Starting VS Finishing

 

I’m pretty good about getting ideas and starting them. However, I’m not so good about finishing them. I’ve tried various methods to try and overcome this, but I just tend to chase squirrels and go down rabbit holes.

Three of the art quilting groups I belong to issue challenges and I always plan to participate. I get my idea for the challenge and get started. Then for one reason or another I’m starting another one before any get finished.

A few months ago, I decided enough. ENOUGH. Focus. Focus on Finishing.

I selected five quilts to focus on. I could not add to the list of five until one was finished. I keep it at five at a time. I select one on the list to be my main focus until it is finished. The other four are for backup in case the main focus needs to simmer for awhile or I need to get some supply to finish it. I have backups I can work on in the meantime. This is my Focus on Five (FoF) method.

 

Most of my WIPs/UFOs are small; a few are medium (over 36”) and a few are large (50+”). I have one large, one medium, and three small ones on the list.

I will allow myself one plus if there is an upcoming deadline for something not on the list that I really want to do. This is FoF+.

This process is going to take some time.

Recently in one of my groups there was a contest to see who has the most unfinished projects. I had 36 that have been started; some more in the designing/planning stages, and a few more “want to dos”. Yesterday I remembered one more started but not finished project so now I’m up to 37. And there may be a few more in hiding!

So how am I doing with my FoF? Well one has ben completed and replaced. One will be completed today. And I haven’t started any new projects at all!

So it’s working thus far!

 

My list of five:

Escape

Storm

Winter

Clown

Red

 

Red is finished!

 Nine Patches, Five Threads, in Red

Happy stitching!

 

Rose

She Colored Everything Yellow

I really want to get back into blogging on a regular basis. I do enjoy it. I thought I had submitted something on this quilt but I guess not so here goes!

She Colored Everything Yellow Art Quilt

This is the first finished entry in my “She  colored everything yellow” series based on a memory from the past. This art quilt was started in a workshop given by Deborah Boschert in 2016 and finished in 2017.

As an adult I realized that I had a serious problem with the way other people reacted to me. Everything, from not taking me serious, to making fun of what I was saying or of my ideas, to criticizing me or my work. At times it could cause me to start crying my eyes out (in private of course). I have always been a very shy, quiet, and even at times timid person. Sometime in my late fifties I decided enough. I prayed and asked the Lord to show me why I was so sensitive to the words of others. Then a memory surfaced from my childhood. One that I had not remembered or acknowledged since the day it happened.

I was in first grade. The class was a combination class of first and second graders. The teacher wanted to work with the second graders so she instructed the first graders to color a page in our workbooks. I raised my hand and the teacher told me to be quiet and do as I was told. So I did.

As she was teaching she walked around the room, when she came to my desk she took my workbook and held it up to the class. “Look what Rose did” she exclaimed to the class. “She colored everything yellow.” The entire class – first and second graders started laughing. I was embarrassed and ashamed.

What I had tried to tell the teacher was that I only had one color crayon, the color yellow.

That was the beginning of a seed sown in my heart that kept on growing and causing me to be super sensitive to words spoken by others about and to me. Sometimes the weeds would be pulled out but the root remained and continued to grow until I allowed Jesus to exposed the root and remove it from my heart.

Now I love the color yellow. It reminds me of what He has done for me and gives me hope, love and courage!

Here We Go Again!

It’s Tuesday and I meant to post this last night as one of my tips and tricks posts but I didn’t get it done (actually this was written one week ago). The tip is at the end of this post. Okay now for a little update on my UFO’s, Www.allpeoplequilt.com UFO Challenge for 2016.

March UFO Crazy Quilt

March’s number didn’t even get touched. Why? Because I was busy, busy, busy making things to go in the quilt show that my local guild holds every year. I thought I would do a little bit on that project but it didn’t happen. April came along and the number pulled was a good one – number 1 the small aloha quilt. 

April UFO Small Island Quilt

I can handle that. Not. I’m still working on it and here it is well into May. 

May UFO Birds In Flight Crazy Block

May’s number is 7 the Birds In Flight Crazy Block. Now really I should be able to get both of those done this month.

For my tip I was working on this small mini quilt to go in the silent auction held during the previous mentioned quilt show. 

View From My Window Auction Quilt

The small flowers were re-embroidered by me by hand but the fabric was not a quilt quality fabric and I was not happy with the results once I had pieced the blocks together. They were not the right size, and they were not consistent in size. So I did something I rarely do, I took it all apart and started again. Since the flower fabric was a fairly loose weave I decided to stabilize it by adding a muslin backing. I thought the best way to do that would be to use a spray on quilt basting glue. I really didn’t want to do that in the house but I didn’t want to set up a large table outside either. Then I spied this:

TV Tray

Now I know some have covered these and made them into a small portable ironing surface and/or cutting mat. My thought was to cover it with freezer paper (shiny side out) and use that as my glueing table. Worked perfectly and now I have something I can use outdoors when I’m using a spray or a glue that needs a lot of ventilation. I can also use it when I have just a little painting to do. When the freezer paper gets too bad just replace it with a fresh sheet.

