Return of the Monster Quilt and Its Companions

Some projects are completed in a day.  Others have a way of hanging on for a LONG time!  This was one that fell into the latter category.

I have an excuse.  No, really!  I picked up these antique tops (that should be your first clue as they are always a challenge) back in August of 2012.  There were a few projects in line before I could truly begin on any of these.  The quilt show was coming and my entries needed to be completed.

Anyway...  by the time their number came up, I was stuck in a quilting funk.  That explains the initial "problem."  Then came December of 2012!  I had great plans because I was FINALLY ready to tackle the Monster Quilt and its companions.

And then DS2 landed in the hospital.

Some might say that's not so bad, but this was worse!  First, he was in for the better part of a week.  (Ultimately, being diagnosed with the life-threatening disease Severe Aplastic Anemia.)  Then he was in and out of the hospital for the better part of a month before being admitted to receive chemotherapy followed by a bone marrow transplant.  The duration of that stay was more than a month straight!  Throughout all of this, the quilt tops sat on the "back burner" in my studio, patiently waiting to be transformed into usable quilts.

The health of my son and the fate of the quilts became wrapped up into one giant frustration.  I wanted my son to be well and I wanted the quilts to be finished! Some people are able to quilt through pain and turmoil.  I find myself unable to quilt when life interferes with the status quo around our house.  It happened when my father passed away nearly 7 years ago and it happened again in the midst of this crisis.  (This was going on as DS1 was completing his senior year of high school.  The poor guy didn't even get a Graduation Quilt!!!)

It took 6 months to return to quilting after my father's passing.  DS2 survived and thrived... only to be told in August 2013 that he would have to undergo open heart surgery during the Summer of 2014.  It was totally unrelated to his previous condition or treatment, but it provided another HUGE blow to the household equilibrium!  (To add insult to injury, his big brother, and bone marrow donor, was heading off to college at this time.)  Thus, my quilting bug abandoned me, yet again.

The project was too large to have hanging over me at this time in my life.  I wanted it done, but I was still having trouble facing it head on.  I couldn't let ANOTHER year go by without completing these quilts!  Ultimately, I  enlisted the help of a friend help with a long arm quilting machine. I've quilted on one in the past and wanted to do it again, but I had no time to rent time on a long arm machine.  My friend needed an influx of client quilts to boost her business and I needed this project DONE!, so we came to a mutually beneficial distribution of tasks and I'm happy to report that the quilts were picked up today.

I am VERY happy!  The owner is VERY happy!  So happy, in fact, that she will be bringing the next antique quilt top over in a few days so that I will have it in time for my trip to Mary Jo's next month.  Fortunately/Unfortunately, the process begins again.  I already have another commission lined up.  It will take precedent.  Lucky for me, the quilt top owner understands that I will make her quilt a priority when I am able.

And the quilts???  Not to worry!  I have posted photos below.

The Monster Quilt: King Sized Flower Garden

Companion Number One:  Queen Sized Log Cabin

Companion Number Two: Queen Sized Flower Basket

It's a little washed out, but it's the best we could do with only 2 people at home.

Until next time...
Happy Quilting!

Spring 2014 (Ravelry) UFO Club - The Results

**  Disclaimer:  Life is a bit mixed up at our house this summer... thus, I posted the new session's list BEFORE the last session's results.  Sorry!

And HERE are the results:

The Spring 2014 UFO Club is now CLOSED. This session began on April 1, 2014 and any qualifying UFOs must have been posted by midnight (EDT) on June 30, 2014.

Membership (20):

SEND (5):
jrnylst
andimc13: 2 completed projects
mducky: 3 completed projects
freshwaterfibers: 1 completed project
MamaPro: 6 completed projects

NO SEND (15):
Yarnosophy
sandybags: 7 completed projects
SunshineMom: 3 completed projects
Needleb: 2 completed projects
winterbird
SuziHomemaker: 2 completed projects
aerieiris
basketcase9702: 1 completed project
kris7: 7 completed projects
sockjeannieous: 4 completed projects
laceyspinner
Snookums: 2 completed projects
teajoygreye: 2 completed projects
monicarose51: 1 completed project
amalberti: 3 completed projects

Session Totals: 15 quilters completed 46 projects. Congrats! to everyone who contributed to our most UFO finishes in a single quarter. What an outstanding session!!!

Congrats! to Sandybags for finishing the most projects.  SEVEN in a single session must have taken a Herculean effort.  (Oh, to be just like her...)

Thank you to everyone who cheered us along in our quest to have a UFO-Free sewing room.  Come back next time to see what that group of quilters accomplish.

