What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

I had one last row to do for the row by row quilt.  I dug out turquoise scraps and cut 3 1/2 inch hsts. I made the row, and, started joining rows. 

I pieced the top, cut the back, and prepared the binding. It is waiting a turn on the longarm.

All ready to quilt

Boo

Hubby and I decided to make a pumpkin this year. Our hands won't do the whole carving bit.

I have the 2 yellow rows I need for my row x row quilt finished. Not too exciting, but, progress. It looks nice with autumn leaves.

I didn't do much yellow sewing for the rainbow scrap challenge. I have scraptastic star and the row x row to do yet. I cut the pieces for the row x row. I needed 104 each of yellow and white.

I chain stitched them together in groups of ten, in between other sewing. It gets a little boring otherwise.

I trimmed them each evening. They didn't need much trimming, but, I wasn't taking any chances.

The red blocks for my Irish chain quilt are ready, and, all I need are the yellows. I have worked on this quilt over the last two years for the rainbow scrap challenge. The first year, I did the 4 patches, and, this year, I am making the blocks.

This was a friend Linda's quilt - smith mountain morning -in red and brown. We took the Bonnie hunter class together in Lafayette. Mine was gray and yellow. I quilted hers in red.

I have started putting the joining the rainbow row x row quilt, and finished the 2nd red row ...

Little tiny squares and I are having fun in red for the rainbow scrap challenge. Some of the blocks turn out better than others. I don't know if they were not cut accurately or I get in a hurry and sew them too quickly. It's hard to be patient. Each block is different and interesting in it's own way, and, I want to see it.

I am not sure why the first quilt I work on each month for the rainbow scrap challenge, is country roads. I guess because it is so easy to get started. I grab a few red 1 1/2 inch strips, stack them, cut them, and presto they are done. Nothing like instant gratification. There is a link at the bottom for the pattern.

I am sure I will be working on these next year.                         

I did accomplish a lot, but not really anything that I can share with you. Gosh - the secrets still abound. The QUILTsocial blog posts will be up next week, and it's been a wee bit of a learning curve behind the scenes, but all is good.

I got about a third of my "to do" list for the week done! How cool is that? Even if it mostly meant dealing with events in my calendar and making a few phone calls. It doesn't matter - those things are done now, and I can move on to the next bunch ...

I learn all kinds of things at the Virtual Retreat. Everyone is such a wealth of information and inspiration.

I want to start by giving you a day trip option. As you know, many (OK - ALL) events have been canceled. That includes the SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) convention, which was to be held in Toronto in March. That was back in the days when the organizers were wishy-washy about canceling events. Now - there is NO choice. Cancel!

An exhibition of art quilts was put together specifically for that conference. Alas - we never got to see the quilts. However, I ...

NO - the Virtual Retreat is OVER!!!  Oh my gosh - it was an amazing five days of catching up with friends, meeting new friends, information gathering, and general frivolity! I had such a great time, and from the e-mails and messages that I received from everyone who participated, they also enjoyed it.

As a matter of fact, we all had so much fun that we all want to do it again!!! I'm going to schedule more dates, and they are going to be sooner than you think! So watch for those. I won't do five days again - I did ...

This is the last Saturday in April for the rainbow scrap challenge. I need to make sure all my projects have their blue on. This is the shine block.

Spring is slowly creeping into our area. Our tulips are in full bloom, and, the rhubarb is nearly ready to try. Last week was cold and blustery. I made some progress on my goals and that kept me busy.

Last week's to do:

1. iron bunny blocks for applique -done
2. cut old world mystery # 2 - done

I'm happy to report that yesterday was a better day in the sewing department. OH - that's because I didn't sew anything! I did some cutting, but I spent a lot of time on the computer getting the homework assignments done and making videos. I have to say that the video editor on my Smartphone is pretty decent. It doesn't do crazy things, but I learned how to break apart a video and well - you'll just have to watch the video yourself. I'll post the link at the end of this blog.

It was an ...

So glad to have a little bit of teal to brighten things up a bit. I worked on the rainbow row by row this week making a zigzag. the HSTs are 3 1/2 inches. And the first two I sewed together were wrong LOL. There is one more Saturday in March for the rainbow scrap challenge, and I am nearly done with what I want to get finished in teal.

I used an accuquilt die to cut drunkards path for the row by row quilt. I thought it would be easier to use the whole die in both green and white rather than cut individual pieces for the parts. The pattern calls for another row of green later, so, I can use the reverse with the leftovers from cutting this way.

Last week, I made most of my goals. yay me. I made better progress with the retreat last week.

1. quilt one of my quilts - done

I love that Christmas tree in the centre! I am sure they all have my name on those parcels … or perhaps they are just empty boxes I can use to store my Santa collection … and that would be a very useful gift!

Now it is on the top shelf, which would be a sensible place to store the Santa collection for 10 months of the year!

Wrapped up 10 years of my long-arm as part of my business. Here is a little recap of this year's work on my machine.

This Year:     72 Customer Quilts
88% Pantos, 12% Custom
64 pantos;  8 custom

Pantographs : 5.3  (#/mo)    Custom : 0.67 (#/mo)

Business to date: 677 Customer Quilts

As I did so few Customer custom quilting jobs this year, just want to show them off here: