On Tuesday night the Northern Star Quilters had the voting for their 2010 Challenge. I was honored to win this ribbon…………
Here is the completed top. It measures 20″ (length) X 10″ width. The petals on the flowers are 3-D and VERY small!
Read all the rules for the challenge here.
(Can you see the HOPE in the fence and the 2010 in the center of the flowers?)
Here is the OFFICIAL measurement from the Ciccotelli’s very scientific rain measuring device (our recycling bin) – 5 1/2″. Despite all the rain, we were in the lucky group that did not loose power. Tom was at a scouting event all day Saturday and I stayed at home and worked on a quilt that is going on our bed. (I painted the room in Feb. 2009, but I have done much of the fun decorating – maybe this Spring?)
Here is the top (without the borders)
I am wondering if I should make a couple of pillow shams – but the size of the blocks might make them kind of weird size.
What do you think?
The 2010 Challenge quilts were due at the January Northern Star Quilters guild meeting. Of course since I am the Queen of the Last Minute Projects, I was finishing up this quilt after my children’s sewing classes the night of the guild meeting. I have really got to start getting things done earlier – it is getting hard on my nerves to cut things so close.
Below is a summary of the guidelines for NSQG 2010 Challenge:
The year 2009 was a hard year for many people around the world, but it was also a year of renewed hope. This challenge is an opportunity to create a quilted expression of what you hope the year 2010 will bring to you, your family, your country or your planet.
Rules:
Finished quilt is to measure 20 in. high by 10 in. wide. (Vertical orientation ONLY!)
The number 2010 must be incorporated in the quilt design.
Incorporate ONE or BOTH of the following words in the design of your quilt: “HOPE” “WISH”
Here is the sketch of my idea for the challenge. Of course I had to include some of my 3-D works, so flowers were just the thing.
Here are a few of the reject flowers:
I was going to do Sunflowers, but the first yellow one looked too much like the Sun, so I decided to do different colored flowers. I can’t remember why this cute little purple one was a reject – but it was.
This pretty hot pink flower measures just under 5″ across – kinda of big for a piece that is only going to be 10″ wide.
I really like this pink flower – but again I didn’t do it small enough. It was smaller, but not small enough. It measure 4 3/4″ from point to point across. It has 24 points, that is a lot of little pieces to sew together.
Now talk about crazy. This little flower was the correct size – but it was more 3-D than I wanted. I didn’t think this piece need a pink volcanco in it. Back to the sewing machine. I was getting pretty tired of ALL these problems!
View of the volcano from the side.
Finally – success with the flowers. I was getting tired of piecing flowers, so I opted to do a half flower for one of them. I like this shape of flower. I think I will have to incorporate it into a larger Sunflower piece that I am working on.
I am dedicating this small wallhanging to my daughter as she is dealing with a pending divorce.
The voting for this challenge is on February 16 March 16 (it was postponed because of a snow storm). I’ll post pictures of the front then.
I have been spending ALOT of time gathering, cropping and adjusting photos to prepare them for the galleries on my new website. When I did my website in 2006 my daughters were looking forward to me having a very inclusive gallery. Well – that never happened. It was something that I was always going to do, but it never got done. So, now I am getting the photos ready so it will get done. Needless to say, I don’t have anyting new to show you so I thought I would go back and share a couple of projects that I have not shared before.
This first quilt was made for Pres. & Sis. Jackson after their move to Utah. He purchased the border fabric when he was a 19 year old missionary serving in a foreign country. While Pres. Jackson and his wife were packing to move he decided that he had been hauling around this fabric for too many years and it was time to give it to someone that would actually use the fabric. Thus – the fabric came to my home. I decided to use it to make a quilt for he and his wife as a thank you from our stake for all they had done for the church in the Westchester/Bronx New York area.
Here we are all set-up ready for Stake members to sign the quilt.
(Of course, the Queen of PROJECTS (this is the title my daughters gave me at the QQQ Birthday party) is still working on the binding.)
Stake members signing the quilt down at the Kingsbridge building.
Thank heavens for labels because now I can remember which year I made this quilt.
Pres. & Sis. Jackson in front of their quilt.
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I had a bunch of pieces leftover and I didn’t want them left hanging around (which I still have a few pieces doing that in my studio) so here is the FUN BACK that used alot of those scraps.
I had just discoverd folded hexagons so I used them for the flowers on this wallhanging..jpg)
Many of the sister signed squares that I incorporated on the back of the wallhaning. I did a hidden rod pocket so that the wallhaning could be hung on either side.
I used one of the squares for the label.
The quilt storage system was really cool.
This is the ultimate Waste Not – Want Not Quilt.
What better thing to do with squirrel skins than use them in your quilt?
Sorry, count me out. This quilt didn’t make it anywhere near my “Some Day” list!My Father passed away on February 20 so Tom and I were on an airplane the next day to Idaho. My Father was 84 years old and lived a very good life, work HARD, and loved his family very much. I stayed in Idaho one week and then went back to Utah with my two daughters and their families and stayed there for an additional three days.