Freezer Paper Covered TV Tray

How simple is that!

Oh and the quilt show? My rag dolls “The Slow Stitchers” took second place in their category Textile/Fabric Items.

The Slow Stitchers Rag Dolls

Happy creating!

Rose 

Where has the time gone?

Really???!??

I haven’t posted since the end of May 2015. Where has the time gone? Do you think I haven’t done any stitching or anything at all? Well I have been busy so I thought I would give a little year end recap of the last half of 2015. (Okay it was suppose to be a year end post but I was having trouble finding all the photos I wanted to use and then my computer crashed.) Finally got it back from the geeks and so here we go! Warning there are a lot of photos, not sure if there will be a lot of words.

First a little collage of the Block of the Month quilt blocks made for the quilt guild I belong to. It was hard keeping up with these and I think I may not participate officially (as in being part of the year end exchange). I may decide to do some of them though as they are to be stash busters and I could really use some stash busting.

Blocks of the Month

Then a quilt I finally finished for my grandson in time for his fourth birthday. It features monster trucks, one of his favorite things, and he kept asking me when it would be done because he wanted to use it. 

Monster Truck Quilt

His party was a super hero theme and so there were capes to make including a Superman cape for him.

Super Hero Capes Ready

Then there was a birthday for a sweet little girl and this rag doll finally was ready.

The Evalyn Doll

Tutu Apron and Hat

Fabric Paper Doll

Another birthday loomed for my granddaughter and a last minute decision to have a kitchen/baking theme brought forth a tutu apron and a chef’s hat. And then to round out the theme some fabric “paper dolls” as part of the decoration.

Then it was Halloween and the need for family costumes which the four year old decided should be a family of trees. The addition on an acorn hat for my granddaughter was the topping of the forest. The tree costumes became a forest of trees surrounding his tent.

Tree Costume became a Forest

The Wounded Warrior quilt was pieced and finished (quilting by my dear friend Kathryn Pate).

Wounded Warrior Quilt

Before Christmas there was a request for a nap mat similar to the one I made my grandson. This one was for a little girl so cupcakes and pink were in order. You haven’t quilted until you’ve stitched through 8 layers of batting (it really should have been only six but I thought it should be eight) on your home sewing machine.

Nap Mat

Christmas brought a set of six microwave bowl holders for my daughter and then 16 (well only 14 got finished) linen placemats for her table. 

Linen Placemats 

Place Mats in Use

My grandkids received a play campfire with hot dogs and marshmallows.

Play Campfire

Oh and sometime between Halloween and Christmas the dog received a warm cover for his kennel and a new bed cushion. This had been on my list for over a year and then it came off the list. Why?, because he escaped on my watch and had to be retrieved from the local animal shelter. Guess I was feeling a little guilty and so decided to put it back on the list and actually do it.

Dog's Kennel Cover

 And finally to round things out I designed the new bookmark for our 2016 Quilters’ Guild ofArlington program list and the 2016 Quilt Show postcard for the same guild.

I will say though with all that I did get accomplished very few were on my move it on and finish it list of projects. In my favor though, I did not start anything new on Friday. I may have come close by getting it started on Thursday but I avoided the temptation to start anything on Friday. See this post for the reason that is important.

Keep on stitching!

Rose 

Just Another Friday Post At Long Last

It’s Friday Again! Let’s Move It Forward and Finish It.

Oh hello there!

I haven’t been around blog land for some time now. Some of you know I’ve been going through some different seasons in my life and well blogging just got moved aside. But I’m back!

Seasons have different phases and this season is no different. From caring intensely for a loved one to losing that loved one to a better world to trying to find where I want and where I need to be, this has been a trying season. I’m not sure where my writing will lead. I may even start a new blog, a new page so to speak. But for now I think I will just try and get back into the habit of blogging.

So since it is Friday here’s where I’m at stitching wise. I haven’t finished anything but I have moved forward on a few items. Funny when I started my Finish It Friday posts based on words of wisdom my paternal grandmother imparted to her family (see this post) I thought I was being different. I almost wrote unique but really is anything really unique? Since then I have found other bloggers who have being doing a Finish It Friday style post for years.

Well back to mine. I didn’t do any stitching for about 3-4 months. Why? I don’t really know. But I finally did get back to picking up needle and thread. Hand-stitching is my focus right now because my sewing space is in a mess due to reorganizing and relocating it. My machine is not set up so I can only move things forward to a certain point until I need to sew on the machine.

