December Quilt Update

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I have moved the previous posts to the end of the entry.  I hope that you make it that far.

Goals:

BOM blocks (3) complete -  YES

Easy Street (ES) Clue 8 - Close It just needs borders
Orange Crush (OC)  quilted and bound - YES
Old Tobacco Road (OTR)  - Clues 4, 5 - nope

Christmas Quilt (CQ) quilted and bound - YES
Block a Day continued (BAD) - Giving up for awhile - too depressing
Grand Illusion (GI) quilted and bound - YES
Friendship Nine Patch (FNP) Sleeve made, quilted, and bound - YES
Allietare Clues 2 YES, 3 YES, 4, 5 -
Classes all prepared for - yes

1st - It seems as though I start out each month exactly the same -- working on this blog to get the previous month's post up.  Well today is no exception.  And laundry.  Never-ending laundry.  Laundry alone gives credence to the thought of a nudist colony.  HAHAHAHAHA.  Just give everyone quilts to cover up with.  I am also making a wonderful mess in the den.  It's time to sort those stacks of samples by color so they can get put to use in upcoming quilts.  Yep -- I have them EVERYWHERE.  I'm loving it though.  The stack of red on the coffee table will be added to my red panels out back and will go on the back of Crabapples, a class I am taking at the end of the month.  The stack of blues on the arm of the loveseat are my future Talkin' Turkey -- another end of month class.  Ooooh, fun thoughts are swirling all around me.  It's a sample wonderland.

2nd -  Kelly is in town with her mom, Ellen, and daughter, Izzie.  She wants to go to the warehouse district and I more than willing to show her around.  How good can I be?  Fortunately, they are on the hunt for specific things and I am able to channel my buying frenzy into their pocketbooks.  Yep, everyone needs a friend like me.  We start out at Fabric Wherehouse (in the sale room pictured here) and are soon taken through the back rooms to the other side for fun in the quilt cotton room.  Yes, this room will do.  We find almost everything they need right here.  A quick stop at Golden D'Or for the last piece and it's time for food.  To read all about our day, please check out this LINK.

3rd -  After doing some reevaluating on how my time is spent, I have made some decisions for the new year.  Call them Pre-New Years Resolutions.  I am going to spend the rest of this month getting myself to the point that these resolutions can be put into place.  Yes, it's a good thing.  I LOVE being productive.  I LOVE being organized.  I LOVE cooking and baking.  And I LOVE my sweetheart and it's probably time I focused on other aspects of my life in addition to the quilting.  That doesn't mean I have to quilt less -- I just have to surf less, play games less, and try to eliminate those completely time wastes from my life.  Life is just too short for those. Seriously.  Therefore, I have tried to create a schedule that allows me to have a bit of those in my life but not hours and hours each day.  Today is step one in my prepping.  Get Blog caught up.  Also:  make the house smell good with a homemade Italian sauce for dinner.  It can just simmer all day.  Yes.  I CAN do this.  And my reward?  Mister and I are off to see Postmodern Jukebox tonight.  Nice.

4th -  As I have said so many times lately, I am indeed thankful for the friends I have made this past year and the role they play in my life.  Jen M put out an invite yesterday to come and sew at her house and I am only too happy to join her.  After gathering everything up, I am off to work on Allietare clue #2, which posted this morning.  To see her lovely studio and read about our day, click HERE and for the rest of the story on clue #2, go to this LINK.

5th -  The weekend has arrived and that means my time is mostly spent with Mister.  I look so forward to these days and today we are off to L.D. Bell High School for a craft show that my friend Debi has a booth at.  I take a few things home from there and then we are off antiquing the rest of the afternoon.  To read all about the day, please click HERE.  In the meantime, it's okay if you want to drool on my pretty 66 Red Eye.  I know I am.

6th - Today is Decorate for Christmas Day.  Yep, it usually winds up taking most of the day to accomplish this simple feat.  Mister and I don't get quite the early start we want, but the task is complete by dinner time.  Yes!  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the way the house looks at this time of year.  I even found time to finish cleaning up the studio.  Oh yeah, I'm the Woman.

7th - I AM going to quilt today.  I AM going to quilt OC today.  This project has been going on long enough.  Most of my day is spent in the studio doing just that.  Yes!!!  It is off the frame and the binding and label are attached.  I will have this one done before the end of the year.  I also get a couple of ES blocks webbed.  That's about it for today but I am one happy camper.  To read all about this step please click on this LINK.  It's really a pretty good story.

