July goals mostly met

My July goals were mostly met and I really can't believe it is almost the end of the month.

1. put the label on the Wildflower quilt - no label but the quilt is on my bed

2. finish and hang the red/black sewing wallhanging - DONE

3. make 2 self-binding baby blankets - DONE & GIFTED

4. make 4 more Scrappy Trip Around World blocks - MADE 6

5. bind Hugs 'n Kisses quilt - DONE

6. quilt & bind Poppy table runner - still in progress

7. finish all Year to Crow About blocks - DONE & half of sashing done

So far I have not set any August goals, but I'm trying to figure out what I want to finish the most.  My sewing time will be limited in the next couple of weeks because I'll be putting in some long days for work.  I know I want to finish putting together the Year to Crow About top, but just can't decide what UFO to tackle next.

And I have one other road block to sewing - a wrist brace on my left hand. I have a bit of inflammation going on and so I'm trying to rest that hand a little. Cutting hurts the most, closely followed by hand sewing.  But it is feeling better already so I'm optimistic that this will be very temporary.

Check it off the list

I can check this UFO off the list finally. This baby quilt was begun many years ago and then sat as a flimsy (a top) in a drawer for a long time.  But it now has a soft apricot colored Minkee backing and a bright pink binding.  Hugs 'n Kisses is the name and it is ready to be gifted.

Traveling Star #22

My second Minnesota block - this little square was a piece brought back by from a trip to Minnesota too.  So I've added it to my Traveling Stars set of blocks.  These stars will be very much like an "I spy" quilt - with something unique in each one.  And since I'm using a variety of scraps from my stash to do the star points it will end up with a very scrappy look.

Traveling Star #21

This traveling star block is rather special. Earlier this month I was given a huge bag of scraps to use on my strip quilts. I did a little sorting and one of the treasures I found was a small piece of this University of Nebraska Huskers fabric. I just had to use it to make a Traveling Star because I got my masters degree from UNL so this one is a fun addition.

A traveling star

This is my 20th traveling star block, made out of the 6" squares of fabric shared by Heartland Guild members when they traveled somewhere. However this one was MY fabric and I bought it on the quilt shop bus trip in June.  I bought enough of this purple Lady Slipper (MN state flower) batik to cut 6" squares for my guild "sisters" and kept one for myself.  I have 3 more traveling star blocks ready to piece and hope to get them done this week.

A Year to Crow About progress

My husband was playing in a golf tournament all weekend so I had lots of alone time to sew.

On Sunday I finished the last 2 blocks for this quilt - A Year to Crow About.  The November and December blocks were the only ones I hadn't gotten to yet.

I also cut out the sashing and border pieces for this project and got the top 2 rows done.  It's always so satisfying when you get to this stage and that top begins to take shape.

However - back to my crazy work schedule again this week so it might be slow going to finish the rest of this.

Hanging in the right spot

This morning I hung my wall hanging in my sewing room between my shelves and my cutting table. It looks just perfect there.

Metal quilt hanger

Our mail carrier brought me a great package today. It was this cute metal quilt hanger that I had ordered online. You just never know for sure how satisfied you will be when ordering online from a company you've never dealt with before. But I am very pleased with this hanger made by Ackfeld. They had lots of cute designs to choose from but this one seemed perfect for my Avalanche-Blissfully Buried in Fabric wall hanging.  Now I just need to get it hung in my sewing room.

Scrappy Trip progreess

First - a big thank you to blogging friend Moneik for sharing some blue and green batiks strips with me.  They fit in perfectly with the colors I already had for my Scrappy Trip Around the World blocks.  This morning I made 2 new strips sets to add to the 5 I already had, and then took the 7 strip sets and made tubes.  The tubes were then cut into 2.5" sections. 

The trick to sewing with tubes is picking out the seams correctly to allow a different row be at the top of the new strip.  A comfy chair and a large hat pin are the tools I need to get these 7 sets ready to turn into 7 new scrappy trip blocks.

 

Binding another UFO

I've finally tackled the binding on my Hugs 'n Kisses baby quilt.  This UFO has been sitting around a LONG time.  I made the top before we moved to this house, so it has got to be at least 8 years ago. Finally had it quilted last winter . . . and now it is time to add the binding.  It is a bright and happy quilt. Once I finish the binding I'll show off the whole thing.

I don't garden

I don't garden anymore and often claim a brown thumb. But this year I do have 2 large containers on my deck that I've managed to keep alive. One is just decorative plants, but the other container has a lovely tomato plant.  And I got to eat my first ripe tomato yesterday for lunch. YUM!

