Another one done.....

This was a paper pieced quilt that I did for a friend of mine.  The pattern is from Angela Pingel called Book Nerd - perfect for a retiring librarian.  You tell me, wasn't it perfect?

Look at the pages, I used fabric that had text in it, just to give the interest.

People wrote goodbye to her on the binding or on the small squares of fabric I put on some of the books.  It's a large lap quilt. Boundary Fabric.

A charm of it's own.  It took a month to complete and quilt stitch in the ditch.  She loved it and the school was impressed.

May's OMG

The great news is I finished my May OMG for the Quilt show.  I'm so happy.  I had 14 squares to quilt with so much quilting to do.  Here's what the quilt looked like at the start.

You can see how big it is, and some of the quilting in the front.

Here's some blocks that I have to complete.  All that space....

but the colors are gorgeous on this one, wait and see.  The Craftsy course was by Leah Day, a free BOM with Craftsy.  She does wonderful designs.  I signed up for three courses.  But enough of that, lets continue....

AND now here it is all finished.

One block all completed with little tiny pebbles.

Each block had a different style of quilting.  I was learning as I went.  From a Craftsy course I signed up for years ago called "Free Motion Quilting a Sampler" with Leah Day. 

 The quilt pattern was a free course at Craftsy, so I signed up for the next one which was how to quilt it.  Well worth it don't you see?

This is so gorgeous, how with the quilting each block turned out.

I have the quilt hanging up on the wall up at the loft.  It hangs over the edge and you can see it from the living room.  All that off white, then the tie die.  In the sun the quilting really shines out.

Hooking up to One Monthly Goal (OMG) at Elm Street Quilts.  Go check out all the other entries.  They're beautiful.  And check out Elm Street Quilts' quilt, to see if her shoe quilt is completed. 

Wish me luck!

Painting

As stated in the title, I'm painting as well as quilting.  It runs in the family, but I'm so excited about the last two projects I've done that I just have to share.  This is the one most recent and not quite finished.  It still needs more flowers, but I love it right now as well and I can't believe I did it.

It turned out great, if I do say so myself  :)

The other one is much larger and It's one I worked on for hours.  I wanted to do some native art work (I'm Metis but not official).  I love the simplicity of the work, but of course I do nothing simple.  So here's that work...

Love the mist and how it helps blend everything.  What do you think?  Leave a comment.  My students think I'm getting better.

May's UFO to go

It's been a while since I've blogged and I apologize for that, but as usual, work took over my life, and I'm trying to tamper that down.  As usual I have a number of deadlines that I had to meet (3 at the same time) and the last one had yesterday as a due date, so that's over with.  But now I have a new due date or deadline.....

Don't get me wrong, I do best when I have a deadline to meet, that's why I make myself lists but these due dates are so tight, and stop the creativity of both my job and my crafts.  I'll be happy when the last one is done.  And that's why I'm doing May's UFO, to help me finish my last due date, a quilt that is due for a Quilt Show in two weeks time.

It's almost complete.  It's all pieced and it's all tied/sewed down, I'm just doing the specific quilting on it, the binding needs to be completed, and then the sleeve.  It has 20 squares, and 14 are completed.  So I have 6 to go, but they're being quilted to death on each square.  Here's the quilt....

You can see how big it is, and some of the quilting in the front.

Here's a close up of one of the blocks completed.  Quilted to an

inch of it's life as my grandmother would say.

Here's some blocks that I have to complete.  All that space....

but the colors are gorgeous on this one, wait and see.

Come back and visit in two weeks to see if I have this one down.

Hooking up to One Monthly Goal (OMG) at Elm Street Quilts.  Go check out all the other entries.  They're beautiful.  And check out Elm Street Quilts' quilt, especially if you're a shoe person like me!  Hint Hint!

Wish me luck!

Update my Bucket list from the American Patchwork and Quilting Group

The American Patchwork and Quilting Magazine has changed their idea this year, and for the better.  Instead of making a list of twelve quilts to do - one a month -they have come up with a list of things to learn throughout the year.  Every time they publish an issue of American Patchwork and Quilting, they will have a list of things in the "Now Trending" page to help you check off items form your list.  You can download your own list here and read all about it. My list is below.  I love that you add a few quilts that you want to make sure you do throughout the year at the end.

I thought it's been a while since I've talked about this and it's the end of the month, so I thought a "catch up was needed.  Lets review what I've gotten done (in green) and my plans are in red.  Lets review.

1. Use acrylic or paper templates to piece a block.  the Gracie SchoolHouse using an acrylic template for it's white pieces.  I'm doing that one right now.

2. Donate a pillowcase to charity. (Add it to the online counter: AllPeopleQuilt.com/donate.)

3. Organize your fabrics and scraps.  Still working on this one.  But look at how it's cleaning up so far....  Desk is clean but still needs the other side working.  Notice the bookcase to the left?  And at the right, most of my projects are in containers for organization.

4. Change your needle - I do this for every quilt I start.
    replace your rotary cutter blade
    clean your machine.

5. Identify a problem area in your sewing space and find a solution.  All the paper patterns I have printed out.  Putting them in binders but still need to organize.

