Monthly Archives: December 2015

Final Finishes!

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I got these two quilts back from the quilter last week, so I put the binding on and have my final 2 finishes for the year!

Red Pepper is made from a pattern entitled “Yellow Pepper”
modern quilt

This binding was made from the remaining black and white chevron fabric

I finally finished the eternal paper piecing for this quilt and I’m having fun arranging the blocks.

modern quilt

The pattern is Lombard Street, by Sassafras Lane Designs

Here are a few of the other projects I’ve done this year.  You can click on any of them for more detail.

Sew Together Bag, pattern by Sew Demented
Sew Together Bag, pattern by Sew Demented
Another runner for my “Try Improv” class
Divided basket made from pattern by Noodlehead
I designed and made this runner for a guild challenge
Happy Squares, designed and made by me, 2015
Here is one of the samples for my improvised table runner class
Karla Made Me Do It
Cat Circus, my quilt for the 2015 Quilt Alliance challenge
Tote bag made with Kraft-Tex for the bottom section
Toddler Quilt, designed by me
This was made using the Quick Curve ruler

And finally, here are a couple of things I had published in Modern Quilts Unlimited:

This little quilt was publishsed, along with an article I wrote

Can’t wait to start next year’s projects!  Woo!

Regarding the Quilts I Didn’t Finish…

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‘Twas the week before Christmas
And all through the house
Enough chores to be done
To make nice women grouse.

quilt humor

A few unfinished quilts!

The mantle to dust
With its inch of cat hair
For the people with allergies
Soon will be there.

Mantle is empty of stockings, but not of dust!

The mice are not nestled
All snug in their beds
They’ve invaded my car
Where they soon will be dead.

[This may seem a little harsh. But we live in the woods, and mice can destroy a car if allowed to run free there.]

xmas-pkgWe go to the attic
To get out a trunk
Where we’ve stored generations
Of bright Christmas junk.

The stockings don’t seem
To be anywhere here!
I’ll have to make new ones
If they don’t appear!

xmas-stove

My studio is nice and warm!

We’ve sent Christmas cards
To our friends far and near
Even though we won’t write them
Again for a year.

And what of the quilts
That I meant to have done?
I’ve done a potholder!
(But only this one.)

One lonely potholder

One lonely potholder

There’s one Christmas quilt
In the living room here
Where we may take a nap
After having a beer.

Christmas Quilt

Christmas quilt

At last off to bed
With a smile on my face:
Merry Christmas to all—
And next year at YOUR place!

May you all have a wonderful holdiay!  The grousing is just in jest–I’m having a great time baking lots of treats 🙂

2015 Finishes: Part I

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Ronald McDonald House is the chosen recipient of donation quilts from one of my groups, and EACH of us made 12 quilts for that cause this year.  I finished the last 2 this month (yes, a LITTLE behind!).

These are a good illustration of why a dark border is a good idea to make a quilt feel “finished”.  I’ll try to remember that next year!

And here are the other 10 donation quilt finishes for the year.  I love how different they are! I got to try lots of new things 🙂

Design by Cindy Williams
Pseudo Random arrangement starting with Kaffe fabric
This is a leaders-and-enders project
February donation quilt. This started out entirely different, but I failed to take Before and After pictures.
The “New! Improved!” quilt
Flower Fairies
Donation quilt made from orphan star blocks
February finish and January donation quilt

More finishes coming soon!

Winner! Online Quilt Retreat

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I won a year-long online quilt retreat!  What the heck is that?

Lora Douglas of Dragonfly Quiltworks

Lora Douglas of Dragonfly Quiltworks

Here’s Lora Douglas, one of the teachers from the retreat, to explain.

This year-long on-line, quilt retreat is sponsored by “Adventure Art Retreats”, which was started by Ilysa Ginsburg and Kira Slye. They launched “Polymer Clay Adventure” as an online experience in 2015 and got about 1000 subscribers! They’re adding a quilt adventure for 2016.

There are 12 projects, one each month of the retreat. There will be classes for quilts, placemats, totes, hexies, fabric dyeing, laminating fabric and polymer clay buttons

Roxie bags made by Lara for her Quilt Adventure class

Roxie bags made by Lora for her Quilt Adventure class

.I designed the Roxie Bag as one of the monthly projects for the retreat, and I’ll be teaching it by online video. When I couldn’t find a pattern using flex frame hardware that was easy to make and looked great, I designed my own. It is perfect as a cross-body bag for carrying a cell phone and other small items.

“Quilted Adventure” is the online equivalent of a traditional quilt retreat where you meet other quilters while learning new things.  “Retreaters” can take a new class each month; participate in live-stream events with our host, Vanessa Vargas Wilson of The Crafty Gemini; receive monthly clues for a mystery quilt; and take part in swaps. There will be a newsletter to keep participants informed of upcoming events. The instructors will be available to answer questions throughout the retreat. It’s going to be fun!

Another Roxie bag--how many samples did she make???

Another Roxie bag–how many samples did she make???

I’m gathering my supplies, and I’m sure you’ll be seeing some of my projects here as I participate in the retreat.  For now, If you want to know more about Lora or the Quilt Adventure online retreat, here’s the link for her site. There’s a button there to click for finding out more about the retreat.  (Or, if you just want to buy a Roxie bag after seeing it here, her site has a link to her Etsy shop as well. I won’t tell if you want to buy it instead of making it yourself 😉