189

For folks who keep track of such things....like me....hahahaha

I emptied 189 spools of thread in 2013.  that figure is up from 2012....which was 160.  

Let's see if i can't make 200 in 2014. I'll bet i can.

I am on a mission to use up fabric and thread. i cleaned out the studio today and filled 5 boxes with fabrics that are going to the thrift store. along with a few more things that i know i will never get around to....embroidery blocks....baby quilt......cutouts for dresden plate. something has to go. so i pitched everything i KNOW i wouldn't use or didn't like. i do use a lot of ugly fabrics for a base when i am doing selvage blocks.....so i kept a bit for that. 

The idea is not to buy any fabric in 2014 and keep track of how many yards i use. 

The goal is to use:

200 yds of fabric
200 spools of thread

and quilt up those 100 tops in the to-be-quilted cabinet. 

I am going to be very busy in 2014....starting tomorrow.  i may have to give up sleeping. i really don't need 7 or 8 hours of sleep every night....do I?

Happy New Year people!!

December Git 'Er Done Challenge

It might be a good thing that this year is coming to an end. this was a tough month to get everything accomplished...but i did it. 

My 4 projects were:

1. Piece some batting parts to make whole battings to use. i only managed to get one finished...but 1 is better than none. this is 85x90" and it already is pieced with a top and backing...ready for quilting. 

2.  Finish any one of my UFOs....done.  I finished this one and called it Blue Country.

There are 6 machine embroidery blocks...this is the part that i had already and created the rest.

And 6 blocks of blue and white toile fabric.

And some wild blue and white sashings and border.

Now it just needs to be quilted.

3.  Quilt any of my quilt tops.  I quilted up My Tweets. it is a hand applique quilt....with wool felt...on a flannel background. it was pieced in 2012-2013. and finally finished quilting it yesterday. 

Lots of fun

Lots of small applique pieces.

4.  Cover chair cushions for the Duck with burlap coffee sacks. this was one coffee sack from Hawaii. i cut it in half and covered 2 cushions. it was really easy. 

I let the cushion ties hang out so i could tie them to the chairs.

I have another coffee sack that i was going to use for the other 2 cushions, but it is very coarse and heavy. i will use it for something else and find another nicer sack for my other 2 cushions. i'm on the lookout. hahaha

I don't know if there will be a Git 'Er Done Challenge in 2014....but i managed to keep up in 2013 and got everything accomplished. sometimes it was rough and i was pushing on the last day or two of the month. but i guess that is why it is called a 'challenge'. 

I think i am ready for 2014. i have lofty plans....as usual. i have about a 100 tops to quilt. and am seriously working on using up my stash of fabrics.....and scraps.....and selvages.....and threads.  sheesh!!   i think in about 10 years i'll use it all up. hahahahaha

See you in the New Year.

Have a safe and happy New Year.

Some hand applique blocks

Another couple blocks got finished this week.

This is Tree of Paradise from Robert Callaham's Floral Garden quilt. i am appliqueing them in wood felt on a muslin background.

And this is block 5, Columbines, in the Garden Gatherings quilt. more wool felt.

I am also working on my Mary Lincoln Mourning quilt but it is slow going. i have to make more ruched flowers and fancy leaves. at least the applique is going quicker.

Hopefully these 2 quilts will have the blocks all finished in the next 3 months or so. if i quit starting new things. LOL

Later

My Tweets

This is a hand applique quilt....wool felt on a flannel background. i believe i started it in 2012 and worked on it about a year. finally got it quilted up. 

Here is the center part. I stitched all around the applique.  

Some pebbles in the middle parts

And a flowery, feathery thing around the outside.

Part of the top block after stitching around all the applique i then did an echo around everything. the sashings got l's and e's. the border around the center got 8's....kind of wobbly 8's. the border got curvy piano keys....every other pink line.

Here are all the individual blocks. I missed getting a pic of the back. the binding that you see here is the same as the back.....a light mint green floral cotton....not flannel.

When there are 2 and 3 layers of flower parts on top of each other....the close handles of the longarm got stuck on them. a bit thick.

I believe this is the quilt that i originally bought all this wool for.....i think. most of the birds have blue top knots. there are 2 or 3 pair that are yellow. i got creative with these bunches of grapes. i was NOT going to sew each individual circle....so i made the whole bunch and sewed around each one....it works for me.

It was a lot of fun figuring out what colors to choose. this bird is the grandmother bird....gray feathers. LOL

I switched out the shades of purples for the birds.

There were a LOT of little pieces....and hundreds of leaves. 

I didn't notice until i quilted this that these birds don't have the top knot. i really don't know if the pattern was that way or i simply forget to make them. funny how you don't notice things until you are quilting it...or have a picture of it.

The flannel was really easy to stitch on. 

This pattern called for the pieces to sit next to each other....rather than overlap. i did them that way but it was harder to keep them in place. i think if i did another pattern like this i would make them a tad larger and overlap things.

Lime green Glide thread on the top and pale yellow Bottom Line in the bobbin. 

This is just the start of many tops in the to-be-quilted cabinet that will be finished in 2014.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all my friends and family near and far

May your day be filled with laughter, good food and good friends.

Happy Anniversary to the Duck!

Three years ago today i signed the paperwork to buy the Duck. 

A lot has happened in those 3 years. We've gone from this:

To this...with a little paint and taking out those bushes. found a planter bed behind the bushes. still want to take out those steps and built a small circular porch there. need some serious grass therapy, too.

This was the original dining room...with an old fashioned pass through and lots of paneling.

Pass through now gone.. made doorway instead. and closed up other doorway
And have barn wood on the walls....painted foxfire. 

Old kitchen with cabinets

Kitchen now all gutted....drywall on walls.

Old pantry cabinets

Now painted pink. paneling is off the walls. Walls in here will be metal sheets....like used for roofs.

Almost all the new windows are in. New doors are all in. All insulated. New plumbing. New electric. Drywall on ceilings and walls. 

The laundry room has been painted orange. There is an old wooden ironing board hung on the wall to use for pinning things. I have some old irons on shelves (more since this pic). 

A piece of barn wood furniture in here with a quilt hung behind the glass. brown glass bottles hold clothespins, soaps, pins, etc. This room will have corrugated tin on the walls also. 

It has certainly been fun.....demolition is pretty cool to me. hahahaha    and finding things in thrift stores to decorate with is fun, too. 

The Duck will rest now until Spring.....when prettying-up mayhem will commence. there will be tape and mud on drywall......paint on walls....ceiling lights and fans hung. bathroom put together. maybe even some yard work. i envision flower beds and trellises and things. i gotta rest up. hahahahah

Happy Anniversary Duck

Some hand appliqued blocks

A few more blocks got finished this week.

#4 from Garden Gatherings. they are cone flowers and primrose.

And from Robert Callaham's Floral Garden i finished..

Garden Vase

And Wild Garden Rose

The next block i am working on in this series is a horrid one. it not only has Y seams....they are on a curve. what was wrong with this man?  sigh!!    but i'm getting there. i believe it will require a lot of steam and starch for it to lay flat though. LOL

Stay tuned

Blue Country

This is my UFO that i chose to finish....to a top anyway....for this month's challenge. i am calling it Blue Country.  

There are 6 blocks that are machine embroidered. They are kind of cool with the darker blue flowers over the country design.

The other 6 blocks are scenes from a piece of blue and white toile that i found in my stash. 

In keeping with the blue and white theme....the border is a bright blue with white circles

And the sashings are a blue and white diamond design. 

Now it is residing in the to-be-quilted cabinet. that took care of a bit of blue stash. now to go find something else to piece together.