8th -  Okay, I did it yesterday and want a repeat today.  Off to the studio first thing and soon my FQ is loaded and ready to go.  I think I want to stretch myself a bit with it so let's try some swirls.  I actually try a heart too, but quickly discover that I am not ready for that yet.

It goes pretty well and I am soon off and running.  What do you think?  Oh I know they aren't the same all over and not remotely evenly spaced, but, hey, I'm trying.

I work along until I'm about halfway through and then take a break.  I think I've come up with a new quilting idea for after the first of the year.  Simply load a quilt and work at it for about an hour a day, then do other things.  These four hour sessions are tough on the teeth --- hahahaha.  I find that my jaw is clenched for most of it.  I know, with time that nervousness will go away as well.  I still think my idea is a good one though and am going to put it into practice.  Until then, I have too many to complete to try that now.

After my break, the second half goes well and I have plenty of batting (inside joke if you read the link yesterday) and soon it is off the frame and inside for a lookie lookie.  Not too bad.

I have decided that this quilt is going to hang in the studio so I quickly find the leftover fabric from the sashing and stare at it trying to determine if there is enough for a sleeve.  I think just barely so I do a quick measure, sew the two pieces together and stitch the ends under.  It is ready to go.  Pinning on the sleeve and label, I am back to the machine with the binding and away we go.  Once I finish, I decide that I need to quickly get my three BOM's finished and off the list before heading into the house.  Yes!  Fist pump in the air!  It's been a good day.

Mister is caught up in some show on the computer that I am not at all interested in so I move myself out to the living room, set up by the tree, turn some music on, and bind away for awhile.  Yep, living the good life.  Catch ya tomorrow.

9th -  It's a great start to the day and I have a new cushion for my studio chair made from the scraps leftover from quilting the FQ yesterday.  Woohoo.  I then put the CQ on the frame to quilt and that's when the day took a turn towards a not so pleasant place.  I do get the top quilted and have another in the binding pile so I guess the day was successful.  To read about the tribulations of Murphy's Law, please click this LINK.  What a crazy, crazy day.

10th -  I am having company tomorrow so today is clean house, set up, and cook day.   I also finished cleaning the studio and while at it made a skirt for my midarm  to hide everything that is under it.  I first bought this canvas fabric thinking I would replace the leaders on the midarm.  HAHAHAHAHA --that just goes to show how little I knew about the whole machine.  I NEED the lines that are on the other ones, so now I have a skirt.  My sweet Mister mounted the computer monitor on the wall so I can watch television and everything looks pretty cool.

11th -  I am up super early making bread and cinnamon roll dough.  Allison arrives around 8 and we have just a wonderful sew day together working on Allietare clue 3.  To read about our day, click HERE.  After Allison leaves for the day, I finish up the clue and start the cleaning up process when Debi arrives.  She is spending the night so my party continues.  After a nice chat and some dinner - yummy pot roast, we are off to the studio for her first midarm lesson.  Yes, I am a complete rookie showing someone else how to do it.  Go ahead and laugh.

12th - Debi is over for the day learning how to use the mid-arm and I am having such fun.  It's nice to have company in the studio.  To read all about her day and see her beautiful quilts, please click HERE.  I manage to tame the batting scraps, make a large batting, prepare for January retreat, make a chair cushion, fix my raped iron cord holder, cut sewing mats, and sew a few ES blocks.  It is a clean up the area day.  Any and all odd ball stuff is being tackled and I feel good about it.

13th - I spend the morning leisurely sewing the binding on FQ and get everything finished except the sleeve before we have to get ready to go to Abilene for our grandson's birthday.  I take my CQ along and put in the car everything I need EXCEPT thread.  Ugh.  No sewing for me today.  However, we have a wonderful day with family and if you are interested in it you can check out the blog post HERE.



14th -  I have a day I get to devote entirely to the studio.  Woot woot.  Without even stopping for breakfast, I am out there first thing.  Yes, that is how much I want to do this today.  So, do I have an order of things to do?  Absolutely.  The very first thing I do is load the top to GI into the midarm.  I feel as though I am committed now.  Next, I am clearing the table from the ES "A" blocks.  I have half done and another 8 to go.  Sew, sew, sew.  Once I have all 16 stacked up nice and neat, I allow myself to move on to working on the back and label for GI.

As soon as they are finished, onto the frame the back goes and I complete the process by adding the batting.  It is now ready to quilt.  That's as much as is going to happen in the studio today.

Once in the house, I lay out the ES "B" blocks so they are ready to sew.  It is now 7:00 and my sweet Mister is still not home from work.  Ugh, this time of year is awful for him.  I settle into a comfy chair in the house, finish the sleeve on FQ and start the binding on CQ.  By the time my eyes stop working I have it 3/4 finished and it is time for some sleep.  But first, TA-DA -- here is my Friendship Quilt finished and ready to hang.

