June goals

 I'm so ready for summer.  There are quite a few items in the hands of quilters right now, so hopefully there will be some binding later in the month.

Tuesday afternoon I dropped off 5 small projects with a long arm quilter.  The patriotic door hanger and 4 table runners/toppers shouldn't take her long and she'll fit them in fairly soon I'm sure.  She's a busy gal.  Two of the table toppers were old UFOs, 1 was a "young" UFO from this winter, and the other 2 items were new projects from kits in my possession.

There are 2 big quilts in the hands of another quilter, so . . . more binding sometime in my future. These 2 quilts are from my UFO and PHD lists and are destined to be donations.  I'm trying hard to finish up things so I can work on more new projects guilt-free.  Not that I should feel guilty about enjoying my hobby, but I don't want fabrics and kits I've purchased to go to waste.  And there is a guild shop hop bus trip coming up in less than a month.  We all know I'll come home with purchases that I don't really need, but just want.

One goal this month is progress on Indigo Way.  These are the completed blocks so far for Indigo Way, but there are lots more "units" in the project box that could become more blocks easily.  I need to give this one some thought.

My blog serves as my journal, and I do find that I'm more likely to complete things when I've written it in a post.  It's my way of keeping myself accountable.  So here goes . . . June goals:

* keep up with Saturday Sampler

* Olivia's 2 music pillowcases

* Bailey's horse quilt (flimsy)

* Indigo Way (any progress would be good)

* hang the Sea Otter wall hanging

*  bind any quilted projects

* lots of BLUE blocks for Rainbow Scrap Challenge

* work on new project - Shibori Blues

* keep cleaning/organizing sewing room

* keep decluttering everywhere in the house

and . . .

* have some FUN both in and out of my sewing room

Reflection on May 2024

I'm such a List Maker!  And it's so satisfying to check something OFF my lists.  This was my To Do list for May, and I've checked off everything on the list.  That's a first!  

• keep up with Saturday Sampler - DONE
• finish Riley Blake challenge blocks - DONE
• assemble Rainbow Connection blocks into flimsy - DONE
• bind one UFO - 2 DONE (Elephant quilt & Sea Otter wall hanging)
• lots of pink RSC blocks - DONE
• finish 2 pillowcases - DONE
• finish 2 project bags (partially done) - DONE
• choose one new project/PIG - DONE - Tulip Door Hanger
• EMPTY the Big Grey Tote - DONE

Quite a few things happened that were not on this list too.  All considered it was a productive month.  I'm definitely looking for more finishes in June. 

More decluttering

 On Sunday I asked my husband to reach 2 bins in the basement storage that were on the top shelf I couldn't reach.  Then, while he was golfing I was purging.

That bin with the small quilts was shoved into a corner of the top shelf, and I had no idea what was in it.  More quilt stuff - 5 binders full of patterns and pages saved from magazines. And 3 little quilts.

This was a calendar holder that hung in our kitchen in the previous house, with 12 mini quilts that I changed out each month. The calendar tucked into a pocket on the bottom.  I have often wondered where this was.  Well, now the lost is found.  I put the snowman mini with the other 11 and put the Halloween mini into the donation box. The beige holder itself has had the edges cut off, and the quilted fabric is in the stash and the icky 20-year old raffia went into the trash. The wooden dowl went into the donate box.

I emptied out all 5 binders and sorted by trash, giveaway, and keep.  The binders themselves went into my husband's business storage area as they use these binders all the time.  

I kept about 20 of those patterns from the binders, and kept a stack of now empty page protectors for future use.  I have a generous stack of patterns I'll take to guild for the giveaway table on Saturday, and the rest went into the trash.

The other bin held random Christmas decorations.  I kept a few items with sentimental value, and those went right to the closet where my Christmas stuff is kept. The rest went into a box for donation.  

Here are those bins - after the purging.  Two more empty ones are added to the growing stack of empty bins.  My declutter spreadsheet shows that I've purged 398 items in the past 6 weeks. That's a win for me!!  And for my daughters as there is less junk to sort through some day.

To Do Tuesday

There has been a bit of progress on the graduation quilt.  The ribbon blocks for the sides are over half done - 12 of the 20 are sewn.  

A particular UFO is back on my radar now that the color chosen for June for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is blue.  Indigo Way was the most recent Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt.  I put this one away back in February, as I just wasn't sure where it was going.

I have several blocks made, and the units sewn for several more.  Now it's time to actually make a decision on how I want this one to finish.  A big quilt, a wall hanging, or maybe a medium size quilt to donate to Quilts of Valor.  

One other project that is in the plan - pillowcases.  When I took Olivia shopping over the weekend, one stop was at Hobby Lobby.  She loves Hobby Lobby, which she called Jolly Holly when she was little. She saw this music fabric and we planned a set of pillowcases for her.  Blue was the color she requested for the cuffs.  I have plenty of blue to choose from, so the pillowcases are kitted up and ready to sew.  She probably won't receive them until Christmas however, but I plan to get them sewn now while I have them ready.

Design Wall Monday - May 27

My design wall is now consumed by a new/old project, and I'm determined it WILL be a finished flimsy by the end of the week. 

What's on YOUR design wall?  I'm linking up with Design Wall Monday . . .
https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

And with Monday Musings . . .
https://songbirddesigns.blog/monday-musings-6-2-24/

This will be a graduation gift next spring for my great-niece.  Horses are her passion, so when I saw the Call of the Wild panel a couple of years ago, I bought it knowing I would use it for something for her.

Black and white is so elegant.  My thoughts had been to use just one other color in whatever I did with this panel.  And I chose the Twisted Panel pattern from Pieced Tree.  The teal, grey, and black will make up the ribbons down each side of the panel.  The teal might become the final outer border too, as I know I want it larger than the pattern calls for.

Of course, you all know this isn't the only thing I'll be working on during this week. But it's the most important project of the week.

One other on-going task has been the decluttering.  Thank you to Joy at Joyful Quilter for the inspiration by the way!  In the past month I've been working my way through things one box or bin at a time.  As of yesterday, 398 things have been given away, donated, set aside for rummage sale, the trash.  It all started with the Big Grey Tote in my sewing room.  Onward - and I'm beginning to see empty spaces on those shelves.  And there is a stack of empty totes. 

This n That

Happy Memorial Day weekend!  Do you visit cemeteries and decorate graves this time of year?  I do not, as my family members are all buried in other states 100s of miles away.  But it is a time of reflection on those loved ones.  And it was time to hang a more patriotic quilt in the living room.

I always associate Memorial Day with veterans, as my dad was a WWII vet and my hometown always had a parade and then a program at the cemetery.  Dad would march in the parade with other Legion and VFW members, and I marched with the Girl Scouts and then as I got older I was in the band .  I don't think there are many parades for Memorial Day anymore.  But most of the communities around here do still have Memorial Day programs.  When my own kids were growing up they always helped the Legion Auxiliary ladies put small flags on the veterans' graves in the cemetery.  

My Girl Scout days were so much fun.  This photo taken in 1963 according to my mother's handwriting on the back, and was probably right before a parade.  I was quite proud of that uniform.

On another topic . . . Thursday I had window washers here, and they did an awesome job.  We have a wall of glass in our family room, and a vaulted ceiling.  A couple of years ago we decided we were both getting too old to be up on ladders trying to wash those windows.  And a husband/wife team (teachers I knew from my work life) had just started a side business of window cleaning.  Perfect!!

Even taking a picture through the window was successful because those windows sparkle.  This is the flowering bush outside of our master bath, and right below it is my egress window in the sewing room.  I wish this bloomed all summer because it's so pretty. 

And then Friday morning - THIS!  Obviously some bird was not impressed with our clean windows.  At least this window isn't terribly high up, so a short ladder will allow another scrubbing - by us.

