Follow Through

I might ramble a bit today. I'm having some thoughts about " follow through". You know...finishing what you start....commitment. Now, I have my share of UFO's, that's for sure....more than my share, truth be told. Here's one that I handed off to a fabulous machine quilter at KCMQG last night, Angela Walters. (I wanted to have her quilt something for me before she got SO famous that I'd have to wait years just to get on the list!)

No, I'm not talking about letting ourselves down by not following through, but rather letting others down when we sign up to do something....and then don't. That's a horse of a different color, I think. It's something rarely talked about among friendly Blogland. But it happens.

You sign up for a Bee or exchange on Flickr and are sooooo excited. You make your block, or whatever, send it off only to wait....and wait....and wait.... and then maybe never have the joy of recieving something in return. Fortunately, it doesn't happen often because most quilters are as good as their word, I've found. But.....it only has to happen once...or twice to make you consider NOT joining in another round of a  Quilting Bee again.


 Sometimes, there are good excuses, like illness or tragedy, that make life crazy and things have to be put on hold. But other times, over commitment is the real culprit............ overcommitment to joining too many sewing Bees that damages the reputation of a quilter and the whole fun Bee Exchange in general. Quilters need to step back and really decide if they have the time to "follow through" before joining every Bee that looks tempting!!
Okay, I'm done fuming! Thanks for listening!


On the positive side, I have been a part of a great flickr group called the 3x6 Bee for a year.  I worked with 24 different quilters during that time. Only during the last quarter of 2010 did just one quilter not follow through. One was 2 months late without explanation, but she finally sent her blocks. Here are the last 5 blocks that have been sent my way....the 6th one is still pending. The top left block was made by me as a sample.

Thank you Marlyn from UT, Jenifer from CO, Melinda from WI, Solidia from IN, and Julie from CA for "following through"! You keep me wanting to trust that quilters really can be depended on! I  do love the whole Block Party concept.


Speaking of Block Party............Our speaker for the Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild last night was none other than Allissa, one of the founders of the whole MQG movement and author of a book called Block Party, due out in April. Her blog, Handmade by Alissa,  is very inspirational and her quilts were even better in person than in pictures (of course!).

 Alissa brought some of her first quilts and some new ones that couldn't be photographed because they are "top secret" until her latest book exploring minimalism is published.

 Solid fabrics and lovely color are some of Alissa's favorite themes at this point in her quilt journey.

Here's the cover quilt for the Block Party book!

 We had lots of fun hearing about her life in LA and her quilting experience. But, then, we always have a lot of fun at the Modern Quilt Guild in Kansas City!

Late Nights

Do you ever have nights when you can't sleep so you think, "I might as well get up and do something constructive!"? If you can empathize, then welcome to my world till 3 a.m. the last two nights.  I didn't drink too much caffeine and it wasn't hot flashes, although sometimes those are the sources of my insomnia.
  No, this time my sleeplessness has been brought on by mind boggling, raw sadness for one of my best friend's loss of a four year old grandson in a tragic death. The words are hard to even form, but just in case it could save another child's life, I will tell you.  He died from suffocation when his head was caught between the mattress and the safety rail on a wooden bunk bed. So, please, if you, or anyone you know, have children that sleep on the top bunk, be certain that there is no way for their little body to fall between the mattress and the rail while they are sleeping.
  I can't sleep because my mind won't stop. So, I get up and sew......and pray.
Here's what I've been working on:

First, I made blocks for Shaina and will just barely get them in the mail to meet the May 31 deadline in the Nittany Block Party.  Shaina wanted liberated stars in fabrics she provided. I loved working with the aqua and orange color scheme. What a fun quilt this will make.


You probably thought that I had forgotten about the special project that I was working on last week for a very special person.  Nope, didn't forget.  I just had to put it aside to do fun things like empty sodden boxes in my basement; plant flowers that have been waiting for two weeks in their little plastic containers while the rain poured down; have a sleep over for my grandsons; and recover from a 24-hour bug.  But now, I  finally got back to my brown and pink project. The late night sewing marathon got me all caught up.

I decided to quilt the wall hanging on my Bernina, so I had to get the layers all put together after I finally got the borders added.  This step in the quilt-making process is not my favorite, but I have found that if I am diligent about stretching out the backing on a table or floor and taping it down so it is very square and tight, it makes for a quilt without any puckers in the finished product.
(If the quilt is larger than my table, I pin it to my carpet with straight pins since I don't have a large wooden or tiled floor to tape to.)  Carpeting works just as well, but is kind of hard on the pins....and my knees! I then layer on the batting and smooth it out.  Finally, I smooth, smooth, smooth the quilt onto the batting and start in safety pinning the three layers together. When I'm done pinning, I remove the tape and am ready to quilt.

My late night quilting was soothing and healing as I stitched and prayed for my friends to find hope and healing in the days ahead.














I added more quilting detail than I had originally planned...but like the way it turned out.  Here's some of the view from the back. *Note: lighting at 3 a.m. is not great for picture taking! The only thing left to do is add the binding.............................

I got that accomplished this afternoon, so I'm ready to put up my feet, drink some decaf tea and watch the season finale of CSI New York as I hand stitch the binding to the back.

Tomorrow I'll show you the front and let you in on who gets this special quilt.

Are any of you awake in the middle of the night?  What do you do instead of "just laying there?" Surely, I'll sleep tonight.

Spring is in the Air!

I'm needing a dose of Spring about now.......how about you?  Here in Kansas City, the weatherman says that it may get up to 80 degrees later this week! Woo Hoo!! I'm loving the sound of that!

Don't these pretty fabrics make you long for the blooming flowers that are just around the corner...at least in my neck of the woods, anyway.  The wonky log cabin blocks are all made using Nicey Jane by Heather Bailey. I love the pretty fabrics, but what I love even more is the fact that the blocks were all made for me by blog friends in different states.  March was "my month" for the Nittany Block Party.  I joined this online block exchange group in December and was paired up with eleven other quilters across the country. Each month we all make blocks for one quilter who decides the block she wants and then gives us instructions and, sometimes, fabric. 

Wanda, from Oklahoma, was first and asked us to make wonky log cabin blocks using our own fabrics with a "person" fabric as the center.  We each made her two blocks so she is well on her way to a nice size quilt.  In February we made scrappy X-blocks for Sherri who lives in Indiana.  She mailed both charcoal grey and white solid Kona to set off the colorful scrap fabric that each quilter would contribute from her own stash to make the block.  I loved the look of the block so much that I am making a quilt using the same idea. I'll show you the finished product soon! (Sherri said she didn't mind if I "copied".... Thanks, Sherri.) 

April will find me anxiously checking my computer for news about what Tracy in PA has chosen for her month.  One thing I know, it will be fun to create a block that she will enjoy and treasure.  If you haven't discovered the wonderful world of quilting via the internet, I only have one question: What are you waiting for?  Here's a place to start. Let me know if you decide to join a group.........I'd love to hear about it!  Happy Spring!!