SAHRR and January in review

 I thought there would be no sewing time yesterday or today. But I got home earlier than expected from the gathering of former coworkers, and realized I had 2 hours all to myself.  I went right to the sewing room to put my new Stay At Home Round Robin ideas into play.

On Tuesday I had some riding in the car time and had a brain storm about the Snowball blocks from week 1 and the HSTs from this week.  It took less than 5 minutes to remove the second Snowball block (above small pineapple) and turn the remaining one into the sun.  I cut the little triangles and appliqued them on.  The one on the far right is just pinned, until something is added onto that side in a future prompt.  The HSTs were a quick add to the bottom to look like grass, along with a leftover binding strip.  Voila!  A much more fun result than I started with.  

Now, looking back at January . . . I had made a short list at the beginning, and did very well in addressing those goals.  Better yet, there has been a lot of fun with all the pink mixed in with my other projects.  A couple of things were not checked off, but I'm confident those will get their turn in the near future.  And I also did several projects that were not on the list.

A couple big important items that can be checked off involved binding.  The biggest thing I can check off is binding the Scrappy Kitties quilt.  It's a big one, made with blocks done for the 2024 Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  It's a large twin size.

The backing is a black and white cat print that I ordered with this quilt in mind when I began making the blocks.  It's a cute backing.

Most of the things are checked off for January . . .

* Finish final 4 blocks for 2024 Saturday Sampler - Flimsy DONE
* Choose fabrics for new 2025 Saturday Sampler - DONE
* Choose fabrics for RBD Challenge - YES & 2 blocks DONE
* Make January paper pieced block for Circle of Friends - DONE
* Make extra blocks for batik Hunter's Star
* Finish hand quilting Guild Swap Stars - DONE
* Finish binding Star of Wonder (Christmas wall hanging) - DONE
* Bind Scrappy Kitties quilt - DONE
* Blanket stitch pink Cat applique block
* make lots of scrappy pink blocks for RSC - YES I DID!! 

Twinkler blocks 29-30

The final 2 blocks for the Twinkler (a UFO) quilt were a quick stitch on Monday afternoon.

Now that all 30 blocks are made I can begin to work on layouts for the quilt, which will be one of my main February goals.  The jelly roll used in this one was Bubble Blues, a batik by Robert Kaufman.  I did scrappy white-on-white for backgrounds.  Each month in 2024 I made 2-3 blocks so it was a gradual project.

In the project box I also had set aside another jelly roll to do a second one of these.  This one is all browns and golds, also batiks.  And I have a background for it.  So, sometime in the future there may be another Twinkler.  I've tucked the block pattern in with those fabrics.

SAHRR - Round #1

The Stay At Home Round Robin posted round #2 yesterday, but I just got round #1 done.  I'm already falling behind.
 

Round #1 challenged us to use a block whose name began with our first initial.  Hmmm, there were lots of blocks beginning with S - string, star, snowball . . .   After a lot of consideration, I made 2 snowball blocks, and also added that small version of my pineapple block.  

Some of the SAHRR projects that I've seen online have been much more creative than mine, but it's at least done.  Now to come up with something for this week's challenge - using Half Square Triangles.  Right now I have no clue what I want to do.  

Design Wall Monday - January 27

Saturday my post showed block #1 done for the It Takes Two wall hanging.  Thankfully one of my readers noticed that there was an error, with the bottom half of a heart rotated wrong.  Yesterday that "Oops" was easily remedied before I got any further.  So a big Thank You goes out to the anonymous reader who saved me lots of work.  My thought right now is that I may hang this up as a flimsy just through Valentine's Day and then I'll worry about the quilting and binding to completely finish it. 

Something I probably will finish this week to use some of the scraps from this wall hanging is a little heart shaped mug rug.  I made the one on the right several years ago from a pattern shared in our Sew Vintage group.  What's funny is that my husband has been using it all this time on his office desk.  I even picked up some pink rick rack at Hobby Lobby on Saturday after the granddaughter's swim meet. 

The next month's color for Rainbow Scrap Challenge has been announced.  BLUE - which is a color that is overly abundant in my stash, in the scrap bins, and in the UFOs living in my sewing room.  I'm going to begin with seeing what blue UFOs can be moved to the next stage, and/or finished completely. 