We've had a wet and windy month of May, and with dozens of big old trees in our yard they require constant maintenance.  Friday morning's wind took down another branch in the front yard.  

On the quilting front, I think the fabric choices for a 2025 graduation quilt have been finalized.  I bought a black and white panel with a horse graphic a couple of years ago with this graduation quilt for my great-niece Bailey in mind. She'll be a senior next year so it's time to get this quilt made.  Horses are her passion, so I want it to be special.  I'm using a Pieced Tree pattern card.  This quilt is actually on my PHD list for this year because it has a deadline and I didn't want to be making it at the last minute.  Getting it to flimsy stage is my goal for next week.

RSC24 - Week #21

 The plan for today involves some fun grandkid time instead of any sewing time.  I'm hoping for some golf time with my husband over the weekend, if he will make room for me in his busy golf schedule.  If not, then I guess I'll have more sewing time.  LOL

Six new Shooting Star blocks happened this week - all from scraps.  There were already 4 pink ones, plus 2 other colors that had been made in 2023.  It will be a fun block set to work on for RSC going forward.  They finish at only 8". 

Two more Chaser blocks were made from the bin full of 2.5" squares.  One block is more coral than pink.  I had already raided this little bin to find pinks and reds to use in those big strawberry blocks, so the pickings were a little bit slim.  

These 2 new Kitty blocks came from the scraps I've been attempting to tame.  The one on the right side has pink, so it counts, right?

This 15" woven heart block was something I made at the February retreat, with the intention of making a few more of them for a possible baby quilt.  The pink fabrics were fat quarters I bought at Walmart because I love the colors in that tropical print.  For now I've decided the block, pattern, and extra fabric will stay gathered together and put away until I decide for sure what I want to make with these.  Voila! Another UFO has been born. 

Since we're about to transition to a new color I decided it was time to clean up my pink stash drawer.   It's been sitting on the floor because obviously it wasn't going to close.  

Now that I've pulled out the small scraps, and also quite a stack of peachy/coral fabrics that drawer closes quite easily.  A little bit more pink sewing might happen next week, but I promise not to make any more messes in that drawer.  The peach fabrics on the right went into the drawer that color shares with orange.  It also helped to refold some things neatly.  There was a small stack of small scraps that have been cut into squares and bricks.  

The drawer holding green stash was also overflowing.  I sorted it by lighter/darker greens and put the darker greens into a clear plastic file container.  And I did the same thing with the purple this week.  The file containers were emptied during my decluttering, so now they are useful for holding fabric.  And my stash drawers ALL close now.  That's a win!!

Let's see what else is going on with the Rainbow today . . .

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

Friday - Finished or Not

No actual sewing happened on Thursday, but a lot of organizing of fabric occurred - in between work time shredding old paperwork for my husband's business. 

I did find time to lay out the Riley Blake Design challenge blocks I made for this year's sew-along.  There were 16 blocks released, but I've saved the previous couple of years' worth of block patterns in a binder.  So I went back through and chose 4 more blocks to add in with the 16.  I like a rectangular quilt much better than a square one.  No decision is made yet on sashing or no sashing.  For now the blocks are hanging in the closet while I work on more UFOs.

So, this is a NEARLY finished project but I did finish a couple of things this week, such as the Sea Otter wall hanging and a second Feeling Crabby mini quilt.

I'm linking up with Finished Or Not Friday . . .

https://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/

Shredding and stitching

 Sewing took the back seat to work and lots of errands yesterday, but I did get the final Riley Blake challenge block sewn.

Block #16 is Point the Way, by Gerri Robinson.  I haven't decided yet on a layout for these, but did go back into the previous years blocks and chose 4 others to add to the 2024 blocks.  I think it will be easier to make a decent sized quilt with 20 blocks.

This is what took precedence over sewing . . . an enormous pile of old contract books from my husband's company.  He plopped that pile right next to the rocking chair in my office.  After several years it doesn't make sense to keep duplicates and other extra paperwork that already exists digitally anyway.  My job in the next few days is to take each book apart and shred all the pages that have proprietary info on them.  At least I'm getting paid for this work.  

