push and flow

I don't have as much time to read blogs these days, (slow internet...arrrg), but finding posts like Cheryl's that make me think are the reason I do. Two words that came to mind for me (as an answer to her question) were push and flow and this weekend's quilting was a perfect example. Quilting challenges me, pushes my creative envelope. Flow comes when everything is clicking, ideas...construction. It's sort of like being in a groove.

This weekend I did a little individual scrap challenge. I pulled a bunch of random scraps from my orange/green/brown scrap baskets. I grabbed a handful from each. I told myself I had to make something from what I pulled. The colors were earthy and I started thinking about land and how farm fields look from the window of a plane. I grabbed some natural osnaburg (it has that nubby earthy feeling too) and started piecing.
Most farmers would probably cringe at my planting style, it's sort of abstract and random. Very me...well, not really. It's how I would like to be. I constantly fight that urge to make things even...line things up, make everything symmetrical. (I alphabetize my spice rack...and compulsive stuff like that.)

This piece gave me another opportunity to play with the concept of negative space. I'm sort of into that lately.
I have 7 blocks done so far. I think I'm liking how this is coming together. I'm just about out of the scraps I pulled. I may grab a few more handfuls.

Sometimes that 'push' thing gets a bit out of control. I got a little 'rotary cutter happy' this weekend. I felt a bit like the villain in a slasher movie. I took the rotary cutter to this top. I kept looking at it and the framed scraps were so static and boring. I was getting ready to baste it and then decided it could be something so much better. Now it's a stack of different sized pieces. I started playing with those too.
May have been a mistake, but isn't that what push is all about, taking a risk and possibly experiencing failure? It's only fabric, right?

Joy in the New Year Winners

An amazing number of finishes folks...there are some totally empty closets and lots of us made a good dent in our projects. That's a nice way to start a new year.

In case you're interested, here's how I did this. I went through the comments and recorded your entries. If you finished all you declared you received double entries. If you had 5 finishes, you were assigned 5 numbers. For example, you might have been 300-304. I assigned the prizes in the order they were listed on yesterday's post.

Here are the winners and their comments. If you're a winner drop me an email. I'll try to get everyone contacted by the end of the day, but that would sure save me some time. Then I'll get you matched up with your prize!

Thanks for be a part of the challenge!

160 wins the quilt - Tami @ Lemon Tree Tales

'Happy New Year!! Well, I said that I had 10 UFO's to complete and ended up only finishing 2. I was sewing until 10:30 p.m. last night, but the vest for the doll just needed too much alteration to fit. (It's a patchwork one too!) It wasn't a failure though because this really inspired me to make a list and work hard on those UFO's. I wouldn't be this close to completing my Miss Molly cloth doll if it weren't for your challenge. Thanks!

261 wins a $20 gift certificate from Pink Chalk Fabrics - amylouwho

'I noted 14 and finished 5. Not as many as I'd hoped, but something is better than nothing! I'm keeping my list up to work on...'

276 wins a $20 gift certificate from Pink Chalk Fabrics - meg

'Morning Jacquie, and Happy New Year! I set my bar low and said I'd finish 4. I managed to finish all 4 staying up late on the last night of the year to finish the binding on #4! Thanks!

236 wins a $20 gift certificate from Pink Chalk Fabrics - quiltaholic

'I had 8 UFO's and was able to finish all 8 of them!!! Man that feels good!

257 wins a $20 gift certificate from Pink Chalk Fabrics - rachel

'Hello Jacquie. Happy New Year! I said I had 3 quilting UFO's and 3 knitting UFO's to finish. Well, I finished only one of the quilts, but all three of the knitting projects. Unfortunately, I kept starting new projects (and finishing them) and my poor quilts languished in the to do pile.'

373 wins a $20 gift certificate from Pink Chalk Fabrics - rachel

'Well, I am quite happy with myself, and grateful to you for this challenge! I had 12 on my list. I had completed 10 by the deadline. I am happy to report that my actual list of completed items/projects for the time period of the challenge is 18, which means (to me) that while the list was not complete, I was highly motivated and able to produce without an real major changes...Therefore, I am thinking of adding to the challenge (for myself) and keeping the list on a personal level for every month this year. Just a thought so far...

At any rate, thank you SO much for hosting this event. I enjoyed it, and I enjoy reading your blog on a regular basis!

