All of a sudden it is March 16th and I have not posted!! How the heck did that happen, I wonder? I decided to give that 1600"  jelly roll quilt a shot, but without the jelly roll since my fabric stash is so big.  Instead I looked in the cabinet and picked out some bright pieces, mostly about 1/2 yard and cut 40 2 1/2 strips.  I had so much fun and the quilt top was assembled so quickly and I just love the bright colors. Now I need to add some borders, sandwich it, and quilt it. I think I am going to give it to my youngest as he was highly openly complimentary about it in the social media.
  I have lost track of how many quilt tops I have made now from stash. Yet somehow my stash seems undiminished. I am just not sure how that happens, but I understand that I am not the only one who has had this experience. Is it at all possible that it reproduces while I sleep?
Sooooooo.. .. From here on out I am going to document right here on this little old blog every time I create a quilt top from stash fabric. I think the rule I will use for this is that at least half of the fabric in the quilt top will have to be from the stash. After all, it is to be expected that I will have to purchase some fabric to pull the things together--hee hee.
 Okay--next up will be Eli's quilt. Shhh it is a surprise!
Oh and my CQ quilt blocks
Oh and my doll clothes quilt blocks.
Wow, I had better get busy.

Holiday Time Off

Christmas is over and we are about to start the new year. I am blessed to have this time off for the first time in my career and I am loving it. I am putting together the block for the CQJP 2013 challenge. I have hunted and gathered so much material for crazy quilting and to date that has yielded so few CQ blocks. I am hoping this will get me moving. And, of course, I am still trying to reduce stash.

     I have not abandoned traditional quilting yet. I finished a quilt top today and began the machine quilting on another. No pictures to post today, but hopefully in a few days.

     Along the stash reduction lines, I found a pattern to make rag rugs out of scraps with a crochet hook.  So, off I go cutting 2" strips and rolling them into balls. I'm filling a small gift bag with the fabric strip balls until I am ready to begin crocheting. This should go fast and I hope it will be fun.

     Time to feed the animals. More soon with pics.

     

Wow, it has been so long since I posted that I really am starting all over. I have continued to look for things to use up my bountiful stash and to complete unfinished projects. Then lately I have stalled out a little. I needed a jolt to get my creative juices flowing, so I have registered (I hope--I read the email a little late and may not make it in) for a Crazy Quilt challenge. At any rate, I feel the need to at least journal some of my work and try to get back on course.
     Current projects that I am working on:
1. A quilt for Elijah, one of my newer grandsons back in the midwest. This is a scrappy project that used stash fabric (other than the sashing, binding, and backing--tee hee). I have had the pattern for quite some time, so I feel good about finally using that, too.
2. A quilt for a friend's mother who was widowed a little more than a year ago. Again, using mostly stash fabrics and a pattern that had been laying around for a while. This is sandwiched and basted, in the quilt frame awaiting me to sit down and quilt it.
3. A quilt made for donation that is sandwiched, basted, and awaiting machine quilting.

So it sounds like the last thing I need to do is start a CQ project, but I can't help myself.
Here is a little bowl I made from clothesline and scraps. A very addicting type of project. I found the book "It's A Wrap" by Susan Breier at the Paducah quilt show last spring.

Stay tuned.....

Quilt Number Five for 2011

I just finished this quilt over the weekend and I love it! This is a retreat quilt that languished in my UFO pile for a couple of years. I think that was partly due to the fact that I had no idea what I was going to do with it. Then--voila--I knew this quilt's home. That seems to happen to me. I start a project, knowing that I really don't want to keep it, but with no idea what I will do with the finished item. Somehow the perfect recipient always seems to appear. The fabric for this quilt is April Cornell's "Portugal". A long-time friend of mine is half Portuguese and this is going to him for the times that he could use a little more sunshine in his life.
Next up--a quilt for my grandson Christopher and I have another quilt ready to sandwich and quilt that will be donated to a charity. I am having a great time this year and truly finishing things.

Anya's Quilt

I am very happy here today as Anya's quilt is going in the mail! My progress is great this year and I just hope to keep on track. This quilt was made from a kit purchased at a quilting retreat I attended several years ago. It is a perfect fit for her toddler bed and I think it has all of the colors of the Disney princess dresses in it. At the age of 3, she is all about the princesses.
I am quilting the borders of another quilt that I hope will be finished by the end of next week. Yea!!!! Next up--a sampler quilt from the fabshophop made of scraps. Another yea!!!

I can't believe how much time has gone by since I last posted. I fell very short of my goal last year and so this year I just set about quilting as I please and when I please. Lo and behold, I have finished 4 quilts to date and will finish the 5th this week! I am having fun, but I am a long way from using up or substantially reducing my stash! I am having a blast making quilts for family and friends and they are so appreciative. That may be more of an incentive than attaining a goal.
Two of my friends have birthdays in January, so I made each of them a wallhanging (or table topper--they could take their pick). The picture above is one of them. And yes--it is made entirely from stash! The picture below is the other and again--all stash! Doing a little celebratory happy dance right now.

The Finished Product

Finally, Alisha's quilt finished and mailed to her. And I've even received a "thank you" text. It seemed like one of the longest projects I have worked on in a while.
I am still on my mission to reduce my generous stash and complete UFOs. To that end, I have been hand quilting every morning on my daughter's quilt and am happy to say that I have only 3 more borders to quilt. This might be the second longest quilting project, ha ha.
I have also completed a quilt top from a jelly roll that I bought a few years ago and it is layered and basted and waiting in the wings for hand quilting. This quilt will be a surprise gift to a good friend here in Tucson. Pictures will be posted later. One thing I can say about my photos is that I definitely need some help with getting good photos of my work.
Happy quilting everyone and enjoy the summer.