Side Tracked-I'm not shocked

I'm officially side tracked, but it's okay.  I can work on new stuff and still get old stuff finished too, right?  I've been so far behind in blogland and reading lately, it's not funny.  I'm slowly but surely catching up.  One of the catching up was reading Bernie at Needle and Foot's call for making doll quilts for what she was calling Spread the Love, Quilting For Kids.  I was moved as I read Bernie's words about Amy and her venture called A Doll Like Me.  Bernie was asking quilters during the month of February to make doll quilts to send to Amy.  The out pour from the quilting community did not surprise me one bit.  I love how the quilting community came together to make quilts to send to this wonderful cause.  

I figure it's never too late, right?  My goal is to go into doll quilt making mode, but for three reasons.  One, I want to make quilts to send to Amy.  I also intend on telling my quilt guild about the project, incase some of them might want to join in.  Two, make doll quilts for our guild's upcoming boutique.  We are trying to focus on smaller quilted items to have for sell.  There has been much talk about fabric post cards, but doll quilts seem like a logical item too.  Plus they can pass as wall hangings and table toppers.  Three, quilting practice.  What a great way to practice free motion quilting!  I have a few designs I would like to play around with, so some of my doll quilts might be whole cloth style.

So the past few days, I have been chasing these squirrels.  I've gathered some fabrics and pieced up two quilts.

I will probably make a few more of this one.  The pattern is called Scrap Squares and it is in the 101 Fabulous Small Quilts book.  All you need are some charms and little yardage and you are good to go.

I found this doll quilt pattern while surfing around on Pinterest.  It is a free pattern by Lindsay at PA Country Crafts called Star Doll Quilt.  Both of these quilts cut and pieced very quickly.

I even have fabric pulled for the next three quilts.  I'm not 100% sure what patterns I will use, but simple is good.  I will wait till I have several pieced before I quilt them.  Some quilts will no doubt receive custom quilting jobs and the others simple all over designs.

I also wanted to remind everyone that today is the last day to sign up for the 2018 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop.  If you are new to quilt blogging and haven't signed up go read this post now!  If you are a well seasoned blogger mark your calendars for the first two weekends in April and May and join us in fun giveaways and hopping around getting to know new quilt bloggers.  I know I can't wait for the party to begin.

Today I'm linking up with Midweek Makers.

NQBBH--What's it all about?

So you are new to blogging and you just ran into posts about this 2018 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop and everyone you run into keeps saying, "Just do it!" but you aren't so sure about it.  When I signed up I didn't even know what a blog hop was.  I submitted the application and thought, what the heck did I just get myself into??  I STRESSED over writing the post for the hop, but you know what?  There was nothing to stress about.

Basically, your hop post is your "HELLO.  My name is" post.  It's a chance to meet different new quilt bloggers facing the same challenges and issues you face and tackling those challenges together.  You get to know their quilting styles and learn from them, while cultivating friendships.  And vice versa, they get to know about you.

Below are my two NQBBH posts from 2015 and 2016 (yes, I participated two years in a row).  They will kind of give you an idea of what a hop post might look like.

2015 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop
2016 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop

Don't be afraid to be yourself.  Share what you are comfortable with.  What you write is up to you.  There is no right or wrong answer and I promise no one is grading you.  If you are like me and it is the first time you have participated in a hop, let this be the one you do!  You know the subject matter you are writing about better than anyone else.

Deadline for signing up, is quickly approaching on Wednesday.  To read more about the hop and to sign up please check out this post.  We have some amazing sponsors lined up with generous prizes to give out during the hop.  I look forward to getting to know everyone who signs up.  So please join myself, Beth at Cooking Up Quilts, Jen at Dizzy Quilter and Sandra at mmm!quilts for what I promise to be one of the most blog hops you'll ever do...well if you're like me you'll do it twice :)

UFO Busting #8

The good news and the bad new.  The good news, I have a finish.  The bad news, not a UFO.  I haven't revealed the finish on the blog yet, because the weather has been too rainy get any photos.  Hopefully, I can find a non rainy moment this weekend and snap some photos.

I did manage to sneak in some sewing time on two ongoing WIP's.  Block 11 Four Square of the Sewcial Bee Sampler.  I am itching to see all of these blocks come together, but slow and steady wins the race.  My next problem is locating block 12.  I pre cut all my blocks back in July and some how have misplaced the baggie containing #12.  So do I keep searching long and hard or give in and cut and make the block.  I know full well that if I do that, I will find the bag like two minutes after I'm finished.

And one of the next blocks in Cindy at Stitchin at Home's Medallion Quilt.  I technically have enough blocks made for the quilt.  I'll lay them out this weekend and decide if I'm going to use the extra Churn Dash block I've made or the last of the blocks released.  It will just depend on how I'm feeling about the colors.

I do want to announce that the closing for signing up for the 2018 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop is approaching next week.  Have you signed up?  If you have been blogging for more than two months and less than three years, I sure hope you have.  I think we are all going to have a blast and learn lots.  If you want to learn more about the hop and sign up please check out this post.  We have a long list of sponsors with some pretty awesome prizes we will be giving away each of the four weeks of the hop.  Check back here on Monday, when I would like to discuss exactly what the hop posts are about.  Don't let fear of writing that post hold you back, I promise it's easy.

Now let's see what you've been up to.  This week I wanted to feature Kate from Smiles From Kate and her Circle Quilt UFO finish.

Kate's finish makes me happy all the way around!  I've been following Kate ever since she started this quilt.  It's been fun to watch it grow and evolve into the finished top you see today.  I love the way she fearlessly tackled free motion quilting and tamed this beast on her domestic machine.

So what have you been up to this week?  Did you get distracted by me, or are you conquering those old projects one stitch at a time?  Link up and tell us all about it.  Feel free to grab my button on the side bar and let everyone know you are busting your UFO's and WIP's and staying on task.  Or at least make them think that :)

An InLinkz Link-up

UFO Busting #7

It's still slow going sewing over here.  I'm itching to finish a UFO quilt I've been quilting on, but I've had a few distractions...with more on the horizon.  Batten down the hatches!  A distraction storm head!

Distraction #1 are these scrapalous Maple Leaf blocks.  Our guild had a work day last weekend to share fabrics and cut and stitch the pieces for the blocks.  I volunteered for David and I to work on piecing the larger blocks...a total of 40.  The 80 smaller blocks are being split by three other ladies.

Distraction #2 will be this Five Fat Quarter Fun Quilt, Cabin Fever by Jedi Craft Girl and Gigi's Thimble.

David pieced it a week ago and I agreed to quickly quilt it (ha!) for him.  It will be a donation quilt for David's coworker's children's home school group (that's a whole lot of 's).

Other than that, its been UFO woodgrain work.  When I can't work on the quilt I like to wrap my machine up like a little burrito.  It's my baby.  Keep her warm and safe.

No really I'm combatting this...

It helps to keep the kitties from using the quilt while I'm away.  They know what quilts are for and they will use them.  Good thing he's cute.

You guys however, are ROCKIN those UFO projects!  You blew me away last week in a very good way.  We had several finishes and others making lots of progress.  Give yourself a huge pat on the back!

Last week, Tanya at Tanya Quilts in CO unearthed several forgotten UFO's that her husband nicely reminded her about.  One of which is the batik beauty above.  Let's cheer her on, in hopes that this pretty top finally receives its finish and heads to a new home and she earns the title UFO Slayer.

And in honor of the day of love this past week, check out Chris at Chris Knits and her heart finish.  It is a perfect example of a UFO/WIP distraction gone right.  Not only was it a quick finish, it helped her practice some free motion quilting, for an up coming quilt she needs to finish.

