Finding a Focus and Letting Go

While at the International Quilt Festival in Houston this past week, I took a couple of classes. They were all really good, as is usually the case.

One was a workshop by Jane Dunnewold, an amazing surface design artist. It was called "Creative Strength Training" and provided a lot of food for thought in quite a few areas, including how to find your "mojo" when you lose it. OK, that sounded weird, but you know what I'm talking about, right?

During the workshop I had a giant "aha" moment. I've been struggling with finding a focus, what Jane calls your "distinctive voice".

I mentally mulled through quilts I've made and projects in progress or being planned, and focused on the ones I love, the ones that make me happy and excited.

The following projects came to mind:
Geese in the Forest

Daisy Chain - my current hexagon project

Pinwheel Party

Grandmother's Flower Garden

my current, as of yet unnamed, Mariner's Compass project.

Hmmm...what do they all have in common? The next day I walked through the quilt display at Festival again and took photos of the quilts that "spoke" to me.

Next I'm going to go through my trunks of completed quilts and assess which ones I love and which ones are just ok.
I think I'm going to find my voice!

I've already decided on a couple of UFO's and WIP's I'm going to ditch. It's a like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders.

All this being said, I know that many quilters love to dabble in different things, and I think that's a wonderful thing.
I do, however, think that my lightbulb moment could be freeing for many.

Do you have projects you feel you "have" to finish? You know, those ones that make you feel guilty about starting something new because they are lurking out there "needing" to be tackled? Projects that are preventing you from working on something more enjoyable?

Maybe it's time to let them go. Donate them to your guild's next charity auction, Goodwill, even a friend who's been admiring them for a while and will give them the love and attention they deserve.

Just a Little Update

Gee, it's once again been a while! I'm trying to get my act together, I swear I am.
I finally finished the Bright Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt I started back in 2007! You can see my original post here.
The very first photo I shared:

And here she is, more than 9 years later!

If you'd like to see her in real life, she'll be at the Des Moines Area Quilt Guild's show, which runs concurrently and in the same venue as AQS Quiltweek in Des Moines, October 5-8 2016.
A couple of progress and detail pics:

Bullet Journal: Yes or No

WARNING: Non-quilty post!

You may have seen a lot of posts about Bullet Journals popping up all over social media (and even real media).
If you don't know what I'm talking about, just search Bullet Journal on Pinterest or #bulletjournal on Instagram. The official website is bulletjournal.com.
It is basically an analog way to organize your life, plan, journal, and pretty much whatever else you would like to put in there. The idea is to have it all in one place and easy to find.

(I'm going to have to do several posts on this topic because, if you're attention span is as short as mine, I'm probably already losing you.)

Reasons I think this may work for me:
1. I already kind of do this. Just not in quite as organized a fashion. I have multiple notebooks for different things (see photo above) and, truth be told, most them are rarely looked at.
2. I'm a list person. I love lists. I love structure in my life.
3. I LOVE stationery. I know it's weird but I also know I'm not the only person who cannot resist a stationery store.


Soooo...I decided to give it a shot. I already knew that I wanted to tweak the original idea a little.
(I'm writing this post assuming you already know the principles of bullet journaling. If not, I suggest watching the video on their website first.)

Three days ago, I grabbed a cheap composition book and got going. It's not ideal but I wasn't about to spend $20+ on a journal/notebook and messing it up.

I'm going to start off by focusing mainly on the daily/weekly log. I like to see my whole week at a glance. Here's my messy first version:

See why I didn't want to start off in a pricey journal?

In my next post I'll share my small notebook vs. large notebook dilemma.

Pattern Release! Frankie the Monster

After what feels forever, I finally released the paper piecing pattern for the Frankie block yesterday!

The pattern is for the block only, but I made the little quilt using the free pattern for the 16" x 16" pillow cover on the website and just didn't add the pillow back.

(The "googly eyes" fabric is available in the store over here and the narrow border and binding is Dottie Tiny Dots from Moda.)

How to Foundation Piece Splendid Sampler Block 46

My Splendid Sampler blocks are coming along nicely. I've actually managed to stay mostly up to date. (Be sure to check my Instagram feed if you'd like to see all of them.)