311 wins a $25 gift certificate from Sew Fresh Fabrics - sarah

'I listed 5 dresses and yesterday I finished the fifth dress. I still have a number of UFO's, but I am pleased with the dent I made.'

647 wins the silk fabric bundle and thread from Valerie - sequana

'Wow, I almost missed this! I didn't see your blog in my reader today...I said I'd finish up 5 UFO's and I finished those five. Then I ran out of batting.'

206 wins the ring from Dominic and Adrienne - bearcreekquilter

'I said I was in for finishing or getting rid of 15 flimsies. I am happy to report that I sold 12 tops and managed to finish 5 more...'

3 wins the pincushion/threadcatcher from Krista - flossybossy

'had 12 to finish and I finished 4. i think 12 was a little unrealistic as i started late, so i am thrilled to have 4 quilts finished - yay!!'

54 wins the Summer in the City tin and fat quarters from Penny - colleen

'I committed to 9 UFO's and I finished 9 and even squeezed in two charity quilts - thanks for pushing me on to 2010 with much less guilt. I can't believe I did this in the busiest time of the year.'

272 wins the fabric packs and templates from Jodi - Stephanie

'I declared 8 and finished 5! That's so exciting to me. This was a wonderful challenge!!'

325 wins the journal cover from Em - whatcomesnext

'said 7 and finished 3. Feels good!'

381 wins the fat quarter set from Anina - lisa

'I said I would finish 4 (1 Christmas quilt, 1 flannel squirrel quilt, 1 crazy placemat, 1 star quilt). I finished the Christmas quilt and the thing that was originally going to be a placemat, but became a cover for a rice-stuffed warmer thing. I also finished several projects that were NOT on that list...

110 wins the pillow cover from Michele - crystal

'I started with 8 UFO's and I was able to finish them all! :D Thanks so much for helping me along the wa!'

300 wins Vicki's friendship bag - leah

'I said I would do 4 and I finished 4. Yay! That feels good!'

Project Neighborhood

These are my last 4 finishes of 2009, my color coordinated neighborhoods. Can quilts make a social or political statement? For me they can and sometimes they do. These little quilts represent the concept of neighborhood. You know, houses near each other, with people and families that we get to know. Neighbors we reach out to in good times and depend on in times of need.

I had my first experience with a gated community on a recent trip to visit family in California. Gates around the community, gates to each house, and to top it off walls around each home. Not welcoming gates, gates with spikes. Ominous, forboding gates. I know that there are evil people in the world, but I didn't feel comfortable surrounded by walls and 'protected' by gates.

These little houses are each on their own piece of land connected to the house next door. No barriers, no gates, just an opportunity to say hello and be a neighbor. That's how I choose to live.

The winner of the Joy in the New Year Challenge will get to pick their choice of these four quilts. I know which one I'd pick.




Some of my blog friends have donated some fabulous prizes for the challenge winners. Tomorrow I'll compile all the entries and post the winners as soon as I get it all done. Be sure to get your entry in by 8 a.m. Central Standard time.

I thought you might like to know what you could win.

1. I'm donating one of the Neighborhood quilts.

2. Kathy of Pink Chalk Studio is donating 5 $20 gift certificates to her fabric shop, Pink Chalk Fabrics.

3. Becca and Peg are donating a $25 gift certificate to their etsy fabric shop, Sew Fresh Fabrics.

4. Valerie is donating a set of silk fat quarters and matching thread from her shop. (a $40 value!)

5. Adrienne and Dominic are donating a gorgeous ring from Dominic's etsy shop. You need to go see these rings. Simply fabulous!

6. Krista of Poppyprints will make you a custom pin cushion/threadcatcher. Who doesn't need another pin cushion, especially cute ones!

7. Penny, of Sewtakeahike is donating a Summer in the City Tin Box Sampler and 3 fat quarters of coordinating prints.

8. Jodi, of Pleasant Home is donating a goodie box of fabric packs and templates.

9. Em, of Em's Scrapbag made this amazing journal cover. It's me and her, and you!
10. Anina, of Twiddletails is donating this set of Sent With Love fat quarters from her store, just in time of Valentine's Day projects.
11. Michele, of Calicodaisy machine embroidered and made this 14" pillow cover. (Do you recognize this...it's on the Joy in the New Year Challenge button.) I made a set of pillows from Michele's embroidery too.
12. Vicki, from Sew Inspired made this friendship bag for one of you. Cute, isn't it!
Tune in tomorrow for the winners!

