekend is UFO weekend on one of my groups, so yesterday I emptied a small tote that had a set of 6 UFO blocks that had been sent to me a yr or so back if I rememeber right.

Finished off the satin stitching on the flowers and made the alternate blocks from the fabric that had been sent with the blocks. Only fabric I had to add to make the quilt was the wow that I used to frame the alternate blocks and then the two borders. Nice to have this done and outta my to-do pile. =) This quilt top will be going to American Heros eventually.

Gratitudes:
1. Time to quilt =)
2. Summer break.

Been a while..........

It's been a while since I posted, mainly because I was going nuts with school and all that I had going on with it, and with working 20 or so hrs a week on top of school. Have been doing a lot of sewing for others (well for one person at any rate) for pay as well - am thanful for the extra income. Needless to say there has not been a lot of time to actually quilt and sew for pleasure the last couple of months.

Did manage to finish off a couple of UFOs - the patriotic double wedding ring that I had in the works for American Heroes. The rings were paper-pieced out of pre-cut squares I'd already trimmed down from scraps. The rings are machine appliqued (buttonhole stitched) to background squares of various WOW's. the finished quilt top is about 60" square if I remember right. It has already been sent off to American Heros with 6 other quilt tops to be quilted and then given to a wounded military vet. the second UFO finished off was made using patriotic snowball blocks and sashing. Some of the leftover triangle blocks made from the snowballs were used as setting triangles for the quilt.

This past week I've been busy making a lot of scrub tops for the same gal I've been doing sewing for the last several months. Took a break from them (still have 2 more to do before Wed) to put together a quilt top last nite. The pic on the left shows the fabric I started with. the fabric is was one of the current dress fabrics that has the elastic gathering at the top of it (remember those dresses from yrs ago?). I took out all of the elastic thread that made the gathers (chain stitched). then soaked the fabric with the elastic had been so that the holes would disappear and ironed it dry. What started out as a 27" piece of fabric at the top ended up being 48" wide. =) The pic on the right shows the top as it is right now. I love how the colors shade from yellow to fuschia. Still need to figure out what i'm going to do for the final border. Will go 'shopping' in my stash for that.

I've got one more piece that is blues to purple to do something along the same lines with. Am thinking i'll use a WOW for sashing on it instead of black though. Might do a snowball block and sashing type of quilt.....or not.....lol.

Now back to the remaining 2 of 11 scrub tops so that I can have them all ready to deliver on Wed morning this week.....

Gratitudes:
1. Extra income from sewing
2. My quilt frame is together and working!

Mixed feelings...

Mixed feelings here....need to go see one of the docs or PA's at the school health center 'cause I have a place on my leg that just won't go away. It's not an allergic reaction to something because the antihistamines I've been taking for my allergies here haven't affected it. I know my mom has had to have some places removed that have been pre-trouble spots, so i now i need to be concerned esp. since it fits some of the rules for skin cancer. Time will tell what it is....meanwhile I'm thankful to have the med. center at school since i can see the docs there for free and have insurance to help with any tests needed. Gratitudes: 1. Have health insurance unlike the past 3 yrs when I didn't. 2. Only 3 more weeks left in this semester!

National Quilt Day

Got a little bit of quilting done today in honor of National Quilt day.....when I worked on finishing up a UFO. I had made the center block more than a yr ago as a test block before making a commissioned double wedding ring quilt. And like so many of my projects, it then sat around aging as I worked on other things. Unlike most DWR quilts, the only way I'll make one is to paper-piece that arcs and then applique them onto a solid background square. First one I did was hand appliqued, this one is machine appliqued.

Finally decided on a layout yesterday, and made the extra rings that I needed....but like a space case, miscounted and made 4 arcs too many. oops.....So rather than just have them lay around, I'm going to put them on the corner triangles. Once those are finished and on the quilt, I plan on putting a triple border on - either gold-blue-red(outer) or blue-gold-red layout....haven't pulled fabrics other than knowing what gold i plan on using....lol.....When finished this quilt will be going to American Heros at some point.

Gratitudes:
1. it's warming up here and the heating bill is going down!
2. Have the blessing of some commissioned sewing that will bring in the equivalent to one extra paycheck.

Civil War BOM Blocks To Date

I was tempted into doing the Civil War Block of the Week by Barbara Brackman by a good friend of mind. And so far I've managed to stay up-to-date on this BOM....but that is only because I made 3 blocks last weekend, and the last 2 this weekend.....lol. You'd think that it wouldn't be hard to make one block a week....but these blocks are only 8 inches finished in size and a 9-patch block just doesn't do that number evenly so there are lots of fiddly cuts and odd numbers. These are coming out 1 block a week, so there are 42 more blocks to make before I really think about setting them in some way.

