3/2/14

Buttons, Linkies, and Secrets

Looking for the February NewFO Linky Party?

We had a lovely day here on Friday...the warmest temperatures in months. Saturday it rained all day, and Sunday seems to be no different. You would think that with the rain our pollen count would be lower, but we keep getting tree pollen alerts. I was sneezing my head off on Thursday, and when I checked the Weather Channel app for my area, I saw this:



It didn't surprise me that the pollen count would be high on sunny and windy days, but I'm surprised that it remains high even with the rain. Oh well. My nose knows.

Today's post is written mainly to link up to a couple of my favorite linky parties. First is Something Old, Something New. In 2014, I've decided I want to try some new techniques, take some classes, join a guild, etc., and so this challenge comes at a good time.

Never too hot to Stitch!

In February, I was using the same quilt for both the old and the new. It's this Intel Underneath quilt that I started back in January of 2013, and my goal was to finish the top. That part was accomplished.


It's a large quilt at 90 x 90 inches. For the something new part of the challenge, I was going to take a class at one of my local quilt shops to learn to use their long arm machines. My goal was to rent time on their machines and quilt this myself as my first solo project. But as these things often go, I spoke with the quilt shop when there was no class on the schedule. They directed me to call the instructor directly, which I did. We spoke for some time, and she was undecided whether to schedule a class in February or whether to wait until March. She promised to call me and let me know the date. Of course, that didn't happen. 

When I finally called the quilt shop, it was too late to make up the necessary quilt top for the March class. (The class requires participants to bring a special quilt top made ahead of time.) So...all of that to say that I didn't get to take the class. That was okay because I'd had second thoughts about using this quilt (intended to celebrate my son's graduation from engineering school) as my first project. I'll choose another quilt for that. And now, I'm on the list of people to take the April class. Hopefully, it will work out better in April. 

So February's Something Old was completed. Something New was not. Now I'm looking forward to March. My goal for March is to complete my oldest UFO project, the Blogger's BOM. I started this quilt with the rest of the group way back in August of 2011. It was a 13-month project, and doing the math, I calculate that I had all of the blocks completed in September of 2012. I wasn't happy with the instructions to complete the quilt, and so decided to strike out on my own. The last time I worked on this, I was auditioning fabrics for sashings, cornerstones, and borders.


The original BOM used fabrics from a particular Kaffe Fasset line, but I made mine a scrap quilt, using scraps from my stash. The blocks ended up with wide variation in colors and styles, and so I've been undecided about what fabrics to use to finish it off. I'm pretty settled with that blue green for the sashings and maybe an inner border. I think I might use that green polka dot in the upper right as cornerstones in the sashing. The blocks are bright and fun, and so the polka dot will be bright and fun. I think by using it in the cornerstones, it won't distract from the blocks. I have another fabric picked out for the outer border (not shown here), but I'm not sure I'll like it. Whatever I decide, the quilt top gets finished in March. It's been loitering around my sewing room long enough, smoking cigarettes, burping, farting, and generally making a mess. Time for some tough love.

For my something new, I'm using the same project that I'm using for the "Let's Book It" challenge. 

It will be a new technique to me: Stained Glass Fusible applique from this book:


I chose one of the less complicated projects from the book, this daffodil wall hanging:


It's a small piece at 11-3/4 x 21-5/8 inches. Don't ask me about the 5/8 inch...I have a feeling mine won't be that precise. A few of you expressed interest in this technique when I posted it with my monthly goals. I'll take lots of pictures so that you can see how it's done.

Yesterday Mike and I had a marathon session watching some of the first season of "House of Cards", the Netflix series starring Keven Spacey. 


We are liking it very much. Really makes you want to cozy up to politicians. Not. We missed the whole first season. We live in an area not served by broadband internet, and so we can't download the massive data we need from Netflix to watch these programs over the airwaves. Yes, we live in a cave in Outer Mongolia...or something like that. And while I'm talking about it, here's some of the art work from our living room here in Outer Mongolia:


That's a picture of me tapping my foot while waiting for something to download on our wireless (i.e., not broadband) internet connection. But I'm not bitter. Anyway, good program. We're enjoying it. 

But before we turned on the TV, I spent the day working on my doll quilt for the Monthly Doll Quilt Swap.

 Doll Quilters

This month's optional theme is "Keen on Green". I can't show you my project because it's a surprise for my partner, Sher. I'll give you a little peek, though. 


