Pat Sloan's Winter Solstice Block 3/5 -- Tide Pool

Here's Block 3/25 called Tide Pool.  It is part of Pat Sloan's Winter Solstice Project.  This quilt will be all red and white blocks.

Pat Sloan just started a new site.  It's called I Love To Make Quilts.  Right now there is a Winter Solstice Project just getting started. It starts now and ends 182 days later on Summer Solstice.

2016 Quilt Doodles Designs BOM on the Frame

It's getting closer to the deadline for the blog hop (January 19 - 22) for the Quilt Doodle Designs 2016 BOM.  It's time to get that thing quilted!  I decided to quilt it first and then embellish.  Here it is on the frame being quilted with Circle Lord giant template board, Milky Way:

January Block Lotto 2017

Have you ever tried your luck at the Block Lotto?  It's a fun way to learn new skills, use up those scraps, meet new quilters, and possibly win blocks.  Sophie, of Sophie Junction come up with beautiful blocks and color schemes for the month.  We make blocks sometimes up to nine.  Each block is an entry into the "lotto" for that month.  At the end of the month someone does a random draw.  If you win, others mail their blocks to you.  If you don't, you mail your blocks to the winner(s).  It rocks!

Here are heart blocks for the January Block Lotto.  The skill learned was to use "made" fabric.

Hopefully you will be seeing some of my FINISHED Block Lotto quilts this year.  I have Big O blocks, Split Star blocks, and African Violets (that were the wrong size but I kept), and some blocks from the Mod, Mod QA quilts on my WIP list for 2017.  I also won the dud blocks a while back.  I LOVE those blocks.  Many of them are being used on the back of my Celtic Solstice which is planned as a finish in April, 2017.  Here are some that I have finished in the past:

Tall Fly Table Runner, finished 8/4/15


Tall Geese, finished 12/7/13


Pineapple Blossom (a Bonnie Hunter design), finished 5/7/12


Eclipse, finished 3/6/12 -- one of my personal favorites that is always on the couch (if it's not taken)

Welcome Home Sampler Block #6 -- Moving it Forward Monday

Moving it forward again on my Welcome Home Sampler quilt (book by Cheryl Wall).  Here's block #6. Little by little these blocks are coming together!

 

 

...and then I attached it to completed block #5...  I love the way this quilt is going!

 

I only have ONE more major block to complete (Block #8).  It has three houses, three stars, two churn dashes...  Little by little it too will be done.  This makes me happy!  I never thought I would get this far on this little quilt.  But moving it forward MONDAY helps me meet my goals.

 

 

Linking up with Em's Scrap Bag and Moving It Forward Monday.

 

Humble Quilts Mystery from 2015 on the Frame

As I was going through my organized bins (so I thought) of projects I found this little beauty that just needed quilted and bound.  It's just a little thing...  So cute.  It was a mystery quilt that I finished the top on 10.25.2015.  It's called Country Roads which is a Mystery Mini by Lori at Humble Quilts.  I chose a different color scheme than what Lori did.

It's somewhere like 21" x 21".  It's on the frame being quilted.  I expect a finish soon. :)

 

I couldn't decide how to quilt it.  I'm quilting it very densely with straight lines.  It will make a nice, flat table topper.

 

I'm linking up with Em's Scrapbag for Moving it Forward. Monday.

 

 

I'm also linking my "how to quilt densly" post with the Chicken Chick for tips this week.

 

 

I really want to win that mini incubator for my flock!  Find other useful DIYs and tips here.

 

 

 

For straight line quilting I just set the stopper on the back of the machine.  I can lock the machine so that it will only travel north and south.  (I can also lock my Nolting 23 so that it can only travel east and west with another stopper.)   Then set the stitch regulator on small and let the machine do all the work.  Keep stitching back and forth (north and south) until you get the desired density on the stitches you want.  A quilt this dense will make a great table topper because it will lay nice and flat.

OMG, Slow Sunday Stitching, and Oh Scrap! January -- Stars, Stripes & Other Things

Here's the WIP I plan to finish this month.  This little quilt started because I needed a quick project to throw in my to-go bag.  I grabbed one of my books and thought that it would take me a little while to applique nine stars onto squares.  The little blocks fit into a Ziploc bag and this quilt came to life quicker than I thought it would.



