UFO, WIP, Flimsy parade - time to get organized!

I decree that yesterday's new name shall be - "Tally Tuesday"

Also, when ya can't beat the heat to sew comfortably in the loft (since we frugal ol' fuddy-duddies haven't folded to turn on the AC yet), t'was time to ORGANIZE all the bins and shelves and 'chair piles' downstairs in the basement quilting space. Don’t get me wrong! I like the heat but this task needed to get done all the same.

I haven't truly been in full-blown 'quilter-mode' since probably 2013/14, as my faithful followers of year's gone by can attest to; life simply got busy with the girls growing up . However, with a couple recent quilt-top finishes this week that had been in almost-finished stages, I really wanted to get a gauge of the status of all the other "things" down there. Ya know... to make plans and goals!

The parade of current UFOs (unfinished objects), WIPs (works in progress) and FLIMSIES (quilt top ready for quilting), plus a few HMIDs (holy moly, it's done) quilts.

[[alright, I made up that last acronym]]

FIrst up, the Flimsies...

Omigosh flimsy - 73"x 92"
Designer: Susan Garman

Omigosh perspective

Technical Difficulties diagnosed...

Thank goodness for my husband, and for the fact that he didn't work on Friday.


All week was filled, and I simply never fit in time to call the Internet company in order to figure out our wifi problem.  I guess it says something that is hasn't been a top priority on the list of tasks.....???....
but I'm still HAPPY Paul was able to work with the ISP to get us back up-n-running [[almost]].
Diagnosis:  Faulty modem.
Prescription: Modem replacement.  However, Paul wasn't/isn't able to head down to HeadQuarters of our ISP until Monday.
Therefore, I'm crossing my fingers that the modem will give me enough time to get this post out to all of you.


By now, I'm sure all of you have been made aware of Kevin's QOV block drive.  If not, PLEASE check it out if you are interested in helping out QOV.  The blocks are truly manageable -- AND we have until JUNE to accomplish them! :)  Whew....

Between concerts and last-minute DI (Destination Imagination) practices, the week was booked, morning-to-night.  Yesterday was the Regional DI competition in Hudson, WI (2 hours away); which meant for a long day of competition AND waiting for awards.
This was Caitlyn's first year to compete, and wouldn't you know it-----with the craziness of the day, I NEVER got a picture of the whole team together!  [[Bad mom!!!!!]

I only have a picture of Cassie's DI team due to one of the other mom's who posted on FB.  

Neither of the teams will be advancing on to the State competition; one of our Middle School teams has though.  

Therefore, the after-school hours for the next couple of weeks should be CALM and OPEN! ....

Until Track season starts a few weeks down the pipe.

Today....I MUST get motivated to do some quilting.  I have a quilt on the frame that SHOULD have been off of it two weeks ago, and I have another that is on a strict deadline of next weekend.  And it's King size.

Therefore,...... Happy Sunday!

Finally, a substantial post :)

Yes folks, there are quilting related photos in this post.  Can you believe it?!?!?  :D

My mother-in-law sequestered me into quilting a couple of tops; one for a customer of hers, and one for a family member.  This earth-toned one has such beautiful colors!  The customer left all design aspects to my MIL.  I love the framework that MIL came up with.

I quilted it with an Edge-2-Edge feather pantograph, but I left the center photo section untouched.  It has a poofy effect now that I'm not a big fan of, but the decision of quilting/not-quilting over the picture wasn't mine to make.  Overall, it still turned out alright.

Total quilting time and machine binding sewn on:  About 7 hours on and off during this past week.

This little thing was a smaller wall-hanging that a cousin of my husband asked my MIL to make, and for me to quilt.  I again used the E2E overall feather pantograph in a taupe color.  I loaded and quilted it today in just under 3 hours.  Pretty quick.  Nice-n-small.

THEN, I decided to actually shower up for the day :) LOL

I know I'm not the only one who goes for one (both?) days of the weekend without "looking human."  BUT, there is an article being written about the QOV program; my name was shared with the writer of the article by the Wisconsin QOV representative.  Last weekend, there was a presentation in a local city where two of my quilts were given to local QOV recipients.  Sadly, I could not make the event due to Hunter Safety and needing to be a single mom for the day, driving everyone around to where they needed to be.  So, the writer asked if I could share a picture of me either working on a QOV quilt, or presenting one.  Well....psht!  I didn't have one!  In all my pictures, .... nada.

So, I got all "humanified" and had Cassie take a picture this afternoon.

{{sign of a happy quilter = clutter and mess. Right??}}

 But yeah....THIS is part of the reason I couldn't make the event last week.

Not only did Cassie sign up for Hunter's Safety Education... I did too :)  

And we both passed :)  People keep joking with Paul (husband) about needing to share his hunting gear.  He just laughs and says..."HA!  It just means I can buy MORE tree stands, blaze orange, food plot land, .....etc...etc...etc..."

Last weekend was also Caitlyn's birthday.  Nine this year.  And that girl...... yup.  She wanted jeans.  

On the running front... 

I hit a mental wall after a botched 20-mile run last Saturday.  At mile 7, I texted Paul to come get me if he could.  By the time he got to me, I had run 8.9 miles....a far cry from the 20 I had set out to run.  I just wasn't feeling it.  And I've been fighting the mental block of "failure" all week, ONLY having run once since that day.

But today, despite the weather yet AGAIN bringing on blizzard-like conditions.... I ran .... and this was the view from my treadmill.   Only 5 miles, but they felt good.  And truth be known;  I'm considering jumping back on the 'mill once I'm done with this update post.  Time is still on my side;  Five more weeks until the Green Bay marathon.  Next weekend, there is a Half-Marathon that I'm pretty certain to run in.  I haven't completed my registration yet, but... yeah.  Pretty sure I'll be running it.  {{Amy--it's in Oshkosh.  Interested?  There's a 5K too, I think}} :)

Oh!  Need a funny to close your weekend before heading back to work?

One of my 7th grade advanced math students.  And I honestly don't know whether to laugh or not at this.  Does this show proficiency in mathematical reasoning???

LOL

I think we all need sunshine and 70s!  {{Heck, most of us will even settle for 40s!!!!!}}

Happy Sunday everyone.

Moving on...

While trying to keep my mind occupied on other things today.....I sat in my chair, in front of my machine...and pieced....

Old Glory

And even today, the Quiltmaker ScrapSquad posted a variation of the original of this pattern (Jen's rendition).

Now that I see it in a picture, I'm not a huge fan of all the lighter blue strips, but I still hope it can make for a nice QOV quilt.  I had to alter the borders; I didn't have enough of any one red in my stash to make the border as called for :(   

Karen of the Wisconsin QOV has put an all-call out for some quilts, so I am hoping to send out Star Harbor, Star Path and now Old Glory for her to use at some upcoming Wisconsin-area QOV presentations.  SORRY ALYCIA!!!! But know that I will be 6 quilts into my 12-challenge!

My self-set goal:  all three in the mail by this Friday.  Quilting to do on Old Glory, and binding to go on the other two.  Should be do-able .

FINALLY - labeled and packaged

Three Quilt of Valors;  labeled and safely packaged up for safe travels to Alycia!

Off to drop the girls off for summer school and then I'll be in the garden picking beans.  Not sure if I'll have enough to warrant a full-blown pressure-cooking session, but maybe.
Also on today's docket:  Laundry room cleaning.  DEFINITELY waiting until the girls are back from summer school for that one.  :P

Happy Wednesday!

Sunday's list - ACCOMPLISHED (and then some)...

Sunday's to-do list wrapup:

#2:  Bathroom cleaning - DONE (by girls) (with instructions clearly barked explained by me)

#3:  "Rake" lawn for mulch - DONE (by me)
#4:  Weed raspberries and mulch them - 90% DONE (accomplished by Paul)
#5:  Mulch Paul's strawberry patch - DONE (by Paul)

#5 ext: (mulch "rescued tomatoes") - DONE (by me)

#6:  Laundry (well, after a short-lived late-day storm that blew through, the once dry-clothes are still hanging on the line to dry for a second time.)

MORE Additional tasks....

WE HAVE PEAS TOO!  So, #7 -- we picked what was ripe and snacked on them for dinner.

And #8, I even finished cutting the fabric for Star Path - QOV Mystery #28.  I EVEN followed the recommended 10% rule for my scrappy reds (cut no more than 10% from one fabric to keep the scrappiness non-dominated by certain fabrics).  Remember, it's not too late to get motivated to join in.  The clues have only been fabric selection and cutting directions so far.  Clues are being posted every Friday.  Become a member of the group and join in the fun :D

QOV Mystery 28

We're back home!!!!  And a night of relaxing snuggled in a quilt was pretty much all that was on the agenda!

Today is a different story, however!!!

First on the to-do list:  Choose fabrics for the QOV Mystery #28:

I hope to burn through some scrappy whites I have around; the navy blue is yardage; and I have some scrappy reds in mind!

Clue #1: cutting was posted on Friday (7/6), so I gave it a good start, but right now:  OUTSIDE I GO! 

Other items on my Sunday to-do list:

- The upper garden needs tilling

- The bathroom needs a top-to-bottom cleaning sometime today, too!  One room is a day is my goal to get my house is "visitor-shape" by next weekend :)

Need a project or just some motivation????  Join in with the QOV Mystery #28.  If you're not a member, request to be one :)  It's simple!  The mystery is only in its first clue (cutting); and the clues are posted each Friday until the first weekend in August.  There are weekly incentive prize drawings for individuals who stay caught up; which is quite easy to do!  These quilts usually range on a small lap-quilt size and on the 'beginner' side of piecing!  Andee and I are in!  Let's motivate each other :)

A finish!

NYE 2012 (73" x 87")

Yup.  I put the binding on tonight (no new picture).  The binding is the same green that shows up throughout the quilt.  And although Candace shared some wonderful name suggestions, I think it'll simply remain as NYE 2012.

So, it has been folded and added to my stash bag of finished quilts.  (OH!  You can see the binding in this picture!)

At the same time, I unfolded and refolded a few quilts that have been not-so-patiently waiting on my QOV pile.  They will eventually make their way to you, Alycia!!!

And then....... wanting to stay on a motivational movement, I loaded Scrappy Picnic and finished off one bobbin's worth of quilting.  I am keeping the pantographs put away, and am trying a free-motion "circuit" pattern.  (Yes Angela---I loaded this BEFORE I read your email response to my 'quilting competition' comment.) :D

This post is taking a bit longer than usual to type up because we have the 10 o'clock news on in the background.  The flooding damage in Duluth is the lead story.   (We are the blue dot in the picture above....Duluth is about 80 miles due-north, right at the western tip of Lake Superior.) 

Here is one article of many that has been written throughout the day about the damage.  A boy amazingly survives a mile-long culvert 'trip,' a dozen animals perish from the Duluth Zoo....the stories continue to evolve.

The power of mother nature!  No matter where you live, there's always the potential for some type of natural disaster.  The good news........ the next 5-day extended forecast shows VERY LITTLE rain.  Time to wring out everything and take a breather.

Two quilting finishes & DSL troubles

Grrrrrrrr......I didn't realize Blogger was working on an update, so I lost half of this post before saving, and I don't care to type it all up again.

The short version: We were having DSL troubles and no Internet access when I arrived home last night from my parent's house. So, after some trouble-shooting this AM, and a 30-minute tech-service call, and an 11:00 visit from a (cute) technician, and another 3:00 phone call when the DSL wasn't working again, and another 3:30 visit by the technician.........

.....we're up-n-running again.

During the Internet-down-time today, I got busy with some quilting.....

Splendidly Marching Along (61" x 77")
That hour spent Saturday morning to load this quilt paid off, because it was a perfect way to spend much of the morning hours.

Just a simple pieced backing for this quilt.

The quilting was a new pantograph: 3" Hyacinth. I think I hit a jackpot pantograph provider: Urban Elementz out of Texas; I think they have EVERY POSSIBLE pantograph under the sun!! It took me over three hours the other day to really peruse the entire collection before making my selections. This pantograph is meant for 3" sashing, however as an owner of a Juki98, this is a great size (and SIMPLE pantograph) for my short-arm machine.

After a couple more finishes, this one will make its way to Alycia for QOV donations.

Loading time: ~1 hour
Quilting time: ~ 4 hours
Bobbins used: 6
Pantograph: 3" Hyacinth

Transitions (72" x 97")
Transitions was quilted last month, but had been on the waiting pile for binding.

Being on a roll today, I pulled it out to finish it up. This has plans to be gifted to a sweet lil' gal who is heading off to college in a few weeks.

Both quilts need labels yet; on the agenda for tomorrow. In addition, tomorrow also bodes some gardening! I skipped out of the garden today; I haven't been in it since Sunday. Oh dear---those cucumbers might be overflowing by now.

Splendidly Marching Along [instructions]

This quilt is created using 2" strips from my RWB scrap bin. Total yardage is not given because I didn't want, nor need, to figure it out. I just kept piecing, pressing, cutting, counting......repeated as needed ;0)

Since these are from the scrap bin, I needed to be sure my strip lengths surpassed 17" when I needed to cut the larger QSTs (quarter-square-triangles), and surpassed 6" if I only needed to cut HSTs (half-square-triangles). Pictures to some shortly explaining these requirements.

Creating the Strip-Sets
Sew two blue strips, one to each side of a white strip. Press towards the blue. Repeat using two red strips and one white. Press towards the red.

I used the Easy Angle ruler (for HSTs) and the Companion ruler (for QSTs). The Easy Angle ruler I have is the smaller 4.5" version, so I needed to eyeball up a small part of the cut. Notice the location of the upper "notch".

To note: When I was playing the other day with intentions of only using the Companion ruler, I didn't want these corner ends to be wasted; that's why the Easy Angle ruler was used, which led to the creation of the secondary block in this quilt.

Once the HST is cut with the Easy Angle ruler, switch over to the Companion ruler for the QST cuts.

As you near the end of your strip set, again you will be using the Easy Angle ruler to cut off the "ending" HST unit. Again, notice the placement of the "notch". If you have a larger Easy Angle ruler, you'll simply be able to line up normally with (roughly) the 5" mark.

Now....HERE is part of the minimum length requirement business. From a 17" strip set, you will be able to cut two (2) HST units and two (2) QST units.

I TRIED shorter strip sets where I was only able to get one (1) QST unit, thinking...."no biggy! I'll just cut the extra down to HSTs." {{see where the QST was cut?}} Well folks......this creates a mirror-image HST, which simply didn't work with the rest of the HSTs.

No matter which way I turned the "mirror" HST, it didn't work. Now, by all means, if you plan to cut a bunch of "mirror" HSTs, then maybe you'll play around and get something to work. But from this point on, I only cut EVEN numbers of QSTs from each strip set.

If I didn't have enough left in the stripset for an EVEN number of QSTs, I grabbed the Easy Angle to cut as many HSTs as I could from the remaining set.

The absolute shortest strip-set I used was at least 6" which allowed me to cut two (2) HST units, so don't rule everything out if it's less than 17" in length.

On the other extreme; if you use a full WOF strip set, you should be able to get six (6) QST cuts and three (3) {{MAYBE 4}} HST cuts. Notice that I was JUST shy of getting a 4th HST from this strip set.


Number of units needed

The 5x7 layout I made needed the following units:
- HST units (Easy Angle ruler cut) needed: 36 each in red & blue
- QST units (Companion ruler cut) needed: 34 each in red & blue
In addition, you will need to cut the following from your white...
- 2" x 6.5" rectangles: 36
- 2" x 9.5" rectangles: 36

Starting with the QST units, I set all 34 reds and blues as pictured and chain-sewed the entire stack. Once finished; I pressed towards the blue units.

Then I split the pile in half (as pictured) and chain-sewed these into the 17 "hourglass" blocks. Press and trim (as needed) to 9.5".

Then came time to chain-sew the 36 HST units. I set all reds and blues as pictured and sewed through the entire stack. I pressed towards the blue units.

Split the pile in half (as pictured) and chain-sew these into the 18 "bordered-pinwheel" blocks. Press and trim to 6.5".

Using my Easy Square Jr. made easy-n-quick work of trimming. The center 45 degree lines should match up quite nicely with the seams in the block for you. I trimmed on two sides, then rotated the block to trim the other two sides.



Using the 2"x6.5" rectangle units, attach one to each side of the 6.5" pinwheel blocks. Press towards the white border units.

Using the 2"x9.5" rectangle units, attach one to each the top/bottom of the pinwheel blocks, pressing again to the white border units.

I choose to create a 5x7 layout, alternating the blocks so that each corner consisted of a lighter "bordered pinwheel" block. I also took care to make sure my hourglass blocks alternated row-to-row to create these larger blue and red "on-point-looking" diagonal squares (diamonds).

For the inner border, I cut 2" strips of this checkered red/white fabric. First cutting and piecing lengths for the sides, and then again for the top/bottom. If sewn perfectly without any stretch, the two sides should measure 2"x63.5", and the top/bottom should be 2"x49.5".

The final outer border I added was of some Americana fabrics; and hindsight is screaming at me...."TOOOOO BUSY!" But, the borders are cut and sewn and won't be coming off. The fabric was cut about 6.5" both along the length and WOF in order to keep the directional aspect of the fabric. My final quilt top measures 61" x 78".

This quilt has Alycia's name on it for her QOV projects!