So what has had your heart going pitter patter this week?  Hopefully it was a project you are dedicated to finish.  UFO's and WIP's need love too!  Maybe cupid struck you with and arrow and you fell in love with something else?  Whatever the case, let's celebrate together.  If you are reading along and linking up, feel free to grab my button at the top of the side bar.  Let people know you are watching the night skies for the objects that fly by.

An InLinkz Link-up

UFO Busting #6

I'm starting to feel like possibly aliens have sucked my brains out.  It's been a whirl wind January and so far February, at work, switching to a new software system at the lumber store I work at.  My brain is complete mush by the time I get home in the evenings, so progress on projects has been slow.  But progress is progress and I will be more than happy to take it.

My focus this past week as been finishing up a few blocks and connecting sections of the Moda Modern Building Block quilt.

Here I am showing my 30" finished block from section C at our monthly guild meeting Thursday night.  I guess I must have been in the middle of a happy dance?

And with a little help, I talked about completing sections A and B.  I consider this a long term project.  I'm savoring each block I make and enjoying the fabric.

Once section C is completed, the quilt will be officially half finished.  It's going to give my Summer Solstice Quilt a run for it's money.

After I got home from the guild meeting, Sandra, Anja and I decided to squeak out one more block on the Sewcial Bee Sampler Quilt.  This is block 10.  SO MANY SMALL HOURGLASS BLOCKS.  I'm not sure 8PM was the time to tackle them, but I had fun anyway.

Last week, Louise over at Quilt Odyssey was celebrating a UFO finish!

I'd be celebrating all those bright fun string blocks all quilted up too!  This quilt will be sure to bring someone lots of happiness.

Marti at MartiDYI is inching closer to a finish everyday!  She's all basted and ready to go.  That's always a good feeling.  She's been practicing with her ruler foot, preparing to quilt.  Marti, I can't wait to see your progress, you've got this!

So what are you up to?  Are you like me, being the little engine that could, slowly chugging up that mountain, praying you make it to a finish?  Or maybe you are at the top already enjoying that view.  Heck maybe you skipped the track and abandoned the mission for something else.  What ever the case, link up!  Let's see what you've been into.  Don't forget to grab my button below!

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<a href="http://www.tishnwonderland.com" rel="nofollow" title="UFO Busting"><img src="http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s313/TishNWonderland/UFO%20BUSTING_zpsklb0j6hk.jpg" alt="UFO Busting" width="150" style="border: none;" /></a></div>

An InLinkz Link-up

The sign ups for the 2018 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop is still going strong.  If you have been blogging for two months or less than three years, I hope you will consider joining myself, Beth at Cooking Up Quilts, Sandra at mmm!quilts and Jen at Dizzy Quilter in this super fun experience.  You will meet lots of new quilt bloggers, pick up new blogging tips and maybe even win a few prizes.  To read more about the hop and how to join in, click here.

UFO Busting #5

Five weeks strong and I'm happy to report I am still over here plugging away at UFO's.  Are you?  The temptations are strong, but I'm happily holding my own with encouragement from all of you.  As you can see in the picture above, I'm still quilting along on David's quilt for his friend.  Hopefully, it will be all finished soon and headed to its new home.

The more I quilt this woodgrain design the more I love the texture it gives the quilt.  And the best part?  Zero marking!  I love that!  So for  me, back to the quilting, "nose down, a$$ up" to quote my good friend Sandra.  We sew like our beloved pibbles in play mode.

Speaking of Sandra, she had a UFO finish to celebrate last week.  If you missed it, please check it out.  It will leave your head spinning (in a good way), with the awesome movement she created with her Wayward Transparency Quilt and spiral quilting.  She calls the quilt Flow, but I secretly call it Birds of a Feather; Tish and Sandra Flock Together.  Check out her post here.

Now it's your turn.  Has your week been productive or are you hiding like a dog with it's tail between it's legs whimpering.  Maybe you took off like my boy Newton, the pit bull, chasing after some squirrel that has consumed all your attention, unable to hear those WIP and UFO's yelling, "Come back here now!"  What ever the case link up and wag your tail.  Be happy in whatever it is your doing.  And don't forget to grab my button, so that you can show people, we are teaching old dogs new tricks.

