AAUW-full -- and $500 for LAF!

The AAUW IL/MO state convention was May 3-5 at the Hilton at the Ballpark in downtown St. Louis. We had a joint convention in 2001 and it was high time to try it again.  I left home early Friday and picked up AAUW friend Kate at her house in a western suburb. Despite rain the entire length of I-55, we arrived in St. Louis at noon. 

[Note: to find out more about AAUW just click here:  www.aauw.org]

I always feel so "AAUW-full" after an AAUW convention -- that's "awe-full," not "awful"! -- because our collective efforts to empower women have accomplished so much since 1881 -- and there is still much to do.  AAUW members are interested, interesting, and dedicated.


The Cubs/Cardinals walk around Busch Stadium raised $2319 (Cubs) and $1285 (Cardinals) for a total of $3606 for  the Eleanor Roosevelt Fund which honors an individual, project, organization, or institution for outstanding contributions to equality and education for women and girls.

AAUW's  Legal Advocacy Fund  (LAF) works to challenge sex discrimination in higher education and the workplace. The speaker Saturday evening was a woman who was sexually harassed and abused while she was in the National Guard, starting with the recruiter who signed her up when she was a junior in high school. The harassment, ostracism, and loneliness she endured during her Guard service (including a deployment to Iraq) were horrible.  AAUW support for a class-action lawsuit has helped both financially and emotionally.  She is now 27 and working as a pediatric nurse in Indianapolis.

I don't always dress to match my quilts!

Every spring I donate a quilt to the Waukegan Area Branch  to raffle to raise funds for AAUW projects.  This year it was Easy Street, the most recent Quiltville mystery. Ticket sales at convention were great!  The net proceeds, $500, will go to LAF.  The LAF plaintiff pulled the winning ticket -- and the winner was delighted!

I took Kate and Shirley May home on Sunday afternoon.  No rain and good company made the drive easier.

See what other quiltmakers (who presumably were at home over the weekend) are working on at Judy's Patchwork Times.

DWM: a finish and a start, plus Easy Street (still)

Here's the border for Easy Street. I had two yards of the gray dot which brings out the grays in the design. 100 x 100 -- this is a big one!  I used four different fabrics for the back, including a cotton bedsheet.  I made the leftover units into one long strip.  I took ES to the long-armer today (Sunday).

 

First finish of the year!  I made this blue-centered Heart Strings flimsy last year. I pieced the back from four blue/gold prints.  I used gold thread for meandering FMQing.  (Backing + binding used 3-1/8 yards.)  

Selecting motifs to embellish the bookshelves

 Here's the new work in progress:  a bookshelf wallhanging. This will be given to the woman who's been my ALA roommate since 2002. She retired at the end of 2012 and the upcoming Midwinter Meeting will be her last ALA.  (If you click on the "bookshelf quilt" label you'll see other recent bookshelves. I've made more than 30!)

Novely fabric stash

And coming up:  these are the Star-Crossed blocks that I won from Block Lotto. I'm waiting for six more to arrive. I know I want to set them on point, but I haven't begun to audition setting fabrics.

See what other quiltmakers are working on at Judy's  Patchwork Times.

DWM: swap results and Easy Street!

"I need to make a graduation quilt in brown and blue," read the message on the Quilters' Flea Market list.  "Does anyone have orphan blocks or a quilt top you're willing to sell?" I did!  I offered to swap  this  flimsy  for fabric.  Here's what she sent.  She's delighted with the flimsy and I'm delighted with the fabric. 

TA-DAA!  Here is Easy Street, assembled.  It's about 86 x 86.  I admit that when I put the blocks up I thought I didn't like it.  But now that it's put together -- WOW.

I have to figure out what the borders will be. Bonnie used a narrow inner border of violet and a wider outer border of turquoise. I don't think I have enough of any one turquoise....I'll need to rootle around in my stash for a creative solution.

Thank you, Bonnie, for another wonderful mystery. I don't know how you do it, but I'm glad you do!

Tune in here here for Bonnie's Mystery Monday link up, and tune in here for Judy's Design Wall Monday. 

(Now that ES is assembled I'm looking forward to working on another project.)


New Year's piecing, and The Annual Reckoning

HeartStrings had a New Year's weekend challenge. I made 52 blocks with purple centers. I assembled 48 of them on New Year's Eve.

Easy Street, Step 7....it's coming together!

This all-cotton, twin-sized bedsheet (Salvation Army, $2) will make a good backing for Easy Street.

And now, on to business:  

This is the fifteenth year that I have kept track of the fabric I've acquired and used.  Counting acquisition is easy. Counting use is trickier. I count the square inches in each block (e.g. a 9-patch made from 3" squares is ((3"x3)x3) = 27) and a border strip 2" x 54" is 108). A calculator makes it easy and I've been doing it this way for so long that it's second nature.

2011 was my successful no-buy year.  All during 2012 I knew that I was letting up on my resolve, but until the tally I didn't know just how much I'd let up.  (It's rather like dieting before a big event, then gaining all that weight back. ) 

The bargains of the year were 142 yards at $2 yard from a quilt shop closeout and 55 yards for $31 at an estate sale.

