Goals for 2021 and 2020 Year-End Report

County Line Quilts

2021 Goals

2020 Year-End Report

2021 Goals

• Complete  4 long-armed quilts, including:
• Make a baby quilt for Cousin Kristi’s new granddaughter, Grace.
• Make a quilt for friend Grace’s new daughter-in-law, Grace’s request.
• Finish the sampler quilt begun in 2019 before my eye problem. The blocks were completed in 2020, but the quilt needs sashing, borders, etc
• Make 1 quilt from the To Do list of 27 Projects in bags (PIGS) as listed here (strongly recommend quilt for Thomas):

1. Dog Park (Quilting Bee--"Community Garden") in Cal-Asia bag and book
2. Sea Star (Binding Tool Star) in clear plastic orange bag
3. Garden Gate in gold NM 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. Needs white. See MSQC video.
8. Strips and tool in brown homemade tote bag for MSQC Basic X quilt. Needs fabric for center(gold?) See MSQC video.
9. Volunteers (Hands) in black Doctors Without Borders bag.
10. Black, White, Red Quilt in bright pink N-M bag—contains instructions
11. Green bug in Kaffe Fasset bag. Needs off white
12. 5”sq baby quilt in UA small canvas bag
13. Koala Jumping Jacks quilt (see Tomato Soup) in medium blue NM bag
14. A couple pieces for STEM quilt in Aunt Janet long skinny bag. Rest of pieces on shelf
15. Burst quilt and tool and instructions in tan and brown NM bag
16. Kiss Me Kate half square triangle quilt in UNICEF bag. Instructions on her web site
17. Half square triangle quilts in blue bag from sewing machine store. See book with dog park quilt for instructions
18. MSQC Wonky Star quilt in La Prairie white paper bag
19. Don’t remember in Thailand Elephant bag
20. 9-Patch and Hourglass on MSQC or stretched Periwinkle on MSQC using fabric from Lynda at Belmont sewing group. In 2 clear bags.
21. Tula Pink Monkey Wrench . Pattern unknown. In Kaffe Fasset bag
22. Thomas’s ship quilt in wild print NM bag 
23. Jelly Weave in “give quilter an inch” cloth bag. Needs background fabric
24. Scrap Patch Boxes in clear Quilt in a Day bag. Directions in iBooks
25. Scrappy succulents in clear Quilt in a Day bag. See iBooks.
26. Cacti and Succulents from MSQC in black Williams Sonoma bag
27. Red strips in “Start Over” canvas bag. Dart pattern in iBooks. Use white for back ground. Make it a few inches wider.

• Organize sewing studio—deep clean the fabric shelves! 
• Try a new technique. Consider curved piecing, needle-turned appliqué, or free-motion quilting on the domestic machine. Consider this a fun project.
• Make a few more masks, because COVID-19 is still with us.
• Only buy fabric to finish quilts, such as backs and bindings. Otherwise, use what is already in my inventory. An exception can be made for the quilt Grace commissioned for her daughter-in-law.

2021 Outlook

After the unexpected plague year of 2020, I read advice to keep goals for 2021 modest and achievable. I think that’s good advice. We need to give ourselves a break and a pat on the back for surviving a difficult 2020. Therefore, my new goals are not too ambitious. On the positive side my eye is better. Though, I will still need cataract surgery when COVID-19 abates.

2020 Year-End Report

• Completed 13 long-armed quilts, including the baby quilt top pieced in 2019 before my eye went bad (quilt given to new grandnephew Miles Rangel, Stacy Wong’s baby), t-shirt quilt for Tomiko, t-shirt quilt for Mother that I started in 2019, 4 quilts for Aunt Linda, a quilt top from the guild, and a baby quilt for the new grandniece Quinn Charlotte. In addition, I quilted a small top on the domestic for Aunt Linda. It was a lot of work and took a long time but turned out pretty. Goal exceeded for long armed quilts. 
• Made 2 neonatal quilt for guild. Goal exceeded. These quilts were quilted on the domestic
• Made one "kit" quilt, the quilt for Quinn Charlotte. Goal met.
• Made 2 T-shirt quilts. Goal met.
• Long armed the top Sally and Mother started in 2019. Goal met.
• Made 1 quilt from the To Do list of  Projects in bags (PIGS), Alaska quilt from fabric Ann gave me. Goal met.
• Tidied and organized sewing studio, including making more bags of quilting projects (PIGS). In addition, made two quilts from the new PIGS list, the quilt kit for Quinn Charlotte and the Aunt Linda Dream Weaver quilt, now named Quilt in the Time of COVID. Goal met.
• Made a dog bed stuffed with scraps. This was a big job, and from now on all small scraps get thrown away! Goal met.
• In addition, I made many masks for friends, family, and myself to help stop spread of  COVID-19.