I'm using up bits and pieces of CW fabrics that I've had leftover from two CW block swaps in the blocks. And then filling in with fabrics from FQ's where I need to. I like how the blocks have turned out so far...except for onef the first ones (middle block, left column). And that one I like the block...but not fond of the fabrics that I choose because they were too close in value so the pattern is lost. Haven't decided to redo or not. And there was one block that ended up about a 1/4" too big despite my best efforts....but I think I've figured out how to set these so that I can still use that block and not have to remake it.

Gratitudes:
1. Great grades on the latest two tests
2. Heating bill should go down now that the other two apts in this house are occupied.

IMOB Sunshine Quilts

Some months ago I 'inherited' some fabric from the stash of a much loved, founding member of sunshine quilts when she passed away. Finally got it washed a few weeks ago, and have started makign quilts from it. Here are pics of the 5 that I've finished off so far. Have made a small dent in the fabric that I received, but still have many more to go I'm sure. =) Don't know when these will be quilted because things are crazy in grad school at the present time and will be for a year and half at least.........so they are just going into my tote of finished charity tops until I either have time to do them or someone else can quilt them for me.


Gratitudes:
1. Grad School is going well so far.
2. Extra hrs at work to help pay the bills.

Cross-Stitch Projects

One of the things I've been trying to do over the last year is to focus on getting UFO's finished. Last year I had just focused on working with quilting UFO's and on getting some of my many sets of blocks into finished quilt tops. Made a lot of progress on that and now have all my swap blocks into one large tote, down from two of them.

What I've ignored for years though is not only finishing my cross-stitch UFO's, but also doing anything with the finished pieces. Instead all I've done is leave them folded up and collected in three filled gallon sized ziploc bags. (Yes, i have a lot of finished cross-stitch work - 53 different pieces at last count.) Part of my problem has been I just don't have the wall space to take and frame everything and then hang it. Already have a bunch of stuff framed, but it is still boxed because I can 't hang it here in this apt. So have not known what to do with it.

One piece is now on a cross-country trip as the starting block for a quilting block robin. In going through stuff, I was reminded of a set of cross-stitch pieces that my parents had given me yrs ago - actually 3 different coordinating series of cross-stitch pieces they had picked up in Denmark when they traveled over there. The main focus of them are various mushrooms and I like them, but have never really known what to do with them.


I have had one in process also for more years than I can remember. Finally finished it off yesterday and am happy to not have it "nagging" at me to finish it. Picture is above. lol............. It will go with the other 7 that have been finished for years to wait while I finish off the remaining kits, and find the one that is among the land of the missing.... Meanwhile I have decided in general terms how I want to set them into a quilt (and you thought I'd do something different?). Just need to get the remaining kits finished so I can put them all in the same quilt. Didn't quite end up the way the graph showed the colors, but even tho I know that there are 'design improvements' in it, I couldn't tell you for sure where all of them ended up being. The two pics here are of the ones that have been finished for year. I've got one more of the small kits among the land of the missing that needs to be found so that I can finish it as well.

One lesson learned in finishing this off that will be applied to the other danish kits that I've got - I will set up a card of some sort to label the floss while i'm working on it......and the shades are very close to each other in some instances....not a good combination when unfinished for a long time! Pic to the right is the piece that I finished yesterday.

Gratitudes:

1. Snow from Thursday nite was almost melted yesterday...hopefully last nite's snow will be gone quickly too!

2. Extra hrs at work to help the income!

UFO Block finished....

Last year I took a workshop taught by Karen Stone on improvisational quilting. I love her quilts, and just couldn't resist taking the workshop. The project for the workshop is similar to the one you can see on this site, with the only real difference being size. The pattern she gave us is only 10 inches square. She also taught us how to design our own quilts using the same techniques that she does and I'm looking forward to trying that in the future.

In the 8 hrs of the workshop I finished piecing the first of four blocks that I'm planning for a wallhanging. The points are all paper-pieced and then stitched together. Baby rick was supposed to be used for embellishment of the block, but I couldn't find a color that i liked. The color I ended up with was not at all what I have started out thinking of. This one spoke to me, even tho it's a little bigger than I would have liked.....I figure it's a design enhancement! lol

Three more blocks are still to be made. And then I'll decide on how to set them.

Gratitudes:
1. "Quiet" weekend.....
2. One lab report done...one more to go for this weekend.

Finished a UFO today!

