Looking back at 2023 I made a lot of things, but I feel like I hardly made a dent in my UFO list that I have been dragging up every year. It maybe time to move on from these projects, it’s time to assess them and finish them or end them and move on. To be fair, I did have a lot of custom quilts this year and I made some progress.

This is the tired ol’ list from 2021

List of UFO’s to finish in the next 365 days: 

• Simple things 1930’s embroidery/appliqué 
• Teal, black and white maze quilt
• Love Entwined Quilt – appliqué 
• 365 Batik block quilt 270 blocks to go
• Dragon quilt finish quilting embellishing etc (oldest circa late 1900’s)
• Holiday Snow Village 2021 BOM
• Needing quilting/binding Berties year, Growing up odd, Misses Miller, Christmas Figs, Halloween Figs, Botanica Park, Washboard, Red and white quilt, Paper pieced ice quilt, Autumn leaves, Quick curve quilt.

I did work on Simple Things a bit. I got another block done, three totally, and since there are only 9 blocks, I should be able to finish this in 2024. If I get it all out and assemble it, then all that’s left is the embroidery. 

The Teal, black and white quilt should just be scrapped at this point. I don’t want to fix it, and I ‘m not really sure I like the color combo any more. Plus, I have used a lot of the teal fabric for other projects. Seriously thinking of pitching it, after salvaging for scraps.

Love Entwined and Holiday Snow Village are both appliqué quilts and like Message in a Bottle, they have not been on the hand work to-do list. Part of the impasse is that cross stitch is now my hand stitching preference. I did pull the MinaB blocks out and worked on one, this quilt isn’t that big, 12 blocks. However each one has to be pieced and then appliquéd. A little less than Simple Things, as there is little to no embroidery. Love Entwined is, hmm, I may have to dig that out, and see what it needs, I sort of remember that its mostly done.

365 quilt, yeah, a block a day. I could re-start that, do a leader ender. I should see how many blocks I have made. Perhaps I can do half, and still make a decent sized quilt. Although it is medallion style, so thought/math maybe involved there.

The Dragon quilt, this is an embellishment thing. It just needs a lot more beading and stuff added to it. Hand work again, but in reality, I feel like it is too far finished to chuck, but I don’t want to invest more time into it either. 

On the quilting of TBQ tops I did finish a few, all that’s left for that list are Growing up Odd, Washboard, and the paper foundation quilt “Ice”. This year I have added to the pile, the Reunion quilt still needs quilting and then there are a few whole quilts (Big Dream flowers) and a few small baby quilts. I put the top I made at the Asilomar retreat in that pile too. I really want to do some graffiti style quilting on it. 

Looking ahead, eyes on the road, I want to get a white board list up in the sewing studio. Listing current projects and UFOs. I think if I have the list in sight, I will finish one, rather than start a new project.  I also have kits I have bought to do. I did start the Swordfish one, but just sorted out all the pieces of paper foundation, no sewing. I bought two more kits on sale yesterday, and I know for sure that there are three more in my closet. Those need to get WB listed too. 

On the plus side, I am caught up with Indigo Way, I finished part five yesterday. There were a bunch of half blocks to do, so I think this one will be set on point in the final mock up. I should get some time in on Morning Glories too. 

My finished in 2023 list:

• 20 quilts sold
• knitted 5 hats
• finished 6 cross stitch projects
• made two waxed canvas bags
• quilted 4 quilts for other people
• Finished 29 quilts
• made 17 bity boxy bags for gifts

