More applique

It is really fun when a spur of the moment idea comes together just like I pictured it.  I've finished the blanket stitching around all of the stems and leaves. This morning I ironed on the flowers. The background (UFO blocks) is looking even better now with the splash of color.

How did my August goals turn out?

I only set 3 goals for August and I'm happy to report that 2 of them were reached.

1.  finish the top for A Year to Crow About - DONE

2.  finish the top for the Summer Mystery Quilt - DONE

3.  UFO project - bind the black/white/bright Saturday Sampler - (NO - I got distracted)

I have to admit that I didn't even touch that black/white/bright quilt. But I did play with a couple of other UFO projects and a couple of new projects:

• Finished binding the Selvage Half Square Triangle quilt (checked off my UFO list) - DONE
• Added the final row to the Row Robin project quilt (paper pieced 12 tiny 4.5" blocks) - DONE
• Made a 10-minute table runner from summery citrus fabric - DONE
• Made 4 more Traveling Stars blocks (I have 26 now)
• Cathedral Windows pillow (from an orphan block/UFO) - bought the perfect silk rope piping for it so now I just need to put it together.
• Used 12 white/cream UFO blocks to make a background for appliqued wall hanging - applique is partially done
• cleaned & organized another big drawer in my stash closet - found another UFO
• cut lots of strips, charm squares, 2.5" squares, and postage stamps from scraps - but my scrap bin is still overflowing. 
• cleaned out some of the quilt magazine stack that had accumulated

10-Minute runner is done

I can check this NewFO off my list before it had a chance to become a UFO. Yay!!

The Citrus 10-Minute Tablerunner . . . a bit summery for this late in August, but it will make a good gift for someone for next summer.

Citrus 10-minute table runner

Over the weekend I had to try out the 10-minute table runners I keep seeing everywhere.  It really did only take about 10 minutes, except for the button and yo-yo I decided to add.  I made one yo-yo on my lunch break today and added it with a button on top. Now after work I need to add a matching set on the other end - only I'm going to use a green button on the other one to pick up the color in the leaves.

A Whole Different Plan

I have had this set of 12 Saturday Sampler blocks hanging in my sewing closet for years - 8 or 9 years. I loved them but just never knew what to do with a set of white/cream blocks. Then I saw a wall hanging in a magazine that had a pieced background. Voila!!!  This morning I sewed them together to make a background and started growing some vines and leaves out of batiks.  Flowers and maybe even some birds or dragon flys will follow many more leaves. 

Ready to quilt

Today I managed to finish a couple of things.  First I added my paper pieced row to the last Row Robin quilt from our guild.  Can't wait to see all of the finished quilts in 2 weeks.  Then I went to brunch with some girl friends before coming home  sew again.  And my afternoon project was adding the pieced border and the final wide border to A Year to Crow About.  Not the best photos on my deck in the shade with the wind blowing. But it's a flimsy now and ready to quilt. Yay!!

Paper piecing

I've been paper piecing but I can't show you (yet) exactly what I've done.  We are in the final month of our guild's Row Robin project and needed to add a 4.5" row of 12 blocks to the quilt we received.

I've paper pieced this row and here is just a tiny hint of what the owner will find on the first Saturday of September.

Personally - the anticipation is really building and I get really excited thinking about what my quilt will look like once I get it back at that guild meeting. So exciting to think it has passed through the talented hands of 6 other ladies!

Piecing borders

A Year to Crow About has 4 borders: 1 narrow strip border, 1 border with corner pieces, 1 border made of 2.5" squares, and finally a wide solid border.  Pieced borders are not my favorite thing to do, but I love the look.  So - yesterday afternoon I made the strip sets for that pieced border. And I put on the first 2 simpler borders.  So maybe by next weekend I'll get that top finished.

    

Summer Mystery Quilt top is done

My morning project is done - yay!!  I wanted to finish the mystery blocks and get the top assembled. This project went really fast .

The yellow and red in this little quilt have made me think that I want to use it as a wall hanging in my basement family room to brighten up the tan/beige color scheme going on down there.

OR - I can make the pieced border blocks and expand this into a nice sized quilt. Decisions, decisions . . .

Mystery quilt is coming together

The picture isn't very good, but I have part of the Summer Mystery Quilt put together. Pinwheels are one of the possibilities I was guessing.  Now I just need a little more time to work on this more.

Another surprise find

In that last drawer that I cleaned out - in the very bottom - were 3 of these blocks along with a bag with all the pieces cut for more blocks. I had totally forgotten about this project. Another thing to add to my UFO list. Maybe this will make a good charity quilt when it's done.

Pink Flamingos - #26

One of the pieces of fabric I found in the drawers I'm sorting through this week - was something I bought in Florida a few years ago. I used it in a quilt that was gifted to a little girl a couple of years ago. And there was enough left to cut the necessary 6" square for a Traveling Star.  Pink flamingos wearing sunglasses. Couldn't resist.

More stash organization

This is another drawer from the same storage unit from yesterday's post.  This is the next one I'm working on.  Both contain mostly brights.  Bigger pieces will go back in after sorting and folding. Smaller pieces will be cut into strings, charms, or 2.5" squares and go into those containers.

It's like opening Christmas gifts as I dig deeper into this mess and find some fun things.

Cathedral Windows UFO

Some of the drawers that hold my fabric stash are very neat and well organized, but some are NOT.  So last night I decided to pull one drawer out and do some sorting and folding while watching TV.

And in the very bottom of this drawer were a couple of big surprises.  One of those surprises is this UFO - a pillow top (and back) that I made several years ago. It is a cathedral windows design made with muslin and a Christmas batik. I even have little gold star buttons at each point.

It's about 18" square and needs to be stitched together and stuffed.  Maybe I can finish it by THIS Christmas!

And - I'm happy to report this stash drawer is now completely organized and will hold a lot more fabric now.

Traveling Star #23, 24, and 25

After not doing any sewing or cutting all week and resting my wrist, I decided today that I needed to see if I could sew without pain. And the answer is YES!  Needless to say that has made me happy, although I know it isn't healed, so I'm trying to be careful about how I use that left hand.

So my first sewing project today was to make 3 Traveling Star blocks, bringing the total to 25.  As my regular readers know, the 6" center of each star is a square shared by quilt guild members when they have traveled somewhere. I've added a couple myself, and I've gotten one out of a scrap bag just recently.

#23 is from Wyoming (I think), #24 is from Oregon, and #25 is from Texas.

August goals

I'm going to set some small August goals:

1.  finish the top for A Year to Crow About - including the pieced border

2.  finish the top for the Summer Mystery Quilt

3.  UFO project - bind the black/white/bright Saturday Sampler from a couple of years ago