15th - For some reason, I have to stop the fun stuff and do some house cleaning this morning.  I do start out the day by finishing my Christmas Quilt.  I get a little start on the binding for OC when Mister reminds me that I need to get the Christmas cards out.  Putting everything sewing related on hold, I move into "finishing Christmas stuff" mode.  Kelly is in town and after I feed her some chicken soup, we are off for some shopping therapy in the afternoon.  Yay, more things found for the January retreat group project AND she found the fabric she needed to finish another quilt.  YAY us.  Mister has gone to bed and I am not even remotely tired so stay up until midnight and get about half the binding completed on OC.

16th -  I have writer's cramp.  I have been working on Christmas cards/letters all day!  Oh my but I have everything ready to mail tomorrow.  Woot woot.  Quilt-Cam is on this evening so I make use of the time to start cutting those bazillion 1 1/2" strips that I need for two classes at the end of the month.  Mister heads to be halfway through the "show" and again I am not yet tired.  Should I put these hands to work a little more. Um, well, YES.  I finish the binding on Orange Crush so another in the DONE column.

17th -  I am determined to make this morning a studio one after spending the last few days working on cards.  Telling myself that I have until noon to get as much finished as I can.  First up is the ES "B" blocks and I am happy to say, "THEY ARE FINISHED."  Into the house we go to lay out the top.  I also finish the handwork on my two chair cushions.  It is now noon and I have to shop, mail all the cards/packages, and prep for a sewing day here tomorrow.  Off walking I go.

The living room looks amazing and I cannot wait until tomorrow morning.  There is something just magical about being able to enjoy the Christmas atmosphere AND sewing with super good friends all at the same time.  Now to try and get some sleep.  I am pretty sure the excitement will wake me early to see if a clue has posted, but I'm going to give it all I have and hope for the best.  I am like a kid right now --- so excited that I just want morning to be here.

18th -  YAY.  Clue day is here and my girls are on their way.  To read all about our day please click HERE.  We have such a great day and the clue is finished before I head to bed.  Whew.

19th -  Oh my, oh my, oh my.  My sweetie is running away from work today and we get to play ALL day.  To check out our wonderful fun together, please click THIS LINK.  We ended the day with dinner at Olivella's and a beer or two at Lakewood Growler.  What a wonderful day together.

20th - Wow, I can't believe how lucky I am right now.  After spending the morning getting a blog post ready for Bonnie Hunter --- yep, isn't that sweet and you can see it HERE, my sweetheart and I are off to finish HIS Christmas shopping and have dinner out.  Yay us.  Tomorrow it's back to the grind until the New Year, but I am loving this time together.

21st -  Hi ho, Hi ho, it's off to the studio I go.  Time to create.  Oh yeah.  I am ready.  Let's tackle GI today -- what do you say?  I have this bright idea to do the small yellow inner border in tight circles and after the first 6 inches, my arms are killing me but I'm committed now.  There is no way on earth I am going to attempt to tear that out.  Moving on, I am thankful when I get to the end of the first row.  Wow -- TWO bobbins to get here.  At least now I just have a 4 1/2" section on each end of each row to do that same stitch.  The rest of the quilt has a medium stipple in the outer border and the center is a loopy stipple.  You cannot imagine how refreshing those are after those tiny circles.  Goodness.  After 4 hours, we are finished and I have determined to rename this quilt "The Gran Delusion."  Crazy me thought I could step out and do some crazy quilting.  I am indeed delusional.

Here is a close up of a corner and as soon as it is off the frame, I go straight to attaching the binding and label.  What's next?  Hand stitching of course.  I settle in next to the tree and complete about 1/2 of the binding.  Tomorrow is another day.

22nd -  I want to sew today.  Yep, I sure do.  I start out with something oh so simple.  Opening a new bolt of blue batik allows me to sew three strips together and make an instant back for RR#1.  I also use up a bunch of leftover batik strips and finish the binding for what I am hoping is both RR's,   Time to get ready to go have lunch with my nephew.

Once back home, it's into the living room, by the tree with a yummy eggnog to finish binding GI.  I DID it.  I finished last years mystery before this years is revealed.  Happy dance going on here.

 I want so bad to show this one while in class next week but it's not the only finish I want.  Gotta stay focused and perhaps there will be more.

23rd -  My friend, Roberta, sent out a help request and I am more than happy to do so.  She arrives around 8 in the morning and we are soon cutting away.  To read about our fun day, please click HERE.  While she worked on Allietare, I cut like a crazy woman to prep for my Crabapples, Mad City Mama, and Talkin Turkey classes.