All of my 2020 goals were met and one exceeded. I give myself an A for 2020, a very difficult pandemic year.

Quilt in the Time of COVID

With apologies to Gabriel Garcia Marquez for the name of the quilt. Love in the Time of Cholera is one of my favorite books. This year of COVID has been very strained for everyone and has included other tragedies such as the wildfires on the west coast, many hurricanes, and plagues of insects. When will it end?

This top is similar to a quilt that Aunt Linda made and I quilted. See “Aunt Linda’s Dream Weaver” June, 2018.  I admired it so much I decided to make one like it. It went together easily and quickly. The only problem was a SNP (upside down black sashing piece) which I fixed with gene therapy (ripping out the upside down piece and replacing it right side up). I laid out the blocks on paper towels to aid in the piecing. You can see the paper towels in the first picture. This technique works well. I used a “Grunge” fabric jelly roll to make the quilt and black and off-white grunge fabrics for the background, sashing, and border. 

This quilt will be donated to the guild for CZU fire victims. I hope it is a bit cheery for the recipient.

• 68 1/2" x 88 1/2" Twin bed size
• Quilting: Quilted in a loose stipple with a COVID design in the center.  Used off-white 100% polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Light Tan").  Free form quilting. 9 bobbins. Quilting by Patty.
• Backing: Light gray and cream “screen” print from fabric.com. Wide fabric for a quilt backing.
• Batting: 80% cotton/ 20% polyester. “Comfort Blend” from WinLine.
• Binding: Orange-red grunge cotton print from my stash.
• Pattern: "Dream Weaver” from a MSQC tutorial.  
• Piecing by Patty
• Pinned into frame November 18, 2020. Quilting on long arm quilter November 24, 2020. (Patty). 
• Binding by Patty. 
• QC by Spencer

Coronavirus in Center of Quilt

Aunt Linda’s Antique Quilt

Aunt Linda saw an antique quilt in a shoe store and decided to make her own version. So, she took a few pictures, went home, drafted a pattern, and visited her fabric stash. Her version is stunning.

The Original

To quilt it in a similar fashion to the one Aunt Linda saw in the shoe store window, I used a walking foot on my domestic machine, Janome HD-3000. The original was quilted in closely spaced, concentric arcs. I used a sewing guide on the foot, what I call an “outrigger” or “side car”, to measure the spacing between the arcs. The first arc was drawn using the round plastic thing that is meant to hold a thread spool on the spindle with an air-disappearing ink pen. 

To make the quilt sandwich I used spray basting. I love that product. Progress through chemistry!

After quilting there were hundreds of thread ends to bury. In the parlance of quilters, the quilt was “very hairy”. It took me longer to bury the thread ends than to do the quilting. 

Because I can’t add a rabbit outline (my signature) when I use a domestic machine to quilt, I embroidered a rabbit outline for a quilt label. I left space around the rabbit for Aunt Linda to add what she may want on a label. I showed my first attempt to my friend Gladys who is a proficient embroiderer, as well as sewing educator. She was not impressed, gave me a quick lesson, and said to start again! My second attempt turned out a little better. Gladys suggests that I need a few more lessons, so we will meet outdoors in the park for socially distanced embroidery lessons.

• 40 1/2" x 52 1/2" Crib size
• Quilting: Quilted  in concentric arcs using my domestic machine. Used white 100% cotton thread (mercerized cotton for machine quilting from Coats). Quilting by Patty.
• Backing: Pieced green print, very pretty!
• Batting: 80% Cotton/ 20% Polyester “Comfort Blend” from Winline
• Binding: To be done by Aunt Linda.
• Pattern: Inspired by quilt Aunt Linda saw in shoe store window.
• Piecing by Aunt Linda
• Quilting on domestic October 21-25, 2020. Thread ends buried October 25- November 4 (Patty). 
• Binding by Aunt Linda. 
• QC by Patty

Before and After Photos Below

Learning about the Buttons on Gigi’s Sewing Machine. 

