Staying Home Continues....

Hello all:

I read my last post - just the very first two lines, and what do I see?  The words "Thank goodness the virus is not so bad here....".  Wish I could take that comment back.....  We have the most cases in Canada at this point.

The trick is to stay positive.  It's rather hard some days then others, but there are a lot of other people out there that are in more dire states than I so we should be thankful for that.  When I'm stressed I get more hyper.  When I'm hyper I can't just sit around, and truthfully, trying to stay home when you're hyper is a tough thing.  My saving grace is crafting.  I've been quilting up a storm, trying to finish a number of my UFOs so I can clean my sewing room.  There are so many of them.

Here's another painting that I just finished.

 Loved how this sunset on Manitoba Lake looked, but loved it more with the wild grain in it.  

Completed.

Been working on a couple of UFOs.  Not the one that was scheduled for this month.  That one I didn't even start yet, but this quilt which had the material cut wrong (some pieces), had to find the pattern again, bought more material, and finally finished it.

Yes there is two colors of yellow, but not as noticeable in person. 

This will be someone's Christmas gift.  To finish a quilt UFO that was 7 years old is a great feeling of accomplishment.  And the fact that it turned out decent, even better.

I joined another BOM (yes I know I said I would not do that).  But this one is really cool.  You make all these HST's, the size you want (there is a list of sizes for the blocks as well as the size of the quilt).  You can make all the HSTs ahead of time and then just place them when you get the pattern.   So all I have to say about that is....   cool!  It should be a queen when I'm done. 

My next quilt was this when I found it...

 It's a charm pack, with 8 of them done, all the little blocks that you use to snowball the 5" square cut out, and all in that bag.  I found it under a pile of fabric as I was cleaning out some of my stash.  It was quick and easy to do and I only had one place mat in this house, so I thought why not two?  Here is what I looked like when completed.  It's about 20" across and 15" down.  They're big, but that only makes them great.  The colors are antique looking so it goes great on my dark wood table, by the antique buffet.  But this didn't use all of the charms, so I had enough left over material (there was some white 1/4 meter stash) to make a round table topper as well.  I was thinking of giving this to someone for Christmas but I love the look, and I really need another set of placements for my husband and I.

Here's the table topper.

I love the colors of the material.  It all came together so I was luck.

What's next?  One of the quilts on the American Quilter's Society's UFO listing.  Been working on it for 3 days, but won't show it just yet.  All that's left is to quilt it.  It's amazing!

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.

2019 BOMs

I was considering not doing any of the blocks of the month this year, just working very hard on getting many of my old blocks of the months completed (or even started in many cases) or cleaning up many of my different projects that I've started or have everything for and are just waiting to be started. But there are so many beautiful blocks of the month just starting and I simply just can't resist.  They're just sooooooo beautiful.  

Here's a few that I'm very interested in and some that I've even purchased.  This one is from Sew Incredibly Crazy and her friends.

It starts the 1st of February..  This year there is a mix of pieced and applique blocks.  So, a little bit of something for everyone.  There is a total of 24 blocks.  All the blocks will also be 10 1/2" square unfinished size.  All the pattern are free for the month that they have been released.  After that, there

will be a small fee.  So timing is everything on this one.  The link is here....

I missed the linking to this one but it's one that I am considering for both my friend and this group.  I'm going to follow along even though I'm not listed because I like doing that...

Resolutions for 2019.  A friend of mine told me to do 19 for the year 2019, and that's the very next blog that I'm about to do.  Some will be quilts and some will be things to do for the year that I want to try.  I'm excited about it and about sharing it with my friend.

AnneMarie Chany is doing a BOM called Conversation Sampler.  It's available in print and PDf at her shop on her blog.  It's absolutely gorgeous and can be done in candy colors like her sampler or in one color only.  She shows you a number of samples for doing it.  Look below:

Finished Block Size: 6” x 6” | Finished Quilt Size: 76” x 76”

Another one that is being done by Sew Fresh Quilts is a Harry Potter Quilt Along. The quilts finish at 44 x 55 or 85" x 106" (what I'm looking to do or the next one) or 106" by 106". It's going to be great. The blocks finish at 10" x 10" or 20" x 20". Following the introductory post on January 15th, one of 20 blocks will be posted every Saturday starting on the 19th of January and going forward. The link is listed above to keep an eye on the blocks. As Lorna says, lets have fun!! This one is free...

The final one is below, it's a paid one but really inexpensive.  It's called Modern HST's and it's a learning one.  

tt's by Freshly Pieced, and created by one of my favorite designer Lee Henrich. I have done a number of the summer samplers, always waiting for the next because of the beautiful design and this one is jsut as fantastic.  Although it's only 52" by 62" (a lap in my opinion) it can be used to hang on my wall.  I'm looking at doing it all in straight colors, with a light tan background, with white in the centers.  I am so looking forward to it.

Finally, it would not be a year without Quilt Doodle and her great designs.  It is called Garden Sunshine, with old fashion piecing this time as well as her fantastic applique.  I've been following along with Cindy for years now, and you can look in the top pages to see each one of her quilts.  They're fun and the appliques are so beautiful.  This block of the month will be run the same as in past years. The pattern section will be available for free the month that it is out. The first of the month when a new pattern comes out, the old month's pattern is still available for a small $2.99 fee. Very reasonable.  

So we're off and running with me already committed to five BOMs and three others that I've purchased and have to complete at some time (two of them are hand sewing for when I travel somewhere....).  Once more I'll have fun, and hopefully keep up. 

How many are you joining?  Follow along to see if I can keep up  :)