Scrapitude Progress Report

So, I've been working away on the Scrapitude Mystery, hosted by Sandy at Quilting for the Rest of us.  And, I've been feeling quite smug, because I have actually been keeping up with the clues!

Sandy posted the first part of Step 4 the other day, and I started right in.  We had to put various parts together to make 25 of these blocks.  I've got 9 done, but they are coming together fairly fast.  I'm right on schedule!

Then, she posted the second part of Step 4, which talks about using triangle units we made in Step 2.  Wait a minute?  This isn't sounding familiar!!  So, I pulled out the instructions that I had printed out, and - lo and behold - I missed a large part of Step 2!  Who is wiping egg off their face now?

But, not to worry - I plan on getting caught up in time for the final clue in a couple weeks.

I'm linking up with Sandy's Scrapitude Linky Party and you can see other participants' photos on the Flickr group.

I'm Back on Board with the Finish-A-Long

After a dismal, disappointing year last year (for quilt finishes only - the rest of my life went along swimmingly!), I'm going to give the Finish-A-Long another go.

If you've been following my blog for awhile, you'll probably recognize most of the pictures.  (Sorry!!)

I haven't figured out the right strategy for the Finish-A-Long.  Should I list lots of projects, in the hopes that some of them "stick"?  Or should I mention just a couple, so I have a clearly defined goal?

I'm going for Plan A this time.  So, here goes:

Yup, I'm still showing Sand and Sea Glass.  What's it been now - a year or so?  I'm really stalled out on how to finish the quilting.  I've just got to put my head down and get'r done!

 And this one should be familiar too.  This is Maple Sugar.  I folded it up and put it in it's WIP bag after I took this photo - and there it still sits!

Is this getting boring yet?  Aqua Stars has been on my list before too.

This one hasn't been on my FAL list before.  It's the 2013 Craftsy BOM.  I've got to put the blocks together first.  Well, actually, first I have to decide HOW I'm going to put them together, because I've decided not to follow the layout used in the course.

And lastly, a picture that you haven't seen before.  This is Scrapitude, coming together!  I have to make 25 of these blocks - we're in the home stretch piecing this one!

So - five projects.  Keep your fingers crossed that I'll get some of them done!

I'm Going to Drop and Give Her Twenty Again This Year!

"I, Colleen (owner of too many UFOs and/or more fabric than I can hope to use up in my lifetime) am joining Quilting Hottie Haven's third annual DaGMT event, and pledge to quilt for at least 20 minutes, every day of the month of February, 2014. In doing so I hope to (make way for more fabric purchases, ensure my children don't someday have to sort through 89 UFOs and then sell them for $5 each at a yard sale) and I think Beth Helfter is brilliant for coming up with this concept and inspiring me to join."

I did this challenge last year, and although I didn't quilt EVERY day, I did do it most days, and got a lot more accomplished than usual.

PS:  Even if you don't join in, take a look at Beth's blog.  It is a lot of fun - she has a great sense of humour!

It's Warm ... and Educational!

My lovely daughter is a teacher.  This is her fourth year, and the first that she has been able to work close to home!  For the first three years, she taught up north - at first, so far north that you could only reach it by plane, and last year, not so far, but still a long way away.

This year, she is teaching Grade VI.  She sent me a picture today.  Her class was learning about angles -- with the quilt that I made for her.

Isn't that fun?  Hmmm - I wonder if lessons in sewing half square triangles will fit into their curriculum?

All Caught Up With Scrapitude

I can't believe I actually managed to catch up - our house has been in such shambles with all this renovating going on.  But, I took last week off from work, and:

• Conducted an archeology dig in the freezer, excavating many pounds of ice and discovering some interesting artifacts (which were quickly thrown away before they could thaw out;
• Chose some new lights (which was quite traumatic - turns out brass is no longer in style!);
• Painted two rooms - only about 10 more to go; and
• Managed to do some sewing!!

Step 3 in the Scrapitude Mystery Quilt involved sewing half square triangles to sets of quarter square triangles - 128 of them.  We were to cut the half square triangles from 4 7/8 inch squares.  I had about a million charm squares from a series of swaps a few years ago, so I used those.  That meant I had to trim them down to size when I was done - but who am I kidding - I would have had to trim them in any case!

