Good Bye, So Long, Farewell 2018

  
Happy New Year! I'm trying to sneak this post in before midnight (and pretend it hasn't been almost three months since my last post). I've been doing a little bit of sewing...

 Temecula Quilt Company's Christmas mystery that doesn't look very christmasy. And looks much better in person.

Violet's Bakery and Confectionery -   the 2018 Project Linus mystery quilt. LOVE the pattern.

And a little shopping. I picked up all of this at an estate sale. Over 27 yards of fabric and an unopened TrueSharp rotary blade sharpener for a crazy low price. Kinda sad, some day there will be another happy quilter getting a great bargain when I pass.

Last year's Project Linus Mystery quilt - Ethan's World Travels all quilted. I love how Barbara continued the flying geese path into the quilting.

I donated the quilt to Nancy's dental association that has a silent auction every year to raise money to provide dental care to low income children.

Nancy said that at the time she left for the evening the bid was up to $200. Wow.

The 4x4 quilt is all finished too. Love how this one turned out.

 2019 should be a very interesting year. I am officially retired on January 1. I know I'll be doing lots more quilting but I'm a little worried about this retirement stuff. Financially I'm okay, it's what to do with all the time!

Hope the new year brings you lots of joyful quilting.
 

Catching Up

  
I really need to post more often. I think about it. I have lots to talk about and lots of pictures to show...but I just don't get around to it. Lazy? Probably.

So now that I am posting what should I post about? Finished quilts? Quilts in progress? Quilt retreats? Quilt friends? Cats? Not a cat?

Since my primary purpose for this blog is to document my quilts I'll start with finished quilts.

Nancy took a class a few months ago that had some special cutting techniques that results in lots of thin pieced strips. Knowing how much I like to play with other people's scraps she gave me her's. Here are two of the small quilts I made from some of them.

There are still more left and I already know what I'm going to make with them. Stay tuned.

While I was at Lynn Wilder's quilt retreat last month I quilted and bound the three mini quilts I made from the scraps I got there last year. The ocean wave block is 9 inch square. The quilting is in the ditch. I gifted it to Cindy who gave me the scraps last year.

The little mug rug is 9 x 7 inches. Stitched in the ditch and gifted to my cabin mate Loris.

 The little wall hanging I made is 13 inches square, quilted in the ditch around all the black. I've hand sewn the binding down since this pic was taken.

Finally I got this little table topper quilted. It is 17.5 x 29 inches. I think if you click on the picture you can see the quilting better.  Lots of feathers and feathery flowers.

Well these are my finishes. I'll show some of the quilts I'm working on in my next post which I promise will be soon.

To close, here is my "not a cat" eating the cat food I left out front for the outdoor kitties I feed.

Hmmm...you would think I live in the country instead of the middle of suburbia.
 

Hello, My Name is Joy...

  
...and I'm a junk junkie.

It's true. I love garage sales, estate sales, thrift stores and a church bazaar just makes my heart pitter-patter. I need more stuff like I need more fabric (kinda like needing a hole in my head), but it doesn't stop me. I think I inherited this trait from my mom and her sisters.

I had some dental work this past week that wasn't very fun and kept me a bit confined to the house. Yesterday I couldn't stand it and went for a drive...no place in particular, the mountain roads  near me are beautiful and who knows where you will end up. While I was driving I stopped at a few garage/yard sales - it was late in the afternoon and pickings were slim but I did find these...

27+ skeins of yarn for about the price of two new skeins. Hmmm...guess I'm going to have to learn how to knit or crochet. Jayme took some.

While I've been home I've also had a few more finishes:

The fabric is an old Free Spirit jelly roll I bought ages ago. The pattern is by Villa Rosa Designs but I couldn't find it to get the pattern name. It's not overly big, about 35 x 44 inches.

 I quilted it with a simple meander. I also put a flannel plaid on the back - another fabric I've had for ages. Yay, using up stash.

I also made this simple quilt. The pattern is A Flair for Square 2 by Quilting Discoveries.

I added a few borders to it to make it a little bit bigger and to use up more of the fabric. Very soft, romantic kinda fabric.

I still have a lot of it left over - just not enough to piece a back. I bought this fabric back in 2000!! Another yay for using stash.

I quilted and added the binding to the chemistry fabric quilt. I love how this one turned out.

I even pieced the back.

The pattern is Yellow Brick Road. It is about 52 inches square and also quilted with a large meander.

Since I did such a good job of using up some really old stash fabrics and since I felt so rotten all week I decided to treat myself to a hole in the head umm new fabric.

It doesn't really count as adding to my stash as it was free - I used my credit card points (hehehe). I'm going to use it for the Project Linus mystery quilt.

As you can tell from the above pics, Bella likes fabric and quilts also.
  

It's Time!!

I've been waiting very impatiently!

 This is such a fun mystery quilt challenge - and it supports a great cause. The clues are very detailed and there is a video to go with each clue. Perfect for a beginning quilter.

So, are you going to join me?

Double dare you.