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Saturday, October 16, 2010

Circuit Ridings and Winner Tidings

OK, it's a little creepy, but I've sworn a blood oath (it is the month of Halloween, after all! LOL) NOT to begin another project (excepting our club's annual Mystery Night, of course!) until I finish the Circuit Rider quilt top.

Well, maybe not a blood oath (because, really, it IS creepy) -- but I need to stay focused and finish the CR.  I was perfectly sanguine about my promise to finish until I counted my complete Circuit Rider blocks today.  I've completed 21 blocks.  Exactly HALF the quilt.  Sigh!  But I'm doing them with a great bunch of gals, and our goal is to complete them by the end of the calendar year.  And I'm making progress!!

All but the last four or five are prepped -- overlays traced, templates made, fabric cut.  All I have to do is stitch them!  So I'm thinking the last 21 will be completed more quickly than the first 21. 

Particularly since I want to begin Roseville and break into those wild Kaffe/etc. fabrics, just as quickly as I can! LOL

I've got a few favorite blocks:

I like the Roses...There are five of these in the quilt.  I have two finished, and the other three have the flowers completed off the block.

The "horse feathers" block isn't all that visually appealing -- but as a part of the whole, I'm satisfied with it.  It was challenging.  I now know why antique princess feather blocks were larger in scale than mine! LOL 

My absolute favorite of them all (so far) is this vine.  It's simple lines and gentle curves appeal to me.  It doesn't hurt that it's in classic red and green!! 

I never dreamed I'd be so in love with applique.  I only started in December of last year! So it's been a great year for learning skills, trial and error, improving stitches and techniques. 

So rather than give up, either because of impatience to get to other projects or because I'm still not all that good at needle-turn, I think I'll press on and finish, just as planned.  It's work, but it will be worth it!

Scripture tells us, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up" (Galatians 6:9).  How often do we let frustration or what we perceive as "slow progress" keep up from (as my mother used to call it) "sticking it out."  No more whining for me! LOL   I'm gonna get-r-done! :-)

And now, winners!!
Each entry was assigned a number, and I went over to Random.org to have the winners randomly selected and assigned the prizes in the order they appear in the Giveaway post.
Good tidings to
  • Mary at Gwendie's Quilts for winning the Abundance charm pack!
  • MJ for winning the Kaye England fat quarters from the Bread and Butter line!
  • Brittainy at Indie Mommy for winning approx. 3 yards of Thimbleberries strips! 
I've contacted each of the winners and look forward to receiving their addresses and sending their packages out!

Thanks to EVERYONE who commented and followed and added Cheaper than Therapy Quilting to your blogroll.  Some of you got a response from me -- but it just got overwhelming after a while! LOL  I appreciate sooo much you stopping by and leaving your thoughts and comments. 

Y'all come back, y'hear!? :-)
Blessings,

19 comments:

LuAnn said...

You are the one doing the Circuit Rider quilt. Your blocks are just beautiful and so is your applique'. How big will the quilt be when it is finished. I really don't need to start another project, but those blocks are really cute. Maybe I could fit those in between my Hearts and FLowers applique' and Stars and Sprigs. So many great projects and never enough time to do each one. Great job Mary Lou.

Faith Hope and Cherrytea said...

Congrats to the winners!
and thx for your lovely gifts :)
and the opp to enter !
have a great wknd ...

Joanne said...

That is an absolutely beautiful quilt! I haven't appliqued in many years ... used to do a lot of it. Your quilt inspires me to consider an applique project in 2011. Thank you, Hugs, Joanne

antique quilter said...

the blocks look beautiful
you will be so happy you finished this quilt
now you make me want to start it!
Kathie

Shellie said...

your blocks are beautiful!! great work :)

Barb said...

your circuit rider quilt looks wonderful. If I were going to do a "known" pattern, it would be this one, I just love all the variety in the blocks.
Congrats to the winners!

Becky said...

Mary Lou, you are so gracious and giving. Thanks for having a great give away! It was exciting to be part of it, to read the comments, to "meet" other quilting folks! And I am especially grateful for your wisdom. Keep the good work coming!

Mary L. said...

Love your blocks. It's going to be a wonderful quilt

Mary said...

I have one more side of the CR border to quilt and then the binding. I've had a few distractions this week - a new grandson and a daughter who developed complications while in labor. Things are about even - not better but not worse so that's good. But, as you'd expect, I've been a bit distracted so haven't been on the computer or quilting like I normally would

I just found out (thank you for the email!) that I won the charm pack. Thank you so much!!! I just emailed you my address.

Crispy said...

Your blocks are gorgeous!!! I really love the feathered one. We can try and keep eachother on track with our "goals". I wonder who will give in first???? LOL

Crispy

Rebecca P said...

Your blocks are wonderful. How big is your quilt going to be?
I too love needle turn applique.

Vivian said...

Your blocks are impressive. Great work on them. I agree with your theory that the remaining blocks will go quickly. Having so much prep work done always makes the blocks go together more quickly.
Congratulations to your winners!

Mrs. Goodneedle said...

Those CR blocks are amazing, it's truly hard to believe that you haven't been applique-ing for decades!! Well done, you. I can understand your impatience, don't abandon this project; stick with this... you'll soon be reaping the rewards of your diligence. WOW!

Congrats to your winners, too.

julieQ said...

Gosh, your blocks are just so gorgeous! I love each one...wonderful! More than half way there...you go girl!

Stray Stitches (Linda G) said...

Your blocks are all stunning! You are going to have an absolutely beautiful quilt! Congratulations to all of the winners and thank you for having such a great giveaway!

Shelley said...

Mary Lou, your applique would look wonderful in wool too! LOL! Shelley

Anonymous said...

It was a crazy week here and I missed your last post...love that bedroom quilt and room!! Comfy!!
Your CR blocks are AWESOME!

Lori said...

The blocks are gorgeous! I'm sure you won't have any problems finishing by the end of the year. It's nice to have a group to spur each other along too!

Rose Marie said...

Lovely, lovely blocks .... you go, girl!