Finally, in looking back mode, I have been blogging here for about ten years. I mostly do it for myself to keep a record of my projects and doings. Lately it’s become a bit of a chore, I still have things to say, but getting photos and content to post is not my favorite part. My bill for WordPress is coming up at the end of January. I’m not sure if I’ll renew. I have used up 98% of my 6GB for media storage, which means if I want to keep blogging here, I have to move up to the next level (more$$). Over the tenure of Touch of Grey, I have followed and read lots of other blogs, linked up with many design walls, finished lists, quilt-a-longs and such. I have noticed that many have switched to instagram, Pinterest and Facebook, which is fine for them. I miss reading the thoughts and inspirations that are absent from instagrams, yeah, pictures are pretty and all, but I feel like it’s more of a sales pitch. Tag me, # blah blah, @someone, all so easy to copy/paste and not think.  I’m not here to make money, just organize my thoughts and ideas. These first few weeks of 2024, I’m going to be thinking if I want to continue posting here, or end it. My other idea is to start a new blog, a free one, it would be bare bones, no photos, or maybe just one or two.  Or I could go old school with a journal and white board, we’ll see.

Be Kind. 

A few months ago I wrote a little bit about this quilt in a post called Cruising. 

Although, my motivation to re-start one of my ufo’s isn’t quite as keen. I did acquire another rescue project. This one is somewhat of a mess. It is a king sized Hawaiian appliqué quilt that was started with hand quilting, in the center (ugh) and part of a border. It is faded, water marked, frayed on the edges and probably not very square. The only saving grace is that it is basted. I am going to have to think on it for a bit, just getting it on the frame will be challenging.

Cruising post 10/8/23

I finished the roses panto on the first Violet and Roses quilt, I made those tops back in October too. I was going to put the second V&R quilt on the frame, when I got a mental nudge to do the Hawaiian one. This quilt has been in plain sight since I got it. I didn’t want to pack it away as then I would “forget” about it. It is a challenge, and I am going to finish it, well sooner than later. I started two days ago, I draped it over the frame to see the whole thing. It is a very large quilt, king size at least, I have about 14 inches folded over on one side, my frame is 12 feet wide. It is already sandwiched and basted and the center and one of the borders has some hand stitching/quilting. I am not too familiar with the method on how this quilt was put together. From what I can tell, it’s two layers on the front the purple under the light blue. The light blue is pieced, 5/8″ seams, but I can’t really see where the purple is seamed. I think the blue piece was done as a cut-away design, as I can’t really imagine that it was done like a paper snowflake. I have made a total of two Hawaiian style quilts, both were small, about 24 inches square. I guess if there was an area to lay out the fabrics and cut and baste it maybe? I’ll have to ask Eddie, his mom, Diana Leone made it. 

This quilt is vintage, I’m thinking late 1970’s. Of course it’s got the “ever lovely” polyester batting, which is pieced too, it is a thinner product, thankfully. Once I wrestled it on to the frame, I used the long pink plastic clamps to hold it on to the top rail. The weight of it was enough that I could let it hang over the front rail. I thought I would put the ruler table on the machine, to give it a little more stability in the stitching area. I am using 40wt thread, Mettler cotton in light blue and Aurifil 40wt in purple. I popped in a 50wt Fil-tec bobbin to start. A 100 size needle and a bit of oil on the hook and I started to sew in the center. I wanted to do the same sort of echo quilting that was already hand quilted. That’s when the machine said NO. Skipping stitches like nobody’s business, time to run through all the things to correct it.  

• Check/change needle size
• Too tight on frame?
• check hopping foot height
• check tension in top thread
• check bobbin thread

I did all of the above and then the last one, which should be : Walk away and try again later. The next day I thought I would try a quilting needle, I usually use a universal one. I was looking through my needles and came across the ones I bought for sewing on iron on appliqué, with a non-stick coating. I figured, well, why not? They were a size 75, so still okay for the thread too. Desperate times, desperate measures? It worked, I was stitching away in no time. I think the fabric has a bit of polyester in it, three layers and a poly batting was too much fabric friction. The slick needle solved the problem. 

Wrangling this quilt on the frame is a bear though. It hangs over the top bar and needs to be folded over it so as not to drag on or under the machine carriage. I got the center motif done, sort of echo quilting it. and trying not to have too many stops and starts. I am going to do a small stipple in the purple sections and continue the echoing in the outer blue borders. The plain blue borders will be cut down a bit, maybe I’ll do some piano keys or cross hatch. Once I finish the center part I will square it and cut it down to a king size 108″ x 95″. Then perhaps I can pin it to the leaders, and work with a ruler.

