Quilting is in my Blood

To Do for the week of Sept 24th 2023:

1. Finish my Halloween Rotation quilt. Done
2. Make a cradle quilt. Done
3. Continue to enjoy my retirement. Done

To-Do #1

This past week I was able to finish my Halloween Rotation quilt which measures 62″ square.  I did a sew-along with Wendy of Pieceful Thoughts who had an extra copy of the Rotation Quilt Pattern by Jennifer@Dizzy Quilter. I paper-pieced the flying geese using Lee Heinrich’s Perfect Flying Geese. I ended up accelerating my sew-along schedule as I made a decision to schedule carpal tunnel release surgery for my right hand and needed to get my current quilting projects finished. I pieced the back with fabrics from Melissa Mortenson’s Spooky Schoolhouse collection. This was such a fun Halloween project to make, especially because it included fabrics from my mom’s fabric stash purchased in the 1990s (the black and white skulls in second block of the first row, the dark blue-back spider web fabric in the first block of the second row, and the black and white spider web fabric in the third block of the fourth row). The three blocks that look like they have a white background are actually made with Michael Miller’s Fairy Frost glow-in-the dark fabric. Below are photos of the front with one close-up that shows that bat quilting done by Cara of Sew Colorado Quilting and back of the quilt.

I just had to add a photo of our cat, Sunny, looking awfully cute on this Halloween quilt. Of course, her coloring goes perfectly!

To-Do #2

I did get a chance to make one cradle quilt for the cradle quilt drive organized by Carole@ From My Carolina Home. Please see her Cradle Quilt Drive post for more info on this project. I used two Grunge mini charm packs gifted to me a few years ago by Roseanne at Home Sewn By Us. Rather than using the dark browns and blacks in charm packs, I chose to add nine 2.5″ squares of Grunge Metropolis fabric. The back is a unicorn fabric I’ve had in my stash for a few years. The first two pics below are taken with my llama beanie babies in a little outside wagon in our front garden area. The last two are full shots of the front and back of the cradle quilt.

To-Do #3

I am continuing to enjoy my retirement but am also doing a little part-time online therapy. I’m putting that extra money into my travel budget. I’m especially enjoying doing some work with couples.

To-Do for week of Oct 1st 2023:

1. Depending on how my hands feel, I may do a little Sashiko stitching on my Seven Cranes Sashiko project.
2. Start working on my #2023QuiltingQ3Checkin post hosted by Yvonne@Quilting Jetgirl.
3. Continue to enjoy my retirement.

Linking up to Quilt Schmilt: To-Do Tuesday.

To Do for the week of Sept 17th 2023:

1. Finish my Halloween Rotation table runner. Done
2. Finish my Halloween Rotation pillow. Done
3. Continue to enjoy my retirement. Done

To-Do #1

It feels so good to use up extra blocks in something that is both useful and decorative. Below is the front and back of my Halloween Rotation table runner that measures 45″ x 14″.

To-Do #2

I finished my Halloween Rotation pillow that measures 16″ square and first photographed it with my Ghost Party mini quilt and a mini paper-pieced ghost, pattern by The Weekend Quilter. It is called Hey Boo and is designed to be quilted bunting, but I modified the ghost pattern slightly to make it square and then wrapped it around a ceramic tile to display it. The white fabric in both these ghosts is glow-in-the-dark, and it looks so cool when I turn off the light. They truly glow! And thankfully that glow diminishes in just a few minutes, so it doesn’t interfere with my sleep. I tried to take a photo of the glow, but it just looked black. Maybe I’d have more success with a camera with fancy settings that my iPhone doesn’t have. I kinda like the bluish light cast by the lamp next to the pillow, though the light is actually purple. The second photo below shows more of a close up of the Halloween Rotation pillow.

At this point, I’m not planning to start another Halloween project though I did sign up for the Spooky Season Sampler that starts on Oct 1st. I also love this casserole cozy by @simplyeilene. Maybe next Halloween.

To-Do #3

Since Monday I have been house/pet sitting for a couple who live about 40 minutes from my town. They have a few acres and a river running next to their property. It’s just a beautiful location. Here are a few shots of the property, their dogs, and their goats. I’ve been feeling quite like the country gal taking care of the goats! They get alfalfa hay twice a day but they absolutely love dried sunflower plant leaves for a snack! I really like the quilt on the bed where I’ve been sleeping. It’s so striking in its color combinations and simplicity. I may have to make a quilt like this one some day. Of course their dog Toby had to jump up right after I made the bed this morning! The little white dog’s name is Shug, and she is just a cuddle bunny. They have a Walipini greenhouse which is a “pit greenhouse” and another luscious garden pen.

