Saturday, December 31, 2016

Gazing into my Crystal Ball

I always find I spend the last few weeks of December looking ahead to the future.  Contemplating what projects and events I want to tackle, deciding where I want to spend my time in the coming year and setting goals for my business.

Back in January, I declared 2016 "The year of Cyndy"....Ha!
Looking at that post, I remember how exhausted I was from an extremely busy 2015.  And early in 2016, I did adjust how and where I was spending my time.

Well, the pendulum definitely swung to the other extreme because I over committed myself with "fun" projects and by mid-year, my projects all began feeling like a chore. 

So this year, I hope to find a happy medium.



I am really making a concerted effort on my UFOs.  It is time to clean these up and get them off my shoulders.  I am down to having only 20.  I decided to make a list of 12 and join American Patchwork for their UFO challenge.  Each month they will pick a number and that will be the project I work on throughout the month.  I may not finish it, but I hope to make some progress on each of these.




This is the year I am going to start learning to sew garments.  I have been collecting patterns and fabric for a few years but I have failed so miserably in the past, I have been frozen to start.  Well, I have signed up for a class at a new local store and I will share my journey with you. 
This should be interesting!



Remember my Scrappy Sampler?  I have been thinking about hosting a Quilt Along and if there is enough of an interest I will get planning on something very similar.
What do you like to see in a QAL?



Quilting is more fun than Housework

Scraps will be a big part of 2017. Scrap-A-Palooza is coming back and I will still be hosting Oh Scrap every Sunday.   I also plan on participating in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge but I am keeping it simple this year.
 Scraps really make me happy!


Quilting is more fun than Housework

In March and September, I will be once again hosting the Quilty Orphan Adoption. It is great to see UFOs that are languishing get packaged up, sent off and finished, sometimes for donation to some great charities. In fact, if you have adopted and finished a picture, I would love it if you shared a photo.




So that is my plan for the year. 

I have decided to not commit myself to a lot of long term projects.  I have also decided not to list a bunch of things I would like to achieve throughout the coming year.

I am keeping it simple this year!

Thank you all for your friendship, support and encouragement!  It warms my heart so much to know so many follow along on my quilty journey.

I wish you all a happy 2017 filled with laughter, good health and great success!






I am joining the fun over at Quilting Jetgirl.  Yvonne holds a Planning Party every year.  I enjoy seeing what everyone has planned for the coming year!










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Friday, December 30, 2016

My Last Finish for 2016


Here it is, the last finish for 2016!




This little quilt was made using the Runway block I designed for Quiltmaker's 100 blocks last fall.  I sewed up four of the blocks to show how they look put together and made a wall hanging.  The block is paper pieced and you can read more about it here.



 The piece measures about 30" square.  I plan on hanging it in my sewing room with some of my other minis and wallhangings.  I might just have to make a bigger quilt from this block one of these days - I really like the design.


 I even got a little fancy with the quilting!

I wasn't sure I was going to find time to get this one quilted up, but I realized that this could be the first time in MANY years that I started a new year WITHOUT a stack of quilt tops of my own to quilt up.

Yep...at this point every quilt top I have finished is quilted and bound!
Woo Hoo!!!





Linking Up:

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Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Best of 2016!

As 2017 come screaming towards me, I have been spending this week contemplating what the future holds and looking back on the past year.  I am a strong believer in having a plan and when you look forward, you have to look where you have been to see what you want to change.

Personally, 2017 can't get here soon enough for me.  2016 really sucked!

But there were still some great things about it.  One of which was the support, encouragement and inspiration I received from all of you.  I cannot express enough how much I appreciate you!

Here are a few other highlights from the year...


Are you curious what post was viewed the most?  It was one of my string quilt finishes.  Most of the hits come from Pinterest.  I am always pleased with how many quilters love string quilts like I do!

If that is you, buckle up....because over the next year there are going to be a rainbow of them getting made.  I have lots of scrappy strings to burn through!



The finish I was most pleased with was this Kaffe Fassett quilt.  It was not a favorite quilt but it was one of my oldest UFOs. 
Boy, it feels good to get an old project finished! 




By far, the silliest finish was the Pig Race quilt.  I donated this quilt to a kid's charity but I still love coming across photos of the blocks. I hope it found a good home and made a child smile!

And you cannot put out a "Best of" without including your favorite quilts. 


