Colorado, day 1

First day in Colorado -- my friend-since-kindergarten met me at the airport. (She's a nonquilter, nonlibrarian, but in addition to childhood ties we share P.E.O.) We drove out to Golden to the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum. There are two exhibits now: "California Gold," featuring 19th century quilts that use a butterscotch yellow by that name. (Some of the quilts, made in different places in different years, even have the same California Gold print!) A couple of the quilts were not quilted -- demonstrating that some UFOs can become museum pieces! The second exhibit, "Speaking in Cloth," featured the work of six Pacific Northwest art quilters, each of whom contributed six quilt to the exhibit. No picture-taking was allowed in the galleries.

I had to buy something in the gift shop to commemorate my visit. No, not these patchwork bears -- instead, FQs of 19thc reproduction fabrics.
We then went to Boulder ("the People's Republic of...") and continued our visiting as we windowshopped along the downtown pedestrian mall. Lots of interesting boutiques. When a friendship goes back as far as ours, getting together is a wonderful catching-up. It had been eight years since our last in-person visit.

New flimsies

This was a mystery quilt that members of my quilt guild did way back in 2004. I had assembled the center and put the project away in a box. When I took it out earlier this month I found out that I had pieced the triangle border and cut the wide border, so all I had to do was sew the borders on. (It's about 64 x 64.)

This is similar to a quilt I made at the end of December, 2007 (see the blog post for that date). I used the same-sized blocks -- 1.5" x 6.5" strips pieced into squares, then cut on the diagonal and re-pieced -- but more of them.

Looking out my front door

Double Delight and the lumber room

Here's my version of Double Delight, Bonnie Hunter's first quilt design for the new year. I followed her fabric recommendations closely. I am very pleased with the way it turned out!

Our house has a room in the basement that could be used as a bedroom (the previous owners had it set up that way). It does not have an escape window, however, so I hesitate to even consider the room for sleeping occupancy. I use it as a store room -- or, in more colorful parlance, as the lumber room. As Brewer's Dictionary explains it, "Lumber: formerly a pawnbroker's shop. From Lombard, a banker or moneylender. In medieval London, Lombard Street became the home of Lombards and other Italian merchants who set up as goldsmiths, moneylenders, and bankers. From the 13th century they flourished as pawnbrokers."

Last week I posted a picture of the lumber room in disarray. I spent several hours rearranging it, and here 'tis. The books/magazines here are those for sale (on Quilter's Flea Market and, I hope, Sew It's For Sale) as opposed to those to keep which are on shelves in my studio.

2008 in review: Annual Reckoning

Here's my last quiltmaking for 2008. The blocks were made in 2005 as the RCTQ block-of-the-month. I attempted to set them in early 2006 but ran out of enthusiasm. I got them out this past week, and voila! This is how they turned out. I like the way the bright colors float on the "outer space" background print.

Since 1998 I have tracked my fabric consumption and acquisition; since 2004 I have tracked the expense for that fabric. (The Reckoning does not include batting, thread, books/patterns. It does include fashion fabric.) I can't figure out how to import a spreadsheet or a table into a blogpost. If you want to see the complete story, e-mail me.

In 2008 I used 375 yards. I bought 529 yards. I paid $1483, or $2.80/yard.

My accomplishments for 2008:

* Started and finished

12 quilts (lap-sized and larger)

9 wallhangings

5 table runners

1 tote bag

17 pillow cases

2 pantsuits

2 jackets

2 two-piece dresses

* Finished

8 quilts (UFOs from previous years)

* Created

12 flimsies (unquilted tops)

366 HeartStrings Blocks

I emptied 87 spools of thread.
Here are photos of my studio, taken this morning. The storeroom is extra-crowded with additional furniture from the parsonage, now resident in my -- our! -- house.