Do I remember? Maybe!

Good Golly Miss Molly! Looks like I haven't been here for almost a year! Posting....I don't seem to be doing a very good job at this blog stuff. But I will make the attempt...once again! I have a specific purpose this year. I've been following Stashbusters on Yahoo for awhile now and right before Christmas I decided to stop lurking in the closet and join a group (or 2 or 3!) because listening, or rather reading, about these lovely ladies was interesting....who lived in what state,country, what issues they were having with what quilts, who was snowed in and getting a lot done, etc....girlie chit chatter. It became amusing, thought provoking and helpful. Then I read about a few challenges....and there it was: UFO Challenge for 2014! Ok, I got hooked! Sounded like fun to report to a group rather than just my little Journal of my personal Yahoo Finishes for 2013.
I joined and now my race was on...I had to turn in a count of my UFOs, send 2 FQs and a $1 that would go to a year end winner. I did it! I found 21 UFOs hanging in my closet, hiding in baskets and buried elsewhere....hopefully I looked deep enough so I don't find any more! I also did an accounting of my WIPs...things that I was actively engaged in....ELEVEN! Ai Yi Yi! And now you know why I chose "Carpe diem and Focus" as my theme for 2014...
For my first UFO to finish I chose what I think is my oldest. Before we left California in 1997 I was involved in a small quilting group that gathered together I think every Wednesday or maybe it was every other week. I think there were 6-8 of us and 1 was Tina Gully, a sweet sweet lady who rescued quilts from basements, attics, garage sales, thrift shops everywhere. She told how she would take a stained quilt outside, spray it down and leave it topside down on the grass under a shade tree and Voila, the chlorophyll from the grass would safely remove any stains but not bleach any colors. She also loved Pineapple Quilts and taught a class I took using an Eleanor Burns book. I decided to make a Gi-normus one because the technique was fun and precise. As a result I ended up with a zillion (maybe it was only a million)  blocks...3 values of purple (must've been in my pre-1995 purple phase) with red as my accent color. Finished the zillion and realized in a more sane moment that I didn't want any purple toned quilt on my king sized bed. What had I been thinking? Flash forward a few years and another Finish UFOs Moment...I took a large portion and made a twin size quilt, grabbed 18 more and made two 9 block table toppers and had 4 left that I pieced into this table runner that never got quilted until this last weekend. Aaaaah, the first finish (19 x 49") "Done Done" for 2014!

 

And it feels good! I'm in the race for real! Now to get the next UFO finished....and to start the Trail Mix Challenge Group.....and Shakespeare in the Park Group.....

Sending y'all in the East some warm Western wind to warm you up while I go do some more "Stitchin' for my Soul!"

 

 

Nadine