Ever since I started working on my Baby Jane quilt, I tend to always check whether block instructions can be converted to foundation piecing.

When I saw The Splendid Sampler Block 46, "Twirl Time", by Sarah J. Maxwell, I knew this one would be quicker to paper piece than rotary cut. One caveat: as with applique, paper pieced blocks will turn out to be a mirror image of the pattern. I keep forgetting this. Sometimes it works out well, sometimes it doesn't. This time it did. Phew! The block is a mirror image but it's still a twirly whirly and I'm OK with that.

If you're interested, here's my numbering for the block:

Cut it into the four sections and foundation piece. I almost always use the freezer paper method. The link to my tutorial is in the sidebar.

Here's the back after piecing and trimming:

And the front:

All sewn together:

Trying again

A couple of months ago, I decided to give blogging another try, since I thought I'd figured out a way to make the photo posting process a little less time consuming. I was not happy with the results of blogging directly from my phone. During Blogger's size reduction process a lot of detail was lost.
For this attempt, I'm using my Macbook to upload photos from my Photostream to Flickr and posting the Flickr photos.
Let's see if that is more successful. If so, it will also allow me to blog from the couch. Score!
So here goes...

I don't think I've posted photos of the sailboat quilt on the blog before. I started this one back in April, I think, and am now trying to get it quilted.

A couple of detail shots.

The Sweet Sixteen and I are still getting to know each other.

I'm also using this quilt to practice my ruler skills, which is slowing down the process a lot!

OK, I'm now going to publish this post, then run down to my PC to see how it turned out.
Fingers crossed.

Happy Accidents

As I've posted before, I'm making Splendid Sampler blocks along with thousands of other quilters and loving it!

Sunday's block is really cute!

I was a little weary of all the tiny pieces, so I decided foundation piecing was the way to go. I figured out the numbering, printed the diagram, and made the sections. When it came to assembly, I realized I hadn't mirrored the diagram. Rookie mistake!

Since I'd already made everything, I decided to see if it'll be OK if the block was a little "twisted".

Then anal retentive me looked at the design and realized that a tape measure will not look like that when folded in that way.

This actually played in my favor because my block was turned around.

The words, however, were not going to fit as designed. Another happy accident however!

Here's my block:

Different, but I like it.

If you haven't made the block yet and would like to try foundation piecing it, my numbering was as follows:

Just remember that you'll have to mirror the diagram, which I didn't. The numbering will still work.

Freezer Paper Foundation Piecing

I'm up to date with my Splendid Sampler blocks and I think today's is my favorite so far. This could, of course, be because I love foundation piecing.

I used freezer paper foundation piecing where you don't sew through the paper and therefore have no paper to pick out from between your stitches. Yay!

There's a link in the sidebar or you can click here for the tutorial.

The Pinwheel Party Pattern is finally out there!

More than six years after its inception, I've finally managed to publish the Pinwheel Party pattern!

I've been waiting for a perfect day to take photos for the cover, but yesterday I decided that it was now or never. In 25mph winds, I managed to take three photos before the quilt blew away - literally. Miraculously one of them turned out pretty well.

So, yay! I've listed it on Etsy and Craftsy.

I'm never sure how to price patterns. This one is a whopping 32 pages long because each of the 12 blocks is unique.

What would you price it at?

Keeping the Mess in Check

Lately I've been making a lot of single blocks (30's Jane, 365 Challenge, Splendid Sampler) rather than entire quilts. Things around the sewing machine can get chaotic really quickly.

My solution for this is to straighten up after each block. To make it quicker, I have a trash can right next to me for thread and fabric cut-offs as I go.

And this handy little Poppin tray to corral all the tools at the end.

See? Ready for the next block.

Daisy Chain Progress Report

I've been posting many photos of the Daisy Chain quilt on Instagram but none here, so here's an update.

Everything so far:

The center section almost done. I just need to finish the green border.

I have to make three more of these:

And a total of six of these:

These need another round of green:

Three more of these:

And much, much, MUCH more!

To Blog or Not to Blog...