Finished off several projects today - two quilt tops for Sunshine, and a wallhanging made from block that I had received in a swap way back in 2003. They were well aged for sure! For some reason, blogger won't show the pic of the wallhanging any way but sideways......sorry about that.

the blocks I used in the quilt were chosen because they had relevance to my life to this point. There were two other blocks that I ended up using in different projects because they didn't have anything to do with my life. The blocks stand for:
San Antonio, upper left - I'm a native born Texan and proud of it!
Phoenix, upper right - lived in Phoenix for 30 yrs and Mesa for 3 yrs as child. Have many dear friends there that I miss a lot.
San Francisco, bottom left - I spent almost all of my school days in southern CA (Riverside) and was able to visit San Fran as a kid with my family.
Boston, bottom right - Loved living in the Boston area for 2 years while in Grad School at Northeastern University. Wouldn't mind living there again at some point.

Gratitudes:
1. Good grades on the 3 exams I've taken so far!
2. Gorgeous spring like weather at the present time - love it!

In Case Anyone Wondered.....

..........what kinds of things I'm doing in some of my labs for technology education. Basically the lab projects are the kinds of things that once we are teaching will be having the kids do. For example, in my teaching manufacturing technology class in the first few labs we've used the laser engraver, an injection molding apparatus, metal bending setup, among other things.

I'm enjoying it all and am glad that I'm able to be in this program. =)

Orphans and inherited stash....

Have made some progress in getting projects finished up....finished BD gifts for my parents. =) My dad's will be going in the mail no later than monday this coming week.

Have been working on finishing off some quilt tops for American Heros and Sunshine. Which has made it 'fun' this week to get around in my sewing room, since the floor in it is my design wall! For the American Heros top I started with leftover strips sets that I used as the center of star blocks. I then added some patriotic hearts that I had and a couple of orphan blocks to round out the quilt. I bordered the hearts to the same size as the stars to make it easier to put together. Finished quilt is shown above.

I've also finished one top for Sunshine and am working on a second one currently. Both of these started with fabrics I inherited from Sunshine's quilting angel's estate. More quilts to go before I finish off the fabric i have from her stash. Pics of the finished top, and the one in progress are below.







Gratitudes:
1. Temps have warmed up here!
2. Second semester is going well so far. =)

Sunshine Quilts In Action

For yrs now I've been making quilts for Sunshine quilts (tops that have been quilted by others) and have enjoyed every bit of it. For the first time, I have links that i can share that show some of the quilts (including one of mine!) in action, and some background about what is done. Currently the quilts that the members of Sunshine make are given to two different groups - Wrap Them In Love and Wrap A Smile.

The mission of Wrap A Smile is to do free surgeries for kids and some adults who have cleft lips and/or cleft palate. The quilts that are made and sent are used to cover those that are selected for surgery. The current mission, going on now, is to Peru. If you click here, and then scroll down in the blog post to the video labeled "Bev's Quilts", the next to last quilt shown "in action" is one that I made and another member of the group quilted for me. =) To read more about what happens on one of their missions, click here and then scroll back to read the posts for this trip.

Gratitudes:
1. For the skills for and love of quilting that God has given me.
2. For the plumbing here in the apartment being fixed!

Orphan Blocks

I went through all of the sets of blocks that I've got today, and the tops that need quilting to make sure that everything was listed on this yrs spreadsheet (and no it wasn't....). And found these two orphan blocks. They are made with hand-dyed fabrics and were made with pp'd patterns that were in the Foundation Piecer Magazine yrs ago. Now I've sold all of the issues that I had owned, and have no desire to make any more of these blocks.............but my problem is what do I do with the blocks. Finished size of them is 6". Anyone have any ideas for me?

Have also been getting all the fabric that has been scattered across this apartment corralled in the stash room, and in the right boxes or totes. Things are looking much better around here and that makes me happier. Still to be done is to go through the lg tote of fabric I'd pulled together for projects back when everything went into storage so that I know what is there, and what needs to be recorded on my quilting spreadsheet so I can keep track of it. Am making progress with getting things done this year and that feels good. Next sewing project tho is to get the commissioned fleece hoods made and sent off.

Gratitudes:
1. Leaking pipes in basement are fixed!
2. Am current on homework....lol.

Projects in Progress

Have enjoyed the long weekend. =) Started working on getting my fabric and stash room under control. Something that was drastically needed after having the stash in storage for over a yr, buying more fabric, and having it scattered across this apt in piles and totes everywhere. For those that don't know, I normally have it sorted into boxes and totes by color and/or type of fabric. This has not been the case over the last 18 months as i keep finding boxes and totes of "Assorted Fabs" - ugh. So I've got everything pulled out and piles of colors and types sorted out ready to go back into the proper boxes.

Have been sorting out things to sell as I go through them as well. First pile to be sorted out was a large bunch of FQ's that I'm tired of moving around between various totes. I've finally admitted that I'll probably never use these so I'm going to list them for sale and hopefully get rid of them. Need to go through my quilt books as well and see what I can get rid of there.