This is a quilt I made for my Dad’s 80th Birthday.
Here are a hammer and saw to represent the love my father had of construction.
The greats (as referred to by my parents)
The grandkids and their spouses
Kids and their spouses
Prairie (top) and Autumn (below) enjoying their cake at the luncheon after the funneral.
Back in Provo, Autumn playing in a big box in their backyard.
UFO projects completed January 2008
This quilt is based on the same quilt that Emily designed for her wedding quilt in 2002. 
One evening last week I went to my studio to sew two LARGE pieces of blue fabric together for the back of this quit. I looked at this large bag of scraps I had from the two purple and blue quilts I made for Emily and Ben’s wedding gifts and thought I could use a few of the larger pieces in the back with the yardage of blue fabric. Well, after a few hours it became my challenge to construct the back for this quilt from only scraps. And that is exactly what I did! 
Here is a detail of the quilting first from the back of the quilt and then from the front.
And the label for the quilt. Ugly Duckling #2
This story of the quilt is on the label
Other projects worked on during January 2008
1. Folded 9 hexagon flowers units for Grandma’s Hexagarden wallhanging
2. Cut batik scraps into squares and triangles for QQQ quilt
Layout for the QQQ quilt
Border detail
Here is the top put back together the second time, 
Nativity Advent WallhangingThis project was started November 2000 in Ames, Iowa. My daughter Emily and I went to visit Iowa State University during her senior year to see the campus and check out the programs the school offered. Her boyfriend (at the time) was attending Iowa State, so needless to say, I had a lot of time to fill by myself. Luckily, there was a JoAnn’s fabric store in Ames. I found a book with the pattern for this advent calendar in it. I love to collect nativity scenes so I decided this was the perfect project. I also decided that I should make three – one for me and one for each of my daughters. I purchased little bits of fabric and other needed supplies and started working on the nativity figures that weekend in Iowa.
Each Christmas season, I would pull this project out and do a little more work on it. This past September, as I was preparing for my visit to Idaho, Emily suggested that I bring these wallhangings to Idaho and work on them. I did not quite get them completed while in Idaho, but I did continue to work on them. At last, these projects are off my UFO list.
(From the pattern – Glad Tidings Advent by Art to Heart)
There are 23 figures and the wallhanging. I am thinking put can put the wallhanging up Dec. 1 and then move a figure to the manger scene each day up until Christmas. I only did 24 things because then you can complete the scene on Dec. 24 when you still have time to enjoy it. Because when Christmas comes everyone is usually so busy with the gifts to put the last item on the scene.
Here is a picture of one of the labels.
All the figures our in the Manager scene.
I love the sheep.
This is one of my favorite figues. I love how I used ends of toothpicks for the drumsticks.
You would think that I since I just finished three projects off my UFO (UnFinished Objects) list, that I wouldn’t want to start anything new. Sorry to say, that is not quite how it works, so here is a picture of one of my newest projects. I wanted something easy to display the folded hexagon oraments when I am out doing the hands-on-demo, so I thought of putting them in a wallhanging with a Christmas tree. Here is the beginning of the project, I will probably not do much more on it until late February because my next demo is scheduled for sometime in March.
I thought is would be fun for the Christmas tree to be 3-dimensional also.
Here is one folded hexagon I have made for it, now to make some more to make the tree look even better. And maybe even some working lights? Have to wait and see how things all work out.
I have been busy since my last post teaching the Children’s sewing summer camps. The last camp ended on Thursday, Aug. 23. During the 8 weeks of camp 800 hours of sewing took place in my studio by the campers. No wonder I feel tired. You can view pictures of alot of the students projects at:
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I decided that the “Back to School” was to big but I could not face cutting out all those individual pieces again. So I got out my embroidery unit for my Bernina and designed the lettering on my computer and downloaded it to my sewing machine to stitch it out. I was pretty happy that I figured out how to do that. Now I am working on stitching the wording for the crayon border. I am making eight different colors of crayons that will be scattered around the outside of the calculator quilt..JPG)
Underwater Maddness (2006)
The original Double Wedding Ring quilt was made by Hannah Maria Jensen Mortensen for her granddaughter Carma Mortensen Ricks as a wedding gift around 1942. Carma stored her precious quilt on the top shelf of a closet. The quilt was accidentally pushed up against a light bulb and was scorched and burned beyond repair. Years later, for a Young Women’s project, Hillary Landon (Carma’s granddaughter) cut pieces of the quilt and framed them for family members.
To the Beach and Beyond (2006)
This quilt top was a wedding quilt for Jennie made by her Grandma Ricks (she made a quilt like this for each of her granddaughters prior to her death). Since Jennie is one of the younger granddaughters, her did not get quilted. I quilted it for her.
