September Monthly Goal(s) Completed

While it's slowly cooling down outside, things have

been quickly heating up in the studio.  I completed both

 of my September goals, made a bonus smaller version

of the second and now I'm well on my way to completing

my next two projects--maybe even before October hits!

But I don't want to get too far ahead of myself.

Those will show up soon enough.

Now, about those September Goals.

Who's got their coffee?

We'll wait....

Alrighty, we're linked up to Elm Street Quilts

One Monthly Goal party so let's go:

My first one was to quilt and completely finish

Once In a Blue Pumpkin:

This quilt has been getting so much attention!

The bold fall colors are pretty striking but it's those

 quirky blue pumpkins that are stealing the show.

I have always been crazy about pumpkins.

(Way before pumpkin spice lattes were a thing!)

How did I end up with blue ones?  

80 x 66

Erica Arndt shows her Farmhouse Fall quilt in trendy

soft oranges, lime greens and pale teals.  But when it

comes to fall in my quilt-world, it's the rich traditional

colors that my autumn-loving heart wants to work with

so I converted her colors to my shades.

I was a little hesitant to go with what I feel are 

"fall blues" but you know that creative license?

Generally I'm pretty conservative with it but this

pattern has a fun feel to it so I thought, why not?

The longer I've quilted, the more I've learned to

listen to my quilter's gut.

(Not the one that wants to keep Peanut M&M's

in the sewing room; the other one.)

More pumpkins!  This pantograph is a favorite and

gets lots of use.  It always quilts up so beautifully!  

My second goal was to make and complete

West Point Stars III.

65x80

This is an original so its construction took some

extra work and time.  For future editions, I made

thorough notes but it's my intention that all

of my WP Line are one-of-a-kind.  

However, for my sanity, and because they all feature a

three inch fussy cut West Point logo (special order fabric),

I'm making the blocks all the same size.  This way I can

mix and match them throughout the quilt designs.

The quilting design is stars and ribbons.

Because WP Stars III finished up fairly large,

I wanted to have a smaller option available.

So I designed another:

54x54

West Point Stars IV is my Bonus Project for September.

All three of these are now up in my Etsy shop.

What a month, right?

And I'm still going so I can't wait for

October's Monthly Goal, er, Goals!

Happy quilting!

Tuesday To Do #31: A Finished Top and a Bonus Quilt Finish

Hello and welcome to another round of

Tuesday To Do where we get motivated by joining

 Texas Quilt Gal's link-up, make our lists and then

get things done!

It's a gorgeous fall morning out there.  Whenever the

windows are open, I'm motivated to clean house,

But I'm also motivated to clean up the garden, and

I'm more motivated to play golf.  And to sew!

Fall is a crazy busy time around here but it's all so

enjoyable when the weather is so nice! 

If last week is an indicator of how I'll manage to

get it all done, then I think I'll be okay!

Last week's list

1) Keep working on Snow Day

DONE!

With just a few blocks completed last Tuesday, I took this

and ran with it.  Once the main portion was done, I went

for big and added a 5" border bringing it up to 76 x 89.

It's always good to make the best use of 90" batting!

(Just a side note there, I scored a great deal on my usual

brand of white batting; I added in a roll of the natural

as well and now I'm stocked up for a good long time.)

Speaking of being stocked up, my stash provided a

fantastic backing.  I'm not sure how well it shows in 

this pic but it goes wonderfully.

I also have the binding ready so it won't be

long before this one joins the others in my shop.

2) Start pulling fabrics for Why Knot?

I tried twice to pull fabrics for this but for some reason,

I just wasn't feeling it--which is crazy because I was so

excited to do it!  But I've learned that I can't force these

things so I switched gears and I've started on another

fall quilt that I'll share here in a bit.  Hopefully, I can

figure a good "feel" for those knots very soon though

because fall is already off and running!

3) Make four pillows (8") from embroidery projects

A request from a friend and a surprise for her

daughter so no pics can be posted for now.

Not done:  I have a lots of time to do this but

I'd still like to finish it asap.

4) Finish those pics and listings.

DONE!

I apologize if you've had enough of these but because

I finally got the full pics of my last three finishes, I'm

doing one last quick run through of them all.  Below

are just a few of what I used on my listings.

This first one is WP Stars IV.

I struggled with the right lighting on both WP full-quilt

 pics but the true tan color shows in the rest of the pics.

Stars and ribbons quilting design.

Next up is the bigger of the two, WP Stars III.

I love using my son's extra hat for a prop but here it was

doing double-duty and holding the quilt down in the wind.

A back view.

...and another close up of the quilting design.

And now for Once in a Blue Pumpkin!

The flowers are a bit distracting from the quilt but

it still makes for a pretty pic so I went with it.

