Sugar Block 3.0 BOM – it is done!

August 8, 2017August 7, 2017 - Ann Petersen 6 Comments

Last year my Albuquerque Modern Quilt Guild decided to do the Sugar Block Club 3.0 Block of the Month club. It seemed like we all had a lot of energy about it for the first few months, but the enthusiasm waned. I tried to keep up with the blocks every month, and had a big push in December to finish the last block and get the setting together.

It would have been easy to just do a 3 blocks in a row, 4 rows setting, but I decided I wanted to do a non-traditional setting. I also had a lot of extra fabric left over, and I thought some large open areas for the top would be useful for practicing some quilting. I cut the background fabric in to large squares and rectangles, and developed this for the setting:

After doing a large amount of practice on my long arm, I thought I was ready to tackle this guy.

I struggled with a thread choice for the top – I wanted something that blended, but my first choice blended so well I couldn’t see what I was quilting.

I wound up choosing a very light grey – Aurifil Dove #2600. I think it worked out well, but it still was very light in places and hard to see.

I spent a lot of time choosing patterns for each block, using many tools to work through the design – my notebook, books, and a plexiglass sheet to put on top of the quilt and try out ideas.

It took a lot of time, but I think it came out really well!

Here is the finished quilt:

Some detail shots:

The back – I pieced it with leftovers from the blocks.

I almost used a whole big spool of Aurifil on the top:

Maggie was exhausted when we were done!

But she did help me with the binding:

Final stats:

Thread used – Top (Aurifil Dove #2600), Bottom (Bottom Line #620)

Quilt Size: 66″ x 78″

Total Quilting Stitches: 352,919

I am really happy with how it turned out. There are a lot of bobbles and wonky stitches, but I think I’ve come a long way!

Linking up with the Q3’17 FAL page

Mid Year Check In – how am I coming on my goals?

August 6, 2017August 6, 2017 - Ann Petersen Leave a comment

Heading into the year Yvonne at Quilting JetGirl hosted a linky party for setting 2017 goals. We are over halfway through the year, so it’s time to check in on what I said I was going to do.

Going in, I said that my word(s) for the year were ‘Settle In’, as I had a lot of change in 2016 and really wanted to get into a routine and into a groove. I wanted to find some balance, make time to sew, and get really comfortable and skilled with the things that I’m doing. I think I’ve done pretty well with that – my ‘new’ job is now about a year old, and I’m getting adjusted to my routine. I don’t have as much time to sew as I would like, but I have managed to fit in a lot of projects.

These were my goals –

Long Term Goals:

Find a good balance between work and life and make sure I keep making time to sew. Getting a bit more physical activity and losing a few pounds wouldn’t be a bad idea either! UPDATE: As I said, I’m doing pretty well finding time to sew. I have NOT done well with the physical activity/losing pounds thing. I’d really like to find a way to get back to doing yoga.
Continue to try new things with my quilting. Learn new skills, make things that are outside my norm and my comfort zone. UPDATE: I think I’ve done pretty well here too. I’ve worked a bunch with my long arm, and taken a lot of classes – both online with Craftsy and in person with Angela Walters. I finally got out my EQ7 software and have been playing with that. Once I get a bunch of these WIPs done, I want to spend more time on design.

Short Term Goals:

Long arm, long arm, long arm. I want to get very comfortable and capable with my new big machine! I’m taking an Angela Walters class in March that should help. UPDATE: It’s going well. Some set backs, but mostly I’m feeling pretty happy with it. I loved the class! I’ve also figured out my Pro-sticher, along with doing my own free-motion. I’m starting to get people to ask me if I will quilt their quilts for them, so I went ahead and registered Brown Paws Quilting as an LLC and am working on getting the business set up. Yikes!
Figure out something to do with all of these quilts! I will be making some donations, but I’m also considering opening an Etsy store. UPDATE: No real progress here, but as I said I set up the LLC, so maybe I can open an Etsy store using that LLC. I will likely be donating a lot of quilts.
Do less BOMs and quilt alongs this year and do more of my own designing. I joined a monthly design group that should push me to do this. UPDATE: No real progress here. The monthly group wasn’t as helpful with the designing as I hoped it would be. I’ve done a few things, like my plans for my cat quilt, but mostly I’ve been wrapped up with finishing a bunch of older projects.
Keep up with my Bee group. I’m in a group with some great folks from my New Blogger’s group. I’ve never done a Bee, so it should be fun. UPDATE: This is going really well and I love the group.

New Goal (only one, but it is a big one…)

Get the Long Arm business set up and running. This is scary, but I’m excited about it. I have a lot of little things I want to do to get this rolling (get cards, stitch up some samples, work on my intake forms, find batting sources, etc…).

Projects on the list:

Sugar Block Club BOM layout and finish – done! need to take photos and do my post.
Splendid Sampler layout and finish – on the frame now!
Death Star quilt – done!
Blueberry park Drunkard’s Path – no progress
Hawaiian batik sampler – no progress
My embroidered Bee quilt – all the embroidered blocks are done, top is pieced, perhaps this one is next on the frame…?
Other stash projects – I have a large amount of fun bundles I have purchased that I need to get working on (more Blueberry Park, some Alison Glass, Me+You batiks, some Grunge…)
Long arm practice quilts (rings, funky squares, Circa 1934 Squares, mess-of-a-quilt) – lots of progress – I’ve finished a bunch of quilts this year working on my practicing. I’m really happy with the results.

I should finish the rest of these this year.

So far so good – I’ve made a lot of progress. It’s good to remember when I’m looking down at all of these little stitches, sometimes going a bit wonky, how much I’ve learned. I’ve really loved having my long arm, and am looking forward to more new things during the rest of the year.

Q3’17 FAL Goals

July 5, 2017July 5, 2017 - Ann Petersen 1 Comment

Can’t believe half of the year is gone already. I have fewer goals this quarter, but much larger quilts and bigger finishes.

Sugar Block Club 3.0 – top is done, back is done, batting is ready to go. It is actually loaded on the frame now and I’ve started quilting.
Splendid Sampler – top is done, back is done. I’m kind of scared to quilt this one, but I bet it will be cool.
Bee Quilt – the 20 embroidered blocks are done. I need to piece the top, then on to quilting.
Blueberry Park Drunkard’s Path – still looking for inspiration to piece this one and get it moving.
Hawaiian batiks – need to figure out how I want to assemble the top, buy some setting/sashing fabric, and get it put together.
Red and Blue Squares – this started with me trying to use up all my scraps from my Splendid Sampler, and now I don’t have enough blue scraps to finish what I planned. Oh crud, more fabric!
Bright Puzzle – I found this bag of cut pieces ready to go in a bin in my sewing room recently and decided to whip it together for another long arm practice piece.

My plan is to really only focus on the first 3, but we’ll see how it goes. I also need to decide on my Bee Block – I am queen in August – and catch up on my Me+You version of our Bee Inspired group blocks.

Lots of fun stuff to do, and I’m looking forward to getting these big guys knocked out.

Linking up with the Q3’17 FAL page