**Note:  This party isn't just for UFO finishes.  Even if your post only mentions that you sewed two seams on a WIP or UFO, I consider that a good post.  You might be distracted by a new project, but those two seams put you two seams closer on a project than you were the day before.  Please feel free to link up even if you do not have a finish.  It's even a place to ask for help on a project you might be stuck on.  I want this to be about community not just finishes.  I want us all to encourage each other toward our finishes and celebrate together when one of us finally achieves it.  

<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.tishnwonderland.com" rel="nofollow" title="UFO Busting"><img src="http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s313/TishNWonderland/UFO%20BUSTING_zpsklb0j6hk.jpg" alt="UFO Busting" width="150" style="border: none;" /></a></div>

An InLinkz Link-up

Also, a reminder that the sign ups for the 2018 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop opened on Thursday.  Click here for more information and to sign up.  If you are new (or old) to quilt blogging...you don't want to miss this party!  Would I ever steer you wrong?

TBT-Carpenter Star(s)

February is officially here and do you know what time it is?  It's time for some Throwback Thursday fun with Sandra at mmm!quilts.  But just for today it's going to have to be February Flashback Friday...I'm a day late...but for a good excuse.  I was partying a little to hard because of the kickoff of the sign ups for the 2018 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop (read more about that here) yesterday.

This month I decided to flash back to a quilt pattern, not just a quilt.  Some people only make a pattern once, but that's not me.  I love repeating quilts that I love.  The Carpenter's Star happens to be one of those patterns.  It's a great pattern for a beginner, lot's of half square triangles and no Y-seams.

This scrappy version in tans and blues was the first one I made.  I made it for my sister in law.  She loved nautical themed things at the time and I hoped the tans, blues and white would have that kind of feel.  Not sure that it does, but hey, I hadn't been quilting a year.  It was quilted with a stipple pattern by a local quilt shop.

Fast forward to summer 2010.  My aunt was getting married and I thought an Americana themed quilt would be perfect for celebrating the occasion.  I loved the white and blue border/binding fabric.  It had a colonial feel to it.  This one was also quilted by a local quilt shop.

Now let's travel to August of 2012.  This was a miniature version of the Carpenter Star Quilt.  I am proud to say that I stippled this one myself.  Every year our family has a huge reunion.  When a family of 13-sh kids has families of 10 or more kids each...well things multiply exponentially.  I'm talking about my grandparents and great grandparents and further back.  Every year at the reunion, we have raffles to raise money for the next year.  I donated this quit.  I was excited to hear that my cousin (more like a brother) won the quilt.  I still see it at their house when I go to visit.

Then there is this one, made in early 2013.  I loved the blue and yellow fabrics.  I made it just for me.  It was also quilted by a local quilt shop and is quilted with and edge to edge flower design.

I can promise this will not be the last one I make.  David actually pieced one last year in civil war reproduction fabrics.  I can't wait to custom quilt it.

My grandmother's maiden name was Carpenter...I think that is why I love this block so much.  I feel a connection with it.

I have a dream of making one for each of my mother's siblings and my cousins.  That means a total of...I've already lost count.  Mom has eleven siblings, add in the cousins and I just ran out of fingers and toes.  Maybe one day.  So for today, I will just have to reminisce about these quilts and dream about the future ones.

If you have a quilt from your quilty past, please write a post, share it and link up with Sandra.  It's always fun to see where we all started before he found Quilt Blog Land.  Also, if you are a new quilt blogger, take a few minutes to read about the 2018 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop and sign up.  I promise you will thank me later.

Today I'm linking up with Throwback Thursday, Finished or Not Friday and Can I Get a Whoop! Whoop!

2018 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop

The day is finally here!  Registration for the 2018 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop has officially opened!  I am happy to announce that I am co-hosting this event with Beth at Cooking Up Quilts, Sandra at mmm!quilts, and Jen at Dizzy Quilter.

