Okay - it has been a long stretch since I have written a post. I have been getting things done, working on some - I can't show you stuff - so sadly I have neglected my blog. Forgive me please?!? And I just wanted to share with you one of my new favorite things - seriously so good!
I have caught the bug - the Downton Abbey bug. My mom introduced me to this series when I went to the Cabin retreat with her and I was going crazy because I had to wait for season 2 to come out. It's been a tough wait, but Clint and I have faithfully been watching this season every Sunday night on PBS when the kids are in bed - he won't admit that he likes it, but at least he will watch it with me. So, if you haven't been watching it - you should and I found it on Amazon for $19.99. Have a great week everyone!

The final unveiling..................

Here we go! This is Jan's Beautiful Quilt! So there are no questions about it, here is Jan's description of the quilt in her own words!

"The quilt is from a Block of the Month from Fabric Boutique in Las Vegas. Blocks made in some nice year….2008 or 2009 I think. They sat around quite a while anyhow. It was originally supposed to be white, browns and black. I thought it was way too stark, so I used the butterscotch for the background instead. I put the paisley in
the border because I was trying for a tooled leather look. Not sure if I made it, but I tried!

Setting is an adaptation of one of the quilts in Brenda Henning's School House Sampler. Center medallion is from one of Jane Wilson's patterns from the early 2000's, or maybe the late 1990's.

These aren't colors from my usual palate, however I really like how they worked together. I was shooting for a Western/Manly type quilt. I think I made the grade, what say you?"

Okay, quick stats and then I will talk about the quilt.
Two layers batting - Hobbs 80/20 & 100% cotton Hobbs
4 thread colors - mostly Highlights and Gold Metallic by Superior Threads.
This quilt took me over 90 hours to quilt, I started on January 2nd and finished tonight at 5:15 pm on the nose! I used 30 bobbins of thread, So Fine was my thread of choice for that!

When I first pulled out this quilt, I have to admit - I was stumped for about 10 minutes - then a thought and image of a directional compass popped into my head. I knew this would be the center of the quilt and kind of the theme for the quilt. This was the first time that I had to draw on the quilt before I put it on the racks because the center block is so large. I drew out the compass outline - can you believe that I drew it out in one try? Well, I did - and I won't take credit for that - just amazing luck!

Not one block is the same - I had fun taking each block and giving them their own character.

I had a hard time choosing which pictures to put on my blog, so I have more on Flickr if you care to look - just click on the pictures and it will take you to my Flickr page.

I wanted these blocks to look like they were spinning.

Love, love how this one turned out!

Another spinning block!

As you can see the sashing is a miniature mimic of the gold colored border. These little beauties took FOREVER - and boy was I so happy when I quilted the last one.

(this happens to be my favorite block)

I quilted most of the cream fabric first - stitching in the ditch around the rest of the colored triangles - then I went back and did the rest of the quilt.

There was a TON of ruler work on this quilt. My hands cramped up a little at the end - especially with the borders.

Miniature directional compass blocks - I just may have a tutorial or a PDF coming up soon for these nice blocks.

All in all - it was a labor of love. I absolutely love how this quilt turned out. I am also grateful to Jan for allowing me "do my thing" and turn this quilt into a masterpiece.

And, I can't show pictures without showing pictures of the back!

I am totally joining a quilt along

First off - thank you for all the fun comments from my last post. I feel like I opened a can of worms, but I am glad to know that we can talk out quilting frustrations! Yay! So anyway, I am almost done with the quilt. Naturally I have been blog hoping instead of quilting the last half hour and I came across this quilt along. Count me in!! I hope I have the time to do it! I saw this block on Jenny's blog and couldn't resist - holy cow this girl is talented and I want to make her cute blocks! I have never done a quilt along, not sure what to do - and if I don't get to it right away - then I just want to make sure that all of you who have more time then me have a chance to join!

(picture blatantly stolen from Jenny's blog)

Okay - so head on over to Jenny's blog and join her quilt along - I have my ruler on order now and I can not wait to make this cute, cute block!

Sittin' on my soap box....

Okay - I am not big into making a big deal about what people say. I really try to just let it go because some people just say things without thinking and I don't think they are trying to offend and for the most part I am not offended. But, I am still human and some things just bother me. I was reading a facebook thread asking quilters if they want their quilts custom quilted or if they prefer a simple all-over by their Long Arm quilter. It was fun reading what people were saying until one lady said "I don't cheat, I hand quilt all my quilts." (While this comment was not directed to me I took it personally as a long arm quilter).

HUH?!!? Cheat? Really - so I guess I have been cheating all this time.

So, here is my response to that comment. Is it cheating to use your sewing machine to piece a quilt? I am sure our ancestors would have LOVED a sewing machine. Just because you prefer to hand quilt doesn't mean it is cheating.

I absolutely love every aspect of the quilting process. Everyone has their style and preference and that is absolutely great. I think hand quilting is a beautiful art and if you love it - DO IT! I just don't want to. I prefer to free motion quilt on my long arm , while others use their computer guided long arms - that is just fine too because it is art no matter how you look at it.

Isn't the end result of seeing a finished project the best feeling to every type of quilter out there?

Just sayin'!!

At the breaking point.............

During each quilt that I have on the racks I go through the "breaking point" where I just have to do something else. I can only quilt the same stitch over and over again before I go a little crazy - I know I have said this before, but with each quilt I think I will get over that part of the process. Not so.
One of my dear friends mentioned to me the other day that she had forgotten that I know how to piece because it's been a while since I have really done something for myself - this post prompted her comment. I just had to laugh because I do know how to piece and I absolutely love it. So, I have been piece strippin' tonight and it's fun - real fun! Not to mention a nice little break......I have to get this all in tonight because next week is the week to finish the quilt on the racks - I am excited for it to be finished and excited to move on to something new!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!