Any guesses? I'm doing the project a little differently than the instructions told me, and it's working out great. I should probably get it finished today.

Finally, I'm joining the linky party over at Kathy's Quilts today with my Slow Sunday Stitching project.


Right now I'm working on the 6th of the Quilted Snowladies. I have most of the bottom part of the design finished now. Over the next week, I'll start focusing more on the snowlady.


My kitty is strategically placed this month.

So that's it from me today. Time to get going on my doll quilt. I hope you're having a lovely weekend!

15 comments:

Quilter Kathy said...

Wow... what a lot of projects you are working on!
Love the stitchery as always, and the cat and sign made me LOL for real! Enjoy!
Thanks for linking up to Slow Sunday Stitching!

Vroomans' Quilts said...

Lots of great projects. LOL, love were kitty is sitting!

quiltzyx said...

I'm at work, sitting in the basement of the safety office, waiting for the phone to ring... It wasn't raining when I came in, but it's a secret as to whether it's raining now or not. Driving in I could see the snow level had dropped overnight - barely visible beneath the clouds. My friend & boss Laura was my first call today. This week is "employee appreciation week" here at the Claremont Colleges. Since I'm not working this week, Laura is going to stop at Subway & bring me lunch! She said that in the about 30 years she has worked here, this is something new! Last year we got a gift card at Xmas time, to a local grocery store. Then on Valentine's we each got a beautiful rose. And they've had a few free lunches/breakfasts - the new management is being really wonderful to us! Now if I could only get on full-time!
Anyway... love all of your projects. Your DQ is intriguing! Good luck on ALL of your projects!

Sher S. said...

You have piqued my interest in the doll quilt, can hardly wait to see it finished. LOL!! You do have a lot of things that you are working on. I'd be stressed out by now. We have had 5.43" of rain in 3 days.That is more than we had all of last year combined. Last year we had less than 4" of rain. It's still overcast here and they said we could get a little more rain before it moves out. My backyard now looks like it has a swimming pool in it. At least I don't have to water my flowers for at least a week. Wish I had planted my veggies before the rain.

Christine M said...

I love your snowlady Barbara. How cute is your little cat sitting behind the sign!

Kathy ... aka Nana said...

I just love that snow lady ... And her kitty is adorable!

Lyndsey said...

I love your projects especially the snow lady. I love having a lot of projects all on the go at once. It means I don't get bored with what I'm doing. It's a shame about broadband. Here in London we are very lucky to have really fast internet but travel into the rural areas and I can't get onto the mobile phone network let alone the internet.

Kate said...

Not a bad month even if you had to change your plans.

We've had freezing rain, sleet and snow today. I'm so ready for spring.

Lisa J. said...

I also work on a million things at once. But it's good to finish some of them up as well. I really like the second quilt. It's full of life and energy.

Lynda Halliger Otvos (Lynda M O) said...

White board, iirc, is how you keep all those projects organized !~! Incredible. I love the fusible daffodil and look forward to seeing it come together.

Brown Family said...

I like the stained glass project. It will be interesting to watch it go together. I am working on a twister quilt. You sew 5 inch (or 7 or 3.2 or 2.5) blocks together in a specific layout add borders and then cut it apart with a twister tool and sew it back together again. It makes pinwheels. As I was cutting the last three rows I realized that I had not added the borders! So now I have this funny frame that I will add borders to and then cut it up. I have taken the scraps and squared them up to 2.5 inch blocks and will make a mini version. That should keep me in the house and off the slick streets and out of the low teen's temps!

Dana Gaffney said...

Woo Hoo, I'd love to take long arm lessons and have one available when I'd like to use it.

KatieQ said...

I really love the bright look of your Bloggers's BOM. I am such a chicken when it comes to color choices that it makes me really appreciate bold choices that other quilters make.
Sorry you missed you chance at the long arm class. Hope it works out better in April.

Denise :) said...

I don't know how you do it -- you're such a powerhouse of activity!! I love the stained glass daffodil -- my favorite spring flower! Can't wait to see it take shape under your artful fingers! :)

Wendy said...

you are busy! I love the look of stained glass applique and I bought a pattern to make one... must dig that out! What part of Outer Mongolia do you live in? I visited in 2003 and loved it, but we went to the capital Ulan Baatar where I think they did have broadband... ;0)