Today - if it doesn't rain - I have a window washing crew coming to the house.  We're getting too old to be up on tall ladders washing windows.  I'll keep shredding while the crew handles the window cleaning. 

Finding backings

 Yesterday was a cold rainy day, so you know where I spent my time.

My first priority was to sew that patriotic door hanger that was cut out.  It is another Riley Blake kit, with the name Patriotic Dream.  Already I like this one better than the tulip one. The color palette is much more to my liking of course.  

Priority #2 was getting my husband to help me tighten the screws on this quilt rack I was trying to put together on Monday.  Turns out I don't have the hand strength I used to have.  This is for the basement guest bedroom, although I'll need to do a bit of rearranging before I can move it in there. So for now it's in the basement family room (and husband's office) - next to the 30' long putting green.  You can see just a tiny corner of the putting green in the lower left.

And my final priority for Tuesday was finding backings for several small projects, including that red/white/blue door hanger. I keep the backing pieces trimmed from big quilts all together in a drawer so it's easy to find what I need. This black and white swirl backing will work great for this valentine table runner I made back in February.  The pattern was Smitten - another Villa Rosa pattern card, but with a few changes.  There was a grey/white print that was the right size for the door hanger.

Suitable backing choices were also made for 2 octagon shaped table toppers that were hiding out in the Big Grey Tote.  Both seem worth rescuing and finishing.  So now these need to be quilted.  

A few more scraps were cut into useable sizes, and also used to kit up some blocks for RSC sewing yet this week.  If it keeps raining I should get a lot done around here.

To Do Tuesday

Monday morning I devoted to the decluttering effort, and my reward was a little bit of cutting and sewing time in the afternoon.  Since beginning this process I've been listing everything on a spreadsheet and I have to say it is immensely satisfying to see that list grow and grow each week as I've worked on this. 

 There is a finish to report.  It's a small one - only 13" square.  This is the paper-pieced mini made from a Shabby Fabrics kit.  I quilted hearts in each strawberry.  This will decorate my family room fireplace hearth for June.  

In keeping with my efforts to finish things that have been started and abandoned, I decided over the weekend to look through the block sets hanging in the sewing room closet.  The block sets are clipped onto skirt hangers.  And look what I discovered . . . Shooting Star blocks and most of them are pink!

This block pattern was in a Sew Sampler box (Fat Quarter Shop), along with the fabric for a quilt using this star block plus an alternate block.  I used it all plus yardage for background and borders to make a quilt.

The original blocks were sewn in 2022, and I finished the quilt in time for a graduation gift in 2023.  I had forgotten that I also made some additional blocks for RSC - in whatever month that pink had been selected.  There were 4 pink blocks, 1 purple one, and a multi-colored print one hanging in the closet with the pattern and some pieces cut for a couple more blocks.  

I really love star blocks, and these 8" finished blocks are kind of unique.  So it's time to add them to my RSC block sets for 2024 now that I've finished a couple of quilts using other sets of RSC blocks.  Since there are already pink ones, I'll go back to previous months' colors for new ones and make sure I'm using scraps.  I'm not sure if I'll make those alternate blocks, but they might happen at some point.

To Do list for this week:

 * quilt and bind Feeling Crabby mini quilt

* add extra quilting & hanging rod to Tulip door banner

* make RSC blocks

* patriotic wall hanging

* make final block for Riley Blake challenge and plan the layout

* PRIORITY continue scrap management & decluttering!!

Design Wall Monday - Sea otter and crab

 What's on YOUR design wall today?
https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/
My design wall this week holds some small projects that really need to be finished.

The quilting has been started on the second Feeling Crabby mini quilt.  I made 2 of these crab blocks, and the first one is already hanging up, in our beach themed guest bathroom.  In addition to this little quilt, I'm working on a patriotic door hanger.  I've pulled out a set of Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks that had been forgotten this year.  And I have some binding to finish on a strawberry mini quilt.  