My favorite scrappy finish was this colorwash quilt.   Using scraps to play with color is probably my favorite past-time.  So I pretty much enjoyed every step of making this quilt!
http://www.shareasale.com/u.cfm?d=387397&m=29190&u=1009810


And the quilt I cherish the most is my Park Bench quilt.  It doesn't come out of the cupboard very often but when it does, I always feel great pride in it.






Cheryl over at Meadow Mist Designs is hosting the Best of 2016 linky party.  So I thought I would share my best there too.  I hope to see you there!







In a separate post, I will soon be sharing my plans for the coming year.  I have some fun things planned and cannot wait to share them with you!  So here is your chance, if you want to see something in the coming year, speak now! 





Linking Up:

Young Texan Mama (Sew Cute Tuesday)
My Quilt Infatuation (Needle & Thread)


Craftsy



If you want to spend some of that Christmas money and get some good deals, Craftsy is having their end of the year supplies event.  I am an affiliate so clicking through this link and making a purchase means I make a commission (at no additional cost to you).  I really appreciate the support!


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Sunday, December 25, 2016

Oh Scrap! : Happy Holidays



I want to wish all of you a very wonderful holiday!  This is how you will find me for most of Christmas Day.  I plan on a quiet holiday with a lot of Masterpiece Theatre!

I might even get in a bit of sewing....

I hope you are enjoying your holiday season  in the manner you most enjoy!


*************************************

Because we missed our link up last week, feel free to link up an older post.  We don't want to miss out on what you are making with your scraps! 
  • This linky party is for any scrappy project - It can be in-process or a finished piece.
  • You can link up your blog post (not your homepage please) or Instagram photo from the past week that features your use of scraps.
  • If you are linking to a blog post, I ask that you link back to my blog somewhere in your post. So if you are writing about scraps, just get into the habit of including a link as there will be a linky party available every week!
  • If you are using Instagram, please use the hashtag #ohscrap.
  • This is a party so remember to socialize and comment on the posts of others.
  • Following my blog is not necessary but it sure would be great if you do!
Quilting is more fun than Housework

So if you love scrappy projects, feel free to grab my button for your sidebar or posts and get ready to share all your wonderful projects from scraps.  And if you have a great idea for using scraps and would like to be featured, feel free to contact me!






Follow Me on Bloglovin'          Follow me thru Email          Follow me on Feedly

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Friday, December 23, 2016

Rainbow Scrap Challenge Sampler

First, I want to thank everyone who sent warm thoughts my way when my power was out.  I was without power and heat for almost 5 days but sadly there are still thousands who are still waiting for help.  That ice storm was a bad one!

So I have not even been in my sewing room for over a week.  I do have a finish to share however.  I was going to share it last week but had no internet access.











This year, I participated in SoScrappy's Column Along for RSC16.  Each month I made a certain block in the defined monthly color.  I decided to graduate the hue of my blocks from light to dark.  I only used fabrics from my scrap bin.



I did share the blocks up on my design wall before I sewed them together.  I think many of you really liked the layout.









Somehow, when it came time to sew everything together, I went a different way.  That is the downside of being a late night sewist!  You get a lot of hair-brain ideas  :)

The thought of matching up all those seams just didn't seem all that exciting.  Plus, if you have followed along for any amount of time - you know I love a puzzle!



 So I started moving the blocks from one design wall across the room to another and they became all jumbled up.  I had a wonderful time fitting them all together so they could be sewn up into components then a quilt top.



Here it is all finished up.  It is one crazy scrappy quilt!

I am not sure it is a "better" layout but I sure had a ball sewing it up.  I did end up with a partial seam - which I didn't see until I was almost finished piecing the quilt top.  Darn it!




The blocks were all made using Kona Snow as the background and all the prints came out of the scrap bin.  The backing I had recently found in a sale section.



The quilt is quite dark on the bottom - I do wish I had more lighter scraps but  I used what I had!
A big thanks to Angela for organizing this RSC event. 
It is a great way to use up those scraps that just seem to multiply.


Most of my RSC quilts end up going to charities and I think I will send this one off also.  I realized last week just how comforting a warm quilt can be when you need a hug!


Have a wonderful Holiday!


Craftsy



If you want to get yourself a last minute gift or reward yourself with a Craftsy class to enjoy over the holiday, the End of Year Supplies Clearance and Holiday Class Sale is going on right now.