I love how the quilt design shows on this one!

At this point, I was already feeling great about my week

but when I was trying hard to pull fabric for the garlic

knots, I came across what I guess I should call a UFO.

Some of you will remember this top from last fall,

Hudson Valley Palisades.

I have a lot of favorites but I really think this one is

easily in the top 3, maybe even 1?

The original pattern was in reds and whites but I worked

hard to turn it into one that showed all the glorious

colors we see on highway up to West Point in the fall.

So you can imagine how upset I was when I realized,

very late into the quilting, that there was something

all wrong with my old machine.

Randomly, all over the back of my quilt.

I'd already had some serious issues sewing my

granddaughter's quilt and this was the last straw.

Right here I decided I was done with that machine.

I would be getting a new one--one I could depend on!

Meanwhile, I had a whole quilt that had these issues

spotted all over the back.   There was no way I could

sell what I thought was going to be my best listing yet.

Outside of ripping the entire thing out, I couldn't think

 of a way to fix it so I finally shoved it into my closet.

It was too painful to look at it.

Last week I was thinking I should just bind it off and

keep it for myself so when I came across it on a few

days ago, I did exactly that.  A bonus finish!

In the end, I got a new long arm and sewing studio,

and I get to keep my favorite quilt so I guess things

didn't turn out all bad.

(And I just realized I didn't get a finish pic so we'll

have to re-visit that next week, along with a few

other things I didn't get time to snap pics of!)

I think it turned out to be a great week overall.

I also slipped in two rounds of golf, performed the

very thorough fall coop clean-up and started

tackling the garden fall clean-up as well.

Looking ahead:

1) Quilt and finish Snow Day

2) Finish cutting out latest fall quilt.

This one is going to be very scrappy.  The pattern

calls for 3 charm packs but I dug into my scraps

and stash and have these cut out so far.

(Black = points; ivory = background and backing)

I might need to audition some of these as I go but

I cut out quite a few extra so I should be taking off

on this one today.

3) Keep thinking on Garlic Knots

I hope to come back again with lots of progress.

Until then, happy quilting!

Tuesday To-Do #30: Why Knot?

A lovely September-morning-hello to you!

Fall is just a couple calendar blocks away so I'm in my

"quilt everything" mode, and I know many of you out

there are the same.  If you're not...well, why knot?

Make a list, post it and join all of us to-do'ers at

Texas Quilt Gal's link-up.

 We'll encourage you to get things done!

In my three rounds of golf this weekend, I couldn't help

but notice the squirrels all in a panic.  I'd like to think

it's a sign of an early winter

[Ha!--we set a record high yesterday]

but I'm sure it's pretty normal for them to ramp up

their activity about now.  Either way, I can

completely relate to those panicky little critters!

I have my next few quilts planned but after putting our

fall quilt on our bed and seeing it constantly, I now feel

I just have to make another garlic knot quilt.

This garlic knot quilt was inspired by Debbie of

Stitchin' Therapy.  God bless her.  Did any of you

know Debbie?   She encouraged me to make this

one and I think she was proud of my finish!

I love it even more than when I made it a few years ago.

Every time I walk into our room, the fall feels hit me.

Sometimes I wish I didn't even have to sleep!  But gone are

the days when I could stay up into the wee hours sewing.

Somehow I'm going to have to find some extra time in my

days I think because there are already too many quilts

on my list and now I'm adding a garlic knot squirrel!!  

But let's back up and see what I got done last week.

It was pretty productive so 

1) Finish quilting West Point Stars 2

DONE.

2) Quilt West Point Stars 3

DONE.

3) Get pics of and create listings for all three quilts

Partly done.

I've started on the listings and snapped a few pics but

I'm waiting on weather and lighting to finish.  It has

been frustratingly furnace-blast-hot and windy.

4) Keep working on Snow Day

DONE.

There are quite a few low-volume fabrics in this

fabric collection.  On a quilt with snow as the theme,

I like the idea of lighter fabrics but I might be

 crossing my fingers on some of these.

As with the last time I made this quilt, I decided to keep

the trimmings from the flying geese.  I really don't need

more HSTs but there are so many I just couldn't resist!

5) Finish Upcoming Projects Post

DONE.

Posted here yesterday.  You might find some inspiration

and maybe a quilt (or two?) you want to make yourself

so please check that one out if you missed it.

Next week:

1) Keep working on Snow Day

2) Start pulling fabrics for Why Knot?

Can't wait!

3) Make four pillows (8") from embroidery projects

A request from a friend and a surprise for her

daughter so no pics can be posted for now.

4) Finish those pics and listings.

We have at least a few cooler days ahead and this

is a priority.  It has to be done in the next few days. 