I've been neglecting this blog A LOT and I miss the blogging community. I'm not even sure if blogging is still "a thing".

After some thought I've come to the conclusion that there is one big reason for my lack of blogging: photography. It takes a lot of time to set up a subject, take photos with a good camera, and edit them to be just the way I want them before creating a post.

So...I'm thinking that, with the advances in cell phone camera technology, phone pics may just be good enough, so here goes...

I finally completed my grandmother's flower garden quilt top started circa 2007! It's basted and ready to go.

I tried quilting it using thread I already have but I don't think the Sweet Sixteen is a fan.

I'm ordering proper thread and will try again when it arrives.

Now to see if I can follow other bloggers using my phone. Any advice and thoughts are appreciated.

Splendid!

I've been doing a lot of sewing the last couple of weeks. And it's been so much fun!
First up, the 365 Block Challenge.
I fell way behind but am trying to catch up by making 3 blocks a day. Here's where I'm at as of today:

Yesterday I made a back and basted my latest Pinwheel Party quilt. I finished the top in February 2015! I chose this cute print from the Spring Street collection for the back. Today is quilting day if I don't get too distracted by all my other fun projects.

A photo posted by Anina (@twiddletails) on Feb 25, 2016 at 12:31pm PST

30's Jane has also been coming along and I've been trying to come up with something to do with the leftover fabric.
I've been following all the lovely Splendid Sampler blocks on Instagram and this morning it dawned on me. It's a perfect project for those scraps!
Here's my first block:

I'm planning a separate post about my vision and the trials and tribulations I've already gone through (after just one block!).
That's it for now.

Chalkboard Markers: Totally Non-Quilty, But Fun

Recently the folks at Chalkola contacted me about testing and reviewing their chalk markers.
Even though I'm not really a crafty person, these seemed like fun, so I agreed.
They sent me a set of regular markers, a set of jumbo window markers, and a packet of chalkboard labels.

Because I don't have young children, I was mostly drawn to the labels and the white chalkboard marker. Like a real chalkboard, but more permanent.

My first thought was "pantry"! There are 80 labels in a packet, so you can label a LOT of stuff with those. I tried it on two, mostly because I plan to replace my pantry storage with more attractive containers and didn't want to waste the labels.

I love the way it looks. I'm definitely motivated to go find new storage containers just so I can use the labels and the markers.

I noticed that they have a pack with only white markers and I may have to get me some of those.
Note that these markers really do only work on non-porous surfaces.

When we bought our house, we inherited black appliances which we haven't replaced yet, so I figured the black fridge was the perfect canvas to try the colored markers. More fun!

Maybe I can write a different little saying every morning...or just "Step away from the fridge, Fatty!".

I didn't quite know what to do with the jumbo markers although if you have small children or you're a teacher this could be a ton of fun. I applied my limited artistic talents to the sewing room window.

To test ease of cleanup, I left my scribbles on overnight. This morning the writing on the refrigerator just wiped off with a moist paper towel. I used Windex on the window and that came off easily too.
I did not test to see how easily this would wash out of clothes though.

A note: You need a little patience to get these going in the beginning, but once you're up and running, they are great. Be sure to follow the instructions on the back of the package.

All in all, these are great. I definitely think a couple of white ones are in my future.
I may also have to buy a white board so I can use the colored ones more.

Chalkola sent me a discount code just for my readers.
To get 20% OFF the big markers on Amazon.com - use code "CHK20OFF".
To get 20% OFF the 6mm markers on Amazon.com - use code "CHALK20A".
And if you have Amazon Prime, FREE two day shipping.  Yay! I'm hopping on over there right now.

(Disclaimer: Even though I received free product for writing this review, all opinions expressed here are my own.)

Jane Along

Sometimes I think having more than one blog is not a great idea...

Just in case you landed here from Instagram and are wondering about the BOM/Jane-long, you can find details over on the "That Quilt" blog.
Basically I'll be following along with the 30's Jane BOM this session and am inviting everyone starting a new Baby Jane, or struggling to complete a WIP, to join me.

The fabrics for Month 1 of the BOM: