MOD Bear Paw QAL Finished

Back in October 2016, Lorna, at Sew Fresh Quilts, designed and hosted the MOD Bear Paw QAL.  I fell in love with her quilt, and had to have it, so I joined in the fun.

I am happy to say that I have finally finished the quilt!

Here it is after finishing the quilting:

And here it is after sewing on the binding today:

For more photos, and Lorna’s QAL, simply click on the following links:

MOD Bear Paw QAL Part One

MOD Bear Paw QAL Part Two

MOD Bear Paw QAL Part Three

I am so happy to say that most of the snow is now gone, and look what has replaced it!

January OMG 2019

A new year, a fresh start.  It feels good to begin anew.

I am not making big goals for this year.  No new resolutions that I may keep for a couple of months and then leave by the wayside.

I am keeping it simple.

I want to walk on the beach in the sunshine.

I want to read more; especially His Word, as I have let that slide.

And for January’s OMG (One Monthly Goal), I want to work on the Leavenworth quilt.

I blogged my virtual play time with the Leavenworth Nine Patch block back in January 2013 here and here.

*You can also find those blog posts by clicking on the Quilt Blocks tab at the top of my blog.

Sometime after that, I actually worked up one of my design ideas into a quilt top and pin basted it. I showed it on March 27, 2015.

So my goal for the month is to machine stitch in the ditch so that the quilt layers will be stabilized and I can remove the pins (and thus lighten some of the weight).  The quilt is approximately  74″ x 88″, so it is a large size for machine quilting on a domestic machine.

I am linking up with Elm Street Quilts OMG (One Monthly Goal).  Check out what others have chosen to work on this month; it can be very inspiring and motivating!

December OMG 2018 Goal Update

It is time to be accountable and declare what I accomplished with my December OMG (One Monthly Goal).

Because of Christmas and the e-commerce explosion (I work at a post office), I kept my goal light…I really did not expect to accomplish much.  I thought I just might have time to machine quilt half of The Case of the Secret Garden (a Linda Franz/Inklingo mystery from 2013).

But I put my nose to the grindstone, and quilted at every opportunity that I could, and I am so happy to report a finish!

If you click on the link above, you can find links to the beginning of this project, and each clue that I worked on it, as well as find where it originated on Linda Franz’ website, Inklingo.  

Some of the pictures aren’t that great (it is hard to take good pics indoors in the midst of winter), but they show that I finished this baby!

By clicking on a photo, you can see it enlarged.  This quilt was machine quilted on a domestic sewing machine.

I am linking up with Elm Street Quilts for One Monthly Goal (OMG). Click on the link and see the other goals that were accomplished for December!  

December OMG 2018 Goal

Funny how what goes around comes around.

For my December OMG, I decided to focus on a UFO called The Case of the Secret Garden.

I dug through the blog to see when I last worked on this project.  It appears it was also my goal for December OMG 2017.  Hmmmmmm.

If you click on the links above, you can find links to the beginning of this project, and each clue that I worked on it, as well as find where it originated on Linda Franz’ website, Inklingo.  Linda began this enjoyable mystery in the year 2013.

So, why did I wad this project up in a corner?

Partly because I went through a tough time (why do I throw my creativity aside when I need it the most…another mystery), and partly because I changed my mind about my fabric choices.

I like the fabric choices.  I don’t like the fabric choices.  I like the fabric choices.  I can’t stand the fabric choices.

Oh brother!

But then, my Mom and a couple of sisters visited for Thanksgiving.  One of my sisters said, “I really like this!”

Nothing like a little positive motivation!

So this top is pin basted, and I am in the process of machine quilting it.

I hope to complete the quilting, of course, but realistically, because it is December, and the busiest time of the year, my goal is to complete half of the machine quilting.

I am linking up with Elm Street Quilts for One Monthly Goal (OMG). Click on the link and see the other goals for December!  Maybe you would like to add a goal!

Twister Table Runner

I have done so well with my monthly sewing goals (in my estimation at least) that I decided to find a quick and easy project to do.  Just for the fun of it.

I settled on the Twister Table Runner pattern by Shelley Robson of Pieced Tree Patterns.  I saw it made up with Halloween fabrics (very cute), and realized how easy it would be to create seasonal table runners with this pattern.  It would make quick and easy gifts. 

I resized the pattern, since my dining table is a large one, and I had a festive candy cane fabric that I could feature for the Christmas season.

I used blue chalk to mark a grid for quilting.

Fun to make, versatile and not terribly time consuming!