Hard to Focus!

I started up saying I wanted to focus this year ... and I have already been thrown off!

My mother passed away last Monday, so I went to stay with my dad (along with my siblings) as he navigated the first week without her. We were able to help organize the space there in Florida, setting it up for a widower instead of a couple. It was a tough week but so good to spend time with my family. Family and friends planned a sweet memorial this past Saturday and we stayed to take that in.

We did take one day trip, it was good to get away from the organizing and just be ... we went to St. Augustine and explored the fort, checked out some shops downtown, took a chocolate tour (YUM!) and had a relaxed dinner out.

Later on, my sister and I plan to get together and go through my mom's sewing room to take care of things before my dad returns back north for the spring/summer season.

I am now back home, trying to put my week's priorities in order (I need to FOCUS!) and get busy accomplishing things!

FOCUS - not getting lost in too much

Long time no blog!

This year, my word is FOCUS - I am going to try to not be so scattered in projects, in my home, and in my life. One of the things I hope to do is to get back to blogging. 

I have turned in my resignation from my job, added a couple year long classes at Abbi Mays Fabric Shop, and plan to do more designing, writing patterns and actually making quilts. There will most likely be a move this year as my retired Army Guy got a new job and he isn't excited about the commute. This year will need me to be focused!

This picture is of what happens when you don't focus. On the way home from a short trip to Florida, someone rear ended my car ... I was stopped at the red light, a driver behind me didn't see it until too late (not focused on driving apparently). Yes, I am OK, the car, not so much.
 

I am back with a project quilting challenge ...

I have not been blogging,  just have spent my time elsewhere ....

The first challenge this year is Notably Numeric https://kimlapacek.com/2020/01/11-1-notably-numeric-challenge-1-of-project-quilting-season-11.html . I had no ideas,  so I started a different project that I put off during the Christmas season ... a quilt along with Helen Godden. As I was following along,  I realized it fit the challenge!

So,  I present the Christmas COUNTDOWN quilt along ...

Instead of taking 24 days,  I did it all in one week.  Each segment of the sew along showed quilting in a different segment of the design.  I used my Bernina 770QE with the BSR.  It was fun to follow along AND meet the PQ challenge.

For more challenge pieces,  check out https://kimlapacek.com/2020/01/11-1-notably-numeric-challenge-1-of-project-quilting-season-11.html

PQ 10.3 Bigger Than a Breadbox - To Feed a Soul

Bigger than a Breadbox ... HMMM ... I had lots of ideas rising up in my brain, but many of them were only half-baked. I didn't have enough fusible left for some of my ideas, so I kept on thinking.

Monday evening was our local Quilt Guild meeting. This month we were aiming to sew quilts for our charities ... OOH! Charity is bigger than a breadbox - wrapping someone in a quilt made with love? 

I picked up a bundle of fabrics and started sewing them together. I didn't get the top finished that evening, but Tuesday I got it  sewn together. I pulled other fabrics out of my stash to make the back. There were three blocks left over from the front, so I designed a fun back for the quilt. Wednesday it was put on the frame and I quilted it.

I quilted it with swirls because of the circles in the main print and the swirls in the coral fabric found in the four patches.

 

  I bound it on Thursday. Thankfully I had a fabric that worked for the binding!

The back has become a wonderful, modern quilt in it's own right. I like how the four patch almost becomes a heart when set on point.

This quilt will feed a child's soul while they are in need.

To Feed a Soul
41" Square
Made in Muskegon, Michigan

Other Project Quilting 10.3 entries can be found here: Project Quilting

Positive - Project Quilting Season 10.1 Hope Springs Eternal

Here I  am ... busy year, forgot to blog  since last Project  Quilting  Season. I  hope  it won't  be so long  between  posts this year!

Images danced in my brain and a dancer with flowers flowing  was where  the  design  decided  to  go. I  searched  for  dancers and couldn't  find an image  that matched with  my  vision. But I  did  see  other images that changed my direction.

Jumping, rather than dancing, images popped  up  into my design. Now to choose  fabrics ... and thread. I  found  a  variegated thread in purple/pink/blue and chose  a lovely purple fabric  to go with the thread. Auditioning  background  fabrics  brought me to yellow  - Complementary  Colors! High Contrast!

I  made a silhouette  of my jumper and stitched it down on   the background with batting  behind. I  then cut away thebatt behind  the  background - modern   machine trapunto.

As long  as  I  was going for high contrast,  I  decided  to  play wth positive/negative  space. My quilting  flows from bottom  to top, with lots of  different  qilting designs, practicing  different  free motion  designs in tiny  scale. I  didn't  forget  those flowrrs flowing  in my original  design, they ended  up  in  the  quilting!

I  present:
Positive 
10"X 12 1/2"
Designed, Appliqued & Quilted in Muskegon  MI

So, is the purple  the positve space and the yellow negative space? Or is the highly quilted yellow  the positive and the jumping girl  the negative  space?

The  quilt reminds me  of one of my daughters, when she is happy, she may  not jump, but her mood   sure does!

For more Project Quilting entries click here!

Bold and Brave ~ PQ Season 9.3

The Project Quilting challenge this week has been Bold and Brave. I wasn't sure what to do.

Going through the fabrics and patterns that I have at our new house, I found a Flamingo row from last year's Row by Row Experience and my idea came to life :)

One of my internet friends used a Flamingo for her symbol and even called herself "Flamingo ---" - she was a homeschool mom like me, that is where we met, on a homeschool bulletin board online. --- had a great sense of humor, even through trials in her family, including a divorce, followed a few years later by a tragic death of her children's father as well as losing a son to an accident.

--- was diagnosed with breast cancer a couple of years ago. She became discouraged with her doctors and treatment and several times debated letting the cancer over take her. During this time she met and married the man of her dreams. She felt cherished and found a reason to continue with her treatment.

--- was finally taken about a year after she married the love of her life.

I found that --- was Bold and Brave ~ choosing to forge ahead through tough times - and keeping a sense of humor through it all, even up to the end of her life.

SO, my quilt is a tribute to my friend "Flamingo ---"

 this pattern used quiltsmart , which isn't my favorite way of piecing squares. They come out the right size, but I feel the piece ends up a bit "pillowy" The quilt was pieced in three sections.

I used my walking foot to quilt the piece, I may add some swirls later on in the sections to make it look less "pillowy"

I tried a different method of binding, turning the back and folding it over the front. I will probably never use that method again! I didn't feel it was as nice as my regular method.

It sure turned out cute, though! I will hang this one on the wall in my Sewing Studio (whenever it is finished).

The quilt was created in Muskegon, MI and finished at 11" X 41"

#pqseason9.3

Triangulations - PQ Season 9.2

 I had a great plan for this challenge - I was going to do a quilt that would meet two challenges. Of course, I didn't have enough time in my week to really get this quilt done to the level I could call it done, I had to work and I also volunteer with homeschool kids on Thursday afternoons and Friday mornings ... so the first idea, a modern quilt with triangles is only partially done.

The top is pieced, I marked my quilting lines with the ubiquitous blue painter's tape, and started quilting.

 

The problem is, it needs detail quilting ... setting off those lovely triangles and that detail quilting takes time ... a lot of time.

 So, at work on Saturday, I realized I had a perfect little project I could do during the evening. I made a pincushion!

 I started with 4 HSTs and, since they were kind of blah, I added another triangle to each HST. I placed the HSTs in a diamond configuration and built my little pincushion around the diamond.
The pincushion is 3" square and 1 1/2" tall. It is filled with crushed walnut shells.

I made it in Muskegon, Michigan :)

Check out the other quilter's projects on the Project Quilting post.