The only problem with doing things like this is that I'm easily distracted and get caught up in new projects.....lol. One of the "mini-stashes" that I found were large pieces leftover from various quilt backs. I took three of them and made the baby quilt shown to the right. Had the perfect amount of the teddy bear fabric to cut 16 rectangles that were 7.5" wide by 9.5" tall, with nothing useable leftover. Fabrics used for framing were also leftovers. There is enough left of the tan to use for background in something else. Remaining red will be used for the binding. Blocks ended up at 9.5" wide by 11.5" unfinished. I still need to pull fabric for a border, but am not sure about what color I want to use for that. Need to take the quilt with me when I go upstairs to work on stash organization and see what looks good with it. When finished it will be a gift for the daughter of a very good friend who is pregnant with child #1. Will wait to send it until she has a baby shower later in the year.

Also in the works is a quilt for American Heros made from orphan blocks. Some were mine, many in it came from my friends Nancy, Susan, Jane, and Jodi. The pic to the left shows the two fabrics that I was considering, but I don't like either one, so it's back to the 'drawing board' for fabric. Need to head upstairs and see what I've got in the boxes of blue fabrics to see what will work.

Next up to finish off are a stack of quilted postcards that I am going to use as thankyou's for various things. And a pair of commissioned fleece hoods that I've been paid for and need to get made....gotta find the pattern tho first! lol. After that I need to put together the gifts I'm making my dad and mom for their BD's....stitching is all done....woohoo. Have due dates for both of those so need to get busy on them. After that it's onto BD gifts for later this spring. =)

Gratitudes:
1. Warmer weather yesterday.
2. School holidays! lol

2011 Goals

I know i'm running "late" in posting this but I've done a lot of thinking about what some of my goals for this year are going to be. One obviously will be to do well in all of my classes in school throughout this entire year. That is one that will prove to be challenging the further I go in the Woodrow Wilson Teaching fellowship / STEM program. It is one though that I'm looking forward to.

I've thought too about whether to post them or not here on my blog, and decided that I'm going to as that will give me a bit more accountability, if nothing else to myself. The rest of the goals can be broken down into 3 main areas as follows:

Life in general -
1. Continue to keep up as best I can with the Bible Reading schedule that my church, CBC, in Phoenix is doing this year.
2. Get my quilt frame and machine set up.
3. Get this apt straightened up.
4. Find somewhere to sell the antique thread chest that I own.
5. Set up spare bedroom.
6. Set up page on blog and website to sell my quilts and quilt kits.
7. List completed Hoods, fabrics, books, etc. for sale where appropriate.

Quilting -
1. Design and submit a block for publication in QuiltMaker's 100 Block Fall 2011 issue - actually do this and not just talk about it.
2. Work up a Quilt Design to be submitted hopefully for publication - actually do this instead of just talking about how I want to do it!
3. Continue designing and making the batik beauty blocks.
4. Design setting for the basket blocks from the batik beauty blocks. Make pattern for publication?
5. Make American Hero Quilts.
6. Make Sunshine Quilts.
7. Start working on a book wit my quilt settings in it using the Orphan blocks I have.
8. Stay up-to-date on the Block Robin that I'm hosting.
9. Complete my Stretching Art 2011 Challenge quilt.
10. Make final CQ blocks (unembellished) for Pink & Yellow Kitty Quilt.
11. Finish wallhanging started in Karen Stone workshop in April 2010 - finish 1st block, make remaining 3 blocks and finish.
12. Make lap quilt for wedding present for Sarah P.
13. Make baby quilt for Krissy R.
14. Put together hugs quilt for TF.
15. Get P's mom's quilt quilted and back to her.
16. Stay current with the heart block swap I signed up for.
17. Work on Susan's stitchery BOM.

Cross-Stitch and General Sewing -
1. Design a quilt setting for the cross-stitch mushrooms done on linen
2. Finish mom's BD Present - due in May
3. Finish dad's BD present - due in Feb
4. Finish mushroom cross-stitch on linen that is in progress.
5. Finish hummingbird for K.
6. Make fleece hoods for RM
7. Finish P's crocheted kitchen towels
8. Finish D's belated Christmas Present.

Seems like a lot, but I've found that I work well under pressure.....lol. And there are several things that I really want done because I'm tired of just talking about them and not actually working to make them a reality. I keep track of all that I need to do, am working on and have completed in a spreadsheet, but I'm also going to put the list in a new page on my blog as a means of keeping track here on my blog as well.

Gratitudes -
1. For the strength that God gives me.
2. For a good start to the second semester of grad school.

Thread Giveaway

One of my quilting buddies, Susan, is hosting a giveaway of some of her hand-dyed embroidery thread. It is wonderful! If you're interested, click the button below to go to her blog and see how to sign up for the giveaway -

Gratitudes:
1. Warmer weather relatively speaking!
2. God's control over everything that happens in our lives.