Lucky Star WIP - Building Blocks Tuesday

I have no new blocks to share this week, as I have been busy with other things.  One of which was pulling out an extremely OLD UFO, my Lucky Star quilt.  Here is one of the blocks from the 2013 BOM.



Around the end of 2014, I finally finished all the blocks and put the top together.



There it sat for a ridiculously long time until I finally got around to basting it in March of 2015.



I then folded it up and put it into a drawer while I contemplated how I wanted to quilt it.  In truth, I am still figuring that part out.  But as part of a challenge issued by my Lazy Bum group on Flickr, I pulled out the Lucky Star quilt, took all the pins out and loaded it up on my longarm.

First, I should explain that the Lazy Bums are a group dedicated to encouraging one another to finish up UFO's specifically.  Each month they choose one of my UFO's from a short list and challenge me to work on it.  Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.  Any progress is good.  I am about to start what I think is my 5th year with the Lazy Bums and the Lucky Star quilt has been on my list the entire time, making slow progress which is always cheered on.

Deciding to load up the Lucky Star on the longarm added an additional dimension to the challenge.  I am still not great at quilting on the longarm.  I struggle with all but 3 designs, and those are still pretty shaky.  Straight lines are tough (I have a ruler, but my table extension for ruler work broke within the first 5 minutes of using it and I haven't gotten a replacement yet), and stitching in a ditch is amazingly difficult -- and of course, a paper pieced quilt like this benefits greatly from stitching in the ditch.  Well, you can only learn by practicing right?



I've only finished the top border and I've started working on the first row of blocks.  One thing I have to say about the longarm - once a quilt is loaded, you pretty much have to finish it before you can move on to another.  Unlike some of my partially completed quilts that I've done with my domestic where I've quilted a bit, gotten tired, and put them aside for an indefinite period of time.

I know this sounds pretentious, but I am trying to remind myself that the quilting might look terrible in the end.  I just don't have the control that I have accumulated with the domestic and have come to desire of my work.  I've already ripped out a few things that just weren't working out, that I knew I couldn't live with. But, I persevere with the thought that this is a learning quilt.  I'm learning that control.  I'm learning to use my ruler.  I'm learning to go slow and stay in the ditch.  These were things I had to learn with the domestic.  I practiced on quilts, lots of them.  It took a while, but I got better with each quilt.  I just have to keep trying.

What blocks have you been working on this week?  I would love to see.  Link up your fabulous blocks.  You put a lot of hard work into them - show them off!  This free linky will stay open until the first Monday of next month, but I will repost it every Tuesday until a new month starts.

Rules:

1) Please link up only to the page on your blog showing your wonderful blocks, not just the blog homepage.  Flickr and Instagram pictures are also OK.
2) Make sure to put your blog name as the description so people know where they are going or the name of your block!
3) Please grab my button and post it in your blog post or sidebar.
4) Visit other linky participants!

Thanks for reading,

Jennie





***This post may contain affiliate links.  If you purchase something after clicking on one of my links, I may be compensated, but at no additional cost to you!

Technicolor Galaxy progress - WIP Wednesday

This weekend I made some serious progress on block one of the Technicolor Galaxy quilt.

I made enough bias tape to place on block one.



I secured it, and started quilting!



Started quilting?  Yep!  This skill builder pattern is a Quilt-as-you-Go; my first quilt done this way!  I think it will be exciting to know that with each group of blocks completed, they are done.  I am still a little uncertain how they will all be joined together at the end, but will cross that bridge when I get to it.



That lime green section gave me the hardest time trying to decide what to quilt.  I knew I wanted to carry over the swirls and beads from the other sections, but what to put on the rest of the piece??  I drew out several plans, even stitched one completely, but hated it.  I spent a huge chuck of time unpicking my dense quilting!  I eventually ended up with those arrowhead and diamond shapes, which I hope will tie in nicely with a future block featuring arrowheads.

