February? Already??

The rainy days seem so long - how on earth does the month speed by??

Today I hung a show of last year's Mod Squad projects  in the library display cases.  And it's fabulous!

To recap ... I met Deborah Boschert in Houston 2016 and bought her book Art Quilt Collage.  Brought it home and talked a few friends into forming a group to study the layout designs.  Each month one of us led the discussion on the new design that we all made before the next meeting.  We gently critiqued each piece and tried to guess who made it.  That was harder than we expected!!

I started it off in February - with a 'Design to Quilt' exercise of "Line".  We each picked from precut magazine pictures and ads to look at the elements within.  It was eye opening to notice there was purple in the yellow beak of the Toucan!

The next two months were Landscape and Grid, easy choices.  Everyone is familiar with landscapes in photos or art.  And of course, quilting blocks are the ultimate grid for us!

One of my favorites was "Magic Threes"  M - the leader that day - brought Oreo cookies - 3 parts!!

We went on to One Amazing Line; Symmetry; Modular and others.  P and I were lucky enough to go to #CraftNapa in January and take a class with Deborah.

The library cases are enormous!  61 x 38 x 20!!  and there are TWO of them!

So let's talk about my favorite books last year!  I'm a library girl so most of these I'm sure you can find in your lovely local library.  I do have some books on Kindle, but still enjoy actually holding a book and turning the pages.

Funny story - my DH buys the new Stephen King book for me every year.  I devour it and then pass it onto my son who is also a big fan.  This year, I started reading his latest in bed and the next morning my shoulder was killing me.  Oh NO!  Can it be true that I no longer can handle reading Stephen King??  Not the content - the weight!!??  So next year, even though it goes against the grain, DH will buy it on kindle for me!!!

Breakthrough Series by Michael Grumley  Fascinating Science Fiction in the 'near future'

A Spool of Blue Thread by Ann Tyler  Who does family and ordinary life better??

The Old Man by Thomas Perry   I loved his Jane Whitefield series.  I hope to see more with this character too.

The Girl Before by JP Delaney  Who wouldn't want an opportunity to live in a quirky house in the middle of the city? But you might think twice after reading this!

The Chemist by Stephanie Meyer  Better known now for the Twilight Vampires, I really love her 'other' books.  The Host was an all time favorite of mine.

The Shark Club by Ann Kidd Taylor  An oceanographer revisits home even though she feels more at home with sharks!

The 37th Hour by Jodi Compton  Has her husband disappeared or is she losing her mind?

Piano Tide by Kathleen Dean Moore  I really couldn't put this book down.  Even though it is placed in Alaska - it was so-o Oregonian!!

Mr Penumbra's Twenty-Four Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan  I got caught away from home without a book !!  Gasp!  So I borrowed this one from my DDIL. So glad I did!

I also dived back into Faye Kellerman's Rina series.  I had a few to catch up with.

I love that I keep track of the books I read.  When I'm bored and between great books, I can look back and see what authors I loved back when.  THEN I can go look them up and see if I've missed anything new.  Try it - you'll like it!!!

Well, that week didn't go as planned!

It was the best of times, it was the worse of times ... more of the latter!  Sunday night I had a little episode of "Keystone Kops get a let cramp!" Ended up bruising a rib and 3 other points on my body!  It's just ridiculous how getting old is not that fun!!

But I made the best of it.  I was unsupervised - DH was on a golf trip!  I had all this stuff already out from the retreat, so why not get ALL the rest of it out and stir it up a bit??  So out came to bags, bins, boxes and bushel baskets of scraps that live here and there in the condo!  And it just exploded from there!!!  By Wednesday, even I was appalled at what a mess I had made!!!

I had a short list of projects I started gathering for retreat. No I didn't get to all of them, still haven't!!!   - but now it's time to get organized (in order to create loads of chaos in our condo!)  If I'm going to get all the scraps out, I need a list of what needs to be cut.  There are 10 projects on my list and I need sizes from 10" squares to 2.5" squares!  So - cut cut cut! Stack stack stack and keep it organized!  We're going to need chocolate!

First up is a smaller version of that awesome asymmetrical rainbow diamond.  If I cut the squares at 5.5" then the HSTs will finish at 4".  That will work !!  Should I pair it with a white on white fabric again?  Or something with more pizzazz?  Time will tell!  First I have to find all those bright fabrics I used before.  Oh-oh!

