Wrapping up the year.........and some plans for next year

Well as another year draws to a close I look back on what was accomplished this year. I didn't do too bad. The biggest accomplishment has been to slow down on how many projects I start - because frankly when I start 20 things I end up abandoning half of them. If I start five I'm more likely to finish some.

So here is the list of the Christmas presents made that haven't been shown yet.

First is my gifts to April, who was my partner in my online Christmas Quilting Swap.

The idea was each lady sent two fqs, a spool of thread and buttons to your partner. Your partner makes you something using those items and then sends it back to you.

I made a tablerunner with the items April sent me (she said she could use one for her office), a small, stuffed Christmas tree (like the ones Tasha and I made for our families last year), a small change purse and a yummy goodie.



I made this ornament for the annual quilt guild ornament exchange:



Very easy to make, a bit time consuming because of all the buttons that need to be handsewn on individually but worth the result. Timmy loved it wanted to keep it - and he got his wish. The night of the party I was so sick I had to stay home.


I made a couple of those fleece blankets that you tie together for the boys:




This was my first attempt at the tied fleece and they were so easy to make, look so nice and were such a hit with the kids that I imagine I'll be making more at some point.

Tasha got a fleece blanket last Christmas but she has still been carrying around the tote I made her for Halloween so I made her this tote:



I really felt I got a lot of my quilting goals for the past year met. So on to next year.

I've come up with several plans - seemingly reasonable but we'll see how I feel in a year.

First goal is to make one Christmas present per month. I have an idea for next year and one a month is doable - if I just do it. lol.

Second goal is to make up some Christmas things for the kids. I'd like to make one of each of the handmade gifts we've given to the family the past few years and put them in a box and save them for when the younger kids move out on their own. We get them an ornament (or two) every year but they won't have any other decorations. This way they can start out with a few decorations that will remind them of "home".

Third goal is to finish the three tops I have done now. They're all larger quilts and at least two I plan to hand quilt so that will be a time commitment.

Fourth goal is a queen sized Bear's Paw quilt for our bed. I got the fabric for Christmas - now I just have to turn it into a quilt.

Fifth goal is a wallhanging for the bathroom. I was looking at our tile floor this morning and realized I can make a wallhanging based on it. I will only need the fabric I still have from making the curtains, two more fabrics for the blocks, one for sashing and one for a final border - and I can probably get that out of my stash.

Now of course I know things will pop up as the year goes by but my goal in that area is to be strong. lol.

Until next time, hugs and stitches. Jody

Some Finishes

Lots of pictures to share this time. I made another tote. This one is for Christmas and I absolutely love it.



And of course I made a quickie Christmas quilt. I have two Christmas quilts in the works but they are going to take some time to finish so I whipped this one up in the past couple of weeks.



Not the normal traditional colors but I'm happy with it. I called it Fly Away Home For Christmas.

This one I have been working on for such a long time I can't remember just how long it's been. So I called it The Long Awaited Trip. It's all hand quilted - echo quilting inside each individual square. It was a lot of work but it was a labor of love.



I saw some ornaments on eBay that I fell in love with. One of my very special computer friends found me a pattern online (thanks Cindy!) and I made one. I'm not completely thrilled with the results but I'm happy enough for a first effort.



Now on to some goodies that I didn't make. My favorite online group is doing a Christmas swap. The plan was to send two fqs of fabrics of your choice, buttons and thread to the lady you were paired with. Then you would make something with the items you received and send them back to your partner along with an extra little treat. So here are the goodies I received:



Two wonderful book covers. The poinsettia fabric is what I sent. Not sure if you can see or not but there's a little bookmark of the same fabric sticking out.

And this was the extra treat (actually the second extra treat - the second book cover was the first).



Quite obviously I love totes. lol. Thanks so much April. I love all the work you did.

Now I just need to get April's goodies finished up and in the mail.

Until next time, hugs and stitches. Jody

My Prize-Winning Quilt

I've always wanted to say that. lol. And my quilt did win a prize - but not for the quilting or the design - just for being the first one finished. But, hey, it's still a prize winner. lol.

Here's the quilt:



It's my snowman quilt made from blocks from an online group swap. I backed it with a fleece sheet, birthed it and tied it. The blocks are so pretty and diverse that I didn't want to take away from them with a bunch of quilting. It's so cuddly and warm and since the blocks were made by my close friends it's like a loving hug.

And the prize! When the girl who organized the swap emailed me about the prize I had honestly forgotten she even mentioned there being a prize for the first project completed.

The prize was a Christmas tablerunner. It arrived today in the mail and I simply love it.



Thanks Joyce for organizing the swap and for the great prize.

Until next time, hugs and stitches. Jody

Pumpkin Patch Primitives Quilt Shoppe: It's a Happy Halloween Giveaway!

Pumpkin Patch Primitives Quilt Shoppe: It's a Happy Halloween Giveaway!

Halloween Giveaway

Well you know how it goes - not likely to win but have to give it a try.

Pumpkin Patch Primitives Quilt Shoppe is having the most awesome giveaway.