Twinkler was a project I worked on in 2024, making 2-3 blocks each month.  In late November I had 28 blocks made, but then couldn't find where I had put the remaining jelly roll strips to make the last 2 blocks.  Luckily those strips were found and have been hanging in the closet with the blocks.  So my February goals will begin with getting this one to the flimsy stage.  It has a scrappy white-on-white background and batik jelly roll strips in many shades of blue.  

Another UFO with a lot of blue is this dinosaur themed Quick Strippee child's quilt.  I have a project box with a couple of kits all cut and ready to go using this pattern.  Getting this to the flimsy stage is pretty much a 1 day project, so this will also go onto my February list.

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

https://songbirddesigns.blog

RSC25 - week #4

While it's cold outside - and to avoid watching the political chaos unfolding (sorry), I've been sewing up a storm nearly every day this week.  Next week will bring a couple of days of work to spoil all of this sewing time unfortunately.   Lots of pink has happened as we wrap up January.  

This UFO project began the month as 1 single block, a pattern, and more fabric found in a bag forgotten in my sewing room.  Woven Hearts is now a 60" square flimsy, with binding cut too.  I decided to just keep the border simple - and not add another pink one around it.  That lime green binding should pick up the green in that tropical print.  I'm very pleased that this one is now hanging in the closet waiting for it's turn to be quilted.  

Staying on the pink theme, another small UFO has become a flimsy.  This is the Valentine door hanger.  At only 20 by 36 it came together very quickly.  The polka dot next to it will be the backing, and was leftover from another project.  I think I'm going to try to quilt this one myself.  We'll see if that happens. LOL

And the 3rd pink UFO for the month is getting closer to a finish too.  Section #1 for the 2022 Cupid Box project is complete.  I really love these entwined hearts.  There will be 4 of these sections put together for a wall hanging that will finish about 34" square, which is just perfect to hang on my living room wall.  

And the units for the other 3 sections of this wall hanging are ready to go.  Plus, do you see all those trimmed off triangles on the right side?  I can't bear to throw away such large pieces, so those will probably become pinwheels or hourglass or just half square triangles that will go into some future scrappy project.  

 

Both of the blocks for the 2025 Riley Blake Design challenge have pink in them.  I'm digging into my stash of Tula Pink fabrics for this Block of the Week online sew-along.  

I used scraps to make 8 of these little coin purse or credit card bags.  Three of them are pink, so they count, right?  The 3 pink ones have actually been gifted already. 

I made a few more pink RSC blocks this week.  There are more Hollow 9-patch blocks - tucked away somewhere in my messy sewing room.  When I do find them, there are a couple more pink ones now.  And a second Game Board block in pink has been added. 

And one  more pink Buckeye Beauty block came together yesterday.  That little stack of bright fabrics was found the other day while I was rearranging stuff in one drawer.  I used 1 of the pieces for this Buckeye Beauty.  And there are more pinks in that stack.  Most of these would be perfect for these blocks - bright colors and big enough.   

Looking back at earlier blocks this month - there was a LOT of pink.  That pink scrap bin doesn't seem much emptier.  But I'm ready to start playing with a new color by next weekend.  What will it be - green, blue, purple?  Those scrap bins are overflowing too.  

I'm linking up with Rainbow Scrap Challenge . . .

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

Lost and found

Thursday was a long day in the sewing room, with some results planned and other results came as a happy accidental discovery.

After putting the borders onto the Woven Hearts projects (watch for tomorrow's post), I felt it was time to do a little bit of clean up around the sewing room.  Putting things away is not always my strong suit.  Just call me lazy!  While doing a little organizing a few interesting things were unearthed.

The Cupid Box (Fat Quarter Shop) from 2022 was tucked away in a drawer, never begun at all.  Since it's about half pink, I decided this is going to be the next small project while pink is still the color of the month.   It finishes about 36" square so it shouldn't take terribly long to sew.  The cutting of all of the pieces actually happened on Thursday afternoon. 

In a zip lock bag deeper in that drawer was a significant stack of bright fabrics - cut into 5 x 7.5" rectangles, and 7.5" squares.  For the life of me I have no clue what I was planning to make with them.  But some of these are going into the Buckeye Beauty blocks I'm doing for RSC this year.  The rest?  I'm not sure yet.

Another pleasant surprise was a bag with 15 blocks that I think I won on a guild bus trip several years ago.  Each one is signed by the guild member who made it.  Now I need to come up with a good project to use these. 

More progress this week

There were a LOT of projects on my To Do list for this week, and I've actually made some great progress on meeting those goals.  It feels like I've made a dent in the Works In Progress hanging around my sewing room.  

The light in my kitchen is terrible when it's overcast and grey outside, but . . . I can report that the Valentine door hanger is ready to quilt.  That big dotted print is the backing, which is leftover from a Christmas project.  It has most pink and red so it will work for this one.  Because there were not many small pieces I knew this one wouldn't take nearly as long as the snowman did, and I was right.  Plus it's only 20 x 36.  

 

The first 5 of the little coin purse bags are completely finished.  They are so cute with the swiveling lobster clip on the end so they can be attached to something.  And they are fully lined as well, with a layer of light weight interfacing so they have some substance.

The other 3 have the zippers sewn in and are ready for the next steps.  I actually did all 8 zippers at once so I didn't have to mess with changing between the zipper foot and the regular foot on my machine.  Each of these take less than 15 minutes to make.  

Oh - and notice that little pile of white strips in the back?  Those are border strips for the Woven Heart project, which I hope to attach today.  Then I'll decide if I really want to add a pink border or leave it as is.

One other project for today is to make this week's block for the Riley Blake challenge.  It's all cut out and ready to sew.  I fussy cut that bunny for the center and I think it will make this block very cute.  I'm so glad I am using my Tula Pink stash of fat quarters.  

Saturday Sampler is a flimsy

 This one took some patience yesterday.  My sewing table and my ironing board were all much too small for comfort as I finished sewing the 4 quadrants of this one together.

The 2024 Saturday Sampler is now a flimsy!  A 96" square flimsy.  It's much more modern than my usual projects, and is all solids.  I do love the bright colors in the solids, but they really fray, so there are a LOT of strings to clean up before getting it quilted.  

Door hanger & doll quilt

The snowman door hanger turned out so cute.  This is a Riley Blake kit, about 20 x 36".  I finished the binding in the car on Saturday.  Sunday morning I added the hanging loops and hung it on the front door.  

The quilting is awesome - snowflakes and windy swirls.  The gals at the Pin Cushion quilted this one for me.  In addition to binding, I stitched on 2 black buttons for his eyes.  

All the pieces were cut for the Valentine door hanger yesterday afternoon, then I began sewing it together after supper.  I don't usually end up in my sewing room in the evening, but my husband had a couple of friends over to play golf on the simulator, so I escaped downstairs.  This little project should easily reach the flimsy stage today as there aren't many small pieces to deal with.  I may have to buy something for backing as I didn't find anything appropriate in the stash when I searched.  

 

The other binding project that happened in the car over the weekend is this doll quilt.  I had made this one from one of those fat quarters I won last winter, but it only got to the flimsy stage at the time.  Last week I sandwiched it with leftover batting, and a piece of leftover backing - and spent about a half hour quilting a grid about 3" apart.  Leftover binding was added.  This one needs a cute stuffed animal to go with it. 

Design Wall Monday - January 20

 There was absolutely no time in my sewing room over the weekend after a week really full of sewing time.  We just had so much going on both days this weekend.  

I did however do some binding in the car while headed to events.  I'll share those finishes another day.  One of those finishes - another doll quilt - was a winner with "binding chicken".  I had pulled a leftover chunk of binding from the drawer to use.  After matching up there was a 3" piece of binding left.  That was close.  

There is just ONE quadrant left to sew for the Saturday Sampler from 2024, so I should be able to finish that top this week.  I'm determined.

Another possible flimsy this week?  Maybe.  I think my border plan for the Woven Hearts quilt will remain simple.  Having this one reach the flimsy stage this week would be awesome.   

One new pink project is on my cutting table right now.  This is the Valentine door hanger kit, and yes, I'm beginning this a bit late to have it finished for Valentine's Day.  But this one should be much quicker to make than some of the previous ones.  There are not many small pieces in this one. 