Here are about half of the finished pieces.  I understand that this is the last "mystery" step and that we should be getting instructions to put it together next week.  I'm quite excited to see how this turns out!

2014 New Years Quilty Resolutions

I just love Calvin and Hobbes!!

Sandy, over at Quilting for the Rest of Us has, for the last couple of years, hosted a blog post where you can submit your quilty resolutions.  She is very helpful in that she suggests a theme for those resolutions.  This year is to think about "the quilted monkey we want get off our back".  There is a giveaway involved, but that's not why I do it - I find it helpful to set quilting goals - even if I rarely achieve them!

The way Sandy sets up her post is through google docs - so as soon as you submit your answers, they are whisked away, and, if you're like me, you immediately forget what you wrote.  One of these years, I will remember to print out the page before I hit "submit"!

However, I have a vague recollection of these three monkeys:

1.  To actually finish the projects I start!!  I love starting projects, but, for some reason, I'm really bad at finishing them.  I want to must finish at least one project for each new one I start.

2.  To get better at free motion quilting.  I have discovered that reading books and watching videos about quilting doesn't really improve mine very much.  Imagine!!  I actually have to practice to get better - and that's the plan for this year.

3.  To reduce my stash.  This is related, I think, to the first resolution.  I get overwhelmed by having so much fabric and so many possibilities.  I'm hoping that if I pare down a little, I won't be so overwhelmed, and perhaps, I will have more finished.

So, there you are - they are now written in a place where I can go back and check.  So, I'll have to do that periodically.

Now, totally unrelated to the above, I have signed up for Stitchery Dickery Dock's Sugar Block Club.

I can hear you - "Colleen - doesn't this totally violate Resolution #1?"

The answer to that is "No!"  You see, I signed up for this club before the end of December!  So, it doesn't count!  That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!!

Happy New Years!!

Long Time No Talk To

What have I been up to for the last month?

Well, I had a birthday - I turned fifty mumble.  My lovely daughter, who has been experimenting with cake decorating, made me a quilty birthday cake.

Those are pretty accurate sawtooth stars for a non-quilter!

November and December are always really stressful times at work.  I work in the family law area, and, unfortunately, many separated families are not able to work things out well around the holiday season.  Makes me come home and give Mr. CQT an extra squeeze.  I'm so thankful for our happy, peaceful family!

To add to the stress, we've been doing some renovations.  First, Mr. CQT cut a bunch of holes in the ceiling and walls.

The middle picture is in my sewing room.   Boo hoo!  We had some plumbing and electrical work done.  Then, we called in the drywallers.

For an entire week, the whole house was plastic covered, while they fixed the holes, scraped off the popcorn stipple from the ceiling and replaced it with gorgeous "knockdown" stipple.  (I was going to take a picture of the new ceiling, but it turned out that was a really boring photo!  It's much more exciting in real life.  Well, to us it is.)

The plastic is gone, so it's sort of back to normal.  But, right after New Years, we are having the fireplace replaced and the master bathroom re-done.  Then, the carpets will be replaced throughout the house.  So, it will be February before we're really back to normal - new normal!  We've been in this house 22 years, and this is the first work we've done other than painting, so it needed it!

I have managed to get a small bit of sewing done, even in the mess.  I joined up with Sandy at Quilting for the Rest of Us to do the Scrapitude Mystery Quilt.  My scrap bin is overflowing, and we did an exchange of 2.5 inch squares at the Guild last fall, so I really needed a great scrap project.  Amazingly enough, after I cut all the pieces, my scrap bin didn't seem to have gone down all that much!

I'm doing it completely scrappy.  I figured that was best for a Mystery Quilt - that way, I don't have to think at all about where the various pieces might end up.

First, a bunch of 4 patches - coloured and white:

Then 4 patches, dark and medium prints:

Those mediums are not as light as some of them look in the photo.

Now, a half - quarter square triangles, white and coloured:

Now, I have to sew a larger coloured half square triangle to the ones above, and I'm all caught up!

I'm linking to the last Scrapitude progress report linkup.

We had a very nice Christmas - it's much quieter after your children move out, that's for sure.  But they both came over and we opened gifts, then had Christmas Dinner with some friends.

Today, I'm doing a little sewing for the Boxing Day Sew In.

If you're on Twitter, use #BDSI to join in!