I have several more sections like the lime green to quilt, and the inner and outer sections too.  I won't be able to be at my machine for several days, so I might not have much progress to report on next week.

But it feels good to say...work continues on my 100 Day Challenge item!

As always, thanks for reading,

Jen

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Sunshine and Shadows - WIP Wednesday

Today was unusual.  Having just finished up a couple of minis for swaps (I'll post more on Finish Friday), I decided to dust off one of my UFO's, which led to dusting off a few more.  Now before we get all excited, I didn't actually finish any of these UFO's, but I did touch them!

First, I decided to get a jump on my Lazy Bum challenge for March.  My goal is to get my Lucky Star 2013 BOM top, backed and pin basted.  I know that doesn't sound like much of a challenge, but it is!

I spent at least an hour cutting and sewing up a proper backing, then another 2 hours with the tweezers picking out the tiny bits of paper that I missed when I removed them from the blocks.  Man!  That was a chore!  I have changed up my paper piecing techniques a bit since I completed these blocks and don't usually leave the papers in the seam allowances any more.  Today, I pledged to continue that practice so I could avoid the hassle of today.  Finally, I started pin basting everything together.

I got nearly finished and ran out of pins!  So I had to get another UFO out that is partially quilted and steal some pins off of it.  I still didn't quite have enough, so I concocted a plan to do a little more quilting on that UFO tomorrow so I can have enough pins to finish basting this quilt.  Sounds a lot like robbing Peter to pay Paul to me, but I guess I will get a little further along on both UFO's.

****CAUTION: Please excuse me one moment while I talk about FEELINGS.  It is abrupt and the transition back to quilty talk is awkward.  Skip ahead if you need to.****

I couldn't shake a feeling while working on this one today.  I think it started by thinking of the fabric bundle that started this project - Sunshine and Clouds from Connecting Threads (I don't think it is available any longer).  Somehow, these thought led me to think about a high school friend that passed away last year.  Tracy Hayslip.  She died of breast cancer.  Other people from my graduating class have passed away, but none struck a chord like Tracy's passing.  It's a combination of 1) knowing the person well, remembering all the times we rode around in her mustang, toilet papering other people in our church's youth group (believe it or not, this was an acceptable form of reckless fun in the group), how she wouldn't take crap from anyone, always told you how it was and should be, and was always willing to defend a friend, and 2) not really wanting to acknowledge that people still die from breast cancer.  My head was in the sand.  I recognize that there is no cure, but I guess I just thought that the people who die from breast cancer, just didn't realize they had it until it was too late,  Even when my mother was diagnosed several years ago, I didn't once doubt that she would survive.

Anyway, this quilt really made me start thinking about Tracy.  The yellow reminded me of her laugh, and the good times we shared in the Florida sunshine.  The light gray makes me think of all the years since I last spoke to her, not good, not bad, just time passing by and growing apart like people do.  The darker spots make me think of the sadness associated with losing someone we care about.

I was going to give this quilt away when I was finished with it; but, I think I need to hold on to it.  Not only to remind me of Tracy, but also that crap still happens to people we love.  I hope the next quilt I make that reminds me of someone has a lot more sunshine, and a lot fewer shadows.


***OK, emotional outburst over, quilt talk resuming NOW***

I also got out one of my oldest UFO's today and put it up on my new design wall.

The way I had my blocks stored suggested this layout.  But I think I like this next one better.

I'm leaning heavily toward the 2nd.  I think it feels more balanced.  What do you think?

I don't want to apologize for today's little blurb of emotions.  I really needed to get them out.  As this is like my online journal, it really helped me to try to put into words what I was feeling.  I am not good with feelings, and even worse at expressing them sometimes.

Thanks for sticking it out, and for reading today,



Jen

Quilting foxy faces - WIP Wednesday

Has it really been over 6 months since I've linked up to a WIP Wednesday?  Geez!

