The Bucket List - Quilting Version

I've been reading this book:




It is about how setting and achieving goals leads to greater happiness in life. The author encourages readers to make a list or lists with goals to achieve, both short-term and long-term. The act of writing it down is the first step toward accomplishing it; sharing your goals with others is also important because your social circle can help or hinder the accomplishment of your goals.

So I am sharing this list here - my list of quilts I've seen on the internet that inspire me to make something similar someday.


Anne's A Tisket A Tasket Block-of-the-Month quilt
So cute, perfect for my kitchen quilt wall-hanging holder, and I've been wanting to try applique again. I have most of the fabric, just need the background. And I need to start!


Megan's wild applique
I love the bright colors on brown so I put the Aunt Millie book on my Amazon.com list.


Heather of Anka's Treasures has a brand new book with lots of great looking ideas. I don't know whether I'll make All Wrapped Up or Chain Reaction first.


Bookcase quilt
This is such a creative use of selvages. Something like this would be a fantastic gift for my husband, the bookworm and high school English teacher. But I would have to substitute Corgis for the cats.


Kellie's Circles quilt
Kellie has a distinctive style that is very unlike my usual thing. I am taken with the exuberance of this design and it would be a big challenge as it take me very much out of my comfort zone.


Hanne's Nearly Insane Quilt
Ninety-eight 6" blocks! Are we clear on how this quilt got its name? So intricate and gorgeous, and a real testament to Hanne's skill. I look forward to the day when my piecing skills are such that I have the confidence to take on something similar.


Grandmother's Flower Garden hexagon quilt
The quilt is shown in a photo taken at a quilting store so I'm not sure who made or designed it. I've long wanted to paper-piece one of these, even have a few "flowers' started. Neutrals are unusual for this design but I very much like the look. This would make a great portable or carry-around-to-work-on-while-waiting-here-and-there project.


By the way, I admire women who blog in English when it is not their first language. I took French in school but I would not get far with a blog consisting of "Ou est le biblioteque?" and "Je m'appelle Cathy." I'm starting to pick up a few Spanish phrases from repeated exposure in our local bodega. I think the sign at the cash register translates as something along the lines of "If you spend $15 you get a free can of black beans."

Essential Quilting Books - Quilting Design

So the top is pieced and you have a flimsy. How to quilt it? Even if you send most of your tops out to a longarm quilter, you will find plenty of guidance in these two books.

A Fine Line : Techniques and Inspirations for Creating the Quilting Design, by Melody Crust and Heather Waldron Tewell - This book covers both hand and machine quilting techniques but the main focus is on how to select a quilting design that will enhance your piecing or appliqué and is achievable according to your skill level. There are lots of examples and what I particularly like is how the authors have shown the different effects achieved by quilting identical tops in different ways. Quilts used as examples include both traditional pieced and appliquéd as well as contemporary pictorial and abstract designs.

Quilt It! by Barbara Chainey – This book uses illustrations to show the different effects achieved by using different quilting designs on the same pieced top. It is a fabulous resource for different quilting designs, leaning towards the designs found in traditional, hand quilted quilts. If you want an alternative to meandering or pantograph designs, you will find it here.

Let's Talk Rotary Cutters

A few months back I was experiencing pain in my right hand and began to worry that I might be getting arthritis. I am much too young for that! Plus it could seriously mess up my quilting! Fortunately, the pain was mild, eased over a couple of days, and went away completely. Until last week. Same pain back, particularly in the palm of my right hand. When I tried to hold a rotary cutter it got worse, with the pain concentrated in the area where the rotary cutter handle meets my palm. This got me thinking that it might be caused by overuse or pressing too hard with the rotary cutter. I put cutting on hold for a few days and went easy with the computer mouse too but it took five days for the pain to go away completely.

Have you experienced anything like this? I use the old version, straight handle Olfa. Maybe I should try the new ergonomic version.

And The Winner Is...

Me!

I was one of the door prize winners in the drawing Amy of parkcitygirl held for her Bloggers’ Quilt Festival. This was pretty exciting, especially as I so rarely win anything. My prize arrived today; these eight fat quarters from the Woodland Bloom collection, donated by the twiddletails store. I like these fabrics plus they will force me to do something new because they are not my usual palette. Thanks so much Amy and Anina.

Take a look at the twiddletails store. She carries a lot of what I call the “modern look” in quilting fabrics and has her own patterns and block-of-the-month offerings.

Salvaged Selvages

Have you been bitten by the selvage bug? I stumbled on the Selvage Blog and now I can feel the sickness coming on! So I’m cutting and saving my selvages, though I don’t have a specific use in mind yet. But I’m sure to find plenty of ideas if I keep checking back at http://www.selvageblog.blogspot.com/.

Some Work-In-Progress

I consider the weather a boring topic of conversation but I feel compelled to bring it up today. Are you having freaky weather? Last Thursday, we wore our winter coats to the baseball game; it was pretty nippy and my feet were numb by the time we left. Then by Saturday, we had temps in the 80's, 96 degrees yesterday, and another scorcher today! Yes, it is time for warmer weather but I would have liked a few weeks of spring before summer! But I hear it will cool down later in the week.

Anyway, although I was on chauffer duty for Miss Main Street's lacrosse games over the weekend, I did manage to get some work done on the project I blogged about last Monday. Here's a peek; more to follow when I get closer to completion. This project is making a little dent in my collection of 30's repro fabrics.

My husband jokingly refers to my sewing room as "the sweatshop" and that's what it is today so I'm taking a break now.

Quick Trip to Local Quilt Store

I went to my LQS this morning to hand off a finished top to my long-arm quilter, Karen. But there was no escaping without making a purchase! I bought some fat quarters and yardage from the Patisserie and Beach House lines by Moda. I have something in mind for these but will save it for later.

And I bought this pattern: Fiesta! from Lynda Milligan and Nancy Smith of Possibilities. It was displayed with a sample quilt. Very impressive and sort of like Christmas Pickle, yet different. I'm not sure when I'll get to this or what I will make it out of (I am thinking Halloween colors but not sure about that) but I had to have it.

We are going to the Trenton Thunder baseball game tonight. Miss Main Street's school band is playing the national anthem. I hope we don't freeze!