September and October Finishes

     I've been busy!  Both finishing projects,  and practicing my free motion quilting.  So busy,  that I neglected to show my Sept. and Oct. finishes to you.  

I had 3 October  finishes... 

This quilt using a deer panel, was one I started back in 2012.  It was actually 1 of 3 quilts that were started when we purchased our big travel trailer.   The trailer is gone, (Not the quilts though)...   but this quilt has been waiting for it's finishing touches.   I learned a new Free Motion Quilting motif which was really fun to do in the border.  I practiced ruler work in the stars,  and checkerboard switchbacks around them.  

  Approx 60 x 72,  it now resides on Mike's recliner.  He really needed a fresh quilt... His previous one had been well loved, and had kept him company through  cancer surgery recovery,  heart issues,  and radiation.   All back in 2011 - 2012.   I'm happy to say that he is doing great!  but he had literally worn through the back, which is the part he sits on to  be more comfortable in the leather chair.  

   This is the repair work I had done to his previous quilt...  No fading happened in the last 9 years....  LOL   This quilt is still hanging around,  and is one that we will use to cuddle with if we are sitting around the fire pit on a chilly evening.  

     The next  finish was the first of at least 2 quilts for the 70,273 project.   This quilt commemorates 60 lives.  I had a great time practicing my free motion motifs on each block to make each one different.   

     I have enough blocks to piece a second quilt, which will be done soon.  My goal is to have it pieced and quilted by the beginning of 2019.  

    Another finish was one that I started in 2010.  Blocks were given to me as a challenge from my sister in law,  who is also a quilter.   Someone had donated a family member's quilting things to the small group we quilt with.   This quilter was a heavy smoker,  and was way more ambitious than her skills in both cutting and piecing.  There were probably 50 blocks total,  which were so smoky I couldn't bring them in the house at first.  I spent several sunny, summer days,  laying them out in the lawn in the morning, and picking them up again at night.  Eventually,  I was able to bring them inside and put the plan in place that I had thought of as I handled them each day.   I divided them into three different  groups, by color combination.  While they originally were designed to be 12 1/2" unfinished,  there were less than a dozen in the group that did.  Some were larger,  many were smaller... There were a some that I simply tossed, because the seams were poorly sewn.   Ultimately I got 3 tops done,  and this one is the final of three to be quilted.  They are all donated now.   I trimmed each group to a "uniform size"  even if it meant losing some points,  and then sashed them with fabric I had that was the same as the orig. background used.  then I "twisted and turned" the new blocks and trimmed them on an angle  to help disguise that they were not all the same.

I had fun practicing Free Motion Quilting in each block,  and I used my ruler foot as well.   This was my first attempt at doing feathers without a template to trace,  or follow.  

The first picture is a good view of all blocks,  but its before i quilted the feathers and the border.  

 Just for fun,  here are pictures of the other two quilts from this group. 

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 In September, I also had 3 finishes....  

 I finished this youth quilt.  It was started with leftover blocks from an appliqued baby quilt that were left hanging around.  I pieced the top during a snow week sewing  frenzy a couple of years ago, when I was attempting to round up some leftover projects.   I practiced my new FMQ skills using a different motif in each different fabric section.  These were blocks from Yellow Brick Road, but I added sashing to make it 45 x 60.  This will be a donation quilt.  

Not a complete finish,  but I also managed to complete the top for Bonnie Hunter's  mystery from last winter,  "On Ringo Lake".  I did mine in Red, White and Blues....  and it will be a QOV when it returns from the Long Armer who quilts QOV for our group.  It felt so good to get this to the "completed top" stage.    I'm super happy with how it turned out.  Lots of small pieces in this one.  Well worth the time and effort.  

I also finished the second "Haystack Rock" Quilt.  This is an almost twin to one I finished and entered in our quilt show last spring,  but my step daughter loves Haystack Rock on the Oregon Coast, and since she lives in Montana and doesn't get to see it often enough... I made one for her too!  

Retirement at Last!

     Really?   Over 7  months since my previous post ?   Seems to be a pattern I've established over the years....  Quilt like crazy over winter break... and finally come out of a coma in July....  only to go back to school and repeat. 

     I officially retired on June 15,  after nearly 20 years in the same Special Education Program for students ages 18 - 21, where I taught transition skills for participation in real life activities at home, in the community and for work.  I loved my job,  but it finally worked out that I'm able to spend time with hubby, work in the garden, and quilt!  Yeah!!!!

    I've been working on some projects,  and yes.. I've already started 3 new projects since June.   

     Ruby, my Janome 7700  decided she needed to go to the spa.... and it's been a week already,  and most likley another 2 weeks until I get her back.    Right in the middle of a project, she decided she didn't want to change needle positions anymore...  the tech thinks it's a transformer....    I'm so glad I have a couple of backup machines!

     I've been working on the 840 HST I need for Jamestown Landing as my Leaders and Enders now for at least a year and a half....   I'm feeding them through in  mutliples of 5 now,  in hopes of finishing them before a new century arrives...  Only 260 to go.  My strategy is now to feed them 10 at a time.  Then I only need to stitch 26 chain seams to finish!   

     I've recently started following HollyAnne Knight over at the String & Story....  she's having a summer Quilt Along, a Summer Stash Busting Challenge  and has shared her pattern "Lanterns of Hope" with us. We are piecing the top in July, and she will walk us through the actual quilting of it in August.   Her blog link is:  https://www.stringandstory.com/blog/summerstashbusting2018 .

   Here is my top.  I chose to use 3 1/2" strips in reds, whites and blues so that I'll have a Quilt of Valor when we are done.   This goes together quickly. The tricky part is getting each block turned just right in the layout. 

    Retirement brought several  wonderful gifts and greetings from friends and co-workers.  Fabric gift cards, gardening gift cards,  eating gift cards,  even a wine gift card.... 

However,  a friend of ours was overly generous with the amount of the card they gave me for a fabric store.  I'm not divulging the amount that it takes to "bribe" me into making you a quilt... but I pulled from my stash to make them each a quilt.   Her quilt is one that I have had in the back of my mind for awhile.  In fact,  when I received this fabric several years back,  this beautiful lady came to mind,  but time hadn't allowed me to start anything for her.   It's now a top,  waiting for Ruby to return from the spa for quilting. 

Pattern:   "Samurai Garden" 

Designer: Nicole Chambers

Book:  Simple Quilts that Look Like a Million Bucks

     This is a pattern from a book I purchased several years ago.  The 3 quilts I've made from it have gone together very quickly.  It does have some waste with the triangles  go on the corners.     I usually prefer stitching scrappy quilts,  but I do have to admit that three color  quilts cut out much quicker.   

     I've also finished the center of a scrappy Jacob's Ladder in browns, and it is waiting for the border fabrics to come out of the laundry....  wouldn't you know it... All those browns and two of the same end up right next to each other!  LOL 

  

  There has been progress on my "On Ringo Lake" quilt as well!  All 50 blocks are now intact,  and waiting to be pieced, but I need to clear my design wall first!  This one goes together like a puzzle with the way the sashings rotate.  

Here is picture of it partially pieced.  

 I made a leap into landscape quilts early this spring,  and made a quilt of Haystock Rock on the Oregon Coast.    I used my EQ8 software to trace a photo of the rock,  and free formed the rest.   There are two very similar versions of this quilt... One is completely quilted and bound, and it took a 3rd place ribbon at our quilt show in May!  The other top is done, and waiting for quilting.... it will be gifted to my step daughter in Montana.  She loves Haystack Rock!