I took a workshop class through my quilt guild on back-basting applique taught by Barbara Eikmeier. I pulled it out and started working on the class project a little bit at a time. (Well I’m trying to do my 15 minutes a day method but some days I don’t manage any stitching and other days I’m at it for an hour or more.) Here it is in process.

Sunflower Applique

Today I will finish appliqueing the petals down. Next will be the center and then some embellishment. You might notice in the lower right hand corner that I have a little challenge. When I was adding the border applique I cut it in the wrong place and so I have a little dip that should not be there. What will I do? The choices are:

1. Leave it
2. Cover it up with some embellishment/applique
3. Un-stitch it and redo it

What will I do? Stay tuned to find out.

Summer Hexagon Wall Hanging

Next up is my Summer Hexagon Wall Hanging. This I started a few years ago with embroidery designs from Wild Olive to which I made my own changes. I’ve now finished sewing the hexagons together and will be layering it with batting and a backing and then hand quilting.

Hand Embroidered Doll Faces

Oh yes and I’ve embroidered some more doll faces. Just need to rework the body pattern, cut and sew.

Shashiko and Butterflies Wall Hanging

While moving things around in my sewing room I came across a piece I had started when I still lived on the Big Island of Hawaii. I’ve decided to continue on with it since it requires some handwork. I’ve debated back and forth about the butterflies. Should I embroider them or should I applique them as the pattern called for? When I took it out to look at I was surprised to see that I had started to back-baste the pieces down just like the workshop instructor I mentioned above taught. I know the original instructor for this piece had us using a different applique method. How did I get started back-basting it in Hawaii? I don’t know. But I’m moving forward with it.

Until then,

Happy Moving Forward and Finishing!

Rose 

Why I Keep Blue Painters Tape in my Sewing Room

 Aha you thought I forgot about my blog!

Not so. I check it every now and then and think “you know I really need to start posting more often”. Well here I go again and since it is Monday and that means hints and tips here goes.

I started making a project that required layering the top fabric, batting, and a piece of muslin. Does that sound like a quilt? Well not exactly. The pieces were only 18 inches square but they did need to be quilted. But the quilting needed was only 4 inches apart. I really didn’t want to mark my lines with anything other than my trusty Jergens soap sliver. Won’t go into all the reasons why here but I didn’t want to wash the square before I completed the project and washing it after was possible but not likely to happen. Only problem was I couldn’t find my soap sliver. Ok now what. I have a quilting guide that might help if only I could find it. Does that sound like someone needs to do some serious cleaning and organizing? Not going to happen right now I want this project done. Well I did find the guide but it wasn’t going to give me the 4 inch spacing the pattern called for. Now what to do? And then I spied my handy roll of blue painter’s tape.

Using blue painters tape to mark stitching lines

That will work just lay it down straight and stitch along the edge. Worked like a charm. Just watch which side of the tape to stitch along to get the desired spacing. I was done in no time.

And I won’t waste the tape. It won’t be thrown out until I’ve filled it up with stray threads. Yup it does double duty as a thread catcher. You can also write notes on it. I have a piece stuck to my machine right now to remind me what settings I need on my machine to do my ¼ seams.

Okay I’m planning to come back on Wednesday with some photos etc. of what I’ve been working on lately including this project (which is now finished).

Happy Crafting!

Rose 

Now That Feels Good!

Finished the kid's block with only a little un-stitching, re-stitching. 

Frogs and Ladybugs block finished

And I even finished the black and white one! This one I'm not sure about though so I may make another one, I have time - lol.

Black and White Block Done

But I must say it does feel good to have them done 4 and 1/2 weeks ahead of time rather than months behind!

Happy that I finished my FIF today!

Rose

Staying On Top

Finish It Friday is in process!

Some of you know I belong to a quilt guild near where I live. One of the activities for this group is a monthly block exchange.  You only participate if you choose to and I almost didn't choose to this year. Every one in the exchange receives instructions for a block to be produced and hopefully turned in at the next meeting. At the end of the year there is a drawing and you receive a particular set of blocks to use as you see fit. I say hopefully because I am almost always sadly behind. Why? Mainly because I procrastinate and only start it the night before or even the day of the meeting when it is due. And I underestimate the time it will take me to make an acceptable block. (I tend to do a lot of un-stitching and re-stitching.) So this month I caught up.

These blocks were turned in last month:

Spring Block

Brown Road to California

These blocks were turned in this month:

Gold Block

Green Block

Red White and Blue Block

So I have a block due the second Tuesday of next month (well actually I have two blocks due but not because I'm behind). We are doing two blocks for next month in order to have all twelve months complete with our December meeting which is when the names are drawn and blocks assigned. 

I started selecting the material and cutting the pieces for one of the blocks and considered the fabric for the second one. One is for a child's quilt bright, colorful and fun. The second one is the same pattern done in black and white fabric. My Finish It Friday will be the child's one and maybe the black and white one. 