This Wednesday, I've got two projects in progress.  Today, I spent a bit of time quilting my Schnitzel and Boo Mini quilt.

I actually didn't want to quilt through those cute faces.  By quilting chevrons in all the negative space, it really made those foxy faces pop.  Now you know me, I really like to quilt the Dickens out of things, but I tried to hold back.  I considered quilting some matchbook lines inside some of the chevron lines, but I determined that would detract from those faces.  Having the lines uneven distances from one another added enough interest, so I just let it be.  And I'm pretty happy with the result.  Now I just need to bind and label it.  I need to mail it out by Monday, so I better crack the whip!

The other WIP, is my Feather Quilt.  My fellow Lazy Bums decided this would be my January UFO challenge.  This was a kind choice, since it was the nearest to completion; as of December it was all SID'd and ready for quilting.  I will have you all know this quilt has traveled about 500 miles in this condition without a single extra stitch.  Once I realized that, I knew I needed to do something!  So, I did....

Quilting was commenced and finished!  I even have the binding on, it just needs to be turned and stitched down.  I am heavily leaning toward machine binding so I can call it done.  I will decided tomorrow.

Perhaps, I will have at least one finish this Friday.  Stay tuned!

As always, thanks for reading,

Jen

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Teacher gifts in progress - WIP Wednesday

Before I begin, I want to thank everyone who left a comment on my recent post about originality in patchwork.  Your advice and encouragement are just what I needed to work out my own feelings and move forward.  Thank you all!

There are only a few more days of school left, and I can't believe how much there is still left to do.  I've focused all my spare time on teacher gifts and I'm nearly done.

I'm working on a Divided Basket (pattern from Noodlehead), and my 3rd Tinker Tote from the Craftsy class, "Quilt-As-You-Go: Patchwork Bags".

I just need to sew down the binding on the tote, and of course fill both with summer goodies.  I also picked up copies of Outlander (Amazon affiliate link) to include as summer reading.  No reason not to share my addiction with someone else, right?  I am counting down the days for the next one to be released (5 more, in case you are interested), and I have my Kindle all charged up.

I've also been sketching out my thoughts for my blocks for the guild quilt show at the end of September.  The theme is "Across America" and I have 5 states to make finished mini's for.  Each mini has to be between 10 and 15 inches square, so I've drawn mine 15 inches.  I don't have any paper that large, so I find it helpful to draw my idea directly onto a piece of cheap muslin.  It gives me a better idea of how the final block will look.  Here is my road map for Massachusetts.

As you can see, I still have a lot of work to do, but at least I took the first step today.


As always, thanks for reading,

Jen

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Irons in the fire - WIP Wednesday

It's been a while since I posted a WIP Wednesday post, and boy do I have some stuff in progress!

Here's what I've been working on for the last couple of days.

I started with my favorite swirls, then I worked myself up to this point....

Why oh why do I choose to make things difficult for myself by quilting a different motif in each color?  I suppose it is because it is fun too??  I've got 4 more colors to go before I'm done.

I've also got irons in a bunch of other fires, including my modern mini's, but I will share those when they are done.

As always, thanks for reading,

Jen

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Valentine in progress - WIP Wednesday

I've had my hands working on several projects during the last few days, but mostly I've just been puttering about.

I did finish up my Houses of San Francisco block.  Hooray!  Now I just have one more Star of Africa bee block to finish, and I'm happy to report that I know just what I am going to attempt.

For the last couple of days, I've been working on my Valentine for my DH.  If you remember, last year I went a little crazy and made him this mini, complete with the lyrics of one of our wedding songs.

This year, I decided to go a little smaller by making a man-friendly mug rug.  What do I mean by "man-friendly"?   Well, the quilt above was pretty pink.  Not that pink threatens my man, but I'm sure he would prefer something less pink.

I kept the note in my own handwriting again.  I just like the personal touch.

