2019 Recap (July thru December!)

2019 Instagram Top Nine

Every single one of these remain works in progress!

So my 2020 quilting agenda is already set - finish the above!!

The summer brought a number of animals into the back yard,

the most memorable...

a momma Red Fox hunting for her babies

and the beautiful doe with her cute twins!

August was the month of change...

helping my daughter move from Kingsville Tx to Houston Tx

cute little apartment

filled with Ikea furniture!

and my Horseshoe Crab & Sand Dollars Quilt

hangs in her bedroom!

August also gave me the thrill of having one of my quilts included in the

New England Quilt Museum's Summer Celebration.

It's a Goosebump Honor!

The New England Quilt Museum had an instillation

(that I got to help hang!!!) of my favorite quilter...

Sue Garman.

She was an exquisite appliquer,

these are just a few of my favorites....

Could stare at this one for hours!

Afternoon Delight is on my bucket list,
I have the pattern and The Quilt Show
will be doing this as a BOM for Star members!!

The Silver City Quilt Guild had its biennial quilt show this year,

our largest and best show ever!!!

"Elephants on Parade"
Needleturn applique and
Long arm machine quilted by Karen Ives
was made for my hubby who Loves elephants!

"Happiness"
pattern from Jacquline de Jong
and a class taught by Lisa McCarthy
paper pieced and quilted on my Janome 6600

HOUSTON 2019!!

The Sapphire Celebration at the International Quilt Festival

was Just breathtaking!

These are a few of my favorites

Naupaka by Chiharu Takahashi
hand appliquéd and quilted

Sofie's August Morning
by Lynne S. Dallmeyer-Hartman
Machine pieced, applique and quilted

Gentle Flowers
by Teruko Ono
Hand applique, embroidered, quilted
(JUST STUNNING!)

Naturalist's Notebook
By Sandra Leichner
Winner of the Founder's Award

sorry forgot to get the quilter's information 

Westpond Inn Retreat

Had the pleasure of attend Two! retreats at the Westpond Inn

The Stitch Sisters had their retreat in October and

the Twisted Dresden's in November!!

This is the most relaxing retreat space ...

mostly because it's limited to a small group 

and Sue Loring is a Fabulous cook and makes to worlds

best breakfasts and dinners for us!!

quilting spot with a view!

 My Raven's quilt is coming along!

Trying my hand with wool!

While in Houston I stumbled upon a beautiful quilt

by Wendy Williams of Flying Fish Kits of Australia

it's made with wool accents...

with the purchase of the BOM, some wool

and my added taupes and Kaffe fabrics

the journey began!

Two blocks done ... 50 more to go!!!

My 2019 Temperature Quilt

is almost done!!!

In the midst of appliquéing December!!

Already planning the design for 2020 ~

Think I'll keep the same color scheme.

the pie shape the the high temp for the day and 

the background is the low temp...

rainy days have a gray rim and the white rim is for snowy days!

Christmas 2019

After 35 years we purchased a new pre-lite tree

slim Norway Spruce with both colored and clear lights...

best part it turns off/on by remote!!!

Hubby was happy - saved him 3+ hours of set up time

not having to string the lights!

Bella posing by the tree

Stella and Bella

Christmas Joy ~ surrounded by my family.

Wishing you all a wonderful 2020!

Have a great Quilty Day and enjoy the process!

                               Janet

June Recap: Quilting, Audiobooks and NEQM

Trying to keep up with my Temperature 2019 Quilt

May is heating up with yellow, orange and one 90+ day!

There were 14 days of rain ( gray bubble fabric)

The June blocks are done ~

just not put together in calendar form.

The main focus now is getting my "Flower Garden" quilt

(pattern by Kim McLean)

ready for Silver City Quilt Guild's September show!

the 'Fabulous Fabric Glide' by The Gypsy Quilter

is helpful with moving the quilt under the needle of 

my domestic Janome 6600

One does need to keep the quilt bunched up

to allow free movement...

and sometime one does get all tangled up!!

The first task was to stitch in the ditch all the long seams

to stabilize each block...

then it was easy to go in and start quilting each block individually.

First outline each flower,

then slowly tackling the lattice work,

and then adding in the matchstick quilting

to create a depressed background

making the lattice Pop!

It's definitely a challenge for me!

My neck is paying the price from hours

of intense quilting...

good thing I have a good chiropractor!

Here are a few finished blocks....

Once each block is quilted,

I will go back and add in quilting to the leaves and flowers.

Then quilting up the two borders...

not sure what the quilting motif will be for the sashing,

percolating a few ideas!!

Will up date you in a later blog post!

Since deciding that concentrating on quilting is not conducive to

tv watching, Audible books have become a mainstay in my 

Quilty room (studio sounds so professional - and not me!)

Having always listened to quilting stories

Elm Creek Quilts being my favorites....

I decided to venture out into more

'grown up' themes!

Michelle Obama's book 'Becoming'

came recommended by a friend...

and I'm so glad I listened.

The book gave a nice background story

to our former First Lady,

it was so interesting listening to her thoughts and feeling

(the story was read by her - which I loved!)

 of growing up, becoming a lawyer, becoming First Lady...

I just found it fascinating!

Now I'm searching audible for books from each of our

former First Ladies...

we always see the President - hear his words,

but I want to hear from the Ladies ~

and their side of the story!

Moving onto a completely different genre

Murder Mysteries!!!

Have to admitted 

between concentrating on quilting and a murder mystery

there was a bit of rewinding going on!!

"Magpie Murders"

was and excellent book

captures you from the very beginning

entwining two (or was there three) stories at once!

Fabulous book - highly recommend this one!

With the warm weather here in New England

you know what that means!

Hubby fishing at the canal,

and me stitching at the canal!!

Definitely one of my favorite things to do!

Stitched Block:1

Hubby Fishing: 0

Just look at this beauty!

Taking off with out stretched wings,

this heron was huge!

I might have followed him around to snap a few pictures - 

maybe to be used someday in a collage quilt??!!

The end of June wrapped up with a volunteering day at the

New England Quilt Museum 

(Love this place - wished it was closer)

Had the privilege of hanging the 

'19th Century Basket Quilts' 

by the

American Quilt Study Group Challenge

After the quilts were hung there were a couple minutes 

to snap a few photos! Sorry no information tags~

that was the next days job!

This was my favorite!

Red and Green Appliqué...

This instillation will hang until the end of July

then the Summer Celebration will go up.

This exhibit features one quilt from each of the museums supporting guilds...

and this year my quilt  "Tropical Sashiko Applique"

will represent the Silver City Quilt Guild.

This Spring we have noticed a number of new birds into the backyard

Baltimore Oriels, Scarlet Tanagers and many more...

so hubby decided to dismantle garden...

and construct a "Bird Sanctuary"!

Thanks to Walpole Woodworking

we now have a beautiful Arbor.

and now to create a nice little garden

of flowers and bird feeders...

this may take awhile!!

The front of the house is shaping up

and one Blue Hydrangea is looking fabulous....

it's the only one a deer did not feast on!

Now back to quilting my Flower Garden!!

Have a great Quilty Day and enjoy the process!

                               Janet

Too many projects? and Squirrel thoughts!

Sometimes my quilting has been a struggle...

just too many projects at various stages of completion

have given me a very overwhelmed feeling....

Can one have TOO many projects on a design wall?

As I sit here watching a squirrel try and climb up my bird feeder

only to be stymied by the squirrel baffle ....

I feel his pain .... 

"so close yet so far"

How does one combat this?

having always been  a "squirrel" type person

this cartoon really captures me at this moment...

Trying to learn to rein in the feeling of 

"the next shiny object (or project)"!

FOCUS!!

that my word for 2019 

Focus! Focus! Focus!

Set a goal and focus!

My old Mary Kay training days are creeping back into my brain!

Having become a sales director winning two cars, 

diamond rings and other beautiful gifts during my M.K. days...

setting and achieving goals is not a new concept ...

just need to apply it to my quilting!

My guild has a show coming up in September and

as of a month ago I had not one entry ready...

(lots of starts - just no finishes!)

Set a Goal and Focus...

GOAL:

Finish at least three guild workshop sponsored project

and at last one piece to be judged...

FOCUS:

Having just added a few more markings ~

 now ready to re-started quilting my

Flower Garden

So glad I made the decision to change out the batting!

The wool is making all the difference in the world!

FINISHES:

To date I have finished the guild's challenge project:

"Peek-A-Boo Zebra"

and TWO workshops projects 

(with two more close behind!)

Modern Adventure

Daisy Trio

The squirrel outside is still struggling to get at the bird feeder....

but the squirrels in my brain have retreated!

Now to go and focus on quilting my "Flower Garden"!

(and not look at any other project today!!)

Have a great Quilty Day and enjoy the process!

                               Janet