Until then...

Happy Quilting!!!

Summer 2014 (Ravelry) UFO Club - The List

It's been a while since I've added fresh photos of my quilting UFOs.  Sew...  Here are the options for my summer finishing pleasure:

Three "C" Quilts:
1. Crumb Quilt

2. Calico Ric Rac

3. Circle of Friends

Three Other Quilts:
1. The Margaret Mystery

2. Where's Jackson?

3. Inspired by... The Series

The Alternates:
1. QE2 Goodbye Quilt

2. Dresden De-Lite

3. 100 Patch Quilt

Three More Alternates:
1. Snow Star Swap

2. Ravelry Red Swap

3. "Buckets of Friendship" Swap

This is an extensive list and I'm not sure how much I will be able to finish during the summer session.  Work has been keeping me busy.

I'm not even sure where "Where's Jackson?" is at the moment!!!  I know where he USED TO BE, but he appears to be hiding now.

Oh, wait!!!  There he is!  He was right on the sewing table, all along.  He was hidden in plain view inside the folder meant to keep all of the pieces together.  (Off to add the photo in with the others.)

If you are on Ravelry, please stop by the Quilter's Knitting group to cheer on the members of the Summer 2014 (Ravelry) UFO Club.

Until next time...
Happy Quilting!

Thank You, Hilton Head Heroes!!!

We just returned from THE BEST VACATION EVER!!! all thanks to DS2's hospital social worker and the wonderful folks at Hilton Head Heroes.

We had a fun-filled week highlighted by a private boat tour, a family jet skiing adventure, and a professional portrait session on the beach at Sea Pines Resort.

If you need a place to make a tax-deductible contribution, please consider Hilton Head Heroes.  They make vacations possible for children with life-threatening illnesses.  Our family hadn't had a vacation in 5 years (or more) and couldn't really afford one anytime soon.  They not only made our trip possible, they treated us like royalty.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone involved!!!

Spring 2014 (Ravelry) UFO Club - The List

Sign-ups for the Spring 2014 UFO Club are closed. All participants were required to sign up by April 7, 2014.  All qualifying UFOs must be completed by Midnight (EDT) on June 30, 2014.  It only took me TWO MONTHS to post my list to the blog!  (Sorry, BlogLand, I've been busy!)

Membership Details:

Membership is at 20.  There are 15 quilters in the NO SEND group and 5 members in the SEND group.  These quilters are finishing projects at break-neck speed!  In the time it's taken me to get around to posting this, 13 quilters have completed 38 projects!!!  I'm pretty  sure we are breaking to group's all-time record for the most finishes in a single session.  (And let me tell you, I am SO excited!!!)

Keep those finished items coming!

My list is as follows:

Commission Quilt:

1. Flower Garden (DONE!!!)

3 "C" quilts:

1. Crumb Quilt
2. Circle of Friends
3. Calico Ric Rac

3 Other Quilts:

1. The Margaret Mystery
2. Where's Jackson?
3. Inspired by... The Series

And just to change it up a bit...:

Alternates:

1. Baby F's Quilt

2. QE2 Goodbye Quilt - You've all seen this one before, but after 15 YEARS of hibernation, I would REALLY like to get this one finished.  Maybe not during this session, but (hopefully) this year!

Most of the photos can be accessed in the following post:  http://thejoyfulquilter.blogspot.com/2013/10/fall-2013-ravelry-ufo-club-list.html

Happy Finishing!!!

Winter 2014 (Ravelry) UFO Club - The Results

Why didn't anyone ask me about the results???

The Winter 2014 (Ravelry) UFO Club has now been CLOSED for more than a MONTH!!!

Sorry for the delay in posting.  Any interested quilters with 5 (or more) UFOs were required to sign up by Midnight (EDT) on January 7, 2014. All qualifying UFOs must have been completed by Midnight (EDT) on March 31, 2014.

Congrats! to our “Official” Queen of the Last Minute, Jrnylst and all of our finishers. If you didn’t finish anything, but made progress on (at least) ONE of your projects… YOU are a WINNER, too!!! Thank you to all of our participants and our cheerleaders. I’d say we had a successful quarter. Wouldn’t you agree?

