WHOOMP There IT Is! #13 - Goals 2016

Happy New Year Y'all!  I know I speak for everyone when I say, how time flies! Last year came and went in a flash!

I'm working at getting motivated to finish projects already started and start some new ones. So what better time than the present to share my quilty goals for 2016!   I started it several months ago but stopped because it quickly grew out of control.    I knew I'd have to trim it down or else get myself overwhelmed w/anxiety and end up locked away in a looney bin somewhere. ;)

So here's a very modest list of what I'd like to accomplish this year.

I've already got 3 commissions lined up for the 1st few months. One queen size rag quilt and two baby quilts.  I don't think custom orders are the way I want to go. Something about having deadlines really puts pressure on a girl. With this being said, I may accept an occasional order, but it won't be a big selling point in my Etsy shop going forward.

I aim to finish my Through Thick and Thin scrappy-batik log cabin that I started last January.  It's made w/2 different size logs; 1.25" and 2.5" and is destined to be a personal quilt for my king size bed.

I was reminded of another quilt I want to make when I saw Katy's Handsome Shirt Tails quilt.

Katy's Shirt Tails

Last year my good friend Greta of Material Detachment sent me 256 lozenges in shades of red (my favorite color), orange and purple, to make my very own Arkansas Traveler quilt.  She'd recently finished a stunning one made of blues and browns that she dubbed, Niigata Traveler.

my lozenges =)

Greta's Niigata (Arkansas Traveler)

I guess this post is mostly about quilts I want to make for myself because another one is a Spiderweb quilt. I fell in love w/Pop Stars by Julie of Pink Doxies. I can actually kill two birds w/one stone w/this quilt because a Halloween quilt is also on my list this year, thanks to Val of Val's Quilting Studio and LeeAnna of Not Afraid of Color!   Both gals decorate their homes w/quilts for each season/holiday. What a splendid idea! What better quilt to make for Halloween than a Spiderweb one?!

Julie's Pop Stars

Val's Halloween Inspiration

LeeAnna's Forever Partners

Of course, the list of quilts I want to make goes on to infinity and beyond...but I've one more on my list for 2016.  Sparkle Punch by Elizabeth Hartman of Oh Fransson. It's been on my list for quite some time and will be a 2-bird killer as well. It shall be my Christmas quilt. =)

This seems like an attainable goals list for now.  I'm certain it'll be peppered w/a few several other projects. I've a couple small paper pieced numbers in mind as well as a few small gift/charity quilts.

Thank you ALL for the wonderful quilty inspiration!  I look forward to reading about your goals or whatever  you'd like to share this week at WHOOMP There IT Is!  Thanks for stopping by and linking up.

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A Thread for Life
The attitude of a Christian towards the providential order in which he is placed is to recognize that God is behind it for purposes of His own.- Oswald Chambers 

A Super Quick QAYG!

About a year or so after I learned how to quilt, I started looking online for different ways/options to do things such as binding, basting,etc.  As a new quilter, binding was my least favorite part of quilting.  I dreaded it!  There had to be an easier way of binding than how I'd been taught! 

One of the first sites I came across was Quilting In The Rain. It was love at first sight! Jera's instructional and pattern tutorials are simple and quick. I found her binding tutorials very refreshing.  I stalked her blog many a night and always left inspired.  I've made several of her patterns over the last few years; the latest being one from her book Quilt As-You-Go Made Modern which I won an autographed copy of on an Instagram giveaway!

I needed something that would go together super quick for an upcoming baby shower and chose the Queen Anne Steps pattern. 

It worked perfectly for the 3 fabrics I'd chosen to match the decor in the baby's room and it's a good size; 48 1/2" x 60 1/2".  

It's definitely a pattern one could complete in about 8 hours or so...depending on how fancy you get w/your quilting however,  I did it in about 4 shorter sessions. 

I thought it would be a good opportunity to practice FMQ, however it proved to be difficult for me because I matched my thread to the fabric and couldn't really see what the heck I was doing! Since I did match the thread to the fabric, I sewed all the pink strips first, then the blue and lastly the orange. I did practice FMQ on all the pink strips and quickly switched to simple wavy and straight lines for the next 2 colors. 

I used the leftover strips to make a matching pillow.

In case you didn't notice, I finally made a blog signature! I used this tutorial I found on Val's Quilting Studio  Tutorials page.  Afterward I started looking around on how to make a custom header and came across this tutorial using Pic Monkey.  I've been playing around w/it all week...but my blog header is still a work in progress! Hopefully soon I will get it and my blog looking exactly how I want it. But for now, what you see, is what you get! =)

A Thread for Life

You will keep in perfect peace

those whose minds are steadfast,

because they trust in you.

Trust in the Lord forever,

for the Lord, the Lord himself, 

is the Rock eternal. Isaiah 26:3-4

Linking up at:

Needle and Thread Thursday

TGIFF!

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?

Until next time, Happy Quilting and God Bless!

Visiting Greta

Last week I finally got the chance to meet Greta of  Material Detachment where she lives in Iowa.  For the past year we've been texting, talking and emailing.  I had planned to go to Iowa in August but then saw that AQS would be there in October, so I made plans to visit then instead.  Greta picked me up from the airport, we stopped for a quick bite to eat and then we were off to the show.  Here are a bunch of photos from the show.  Enjoy!

I can't even begin to think how much time was spent creating some of these amazing quilts!  Here are my 2 faves! Both were blue ribbon winners and rightfully so!

 All of the quilts had me oooing and aaaahing though.