I have spent a few hours quilting the top, and it’s not too difficult. Moving the quilt is tough, and since the center is a large motif.  I am going to get back to it in a few days, once company has left, and the holidays are over.

Be Kind.

Time to get moving on gifts and things. I have been working on all such things this week.

I finished up the second clue for Indigo Way, a day after the third clue was posted. I am hoping to have some free time later this week to put it together. It is similar to the first two clues in that it is matching sets. I find that these take a bit longer to do than random scrappy pieces. I need to come up with a system to streamline the cutting that won’t mix up the order and matches.

I saw a video link for a fabric basket the other day, it was such a good gift idea, I made two. Sorry no pictures, I wrapped them up and packed them for the mail. The pattern is from Noodlehead, called Divided Basket Pattern , the video is by Jess at Oklaroots . Jess also has a bunch of other bag making videos, that are well done and easy to follow. I found one for mini box bags, and I am going to make a bunch for the people at my horse barn. I am new to this barn, and they exchange small gifts and treats. I thought that these little bags would work for dog treats or key fobs and a credit card. Mostly I thought it would be a cute way to carry around those rolls of bags for cleaning up after dogs. I have to make 16 of them, assembly line sewing for the win! Bonus that they can be made from less than a fat quarter. I needed to order zips and swivel snaps as I don’t have them in quantity.

I set up and used the embroidery system on my new 780Pro. Wow, what a difference from the last model. Much more smooth and faster, I had the speed adjusted to half and it was still moving along nicely. The first project I did was an embellishment of a horse pad. The design was one from Embroidery Library, its from a new collection that uses a light stitching pattern and a few colors. This one only has three, red, yellow and blue, but the blending and the black outline make it look like so many more.

I went on to make two candy cane holders, due to my own inefficiency, it took me about three hours to make these. I couldn’t figure out how to make two at a time in the hoop work. The second one was a lot faster, but I wasn’t about to make another one last night. I am going to try two snowman ones, and a mug cozy today. Oh, and a book mark and embroidered cards, just because.

PRESTO! its the next day. I managed to get quite a few things done yesterday. Packed up gifts and I’m posting them today. I’m a bit upset that a bunch of gifts I ordered two weeks ago, aren’t here yet. I really wanted to send them out today. Most are for adult gifts, so they’ll understand if they are late. All the kids things are accounted for, that’s a big task done.

Thinking of maybe getting the tree up and decorating a bit more today. I’ll see how much energy I have left after a round of errands and such today. I would like to get the Indigo Way block pieces cut. Also I have to put the sewing table back in sew mode. In order to embroider, I have to move my elevated desk/cutting mat and move my machine out of its cut out area. Not to mention putting the embroidery unit away and all its accouterments.

Be Kind.

I feel like I am in the middle of too many projects, it’s keeping me interested though. I only finished two hats, two more to go. This week I’ve worked on:

• Quilting ‘A Ribbon Runs Through it’
• Stitching on ‘Consider the Lillies’
• Knitted two hats
• Borders for ‘confetti’ quilt
• Finished the ‘Morning Glories’ paper foundation block pieces
• Sewed up the first Indigo Way clue
• Ordered a bunch of fabric for future projects

My main impetus for all this activity is that I am resting my sore knee. I can walk a bit, and it is getting better, but sitting and standing still are easier. I had a small accident on Sunday, and twisted my right knee a bit too much. Anyway, it has left me with some extra time to sew.

RRTI is almost done, I did a little celebration dance when I finished the last sashing strip. I am trying to do the side borders without taking it off and turning the quilt. I think I may be able to, with a bit of resizing and morphing the designs to fit, turning the corners is always a bear.

I went through all my blue batik fabrics and decided that I had enough of a selection/assortment to do Indigo Way with. I have enough white and light beige to match. I did buy 2 ½ yards of red, because I only had about a half yard of red total. I’m hoping that the red is a blue-red and not an orange one, it looked good on my lap top screen, so fingers crossed.