Membership (27):

NO SEND (22):
thepoch
Zieknits
kris7: 6 completed projects
sandybags: 1 completed project
yarnosophy: 1 completed project
needleb: 1 completed project
basketcase9702: 6 completed projects
laceyspinner: 1 completed project
monicarose51
aerieiris
chrystalmo
Outlander: 2 completed projects
sockjeannieous: 2 completed projects
PeggyStuart
Snookums: 2 completed projects
volkat
GirlReaction
SunshineMom: 1 completed project
CatWithCats
teajoygreye
KK454
amalberti: 2 completed projects

SEND (5):
mducky
andimc13: 1 completed project
jrnylst: 2 completed projects
Tortolachick: 4 completed projects
Marushka

Session Totals: 14 quilters completed 32 projects. Congrats! all of our finishers. Our goal is for EVERY quilter to complete (at least) ONE project. A great many of us did that during this quarter. If you weren’t one of our finishers, I wish you better luck next time. Until then…

Happy Finishing!

Inspiration from the Works of Others

Inspiration can be derived from many different sources.  Nature, music, and personal thoughts - you know... that "light bulb" moment - are the tip of the iceberg.  Imitation being a form of flattery, another great source of inspiration is the works of others.

This Bullseye quilt, her latest "finish", was shared in the Spring 2014 UFO Club by Kris7:

Kris at http://quiltingismything.wordpress.com/ said that she started this quilt as an experiment and it's quirky, lopsided circles reminded me that I have been wanting to make one of these quilts for a very long time.  I love how she included some "whole" circles to give the viewer's eye a place to rest.

Look at the cool quilting she did!  I think it's AWESOME!!!

Kris thinks that it's just another "fabric vomit" quilt, but I think it's wonderful!  Go over to her blog to have a look at her mother's "more thought out and artsy" version.  (Not sure that I agree since they are EACH lovely in their own way.)

 Then Jrnylst, also from the UFO Club, posted this quilt from the Denver National Quilt Show in our Ravelry group (from a photo she shared on her blog) to show the similarities noted by another Ravelry member:

  The quilt in question is titled "Black Saves the Day" and was made by Susan Lee, SAQA Color Wheel of Emotion.  Be sure to visit Deborah's blog at http://www.snowcatcher.net/2014/05/wordless-wednesday_13.html for more awe-inspiring photographs.

While I love the quilt that Kris made, something about Black Saves the Day just spoke to the quilter in me.  It spoke volumes and it spoke LOUDLY!  I was inspired!!!

Here was my response (on Ravelry.com) to the picture post:

'I love the freeform way this one was “thrown” together. Even though that’s not my usual style, it gave me that “Oh! I must go make that NOW!!” feeling. (And I just might…)'

In fact, I did begin... THAT VERY NIGHT with this:

The background grid and the search for appropriately sized circle "templates."  Two true templates were used for the larger sizes.  The smallest circles were cut using a Gatorade lid (thanks DS1 for coming up with that) for the proper balance.

By the next afternoon (thanks to a Sew Day with NeedleB), the quilt was looking like this:

Circles lined up on the background.  Lots of mixing and matching to get the color combinations "just right."  This was followed by stitching the various circles together.

Once the circles were stacked and sewn, I chopped them into bits - half the fun of being a quilter!  :o))  Although, (technically) I only cut them into quarters.

Then came several days of "playing" with the bits to get them to form a pleasing sequence...  it should be easy, but I have a tendency to arrange and rearrange until the bits are probably right back where they began.  LOL

Anyway, it took a fair amount playing and the LAST thing that I did the night before was declare the positioning "perfect."  (I suppose that was my mistake.)  I head off to bed, sleep the night, get up to get ready for Quilt Bee, and go into the studio to get my project pinned down before Show and Tell.

What did I find???

I found that it took a LOT of talking to myself to avoid the tears that threatened to fall.

WHAT??  Why???

Well, it seems that my studio assistant felt the need to rearrange my pieces in the middle of the night!!!  Grrr!!!  (Cats, kids, or husbands... what can you do?!)

I took a deep breath and began pinning the pieces down (in a "new, improved" design).  So much for that other layout... here's what it looks like now:

It's getting closer to that inspiration piece!

I'm still not quite sure that I like the scale of the circles as compared with the size of the background, but I'm going to live with it "as is" for now and decide once I've determined what I want to do for the quilting.  I took a small survey of quilting and artist friends.  The consensus was to leave the background the way it is shown.

For now... I'm thinking machine trupunto using two layers of batting, but I haven't determined if that's the method that I really want to use.  My last trupunto effort went horribly wrong, so it may be time to try it again.

Thank you to Kris7 for whetting my appetite for a new project.  Thanks to Jrnylst for sharing the Denver National Quilt Show photos and thank you to Susan Lee for creating a quilt that forced me into action!!!

Until next time...
Happy Quilting!