To check out the details and enter yourself click on the title of this post to be redirected to the Pumpkin Patch website. I tried to add the link in the body of the post but I suppose I'm still a bit technologically challenged - the link shows up until I post - and then it's gone.

But I promise you if you click the title you will get to the website - and you soooo want to go. The prizes are great and even if you don't win it's a neat website. Look around and you'll come up with some great holiday ideas.

Until next time, hugs and stitches. Jody

Christmas Is Coming!!

Well I had intended to post a picture of my finished snowman quilt made from my swap blocks. But since I forgot to take the picture I suppose I will have to make do with the picture of the top pre-quilting.



The finished product isn't much different. I birthed it and used a fleece sheet as the backing. It's nice and warm without being heavy. And it's tied. The blocks are so lovely that I didn't want to take away from them with a lot of quilting.

Now on to Christmas. During the recent Blogger's Quilt Festival I saw a gorgeous Christmas quilt and I am attempting to recreate parts of it. It's an applique quilt with each block having a different Christmas motif. I'm using some of the ones the lady who posted it did and I'm making some different ones of my own. So far I have these three completed:





I'm adding a bit of embellishment to each block. I have two more close to complete but I still need to work on the embellishments a bit.

So that's what's been going on around here quilting-wise.

In other news my kitchen is done!! It's been two years in the making but it's done. I only have a picture of the one row of drawers:



These are the drawers between the stove and refrigerator. The cabinets are the real showstoppers. Rodger cut the center out of the doors and added chicken wire (did I mention it's a country kitchen?). They look FABULOUS! Pictures next time.

At long last Thunder is making an appearance!



Until next time, hugs and stitches. Jody

TRUNK SHOW!!!

Two words that practically guarantee a quilter a good evening.

Our local quilt guild had Margaret Hartranft and Mark Martin for our guests tonight. They do a show called Compositions in Quilts and Music and let me tell you if you have the chance you want to be sure to see these people.

I'm not going to post all the pictures I took but will high-light a few of my favorites.

This one I found intriguing but I wasn't sure if I really liked it or not because I'm not really into art quilts. But when I saw it up close and saw the detail I couldn't believe how beautiful it is. Now keep in mind that this is a guild challenge - the theme - stripes and dots.



She took a picture one morning on her way to work at a stop light and then created this quilt from it. The birds are machine stitched and also beaded.

This quilt took my breath away and was my favorite - for a while. This one took best of show at a quilt show and I can't remember which one. lol. It's all done in miniatures.



I would love to copy this - but I would have to make in full size because some of those pieces were almost too small to hold on to. I greatly admire people who do mini quilts. I wouldn't have the patience.

This one I saw when I first walked in and thought it was an optical illusion - that it was hung to look smaller on one side but it actually is smaller on one side. A lot of this is fabric painting. The window frame pieces are appliqued on rather than done as sashing.



This brings us to my absolute favorite part of the show.

Some of the quilts were made first and the music composed afterwards. Some the music came first. Some were sort of a collaboration. These quilts were made after the music was composed. Mark composed an opera about a woman's life. Afterwards he asked Margaret to make quilts to represent the various times.

The first quilt was for when the girl was 16. As Mark said, there were good times but it is an opera so there are bad times coming. The good and bad times are represented by the light and dark fabrics.



Next she gets married. The darker fabrics represent the masculine side of the union, the lighter fabrics represent the feminine side of the union.



The next step is being a housewife. This point of the opera would have taken place in the 40s and at that point a woman was trained to be a wife. And then what? So Margaret chose to make a quilt that used up all the different fabrics the woman would have had in her entire household. There are 3,000 pieces in this quilt and it represents the tedium of the housewife's life in that era.



The back of this quilt is awesome. Margaret used feedsacks that she got at a Humane Society thrift store.



The final quilt was to represent the older woman as age has made her a bit more forgetful and her mind muddled. Margaret said that she had to have a stopping point for this quilt because she could have gone on forever. So she chose six embellishments and six embroidery stitches for each individual block.



That was the end of the opera and therefore the end of the quilts. However, Margaret and Mark decided a finishing quilt was in order. And I'm so glad they did. This is my absolute favorite quilt of the entire show. It literally took my breath away and you could hear gasps around the room as they unrolled it.



There is so much to say about this quilt. If you notice on the top right corner there are sections of the earlier quilts - all done to appear faded as the years have gone by. In full color on the lower left corner is the crazy quilt that represents the end of the opera. But look closely at the lady - one half of her face is lined and her hair is gray but on the other side her face is smooth and her hair is brown. And then look at the shadow box - all those little items are real items. There are spools of thread, buttons, a golf tee, charms, pins, flowers, pictures, etc. The detail is incredible.

And of course there was the music. Mark gave wonderful descriptions of things he saw in the quilt and how he translated them to music. And sitting listening to him I closed my eyes and could see what he was playing.

It was an incredible night. If you ever have the chance to see this talented duo don't pass it up. It was a truly magical evening.

Until next time, hugs and stitches. Jody