Though I bought more than I ought to have, I did accomplish quite a lot.   I am uncomfortable having many works-in-progress, so I push ahead to the flimsy (unquilted top) stage. I can live with flimsies for a very long time.  This year I determined to reduce the inventory of flimsies. 

In 2012 I finished 39 flimsies myself, had 5 flimsies professionally quilted, and gave away 3 flimsies. 
I created 29 flimsies, of which 21 are finished (they are counted in the 39) and 1 was given away.
In addition I made 1 cloak, 65 Care Bags, 1 pillowcase, 65 Christmas ornaments, and 5 potholders. I emptied 89 spools of thread.  

As 2013 begins, there are 18 flimsies in the box.  My quilt-related goals for the year:
*  End the year with 10 or fewer flimsies (that means I need to keep up with any new projects)
*  Buy less and use more
*  Improve proficiency at a minimum of two techniques (e.g. y-seams or a specialty ruler)
[Objective:  by January 15 determine what those two techniques are.]

May the coming year be piece-filled and peace-filled for you all!

DWM: year-end edition

This daisy bouquet wallhanging is for a P.E.O. sister who recently moved from here (Chicago suburbs) to Atlanta. Another member of our chapter, who is also a quiltmaker, will attach the binding. The pattern is by Linda Sullivan, d/b/a Linderella's Design Studio, and was published in McCall's Quick Quilts (July, 2006).

 

Do you remember these blocks from last week's DWM?  Set all together they were too dark.  I tried purple/lavender squares and found that those were too dark, as well.  [Note to self: next time cut just a couple of squares to audition rather than the entire piece of fabric in case you discover that it's not right for the project.] I rootled deeper in my batik stash and found a yard of yellow for the squares and a brighter purple for the setting triangles.  I've had the purple-and-yellow batik (border fabric)   for six years or so.    (The flimsy is approx. 66 x 73 and used 3-1/2 yards.)

Here is Easy Street, Step 6.  Pairs of 2" strips cut into 3.5" bricks.  128 of 'em? No problem!   Bonnie has just posted Step 7 of Easy Street. Yikes -- it's time to put the units together and I still haven't cut the lime green squares. 

You can see what other quiltmakers are working on at Judy's Patchwork TimesJudy's Patchwork Times. 

 

And tune in to this blog tomorrow for my Annual Reckoning post!

 

 

 

 

 

                                              



DWM: the day before Christmas edition

Here's what I accomplished during my first week of vacation.
*  36 Churn Dash blocks in 19th century reproduction fabrics for a BlockSwappers' exchange. I've sent them off to Victoria though they aren't due until February 15.

*  65 Care Bags.  You can read more about this nonprofit project here.  In one of their newsletters they said they distributed an average of 100 bags a month, so I decided I'd contribute 100 bags a year. I did that for three years and then I got off track.  This week I pulled out the box with what I'd made in 2010:  35 bags.  I pulled out a tub of "miscellaneous" fabric (not quilting, not fashion) and began cutting and sewing.  I mailed two big boxes, with 100 bags, on Saturday.

For the 2013 batch of Care Bags!

-- Care Bags notes:  they can be made with handles or drawstrings. Drawstrings bags are quicker! I use clothesline for the drawstrings (.50 for a 20-yard hank at Big Lots, sufficient for 5 bags).  Home dec or corduroy are about the right weight -- if I use quilting cotton I add lining.  I try to have a fair number of Care Bags that will appeal to boys (=no flowers, hearts, etc.).

*  Easy Street, Step 5.  These were easy indeed!  I still can't figure out how all the units will fit together.

*  A few more 5" batik Puss-in-the-Corner blocks.  I'm still not sure where this project is going. 

You can see what other quiltmakers are working on at Judy's Patchwork Times  and Bonnie's Quiltville.



DWM: Easy Street 4, log cabins, and crossed stars

 Here's Easy Street, step 4. I whipped up the purple-and-turquoise geese....and then found out I had cut them all too big!  Well, I had only to trim them down.  Here is one guess for setting the blocks. The color scheme is pretty snappy!

 This 60 x 60 flimsy began with log cabin blocks from the estate sale I went to last week.  There was just enough of the red print used in the logs left to make the 36 3" nine patches. I was pleasantly surprised that the on-point setting fit around the log cabin blocks.  The outer border is a Thimbleberries print I've had for quite some time--another one of those "I can't cut this!" pieces. It was just right. 








This month's Block Lotto is "Star Crossed."  The directions were to use any three fabrics as long as the values contrast. That forced a good exercise as I selected the fabric.


This is a vacation week for me, so I'm late getting this posted to the
Quiltville link-up and to Design Wall Monday at  Judy's Patchwork Times.

DWM: Step 3, L&E, and a new project

Easy Street, step 3.  I think I've gotten the hang of using the EZ Angle ruler.

