Happy 2020!

Happy 2020!

New Year ~ New Decade

Starting 2020 off with an organized thread drawer!

My threads used to hang on the wall 

on a June Taylor thread organizer - but they got bit dusty!

Just love Aurifil thread!

So I cut up some 1 inch strips of cardboard and made my own 

grid holder (easier said than done!)

It is so nice to pull out the drawer and see all the pops of color

just jumping out!

Not sure how long this will last...

but I'll enjoy it for now!

Now to MOVE on to the rest of the sewing room!

Made the decision to make a 2020 Temperature quilt...

this will be the third in my series.

In 2018 I used the flying geese pattern, 

2019 was an appliqué quarter circle,

2020 will be a strip of color.

The center strip will be the high temperature of the day,

the corners will be the low temperatures,

the accents will represent snow, sleet or rain.

It will be interesting to see the three quilts all together once done,

the 2019 and 2020 quilts have the same color scheme,

mostly because I cut too many 2.5" squares and want to use them up!

You can join in the fun on Instagram 

#temperaturequilt2020

#temperaturequiltalong

My two Quilting Goals for 2020:

ONE:

Hand Quilt my ships!

The center block is done,

now onto the other eight blocks and borders.

This block is 'Massachusetts' by Pearl Pereira of P3 Designs

TWO:

Finish the Mariners Compass quilt for my daughter.

She selected pattern and fabrics back in 2017,

it was started in late 2018...

thinking 2020 is the perfect year to finish it

as this hopefully is the year she finishes her PhD!!

(pattern is by Judy Niemeyer)

Just need to decide if we should switch out the cream background

for the blackish background to give the compass a floating look???

 

Such a decision!!

Leaning towards the Dark Side!

Thoughts anyone?

No New Years Resolutions for me ...

always hard a hard time writing them down and sticking to them.

This year I'm jumping on the 'One Word' band wagon

#oneword2020 

my 2020 word

MOVE

Move my Body more

Move through Obstacles

Move towards Health

Move through my Quilting projects

Move along better with my Blog 

Always Move Forward

Hoping your 2020 is wonderful!

Have a great Quilty Day and enjoy the process!

                               Janet

Sew many things are a happening!!

Finally the kitchen renovations are DONE!!

Hubby and I bought our house over 30 years ago,

and I always wanted a lighter and brighter kitchen.

The kitchen went from being dark and dreary

to light, bright and VERY cheery!

here is the other side

(you can see where paint colors were being tested!)

 Finally the Cape Cod kitchen I've always dreamed of!!

Went to a paper piecing workshop

taught by Jackie Kunckle!

Awesome - she is just a ball of energy!

two blocks done just a few more to go!

Then there was MQX in Manchester….

the show was fabulous,

it had a special and awesome vibe - loved it!

Here are a few of my favorites

My MQX experience also included CLASSES!!

the first was a Fabulous class by Lisa Calle

"Divide & Design"

my attempt at creating a design!

Lisa was great - very positive and creative

then...

Judi Madsen taught

"Modern Quilting Meets Traditional"

This gal is spunky!

and incredible!

so open and sharing of her designs and ideas

truly refreshing.

and a lecture with Timna Tarr

displaying and discussing her fabulous quilts.

and there were Quilty Friends!

Diana, Kathy and Michelle

Wrapping up all the quilty fun this month...

was a wonderful lecture by Alex Veronelli of Aurifil Threads

after seeing his presentation of raw cotton to the spool

I now understand the cost of thread …

totally worth it!

and best of all … going home with a door prize!!

 YUP!

10 spools of 12 wt threads!

Perfect for my embroidery!

 Also finished up blocks #12 and #13

of my appliqué Flower Garden by Kim McLean

 OH! the herd is getting larger!

decided to make this quilt a bit bigger than originally planned…

so only 21 more to go!

It's been a busy past few months!

A night with Alex, Victoria and Friends at Quilters Way

Last Tuesday three of my Quilty Gal Pals

Joan, Betty and Giuliana

went to Quilter's Way in Acton

for a special guest event with…

Alex Veronelli of Aurifil Threads

 and
Victoria Findlay Wolfe of 15 Minutes of Play

What a fabulous night!

Alex was mesmerizing as he explained 

how Aurifil thread was made.

He presented a slide show and explained

each step of the thread making process!
Who knew thread making could be that interesting!

Plus he sent everyone home with thread color cards and 

thread samples ~ 6 spools all different weights

12, 28, 40, 50, wool and 6 strand embroidery!

Wow! Can not wait to play with them!

Speaking of play….
How about 15 Minutes of Play!

Victoria's Quilt made from orphan blocks and much more!

Having followed Victoria Findlay Wolfe's blog for a

number of years I was very excited to hear her speak.

She did not disappoint … 

her stories and humor made the night fly by! 

Loved how she takes scraps, sews them

together and creates such beautiful quilts.

she is a very passionate quilter

who just loves what she does!

she just jumps right in and starts creating!

Just Love that!

It was a fun evening, 

especially sharing it with friends!

Thanks Joan, Betty and Giuliana!

Thread

I never really thought much about thread ... until recently.
For machine piecing I'm really liking Aurifil  - I like how it works with the fabric and it comes in a variety of colors and weights (you can find it at my favorite local quilt shop!)  After trying different types of thread  I have decided I like Superior Thread's Bottom Line for my needle turn applique - it is so thin you can't even see it! Which is the whole point! After lugging around my threads I came up with a novel idea! Instead of carrying around all of the spools of thread - which I'll be honest - when I started doing needle turn applique that is what I did ... it dawned on me to fill a bobbin with each color and just carry the bobbins! Which turned out to be so much easier! Here is my little travel case (actually an eyeglass case!) for my Blue Hawaiian Hibiscus Quilt....

Everything I need to applique:
snips, Thread Heaven, thread, thimbles and a needle threader....
Now where did I put my glasses?

Then there is the whole thread storage thing ... how do you store your thread? My mother used to throw all her thread into her sewing tin! I would dump them out arraign them by color only to go back later and find them all jumbled up again! When I started back at quilting I got one of those thread racks that stands on your sewing table - but that just kept getting in the way. Then I discovered the racks that hang on the wall - so I used that ... of course arrainging all the threads by color. This worked for a while, but once I started acquiring different types of threads (metallics, Bottom Line, Aurifil, cotton etc) I thought OK I'll arrainge them by types first then by color!! Then I decided I was wasting too much time playing with thread and not enough time actually quilting with the thread! So I stopped rearrainging my thread and started using it - until last summer when I acquired an old wooden two drawer Chadwick's Spool Cotton thread container that came from my father-in-law's father's store (back in the early 1940's I think)

My mother-in-law used it for her phone, address books, paper pen and pencils ... I always thought it was funny that she had a beautiful piece of sewing history and she hated to sew! Every time I used I think of her and smile. But now I'm back to playing with thread ... some times I just open the drawers and look at all of the colors! I feel like a little kid in a candy store!

I thought "I have enough thread" ...

Then I attended Libby Lehman's Thread class and saw her thread work...

and decided.....

I need More thread!

After all if we can never have enough fabric then I suppose

we can never have enough thread!