Quilt in the foreground getting bound. Aunt Linda selected a white on white print for the binding.

Aunt Linda’s Mountains on Their Sides

Sally gave the quilt this name and I couldn’t think of a better one. It’s really a log cabin variation.

• 60" x 75" Single bed size
• Quilting: Quilted in a loose meander with spirals in the small squares. All quilting free form.  Started using a new bobbin case and it worked well. Used gold 100% polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Goldenrod").  8 bobbins. Quilting by Patty.
• Backing: Pieced gold, cream, and black print, very pretty!
• Batting: 100% cotton “Warm and Natural”.
• Binding: To be done by Aunt Linda.
• Pattern: Inspired by “Spice Market" by Vicky Wozniak from a McCall's advertisement, but the blocks were not set on point. This is really a log cabin pattern variation.
• Piecing by Aunt Linda
• Pinned into frame October 23, 2020. Quilting on long arm quilter October 27-30, 2020. (Patty). 
• Binding by Aunt Linda. 
• QC by Patty

Aunt Linda’s Mountain Quilt

The Running Bunny

Aunt Linda made a quilt like Mother enjoys making. See Quid Pro Quo from March 2020 and the earlier quilts that Mother made. This quilt quilted easily.

• 74 1/2" x 85" Regular bed size
• Quilting: Quilted in a medium tight stipple. All quilting free form. Used soft green 100% polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Beach Grass").  9 bobbins. Quilting by Patty. Set in triangles had bias side where they should have had straight side along the outside edge, so I had to be extra careful with the quilting. One seam had come apart and the resulting hole “ate” the long arm foot. It was very time consuming to get it out, but I did and the hole can be easily repaired.
• Backing: Pieced green polka dot print, very pretty!
• Batting: 100% cotton “Warm and Natural”.
• Binding: To be done by Aunt Linda.
• Pattern: Inspired by “Spice Market" by Vicky Wozniak from a McCall's advertisement.  
• Piecing by Aunt Linda
• Pinned into frame October 14, 2020. Quilting on long arm quilter October 14-15, 2020. (Patty). 
• Binding by Aunt Linda. 
• QC by Patty

Aunt Linda’s Quilt with Blocks on Foundation

Because the center of the quilt is heavier due to the foundation fabric and the borders are regular fabric the top did not quilt as smoothly as I would like. Also the center blocks being on point added extra fullness to the quilting process. Next time I have a quilt like this to do, I’ll use a polyester batting to fill in some of the fullness and fluff it up! Lessons learned! This quilt is very heavy and will keep someone very warm!

• 71 1/2" x 84 1/2" Regular bed size
• Quilting: Quilted in a loose spiral design in outer border, wavy design in inner border, and a loose loop-de-loop in center. All quilting free form. Used dark green 100% polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Palm Tree").  7 bobbins. Quilting by Patty.
• Backing: Pieced green and white leaf print.
• Batting: 100% cotton “Warm and Natural”.
• Binding: To be done by Aunt Linda.
• Pattern: Diagonal scraps on a cloth foundation. Blocks set on point to make a square design. Aunt Linda’s invention
• Piecing by Aunt Linda
• Pinned into frame October 7, 2020. Quilting on long arm quilter October 8-9, 2020. (Patty). 
• Binding by Aunt Linda. 
• QC by Patty

Aunt Linda’s Flannel Quilt

Aunt Linda sent me 5 quilt tops to quilt for her. This one is flannel front and back and has a very modern-quilt look. So, I decided on a modern quilt design, unevenly-spaced horizontal and vertical straight lines. I had to remount the quilt to do the vertical lines, but that 90 degree turning of the quilt went smoothly. Overall, everything worked smoothly with the quilting.

• 45 1/2" x 58 1/4" Youth bed or crib size
• Quilting: Quilted in a parallel unevenly spaced horizontal and vertical lines. Used bright yellow 100% polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Mellow Yellow").  5 bobbins. Quilting by Patty.
• Backing: Pieced flannel.
• Batting: 100% cotton “Warm and Natural”.
• Binding: To be done by Aunt Linda.
• Pattern: Aunt Linda’s invention 
• Piecing by Aunt Linda
• Pinned into frame October 2, 2020. Quilting on long arm quilter October 3, 2020, both horizontal and remount for vertical directions. (Patty). 
• Binding by Aunt Linda. 
• QC by Patty