Add caption

This design was one of those that was simple to sketch out, somewhat challenging to create the pattern, and a downright pain to piece.  But, it is almost done.  I just have a little more to my message, and I need to bind it.   Unless the plumber needs a lot of my attention tomorrow, I should be able to finish it up in time for sneaking it into his work bag on Friday morning.

Did you sew anything special for your sweetheart?

As always, thanks for reading,

Jen

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Chain of Fools - Chain piecing for WIP Wednesday

Where or where does my week go?  It is Wednesday again, and I've been busy with all sorts of stuff, including some quilting.

Monday, I started working on this little block.

You may remember that while I am working on what I want when I want, there was one exception.  I really needed to get my last 3 Star of Africa blocks done.  As it happened my Lazy Bum group for UFO's decided that February's project theme would be making something for someone else.  Perfect!  Not only will I get them done, but I will participate in this month's theme too.

While cute on their own, these houses are destined to be set in San Francisco.   What?  You couldn't guess by the rain?  Yep, in San Francisco it even rains inside the houses!  No, not really.  I meant for it to look like the reflection in the windows.  I also thought about trying to paper piece the skyline or a bridge in the background, but the size of the block was limiting.  I decided to just embroider the bridge in the background.  If all goes well, it will be postcard-like.  Stay tuned to see how it turns out.

I've also been doing a LOT of chain piecing.  And yes, I hum "Chain, chain, chaaaaainnnnnnn" when I do it.  I hope I am not just a link in the chain of fools.

Those pieces eventually turned into these.  Quite a lot of work for what you get, but I guess we will all have to wait and see if it is worth it.  (Perhaps I am a fool.)

Don't forget to link up any blocks you've been working on to yesterday's Building Blocks Tuesday post.

As always, thanks for reading,

Jen

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Too yummy not to share - WIP Wednesday

Is it Wednesday already?  There are days that simply vanish from my mind sometimes.

Today's "work on what I want, when I want" project was just starting to look to yummy not to share another little sneak peak for WIP Wednesday.  I hope to have it finished up on Friday.   I have a bit of quilting left to do, and I want to hand bind it (which I do not do quickly). I hope you will come back then to see the entire project.

I really enjoy the actual quilting process.  I get almost giddy when things are starting to take shape.  But I am starting to notice a trend in my work -- I prefer to quilt the negative space.  Now, in this project I think it is OK, since the triangles are so tiny anyway, but I've got a few tops, like my Swoon quilt, that will need quilting soon and I have no trouble envisioning how to quilt the negative space, but am completely clueless how to quilt the actual block.

Does anyone else have this problem?

As always, thanks for reading,

Jen

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New Year, new WIP's - WIP Wednesday

Wow, it has been months since I've done a WIP Wednesday.  Might as well start the New Year off with a bang!  I've actually got several projects in the works to show you!

I've been making some pillow shams to match the commission quilt I made recently.  They aren't quite done yet, but they are getting close.

I paper pieced these half rectangles, so some of the seams were a bit thick.  So thick, that I didn't just break this needle, I shattered it.

So much for titanium.  Ah, these things happen sometimes.  Onward!

But wait!  There's more!  In keeping with my whole "work on what you feel like" thing, I started another small quilt project that I've really been looking forward to, and here are a few teaser shots.

This Wednesday...

Completed Projects:

• Commission quilt - a while ago.
• Doll Quilt for DQS14

On-going Projects:

• Star of Africa Bee - 3 blocks to do
• Blocks - zip, zero, nada, none.  As soon as I have some to share, I will resume Building Blocks Tuesday
• Whatever I feel like, when I feel like, which may or may not include:
• pillow shams
• Circle of Geese small quilt project above

As always, thanks for reading,

Jen

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It could just be me - WIP Wednesday

I started piecing a commission quilt today using the Valorie Wells pattern Rosalie.  The cutting took forever, but the piecing seems to be going alright.  I fear it might be a bit more orange than expected (although, it could just be me).  As long as there are no changes, I am slightly ahead of schedule for once!

