Starry Night BOM done?? It's been a YEAR already???

It's hard to believe. A year has gone by, right before my very eyes. How do I know? I bought and finished my 12th block for the Starry Night BOM quilt I started forever ago.

Here is my 12th block, and I can see a huge difference between my first and my 12th. Both my sewing skills and my quilting skills have come a long, long way in the last year.











Here are the only filler blocks I've managed to make. 2 of 13. Ouch. But I have started to cut for them, and I do think they will go quickly because I can do them "assembly line" style. Yet another technique I've learned this year.













I think the next one is my favorite block, and it was the 3rd one we made. I really love the diamond placement.





This is the photo that they gave us when we started. I'm really looking forward to getting mine all together because I think it will look so much better. The colors are so much brighter in real life.



Which one is your favorite?

Starry Night #11 - Almost there!

I've had this block for two weeks and just got to it today. I feel like I did a much better job cutting, but my sewing left a lot to be desired. I was in a hurry, and wanted to get on to the sashing for my Flipside quilt. (The baby shower that the quilt is a gift for is on June 4th, so I have to get crackin'.)

The year that I've been working on this BOM (which is the first BOM I've ever actually gone all 12 months for) has flown by. I'm really hopeful that I can motivate myself to do the filler blocks. I've done 2, I need 13. I don't tend to do well with repetitive sewing. I am for sure and instant gratification fiend!



Although I missed Quiltmarket this week, it's been great to see everyone's posts and tweets. I saw so many beautiful pictures, I almost felt like I was there. Almost. Here's to getting my work together for Houston...

Starry Night progress and how to enjoy a snowy winter

It's hard to believe, but February is the 8th month of my Starry Night BOM. With each of these that I do, I can really see improvement in my piecing. I really like the colors on this block too. I'll for sure be making one of the filler blocks with these colors.



Switching gears...as you may well know, it has been the snowiest winter in VERY long time around here. The result is that my sweetie has gotten full on back into skiing and has pulled me along with him. Last weekend we drove up to Stratton Mountain in Vermont on Friday so we could ski for the day Saturday.

Here's WBR (that's World's Best Rob) at the top of the mountain...look how low to the ground those trees are and how caked they are with snow!



I'd never been to a "big" Vermont mountain, so I really enjoyed the view from the top. It was challenging skiing for me for sure, but there were loads of trails to try, and many lifts, so we got a full day of skiing in. I went down my first "glades" trail (where they don't take out the trees and you have to ski through the woods) and only fell down four times!



Just so you all can see what a goober I can be...this is a picture I took of myself (with my new iPhone, my old one got dropped in a bathtub and died the night before). You can see how giddy I am, both to be at the top of the mountain, but also to be enjoying my new toy.



We had so much fun on our day away, that when we came home, we decided to take the kids to a smaller local mountain in Massachusetts called Butternut on Sunday to see how THEY liked skiing. These pictures were taken BEFORE any skiing was actually done. Note the happy faces.



And here's Ally, making sure her big brother is actually smiling for the camera (which he wasn't).



For better or worse, they both did ok, but neither of them seems to be clamoring to go back. So for now, it looks like skiing will by my thing to do with Rob. Which is ok by me.

What do you do with your family outdoors in the winter? I'd love to hear about it.

Next up, an update on my argyle quilt for my little (big) man, and my first wonky block!

First of the Filler - Starry Night

It was month seven of my Starry Night BOM project, so we got the pattern and specs for the filler blocks in January. Very thrifty design, because you actually use the leftovers of the blocks to make the filler blocks. There will be 13 (lucky!) filler blocks in all, so there will actually be color duplicates.

In an attempt to try to learn how to piece more efficiently, I tried to make these two blocks simultaneously. I chose two of my favorite color combinations so far and dove in.



While I'm happy, overall, with the outcome, boy am I realizing just exactly how crooked my work is! The finished blocks are supposed to be 12 1/2" square. HA! Both of mine were 12" and a mighty crooked 12" at that.



My other observation is that when I press the finished block, clearly I press too hard, because you can see shiny spots! Eww, that's horrible!! I definitely need to press the finished blocks, it does help to make the lines look straighter and set the stitches, but I'm not sure if my iron is too hot, if I should only press on the back (I don't think this will cut it, though, in achieving my goal of straightening my blocks), or if I need a pressing cloth between?

