Temperature Quilt Along - Week 4

Wow! The last full week of January! Scary, isn't it?
We had our first "purple" day here in Central Iowa yesterday. I never thought I'd get this excited about cold weather. As long as the power doesn't go out...
Doesn't the little purple block look good with the others?

I thought that, instead of rambling on about my quilt, I'd share some pictures of what the other "tempies" (Yes, that's a word. In Italian.) have been up to on Instagram, using the #tempquiltalong hashtag.

I have included links to everyone's Instagram accounts, so be sure to click on each one and visit them to follow their progress. Also note that I have explicit permission from these kind quilters to share their photos. Please don't reshare without permission.

Sarah is making flying geese. She's also decided to use grey for her coldest colors because she's not a big fan of purple. So clever!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sarah Elliott (@sarahelliott73) on Jan 24, 2019 at 10:52am PST

Jen's quilt is literally a journey. She is not only recording temperatures but also some other things going on in her life. Very inspirational!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jen (@dejongdreamhouse) on Jan 20, 2019 at 6:54pm PST

Rachel is doing hexies. I'm a big EPP fan and actually seriously considered doing this for my quilt, so now I can live vicariously through her progress. And her kitties are such prefect props!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Rachel H. (@littlemisskasha) on Jan 22, 2019 at 7:31pm PST

Angel is another English Paper Piecer. She's using half-hexies. One half represents the low and the other the high for each day. How much fun are her fabrics??

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Angel Koch (@flamangodoor) on Jan 18, 2019 at 11:53pm PST

Beth is making TWO quilts! One for Florida and one for Tennessee. Her other quilts are absolutely stunning too!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Beth (@blue_dragonfly5) on Jan 20, 2019 at 4:47pm PST

Karen is making flying geese but also adding little dottie bits when there is precipitation.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Karen (@kayweedie) on Jan 19, 2019 at 8:18am PST

Sue is going bright! I love it! Everything on her Instagram account is cheery, like every Australian I've ever met.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sue Rowles (@suestopfinish) on Jan 20, 2019 at 8:18pm PST

I love the quilts that stray from the expected rainbow colors. Annette's is one of those.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Annette Martin (@amm1810) on Jan 15, 2019 at 6:27pm PST

Michele's quilt is going to be unbelievably amazing. She also ventured away from the rainbow and is adding neutrals for precipitation.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Michele (@chelengeorge) on Jan 17, 2019 at 12:35pm PST

Wow! That was a lot of amazing eye candy!

I've decided to discontinue the Linky thingy. My apologies to everyone not on Instagram, but they're just not making it easy for me unless I pay them. If you'd like to send me an email with a link to your blog post, I will add a photo with a link to the bottom of my next post.

2018 - A Look Back - Part IV

I managed to download all my photos from my iPhone to my computer. Now I can share more memories from my non-blogging year.

I've posted about my "Leaves in the Forest" quilt before but I DID actually finish the top in November.

It's a Fall version of my Geese in the Forest pattern with a couple of maple leaves scattered in. As of right now, you can find the pattern and kits in the Etsy store.
Something else I blogged about but then never updated is my Pecking Order quilt. The pattern is from Missouri Star Quilt Company. I made it into an oversized king for our bedroom. As soon as I can get it quilted.

This little quilt had been in the UFO bin since 2010! It's being donated to charity.

On the pattern design front, I've been a little quiet. I did create Boris the Bat around Halloween. The pattern was on Craftsy before the big change and I'm hoping to get it up on Etsy and in my newly refreshed and updated (so excited!) online store opening soon.

Our quilt guild has a retreat in the Fall (and one in the Spring) and I always try to take simpler projects because I know there will be a lot of talking and not a lot of paying attentions. The snowmen were in a panel I won as a door prize at a previous retreat. It even came with a pattern!

Last but not least, I made this little owl wall hanging for my mother-in-law who loves owls. Since I'm not a "batik person" finding the right fabrics was an adventure, mostly at the Quilt Festival in Houston. I love how he turned out.

Okie dokie, I think that takes care of 2018. I actually accomplished much more than I thought.

Temperature Quilt Along - Week 3

Wow! I really hoped to sneak in a couple of "regular" blog posts this week. Somehow all my iPhone photos are not showing up on my PC, so I'm trying to get around that problem.