Joy in the New Year...How Did You Do?

Happy New Year everyone! It's hard to believe that the time for the challenge is done. I don't have an empty ufo closet, but there are less quilts hanging in there than at the start of the challenge, so that is a victory for me. I had 4 more finishes...I sewed up till the very last minute. No reveals today, though, because the winner gets to choose from those 4 quilts. I'll show those on Monday when the winners are announced.

So, let's get to the business of the challenge. PLE ASE READ CAREFULLY AND FOLLOW DIRECTIONS. I'd hate for you to miss out on the prizes because you didn't follow directions. Here's what you need to do:

Leave a comment on this post...the comment MUST include:

How many UFO's you declared on November 1. (check this post if you can't remember)

How many UFO's you finished by midnight, December 31. (your time)

A way for me to contact you. If you are a no reply blogger leave your email address.

You must leave a comment by 8 a.m. Central Standard Time on Monday

Your comment might look something like this:

I said I would finish 12 and I finished 10! Thanks! coolsewer@yahoo.com

If you finish all that you declared, you will receive double the entries. For example, declare 5, finish 5 = 10 entries.

We have lots of prizes, so there will be lots of winners. Each person is eligible to win only one prize. On Monday morning I'll use the random number generator to choose the winners.

I hope you finished at least one. I can't wait to see how many items we've finished. Start counting! Have a wonderful first weekend of the new year!

If There Is Going to be Joy in the New Year...

...i need to get my sewing butt in high gear! This quilt is 2/3 of the way quilted. I'm hoping for a finish later today and maybe another one basted and the quilting started. I know I haven't been much of a cheerleader or inspiration for the Joy in the New Year Challenge, but we still have time. We can get lots done in 4 days if we put our minds to it. We have until midnight on the 31st! I know some of you have been doing a great job...the rest of us have some catching up to do.
How are you doing?

(Remember you have to come back here and comment on my January 1st post to be eligible to win one of the great prizes. Instructions will be on my January 1 post!)

Old and New

It's been a little crazy around here, but I have eeked in a little time to sew. This represents about 5 hours of work. I'm continuing to plug away at the selvage spiderweb quilt. I need about 200 more of these.

I didn't promise not to start anything new. (It's simply not in my nature!) I'm trying to divide my time between commissions, new starts and finishing those pesky UFOs. I started a project using these fabulous fabrics from Malka of Stitchindye. I've been saving them for the perfect project.

I really did cut into them. Hard, but I did, along with about 25 other fabrics.

Thanks to all of you who have joined the 'Joy in the New Year' UFO challenge. It's not too late. Head here and sign up. We've got a pretty fabulous list of prizes so far. If you see the button on a blog, be sure to ask how they're doing. Encouragement goes a long way!

Joy In The New Year

Ok, so I can't do this alone. It's always better to have a little help from your friends and many of you have emailed and asked for a UFO challenge, so let's do it together. The goal is to have the UFO's that are lurking in your closet, drawers, tubs, cubbies finished by the start of the new year. Wouldn't it be great to start 2010 with an empty closet?

So the 'Joy in the New Year' challenge starts today.

To join in, here's what you need to do. Take an inventory. Count your UFO's as of today. Come back and leave a comment letting me know you're in and how many UFO's you have. It's up to you what you want to count. I'm counting my unfinished tops...not those that are still being pieced. I know they are technically UFO's, but my priority is to get those tops finished.

Of course there will be a prize. I'll make something for the winner. If you'd like to donate a prize, drop me an email. An empty UFO closet is a big deal and we should have lots of gifts to give. Maybe even multiple winners!

Here's how you can win. On January 1, come back and leave a comment on how many of your UFO's you've finished. You get an entry for each one. If you finish all that you counted today, you double your entries. For example, if you have ten UFO's and finish all ten, that's 20 entries. How fun is that?

Now, grab the button and link back to this post. Spread the word and encourage others to join in. Even if you have one finish, that's one UFO done and out of the way!

OK, folks we have two months from today. I know the holiday season is upon us, but we can do this! Let's get started and encourage each other. I'm off to count my UFOs.

EDITED TO ADD: I've had some pretty cool prize donations...I'll announce those in a few days...but trust me...they're GOOD!