What's Up Now?

The strategy of Meredithe's

17 UFO's in 2017

has been a good one for me so far.

Progress, progress, progress.

So far

I worked on and finished two quilts that were 

"fast to finish" and the latest was 

one that had a "current deadline".

So what's up now?

Two quilts.

One is a "Long Term" project

and the other one is "something I love to work on". 

I've actually been hand quilting 

since the first of the year

 on

Noah and Matilda,

an antique reproduction applique 

pattern from 

Dawn at A Collector with a Needle.

 

Winter evenings are the perfect time

to get underneath the quilt and 

stitch.

I had my machine quilter baste 

it for me.  That is something

I would highly recommend especially for

big full size quilts.

It's been working perfectly. 

I've been quilting the feathered wreaths

before the light pencil markings disappear

and then around the appliques.

 It's starting to fill in.

My handquilting montra has

always been 

"just a hoop a day"

and to always finish the thread in my needle

before quitting for the day.

That's added up to a lot of stitches over time.

I'm far from done, but 

it's making progress!

***

The second quilt is the 

Dutch Medallion I started last year

which was the 2016 Mystery quilt  

found in Quiltmania and designed by

Petra Prins of the Netherlands.

I had gotten this far last summer

with still two more pieced borders to go.

It's not a mystery anymore, and that's 

fine with me.

The next border was added on 

and a vine appliqued in place.

I was eager to try the newest Aurifil  thread,

the ultra thin #80 weight cotton.

It's marvelous.

It's melts into the fibers and completely 

disappears.  I've tried fine silk threads before and

it was continually slipping out of the eye of the needle.

This doesn't do that, at least, with my

sewing style.

I'm super pleased.

Now there's a lot of EPP

to work on.

But it's so fun working with the 

beautiful patterns on the Dutch fabrics

that I covet and use every little bit.

Maybe someday I'll be able to get more!

I love making progress on this quilt. 

It's exactly what quilting should be.

Until Next Time- 

Kyle

Inspired By Many

The second 3 week period 

of working on a UFO is over.

And I have another finish.

You might remember the batik challenge

I wrote about 3 weeks ago. (here)

The members of my quilt group,

Quilt Therapy,

did a fabric exchange where we

each started with a yard of batik and ripped, kept half,

and passed.

Eventually ending up with 

7 different pieces,

7 different amounts of each.

The challenge I gave myself

was to try some of Gwen Marston's liberating tips

and techniques and see what happened.
It seemed only fitting.

I have watched many of you
from afar
working with an improv style
and knew it was time to step out,
just alittle.

I started with a few liberated stars

and kept sewing trying different blocks

until I put everything together in a simple nine patch.

I tried just about everything.

It was quite fun and I

even liked what I had created.

Having ventured out of my norm

I had to continue the same spirit with

the quilting.

Those of you who regularly break the barriers

in quiltmaking,

this may not seem too extraordinary,
but you have been an inspiration to me.

This was actually quite a freeing experience as

small as these baby steps were.

But wait there's more.

I used the "crumbs" for the back.

The edges were finished with a facing

rather than a binding,
another first.

This was a great experience,

trying lots of new techniques and ideas.

"Liberated Spirit"

"Sunflowers"

22 inches

Having been quilt making for over 40 years,
it just goes to prove there's always an opportunity
to try new things and see where it takes you.
Old quilters might be willing to try
new tricks.

Until Next Time-

Kyle

Only Slightly Distracted

I did so well

during January,

but now...
 I've encountered a few

fun distractions.

Why not!

I said I wasn't going to do it,

but the Quilt Show's BOM

is a medallion quilt designed

by Sue Garman.

I have always admired her work and

with her passing, I knew I wanted to make

probably one of the last patterns she designed.

  After choosing the the initial fabrics,

 

 then expanding the palette,

 and then doing some auditioning

it was time to 

 challenged myself to get down and

familiar once again with paper piecing.

It wasn't as complicated as I had remembered.

There were only a few do overs.

So I felt good and the results

were spot on!

16.5" center block

****

This week my email had the 

first clue of the Semi-Mystery Quilt 

from Thimble Creek Quilts.

I've done two of their mysteries before

and find them fun and challenging so...

the third one is the charm, right?

I've been hanging on to a layer cake

from Benartex and
a bright fat quarter packet from
Fat Quarter Shop

that I had planned to use in a quilt for my Florida

daughter.  With white backgrounds,

I think it has the feel

of hot tropical breezes.

8" finished blocks

 ****

Okay, I had resisted since January,

but I finally
started having fun with Lisa Bongean's

2017 Triangle Gatherings.

I spent last week making about 20 sets of HSTs.

Each block takes 16 pieces.
I decided to do

navy and cheddar and see what

happens.

 I've been using three different products to 

make my HSTs, Thangles,

Triangles on a Roll, and the PG Triangle Papers

designed by Lisa.

Thangles work great for strips,

the Triangles on a Roll works

well for larger pieces of fabrics,

and the PG Triangle papers work perfectly

with charm squares.

There's a place for everything.

Which one rips the easiest?

I'd vote for Triangles on a Roll.  The paper

is the thinnest. 

Patterns 1-5

6" finished blocks

****

Well, you can see that I have

branched out a little and 

have only become slightly distracted.

 It's funny what we can add in

and it just becomes part of the circle of  life. (quilting)
Have fun. I am.

Until Next Time-

Kyle

Patriots

A few years ago my

daughter, who is a director of a museum 

in south Florida,

became interested in genealogy.

I've always had an interest too,

hoping to learn a little more 

of my family history.

With the previous work

from a cousin, and, of course, the internet, 

we discovered,

with much excitement, several direct

connections to Revolutionary War patriots.

This led me to do some

research into becoming a member 

of the DAR, Daughters of the American Revolution.

I saw this as a way to volunteer with a group

of women who were also interested in history, patriotism,

citizenship, genealogy, and contributing to service projects

in my community.  

Then came the hard part.

Finding the correct documentation

to link me to my patriot,

Simeon Wheelock of 

Uxbridge, Massachusetts,

my 5th Great Grandfather.

Simeon was a blacksmith and

had been a soldier in the French and Indian War

in 1760.

He married a young woman from
the same town, Deborah Thayer in 1763.

By the time the war started they had 5 children. 

 This is Simeon and Deborah's house

built circa 1765, which now serves as the

DAR headquarters for the 

Deborah Wheelock Chapter.

 Simeon along with his father,

Col. Silas Wheelock and his 4 brothers,

 answered the alarm of April 19, 1775

 and fought at the battles of Lexington and Concord.

Skipping ahead many generation to me

I now find myself a member of the

Friday's Council Tree Chapter of

the DAR, in Windsor, Colorado.
The chapter was named after Chief Friday

 of the northern Arapaho tribe who lived
in this area.

One of the activities that I quickly

became involved with 

was making quilts for the VA hospital

in Cheyenne, WY.

These quilts are called

Final Salute Quilts.

They are given to a vet who enters

 hospice to use on their bed

and are then used to cover the body

as the veteran is given a
 final salute by their fellow vets.
The family is given the quilt.

Here is one of the quilts that
we recently made.

 48" x 96"

It truly is a group effort.
Once it is quilted
it will respectfully be passed on to a soldier
to honor them for serving
 our country
and risking their lives to
protect our freedoms.

A big thank you to all our patriots.

Until Next Time-

Kyle