A UFO Finish for 2014!

Since I've been kind of dragging this week, I don't have a lot to show for my efforts. 

I had Ring of Stars on the HQ16 for over a month. The plan was to have it finished by the end of December, but instead, it is a big finish for the end of January!

You may remember me showing this back in October before quilting.
 I worked on it at retreat and finished up when I got home. 

Here it is now, all quilted, bound and labeled--yay!
Ring of Stars from the J/F 2011 issue of McCall's Quilting.
measures 70" x 94"

I did a lot of ruler work on it and a bit of free motion inside the stars.
My machine really likes Glide thread and it looks so pretty with a bit of shine. 

This week's Quilty Fun block--honey combs AKA snowballs.

What's on Your Bed??

Jo at Jo's Country Junction is celebrating the cold winter air by inviting us to show the quilt we have on our bed. 

I finished this quilt in 2010.
It was on the cover of American Patchwork and Quilts and was designed by Tara Lynn Darr.
The pattern for Blue Moon of Kentucky can be purchased from Tara HERE.
I added a lot of blocks and changed the border to make it a king size quilt.

Those are one inch finished squares.
There are lots of squares in this quilt and it weighs a ton!
Mr. Moosebay says it's like a dentist's lead blanket used during X-rays...
No Restless Leg Syndrome sleeping under this one!

I only did a bit of light quilting on it with circles to keep it "drape-y".

Stay warm everybody....unless you are a friend from Australia...to you I say stay cool!!

Don't forget to enter my give away HERE!

Grow Your Blog Give-Away!!

Go HERE to check out hundreds of blogs--many with give-away's too!

I completely blanked that I had signed up to participate in the Grow Your Blog Hop. My only excuse is that I was coming down with some sort of crud and my pounding headache kept me from thinking clearly!

If you are a regular reader of Moosebay  Muses, you know that I have been so lucky to have won numerous give-away's. So it's about time to share the wealth, don't you think??

I recently won a massive amount of Moda fabric from Deb Strain. I have a few ideas percolating on how I am going to use the fabric, but there is no way I can use it all up in the foreseeable future, so I put together this adorable bundle.  

There are some panel pieces and the strips measure from 1.5" up to 5"---there is almost 3 yards of adorable Moda fabric from Deb's line Surrounded By Love! 

According to the rules of the hop, the drawing must stay open until February 15th, so you won't be able to make something for this coming Valentines Day, but you will be waaay ahead of the game for 2015!

The drawing is now closed--thanks for stopping by!
If you are interested in winning the Surrounded By Love bundle, leave a comment on this post!
For a second entry, become a follower and let me know in a second comment.
If you are already a follower, let me know in a second comment.
Be sure to visit the other blogs participating HERE and have fun!!

Like Sands Through the Hourglass.....

This week just disappeared on me--just too many things going on and too little time! Monday was our first Stitch Therapy meeting of 2014. I made up a schedule so hopefully (IF we stay on schedule) our quilt tops will be finished in September--maybe before!

Block one of Simply Red.
We are going to do 2 blocks a month. In February,
we will begin working on some of the piecing as well.

Block 2 of Simply Red
The designs aren't symmetrical--more whimsical and fun!
It's going to be great seeing everyone's blocks each month because we are going to have a lot of variety--red, blue, black, gold, and even a multi-color Simply Red!
I completely blanked on taking photos in class--hopefully I will remember next month, because I expect a lot of eye candy!! 

The trees for Quilty Fun Sew Along.

It's been a while since I showed my progress on the Quilty Fun Sew Along--
these are the Chubby Chevrons!

The quarter square triangles are put together to make hourglass units. 

Lori has a really unusual method of making 4 patches--kind of wacky, but it works!!

These are all the components so far--Monday is week Eleven: Honeycombs.

Last Tuesday was the Breezy Point sew-in day. I managed to get my first 2 Simply Red blocks finished. Whew!
 Also, today was our first long arm quilting meeting of 2014. Denise showed us how to do "3's and E's"--looks like a lot of fun and I can't wait to try it out, but I will need to do a lot of practice on the white board first.

Next week, I'm hoping to finish up a quilt that's been on the HQ16 for about 6 weeks--not much left to do, but it kind of got set aside when the Celtic Solstice mystery started.
Have a wonderful weekend! 

Recovery Mode

It seems like it always takes me a couple day to recover from a retreat.

 Of course, you don't get enough rest, sew like a madwoman for hours on end, and eat too many goodies--and it's all so much fun!! I did learn a lesson this time around--ALWAYS take your own pillow.

 I thought I could tough it out this time and I was wrong!!

I feel so relieved to have my 244 chevrons completed for step 2 of Celtic Solstice.

I got a very feeble start on the four patches for step 4.
 I just couldn't face the half square triangles and pinwheels in step 3 after making all those chevrons-- I had to skip ahead to something mindless. 

