It's Been a While

Yes, it has been quite a while since I last posted.  About 3 years!

WOW!  How time flies, life gets in the way, etc, etc, etc.

BUT----I am on retreat AGAIN and getting some more things accomplished.

My goal this year if you follow the Patchwork Plus newsletter is to get

some of those pesky UFO's finished and out of the way.

Why you ask?

What else-I have LOTS of quilts I want to make.  

And in November I finally decided enough is enough.

I need, no--I really WANT to get at least half of them off the list.  

I started out with 31 UFO's on that list.

By January, I had completed piecing:

Spools (our shop Blockswappers from last year) - Quilted and bound 

It is now my retreat and is on my bed.

I quilted it with spools and thread in the center and a measuring tape border.

Next off the list was my Storytellers Block of the Month.  Although the top had been 

completed several months ago, I finally custom quilted it.  I just love the way 

it turned out.

Here is the center

Quilting around the sides

On the border

Country Lane also got finished, but I will keep that one a secret for now.

It will be coming out as a new pattern later in March.

Our Farm Girl Vintage had a reunion in January.  Here is my quilt (top)

A little bit different from the book, but I can't wait to get it on the quilt frame.

I also pieced and quilted one for daughter #1. 

Two more off the list!

Freedom Bound was a Block of the Month

Top done - check off list!

One of the projects I had to finish was started in 2000.  I picked up the pattern

at the quilt market.  It's Waterlilies by Arie Rossman.

I only had 3 flower parts to finish on the middle block.

But after drawing out a couple of quilting patterns, I think this week I will take the blocks apart and put a background sashing between them.  The custom quilting I have in mind needs a little

more space than the blocks allow as it is now.  

More to come on how it will turn out later this week.

We just finished up the 2017 Second Saturday Series in January.

Amish With a Twist. 

Customers got to pick their own background color.

Here is my light one that I finished for the last class in January.

and here is my darker gray version.

I machine stitched the applique and put the borders on today.

Although I love how the off white makes the colors pop, this version looks a little

more like the Amish quilts.

So let's see-that is a total of 8 UFO's off that list.  

23 to go!

I also made the February block for Mystical Prism Block of the Month.

  I don't want to get behind on these BOMs

We decided at our October retreat that we would all do a jelly roll Quilt of Valor top.

I got 4 rows finished tonight before calling it quilts.  Will finish tomorrow.

So far:

Off to bed--

See you tomorrow night!

Jan