After the quilt show, we went back to Greta's house in the country.

This is the view from the room I stayed in.

We spent most of our time sewing or quilting. You can read about what we made here.  I practiced FMQ on her longarm.

We went to the Berry Patch Farm and picked apples from the orchard and made homemade apple pie.

Greta picking apples

 Greta and her husband are wonderful cooks. Vegetarian never tasted so good!
It was a lovely and relaxing time.

Greta sent me home w/pounds of fabric...

and a beautiful quilt that she co-created.

I arrived back in AZ to happy mail that I won from 2 different giveaways!

Until next time, happy quilting and God Bless!

A Thread for Life

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matt 11:28

Linking up at

A Fast Break and An Upcoming Giveaway

I officially broke my fabric fast Thursday night. What had happened was, I lost my seam ripper on Wednesday night. I couldn't find it anywhere and had given my backup  to my sis a few weeks ago.  I decided it was a good time to finally visit the new local quilt shop, Sew Much for Quilting, that opened up near me in the Goodyear AZ.  I'd previously met Trish the owner, who is also a member  of QA, but I'd never been to the shop.  Well...I couldn't very well  walk into this HUGE shop, with rows and rows of fabrics and other goodies and ONLY buy a seam ripper!!!  

So...I bought a few yards of fabric, which I know most of y'all will find boring.  I didn't have a lot of time to spend in the store and since I don't really need fabric, I chose a couple of solids and one w/print for a friend, 2 seam rippers, and some clips that should work for binding (though I'm not sure they were designed for that).   If you are local or visiting the West Valley of Phoenix/Goodyear area and have time to browse an extensive selection of quality fabric and other goods, stop on by Sew Much for Quilting.  They also have a spacious classroom and offer several quilting classes for all levels of quilters. It is  definitely a 1-stop quilt shop!

I can't remember where/when I first saw this Tessellation Pattern by Alison glass, but it was love at first sight! I absolutely had to have the pattern and ordered it immediately. When I got it and opened it, the excitement faded a little. It's a paper piecing pattern and I've never done paper piecing. It can't be too hard, right? I found this post encouraging and will follow the sew along when I am ready.  I shall make mine scrappy. 

At this month's QA meeting a new friend gave me all these wonderful magazines. I just LOVE free stuff!  I've added at least 10 more quilts to my To Make list. I'm a maniac maniac oh yeah! 

Outlander Update
Outlander is everything I thought it would be and more! I don't have cable, but a dear friend subscribed to Starz so  we could watch It.  I'm very grateful and looking forward to watching episodes 2 and 3 this evening. 

My Quilty Updates

As you will see, I have a few tops done and really need to start quilting. 

Red Chevy Crush is pin basted and ready for quilting. I really like how this turned out. I used a strip/bricks technique seen here. 

Diamonds and Purples quilt top is complete.I won this kit at a QA raffle and a handful of the diamonds were already constructed.  Since I didn't use setting triangles, I'm thinking about just trimming off the sides and leaving the top and bottom points and making it a quilt w/o binding or a flip or whatever you call it. What do you call it?

The Summer Star Mini top is finished.  It's a QITR pattern. 

In other Quilty News

I am the lucky winner of triangles and squares giveaway! Yay me!! Thank you Christine. 

I was planning on visiting my new friend and fellow quilter/blogger Greta of Material Detachment in Iowa this month until I saw the Dream Studio Giveaway.  I read that the AQS Quilt Week is in Des Moines in October, so I'm making plans to visit then.  I'm looking forward to hanging out w/Greta and going to a quilt show in another state! It'll be a grand time!

And lastly, it's almost GIVEAWAY time! I'll be having a giveaway for my blog's 1st birthday on Aug 29th. I am also working on a scrap buster tutorial.

Stay Tuned and Happy Quilting!

A Thread for Life

Get into the habit of dealing with God about everything. Unless you learn to open the door of your life completely and let God in from your first waking moment of each new day, you will be working on the wrong level throughout the day. But if you will swing the door of your life fully open and “pray to your Father who is in the secret place,” every public thing in your life will be marked with the lasting imprint of the presence of God. - Oswald Chambers My Utmost for His Highest

Patterns, Books and Progress, Oh My!

When I first started quilting and discovered FaveQuilts, I was so thankful for all the FREE quilt patterns. (It's where I found some of the blogs I follow too!)


 I was super excited that I would never have to pay for a pattern or book! Well that lasted for a long while, but in the past year I've purchased a few patterns and more recently, a couple of books! I pre-ordered this modern quilt as you go book a few months ago and I can't wait for it to be distributed next month. And even more recently, after falling in love w/ a beautiful kaleidoscope quilt seen on Fresh Off The Frame, I ordered Ricky Tims' book, Kool Kaleidoscope Quilts.







And speaking of books, I recently inherited a great deal of books from the AQG who closed their library earlier this year. Members were allowed to choose pretty much any books we wanted. Here are the ones I chose.

my son cut off my head

In Quilty news, I did get the college-bound quilt basted last weekend and have even started quilting it. I'm using the techniques that Ann Petersen teaches in her Craftsy class: Quilting Big Projects on a Small Machine.

Here's what I have so far on the Summer Star Mini.

Tomorrow I'm bringing my sister to quilting, the once a month get together w/the sisters from church,and I'm going to assist her in making a simple lap quilt. Maybe she'll become a quilting maniac like me. ;)

In Yoga news, 2 weeks down, 10 more to go! Keep praying for me.

A Thread for Life
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17 NIV

Until next time, Happy Quilting and God Bless.