I haven't accomplished much since I've been back home (aside from housework and shoveling snow).
I've mostly been working on writing up my handouts for class tomorrow.
I'm so excited that our first Stitch Therapy meeting is on Monday.
These are my fabrics for Simply Red--yes, they're blue!!
I have a couple Minick and Simpson wool's for the applique, a few Primitive Gatherings prints for my backgrounds (these are from the Snowman Gatherings line) and, of course, some blue Cherrywood for the pieced blocks. By the way, for some giggles by the gals from Cherrywood, click HERE!
Did I mention that all of these fabrics are available at Colorz for Quilts???
 I may be adding some more blue prints for the piecing--we'll see!!

Thank you, Mr. Mail Carrier!

I've done as much packing as possible before I leave for the retreat tomorrow, 

so did a little catch-up sewing. 

The tree block is the 8th block in the Quilty Fun sew-along.
A few weeks ago I won a prize from the Fat Quarter Shop as an entrant in the Quilty Fun Flickr group.
My prize was sold out though, so they gave me a gift certificate instead.

Of course, as soon as I had that certificate in my hot little hands, I had to go shopping!
It just happened to be the day all the Aurifil thread sets were on sale during their 12 Days of Christmas sale.

Twelve spools of Aurifil ended up to be about $5 a spool--thank you Fat Quarter Shop!!
These colors are right up my palette.

I had forgotten that I had won this gorgeous kit, "Tour des Jardin" a while back, so when it arrived it was a  total surprise.
I have the memory of a gnat.
It's a huge stack of fabrics and a Block of the Month set of patterns (specifically designed for the fabrics) from  Holly Hill Quilt Designs.
I can't wait to dig into this when I get back home.
Blues, Reds and Creams--Love!

I got really lucky when I scored this one yard bundle of 13 fabrics from the Nancy Gere Indigo and Gold Collection.
It was for sale on a Yahoo group I belong to for $25 including shipping.
$1.92 a yard--awesome!!!

Norma Whaley from Timeless Traditions sent me this sweet covered notebook--just because!
You know I love birds and sunflowers!
I plan to use this to record all my 2014 projects--I love it.

That's just a few of the things my awesome and patient mail carrier delivered this holiday season.
That cyber shopping keeps him busy!

Listing

I may not have any goals or resolutions for this year, but I do have lists--lots of them!

I have a list of appointments I need to schedule.
I have a list of questions to ask my doctor the next time I see her.
I have a list of items I need to take to my Mom's new residence.
I have a list of things I need to bring to my first Stitch Therapy meeting.
I have a list of tasks I need to complete before the first Stitch Therapy meeting.
I have a list of my UFO's that will be crossed off as they are finished (that should be gratifying!).

I have a mental list of cleaning/organizing projects that need to be done (if I don't write them down, it will be easier to forget to do them).
I have an on-going Costco shopping list.

Of course, I also have an ongoing grocery list.
My most important "top of the pile" list? My packing list for retreat! 

I have my trusty Plano rolling work station loaded up, my suitcase ready to pack, my machine oiled and fitted with a new needle, a new blade in my rotary cutter, my batch of Pioneer Woman cinnamon rolls in the works and I'm raring to go!!

I have all five steps of Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice cut out and ready to work on at retreat.
I made a test block of each step so I would know which tools I need to pack.
Step one is actually finished and I will bring those components to retreat in case I get to the point where I can start putting the parts together. 

My star points will be red and I think this year my fabrics will have some good contrast.
I need to make 60 of these blocks.

I'm using green in the same places as Bonnie did, so this square will show up nicely, I hope!
I'll need 61 of these--this will be a big quilt!

This is how it will all go together. I'm excited to see how my colors will translate!

I'm pretty sure this will keep me busy while I'm at retreat next week, but just in case I'll be packing up a few of the projects that I have cut out and ready to sew.
I can't wait!

Where to Start???

The New Year seems to be a good time to look back on what we've accomplished and where we are headed in the future. A lot of bloggers have done posts showing their finishes from last year. I had planned to do the same, but I found out I'm just too lazy to make the effort. Sorry!
I did go back through my posts and was amazed at how many things I had completed and forgotten that I had even done them.

It's also a good time to change those behaviors that we feel aren't in our best interest.
Or start some that are.

I've decided not to make any resolutions. 

My top resolution for 2013 was: I will not purchase any new fabric.
Okay, I admit that it was pretty unrealistic, but I also failed--miserably.
 

Now this sounds better: goals.
But what if you don't meet your goals? Then you are kind of a failure too.

I'm hearing Doris Day singing in my head:
Que sera, sera, What will be, will be.

So, no resolutions, goals, word of the year to live by, and by the way, 
I'm also not going to embrace the color of the year!

I think I'll go with this: