Sewcialites - caught up

I'm as "caught up" with the Sewcialites 2 blocks as I'm going to be - for now, anyway.

I've been making the 9" versions in greens and cream.  Those are completely done, up through last week's block #19.  And the 6" version is happening in bright batiks with this golden yellow background.  Also done through block #19.  Yay!!

Now, for some crazy reason I've been making the 3" version in 2 colorways - red and white, plus a black background with bright colors.  I enjoy making small blocks, but a couple of these have been torture for me.  Here is #18 (Spellbound) in both colors.  They both look a bit wonky in the photo, but really lay pretty flat and straight in real life.  This block was not torture, and neither was the next one.

Block #19 (Invigorate) is also done in both 3" versions. I really love this block a LOT!  I know I'll use this pattern again soon.  But I think the 9" version will be my choice.

Now - speaking of blocks being torture - there are 2 of the more complicated ones that just are NOT happening (for now) in this 3" size.  It's possible that as we wrap up this sew-along I'll decide to make them, but for now there is a sticky note on 2 block patterns to remind me that I didn't do the 3" ones. And I'm OK with avoiding the stress for now.  

Design Wall Monday - March 13

 Happy birthday to our oldest granddaughter, Sophia.  

She turns 11 today.  On Saturday she celebrated with friends and a cousin at a kid-friendly escape room, which evidently was a lot of fun.

Since I'm still isolating due to having Covid, there has been extra time to sew.  Sunday I had most of the day to myself, since my husband - in spite of having Covid himself - drove 200 miles to meet a coworker and hand over a bunch of work items the coworker was going to need this week. Originally he was supposed to be in Minneapolis with this coworker for a conference. But since he can't really attend while having Covid, he is just meeting him (outside) to pass along the equipment.

One project that I'm focusing on this week is the Framed 9-patch.  I have rows 1-3 all assembled, and rows 4-6 are "webbed".  Webbing is a good way to keep things in the correct position, but I decided that 3 rows at a time was all I could handle with the space I have on my sewing table. 

Another Rainbow Connection block took shape, this time using lighter green scraps.  This makes 19 of these blocks so far.  They finish at 11". 

And I managed to add 3 more Irish Chain blocks to the pile, with some green in each one.  There are plenty of these now to add another row or two to the quilt that's in progress.

While I had lots of green scraps out, I've cut the pieces for 2 pyramid blocks, and 2 small heart blocks that will most likely happen sometime today.  

And I worked on more Sewcialites 2 blocks, in the 6" and 3" sizes.  

What's on your design wall today?

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/

Organized chaos

 On Friday morning, Bonnie Hunter had a post about organizing.  She showed her well organized cabinets holding yardage, but also said she has bins and stacks of projects everywhere in her studio space.  I copied Bonnie's quote below because it obviously describes my sewing space perfectly:

In my world "Cleanliness is where creativity goes to die!"

Oh man - that is so ME!!!  I try to be organized, and have some small success.  

The stacking units hold individual project boxes that I've labeled and it is one definite success. Two of the units are stacked, but the third one ends up being moved around to various spots in my sewing room.  Unfortunately there are more project boxes that don't fit into these units. 

There is a huge long closet (without doors) in my sewing room.  It holds more plastic drawer units where my stash is mostly sorted by color or theme.  Block sets hang by skirt hangers with the instructions clipped with them.  Quilt tops are folded and hung over sturdy hangers in the other end of that closet too, just waiting to be quilted.  A couple of those color drawers are currently overflowing and won't close - which means they need some attention. 

The upper shelf in the closet holds leftover batting scraps with notes pinned on indicating the size of the piece so I don't have to search too long.  That's kind of organized, right?

However - what no one but me can see - is more of these plastic drawer units on the other side of the room.  And baskets sitting on every surface holding "stuff" ranging from Works In Progress to random fabric stacks.  And project boxes sitting on the end of the ironing board or floor.  It's a messy hotbed of creativity right now - with an emphasis on "messy".  And I do feel that when it get TOO messy, that kills my creativity too.   

But the other quote I copied from her post is this one . . . and it's much more important.

No guilt.

RSC23 - Week #9, digging into green

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

In my world we both tested positive for Covid yesterday afternoon, which is a bummer. The good news is neither of us feel very sick, and have mild symptoms.  The bad news is we possibly exposed a lot of extended family members.  We're assuming we were exposed at the basketball tournament.

In the meantime, I worked on catching up with the weekly blocks I had missed while being gone, and it was certainly time to pull out those green scraps.  I began with the green 9" Sewcialites 2 blocks.

First up was Block #18 called Innovate. This was a quick and easy block and is another that would be good for future scrappy sewing in any color.  Hmmm - I sense a squirrel trying to distract me.

Next up was Christmas Star (#16).  This one wasn't difficult, but definitely was time consuming.  It turned out really nicely, but I'm dreading this one in the smaller sizes.  Mostly that dread is because there are so many pieces in this block.

Finally, to bring me completely up-to-date on the 9" Sewcialites 2 blocks, we have Invigorate by Joanna Figueroa.  This is another one that would make really great scrap busting blocks.  Another possible distraction?  Probably . . . but first I need to work on all the 6" blocks for Sewcialites because I'm behind with them too.  And the 3" blocks too!

A few other random green blocks have also been added to the collections.  A green Rainbow Connection block brings the total to 18.  The Small Hearts, Irish Chain, and Scrapbuster blocks were also made. I'm not all that thrilled with colors I used in the bottom right block.  It's very dull looking, and the other blocks in the collection are quite bright and cheery.

 And since I won't be able to go to Saturday Sampler or Sew Vintage today, I'll just keep sewing up a storm.  

Progress on Framed 9-patch

 Following along with the APQ UFO Challenge, and the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is fun each month, but it also gives me some direction and focus for my normally scrappy random sewing.  Since I have the main UFO for March moved into the flimsy stage already, I'm going to focus on getting the PIG for March moving along too.  

I like having more than one option on that UFO challenge list, and one is usually a PIG (Project In Grocery Sack).  Well, this PIG was actually begun in January.  I finished the 20 blocks on March 2nd - before leaving for 5 days of college basketball.  Now it's time to start working on assembling the rows of blocks, sashing, and cornerstones.  

Because I was working with a jelly roll, I ended up piecing 4 of those sashing strips from leftovers.  Once it's quilted those pieced sections will not even be noticeable.  And I had to use a little of the border fabrics too just to make enough sashing pieces.  Had I left the sashing and cornerstones OFF the outside, then there would have been plenty, but I like the look better with that outer set of sashing.  It seems more finished. 

There will be a narrow "stop" border using the cornerstone print, which is a white with tiny dots of all the colors in the jelly roll prints.  Then that darkest floral (which was strangely NOT in the jelly roll) will be the outer border.  The darker pink with the words will be the binding.  

Scrappiness is Happiness - catching up

All caught up with the Scrappiness Is Happiness blocks, and it feels good.  

The week 16 block was Apple.  It's a really cute one. Wouldn't a whole quilt full of apples in various shades of red, and maybe green, be cute?  The block for week #17 is Blossom. That one sure went together quickly.  

 

Week #18 is basically a 9-patch, but was called Checkerboard in the book. And for week #19 we have the Checkerboard Star.  I can picture a whole quilt with this Checkboard Star too.

Lori Holt is one of my favorite designers, and I have made several quilts over the years using her books.  This one will be a sampler with a variety of block sizes - really fun.  

Home again

It's so good to be home again after 5 days of college basketball tournament watching.  I love college basketball, but I'm definitely ready to do something else now.  We always have fun because a lot of extended family is there too, although some only attended one or two games.  This year that included all 5 grandkids, both sons-in-law, my sister-in-law and her husband, another brother-in-law, 3 nieces, one great niece, and one new "friend".  Only our oldest daughter couldn't make any sessions this year due to her work schedule.  

Our Jackrabbit women had an undefeated conference season, and swept through the tournament easily for the Summit League Championship.  Now on to the NCAA tournament.  Congratulations ladies!  The men lost in the semi-final game, unfortunately and that brought their season to an end. 

Now - back to some ME time!  My husband left this morning for a client visit and I have the house to myself.  The suitcase has been emptied and put away, and I'm about to take my coffee and go downstairs to play in my happy place.   

The first project to work on will be the Scrappiness Is Happiness blocks.  I'm definitely behind by a couple of weeks and I want to catch up completely before next week.