Only 168 hours in a week?!?

I don't know where last week went!  I certainly didn't rack up that many billable hours at my 'job'.  So what the heck did I do all week?

I quilted!  I've been like an out-of-control kid in a toy store, wanting to try out everything!  I have so many works in progress it's overwhelming, and I don't know what to work on next.

I was working on quilting a comfort quit for my friend Mary who is battling cancer.  I have an overwhelming need to finish it, but want it to be beautiful and unique. My thought is to give her a place to focus when times are tough, to lose herself in the patterns and movement of the quilting.    The idea was to put a different design in each piece of this Tossed Pinwheel quilt.

Big ideas, right?  Hooo boy - I didn't know what I was getting myself into when I started quilting on this.

I started here 

The pattern is a variation of a Disappearing 9 patch, and I started with 12 9 patches split into 4s - suffice it to say there are a LOT of different blocks here.  The pebbles took a bit of time to fill this 4 1/2 in square.  That was the first indication that this would not be a quick process.  The confused spiral in the 2 x 4 1/2 went fairly quickly, but still took some time.

 

 

 

I filled in a few more squares - the little ones are the easiest... the pearled feather came out ok.

 



 

I like the peppermint candy - to me it looks like a pan of cinnamon rolls.  Then I got the idea to write words of encouragement on this quilt in the 2 x 4 1/2 inch blocks.  Hope, peace, faith, love, trust, healing, prayer.  If you have any others - please leave me a comment - I have LOTS of 2 x 4 1/2 blocks to fill in yet.

And some other designs, knotted spiral, a feather looking thing, one that looks like a ruler, cobblestones, and I don't remember all the others.  Thanks to Leah Day and the Free Motion Quilting Project for all the great filler patterns!  I'm linking up to her FMQ Friday linky party.

Now that I've started this every block thing, I need to continue that way.  Oh My that's a lot of hours at the machine! I finally had to put this away because I had some other things to work on too - and the cats kept eating my Pinmoors right off the quilt! 

So I pulled out a project that needs to be done in a couple of weeks for my almost-granddaughter's birthday.

 

Bella's Beauties is made in the Falling charm pattern from Missouri Star Quilt Company.  I still have to put borders on it then get it ready for quilting.  I'm thinking a narrow dark purple batik then either a piano key border from left over pieces or a scrappy 4 patch and another 2 1/2" of the purple butterflies with a hot pink binding. But we'll see when the spirit moves me again.

 



 

 

100 Hugs a day for Connor, who was born last month, is finished and needs to be quilted.  Plus, Connor has an older brother Christopher who hasn't had a quilt from me yet - so his is in the works too.

 



The Grinch won't Steal This Christmas - a Quilt for Kids kit project that needs to be finished this month.  I also want to send along something else, but not sure if it is going to happen this month.

So when Leah Day posted FMQ Friday - More Time to Quilt Needed! I feel her pain.  I want to spend all my time quilting, but know that if I don't work - as a freelancer - I don't get paid!  I need to get paid to support the quilting habit. 

Other things on my work in process list:  Big Brother quilt for Christopher (72 4 1/2" half square triangles and 288 2 1/2" half square triangles - OMG! what was I thinking?); Jacob's Ladder for the first grandson of my dear friend Mary Ann; Pop-Pop's Pass-times for my father-in-law for Christmas; Quilt of Valor for a very special young man and his new bride commissioned by his Mom, Irish Chain for mother-in-law for Mother's Day, if I can hold out that long; unspecified quilts for my Mom, Sister, brother-in-law, nephew; a Mystery quilt I started back in July; and dozens upon dozens of ideas running through my head.  Plus quilts for charities like Quilts for Kids and Quilts of Valor.

Balance is a skill I desperately need to practice!  I've been learning and practicing balance, having fun and setting boundaries with my coach Teresa Romain at Access Abundance.  This month I will be taking a one day workshop that you might be interested in (if you're within driving distance of Egan MN) called Unblocked and Thriving.  I believe she has a few seats left at the early bird price that ends this week.  Take a look.  Teresa has helped me in so many ways.  It seems like she has a 'webcam' into my soul and her messages are always what I need at that time.

So back to today I'm going to have some fun quilting - basting the two finished quilts and finishing up Bella's Beauties so it too can be basted.  This week is my busy week at work.  I will weave some quilting in amongst the work.  Until next time - Happy Quilting!


 

Practice makes (Almost) Perfect

I am happy to report that my machine is back in working condition - the bobbin winder works as smoothly as it ever did!  She just needed a little drop of oil.  The repair company didn't even charge me!

There have been a lot of projects in the works in my basement workshop. 

Maybe last week, you'll remember I was working on the Prayer Shawl for my sister, practicing with feathers. Just when I was happy with the practice, my machine decided to stop winding bobbins.

This week I was able to finish the quilting! I started out with the feather wreath in the center using a color that matched the backing - oh mistake #1...

The picture doesn't show it, so hopefully nobody will notice all the little green dots here and there.

I wanted to carry the feathers throughout the piece, but I didn't like the way it was turning out - so out came the seam ripper.  After 2 days of ripping out feathers, I thought I'd never want to do them again...

 I decided on an all-over loopy flower-stippling design for the braids....

 

and back to feathers in the border.

 

I'm loving the way it turned out.

 

 



Now all that is left is the binding, and slip it in the mail for a quiet surprise.

The flying geese are for a quilt I'm making for my father-in-law.

 

 

For him, I wanted to do something fun!  My original thought was some kind of I-Spy design and gathered up fat quarters for many of his favorite pass-times, camping, cars, snowmobiling, fire department, fixing things, and collecting yardsticks. There are many stories of various things shown here, like the ice cream cones.  When our son was little, they'd let him have "a thousand scoops" ice cream cones, "but who says we know how to count". 

The flying geese come from a story he tells about how he'd watch the geese every year and as he tells it, geese mate for life.  One day on the road he passed a goose sitting on the side of the road next to a goose that had been hit by a car. The rest of the flock had gone on their way.  The next day he passed the same spot, and the goose was still there, sitting next to his fallen mate.  Every day for about a week, he'd pass the same spot, and see the same sight. On the last day, both geese were down.  The second goose had died of a broken heart.

My in-laws have been married for 55 years, and have one of the strongest marriages I've ever seen.  I hope in 25 years, our son will say the same thing about us.

Linking to Leah Day's FMQ Friday Linkup.  I wish my work looked half as good as her 'mistakes'...