Another project on the list is 'Slash a Stash'.  Sounds like fun, doesn't it!!  It's not what comes up with Google - I tried.  In fact, it's surprisingly hard to find online.  So I pulled out the blurry printed instructions from 2003, designed by Susan Fuquay for American Quilt Retailer Magazine. It was a free give away pattern at a Quilt Store.  Here's a link to someone else talking about it!  It's a scrappy asymmetrical Bento Box.  6" square surrounded by 3.5" strips of one fabric, like a Happy Block.  Make many of these blocks.  Then cut them asymmetrically - shuffle and rejoin.  Turns out darn cute - or at least I'm hoping it will!

The printed pattern just uses 6 pairs of FQs.  But let's face it - all fabric goes together, right?  So choose your favorites and start sewing them together.

There's Angles and Squares from the book "A Thread Runs Through It" by Barbara Dieges. A variation of Road to Oklahoma?

There's Many Scrappy Trips by Bonnie Hunter.  16 x 2.5 strips

There's a Moda Bake Shop pattern called Basic Math.

Most of what I like this year is asymmetrical!  Goodness - that's kind of quirky!!  But I'm going with it!

Big news - I also finished an UFO this weekend!!  Hoo-Rah!  I was Lady In Waiting #9 and headed toward UFO Queen at the speed of light!!  What a relief to be back in slacker heaven! Hmmm, I mean the bottom of the list!

This quilt is a QOV quilt.  Based on the 'Mystery at the Tea Shop' which our guild ran as a mystery this last year. (We didn't know the name of it at the time, of course!!)  The mystery was smaller than required by QOV so I made 10 extra blocks and put in sashing strips that made a secondary pattern.  

SS, a QOV long-armer in Eugene quilted it for me and I put the binding on it, ran it through the wash and labeled it.  Done-done!!  I even had a sunny day to take a picture of it outside!  I haven't said that very often lately!

Taken in the side yard of our condo building.  The sun was so bright off the ocean, I couldn't even get a good shot of the ocean as backgroud!

I also topped and made a back for this baby quilt for the famous Brookings Yearly Baby Shower - I'm sure you're tired of hearing about it!!

 

                                    Front                                                 Back

Made from some jungle prints I used in a strippie quilt for a great nephew's baby quilt years ago.  But a fellow Stashbusters member- a Yahoo online group -  posted this baby quilt.  That is one clever design!  I've already been thinking about the next one(s) I want to make!!

I used 8" blocks.  4 1/2" squares for the 4 patches. Top and bottom borders to lengthen it - easy peasy.  Yep, it's an addition to the cutting list!

This week is busy.  Haircut, Valentine's Day.  I have to make a presentation to the Veteran's Group here.  We'd like to make QOV presentation at the quilt show.  If anyone out there (yes, you my invisible friends) has done this before, please let me know.  I have a few questions!  AND just between you and me, this type of thing makes me very nervous!  I don't know enough about how QOV works to tell someone else, especially a room full of non-quilters!  Yikes!  

And Friday is the first meeting of "Mod Squad"!  Showing my age, but a group of us would like to learn modern design methods for quilts. And that name just makes me smile!!  When I was at Houston last fall, I met Deborah Boschert.  Her quilts are fabulous!  I bought her book "Art Quilt Collage" and talked a few like-minded quilters into working through the book as a workshop.

It's a case of the blind leading the halt!  But we have a few really good teachers in the group.  We'll take turns leading the sessions.  I lead on Friday!  We're going over page 20 - getting inspired from photographs.

Our goal is to make a 15 inch square example of the designated design each month.  We are to 'sneak' it into the shop where we meet before the next meeting.  The owner is going to keep our anonymity, hang them in the classroom area.  We're going to gently critique them and try to guess who made what!!  We'll see how long that lasts!  Next year we hope to have an 'endcap' at the quilt show showing our process and what we've created.  Another reason to be nervous - but of course, everyone in the class knows we're all beginners ... and hopefully will be bringing their patience along too.

The last new-to-me technique that I got hooked on this week is "Magic Numbers" quilt method.  Yep, it's also asymmetrical but 'cubist'???  I had hauled some leftover fabric and blocks from a YBR I did 8 years ago for a DGS. (8 years???) I wanted to use it up, it's darn cute, but not make another YBR.  

I love YBR - but the blocks are quite big for a crib quilt.  I wanted it the same but different!  This afternoon I had my second boo-boo this week. (I stubbed my little toe HARD putting furniture back in place. Yowzer! 

 I was just cleaning all the quilt supplies, piles and tools back into the sewing room before DH came home!!  Well, I had to ice the toe.  So I started playing with all the pieces I'd cut at retreat.  It's so very addicting!  I did cut additional shapes.  4.5x6.5; 3.5x3.5; 3.5x6.5; etc.  And yes, it is magic - they do all go together!  So fun!