To-Do for week of Sept 24th 2023:

1. Make a binding for my Halloween Rotation quilt and get the binding done if I get the quilt back in the coming week from Cara at Sew Colorado Quilting.
2. Make a cradle quilt. I learned about this donation project from Roseanne at Home Sewn By Us.
3. Continue to enjoy my retirement.

Linking up to Quilt Schmilt: To-Do Tuesday.

To Do for the week of Sept 11th 2023:

1. Make Halloween Rotation blocks. Done
2. Possibly work on one more Halloween project. Done
3. Continue to enjoy my retirement. Done

To-Do #1

I made good progress on my Halloween Rotation quilt this past week, but I decided to make a change to the layout. I got 20 blocks sewn and had some of the blocks on my design board, and as I was sitting at my sewing machine, I looked at the design board from a side angle, and I realized that many of the blocks were too busy NOT to separate with sashing. If I kept my original 5×5 layout with 25 blocks and then added sashing, the quilt would be far too big and quite a bit more costly to have long arm quilted. So I decided to just use 16 blocks and do something else with the remaining four blocks. I finished up my Halloween Rotation quilt top with sashing and outer borders and sent it off to Cara at Sew Colorado Quilting on Thursday along with a pieced back. Here’s a photo with four more Rotation blocks. I’ll share pics of the front and back of the quilt after it is finished.

To-Do #2

I started worked on a table runner and a pillow with my remaining four Halloween Rotation blocks. I  will share photos of them next week after they are finished. But I did get one Halloween project done. On Thursday my Tic Tac Cat project was returned to me. It was quilted by Rebecca at Rebecca Grace Quilting. So I was able to get it trimmed and bound on Friday. I love the Charlotte’s Web quilting pattern that Rebecca used which is more visible in the close up of the witch’s hat below.

To-Do #3

Recently I treated myself to a beautiful Halloween runner that was embroidered by Sue and quilted/finished by Roseanne of  Home Sewn By Us. Isn’t it just amazing? The five glass Jack O’Lanterns on the shelf above the runner have battery powered tea lights that I can turn off and on with a remote control. For some reason I really like turning those tea lights off and on!

To-Do for week of Sept 17th 2023:

1. Finish my Halloween Rotation table runner.
2. Finish my Halloween Rotation pillow.
3. Continue to enjoy my retirement.

To Do for the week of Sept 4th 2023:

1. Make a simple shelf runner. Done
2. Continue working on some Halloween projects. Done
3. Continue to enjoy my retirement. Done

To-Do #1

A few months ago, I ordered a really pretty panel that I thought I might use in a table runner. It’s called Zen Panel by Sue Zipkin. I ended up using it to make a shelf runner and didn’t need to add any extra fabric other than purple binding. The first photo below is the front of the runner and the second photo shows the back of the runner:

To-Do #2

I finished another Halloween mini quilt that measures 14.5″ square. The pattern is called Scaredy Cat by Trellis & Thyme.

I’ve also been working on a large Halloween quilt for the past couple weeks. Wendy with Pieceful Thoughts had an extra copy of the Rotation Quilt Pattern by Jennifer@Dizzy Quilter, and she asked me if I would like the pattern and also if I’d like to do a low stress sew-along with her. I thought immediately of all the Halloween fabrics in my stash and thought the Rotation pattern would nicely showcase these fabrics, and so I enthusiastically agreed to join Wendy in a Rotation sew-along. I will be making a total of 25 blocks. I’m paper-piecing my flying geese using Lee Heinrich’s Perfect Flying Geese. Below are four of the blocks I’ve sewn so far:

To-Do #3

I recently treated myself to a Panasonic cordless iron. It makes pressing my fabrics almost fun! I bought mine on Amazon.

To-Do for week of Sept 11th 2023:

1. Make more Halloween Rotation blocks.
2. Possibly work on one more Halloween project.
3. Continue to enjoy my retirement.

Linking up to Quilt Schmilt: To-Do Tuesday.

To Do for the week of Aug 28th 2023:

1. Bind my beach quilt. Done
2. Continue working on some Halloween projects. Done
3. Continue to enjoy my retirement. Done

To-Do #1

I finished my beach quilt that measures 54″ square on Sept 1st. It is a gift for my friend, Annette, who lives in Florida and who turns 60 next month. The modern waves quilting was done by Cara at Sew Colorado Quilting.

When I was hand-stitching the binding, I noticed a small rip on the back of the quilt near the binding seam. I’m not sure what happened. Perhaps I grazed the fabric with my rotary cutter. Below is a photo of the rip and the appliqued flower that I fused over the rip and then hand-stitched down:

To-Do #2

I finished a Halloween mini quilt that measures 24″ square. It is made from one of the Ghost Party blocks. @woollypetals is currently hosting a Ghost Party sew-along on Instagram. The black and white skulls fabric was from my mom’s fabric stash in the 90s.

To-Do #3

I finished the book, The Covenant of Water, this past week. My book group is reading it, and I’m the one who chose this book upon the recommendation of my brother. He didn’t let me down. It was a wonderful book, though I had a take a time-out while reading the book when one of the main characters made a very stupid choice! But I went back to it and was definitely happy that I did. We’ll be meeting on Sept 17th to talk about the book. Maybe I’ll remember to take a picture at this book group meeting 🙂

To-Do for week of August 28th 2023:

1. Make a simple shelf runner.
2. Continue working on Halloween projects.
3. Continue to enjoy my retirement.

Linking up to Quilt Schmilt: To-Do Tuesday

To Do for the week of Aug 21st 2023:

1. Take photos of my finished camping quilt and write a post about it. Done
2. Start working on some Halloween projects. Done
3. Continue to enjoy my retirement. Done

To-Do #1

Earlier this week I was able to get some outside pics of my Mosaic Story Camping quilt. Read the post here.

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To-Do #2

A couple weeks ago I decided that I wanted to make a Halloween quilt for my bed (details to be revealed soon) and that I also needed some Halloween wallhangings/mini quilts. To that end, I sewed a Tic Tac Cat wall hanging quilt top, and even though it’s only 34″ square, I decided it needed some special longarm quilting done by Rebecca at Rebecca Grace Quilting.

I’ve been accumulating Halloween fabric for several years, and I even have some Halloween fabric from my mom’s stash in the 90s. I may or may not have ordered a couple other cute Halloween fabrics that could show up in Halloween projects in the next few weeks.

To-Do #3

My favorite retirement activity this past week was having lunch with my friend, Peter, in Santa Fe. Too bad I didn’t think to take a picture!

To-Do for week of August 28th 2023:

1. Bind my Beach quilt.
2. Continue working on Halloween projects.
3. Continue to enjoy my retirement.

Linking up to Quilt Schmilt: To-Do Tuesday.

I finally finished my Mosaic Story camping quilt! I started cutting the 3″ on-point center squares (diamonds) in January to use in the blocks for my 54″ x 54″ camping quilt using the Mosaic Story Quilt pattern by Amy Friend at During Quiet Time (total of 49 blocks for the quilt top). I’ve wanted to make a camping quilt to keep since I made my first camping quilt in 2019, though truth be told, these days I enjoy glamping more than camping! See my three other camping quilts here, here, and here.

The fabric I used for the corners of the blocks and the outer borders is called Smoke Rust Stone in Grey. I purchased it from the Etsy shop Pink Chihuahua Fabric. Below is a screen shot of the fabric image in Soot where some of the words that relate to the outdoors can be more easily read. There are so many cool outdoorsy/travel-related expressions in this fabric, not all visible below. I can totally relate to: resfeber (noun, Swedish) the restless race of a traveler’s heart before a journey begins, when anxiety and anticipation are tangled together. After a cold winter, I absolutely love to apricate (verb) to bask in the warmth of the sun. How about perigrinate (verb) to travel or wander from place to place, fernweh (noun) an ache for distant places; an ache for travel, dendrophile (noun) one who loves the trees or the forest, or alpenglow (noun) the rosy light of a setting sun or rising sun seen on high mountains (this I have seen on the Sandias near Albuquerque, and it is so beautiful). My favorite definition on this fabric is coddiwomple (verb) to travel in a purposeful manner towards a vague destination.

