My DL2Q Blog Book – Vol. 18

When Blog2Print had a 50% off sale I seized the opportunity to publish my 18th DL2Q blog book. The site has sales often enough that I rarely, if ever, pay full price. Even though the Christmas season was hectic, I carved out some time to make the volume and take advantage of the sale. Here is a random page from inside the book. Blog2Print really does a nice job.

My best intention are always to have a book in the ready to publish at a sale event, but I am usually scrabbling with the details and finalization at the end.  If you plan to use the service, be patient and be ready with your book all ready to go. At the last minute during a sales event the response time on the web site is slower. Sitting at my computer in the wee hours in the middle of the night helps somewhat. 

DianeLoves2Quilt - Volume 18: April 3, 2022 - October 19, 2022
Volume 18 contains 233 pages and 30 posts. I picked a cover that was yellow on the front to highlight the some of the blocks in my Quilt by Number quilt and yellow on the back to complement the orange and cream colors of my X Marks the Spot quilt. 

The Dedication for DL2Q Vol.18 and the subsequent Table of Contents read as follows:

I came out of COVID isolation to enjoy two local quilt shows: Voices in Cloth and a show by the Delta Quilters Guild. My completions are two large quilts "X Marks the Spot" and "Quilt by Number", a smaller child quilt "Spaceman", and two wall hangings, "Ulu-Breadfruit" and "Pineapple". I also displayed quilts outdoors monthly.
Diane I. Chambers

These are links to previous volumes and reminders to what covers I selected. Volume 12 has the best, most complete, selection of hints.

• DL2Q Volume 18 posted 01/25/2023 cover choice Polka Dots - yellow
• DL2Q Volume 17 posted 07/05/2022 cover choice Red Swirls
• DL2Q Volume 16 posted 01/29/2022 cover choice Strawberry Chocolate
• DL2Q Volume 15 posted 01/29/2022 cover choice Orange Swirls
• DL2Q Volume 14 posted 12/28/2020 cover choice Red Hearts
• DL2Q Volume 13 posted 04/24/2020 cover choice Solid Green
• DL2Q Volume 12 posted 02/23/2020 cover choice Waves-N-Whirls
• DL2Q Volume 11 posted 03/04/2019 cover choice Tree
• DL2Q Volume 10 posted 07/05/2018 cover choice Brown Swirls
• DL2Q Volume 9 posted   06/22/2018 cover choice Polka Dots - green
• DL2Q Volume 8 posted   06/27/2017 cover choice Polka Dots - blue
• DL2Q Volume 7 posted   06/27/2017 cover choice Polka Dots - pink
• DL2Q Volume 6 posted   06/27/2017 cover choice Red Swirls
• DL2Q Volume 5 posted   12/16/2015 cover choice Green Swirls
• DL2Q Volume 4 posted   03/18/2015 cover choice Plum Flowers
• DL2Q Volume 3 posted   03/18/2015 cover choice Flowers - yellow
• DL2Q Volume 2 posted   04/14/2014 cover choice Flowers - pink
• DL2Q Volume 1 posted   04/17/2013 cover choice Blue Swirls

I publish these books about twice a year at uneven intervals. I tend to break at logical points between post topics or else I group posts to assure multi-post topics are not disrupted between books. These charts remind me how the books vary in the number of pages and in the quantity and length of posts. For those readers who do not wish to indulge the nerd in me, feel free to skip over the following charts that give my blog book statistics.

Blanket for Joy

Joy the Elf surreptitiously visited our house over Christmas this past year when my daughter's family were here from out of state for a holiday visit. My 10-yr-old granddaughter, Autumn, and my 7-yr-old grandson, Isaiah, eagerly looked for her in a new location each day of their visit.

During their stay my daughter and I hung out in my sewing room a bit, reviewing my stash, patterns, tools... in other words – stuff in general. In going through my drawer of panels, I came across this fabric book for The Elf on the Shelf. Autumn and Isaiah are too old for fabric books but the theme was so appropriate I decided to repurpose the panel. I cut the sections apart on the red dotted lines of snowflakes. Then I further sub-cut them into twelve square red-bordered "pages". Four of those "pages" were sized a bit larger because they were originally intended for the cover of the book. I down selected eight of the twelve pages to make a two sided blanket for Joy.

Two of the pages I chose to keep needed to be adjusted for size. I took a 3/16" tuck both vertically and horizontally, hidden at the interface between the picture and the red border so all squares were the same size. I joined the squares into two four patches and cut a pice of flannel the same size. Joining them face to face, I added the flannel to give a little bit of body, stitched along the edges, turned it right side out and pressed. With a few lines of top-stitching along the edges and along the "sashing" between the images, the blanket was complete. Here are the two sides of Joy's blanket. I will mail it to Autumn and Isaiah's house so they can give it to Joy next year when she visits from the North Pole. The downsized squares are the upper two on the second photo.

These are the four squares I chose to omit. The lower left one is curious, but I am ignorant enough about The Elf on the Shelf that I did not know how to interpret it; so I left it out. The others did not inspire me and so I opted to include the eight I liked more. I do not know what I will do with these four leftover squares, if anything. I suppose a pillow or two for Joy is an idea. Maybe a couple of ornaments? Aargh! Why can't I just throw them out?

I also still have a landscape image of dancing elves to repurpose some way. Perhaps it can be a place mat or wall hanging. I just looked at its photo and – ugh – the least I can do is iron it!

Kit Audit

As part of my goals for 2022 I had planned to "audit the kits I have been stockpiling and prioritize those I want to complete, put back in storage, repurpose, or give away". I started that audit late summer 2022 but never finished it. Here is completion of that audit. I am getting the 2023 kit audit goal out of the way early in the year. This is the raw data only. No judgement, please on the quantity of kits.

I had restricted myself to purchase only one kit in 2022, but in reality I caved and I bought four. Whoops... 

Four kits purchased in 2022

• 03/23/22      L💓ve N💓te  – 
                      72"x72" from FQS
• 11/01/22      Storm at Sea –
                      80"x95" laser cut batiks & loved technique; from Houston show
• 11/28/22      Nutty –
                      75"x87" bought for Tula Pink fabric from FQS; impulse bargain buy
• 12/16/22      Utopia –
                      50" x 61½ " FQS purchase for textured basic fabrics ; impulse bargain buy

Quilt kits purchased before 2022 with their sizes. 

Numbers in [square brackets] are year I bought the kit. Numbers 1 through 4 are MODA kits from the Fat Quarter Shop for various holidays. I would like to complete at least two of these in 2023.

1. All Hallow's Eve 69"x69" ( for Halloween) [2021] – completed 2022 – X Marks the Spot
2. To Be Jolly 68"x76" ( for Christmas) [2019]
3. Primitive Gatherings 54"x72" and 27"x26" ( for July 4)  [2021] 
4. L💓ve N💓te 72"x72" (for Valentine's Day) [2022]
   
   
5. Daisy in Blue and White 63"x63" (American Jane quilt kit for blue couch) [2016]
6. Pixie Sticks 48 ½"x73 ¼"  (American Jane quilt kit for fun) [2016]
   
   
7. Aviatrix Medallion 80"x80" (impulse internet buy strong colors / intricate pattern) [~2014?]
8. Harvest Home Impulse 99"x99" (quilt show impulse buy due to bargain price) [2013]
    
9. Boundless 99"x99" ( have no clue when or where this came from)
10. Tiny House Craze 63"x70" (impulse buy at Houston show) [2017]
    
    
11. Blue Skies 57 ½ x 68 in Storybook taupes and aquas from Fat Quarter Shop 
12. Color My World 69 ½"x69 ½ (from Alex Anderson The Quilt Show) [2021]
13. Barrels of Fun in beige, red, brown Fat Quarter Shop [2013]
14. Ice Cream (or was it Cupcake?) Cottage from Savage Quilter (not shown, gotta find it)
15. Scary Night Stripper from Cotton Patch, CA (not shown, possibly given to Robin?)

1, 2, 3, 4

5, 6

7, 8

9, 10

11

12

13

14,15 not shown

2023 Quilting Goals

Each year in January I look at my quilting goals from previous years. Did I get better at accomplishing those goals? Kind of, sort of. But really I just got better at writing goals. I have moved on from generating a laundry lists of things to do (e.g., post for 2019 goals 1/15/2019) that I may never be in the mood to do and feel bad if I do not accomplish. In 2020 I moved to following overarching goals of having fun, growing, and gaining satisfaction with accomplishments.

For the past two years, 2021 and 2022, my "closet quilter"goals were to 1) work from my stash, 2) utilize tools I have bought, and 3) interface in some way with other quilters. For 2023, I am keeping these goals, combining them with 4) the non-specific, self-pleasing goals of 2020. I will eventually get it right or else stop writing goals.The following indented guidelines give means to measure my 2023 goals.

• 1) Work from my stash
• assess kits to keep or make or repurpose
• make at least one kit, hopefully two, to reduce quantity
• consolidate/control scraps
• restrict purchases of more kits to no more than the number I make
• 2) Utilize tools I have and learn how to use new ones
• be willing and curious to new tools
• donate/discard under utilized tools (gimmicks)
• assess and watch online classes – free or previously paid for
• 3) Interface with other quilters
• continue to blog
• continue publishing my blog books
• attend guild meetings
• perhaps take a class (for growth)
• attend quilt shows
• 4) Intersperse small projects just for fun, growth, satisfaction
• uses up stash and scraps
• provides opportunity to try new tools or skills on reduced scale
• can yield small personal gifts

These two large kits are targeted contenders for 2023 completion. Wish me luck!

2022 In Review

2022 In Review
Here are my accomplishments for 2022, followed by pictures and headings only. Details are in my past posts as indicated by a clickable completion date after each name. My own assessment of how well I met my 2022 goals is after the pictures of completions. 

2022 COMPLETIONS:

• 8 quilts
• 7 toys / cloth books 
• 12 Hang Your Quilt Day participations
• 3 quilt shows + 1 shop hop
• 10 burp cloths
• 3 blog books
• 6 pillowcases
• 1 crocheted item

8 QUILTS

1) Hawaiian Anthurium (2/18/22) ~ 30" x 30"

2) Don't Fence Me In (2/27/22) 43" x 43" for Heidi

3) Laua'e (fern) (3/13/22) 30" x 30"

4) Quilt By Number (5/12/22) 68" x 68"

 

5) Hawaiian Pineapple (6/1/22) 30" x 30"

6) Breadfruit 'Ulu (6/12/22) 30" x 30"

7) Spaceman (7/28/22) 56"x 56"

8) X Marks the Spot (9/18/22) 68½" x 68½" 

6 CHILD ITEMS (toys, pillows, books)

1), 2), and 3) Three matching pillows to Don't Fence Me In quilt (2/27/22) 
10" square each, both sides shown

4) and 5) Two stuffed construction vehicles for four-year-old William in SoCal (4/29/22)

6) One stuffed doll for 15-months-old Irene in SoCal (4/29/22)

7) Mermaid doll with accessories (8/11/22)

10 BURP CLOTHS

2 elephant, 2 car, 2 lion, 4 giraffe, burp cloths for Ezra in OK (3/1/22)

12 HANG YOUR QUILT DAY PARTICIPATIONS

Third Saturday of January 2022 (1/15/22)

Third Saturday of February 2022 (2/19/22)

Third Saturday of March 2022 (3/19/22)

Third Saturday of April 2022 (4/16/22)

Third Saturday of May 2022 (5/21/22)

Third Saturday of June (6/18/22)

Third Saturday of July (7/16/22)

Third Saturday of August (8/20/22)

Third Saturday of September (9/17/22)

Third Saturday of October (10/15/22)

Third Saturday of November (11/20/22)

Third Saturday of December (12/17/22)

3 QUILT SHOWS + 1 SHOP HOP

Voices in Cloth held at The Craneway Pavilion, Richmond, CA at end of March (4/28/22)

Delta Quilters Guild Quilt Show held in Brentwood, CA in August (8/22/22)

Houston Quilt Festival 2022 in November (11/19/2022)

Local Shop Hop with daughter Robin at Christmas (01/03/2023)

3 BLOG BOOKS

 DianeLoves2Quilt - Vol. 15 (1/29/22)

DianeLoves2Quilt - Vol. 16 (1/29/22)

DianeLoves2Quilt - Vol. 17 (7/5/22)

6 PILLOWCASES

2 party ladies for Anna and 2 winter scenes to keep (12/27/22), 2 train scenes to keep (12/30/22)

1 CROCHETED CARDIGAN

Roseline Cardigan for Autumn 01/02/23

ASSESSMENT OF HOW WELL I MET MY 2022 GOALS

My overall intentions were to continue to be a closet quilter by making items from fabric and kits in my closet and tools in my drawers While closeted away I would continue to interface remotely with the community. Along those lines I did accomplish these specifically cited, targeted tasks:

• Completed Moda Midnight Crossing kit and named it X Marks the Spot
• Audited my kits; did not publish a summary post because quantity too embarrassing
• Practiced Handi Quilter and Good Measure quilting templates on several quilts
• Consolidate scraps by gathering them but as yet have not sorted
• Publish three blog books 
• Attended over 80% of guild meetings via Zoom
• Displayed quilts monthly for twelve months
• Crocheted a cardigan for my granddaughter

My two weakest areas were scrap management and kit restraint. 

1. Scraps organization could have use some more effort so I would have been able deploy them in quilts. But truthfully, I am more interested in making up kits I've bought rather than sewing scrap quilts.
2. Although intending to make up more Kits this year than I purchased, I fell short of this goal. Of the eight quilts I've made in 2022, only one was from a closet kit, although two others were from stash layer cakes which can be interpreted as pseudo-kits. The other five were from stash fabrics. I did buy four more kits this year, in March/November/December. I was very restrained for the majority of 2022 until two end-of-the-year online bargains were irresistible! I will reflect this self-knowledge in my revised scrap and kit goals for 2023.