Ack! Ack! As Bill the Cat would say (Otherwise titled: Messy Room!)

Okay, I have to be honest. I have fallen off the tidy wagon. (Well, at least it wasn't the tidy bowl!)

I have recently taken several books off my bookshelf to look for quilt patterns and new projects. Hm, looking at all those quilts was inspiring. I have laid out fabric in several spots (which my hubby calls "horizontal surfaces"- counter, floor and table) to contemplate how they might look in those several inspiring quilt patterns, and I have started piecing some binding and left the strips out unfinished (the goal was so that I could apply the binding to quilts in the To-Do bin). I have a pin cushion out of place. My rotary cutter is on the kitchen table. I have been bad.

I have not returned the books and fabric and binding and miscellania to their respective homes. I came home from my corporate job tonight to a messy house! My fault! Ack!

Okay, so this is blog therapy. Just letting the world know I fell off the wagon has been helpful. I am now motivated to put them all back in their places as soon as I'm done posting. :)

It's quiet on the Gypsy Hill front - January and February are the slowest months for many longarm quilters, but I have a gold, silky, embroidered store-bought comforter on my machine for a customer that wants some quilting done. Store-bought comforters are not an easy task when they have been laundered and the poly batting inside has decided to take up residence in the edges in lumpy communities. But it will look great when I'm done with it. That's a priority task for this coming weekend. I'll post a photo when it's done. I also have 3 baby quilts to quilt and 2 Quilts of Valor quilts to finish up.

I am also finishing up a couple of odd sewing projects. I have to remove some elastic from a waistband for a friend's mom who doesn't sew, hem a pair of my own pants, and fix a broken grommet on hubby's motorcycle vest. Like I said, odd projects.

No real photos for this post, as I wait to recharge my batteries for the camera. Actually, I couldn't bear to take a PHOTO of my mess - that would be entirely too embarrassing.

I wanted to make a shout out to Connie and her blog - she is hosting a Siggy Swap (signature block swap)! I have done block swaps in the past; they are really fun and you get to virtually meet quilters from all over the globe! I think she has a full list (there may not be any openings left to participate) so I have some sewing to do!

Other projects I've been working on are finishing up 4 New York Beauty scrappy blocks (paper-pieced points) and planning the layout. I should also plan to quilt on the top I have had laying around for a couple of years...deciding whether to do more elegant feathering in the background or ?? The left image is kind of what my old wall hanging looks like, the colors aren't right but somewhat close. I am looking for the quilt top so I can post a pic, I'm not sure where I stored it~ The right image is my current project, sans the center and outer pieces:

I must say the tedious sewing is done for the blocks (the points!), so the curved pieces are the easiest to add. I use a pattern from an old Fons & Porter magazine (July/Aug 2004) that was designed by Mabeth Oxenreider. I prefer a wall hanging size because it's a reachable goal if you aren't planning to sew for days in a row. :)

Other neat things: I've recently bought Moda charm squares from Hancocks of Paducah online that were half price...hm... am trying to find some fun charm quilt patterns to use them with!

Easy Scrap Redemption - Sickle Quilt

I was looking through an older book from my quilting library (Better Homes and Gardens "America's Heritage Quilts", published in 1991) and found a quilt that will be a quick sew called the Sickle Quilt. I added the block and colored a sample quilt in EQ5:

The block is 16", so the quilt with 20 blocks and 2 borders will make a good queen size quilt (the inner border is 4" and the outer is 6"). I have a great old shirting print that I plan on using for the large light triangles, and a cheddar gold to use for the small light squares in the four-patch blocks. The rest - I will use black or indigo scraps and random others.

I've also added the Streak of Lightening quilt to the Deliverance list. I've always wanted to make one in grays and blacks.

I'd better be careful to not make my Deliverance/Redemption list too long! :)

Goals for 2009

I have been reading a lot of blogs and of course, all the great New Year resolutions and goals that quilters have set for themselves. I'm not usually one to make resolutions, but with a better organized sewing and quilting space, I am now also "organizing" what I have on my plate for 2009.

First thing you'll likely notice is that I've changed the look of my blog. I didn't really like the standard green template I had first chosen - so maybe this one will be okay...that is, until I think I can alter it. At least I don't lose the previous posts! LOL. I'd really like something with gypsies and shoes... Check out these adorable glass "gypsy" shoes my friend Laura gave me:

Second is that I've added my Scrap Deliverance list in the sidebar. "Scrap Deliverance" is an idea that Debby Kratovil shares on her Quilting Lessons website for using up scraps. While I've just neatly stacked my scrap stash, there are several quilts I've wanted to make and the list here are the ones I'd like to get a head start on. Maybe mine should be "Scrap Redemption." Redeem those homeless waifs and put them into a loved quilt!

A few aims I will strive toward: finishing UFOs before starting new projects, donating 10-12 quilts to South Sound Project Linus, keeping my quilting space tidy, my quilting machine clean and oiled, and updating my blog on a regular basis!

Here's a UFO from 15 years ago, which I started in Germany and had done the basting and just a tiny bit of handquilting. I actually finished quilting it on the longarm, after an internal debate on keeping the original intent, but I no longer care for the colors much, so this is going to be a cuddley quilt for the couch:

I'm not sure if you can tell from the photos, but I originally marked hand-quilting designs on the pink in pencil, and a cable design maybe in ink on the borders. This was before I really new better. Hopefully Sew Clean will come to the rescue.

Happy New Year!