The estate sale fabric included a log cabin quilt in progress. There were 16 completed blocks, 9 small blocks that were assembled differently from the 16, some cut strips, a partial FQ of the red fabric, and an entire FQ of the floral (outermost strip). I thought the small blocks might be a border but there's not enough fabric to make more of them. The straight furrows set works best because the shift from light to dark is too abrupt to set them with lights or darks in the center. My stash turned up a medium-dark blue print (with little red cherries) that coordinates, but now I think that the 3" strippy border is not wide enough.....I realized that there is no urgency to finish this. It's only been in my possession 48 hours. I can let it sit.   (Can you tell that I didn't make these blocks?  The clue: they are all the same. My style is scrappy--the more fabrics, the better.)

 Here are my current leaders-and-enders. I have two boxes full of nickel squares, so called because they are 5". I pulled out all the reds. I cut 5" squares from white fabric (using up partial FQs and other scraps).  I paired red & white, cut twice diagonally, and sewed/pressed/trimmed.  I now have quite a stack of 3-1/2" units.  If I add green I'll have a Christmas quilt. If I add blue I'll have a patriotic quilt. Or I may use some other color.

The Sept./Oct., 2005, issue of Quiltmaker has a pattern called "Heritage Squares." The blocks finish at 4.5" (thus 5" unfinished). I thought this would be a good way to use up bits and pieces of batiks. The pattern calls for 132 blocks blocks alternating with 5" squares.   I don't know how many I'll make.  No rush on these.

Check out other Step 3s on Bonnie's Quiltville  and see what's on design walls near and far on Judy's Patchwork Times.
 

Design Wall Monday: Step 2, Christmas gifts, and a flimsy

My accomplishments this week: 
*  128 Flying Geese for Easy Street, Step 2.   I usually use the cut-off corner method for FG.  This time I am following Bonnie's directions as well has her pattern so I used the EZ and Companion Angle rulers for these geese.  Despite what I consider to be careful cutting and sewing, I had a dozen under-sized units and I had to trim a few others. Practice makes perfect!
*  Five potholders that will be Christmas gifts.  The block is an Ohio Star variation -- 9" finished.  It was fun to choose different Christmas fabrics for each one.  I used Insul-Brite and a piece of batting inside.

*  Blue/brown D9P blocks assembled and bordered. The flimsy is about 78 x 78.

Don't miss other bloggers' posts about Easy Street  and Design Wall Monday.

Design Wall Monday: Christmas projects and Easy Street

(Note to self: be sure to save blog posts while typing....I was just about finished when I pressed a key and the entire post disappeared.)

We had a pleasant and unevent-filled Thanksgiving.  I took Wednesday off and enjoyed the extra day.  We avoided shopping on Friday but I succumbed to the appeal of Joann's "25% off total purchase" on Saturday and got some good bargains.  DH joined me on a beach/woods walk on Thursday when temperatures were still mild.  I bundled up for walks on sunny but chilly Saturday and Sunday.

Each year I make ornaments for the library staff, trustees, and volunteers.  These "Texas Tears" blocks are 3-1/2".  They used  1-3/4 yards of Christmas stash and two skeins of perle cotton that I've had for a long, long time. (Thanks to blogger Kathy for the idea!)

On Friday Bonnie Hunter revealed step #1 in her new mystery, Easy Street:  192 3-1/2" four-patches in gray and black-on-white.  The units were simple to make, but that quantity is tedious!  If previous experience holds true, the subsequent steps in this mystery will be more complex.

Several years ago I assembled this pieced rail fence from fabric left over from a Christmas project.  It languished in the orphan blocks box.  I leafed through a quilting book at Joann's on Saturday and got an idea.  (I didn't buy the book, but I remembered the concept.)  I removed three rows, added borders, and added appliques.  This 24 x 48 table runner will be my contribution to the P.E.O. ornament exchange at the December holiday potluck.  ("Ornaments don't have to go on the tree.")   (The P.E.O. emblem is the star and there were 7 founders, hence the 7 appliques.)

And, finally, here's the quilt I totally did not intend to begin this weekend.  Sew Many Swaps had a recent  exchange for 9-patch blocks in brown, tan, and blue, as seeds for Disappearing 9-Patch.  I got to cutting and sewing (leaders-and-enders while I was making all those Texas Tears blocks).   The brown-and-tan setting/border fabric was a Joann's bargain at 60% markdown plus 25% off. 
I keep rearranging the blocks to better distribute the lights and darks, but this gives you an idea of the design I have in mind.

It's Easy Street Monday on Bonnie's blog , and as always, take a look at Design Wall Monday on Judy's blog. 

Easy Street: the fabric

Easy Street is Bonnie Hunter's 2012 mystery quilt.  Her colors are apple green, turquoise, and purple with a gray constant and black-on-white as an accent. 



Fat quarters + yardage

I have all the green, turquoise, and purple well-represented in my stash.   The instructions call for 2 yards of one gray, and I don't think I have 2 yards of a 'suitable' gray.  Fabric shopping is not a hardship! 





See? I really like the combination!



 

The first clues will be posted November 23.  I'm looking forward to this project!