Nothing accomplished

 Not a single minute was spent in my sewing room on Monday, and today isn’t looking promising either.  However I did take 2 quilt tops to The Pin Cushion, picked out backing, and left them to be quilted.  And bonus - I ran into a very dear former coworker.  It was so good to chat with her and catch up a little on what is happening in her world lately.  

There was a bit of retail therapy taking place.  I bought some fabric for a couple of Quilt of Valor presentation pillowcases, along with a little of this and a little of that. Walmart was my last stop and I did get a couple of fat quarters.  I don’t often buy fabric at Walmart, but sometimes they have just the item I’m  looking for.  I didn’t even know I was looking for that bunny print, but there it was!

Design Wall Monday - Scotty Dog flimsy

 My reward for finishing some things last week was to work on something new.  That something was actually a baby quilt I had kitted up a couple of years ago, but never started.  Well, I started sewing this one Friday, and finished it on Sunday afternoon.  There is a good reason this pattern is called a Quick Strippee. 

The Quick Strippee is a wonderfully simple pattern that is a freebie from Mary Quilts.  It is made with 3 fabrics, ones of which is usually a focus fabric.  It’s perfect for using the fun prints designed for kids’ quilts - like animals.  I really love this red/white/black Scotty print, with the plaid and polka dot dogs. 

The other thing I managed to get done on Sunday was cleaning off the rest of my cutting table.  I had this awful pile of scraps just adding up week after week.  Those scraps are now tamed, either by cutting them into useable size squares or folding them up and putting them back into the stash.  

With the surface cleared off I even got out my new cutting mat.  Now, I need to tackle that little scrap basket sitting on the right edge.  It was made by a friend and works great for catching those little scraps while cutting for a project.  It’s actually a small plastic waste basket covered with fabric scraps and mod podge.  It’s full, but at least it’s no longer overflowing. 

And I worked on getting my next UFO project back into an organized set of parts and pieces, so that I can sew on that one this week.  Time to get back to work on Checkered Stars. 

What's on your design wall today?

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/

Chandelier/Beads Quilts of Valor

 Back at the end of April I finished this Quilt of Valor, using the Beads (or Chandelier) blocks.  My friend Evelyn - a veteran and a quilter - had sent me a photo for inspiration.  I loved it so much that it required an almost immediate purchase of fabric to make it.

For this one I used just 2 different prints, a red and a blue.  I had the blue print in my stash, and had no problem finding a red and a background (white with a little red) to go with it.  

The quilter did an excellent job with this one.  I love the swirls and twirls.  

The next one needs to be scrappy!  Yesterday I shared the instructions for this block with our guild and our QOV group for a new block drive.  I've made 8 blocks to start with but have a TON of patriotic fabrics just waiting to become QOV quilts for future presentations.  I think this one will look good in a mix of gold, red, and blue, and also mixing up the backgrounds with creams and whites.  Hopefully we'll end up with enough blocks for 2 new Quilts of Valor.     

Getting a start on blue

Blue is one of those colors that I have an abundance of in the stash.  I kept the focus on darker shades this past week to follow the RSC direction, but I must admit I was tempted to dig into the lighter shades too just because I love blue.

Each month so far, I've made 5 of the Falling In Love heart blocks in the chosen color.  I can't bear to just throw away large triangle trimmings, so I've made a 4" Hourglass block to match each and every one of those heart blocks - from those bottom triangle section trimmings.  I'm actually thinking that by the end of the year I might have enough of these little Hourglass blocks to use in a baby quilt - Bonus!!!

The 5 Falling In Love blocks are done too.  I'm definitely in love with this block, but am still not sure exactly how I will put them together once done.  The blocks are about 8.5" by 9.25" unfinished, and there are already 30 of them.  

The darker blues were fun to dig through for just the right prints. The brighter (more medium) blue is a polka dot although the dots don't show up much in the photo.  Oh well, the color is good.  And two of the blues are actually batiks with strong patterns.  

Three Friendship Squares blocks were also added to the 18 already in the project box.  I had forgotten about the green one cut out last month, so that was made first.  Then one with dark blue and one with bright blue were added.  

Next RSC blocks?  Maybe a couple more Twinkle Stars or Ohio Stars. 

What else is happening in the RSC world this week?
https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

Barn Silo & what's next?

 Tuesday, May 31 - that is the date I finished the binding on Barn Silo.  Yay!  Another UFO to check off the list.  I plan to hang this one up on the quilt rail in the living room for this month.  It has a summery look to it as it's made of 30s reproduction prints.  I can't take any credit for the fabric choices however, as this was purchased as a kit. 

Barn Silo is a Lori Holt pattern from her Farm Girl Vintage books.  She has a couple of different barn blocks in the books, and of course you can choose any of the 6" quilt blocks to set inside the 12" barn block.  Farm Girl Vintage (1 and 2) are some of my very favorite pattern books.  

The number drawn for June for the APQ UFO Challenge was #1.  This is my list of project options for that number.  The top 2 are definitely UFOs, but I think I may begin with the PIG because it might be the easiest one to finish, at least to the flimsy stage.  

The Scottie Dog Quick Strippee is something that I had kitted up a couple of years ago, along with a couple of others.  The other 2 have already been finished, but this one was still waiting in the project box.  Since I've given 2 baby quilts as gifts in the last month, sold 3 more for gifts, and donated another - then I think it's time to replenish my stash of baby quilts.  

So, the Scottie Dogs will be my reward for getting the gifted and donation quilts mailed.  Actually I plan to take them to the post office today since the boxes are all packed.  So that means that I can work on this one, right?

A quilt for donation

This baby quilt is packed up and ready to drop off at the post office.  It's being donated as part of the annual Hands 2 Help project.  
 

This is my second year participating in this project, and I really appreciate that the hosts of the challenge have done the work of checking out needy but reputable charities.  

New goals for June

 Some time definitely needs to be spent in getting better organized before pulling out any new projects to work on for the month of June.  My creative space is a mess!  My work space (office) isn't much better.  My TO DO lists for projects are spinning out of control again.  My brain is also spinning out of control lately - too many ideas popping up, with not enough actually accomplished.

On Friday I went to a local nursery, and got some flowers for the front porch and back deck.  It's later in the year than usual for those purchases but we've had such a cold spring it didn't seem prudent.  This big yellow Dahlia is now replanted in a big rolling pot on the back deck.  The blooms are huge and so pretty.  This pot also contains the metal stake holding my rain gauge and I've wrapped it in twinkle lights.  It looks so cheerful from the kitchen windows as night arrives and the lights come on.  

THIS WEEK'S GOALS . . .

** spend LESS time in the recliner!!!  

** Label 2 baby quilts and mail to recipients.  These are gifts for staff of my husband's company, and once shipped I can turn in a voucher to get paid for the 3 quilts I agreed to sell. Great funding source for future quilting projects, right?

** finish cleaning up cutting table area

** make more blue RSC blocks & some Quilt of Valor blocks

** Ship donation quilt for Hands 2 Help

** finish binding Barn Silo (a UFO)

GOALS FOR MONTH OF JUNE . . .

** Keep up with Saturday Sampler blocks
** Make RSC blocks in bright or dark blue
** Make 10 new Quilt of Valor blocks
** progress on sashing/cornerstone for Tulip Time (UFO)
** make binding for Farmers Wife Sampler (UFO)
** progress on Checkered Stars (UFO)