The pattern is called Stars, Stripes & Other Things.  The pattern had rail fence blocks in it, but I just used squares.  It is in this book that I found at a garage sale:



I love those little projects in my to-go bag.  It makes me feel productive.

I'm linking up with Patty at Elm Street Quilts for the OMG (One Monthly Goal) linky party.



Since this started out as one of my Slow Sunday Stitching projects, I'm also linking up with Kathy's Quilts for the linky party.




Since 2017 is hopefully the year of getting rid of my 85 WIPS and working through my scraps and I only used scraps on this quilt I am also joining Cynthia at Quilting is more fun than Housework for the Oh Scrap! linky party.

Whipping the WIPS in 2017? I'm starting 2017 with 85 WIPS!

I'm setting a goal to reduce my WIPS in 2017.  Last week I counted and I had 72 WIPS.  Then Itried t take a few pictures and ended up with 85, then I found more TODAY in the guild charity bin... Holy moly I'll be busy...  But some of these on the list have not yet been started, but I do hope to participate in the QA's and such.

Yes, I said it.  I have 85 WIPS!!!

Here's a couple of them to wet your appetite:

Bonnie Hunter's 2014 Mystery, Celtic Solstice (still working on that back...)

...and this will also be a finish for 2017 because I purchased the back for it on Black Friday, 2016 -- Bonnie Hunter's 2015 mystery, Allietare!



Quilt Doodle Designs 2016 BOM needs to be completed by the blog hop 1/17 - 1/22/17:



Expect some cute little finishes too:




 

Here's a snapshot of how I'm starting 2017.  Items are sorted by stages.  When something is completed I'll move it to the next stage until it gets crossed off at the bottom with the FINISHES.  When something is added in 2017 put it in a new list at the bottom of the list.

 

 

Pieces Still Need to be Cut & Sewn

1.  Underpants Project 

2.  Digging up Bones (Owen's dinosaur quilt)

3.  Rock Island Campfire Quilt

4.  Picadilly Circle

5. ...And Sew On BOM at Quiet Play (one block to go)

6.  RSC17 Scrappy Dogs with red backgrounds, inspired by Made By Me in Red blog

7.  Patriotic Folk Animals (from Americana Quilts Book) -- hand work for school

8.   Soul Searching -- need 2 more blocks for the quilt top due 2/14/17 for Julianne swap
9.  Leah Day Building Blocks QA

10.  Love Laugh Quilt Christmas Improv QA
11.  Classic Meets Modern BOM
12.  Mod Mod QA (turning this one into a baby quilt) (from block Lotto, mostly circles w/lines)

13.  Drunkard's Path Fish quilt for LQG charity quilt (Not started as of 1/1/17.)

14.  December Candy Cane block kit from my neighbor, Karen -- hand work for school 

15,  Sew Sweet Simplicity BOM (made from shirt scraps)

16.  Kite Girl (RSC14)

17.  Amish Country BOM (from Lynn, Johnna's mom)

18.  Cabins at the Lake (from Fons & Porter Magazine) (only one house block complete.)

19.   2.5" Scraps from Dani making "cracker" blocks

20.  Flowers and Watercan (wall hanging)

21.  Little Houses (3.5" blocks)

22.  Split Stars (Block Lotto win)

23.  Spools (Leader & Ender project with Bonnie Hunter)

24.  Fortune Teller (RSC14 started -- need blocks each month)

25.  Slabs with White Rectangle (RSC14 started -- need blocks each month)

26.  Bonnie Hunter 2016 Mystery, En Provence! (Not started as of 1/1/17.)

27. Tin Soldier Tree Skirt for 2017's Christmas

28.  2015 Orange, pink, grey kite blocks (from Accuquilt die, in como with RSC17)

29.  Start 2017 Bonnie Hunter Mystery in November, 2017

30.  A Simple Six-Pocket Bag (8" x 10" x 4") (Not started as of 1/1/17.)

31.  Crown of Thorns in blues

32.  2016 Plus Blocks (from left over pieces of Soul Searching blocks)