This Wednesday...

Completed Projects:

• Bee Blocks - Lucky Star May and August complete, Simply Solids September
• Candy Corn Table Runner - just for fun
• Swoon - I now have 8 blocks done out of 12 for my twin size quilt
• QAYG bags - 1 more done! Boy these were fun.  You can see it  here.

On-going Projects:

AKA - "stuff I plan to touch this week or next".

• Bee Blocks & BOM blocks -  Lucky Star BOM (5 blocks), 
• Star of Africa Bee - 3 blocks to do
• Swoon - 4 more blocks to go
• Commission quilt - piecing in progress
• Summersville Drunkards Path blocks - this is my Lazy Bums project this month.  They were originally just supposed to be a bunch of hot pads, and maybe that is what they will end up being in the end.
• OBW Quilt Along - fabric selection in progress
• Handstitched Medallion quilt - this one had to move up the ranks.  I entered it into a local quilt show coming up very soon.  My last border is started, but will take a while.  Cross your fingers I will manage to finish it before the show.

Back, Back, Back Burner:

I periodically think about working on these projects, but they are lower priority than the ones above

• Beginner Quilt Along at Quilting Gallery - SID is done, would like to get the quilting done
• I picked up 3 charity quilt "Kits" from the guild 

This week's stats:

Completed projects - 2 plus lots of blocks
New projects - 2
Currently in Progress - 7 ish

Don't forget to link up any blocks you have been working on to the Building Blocks Tuesday post.  It stays open for a whole week.

And as always, thanks for reading,

Jen



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Counting the days - WIP Wednesday

Wow, it has been well over a month since I posted a WIP Wednesday progress report.  It got me thinking that a weekly progress report is somewhat silly.  I already have the report at the end/beginning of the month outlining my finishes and goals for each month, do I need a weekly report?  Do I even really have that much to report weekly?  Nope!  Especially with the kids out of school for summer.  I am counting the days until school starts.  I feel like I am getting nothing done at all.  Thus, I plan on only posting a WIP report somewhere in the middle of the month.  That way it will be a true progress report on my goals and my projects.  Who knows?  Perhaps when school starts it will actually be chock full of WIP's then!

This Wednesday...

Completed Projects:

• Bee Blocks - Simply Solids July and August
• Star of Africa - One block done!
• June for Jen item (only a couple months late) - my sewing mat is done!  I will post finish pics on Friday

On-going Projects:

AKA - "stuff I plan to touch this week or next".

• Bee Blocks & BOM blocks - Lucky Star BOM (4 blocks), 
• Star of Africa Bee - 4 blocks to do
• Swoon - 2 block done!  Oooh, this one is going to be good.
• Commission quilt - I have most of the fabric and the pattern, need to start cutting it.
• QAYG bag - I'm puttin' it on the list!  I really want one.  Like now.

Back, Back, Back Burner:

These will likely be touched sometime in the future - I should really rename this category to "I want to remember that I have these projects, but realistically they won't be touched till 2015 because I'm too busy doing other stuff"

• Beginner Quilt Along at Quilting Gallery - Finally basted this one!  I'm hoping to get the SID done this month.
• I picked up 3 charity quilt "Kits" from the last guild meeting I attended.  I was under the impression that each kit had a top, batting and backing and were all ready to be basted and quilted.  Well....that wasn't exactly the case.  They all have tops, but two need to be trimmed and squared up, and all the backings need to be pieced.  One kit was already spray basted and it looked like someone had started the quilting, but ripped it out.  Unfortunately, the thing had sat folded up for so long that everything shifted, or maybe it was basted improperly to begin with.  If I had quilted it as is, there would have been horrendous puckers on the back.  The backing also doesn't fit.  It is way too small and doesn't even cover the size of the top.  Long story shorter, all of these need some work before I can quilt them.  Sigh.
• Handstitched Medallion quilt - Yep this one is back on the list.  I finished up all but the final border (which of course has the most hand quilting).  I've even already made the binding for this one in anticipation of the final step.

