Dad's quilt

Finally, a UFO completed. This is Dad's quilt, or "F's quilt" from previous project to do posts. I entitled this quilt, "A daughter's perspective on a father's memories."



I finished binding the quilt and presented it to my father this weekend. I showed him the back:



I showed him the front:



He loved them both. He cried. Then he decided to stop so picked up the camera and took random pictures of us (those you don't get to see, let's just say it's a realization I really don't like the way I've let myself go. -wink-)

He served in the Air Force. Geisha girl fabric for Iwo Jima. Each state he lived in or was stationed at was represented. Pictures of kids, grandkids, grand-pets, and his wife. Fabrics with his favorite foods: steak, hot dog, hamburger, a grill, chocolate chip cookies, and ice cream cones. A couple plaid, flannel pieces to represent those flannel shirts he loved so much when I was growing up. Snowy scenes to remind him of the snow we tolerated in upstate NY. Hobby fabrics: fishing, bowling, golfing and sporting fabrics for his favorite teams.

The cat, appropriately named "Crook," has stolen it for himself not 2 days after it's appearance in the house.

Here's a close up of the quilting, not a good picture for stitch quality, but you can see the swirls and loops I did.

Dad happy = happy daughter. :)

the "Quilting Goddesses" and Grace are plotting against me!

Dear Readers,
Please forgive the break in regularly scheduled posts because at this time, I need to take a moment to plead with the Quilting Godesses out there. The same ones who helped me through the Dbl Wedding Ring quilt mess. While looking to the quilting tools in my sewing room, I plead,

"Please, please, please, oh Quilting Godesses, do not send me any more information or reminders that I'm doomed to do something scrappy this year. I get the message, I hear you loud and clear. Grace said there might be a challenge coming, I said I'd only consider it and you sent me all the notes on how to pull a scrappy quilt off. I hear you, I'm doing one this year. All I mean to ask is, could you at least let me focus on my late items now before tantalizing me with the possibility of a new and different challenge? Thank you for listening to my plea."

Thank you readers. I suppose you'd like to know what I'm talking about so here's the short version (is that possible with me?) You see, the online group I belong to is Yahoo's One Stitch at a Time or "OST." "Grace" is one of the moderators of the group and is the creator of the latest challenge I said I'd participate in, the color challenge. Anyway, in the process of chatting about that challenge, we started discussing scrappy quilts. I have a tentative like for scrappy quilts. Some I've seen are just horrid and others beautiful so clearly, it's not scrappy that's the issue, but putting it together and I understand that I, do not have the vision to create a scrappy quilt, yet. I'd been thinking someday (like 5-10 years from now!) I might try one. Well, Grace let it slip on purpose a new scrappy challenge might be coming up in the group.

Let it slip... on purpose. I had a little palpatation.

We ended the conversation with me being slightly open to the idea. I pick up yesterday's mail, the SAME day I have this dialog with Grace, and the magazing "Quilter's Newsletter" has arrived. For those of you who receive this magazine, you know, it's all about scrappy this month. Providing guidance on choosing colors, designing, etc.

Does anyone else think Grace and the Quilting Goddesses are in cohoots to thwart my little comfort cushion of not doing a scrappy for oh, the next 20 years?

New Quilt Challenge!

I wasn't going to post about this until AFTER it was complete. I wanted to look like I was sticking hard to working on my UFO's but well, I read someone else's blog regarding this challenge and just had to post a picture of my planned little quilt.

So, the challenge is 1 every 3 months this year we are to create 1 block. Take your first name and use one letter for the first letter of the block name. Use 3 other letters in your name for the colors. Repeat letters only after you've used all the rest up.

I decided I want to use this challenge to work on my hand piecing so I did not want applique or rounded edges, just straight stitching. Since these would be 4 different blocks and I wanted cohesion, I tried to pick blocks which were similar in scale to one of the other blocks as well as keep color theme tight. So, I'm choosing shades of reds, beiges and blues. Here's how they work out in my name.

B – Boston pavement

E – Egyptian blue

C – carmine

K -

Y - yuma

B – beige

E – endeavor
C – Crossword puzzle

K – Kenyan copper

Y -

B - burgandy

E - ecru

C – cerulean blue

K - King's Highway

Y -

B – black rose

E - Empire Star

C - cobalt

K – khaki

Y –

The finished quilt (a small wall hanging) should look something like this if I've done it correctly.

Please bear in mind, I had limited resources with my crayola crayon colors. :)

New Year's resolution finish all UFO's

Maybe that's more of a New Year's goal. Can I really be resolute enough to finish all my UFO's if I continue to add or consider adding projects to my plate?

I guess we will see. A short update on the last to do list. F's quilt is actually dad's quilt. It's quilted and only needs to be bound and cleaned. DS quilt has been cut. All other kids' tops are complete and need quilting. Winter wall hanging top is complete.

It's now Jan. 11. By Jan. 18, I will have completed Dad's binding and started quilting one other child's top. I will also have at least 2 blocks for DS quilt top done.

Moving on to more important items... My observations/self-reflections while quilting. I have come to a revelation. No, not about projects and how I have too many of them, thank you very much. About how I'm stubborn. Wait, don't laugh yet.

My kids have come by their "learn their own lessons the hard way" mentality naturally. I've read the articles, posts, blogs. I've seen the television shows and tutorials but no matter what, even though I think, "that's good to know, I'll do that," I don't do that. In fact, I do the exact opposite and have to learn my lesson the hard way. Just like someone else, who posted the tutorial had to.

For example, I remember reading or seeing that one should have a quilting plan in place when they start quilting. Sounds logical, right? So please explain to me why I've taken my 3rd quilt to the frame without any idea what to do until it's sitting rolled up and waiting. AND try to convince me, while you're at it, that I actually really like the results of the quilting which was unplanned.

No? Well, I can't convince myself either. I don't dislike my quilting, I just can't say it's made me extremely proud of myself yet. Maybe I'm being too critical but hey, that's my perogative, right?

Alright, so, the next time my child doesn't listen to the sage advise I offer about how it's easier or makes more sense to follow a different path to finishing homework or anything else, I should probably try to remember the little revelation I posted today.

BAD SIL & BROTHER

This post is written solely for one purpose. To tell on my brother and sister-in-law. The last holders of the Tornado. The ones who tried to forward it without following the "rules." Alas, they were unable. The karma of the Tornado thwarted them and when they took it down from it's hanging perch a 2nd time, they were informed they were going to be mentioned specially in this blog.

So here you have it.

Rick, Karen, the "rule" is HUNG in a prominent place in your home for 1 week before you can banish it to another home. Deal with it.

Love you! B