24th -  Happy Christmas Eve everyone!  My sweet Mister has to work today so I spend the entire day cut, cut, cutting Talking Turkey blocks and then attempting to clean up my mess.  I sure did a fine job making one.  My sister-in-law, Michelle, is over this evening for a nice quiet visit.  Looking forward to a yummy cheese tray and a bottle of fine wine.  I hope you all are having a wonderful time as well.

25th -  Merry Christmas to all.  Today is the start of three wonderful days with my sweetie.  I am gifted several amazing things from both him and my children.  Yes, color me thrilled.   I cannot wait to put these to use.  Oh the things we will create together.  Happy, happy, joy joy.  Now we are off for a day with Mister's family.  Please take time today to truly treasure your family -- those both near and far.  We should do it every day, but let's make a special effort today.  Count your blessings.

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26th -  Started Allietare clue 5, but minimally.  Basically I drew a few lines and gave it up to be with Mister.

27th -  Mister gave me a lesson today in how to clean and oil the midarm so that I can load a quilt tomorrow.  I found a bit of time to work on clue 5 a bit and managed to finish one unit.  My camera is in hiding today.

28th -  Mister had to go back to work this morning and although I am sad, I am absolutely ready to rock and roll.  I have a lot to do still this week.  Look out studio, here I come.

 RR #1 is quickly loaded and quilted (yes it works like this when you don't try to quilt every last bit of a section).  I make a label and attach it and the binding.  Woohoo!!!!!


I think this quilt is a bit crazy BUT it is my Bonnie Hunter Medley and I'm hoping to have her sign it later this week.  It will bring great memories for quite some time.

Mister is working late so I head straight into the office to finish up clue 5 of Allietare.  I am successful and you can read all about this clue HERE.  Whew.  I am ready for the reveal - how about you?

29th -  My yearly classes with Bonnie start tomorrow and I haven't prepped for the first one yet.  Dang.  After a bit of bookwork and retreat work, I am off to the studio to cut what I need for the "mystery" class.  I am pretty excited for this one and love my fabric choices.  What do you think?

Upon cutting completion, I pack everything up and decide to clean up the studio a bit.  I have batting everywhere so I tackle the bag of scraps that Debi gifted me and soon have them ready to put into the retreat box.  I'm getting there on this part and still have a whole bag of scraps from Allison.  Then I turn around and my ES blocks are staring at me.  You think I'm joking?  Nope - not even a little bit.  They are even beyond staring and are GLARING at me.  I have been very neglectful of them.  Bad Lady.

I sit down and start setting the top.  Two hours later, I am pretty excited to take it into the house and have a looksie.  Ooooohhh.  I love it.  A quick run back to the studio and within another hour I have cut and made the inner and outer borders along with the binding.  Oh baby, I am a machine today and loving it.

I get the first two inner borders pinned on and then remember that I need to finish packing for tomorrow.  ES will have to wait awhile again but we are closer than we were.

30th -  It's Mystery Day.  Woohoo!!!!  I LOVE that I have been able to be a part of this Beta group for the last four years.  What fun to test a pattern for Bonnie and see it come to life.  Classes are just oh so fun and even though we pinky swore not to share ANYTHING until this pattern is published later in the year, I can show some of our fun today.  Please click THIS LINK to see what we were up to.  Once home, I spend the evening finishing the binding on my RR#1.  I can't wait to show it tomorrow.  Woohoo, another finish.

31st -  Wow -- New Year's Eve and another year almost over.  They just seem to fly by these days.  It seems crazy to me but I honestly am sad to see this year leave.  It has truly been a wonderful year for me.  I am so grateful for where it has led me and cannot wait to see what 2016 will send my way as well.  Now -- I need to get out of bed and head off to class.  Today is Talkin' Turkey  -- you remember the one it took me two whole days to cut for.  And we're off.  If you wish to see all about our day please click RIGHT HERE for the whole story.

Thanks for checking up on me this month.  Check back in now and then and please check out the link to OUR QUILT BLOGS at the top of the page for many of the quilt groups are starting to restrict the posting of blogs into the groups.  If you want to still have a long monthly read and time for your tea, join the group.  Thanks for sticking around this long -- I appreciate all of you who read each month.

Links to Previous 2015 Monthly Update Posts

January Quilt Update

February Quilt Update

March Quilt Update
April Quilt Update
May Quilt Update
June Quilt Update
July Quilt Update
August Quilt Update
September Quilt Update
October Quilt Update
November Quilt Update