Thursday

A last completion for the year -- I'm giving myself ***extra credit UFO points*** for getting this one done!

I pieced the top last summer, as a mystery sew-along.  It was bundled away with wintery projects, and came to light again last week when I spent time with my red house/snowfolk panel.  Done now, and ready for January's snowy days!  

And a little string mat to use up the scrap!

This is probably the last sewing I'll be doing until after the holiday activities subside.  I'm heading out now for my final grocery shopping trip before all the tourists begin arriving in town tomorrow.  These next two weeks are our busiest time of year

 up here!

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Secret Santa

Quilted and bound, washed and dried, and hanging over the stair railing once again!

This was an 'extra' project with no destination in mind, since I hadn't planned to make another Christmas quilt this year.  I'm very happy with it though, and will keep it in my holiday collection.  I really like the Burgoyne Surrounded blocks -- first time I've made them -- and I'm planning to do another multicolored Burgoyne Surrounded in 2019.

This is our quiet year for Christmas.  Last year everyone was here, and we did everything: all the décor and baking and cooking and activities.  But this year it'll be just Tony and me, and I'm kind of looking forward to a smaller more peaceful holiday.

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Monday

I finished stitching down the binding on this quilt last evening, and ran it through the washer and dryer this morning.  The scrappy multicolored binding is fun.  Along with two others already done, it will be dropped off at the domestic violence shelter here in the valley later this week as this month's donation quilts.

I still have maybe half a dozen more tops on hand that can be finished and donated in the near future.

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Done!

I finished the binding on my new holiday quilt last night, and ran it through the washer and dryer this morning to get crinkled.   It's ready to go -- just in time for December decorating around the house!

And as I was sorting and folding the scraps and leftovers, I gathered enough small pieces to zoom up an extra little table mat.  I'll stitch down this binding during TV tonight.  This means that I now have an EMPTY project tub … maybe I'll start something completely new!

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Stash Report - week 46

I finished sewing the binding to the back on this little quilt from last month so it's officially done-done :)

This was a Big Week for stash busting -- I made two backs!!

Used this week:       13.50 yards

Used year to date:                        214.75 yards

Added this week:     00.00 yards

Added year to date:                        32.75 yards

NET USED 2018:                                             182.00 yards

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A donation quilt

I used to be a member of the local guild, but a couple of years ago I decided that the experience wasn't right for me any longer.  During the years that I was an active guild member, I donated more than 100 quilts to their Comfort Quilts program, and was in fact the chairperson of that committee for several years. Almost all of the donation quilts went to our local domestic violence safe house.  When I left the guild, I stopped making donation quilts for their Comfort Quilts program.

I've recently become aware that the guild's priorities and energies have changed, and that they are no longer meeting their commitment to the shelter.  The guild hasn't made a donation of comfort quilts to the shelter for many months, although the need is as great as ever.  Accordingly, last week I dropped off six donation quilts directly to the shelter, explaining that it was a private donation and that I had no affiliation with the guild.  The shelter was extremely grateful for the quilts, and was very interested in receiving more.

Since I have **several** UFOs here on hand, I'm going to try to finish them all up and get them over to the shelter as soon as possible.  So here's this week's completion:  the last time I worked on this quilt was more than a year ago.  It's now ready and waiting for a few others to be finished up, and then the next batch can be delivered.

I'm disappointed that the guild dropped the ball on this, but unfortunately I'm not surprised.  In any case it will do my heart good to work up some donation quilts and get them into the hands of those who can be comforted by them.  I'm tallying up this experience to my lifetime "SPIRAL" total:  circling back around to the same place, but seeing it from a different perspective this time.  Sigh.

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At last!!!

Cornucopia

Woohoo, I did it, finished stitching down the binding last night, so this quilt is finally completely done and ready to use!!

This long-time WIP was started quite a few years ago -- it was an incomplete discontinued BOM from a guild I no longer belong to.  But I liked it, so every year I brought the project tub back out to add a few more blocks, and ponder and frown, and finally come up with a layout.  This was the year I saw it through to the finish line, and it's quite a distance away from what the original quilt was supposed to be. It has turned out to be a very nice Plan B though, for some blocks and parts that have been  'curing' for eons.

Now that the binding is complete, I can switch my handwork evenings back to Hawk Run Hollow and Harvest Moon.  And since I continue to make noteworthy progress with my UFO backlog,  I may even treat myself to starting a new quilt project!  :)

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Stash Report - week 39

Just for my records:  I finally finished the binding on Paducah 9-patch!

Used this week:        04.25 yards
Used year to date:                         182.50 yards
Added this week:      00.00 yards
Added year to date:                         32.75 yards

NET USED 2018:                                               149.75 yards

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Pumpkin Patch

Done!

I turned this one around very quickly -- just started it last week.  The reason for the hurry is that Nick and Stacey have decided that they're going to 'step up' their holiday decorations and celebrations since they're expecting their first child … and it's almost October … and Grandma is always happy to make a quilt for anyone who wants one :)

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Granddaughter quilt!

A first baby quilt for Nick and Stacey, and more to follow!  Their request was "safari."

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Sunday

I finished hand quilting this little TATW quiltlet.

It was a fun quick project from Temecula Quilt Company's newly-released book, Quirky Little Quilts.  I'm looking forward to puttering with several other ideas from the book.

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Square Dance

Quilted and bound, another UFO is done!

This quilt was from the 2018 spring mystery sew-along at 

My Carolina Home

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Completions

This week I finished the quilting and binding on all three of these recent projects.  I'm making a real effort to decrease my to-be-finished backlog!  I used to run more than a year behind on UFOs, and now I'm up to the two-to-three-month range.

However, all the handwork time spent on binding this week means no progress on Harvest Moon.

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Fourth of July

Yankee Diary

Barbara Brackman's

Civil War Quilts

2017 Block of the Month

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Americana Stars

So this Americana Stars quilt is done and has been delivered, several days ahead of schedule.  

This star quilt, plus the sampler one I did in April, will be as much as I can do with patriotic projects this year.  My stash of patriotic novelty fabric has dwindled -- maybe two quilts'-worth remaining -- and I'll probably donate it to the guild.  I don't forsee making any more Americana quilts any time soon.  I'm disheartened every day by the events in our country, and it's difficult to ignore or overlook the mess.   I don't feel much like patriotic celebration. 

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Monday

Done!  Quilted, bound, tagged, and delivered!  This log cabin quilt was donated to the historical society for an upcoming opportunity drawing at the season opening of the museum.

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Strawberry Fields

Quilted, bound, and on the bed!

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Americana

I decided to jump this one to the top of my To-Do list because I need to have it ready to go by mid-May.  The blocks went together nicely, and the top turned out to be 54 x 70, a decent size for a donation quilt.  I need to do some stash-diving next, to find something for the back.

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Plaid Rails

I'm having a very productive week!  This small UFO was layered and pinned last month, and today I got it quilted, and got the scrappy binding sewn around. 

It's actually an old Rainbow Scrap Challenge project -- an accumulation of homespun rail fence blocks in a variety of colors.  I have a more-than-25-years-worth plaid collection, and a small project like this doesn't even begin to scratch the surface.  This quilt will be gifted

to a friend.

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Magical Mystery

I've worked my Magical Mystery project along to flimsy stage -- made additional blocks and added borders -- and I'm pleased with it!  It ended up at 60" X 75".   It will eventually be a gift quilt or a donation quilt.  I've bundled some appropriate backing and binding fabric along with it, but I won't quilt and finish it until some future time when it's needed .

A color-coordinated picture of Lucci from Easter :)

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