Those who live in warmer locations probably don't understand how excited we get anticipating those first garden tomatoes - that actually taste like a tomato.

My other picture is the east side of my house which is just covered with huge flowers - some are the size of volleyballs. And as long as I don't do anything beyond watering they seem to thrive every summer. And I'm very surprised that the deer have not bothered these, because they eat everything else in the yard and clean out my bird feeders during their daily trips past these flowers.

Swoon block

My math was all correct and my swoon block turned out very nice.  It is 16" square and I have enought of the red print to make more. I also have a gold I could pair with it. So I'm thinking if I make a couple more I would have a nice table runner.  I could do 2 gold and red ones and put the green in the middle.

Summer Mystery Quilt

I got all 48 of these little 4.5" units done. The final design is still a mystery. 

Saturday progress

My Saturday has been a completely "self-centered" day so far.  I went to Saturday Sampler this morning, came home and put together the units for the summer mystery quilt.  So, those are ready to go for next month already. Then I sewed this self-binding baby blanket for a co-worker's new baby and  it can go into the mail to her on Monday.

After lunch I went back to The Pin Cushion for the Wash Tub Club group that meets monthly.  It is all about vintage things, and 1930s repro fabrics.  It's a fun group of ladies and I always enjoy going.  This month's demo block was the Snail's Trail, and I have always wanted to make something with that block.  HMMM - do I dare start anything new?

Now that I'm home again I guess I need to do a little laundry and clean up my kitchen again - before I go back to my sewing room.  I've been very selfish today and it felt good, especially since I know that my work schedule is about to get crazy again starting on Monday.

Another self-binding baby blanket

This flannel baby blanket is going in the mail today to one of my daughter's friends that just had a new baby.  I love these self-binding blankets - so quick and easy to make up. And finding adorable flannel is half the fun.

Doing the math myself

Do you sketch out blocks you see and like - and try to figure out how they are made? I've always enjoyed doing this, especially when I haven't found the patterns I wanted locally.  So here is my draft of the popular Swoon block. Now I'm doing the math to eliminate some seams and combine some small sections into larger ones.  For some crazy reason I find the process very enjoyable.  Next step is to make a practice block and see if I got it right.

1930s reproduction prints

I've pulled a few prints from my stash of 1930s reproduction fabrics to use in the next Row Robin assignment. My regular readers probably remember that our local quilt guild is doing a Row Robin project.  Lot's of fun!  Each month we receive a box or bag with another guild member's quilt top and our task is to add something specific to it.

This month we are adding 12 blocks (finishing at 4" each) on the top row.  All of the fabrics in the quilt I received are 1930s prints, so I dug into my large stash to select a few that might work.  Now I just need to figure out what to add that will fit in with this quilt's theme. 

I can't reveal the result until September when we all get our finished quilt tops back at the guild meeting.  We are even voting on the best 3.  I'm planning to take lots of pictures.  And I can't wait to see what has been added to my own quilt.

UFO Mug Rug

While sandwiching a table runner for quilting I kept thinking I was missing a lot of my curved safety pins.  Mystery solved . . . they were holding together a couple of other projects.  So I hand quilted this little mug rug over the weekend.  And now I have more safety pins available.  And I can check off another UFO.

Scraps, scraps, scraps

Saturday afternoon at our guild meeting, one of the members gave me this big garbage bag.  These are scraps she had been given when collecting door prizes for our bus trip.  She knew that I've been making string quilts so has shared them with me.

This bag is HEAVY and stuffed completed full.  Some scraps are very large and some are very small. But I know there are going to be lots of string blocks made with these.

My next task - sorting these. 

Two more blocks to go

The October block is done for A Year to Crow About.  Now I have 2 left to make. These little leaves have stems made of dark brown ribbon, which is a little different than the pattern. But I like the result.  And just maybe I'll get in some sewing this week and finish the other blocks.

Happy 4th of July!

Almost . . .

My new sewing room wall hanging is almost done. I just need to stitch down the binding and then I can hang it up to enjoy.  The small panel with the "Avalanche! Blissfully buried in fabric" design was one of my finds on the shop hop bus trip.  I added some red and black fabrics from my stash, and quilted it by machine just using a decorative stitch to outline the seams.

Family fun!

We had a wonderful family day on Sunday with extended family. One of my nieces who lives close by hosted a whole LOT of us at their house for food and fun.  About a dozen of the 18 cousins in my girls' generation were there with their families.  Only 1 of my husband's siblings couldn't make it due to work. And I lost count of the children.  I'm so glad we could go and also glad both of our girls and families could be there too.