And speaking of cutting, a lot of cutting and prepping actually happened on Friday afternoon while I was still feeling ambitious.  I still had fat quarters pulled out for more Churn Dash blocks, but as I was organizing some scraps for another new project I came across some that had just enough remaining to make a couple of the Churn Dash.  Yes, there are more bright and cheerful blocks happening this week. 

As for a scrappy NEW project - you'll have to wait and see what these become.  Everything in this photo came from scraps, some of which you'll possibly recognize from sewing projects from this past week.  

The first Stay At Home Round Robin clue will be posted today, so I'll be figuring out what to add to that pineapple block I've chosen for the starting point.  And tomorrow the second block of the Riley Blake challenge will be posted.  Plus, you know I'll be playing with other pink blocks for RSC.  

Oops!  Sounds like more Pin Ball sewing this week - bouncing from project to project.  But it's cold outside, so staying in my sewing room is a good plan. 

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

https://songbirddesigns.blog

RSC25 - Week #3

Week 3 of pink has been successful and busy.  I can't believe how much pink is in my stash and in the pink scrap bin.  And I can't believe how much pink is STILL in the scrap bin, and of course in the stash even after sewing this month so far. 

Woven Heart began with a forgotten project bag hiding in the sewing room.  In the bag was 1 single block, the block pattern, and lots more of the fabric.  But I have no idea what my original plan actually was for all this pink.  Maybe I didn't really have a plan.  It is time to do something with it all.  Eight more blocks were sewn this week and binding has been cut.  I've sewn the 9 blocks and the bonus Hourglass cornerstones into a top - almost.  It's 56" square at this point.  Next I want to add an outer border, but haven't decided whether to just do white or the darker pink.  Or a combination of both.  What do you think would look the best?

Last winter I won a big bunch of fat quarters at a retreat.  They were added to the "fat quarter bin" in the closet. Just before Christmas I won another bunch of fat quarters at the Sew Vintage Christmas party.  My fat quarter bin is now definitely overflowing, so I've pulled a few of them out to make more Churn Dash blocks for kids quilts to be donated or gifted.  I've already made one baby quilt flimsy using these 12" blocks made with cute novelty prints plus a solid (or blender reading solid).  There were a couple left over, so they became seed for another quilt.  So far this month I've made 6 more 12" blocks - including 2 pink ones.  And I used some of the leftovers to make 3 mini ones (6").  More will be in the works as other RSC colors are announced.  

And more random "test" blocks will show up too, such as the Game Board block.  I saw this one online recently, but it was made with just one print and one background.  I figured out the math to make them with those 16-patch blocks I've already made with 1.5" squares.  Easy quilt math - 2.5" squares, 2.5 x 4.5" rectangles were added to the 16-patch center.  Mine is totally scrappy.  It finishes at 8" and was very quick to make.  

One totally scrappy project was completed this week.  There is a small stack of doll quilt flimsies made from project leftovers just waiting to be quilted, and now it's reduced by one.  This is a doll quilt made with scrappy leftover wedges from a Windmill quilt.  The back is a plaid sent to me by Nann recently.  The batting was a leftover chunk, and the binding was in the leftover binding drawer.  

Sigh - it appears like I've bounced like a pin ball from project to project this week.  Can you hear the ding ding as the points add up?  LOL  But I do feel like there has been good progress on several fronts.  One small project was completely finished and 2 more small projects are nearly finished.  I'm halfway around hand stitching the binding on a large RSC quilt that has been on my UFO list.  Three out of 4 quadrants of last year's Saturday Sampler are assembled.  I've used up some fat quarters to make blocks for another project.  A backing has been pieced for another UFO quilt.  And that pink/white UFO is nearly a flimsy.  All-in-all it has been a good week in the sewing room.  

I'm linking up with Rainbow Scrap Challenge . . .

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

Getting new projects organized

While I work to finish up some UFO and WIP projects, I need to have some new projects going as well to keep me motivated.  Besides, new projects are fun. 

The new Saturday Sampler will be a row quilt based on Fair Isle or stranded knitting patterns. The pattern was designed by a young local quilter, which is extra fun. I did a lot of Pinterest surfing while riding in the car on Saturday afternoon for ideas of colors that I wanted to use.  So many options!  I settled on 2 browns, a lime green, and 2 shades of burgundy with a cream background.  We won't get the first block pattern until February but it feels good to have a plan and to have the fabrics all gathered. 

