This is my interpretation of Grandma’s Favorite Compass – Block # 23 of last year’s Just Takes 2 quilt.  I started this block at least twice when it first came out and if pieced as designed, I would still be waiting to finish the block.

Inspiration struck — try reverse applique, specifically fusique’® by Linda Everhart of Among Quilting Friends.  It’s the method I used to make THIS WALLHANGING.

It’s not perfect, but it is done and that means I have finished Section A of the quilt!

There may be other similar changes to this quilt before it’s finished.

Over the weekend I finally opened up the box containing the Eeyore quilt.  I pulled out the background and pieces I’ve worked on so far and pinned them in place.  At the moment it looks like a Piglet quilt.

I even took a few stitches on the Double Wedding Ring quilt sitting in the foreground – but not enough to update the icon in my sidebar.

One of my goals this month is it get the center of the Eeyore quilt done, so perhaps I best get to it.

Don’t forget to check out other design walls by following the links over at Patchwork Times.

It’s a pretty slim report today.  I bound the baby quilt last Sunday and made the Antique Tile block for the BOM Friday.  I can’t remember the last time I saw a quilt shop and the last thing I bought on-line were a few books.

Fabric Added Since Last Report: 0 yards
Fabric Added to Date:  0 yards

Fabric Used Since Last Report: 0.419 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 0.419 yards

Net Used for the year .0419 yards

So far so good. Let’s hope the rest of year keeps me in more fabric used than purchased.

Linked up with Judy’s Stash Report over at Patchwork Times.

I’ve started a new quilt.  Dorothy Young is doing a 26 month BOM over on her Yahoo! group A Pocket Full of Mysteries.  About once a year she presents a very well written mystery quilt.   I wasn’t in a position to do the mystery quilt this year, but I do think I can keep up with a single block a month.

A is for Antique Tile is the first blocks of her alphabet block-of-the-month.  If you wish to quilt along, join the group by clicking on the “Join Now!” button.

Click to join apocketfullofmysteries

This quarter log cabin quilt was probably the 3rd or 4th quilt I finished.  I made it as a store sample when I was working at Northwest Fabrics & Crafts.  The date stitched on the back is May 1991.

Believe it or not the gold is tissue lamé.  Although I hadn’t quilted much, I knew I really didn’t want that thin, ravelly stuff in my quilt, but given that’s what I had to work with I had to come up with some way to make it work.

I carefully fused black knit interfacing to the lamé.  It stabilized the fabric enough for me to work with, although I haven’t washed the wall hanging.  It has three tabs at the top to allow it to hang from a cafe rod.

The piece measures 33″ square and there is very little quilting in it — just stitch in a ditch around the blocks (not logs) and the border.  I have no idea what type of batting was used.

It’s been two weeks since we cleaned the house.  OK. 1 1/2 weeks.  It was in decent shape by Christmas, but definitely company ready (beyond my standards) by the 28th.  We’ve kept it clean.

The quilt rack from my sewing room is stored in the basement.  All of the Christmas decorations have been collected, boxed and stored under the basement stairs. The dining table, coffee table and wing back chair are back in their usual positions.

The bed was made this morning, the laundry, although not caught up, what is washed is put away, it’s 7 PM, we’ve eaten and the dishes are washed.

So why can’t I quilt?

I think it’s because it’s too clean.  Back when we lived in Texas I had my house this clean and I couldn’t sew or do counted cross stitch.  I was antsy.  Couldn’t sit still.  At the time I wrote it off to being afraid of messing things up.  Not wanting to get up to do something else and leaving anything out.  But tonight I had a revelation.

Quilting is my escape.

If the house is clean I have nothing to escape from.

Clearly I’m going to have open that box and throw bits and pieces around. It’s too clean and I have a quilt to make.

Today I have a finish.  This is the 2006 Retreat Mystery Quilt. Well, not really.  I think after step #4 said cut 306 HST I threw my hands up and said the weekend simply wasn’t long enough.

This is what I did with some of the parts and pieces — that is the outer blocks.  The center medallion and tiny squares I made about the same time as the fabric is the same.

I’m calling this quilt “It’s A Mystery!”.  It measures approximately 41″ square.  I quilted it on a Nolting at  Quilted Memories.  The top thread is King Tut “Sands of Time”.  The bobbin thread is Bottom Line in a dark red/maroon.   I used Warm and Natural batting.

Here’s a bit of a close up of the quilting. Click on the picture for a larger image.

I’m linking up today for Design Wall Monday over at Patchwork Times.

This week I worked on my Twas the Night Before Christmas blocks, but I’m going to count that fabric when I finish the quilt.  I managed to stay out of the fabric shops this week.  But it’s a good thing I don’t count my Home Depot visits.  I think we’ve finally got all of our Christmas stuff organized — now to find a spot in the basement…

So here’s my goose egg report:
Fabric Added to Date:  0 yards

Fabric Used to Date: 0 yards

Net Used for the year 0 yards

I’d like to use more fabric this year than I buy.  Which normally wouldn’t be a big deal, but… I’ve found the address of the Goodwill Outlet, so there may be shirts in my future.

Check out the links over at Patchwork Times to see how others did this first week of 2013.

Shelly over at Prairie Moon Quilts hosted the 4th annual Final Countdown to get us prepared for the new year.  Here’s how I did on my three count down challenges.

Locate your UFO that’s closest to being done, and do something about it.

The UFO closest to being done is the 2006 Retreat Mystery quilt – or my version of it.  I quilted it in mid-December and with the hustle and bustle leading up toward Christmas and the new year, it was still in the bag I brought it home in.  Today, it’s closer to being finished.

I’ve trimmed the excess batting and backing and made the binding.  But it’s not the width I normally use and I’ve decided to scrap what I’ve done and go back to my 2 1/2″ wide binding.  I don’t know if I’ll get to it today or  not.  I really would like to get the Christmas stuff put away today.

Clean a pile.

The pile I chose for this was the quilt show I had in my house.  I’m happy to report the quilts have been taken down and the quilt rack contained.

I’ve even put my design wall back up.  I already miss the quilt that was on the fireplace wall, but I suspect I’ll get over it after I start using my design wall.  We still need to haul the quilt rack out, but stuff has to shift around in other parts of the house, basement and garage before we can find a spot for the poles.

Pick a project to work on that is just for you.

For this project I picked the first block of Twas the Night Before Christmas.  It’s a quilt-a-long I’m hosting this year (click on the gingerbread man in my sidebar for more information).  One could argue that it’s not just for me if it’s a quilt-a-long, but I’m doing the quilt-a-long so I can be part of a group project.  I haven’t done one of those for a while.  I actually made two blocks, so the 2nd one definitely counts.

All in all, I’m pretty happy with how my sewing area/office looks (just don’t look at my desk!) After I took down the quilt tops from my main shelves, I put away most of the stuff on top of the boxes.  My box of floss is even in order.

The next order of business (after putting up the Christmas stuff in the rest of the house) is to pull out Eeyore.  I want to have at least the center of the quilt top finished by the end of the month.

Christmas Hearts is the 2nd or 3rd quilt I made.  This was a shop sample for Northwest Fabrics & Crafts which means I made it sometime in between August and December of 1990.

Yes, those hearts are appliquéd and I didn’t like appliqué any better then than I do now.

The wall hanging is 27″ square plus the “hanging” bow.  There is a narrow sleeve to accommodate a cafe rod for hanging.  The quilting consists of stitch in the ditch around the hearts, large blocks and corner squares and channel stitching using red thread through the background and border.