Goals for 2020 and 2019 Year-End Report

County Line Quilts

2020 Goals

2019 Year-End Report

2020 Goals

• Complete  4 long-armed quilts, including the neonatal quilt top pieced in 2019 before my eye went bad, t-shirt quilt for Tomiko, t-shirt quilt for Mother that I started in 2019 and a baby quilt for the grandniece expected in February. Because my eye is still recovering and I will need cataract surgery, I will keep quilting goals modest for 2020.
• Make 1 neonatal quilt for guild
• Make one "kit" quilt
• Make 2 T-shirt quilts
• Long arm the top Sally and Mother started in 2019.
• Make 1 quilt from the To Do list of 8 Projects in bags (PIGS) as listed here:
1. Dog Park (Quilting Bee--"Community Garden") in Cal-Asia bag
2. Sea Star (Binding Tool Star) in clear plastic orange bag
3. Garden Gate in Aunt Janet bag
4. Marbles (Modern Baby) in UNICEF bag
5. Jumping Jacks (quilts from sweet Jane) in MSQC red bag to be named Tomato Soup
6. 3 half square triangle quilts in red reptile N-M bag, one red, one blue, one pink.
7. Crosswalk in blue clear bag. See MSQC video.
8. Alaska fabric from Ann in UNICEF bag. No pattern as of January 2019.
• Tidy and organize sewing studio, including making more bags of quilting projects (PIGS)
• Make a dog bed stuffed with scraps

2020 Outlook

As in 2019, 2020 will be a year focused on family health issues and possibly Mother’s moving houses. Quilting goals are, therefore, modest.

2019 Year-End Report

• Completed 11 long-armed quilts, including Sharon’s Tulip Quilt. The 2019 goal was met and exceeded by 3, thanks to long arming 4 quilts for Donna, 1 for the Quilt Guild, 1 for Cousin Sharon, and 1 for Aunt Joyce. Mother’s eyesight greatly improved after her cataract surgery, but then she fell breaking her neck and right (dominant) arm and did not  sew. The quilt that Frances made from Mother’s scraps whilst she visited she took home to finish. So, I didn’t quilt it.  I pieced or appliquéd 6 quilts, including the top Sharon sent since it had to be ripped apart, resewn, and extended, and the appliqué on my QAYG (quilt as you go) project. Two of mine were baby/neonatal sized quilts and another was an appliquéd table topper, so they were easier to finish. Goal exceeded for long armed quilts.
• I did several new techniques during 2019, including repairing a baby quilt for a friend that required binding round corners, making quilts with on point blocks (Sharon’s and the Zigzag quilts),learning the QAYG technique by making a table topper, and binding Aunt Joyce’s quilt by turning the backing over the front. So, goal exceeded for learning new techniques.
• Made 1 neonatal quilt for guild. Goal met.
• Quilted 1top supplied by the Guild. Goal met.
• Did not make a quilt kit, unless you count the tote bag I made. So, goal not met.
• Did not make a T-shirt quilt, but I started one that did not get finished due to my eye surgeries. Goal not met.
• Did not make a reproduction quilt, due to Mother’s fall and my eye surgeries taking up too much time. Goal not met.
• Did not make quilts from the To Do list (PIGS). Goal not met.
• Finished Sharon’s quilt, the 4 Donna sent, and 1 from Aunt Joyce. Goal met for long arming quilts sent by relatives.
• Did not finish Mother’s wool comfort. Goal not met.
• Did not make a dog bed. Goal not met.
• Did not attend the Houston Quilt Show due to my eye surgeries. Sigh! Missing this goal still causes me great saddness.

Some of my goals were met, but many were missed. Mother’s fall and my eye problems, kept me from completing all my goals. I give myself a C for 2019. I will move some of the incomplete goals to the list for 2020. Next year I may have to move the long arm if Mother decides to move to a smaller place, Mother will have bigger health demands, and my eye is still wonky, so I will keep my quilting goals modest in line with possible disruptions.  

Donna’s Blue and White Quilt with Cranberry Borders

Mother and Miff Unpacking the Quilt in August—EGADS!

This quilt, through no fault of Donna or the quilt, had several problems. The biggest problem was my 2 torn retina surgeries that greatly delayed and added to the complexity. I actually started quilting it between the 2 surgeries, but there were problems with the stitches (the quilter was not forming stitches due to the tight weave of the back) so all the initial quilting had to be ripped out! I found that straight horizontal stitching or horizontal stitching with a slight wave worked beautifully rather than the all over floral and leaf design I imagined. So, horizontal lines—straight and wavy—became the quilting style for this one. In fact, the stitches on this quilt are some of the best tension-wise that I have ever made. Sometimes Plan B works better than the original thought! 

However, due to the color contrast between the borders and the main body of the quilt, the horizontal quilting required thread color changes, which in turn resulted in many thread ends to bury and added a lot more time to the quilting.

The first problem with the quilt was the backing was a batik and like many batiks dye remained on top of the fabric. The blue dye was rubbing off on everything, including my hands, and would have rubbed off on the mostly white top. So, I had to wash the backing 2 times to remove most of the dye. The backing was already a fairly tight weave, as most batiks are, and the washing shrunk the fabric pores even more, causing the stitching problems on the long arm when I tried an all over loopy design. I could go into a technical description about how a hook mechanism works on a sewing machine and how the movement on a long arm moves you into and away from the hook, but I’ll spare you that lecture and simply suggest you Google it if you need more information. 

In the end, the eye improved and the quilting style worked well. So, all’s well that ends well, even if it took too long.

• 81 1/2" x 95 1/2"  Double bed size
• Quilting: Quilted in straight and slightly wavy horizontal lines. Used navy blue, cranberry, and white 100% polyester threads (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Navy Blue”, “Cranberry”, and “Bright White”). Straight quilting and wavy free-form quilting. 10 bobbins (1 navy blue and 9 white) Quilting by Patty.
• Backing: Blue batik supplied by Donna
• Batting: 100% cotton Warm and Natural
• Piecing by Donna
• Pinned into frame October 11, 2019. Quilting on long arm quilter October 14–December 19, 2019. (Patty)!
• Binding to be done by Donna
• QC by Sally and Mother

Shows my bruised nose from a closet accident. Luckily, my bad eye wasn’t damaged.

Sally QC’ing the Rabbit

Mother Doing the Final QC

Best Laid Plans of Quilters and Little Old Ladies

September 27 I had a vitrectomy in my right eye for a detached torn retina. Then, it tore again in another spot. So, October 16 I had the same surgery again. The eye problems brought a halt to all quilting activities. Good thing I already had a lot done this year or I would be too sad. Here’s hoping next year is eye problem free. 

Zigzag (Continuation of New Technique)

All the blocks are on point in this quilt, so I learned how to piece a quilt with diagonal rows and make end caps for each row and the corners. It’s surprisingly hard to do, a real mental exercise. However, the resulting quilt is quite attractive. This is a continuation of what I learned from Sharon’s quilt. See Sharon’s Tulip Beds from March of this year.

I used fabric left from the unicorn quilt and some blue print fabric from my stash. See Catch Your Dreams from July of this year. The pattern came from the Modern Baby book; a book I used earlier for the fish and bubbles appliqué quilts. See Bubbles 1 and Bubbles 2 from August 2013. The book must be a good one that provides several quilt inspirations! The pattern from the book is called “Daddy’s Little Girl.” I left off the words and side piece. The back is a soft blue flannel printed with white dots from a fabric.com sale. The binding is the blue print fabric from my stash used for the quilt blocks.

This quilt will be donated to the guild. They used to give baby quilts to the neonatal unit at Lucille Packard’s Children’s Hospital at Stanford. The hospital no longer takes quilts from the guild. So now they are donated to San Mateo County to give to low income families who bring their infant to the clinic for the child’s first well baby check up. 

• 42 1/4" x 44 1/4"  Baby size
• Quilting: Quilted in a meandering loose stipple. Used light turquoise 100% polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Light Turquoise"). Free form quilting. 4 bobbins. Quilting by Patty.
• Backing: Blue flannel with printed white dots from fabric.com. 
• Batting: 80% cotton/20% polyester Winline “Comfort Blend”
• Binding:  Blue print cotton from my inventory
• Pattern: “Daddy’s Little Girl” from Modern Baby quilt book
• Piecing by Patty
• Pinned into frame September 11, 2019. Quilting on long arm quilter September 13, 2019. (Patty). 
• Binding by Patty. 
• QC by Mother and checked by Spencer.

Block for President’s Quilt

Every year the past president makes a quilt for the retiring president of the guild. Often the past president asks members to contribute a block. This is my contribution this year. Mother, who always has to say something very negative, thinks the red stripe overpowers the others. However, according to the past president the block will be cut down the middle of the longest diagonal stripe. So, I think the red will be less overpowering in the finished quilt. 

Repaired Baby Quilt (New Technique—Bind Round Corners)

My friend Noe asked me to repair the back and binding of her daughter’s baby quilt. Her daughter is in college and says she needs the quilt to get through her last year. The top is also in bad shape and I tried to convince Kiley to keep it in a zippered case to protect it rather than fix it. But she really wanted the back and binding repaired. So, I did. The back was never quilted to the front, so it was fairly easy to repair. I “quilted” with an iron, using Misty Fuse to bond the top to the new back. I used white flannel for the back which was in my stash, left from a baby quilt project many years ago. The white fabric for the bias binging was also in my stash. I had Misty Fuse and white thread, so nothing was purchased for the project. I rather doubt that the top will last one more washing, but maybe Kiley will be finished with college by then. Binding the round corners was not a perfect job. I need more practice.

• Size:  31" x 37"
• Quilting: Quilted by iron using Misty Fuse
• Backing: White flannel from my inventory
• Batting: None
• Pattern: Repair a quilt
• Binding:  White fabric from my inventory. Bias binding to go around rounded corners.
• This quilt is self-certified. QC by Patty.

Back and Binding Before Fix

New Back and Binding

Top Showing a Lot of Wear

Samosas

I made this quilt to donate to the homeless shelter, Life Moves. The inspiration came from a Crafty Gemini series of You-Tube videos where she demonstrates how to make a bright “Samosa” quilt. I already owned the 10” slicer tool that she invented and I had a couple bright layer cakes in my inventory. I like to donate bright quilts to add cheery color to a room. I remember Shirley Landsman saying that when she felt depressed she’d go to a colorful Mexican restaurant, because it’s impossible to be sad surrounded by color. She also didn’t like beiges, grays, tans, and other neutral colors. She called neutrals Puritan colors and she thought people should wear and decorate with brighter colors. Shirley was a wise woman. I miss her.

• 68 1/2" x 90 1/2"  Single bed size
• Quilting: Quilted in a meandering loose stipple. Used black 100% polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Black"). Free form quilting. I left the “samosas” (triangles) unquilted so they would be more 3-D. The black thread really pops on the bright blocks. The color (absence of color?) was an excellent choice. 8 bobbins. Quilting by Patty.
• Backing: Dark fabric printed with bright colored concentric circles from a fabric.com sale of wide backing fabric.
• Batting: 100% cotton, Warm and Natural
• Binding:  Medium blue print cotton from my inventory
• Pattern: From Crafty Gemini’s You-Tube tutorials.
• Piecing by Patty
• Pinned into frame August 5, 2019. Quilting on long arm quilter August 7-9, 2019. (Patty). 
• Binding by Patty. 
• QC by Spencer.