Linking Up:
My Quilt Infatuation (Needle & Thread)
Crazy Mom Quilts (Finish it up Friday)
So Scrappy for RSC16

***This post contains affiliate links.  If you click through and make a purchase, at no additional cost to you, I may make a commission.  I really appreciate the support!****
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Saturday, December 17, 2016

Oh Scrap!

Thanks to an ice storm that hit Eugene on Wednesday, I have been without power. So there will be no linky party this week! Hope we thaw out soon so the repair people can get to us!

Send warm thoughts - the novelty of it all is wearing thin!
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Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Thankful Tuesday

I have been one lucky girl lately.  I certainly feel quite blessed!

First, I so appreciate all of you that stop in and read my blog.  Every week there are new quilters linking up on Sundays and every day, warm and encouraging comments are left.  This support keeps me inspired to share!  You guys at awesome!!


Lately, I have also had some luck in a number of giveaways.




Jasmine, over at Quilt Kisses had her third year blogiversary and had folks guess how many quilts were in her house.  That got me wondering how many quilts I had in my house.  I counted mine and used that number as my entry.  I ended up guessing exactly!  Can you believe it!  My guess was 119 quilts.  Jasmine sent me this cute drawstring bag for guessing correctly.  Thanks Jasmine! 





I was also the unbelievably lucky person who won Maureen Cracknell's big giveaway of her Nightfall fabric collection. (I feel like I need to duck after I say that ðŸ˜Š )



Yes, I won 12 yards of fabric and a lovely canvas bag made by Maureen herself!





I think I am going to add a few more plum and mustard fabrics to this stack and make myself a new quilt for my bed.  I am a huge fan of Maureen's fabrics so why not make something I can keep and enjoy.













I also won a copy of Cheryl's (Meadow Mist Designs) Outlined Plus pattern recently.  I fell in love with this design when she released it and when I won a choice of her patterns, I knew I wanted this one.  I think it will work wonderfully with Maureen's fabric for my quilt.







 I won Cheryl's pattern and these lovely fabrics above from Soma over at Whims and Fancies.  I participated in her Trunk Full of Quilts event and my name was drawn for one of the prizes. 
Thanks Soma!


I told you, I am one lucky girl!





Linking Up:

Molli Sparkles (Sunday Stash)

Craftsy
***This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase,at no additional cost to you,  I may make a small commission, which I appreciate so much!***
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Sunday, December 11, 2016

Oh Scrap! : RSC17

With 2017 just a few weeks away, I need to settle on the final blocks I am going to make for my Rainbow Scrap Challenge with Angela over at SoScrappy.




I already announced I plan on making a bunch of string blocks over the next year.  My plan is to use them in all sorts of color combinations and finish up a number of quilts throughout the year.  I am hoping this will burn through a bunch of the stringy scraps that fill all of my color bins.




My second blocks has been a more challenging decision for me.  Every year I fall hopelessly in love with blocks made by so many other quilters.  A part of me wants to make them all!  But my sensible side says I should pick something easy.  My sensible side is going to win.

I have decided to just pull scraps from my precut 2.5" squares and make a bunch of 9 patch blocks each month.  I will use each monthly color paired with a black/white fabric.  I am not sure how these will get used in the end but they are so versatile, the options are endless.  I have a whole year to make a final decision!

I am already looking forward to January's color announcement!


*************************************

Time to share what you are making with your scraps.  Here are the details for linking up:
  • This linky party is for any scrappy project - It can be in-process or a finished piece.
  • You can link up your blog post (not your homepage please) or Instagram photo from the past week that features your use of scraps.
  • If you are linking to a blog post, I ask that you link back to my blog somewhere in your post. So if you are writing about scraps, just get into the habit of including a link as there will be a linky party available every week!
  • If you are using Instagram, please use the hashtag #ohscrap.
  • This is a party so remember to socialize and comment on the posts of others.
  • Following my blog is not necessary but it sure would be great if you do!
Quilting is more fun than Housework

So if you love scrappy projects, feel free to grab my button for your sidebar or posts and get ready to share all your wonderful projects from scraps.  And if you have a great idea for using scraps and would like to be featured, feel free to contact me!





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Friday, December 9, 2016

Charming Plus Finish

In October, I decided to join Tisha at QuiltyTherapy for her Charming Plus QAL.  I thought it would be a great way to use up more of my black and white scraps.




Some lime green, turquoise and yellow scraps would be a fun colorful addition.



I sewed all the blocks as a leader/ender project.   In no time at all I had a finished quilt.

All of my squares were cut at 3.5" so the quilt measures about 54" by 63".



I was able to pull some older stash for the backing.  I didn't have quite enough of the blue and yellow plaid but adding a bit of yellow along the edge worked perfectly.



I used the piecing as a guide for some puzzle piece quilting.  It adds such a fun detail.



Here s a view from the front so you can see how it works with the blocks.  Lines with bumps are just quilted horizontally, then you just do the same thing vertically.



How happy, scrappy is this quilt!?!


Want to see some more finished Charming Plus quilts?  Head over to Tisha's blog.

Happy Friday Everyone!!




Linking Up:

Quilty Therapy
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Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day




I cannot believe how quickly time is flying by.  Is it really time for Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day already?


My blog reader says it is! 


So having participated for years now, I am in again this year!





For those of you who are visiting for the first time, a little bit about my blog.


                           Quilting is more fun than Housework


There are three events that happen on a regular basis.

1.  Every Sunday, I host a scrap party called Oh Scrap! where others link the projects they are working on using their scraps.  It is a great place to share your scrappy items and to find inspiration.

2.  Scrap-A-Palooza is a series of scrap quilt ideas I share with my readers.  I try and focus on the process of making the quilts versus a specific pattern so the design can be easily adjusted to fit the scraps you have.  There is a gallery of past quilts available here.

3.  Every Fall and Spring, I host a Quilty Orphan Adoption event.  Quilters can link up a project they don't want to finish and put it up for adoption by someone who is willing to take on the challenge.  Every event dozens of projects change hands and many quilts are finished for charities!



 http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?u=1009810&b=253536&m=29190&afftrack=&urllink=www%2Ecraftsy%2Ecom%2Fpattern%2Fquilting%2Fhome%2Ddecor%2Fspin%2Dquilt%2F203307%3FrceId%3D1461874867427%7Eaqs45whg

I also have a number of patterns that are available for purchase.  All are quick and easy!

In fact, as a Thank You - during the SMS event, I have marked down all of my patterns.  You can find then on both Etsy and Craftsy  (Affiliate link).




So let's get to the Real Giveaway!

 This giveaway is for a bundle of 4 AMB solid fat quarters in pretty fall shades. I am also including three spools of Superior Threads Monopoly threads.  Two in clear and One in smoke. 
That is over 6K yards!


This giveaway starts today and will run until Sunday Dec 11th at 5 p.m. PST.  Sorry, but this time I am going to make this giveaway only for US winners.

*******This giveaway is now closed!  Congratulations gmwahl! *******

To enter:

1. Leave me a comment letting me know what is your favorite solid fabric shade.  I love Eggplant but rarely get a chance to use it!

2. Followers of my blog (old and new) get an additional entry. Please leave a second comment letting me know how you subscribe.

Important: If you are a no-reply commenter then please include your e-mail address in the comment. If I cannot reach you, you cannot win.
Thanks and Good Luck!  I hope you decide to use one of the links below and join me on my quilting adventures!

         Follow Me on Bloglovin'          Follow me thru Email          Follow me on Feedly


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Sunday, December 4, 2016

Oh Scrap! : Colorwash Blocks

I think I am happiest when I am sewing with scraps!




This weekend I spent quite a bit of time sewing up some colorwash blocks.  I am getting ready to make a second Geese Migration quilt and putting together some class samples for teaching.
I just love how each block has its own little character!


*************************************

Time to share what you are making with your scraps.  Here are the details for linking up:
  • This linky party is for any scrappy project - It can be in-process or a finished piece.
  • You can link up your blog post (not your homepage please) or Instagram photo from the past week that features your use of scraps.
  • If you are linking to a blog post, I ask that you link back to my blog somewhere in your post. So if you are writing about scraps, just get into the habit of including a link as there will be a linky party available every week!
  • If you are using Instagram, please use the hashtag #ohscrap.
  • This is a party so remember to socialize and comment on the posts of others.
  • Following my blog is not necessary but it sure would be great if you do!
Quilting is more fun than Housework

So if you love scrappy projects, feel free to grab my button for your sidebar or posts and get ready to share all your wonderful projects from scraps.  And if you have a great idea for using scraps and would like to be featured, feel free to contact me!








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