I signed up for a different kind of a BOM. I have sworn off Quilt BOMs after last years RRTI and the Reunion quilt BOM. I still have to finish the Message in a Bottle, which hasn’t seen the light of day for a few months. The new BOM is a cross stitch one, 12 months of houses. It’s called Fabulous House and its by Cottage Garden Samplings. I signed up through the Fat Quarter Shop, its only for the patterns, fabric and thread not included. I am going to do it on 18 count Aida cloth, a little easier on the eyes and looking at the first one, Santa’s House, there is a lot of coverage. Sometimes I find that the linens don’t look even under full coverage. Plus it’s a large piece, 370 x 495 stitches, about a 2/3rds size yard, so pricey in linen.

The Morning Glories quilt is all ready to get blocks made. I looked through the instructions twice and there is only one place where it says to remove the papers. I have done it before sewing and after sewing the top. There are a lot of bias edges on the outsides of the block pieces, so I may just try it first with the papers on. I did put one block together, the pink one.

Future projects include four whole cloth Dream Big panels and I got a Layer cake of Effies Woods fabric collection. I am hoping to use up the rest of the Effies scraps and make another quilt. I also took advantage of Black Friday sales and picked up a bunch of end of bolt pieces to bolster current inventory. I want to remember that I got a backing for the Noel wall hanging too. Oh, and I want to make a ‘Tessa’ quilt out of the extra strawberry fabrics.

Be Kind.

Late last week, in between cleaning and making my house look presentable, I cut a bunch more green scraps for the Morning Glories quilt. I measured out 3 ½ inch strips, and carefully cut them with a Dresden plate ruler, as it made the most similar shape to those I needed. I think I cut about a hundred or so. I sat down later in the day, or it may have been night, and started to sew the 392 paper foundation pieces known as “B”. There are only two pieces of fabric on each, white and green. I had cut a bunch of white/neutrals earlier in the week and I figured I could get a start on them. I used a bit of glue stick to attach the white, and carefully lined up the green piece to sew. It was too short, ugh, I turned off the machine, and called it a day. All those green Dresden plate pieces were nagging me, I think I am going to use them on the borders. If I sew them together into half fans I can appliqué them to the borders, something like this.

I’m trying to figure if I can make the fans undulate, rather than alternate, like these are. I will probably need more blades cut, to do the 84″ long borders. Or I could just add them to the top and bottom. More math is needed for this idea. Since I have written this idea here, I won’t forget it, although that pile of too small green blades won’t let me do that either. I haven’t been working much on the RRTI quilt. I have about 80% done and the quilt top bottom is basted to the backing now. I still have to turn it & do the side borders.

Funny thing is I feel like I have so much time to work on it now that Thanksgiving is over. When in actuality I am putting off thinking about Christmas, I haven’t done much yet to facilitate that celebration. I have about three weeks to get ready for my two DSs and their SOs to arrive. Luckily, the house is ready, so it’s just maintaining it, getting the tree up, decorating, shopping, cooking. There, I thought about it, I have a week of calm to do what I want.

I downloaded the first part of Indigo way, the Bonnie Hunter Mystery quilt. I had really hoped to have the Morning Glories a bit more finished, but you know. I got fabric delivered to finish the Washington puzzle quilt pictured above. I ran out of the Ash gray Kona, and it really needs some borders. I also have enough ombre pieces left to make 14 more blocks. I may incorporate them into those borders, maybe on point so the look like they are spinning. I think I am going to use that purple print on the top for binding.

All the yarn I ordered for hat making arrived too. I started the first one last night, and got a good start, about 30% into it. I am planning on making five, like last year, but I got a late start. Partly from my oblivious-ness to the end of November, and the holiday crunch. Trying to keep it that way 🙂

The cross stitch piece didn’t get much added to it, I worked on page 6, most of it is a large potted plant with giant flowers.

Be Kind.