33.  RSC16 Folk Art Birds

34.  Maroon Sampler Quilt

35.  Super Mario QA

36.  Kim Diehl's Homestead Harvest (lots of hand applique for my to-go bag)

37.  Beaquilter Accuquilt Qube sampler for 2017 (Not started as of 1/1/17.)

38. Gobble, Gobble quilt pattern from Lori Holt (Not started as of 1/1/17.)

39.  Pat Sloan's, I Love to Make Quilts Sampler (every Wed. Winter Solstice block).

40.  Bonnie Hunter Box Kite class from March, 2017 (Not started as of 1/1/17.)

41.  Jazz (a quick strip quilt pattern (Not started as of 1/1/17.)

42.  Drunkard's Path 7" blocks (Not started as of 1/1/17.)

43.  Cheddar Jack cat pattern from Mama Spark's World (Not started as of 1/1/17.)

44.  Let it Snow Wall Hanging (Not started as of 1/1/17.)

45.  Let it Snow Table Runner (Not started as of 1/1/17.)

46.  Poppa's Tree Farm from Laugh Yourself to Stitches (Not started as of 1/1/17.)

47.  Accuquilt GO! Snow Crystals Quilt  (Not started as of 1/1/17.)

48.  Laugh Yourself to Stitches And So It Crows pattern (Not started as of 1/1/17.)

49.  Scrappy Hourglass Quilt 

50.  One Slow Sunday Stitching project (to be announced) (Not started as of 1/1/17.)

 

Blocks Still Need to be Made

1.  RSC15 Sawtooth Star Sampler

2.  Scrap Crystals (working on blue pieces for RSC15)

3.  We Can Do It Skill Builder Sampler

4.  Sweet Simplicity BOM

5. Finding Nemo Scrappy Trip quilt (my seams don't match Julianne's seams...)
6.  Drunkard's Path Variation baby quilt
7.  Amanda Murphy Designs (ugly fabric quilt)
8.  Bluepatch Mystery Quilt
9.  Welcome Home Sampler from Cheryl Wall's book Welcome Home. (2016 Slow Stitching proj.)
 

Blocks are made but need to be sewn together (and/or some sashing)
1.  Block Swap Adventure Orange/Yellow Sampler (2011-2012)
2.  Split Stars (Block Lotto win)
3.  Orange/Blue Fish Blocks (that I won)
4.  Split Stars (blocks won from Block Lotto; October, 2012)
5.  African Violet baby quilt (Block Lotto inspired)
6.  Tall Fly 

7.  2016 Osnaburg Guild Swap D9Ps

8.  Sonja's Windows string quilt

9.  Urban Churn Dash -- A Simple Sew Along at Piece N Quilt.

10.  Block Swap Adventure (2013) Churn Dash Blocks 

 

Quilts back needs to be made (tops are done)

1.  Celtic Solstice (Bonnie Hunter Mystery 2013) (still piecing this huge back!)
2.  Surround Stars Pillow (one big block is here somewhere.  It will be a pillow when I find it.)
3.  Churn Dash (black and red) charity quilt for local quilt guild
4.  Card Trick (pink and blue) HUGE charity quilt for local quilt guild
5.  Sun Bonnet Sue charity quilt for local quilt guild
6.  Stars, Stripes, & Other Stuff quilt
7.  One House, Two House... from Cheryl Wall's book Welcome Home. (2016 project at school)
8.  Spangled Stars QAL (July goal)
9.  Bubble Gum pink and navy charity quilt for local quilt guild
10.  Green star charity quilt for local quilt guild
11.  Hunter green large (bubbly -- will be a challenge to longarm) charity quilt for the local guild


Ready to longarm
1.  Little Letters QA Quilt (A RSC14 project)
2.  Bonnie Hunter 2015 Mystery, Allietare!
3.  December 2014 Block Lotto Big O blocks that I won 12.31.14!
4.  2016 Quilt Doodle Designs BOM
5.  Humble Quilts Mystery, 2015

2017 Finishes!

2017 New Projects...

Current WIPS -- 85