January Quilt Finished and Photographed

I was able to finish quilting my quilt 2 Saturdays ago, but it took me a long time to get around to photographing it. I decided to just prop it up on an extra chair in my kitchen with my Raggedy Ann that I made using a Gail Wilson kit. I quilted in the ditch along all the sashing edges, and then quilted the crosses and diagonal lines in each block. I was able to figure out how to go down each side of the cross, across the diagonal line and then across the next cross side to get each block quilted in one "run."

Now, what will Kathy choose for February? I bet it will be fun, and maybe a touch romantic!

January Crosses Mourning Quilt Top

Slow and steady progress is being made!  Today I was able to combine the blocks with the sashing pieces, inner and outer borders, and stil watch the second half of the Ravens game.



Little known quilt fact:  when I started, I couldn't find any navy thread, so the top is put together with Ravens Purple thread - seems appropriate given that they have made the Play Offs this year, and my family are fans of the Ravens.  It doesn't show enough to really stand out on the top.  I bought navy thread yesterday, so it will be machine quilted with a color that matches.

I've Got Blocks!

What can I say?  Saturday was very productive for me!  Piecing these blocks together was a lot of fun, and not hard at all.  There was one block that I had to "unsew" twice, but fortunately I caught both mistakes before I even finished the seam I was sewing, and I'm really good with a seam ripper!  Guess trying to get a good fit on dolly clothes pays off!

So, here are the blocks.  Now, to figure out how to arrange them... I think the one with the darkest light corners will be center.




















In addition to getting all this sewing done this weekend, I managed to get laundry (almost) done, take M. to her piano lesson, go to church, go to the grocery store (twice), and watch some good "on demand" movies!  What a great low-key weekend.

2012 Challenge

It is hard to believe that we are already almost a week into the new year! I really neglected this blog in 2011 -hopefully 2012 will be better.
More and more of my doll loving friends are doing challenges again this year, like taking and posting one photo everyday day of one of their dolls or toys. I know that is not something that is anywhere near being possible for me; I found a doll a week photos in 2010 a challenge to keep up with!  But, I wanted to do something more this year, and just didn't know what.
Then, a few days ago, I saw that one of my favorite quilt book authors, Kathleen Tracy, was doing another sort of challenge - one small quilt a month.  I already have 3 or her 4 books, and have wanted the 4th one for a while.  The January Quilt inspired me to take this on. I would love to be able to complete 12, but even if I can only do a few, I will be happy to have that much accomplished.  
The January quilt is the Crosses Mourning Quilt.  This seems like a good choice for this period of my life, as I am still adjusting to loosing my dad last October to radiation necrosis at the young age of only 67.   He had an extremely strong faith, so I know that I will see him in Heaven some day, but at the same time, it is hard to see someone you love work very hard their entire lives, retire, and less than 2 months later find out that they have brain cancer. Dad's first loves were his LORD and his family, but he also enjoyed American History, boating, and politics. A quilt inspired by quilts and events in the mid-1800s that has crosses on it seems like a great way to begin this year-long challenge and work through the grieving process.
It seems like 2011 was a time for loss for many of my friends and co-workers.  Since September, 2 people I know suddenly lost their young adult sons, another friend who lost her father and aunt, another friend lost her father-in-law, and several other people I know lost other relatives.  I pray that they all knew Jesus and will be with their loved ones in Heaven.
I am determined that I want my life to be about more than working hard until I die.  I want to enjoy time with my family and friends.  I want to take time to do things that I enjoy now - not wait until I have the time, money, energy or opportunity - the perfect time never comes.  I want to make a positive impact on other people's lives.
So, the day after I found out about this challenge, I picked out fabrics, dark blue and navy rather than black, since almost all of my blacks have pink floral prints!  I wanted something more "Americana" for this one.  I hope that in addition to working on this challenge that I will be ablet o post my progress here on this blog! Here is a photo of all the little bits and pieces cut out (except the binding that I still need to decide on).  The fabric is all neat and organized for each of the 9 little blocks, but not laid out in proportion to how it will look.  Yes, my compulsion for order can be seen in my need to have everything arranged just so - this is exactly how things were laid out when I was done - not arranged for a photo!
Anyone else want to join me in a quilting challenge?  I'd love to follow your progress!