See what I mean about 'cubist'?!?  It's currently 22 x 25.  Since I gave myself more part sizes, I haven't worked out a new 'block' pattern yet.  It's been fun to add to one side then the next.  I'm going to need more parts cut and ready to go!  I think I'll aiim for 36x45 for size.  Unless it's so darn cute I'll dump the baby shower idea and make it king-size for our bed!!!!

Oh, that is so me!!  Tee-hee!

Happy Belated New Year!!

Welcome 2017 - Rainbow Rock Beach style

I'm back among the living ... barely!!  I was sick over the holidays.  Sorry kids! I was at their houses before it really hit.  It all started with a 3 day headache - which is most often a sign that I have been exposed to cats without knowing it! (Yeah, welcome to my world!!)  So I didn't think much of it.

Then a hacky cough added itself to the mix.  And then we were off and running (nose too!)  We came limping home early on the 27th, whereupon I went to bed and didn't do much of anything until yesterday??? The 28th was our 44th wedding anniversary.  We sat in our jammies and watched two DVRs that we like! Not the celebration we had planned! During the week as I tried to get over this, I watched alot of West Wing - Season 5 and 6; and read 5 library books!

My DH and DD had a clue when after dinner on CHRISTMAS I disappeared into the guest room and went to bed!  But, moving on, getting over it!!  (I heard you laugh - you're right, that's not my strong point!!)

We have not had the weather tantrums here that the rest of the nation is not enjoying!  It came close - below freezing and snow up the mountains ... but supposedly a week of rain is coming and we'll feel just as put upon as all of you.

I love lists at the end of the year.  I met Deborah Boschert at the Houston show.  She's a modern quilter with a few books out.  I really like her style, she's easy to talk to and very knowledgeable!  And she likes lists too!

She sends out a email newsletter that's interesting and fun to read.  This a link to the latest edition (I hope!) Because she doesn't just email what's on her blog.  There should be a 'join this list' somewhere within that email.

Here's some of the lists Deborah posted: Atlantic Magazine's Best Podcasts of 2016. I followed a few podcasts a couple of years back.  Serial and Jillian Michaels and of course, TED.  But I got out of the habit of listening ... There are lots of possibilities on this list that might just put me back in the habit.  Anyone out there have a favorite Podcast they recommend?

Here is the National Geographic's Best Photos of the Year.  Definitely worth scrolling through! It's always good to see the best of the best!

And last AND the longest!!  Vulture's List of Lists Worth Reading!!  I hadn't heard of Vulture:  Devouring Culture!  Website lists TV, Movies and Music.

You'll have to wait til next post for my list!  I love to look back over the year, projects, books, and Life in General!

Resolutions - I've always been a big fan and like many can usually use last years for this years!!  My favorite received from a friend "Gain 15 lbs and read trashy novels!!"

While recouping, I've been looking over past years' blogs, diaries, to do lists!!  Last year I wanted to lose 44 pounds.  Well, I lost 10 altogether.  That's progress, I don't feel like a total failure.

Everyone in blogdom seems to be on the "word or phrase" of the year for 2017.

So my phrase for this year is:  Enjoy my life with steady progress!  I tend to be a "all or none" type A personality!  Driving myself and all around me nuts!!  Part of that is living with things that I don't have time to do or complete now, so I don't do them at all!  Or over-eating restricted foods all day because of one bite earlier??

Well, this last month I decided I didn't need the entire condo in perfect condition.  I did have the time to fix those things that were really bothering me. And it worked!!  I didn't have the time or the weather to clean all the windows but I COULD clean out the window tracks.  I didn't have time to do all the woodwork, but I could clean the louver door in front of the washer/dryer alcove. (And a pox on the person that decided louvers were the way to hide washer and dryers! Lint and louvers = not good!)

I don't have time to sew all the 35 pillowcase kits I cut for the Million Pillowcase Challenge.  But I might be able to sew 5 at a time??  I cut kits last fall when I was clearing out stash. Then missed the Work Day at Guild where I was going to be Tom Sawyer-ish!

This new way of looking at things seems to be working well. Especially as I recoup from that flu.  Not enough energy to do much, but I can walk two laps around the parking lot. (about a 1/2 mile).  I'll keep you informed as to how it's going.  What are your hopes and plans for the new year??

Here's a behind the scene picture of the fabulous DH writing 2017 on the beach for me.  I took a 1/2 mile walk earlier as well as some cleaning.  There was no way I was going to be able to get back up our 'goat path' to the beach if I went!  So DH to the rescue!!  Thanks baby!