Below are some close-ups of the front of the quilt:

Here’s the back of the quilt:

And some close-ups of the quilting by Melissa at Sew Shabby Quilting.

I look forward to taking this quilt with me for an adventure soon!

Linking up to Thanks Goodness It’s Finished Friday.

To Do for the week of Aug 14th 2023:

1. Bind my camping quilt. Done
2. Work on a some camping placemats. Done
3. Continue to enjoy my retirement. Done

To-Do #1

I did get my camping quilt bound. Below is a sneak peak of the back that shows a tree and a picnic table that is part of the Camping Quilt Pattern used by Melissa of Sew Shabby Quilting.

To-Do #2

I made three camping placemats this past week. I sized down the star from the star table runner pattern by A Spoonful of Sugar Designs and did some simple echo quilting in one of my favorite Aurafil threads, Medium Orange 5009. The back of these placemats is pieced entirely from fabrics from Aneela Hoey’s Meander fabric collection for Moda Fabrics. The color is called Saddle, and I just love it. I figure it will be best to have the back facing up when eating messy foods!

To-Do #3

Another activity that is a priority to do now that I’m retired is to spend regular time organizing my fabric stash and quilting space. Now, that’s truly not one of my more enjoyable activities, but it sure does feel good to have less clutter and know where things are. One thing I try to do is to label my new fabric in case I might need more in the future. Below is a Halloween text fabric I received this past week:

To-Do for week of August 21st 2023:

1. Take photos of my finished camping quilt and write a post about it.
2. Start working on some Halloween projects.
3. Continue to enjoy my retirement.

Linking up to Quilt Schmilt: To-Do Tuesday.

To Do for the week of Aug 7th 2023:

1. Work on a table runner.
2. Work on a donation baby quilt.
3. Continue to enjoy my retirement!

To-Do #1

This past week I made a star table runner using the pattern by A Spoonful of Sugar Designs. I did some simple echo quilting in one of my favorite Aurafil threads, Medium Orange 5009.

To-Do #2

I finally finished the boy’s baby quilt that I will be donating to Little Lambs Foundation of Utah. I originally planned to make this quilt in the spring as part of Confessions of a Fabric Addict: Hands2Help Comfort Quilt Challenge 2023, but I started experiencing pain and numbness in my right hand which was diagnosed as carpal tunnel syndrome. After getting a cortisone shot, wearing a brace at night, and doing hand stretches, my hand discomfort is less, but I may end up getting surgery on it. I quilted this baby quilt myself using simple wavy lines in Aurafil Light Wedgewood 2725, and after I washed it, the quilt measures about 37″ square. Below are pics of the quilt and the back:

To-Do #3

One of my retirement goals was to start doing yoga, and I’m happy to share that I finally went to a yoga class on Friday. Here’s a pic of my yoga mat that looks so nice with my Ombre Lotus Quilt. I ordered this mat two years ago and finally took the plastic off it on Friday. Hopefully I will get a lot of use out of it now that it has been broken in.

To-Do for week of August 14th 2023:

1. Bind my camping quilt.
2. Work on some camping placemats.
3. Continue to enjoy my retirement.

Linking up to Quilt Schmilt: To-Do Tuesday.

To Do for the week of July 31st 2023:

1. Finish my beach quilt top.
2. Piece the back of my beach quilt.
3. Continue to enjoy my retirement!

To-Do #1

This past week I finished my beach quilt top that measures 54″ square and sent it off for quilting to Cara at Sew Colorado Quilting.

To-Do #2

I pieced the backing for my Beach quilt from a fabric collection I have hoarded for about 8 years! It is called Low Tide by Jane Dixon for Andover Fabrics.

To-Do #3

I was able to go to Albuquerque on Tuesday and visit with my friend, James, and gave him his Mid Century Modern quilt. He loved it and was very appreciative of the work that went into the quilt. James wants to display this almost 60″ square quilt on one of his walls, so I brought it home with me and sewed a quilt sleeve on the back. Here are some pics I took on Tuesday.

Then James picked it up yesterday, and we had Mary take a pic of the two of us with the quilt at the local plaza park.

To-Do for week of August 7th 2023:

1. Work on a table runner.
2. Work on a donation baby quilt.
3. Continue to enjoy my retirement.

Linking up to Quilt Schmilt: To-Do Tuesday.