Here's my start:

Frogs and Ladybugs Block

Black and White Fabrics

Stay tuned for my finish!

And yes I know there is a mistake in the red, white, and blue one! I fixed it before I turned it in. It always pays to double check your work - lol. I just forgot to take a photo of the corrected block before I turned it in.

Looking forward to finishing these today!

Rose

Here We Go Again!

Oh goodness I've been missing in action for so long.  I have been busy, I have been doing things. Here are some of the blocks that I've made for our guild monthly block exchange.

Red and White Block for April

Flower Basket Block for March

This is a little card that I worked on for another on-line exchange I participated in. I was late with it as I forgot what the deadline was and thought I had longer to work on it. Oh dear. But I did get it done.

Postcard for online swap

The project was to do a postcard that included paper and embroidery so I designed this little card. I had some postcards for my inkjet printer that I had purchased a long time ago and then never used. Perfect. Then I remembered my sketchbook with a little flower design I had worked on, again some time ago. I thought it would look great as a card. The other part of the challenge was to focus on the word create so I added some words to the card. After I printed the design I decided to color in the flowers with some markers.  Then came the fun of deciding what stitches to use and then piercing the paper. About halfway though I remembered I like to keep the first of any new idea I make. So I printed another card and this time added the hummingbird to it (another one of  my little sketches!). When it came time to embroider the hummingbird I opted for some metallic thread. It was a little tricky to work with but I love the results.  I received this one from my exchange partner who lives in England.

Postcard Exchange from England

I'm still trying to straighten up and get somewhat organized in my "studio room". I may have a new idea to share later about fabric scraps. Testing it out now. 

I've been rather busy with my quilt guild lately, mainly working on promoting the show that took place May 1 and 2. It was a good experience for me and I also got involved in the take down. What a lot of work goes into putting on a show! I still have some things to finish for the guild and we are already talking about next year's show.

I haven't done any Finish It Friday posts because I haven't finished anything on Friday lately. (Well I haven't started anything new on Friday either!)

For my 15 minutes a day project I've been concentrating on this vest.

Butterfly Denim Vest WISP

I've blogged about it before here. One thing that I keep reminding myself of is to keep track of the thread colors I'm using. I started this about 15 years ago - what!!?! I can not find the blue thread that I used on it to begin with. I have found a DMC light effects thread that comes close but that thread is a little more difficult to work with than the regular floss. But I'll manage. Right now I'm concentrating on doing an irregular running stitch on the lines within the butterflies. Here is a view of two butterflies, one has been stitched and the other one has not. I think doing the stitches adds a lot to the look of the butterfly. Why an irregular running stitch? Because I don't seem to be able to keep my stitches perfectly even in length! Plus I think irregular is more interesting than perfect. 

I keep thinking I need to add some flowers among the butterflies but that will mean an even longer time before this is finished. I do wear this vest every once and awhile just because I can.

Well that's just some of what I have going on at the moment. 

Happy Stitching!

Rose

Hello there! WWW

Thank you everyone for your prayers and thoughts! My surgery went well. The tumor was a very small one and only Stage 1A cancer so no more treatment is needed, just watching me closely for a while. I’m feeling great just have to be sure I don’t overdo it with lifting etc.

I have been slowly getting back into stitching so this is what I have in progress this Wednesday.

I finished a block for my quilt guild’s monthly block exchange, I’m only two blocks behind now!

Scrappy Blues Block

My first fifteen minute project is now complete. It was surprisingly easy to keep it going. The day of surgery and two days of recovery did not see any stitching but I made it up later in the week by stitching extra fifteen minute periods. Thirty eight days later the monkey is now done but I think he will just go in the box with all the rest of my TAST2012 pieces. I haven’t decided what to do with them yet. (Please don’t ask how many French Knots are in that piece!) I did add ears which were not in the original scribble. Generally I do not add any lines or scribbles to one once the pencil leaves the paper or fabric but he just needed some ears so they were scribbled in.

French knot monkey 15 minutes a day priject

I’ve gotten back to working on my summer hexagon project that I started last year using embroidery designs from Wild Olive. I modified a few of them. This is my first time making hexagons and I struggled with sewing them together. I worked at it during a few of the Friendship Stitchers group I belong to. Then I decided I really want to get it finished (I have the designs for Fall, Winter, and now Spring waiting in the sidelines). So I started doing it as one of my just fifteen minutes a day projects but I got carried away with it and worked more than fifteen minutes. So it is getting done a little faster than expected.

Summer Hexagon Embroidery Pioject

Painted hoops

Next I painted some outer embroidery hoop frames in anticipation of another Finish It Friday project. I’m hoping this Friday to have some results to show.

Happy Stitching! 

Rose