Another sew-along that I've participated in for a few years is the Riley Blake Design Challenge.  One block per week is manageable.  I have these 3 fat quarter bundles of Tula Pink fabrics that just needed a plan on how to use them.  I think my usual background of scrappy white, and maybe a few solids thrown in will work for this sew-along.  

The first block was posted Tuesday morning, called Bloom and Grow by Lori Holt.  It was actually a very quick block to make.   Each week's block will be designed by a different designer, and the last week of each month will be a "catch up" week with no block release.  It's going to be very fun I think.  

Guild swap is no longer a UFO

In December 2021 our local guild did a fun challenge - Adopt a UFO.  Anyone wanting to participate would put a UFO (started or not) into a gift bag or box, so it couldn't be viewed.  We drew numbers to determine the order we got to choose a bag.  See my post about it HERE.

Even though we couldn't see what was in the bag before choosing, mine held a miniature quilt kit that had been purchased and then abandoned without being started.  And it was all 30s reproductions and English Paper Piecing.  

I made 9 of the 12 stars, all hand pieced, and then appliqued them onto muslin squares. Then I added the skinny yellow and lavender borders.  It stalled out at that point for a year.  Or maybe more than a year.  I finally decided I would NEVER get all that tiny applique of flowers and vines done, so I added a purple 30s print for a border.  That's about the time I decided to hand quilt it.  

The center section was easy enough to hand quilt - outline each star, add some lines through the star points, and then outline each square.  This was definitely a project that I started and stopped over and over again.  But finally, almost exactly 4 years from the "adoption" I decided to kick it into high gear and finish this little project.  

It's actually done!   My version of Granny's Stars is only 25" square.  I think it turned out very cute, and will probably hang in my sewing room to remind me to persevere.  And look!! We actually got a dusting of snow.  It was only 11 degrees BELOW zero out on the deck when I took this picture yesterday morning.  

And since the last stitches have gone into one UFO, I've begun the quilting on another.  

This UFO is going to be machine quilted, and I have a good start to it.  It's the Dresden Plate block that I used as a demo for Sew Vintage a couple years ago.  The partial Dresden Plate is the skirt on a girl wearing a bonnet.  This block became the starting point for last year's Stay At Home Round Robin.  It's wall hanging size.

A whole new plan for Woven Hearts

Earlier in the week I posted 2 layout options for Woven Hearts - one used 4 blocks, and the other used all 6 of the blocks I had made.  I had some great suggestions, including making a couple more blocks to use in 2 small quilts.
 

I liked that idea, so I made 2 more blocks.  Then I realized I had just enough of the tropical print to make 3 blocks.  So I did just that.  And now, I have a whole new plan that was hatched thanks to all the awesome suggestions.  One quilt - still square - but big enough to be a child size quilt instead of 2 small baby quilts.  It will end up just a bit more than 50" square.

It's all pinned into rows now, so I'll work on getting this to the flimsy stage.  It will make a great project to work on in between getting that Saturday Sampler to the flimsy stage too.    

SAHRR 2025

 I've followed along for a few years with the Stay At Home Round Robin. Sometimes I've joined in on the fun, and sometimes I've actually participated.  The idea is that we choose our own center block, and then 6 designers will challenge us to add something each week.  

Last year I kept it small and mostly simple, but actually participated each week.  The center block is 12", so the "rounds" are each fairly small.  This one is currently sandwiched and ready to quilt.  I just need a plan.  It's on my PHD list for 2025, so I've committed myself to finishing it before the end of the year.

I think this will be my center/beginning block for 2025.  It's 12" x 20" and there is a small version too that could end up in the project as well, depending on what the weekly challenges might be.  With the rainbow of colors in the pineapple it shouldn't limit me with what colors to use each week.  

I know that I really shouldn't start any new projects when there are so many UFOs and WIPs going on around here.  But where is the fun in that?  You know that isn't going to stop me - or even slow me down - from starting new projects that catch my eye.  And yes, there are more new projects on my radar for 2025.   

https://quiltinggail.com/2025/01/13/sahrr-25-centre-block/