It's a pretty open week so I think squeezing in a nutty

amount of quilting seems doable--unless I'm on the

golf course with those other squirrels.

I'll check back in with you all back next Tuesday! 

Happy quilting!

2022 4th Quarter: Project Plans With the Three C's

We're coming up on the busiest quarter of the year, right?

To get all the things done, you just gotta have a plan.

Fall is My Quilt Season--in caps.  I have so many quilts I want

to make right now, but I'm generally a one-quilt-at-a-time

 person so I won't start one and then pop over to another

to get a start on it too, or a specific fabric-fix or whatever.  

But I can plan, and I do.  All. The. Time.

Today I'm getting my Fall Plan down on "digital paper"

not just to share but to stay motivated and on track.  

When my one quilting sister last visited, I began to pair

to-do projects with fabrics in my stash so I got a great

start on making this list.  And on some of these, my

my sister has chosen to join in from across the miles

to make her own versions--keep an eye out for those.

And hey, if you want to join in, we'd love to have you!

SNOW DAY

I'll start with this one because, well, I've already

started on it.

It's from the pattern "Stars and Pinwheels" 

(MSCQ BLOCK:  Early Winter Vol 4, Is 6)

  I made this one before and I'm feeling it

would be fun to give it another go.

In this collection there are some bigger prints that I

think will show nicely in the center of those stars.

However, I'm taking a bit of a risk with the low-volume

prints.  If I couldn't fit one inside the stars (where it would

be surrounded by dark "legs") I set it aside and filled in

with a few other matching fabrics from my stash.

When using precuts, I really like to see if I can find a

few coordinating backup fabrics.  I don't like being left

with orphan pieces any more than the rest of us but

but you have to do what's best for the quilt--and having

that little extra creative breathing space is nice.

Anyway, I'm a wee bit concerned but mostly hopeful

that a little low-volume in it will be just fine.

Seems to be "the thing" these days anyway.

WHY NOT

I pulled this quilt out for fall and I'm more in love with it

than when I made it.  It's a great-scrap buster and you

can just make it any size you want.

Side note:  I need to make a couple shams to go with

this one so if I can find enough of that background

fabric, I'll be doing that at the same time.

I'll likely just make this one a large throw for my Etsy site.

KATIE'S QUILT

For another good scrap-buster, I want to make this 

"Katie's Quilt" pattern from Block Book Fall Vol 3, Is 5

It will certainly be in fall colors but I want to see if I can

make it more specifically a Thanksgiving theme.

Not sure how that will happen but in general, I kind of

envision those 16-patches as multi-colored corn kernels.

RUTHIE

Next, I want to use my "Farmhouse Christmas"

fat quarter set by Riley Blake...

...so I chose this "Ruthie Quilt" pattern:

I may not have everything to make this one

work so the patten choice may change yet.

MINI MISSOURI STAR

"Mini Missouri Star Quilt" Block Book 2021 Vol 8, Is 5

I'm not sure if I'll be using a layer cake that I recently

obtained or if I'll make it a stash-buster project.

STAR PATCH #3

Oh goodness!  I have lots of favorite patterns but among

all of those, this one has to be at the top!  With all the

patterns out there I never thought I'd make any more than

once but I guess after making so many quilts, I've found

some that are really that fun to make again--like

Stars and Pinwheels above.  But a third time?

Those must be the best of the best!

See my Halloween Candy quilt here is easily one of my

personal favorites.  Not my usual fall colors?  Brighter

than my norm?  I can't explain but I fell in love with it.

(Doesn't it remind you of dumping your Halloween

haul out on the floor after all that trick-or-treating?)

I couldn't handle not seeing it in my usual fall colors

so I quickly went at it again,  making Autumn Nights.

(This one went to a very happy customer.)

Well now I need to see it in a winter theme!

"Star Patch" is in BLOCK Early Winter 2018 Vol 5, Is 6.

I plan on using my jelly roll of the same Riley Blake

"Farmhouse Christmas" line shown above for the "Ruthie".

WINTER PLAID QUILT

My daughter requested a "mostly black with white" quilt

for winter.  I've chosen to make something like this

 simple pieced plaid.  I have already purchase the backing

(black with large snowflakes/swirls) and I'll be hunting for

other fabrics for this on the shop hop here in a few weeks.

I have a few other "maybes" waiting in the wings but for

now I want to focus on these.  I might be a little crazy,

especially as I have not factored in fall garden clean up,

fall house cleaning, or the fact that Shop Hop is coming up 

AND I'll also be travelling again in October.  There's also

time out for golf.   And let's not forget the holidays!

Gracious, I'd best get busy!

Together, Coffee, Chloe and I have got this!

(The Three C's???)

Do you have a fall plan yet?

Happy quilting!