What are your pressing tips?? I need them all.



I have to say, I love way the colors are coming out, and how they look with the black. I think the quilt will be beautiful when it's done.

BOM new and old with some argyle on the side

We are heading full on into the winter drudgies. At least that's what I call the time between New Year's Day and Easter. The long, cold, often dull time we New Englanders spend waiting for Daylight Savings time to come back. One of the things I love to do is force bulbs to bring a littler color into the house...



We got these gorgeous paperwhites for a Christmas gift from White Flower Farm, and amazing plant/gardening company here in CT that has an amazing catalog and mail order business. Everything I've ever gotten from them has been gorgeous.

I, like so many of you, put together a 2011 plan this week. It has goals for my sewing, design, and blogging. It has dates. It is written down, and I will be doing my darnedest to follow it. One of the more vague concepts is to keep learning, and to allow myself to make mistakes sewing.

With that in mind, I set out to do my seventh block in my Starry Night BOM quilt. I never posted doing block #6, so here's that one.



As you can see, my borders don't line up with the inside of the block. This has been an issue for me for all of the blocks. I am still not a proficient 1/4" sewer. I'm getting A LOT better, and I see improvement with every block, but I'm not there with the precision yet. Knowing this, I started number 7.



When I got to the edges, as usual, they were off. But...in honor of my new goals, I actually ripped the pieces apart *gasp*...the dreaded...UNSEWING. I actually walked away from the block for about 15 minutes, but I couldn't not finish, and I couldn't leave it as it was. So I started over. This was not an easy thing, but I was VERY happy with the second try.

Can you see the difference between the last one and this one? (PLEASE say you can).



I buckled down and did this, in great part because I got my first block for the Rose of Sharon BOM quilt. I've mentioned on Twitter, I am WAYYYYY over my head on this one. But I am for sure, if nothing else, a "sink or swim", baptism by fire kinda' girl. But...*gulp*...look at this...





This is block ONE?? Dear Lord. But I am diving in this week. I am bravely going to cut into that juicy fabric. (After I've confirmed, measured, and placed at LEAST twice). I will take any and all suggestions, tips, and know-how regarding applique. The whole purpose of this BOM is to get me over my debilitating fear of applique. I want to be fearless when it comes to my sewing machine...so what the heck, let's go full on.

Of course, I won't be feeling this brave all the time. So I'm working on a quilt for my son, that we bought fabric for close to two years ago. It's from a pattern in this FALL 2009 Quilt's 'N More magazine.



I am a huge sucker for argyle. I showed my son the pattern, and he picked out greens and creams for the fabric. And he picked gold minky for the back. You read that right. Gold. Minky. He's obviously into the "luxe" look.



I've got four of the 9 rows done, and all of the side pieces. I'll be excited to post pictures when the top is done.

What hairbrained project have YOU started this month?

Starry Night BOM #5

It's so hard to believe, but FIVE months have gone by. I don't think that's one of the goals of BOM clubs, but boy do they help you see how quickly time passes.

This is my fifth block.



I actually ripped out one of the rows and re-sewed it because it was so far off. I do see progress in the tightness of my corners, but boy, do I still have a long way to go.

I also signed up for a Sharon Pederson, Roses of Rememberance applique BOM that starts in January. I'm really excited about that because I have almost no experience with applique.

My next pictures will be of the baby clothes blanket I'm making for a family member. It's all cut and laid out, all that's left is the fun part...SEWING!

Starry Night BOM #3

Hello everyone! I am suffering from tremendous guilt over not having posted in so long. I've been working on the same stuff, what feels like forever.

I'm back in the saddle though, and I whipped up my latest BOM in the last few days in my little 20 minute stints in the morning before I get the kids ready for school.



As usual, my corners aren't great, but I do feel like I'm improving. I think from far away, the block will look pretty. You just have to squint...

Here are the three blocks that I've done so far. Truth be told, they don't look too much like they are a set to me...but you never know. Once they're all done, if it looks like the picture we got at the beginning, it'll be beautiful.