I also want to share a very satisfying finish - the Mosaic Sea Otter wall hanging.

The sea otter wall hanging was a purchase in June 2023 on the Alaskan cruise we took.  I got this one in Juneau, at a small but amazing quilt shop.  Changing Tides carries the most impressive variety of Alaskan themed fabrics and kits, and is within easy walking distance from the cruise ship docks. This was a laser cut kit designed by Ellie Millen of Small Pond Designs.

There were so many stunning kits in the shop that it was hard to choose.  I purchased this one in particular because we did a sea otter excursion at Sitka, where we saw thousands of sea otters as well as whales, bald eagles, and huge seals.  It's 15" by 33" finished, done with ironed on applique.  I decided against any edge stitching to hold the applique down because I didn't want to lose the crisp sharp edges and points.  The quilter used a design that looks like waves in the water, and since I don't plan to wash this the dense quilting should be enough to hold that applique.  I've ordered a 36" wire hanger for this one and plan to hang it in our upstairs guest bedroom. 

RSC24 - Week #20

 Check off one more RSC finish!  And it's a UFO to check off too.  Yay!

This is the Elephant quilt, and I love it.  My reluctant quilt holder kept standing in the shade, and holding it crooked. But you get the idea of how bright the border actually is at the bottom where the sun hits it.  The quilter did Baptist Fans on it and the texture is wonderful. 

The 12" elephant blocks were part of my RSC sewing in 2022-23.  The colors of the elephants are bright and cheerful.  And the border is a gorgeous Laurel Burch print.  This is actually the third quilt I've made using this block pattern, which was a free pattern I found online many years ago.  Unfortunately the blog it was on is no longer active.  I'm sure I'll use this pattern again in the future so it's safely tucked into my binder of "favorites". 

A third 14 x 18 inch strawberry block joined the other 2 this week.  These are made with 2.5" squares, and so fun.  I have a second tiny one - using 1.5" squares - about half done too.

With a large UFO finish to celebrate, it seemed like a good time to pull out another PIG from the collection.  I have way too many kits waiting in the wings. but I'm trying to work on at least one each month.  Some are big projects and some are small projects.  Some have been in the drawer for a long time, and some - like this one - are more recent purchases.  I chose this one because it has plenty of pink.  And because it will be used immediately for summer.  And look - more strawberries!!

It's another Shabby Fabrics paper pieced mini quilt.  The kits have great instructions, plus all the fabric needed including the backing and binding.  The other nifty feature is the little stickers to put on the parts as you cut them.  This mini will finish at 13" square and fit nicely in the small wire hangers.  I have 2 of these hangers - one on each fireplace hearth, and switch them out frequently.

  

One of the four blocks is done.  There will be 2 pink and 2 red blocks.  

I'm linking up today with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.
https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

Strawberries & sunflowers

Last Saturday afternoon our Sew Vintage group met and continued our strawberry theme.

Cindy gave us each a pattern, and some adorable strawberry fabrics.  She had a pretty vintage glass dish full of these hand pieced little strawberries and showed how to make them.  My first one just needs the felt leaves and stem added.  

We've exchanged pinks and reds in previous months, with an exchange of greens happening this month.  Next month we'll exchange backgrounds.  That will give everyone an awesome scrappy pile of 2.5" squares to cut for these blocks.  Mine are all collected in this basket.  

Three blocks down, and 3 or 4 to go.  I am thinking my blocks will become a bed runner.  

I missed this month's guild meeting, but saw in the minutes emailed to us that we're doing strawberry blocks to enter into a drawing for the upcoming bus trip.  After texting one of the bus trip committee members it appears we're using the same pattern.  That is great because these are fun to make.

Here is the sunflower version of the vinyl front zippered bags.  I've been keeping track and this is the 7th one of these 12" project bags with the vinyl front that I've made in 2024.  And it's the 18th bag total that I've made so far this year.  I've gifted some and sold a couple.