6. Attend a quilt guild meeting in your area.  Every Month.  I am their secretary.

7. Sew accurately using foundation piecing.  Black and white quilt or mom's table topper quilt.

8. For one week, set aside 20 minutes a day to sew.

9. Sew a quilt using only your scraps and stash.  Loving this one.  It's 1/2 done with 12 inch blocks..  Strip quilt.  Hardly made a dent in my scrap stash.  So this little thing (48" block) is turning into a queen with 8 blocks across and 10 down....

10. Get topsy-turvy with curved piecing.  The sew kind of wonderful quilt for my barn door of the birds or the bats.

11. Take a quilting class (in person or online).

12. Read the pattern completely before starting the project. I have read this for all the BOM's because you need to understand how to make the HST's for the HST Quilt.

13. Submit a reader tip to our magazine at apqtips@meredith.com.

14. Take your handwork to a surprising location.

15. Join a fun quilt-along.  Take your choice - I have 5 of them.  Read about them here.

16. Creatively piece your quilt backing.

17. Go on a quilt retreat.

18. Machine-sew a decorative stitch sample.

19. Label a quilt. (Don’t forget your name and the date!)

20. Take a picture/journal about each quilt you make this year.  This is my journal

21. Assemble a pincushion. (Cross this off with Wool Welcome by Roseann Meehan Kermes in the February issue.)

22. Sew a quilt for charity.

23. Meet your quilting hero (in person or online).

24. Make a quilt using only solids.

25. Slow down and hand-quilt.  The Wool Quilt.

26. Make a bed-size quilt, then snuggle under it.

27. Attend a national quilt show.  My Guild has a quilt show this June.

28. Read your sewing machine manual.

29. Change out all your quilts for a new season.  Christmas is over, changing to a spring theme.

30. Visit a new quilt shop (with your best quilting buddies).

31. Try English paper piecing.

32. Explore a quilt museum.

33. Safely wash and store your quilts.

34. Finish a Christmas project before December.

35. Splurge on a quilting tool you’ve been eyeing.

36. Quilt your own project. (You can do it!)

37. Stay calm when you realize you’ve run out of bobbin thread while sewing.

38. Add a little (or a lot) of appliqué to a project. (Cross this off with Down to Earth by Deanne Eisenman in the February issue.)

39. Post a photo of a quilt you’re proud of on social media.

40. Learn a new embroidery stitch.

41. Go on a shop hop.

42. For a week, spend 3 minutes picking up your work space after each sewing session.

43. Teach someone to sew.  Teaching Jean how to make a jelly roll quilt for her son's wedding gift.  She's almost done...

44. Finish a UFO.

45. Make a two-color quilt.  Looking at a red and white quilt or blue log quilt.

46. Take part in a block exchange or swap fabric with a friend.

47. Alter a pattern to a size or colorway you like.

48. Make a pix-elated quilt.

49. Make an animal (wolf or horse or Northern animals) quilt.

50. Make a collage quilt with flowers.


That's it so far, not bad for 2 months.  No grass growing under these feet.

OMG going at it...

Well, my "middle of another quilt (it's a surprise so you have to wait until the middle of February to see it),"  is completed and I've given it to my mom for her birthday.  She loves it.  People at her surprise birthday party (there were 80n people in total) all signed in the lighter part of the quilt in permanent ink, so she has a record of how many friends came.  Some people even came after the party the next day to sign it.  It's a reminder of how many friends she has.  

But my goal this month was not this one (although I do get side stepped quite a lot because of ADHD), but trying to start my BOMs that I signed up for.  Here is the list and the pictures to see it. 

• 5 of the blocks from the Harry Potter QAL from Sew Fresh Quilts.  I'm doing both the big one and the small one

I was wrong, they only gave 4 blocks to complete, and all are done, so I've completed this goal...  On to the next...

• 3 blocks from Quilt Doodles Garden Sunshine BOM.  January and February completed, so this goal is done...

• I didn't complete the 3 blocks from Choose your Own Adventure from Moda Blog - that one was this summer but I've always wanted to do another medallion quilt, and I gave my first one away so...
• I did not do the two 2 blocks from Freshly Pieced, a modern HST BOM that I bought into.
• And the 10 blocks from Anna Marie Channey's Conversation BOM that I get through email, I just got the material last week.  So I didn't get them done...  Sorry.

OMG I'm trying....

Well, I didn't make my promises this month.  I wanted to catch up with all of my BOMs and quilt along(s) but I only got two out of the four caught up.  The Harry Potter quilt along is doing great with SewFresh, and so is the Quilt Doodle.  Both caught up, with terrific pictures...

And two more as well!!!

But the others can wait...

So what's the big dream of finishing this month?  What do I want to do???  A quilt that I promised to my cousins in Idaho.   Here's what it looks like now... In this tiny shoe box.

 In this small box...  is the quilt  

Some of the blocks are completed, most are cut waiting to be put together.

The material by Judie Rothermel as well as the pattern.

I bought both from Craftsy two years ago.  It's been cut and waiting since this summer.  

Time to finish...

So One More Goal to complete.  Hooking up to Elm Street Quilts.  Wish me luck