I love to share my Quilting projects with other Quilters. My goal is to share my progress on projects that I am working on. I would love for you to follow along with me during my endeavors. I hope you enjoy watching me tackle new techniques and projects. Hopefully you can learn from my "hiccups" and mistakes and make your journey easier.
Good evening all! I am so happy! I have bindings completed on Stars Around the Garden and York Lodge! There will be two more quilts coming from Rebecca but for now I am on top of things in spite of the Chinese Balloon Virus that took a month away from me. You can read my recap of things here.
Starting tomorrow I will just enjoy looking for a new project, or just enjoying my Studio after many months of dealing with UFO’s that required my attention! I want to get back to posting my new projects, etc., and reading the other Bloggers post! In other words, I am going to have more fun even if it is binding all the quilts! I am now really looking forward to the Hill Country Quilters Guild Show in late May
Have a great week and for this week I plan on just having fun deciding what to do next . I want to make a baby quilt and remember all those 80 Churn Dash blocks from last year? They need to become a quilt – they would make a great baby quilt!
It has been exactly one month since Clay and I came down with the Chinese Balloon Virus! For two people who do not socialize, go among the crowds, and have not been on a trip for 16 months how in the heck can we get sick? Clay recovered quicker than I did. Today I can say I am 100%. It took me 8 days to work up to my 1.5 miles each morning without being worn out by noon. I have missed reading, commenting on other’s post, and posting, but whatever the Virus was it was brutal for me and I am glad it is over with. I finally took a Z-pack about 2 weeks ago and will never take one again. To me it did nothing but tear my stomach up. Enough said of the lost month for me, it is history now.
Now on to quilting things. I actually have finished Block 7 of Moda Holiday Stitch Along!
On the Binding of Quilts Project – Irish Mist, Globetrotting, and Stonefields are completed. Irish Mist and Stonefields are ready for Labels and Sleeves for the Hill Country Quilt Show in May. Summer Blues is next for hand binding starting today.
This is Pat Sloan’s Globetrotting BOM. I love the Blue and White quilts! Hope to make more.
Bindings have been sewn on for Cozy Christmas, OMIGOSH, Alexander’s Bean Pot, Star of Chamblie, Sentimental Scraps and My Summer Blues quilts.
Cozy Christmas is a special quilt for me because it was the very first pieced quilt I made in 2004. When I first started quilting my quilts were mostly hand appliqued, or fusible applique with buttonhole stitching. This is a Fons and Porter quilt pattern from one of their magazines. Rebecca did a beautiful job on it.
Summer Blues is a quilt that I designed. I started this project in August 2022 and finished it in October 2022. You can read about my journey here, here, and here including posts from from August through October 2022.
Today I will be trimming Stars Around the Garden and York Lodge and prepare the binding for them. I first thought that I would not tackle the most difficult until this summer but I knew I would feel a big weight off my shoulders if I did them now and be finished!
I am hoping to complete one of them today (could be wishful thinking). Both quilts are very large and will require at least 400 inches of binding for each quilt. I am going to set a goal of having them finished by Thursday due to Doctor appointments on Monday and Wednesday. Both of the quilts are entered into the San Antonio Quilt Show in September.
As soon as I get the binding on them I will have completed the trimming and sewing on the binding for all of the 11 quilts from Rebecca (2 more due by the end of April). Next step is to finish the binding by hand. This will be a big relief for me as I was overwhelmed with all the quilts I quilted (16) and finished the bindings, then began the work of trimming and sewing the bindings for hand work on the 13 from Rebecca.
Altogether in October 2022 there were a total of 29 quilts that needed to be completed (quilted and binding completed) plus 4 were quilts that were quilted in 2014 but I had not finished the bindings. I have completed binding 19 of the quilts, so that leaves me 14 remaining as of today to hand bind. Of course this does not include the 10 that require hand quilting as they are my embroidered and needle turn applique quilts. But there is no hurry on these quilts this year!
My overall goal was to be finished with all quilts by June. I am anxious to work on new projects and may start something when the quilts are finished for the May Show. There are a total of 7 show quilts that will require sleeves and labels before the May Show. When I can reach that goal, the rest of the year will be mine with absolutely NO deadlines for anything but to have fun.
I would be remiss if I did not send out a special shout out to Rebecca of Rebecca Grace Quilting at this time. Rebecca is a one of a kind Professional Longarm Quilter. I have learned so much from her to include different types of battings available on the market versus what was available when I started quilting in 2001, threads, and how to prepare different backings. This Lady is an excellent example of whom to hire for your special quilting needs. I would not be on top of my “to be quilted” backlog if not for her nor would I have the most beautifully quilted quilts to show in May and September. She will have more quilts to quilt for me in the future. AND I anticipate a few ribbons in our future! I highly recommend Rebecca for those “special” quilts! Thank you Rebecca for all you have done for me.
Well, I am hoping this week to get back on my schedule (especially after Monday and Wednesday). I miss reading your posts and providing a comment on your work. May you have a wonderful week and stay away from Chinese Balloons – LOL.
I am blessed to be up and working on my quilts and doing my daily 1.5 miles each day at the age of 78! It would have been so easy to just give up and sit in a chair the rest of my days but I refused to give in.
It is hard to believe that I have been sick for almost 30 days. I lost precious time with my binding project or for that matter any quilting project. To add insult to my illness, two weeks ago this Sunday I tripped and did a crash landing in the Studio, scrapping my left knee, breaking the fall on my little humidifier, and fell on the left upper side bruising a rib. Talk about things coming in 3’s. This last Monday I woke to a frozen windpipe – all due to the lovely Virus that gave me a Sinus infection and ended up with Bacterial Bronchitis. I finally had to get medication as my body could not fight anymore. My doctor sent me a Z-pack, I started an Inhaler for 3 days, and sat in the Recliner for 3 days plus most of yesterday.
This morning I woke up feeling like myself and headed for the Studio for coffee! Clay thought he was over his Chinese Ballon Virus (we call it that because we do not socialize, nor go much of anywhere to get what we had.) but when we went for a checkup yesterday, he ended up with a Steroid shot and will do Flonase for a week or so. What fun!
We are not the only people to get this mess, it starts with a funny feeling in the tummy, extreme headache for awhile, then the coughing sets in. Clay’s went to his chest, mine stopped the the Bronchial Tubes. Then you have NO appetite and you just quit eating, which makes it worse. I had no desire to do anything but just sit in my Recliner. During the month I would think I was over it and would start my walking, but after 3 days I was back in the Recliner. We know of at least 10 people who have had this mess and it is no fun.
But today thanks to the Z-Pack I feel a lot better and hope to at least sit in the Studio and continue to bind Globetrotting quilt and maybe start on the binding for Sentimental Stitches. No promises – Just do not want to see the Recliner.
I am hoping that I can do an update (small one) on where I am in my binding project by Sunday. In the meantime, I am going to finish up my Z-pack by tomorrow and should really feel better by Sunday.
I do hope everyone is well, has a blessed Good Friday and a Blessed Easter celebrating Jesus arising from the grave. This has not been one of the best Holy Weeks that I have seen in my life time. Our country is in trouble and all we can do for now is to ask God to help us.
I am also hoping to getting back to reading the blogs I like to follow next week. In the meantime have a blessed week-end.
Chopin - A Passionate Quilter From Texas 