This week's stats:

Completed projects - 1 plus blocks
New projects - 2
Currently in Progress - 5 ish

Don't forget to link up any blocks you have been working on to the Building Blocks Tuesday post.  It stays open for a whole week.

And as always, thanks for reading,

Jen



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My first Swoon Block - WIP Wednesday

Wow!  This week really has me running around with the girls.  Ashley has golf camp and started diving lessons this week.  She is so funny to watch, constantly giggling with her 2 front teeth missing.  Today is also her birthday and one of the golf instructors brought mini-cupcakes for the entire camp to celebrate with her.  So nice.  Later tonight we will have another cake to celebrate.  Something I thought I would never say.....I am actually growing quite tired of cake, this is our 3rd in a month's time.

I'm still making progress toward my goals for the end of the month.  For example.....

I finished my first Swoon block!  Not this one isn't actually part of the quilt I intend to make, but instead it is going to be the base for my sewing machine mat.  I'm vaguely using the tutorial at Katie's Quilting Corner, but I'm making it personal.  I'm going to incorporate some of my favorite blocks and quilt my own fabric (Katie's tutorial uses pre-quilted fabric to make it extra fast).  I'm using an Essex linen and some leftovers from a Sew Stitchy layer cake.

It is true that this Swoon will essentially be covered up by my machine, but I will know it is there and it will make me feel happy.  I will be adding some other little favorites to the rest of the mat soon.

Now, some of you might be thinking, "Those Swoon blocks are pretty big; just how big is her sewing machine?"  Well, I made the Swoon a little smaller, and my machine is pretty big with it's quilting table attached.  I wanted my mat to fit under it as well, see....

It will be a perfect fit when it's done.

You can also see the other WIP I am working on in this photo - that's the back of Gigantor in the background.  She has all the SID on her major seams done and I'm going to start FMQ the rest of her tomorrow.  Hooray!

Friday will be a no-sew day as Lizzy's class is off to Disneyland to celebrate preschool graduation.  Ashley and I are tagging along as well.

This Wednesday...

Completed Projects:

• Bee Blocks - We Bee Learning (1 block for a total of 2), 
• Ironing Board Cover DONE - oh this one was so needed.  I actually ripped a hole in my old one.  

On-going Projects:

AKA - "stuff I plan to touch this week or next".

• Bee Blocks & BOM blocks - Lucky Star BOM (2 blocks), 
• Star of Africa Bee - March (has been started!), April and now June blocks need to be completed.  
• Gigantor aka Impromptu QAL - quilting in progress.
• Swoon - cutting in progress.  I have all my colors cut, but need to do my background.
• June for Jen items - sewing machine mat in progress

Back, Back, Back Burner:

These will likely be touched sometime in the future - I should really rename this category to "I want to remember that I have these projects, but realistically they won't be touched till 2015 because I'm too busy doing other stuff"

• Beginner Quilt Along at Quilting Gallery - I stopped piecing the backing.  I realized it wasn't going to be quite big enough and would actually be better off being a top for charity.  So, I went to Joann's and bought a few yards of backing fabric on sale.  One big seam should do it, but I gotta sit down and find time.
• Discontinuity 2 - gotta make it bigger for big girl bed.  On hold for now.
• Curves Class goodies - there are a few more projects I want to try, but they are on hold for now.   

This week's stats:

Completed projects - 1 plus blocks
New projects - 0
Currently in Progress - 5 ish

Don't forget to link up any blocks you have been working on to the Building Blocks Tuesday post.  It stays open for a whole week.

My Facebook page for Quilter in the Closet.  I am up to 7 likes!

And as always, thanks for reading,

Jen



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