But enough about that. This is a Temperature Quilt post. Can you believe we're at the end of the third week???

Are you still keeping up or have things fallen a little by the wayside?
I have to admit that it's getting a little harder for me to do this every day, but I'm giving myself permission to fall a little behind if need be.

We have some trips planned this year and this is NOT a project you can do ahead of time...

I am planning a couple of giveaways for motivation though, probably at the end of each month, so be sure to keep an eye out on Instagram and this blog.

I've actually sewn together the first row of my quilt! As I mentioned in my last post, I've changed my plan a little.

My blocks for this week (minus one because I haven't had time to make yesterday's block):

Here's my plan for now. My quilt will be 19 blocks x 20 blocks, which gives me 380 blocks - 15 too many. I'm adding 8" (4 blank blocks) at the beginning and 11 blank blocks at the end. The beginning blocks will have the year appliqued. I did this yesterday and clearly have to redo the "2" because it's basically invisible.

At the ends, the "snake" curves its way back over from right to left. I'm on the fence about the dark triangles but I haven't cut the fabric so I can always remove them.

And that's basically where I'm at.

Now, let's share!
(I'm still a little iffy on this linky thing. I may just ask you to put a link to your post in a comment and I'll add them somewhere for everyone to see. If you have an Instagram account, I think that's still the best way.)
1. Be sure that, when you are filling in your information in the Linky form below, you include the URL to your specific post or photo, not just your main blog or profile address. I need the address of the page where your photo and/or post is, not the whole account.
2. You can share blog posts, Instagram posts, Pinterest posts, and photos on Flickr. You CANNOT share Facebook posts.
3. Please include the following link in your post, which will allow everyone to see our shared posts: https://twiddletails.blogspot.com/2019/01/temperature-quilt-along-week-3.html
4. And...please use the hashtag #tempquiltalong.
Inlinkz Link Party

Temperature Quilt Along - Week 2

It's the second Friday of 2019! I can already tell this year is going to fly by way too quickly.

As seems to be the case in many places, it's been unseasonably warm in Iowa. I have a whole bunch of pretty purples I'm aching to use, but it may not happen until the end of the year.

Here are my blocks for January 4-10:

And all sewn together!

I've had a little change of heart regarding my layout. I was going to go left-to-right and row-by-row like reading a book, but after some deliberation, I think I am now going "snaky".

Yesterday I spend a little (OK, more than a little) time making a video showing how I make my appliquéd circles. It includes sharing all the tools I use.

You can find the video over here or in the sidebar.
I've also added a couple of little starter kits to the Etsy store if you're interested.

Now, let's share!
(If you have any trouble with this linky thingie, please let me know. I haven't done this in a while and I have a feeling Instagram may still be the best way to go.)
1. Be sure that, when you are filling in your information in the Linky form below, you include the URL to your specific post or photo, not just your main blog or profile address. I need the address of the page where your photo and/or post is, not the whole account.
2. You can share blog posts, Instagram posts, Pinterest posts, and photos on Flickr. You CANNOT share Facebook posts.
3. Please include the following link in your post, which will allow everyone to see our shared posts: https://twiddletails.blogspot.com/2019/01/temperature-quilt-along-week-2.html
4. And...please use the hashtag #tempquiltalong.
Inlinkz Link Party

Temperature Quilt Along - Week 1

By now you hopefully have 2, maybe even 3 blocks made. If not, don't fret. I can see some of us (including me) getting a bit behind every so often.
If you're still thinking about joining in, it's not too late!

Organization Tip:
Worried about getting the dates mixed up? Write the date each block represents in the seam allowance with a permanent marker!

Because I'm so excited, I've been playing a bit of "weather chicken" and making blocks based on the forecast. January 1st worked out great!

January 2nd, not so much...
Forecast:

Reality:

I figure I'll probably be able to use the discarded blocks somewhere along the way, so I jumped ahead to January 3rd. Just checked the temps - wrong again! Maybe I'll stop doing this...



Let's Share!
Be sure that, when you are filling in your information in the Linky form below,  include the URL to your specific post or photo, not just your main blog or profile address.
We need the address of the page where your photo and/or post is, not the whole account.
You can share blog posts, Instagram posts, and photos on Flickr. You CANNOT share Facebook posts.

Inlinkz Link Party