The goal of this event is to provide advice, tech help and introduce new quilters to the online quilting community.  But do you want to know the best part of the New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop?  It's the people!  If you are a new quilt blogger, please consider participating in this event.

The hosts are here to provide guidance, but the amazing value in this experience is the connections you will make with other quilt bloggers experiencing the same things you are.  Life long quilting friends have been made through this event.  I can personally attest to this.  I participated in the 2015 and 2016 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop and still talk weekly and sometime daily to quilters I met through the experience.  I've even been lucky enough to meet some in person!

Left: with Beth at Cooking Up Quilts, Middle: with Sandra at mmm!quilts Right: with Juile at Pink Doxies

If you have questions you would like answered prior to registering, please feel free to leave a comment and I will do my best to answer your questions.  Everyone will come with a different set of experiences, expertise, questions and expectations and I want to stress that this hop  is to improve your blog, increase your blogging skills and get more involved in the online quilting community.  The focus is not on helping start up online businesses (note that online business owners with blogs that meet the criteria are welcome).

2018 New Quilt Bloggers Participation/Sign Up Criteria

The technical criteria to participate in the 2018 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop is as follows:

1. If you have been blogging mainly about quilting 
2. for more than 2 months but less than 3 years, 
3. writing at least 4 posts a month,
4. are willing to agree to be actively involved in the blog hop through visiting and commenting (very important to get to know the other bloggers) on the other blogger's hop posts,
5. and are willing to participate in group discussions by signing up to join Slack (available for desktop and as an app for movable devices and I promise it isn't hard to use).

Please indicate your interest in joining by filling out the registration form by clicking the link or using the form below.

Additional Details

• Note that after you indicate your interest by filling our the registration form, you will not receive email confirmation until the beginning of March at the earliest.
• We will accept 100 participants for the blog hop this year.  The sign-up form will be available until February 28th, 2018 or until we reach 100 participants.  
• Participation in the blog hop will consist of a significant time commitment.  We believe that the more time you can dedicate to the blog hop, the more you will get out of it.
• Tentative Schedule:
• Early March: Welcome participants vie E-mail and get everyone into the Slack group to facilitate and begin conversations.
• March:  Get to know one another through a series of weekly planned prompts through the Slack group.
• March:  Optional structured blog critiques groups will be conducted.  Again it is optional.
• April:  First half (2 weeks) of blog hop.
• May:  Second half (2 weeks) of blog hop.

Looking for ways to participate?

If you are an alumni or blogger who has been active for longer than 3 years, we would love to have you share information about this year's New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop so that many new bloggers can be exposed to this opportunity as possible.  We would also love to grow our list of Advice for New Bloggers posts.  If you have previously written something or would like to write a post that we can link to about anything you wish you ad known earlier in your blogging adventure, please contact myself  or any of the co-hosts by leaving a comment on either of your blogs or emailing us for further details.  

Thank you to our Sponsors!!!!

The 2018 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop is being sponsored by an awesome selection of companies and we are excited to be partnered with:

Make Modern Magazine

Sew Fresh Quilts

Meadow Mist Designs

Northcott

Phat Quarter Fabric

Quilting Jetgirl

Devoted Quilter

Cooking Up Quilts

Needle & Foot

Canuck Quilter Designs

Clinton Modern Creative

The Red Hen Shop

Sew Sisters Quilt Shop

Island Batiks

Benartex

Christina Cameli

This hop will have it all!  Good advice, great people and lots of fun prizes.  Please if you are hesitant to sign up, ask questions.  We are more than happy to ease your mind.  You CAN do this.  You SHOULD do this.  I always say a quilt show can't be a show if it doesn't have quilts.  A blog hop can't be a hop, if it doesn't have people.  To all the New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop Alumni, please spread the word.  Let's welcome a new group of quilting bloggers to this experience and our quilting family.