To Do Tuesday

 One little project is seeing progress - the Valentine mini.

The flimsy went together very quickly on Monday, so now it's time to quilt and bind it.  The backing fabric in the kit is much too pretty to go onto the back of something where it will never be seen again.  It is tucked in with some other Valentine fabrics for a future project, and I'm using a leftover backing chunk in it's place. 

Thank you to a couple of readers who suggested a "stop border" around the panel, and then add the blocks.  I have the borders added to the sides and still need to add them on top and bottom of the panel.  And I tested out some of the extra star blocks to see how they look.  I do like the stars better but we'll see what ends up.  We have a couple of different star blocks that could be used too, so there are options. 

Design Wall Monday - January 19

I kept thinking it was Sunday for the past 3 days, and now here it is Monday finally. And a bitter cold Monday morning around here.

The only actual sewing that occurred this weekend was binding, and piecing a back for a Quilt of Valor.  But I did spend a lot of time sorting through the quilts and quilt tops - and block sets - that we have for Quilts of Valor. I paired up 4 tops with backs to give to a long armer for quilting.  And I finished the binding on these placemats. 

Our QOV group has been given several patriotic panels to use in quilts, and I pulled this one out to play with some ideas.  There were more than enough of the 4-Patch Fun blocks to surround the panel.  I think it's way too busy.  What do you think?  Maybe star blocks would work better for this.  

This is the next PIG that I plan to work on. The February "spools" mini arrived in the mail on Saturday.  It shouldn't take long as it has very few small pieces. 

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

RSC26 - Week #3

The Vintage Spools blocks are starting to add up quite nicely.  The book (A Scrapbook of Quilts) with the pattern I'm using, and the blocks I made last fall are in that little bin. There are 2 different 6" blocks for this project. 

This week a dozen more blocks came off the design board - with blue being a part of each and every one of them.  Here are 6 of the small spools that are tilted to the side.

And here are 6 of the big spools sitting upright.  These will be alternated with the smaller spool throughout the quilt. 

The Snail Trail blocks are up to date, with 2 new brown ones and 2 new blue ones added to the 2 of each already made.  

A big variety of block sets - all going at the same time - is what makes me happiest with scrap sewing. It mostly eliminates boredom.  Some block sets get finished in 1 calendar year, but most continue on into a second or even third year.  I have blue taken care of for January for the following block sets:

** Vintage Spools
** Snail Trail
** Honey Bees
** String blocks (in light blue)
** Give It a Whirl

Now during the second half of the month I plan to get a mostly blue PIG cut out - the Jackrabbit Stars quilt.  And I'll play more with some of the longer running block sets hanging in the closet . . .

**  Quilt of Valor blocks
** Hollow 9-Patch
** Paint Chip
** 4-Patch Fun
** testing out another possible new RSC block - maybe

Let's go see what everyone else is playing with this week . . .

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/ 

Friday Finished (or not)

It's Friday.  Sigh!!  Do I have any finishes to show for the week?  Not really.

 Well, I did get 3 Twin Star blocks done for a future Quilt of Valor.  That empties out one more design board.  So it's time to cut some more, right?  There are only 5 of these total so far which means there is a long way to go to have enough for a quilt.

I spent some time yesterday digging through the orphan block box to find something fun to use for the center block of the SAHRR online sew along.  The one I'm leaning toward is a 16" block called Follow the Leader. It was made with Loose Goose blocks I made in 2 sizes for Rainbow Scrap Challenge - back in 2024.  These are actually 3-D, with that colored triangle made with a folded rectangle.  The bag has a bunch in all the colors but I was stuck at this point with ideas of how to use the geese.  I might need to pick out part of the seam near those green geese to line them up better.  The first "challenge"  for SAHRR will be added next week.

Maybe those Loose Goose blocks should be back on my RSC list for this year so that I can use them ALL up to make something by the end of the year.  

Check out more Finishes (or Not) today . . .
https://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/

Saturday Sampler and more

The background for month #1 of Saturday Sampler is assembled.

I'm using very pale batiks and solids for the background of this whole project.  Hopefully it will give it interest and depth.  This section of the quilt will (hopefully) get appliqued snowflakes.  I've only cut out 2 big and 2 small ones so far. I have a couple of candy pink snowflakes ready to cut out.  I'm not planning to iron them on permanently yet, until I get a better feel for how they will look.  And to decide on how many to use.  

Some RSC sewing in blue happened in between things, but I'll wait to share on Saturday.  I did decide to pare down my list of RSC blocks by eliminating a couple of things that can wait for another year, such as house blocks. But there is still 1 more that I may add to this year's mix of rainbow block sets. 

The guild is going to do a DIY Round Robin project this year.  I think this orphan block of hand pieced hexies will be my starting point.  I also want to play along with the online SAHRR (Stay At Home Round Robin), but haven't picked out a center block for that yet.  These can be as small or as large as we want, so I'm thinking I'll keep them fairly small.

Two more of the mystery quilt blocks are sewn together.  And I've attached the binding to 2 more placemats so I'll have some handwork to do in the evening. Progress is good! 

Midweek check-in

It's January in the upper Midwest which normally would bring cold and snow.  I never used to mind winter, because we went skiing.  And we had jobs that kept us very busy.  Now that we're old and retired (relatively) those fun ski trips are long in the past, and we're home a LOT.  With little interaction with actual live people.  And this month has been so gloomy!  Every day we have a grey sky and brown landscape.  ARGGGG!  Can you tell I'm struggling with that scenario?

Maybe I should be sewing with brighter colors this week.  And reading cheerful books.  And stop watching/reading the news!  And get out of the house to do something fun!

  OK - I did leave the house long enough yesterday to pick up a prescription refill and a few groceries. That doesn't count as doing something fun however.  But I did get some sewing done that is somewhat cheerful.  The 8 blocks needed for month #1 of Saturday Sampler are pieced, with a goal of getting them sewn into rows today.  I also got a start on tracing out some of the applique pieces that maybe will go onto this section of the quilt. 

A few more Lupines & Laughter blocks were my leaders/enders while sewing all those strips together.  So far only 5 blocks are finished - 3 of one and 2 of the other. It's forward progress, and has no deadline.  

Lots of prep work

Monday morning in the sewing room was mostly prep work on several projects that I want to see progress on this week.

The first month's task for the new Saturday Sampler is to make a pieced background for a large section of the quilt.  We'll make 8 blocks using 6 different backgrounds - or however many we want.  I have strips cut in these 8 pale colors, so that my blocks won't be exactly identical.  One block is done so far. 

There were 4 placemats all sandwiched on my ironing board.  They are now quilted and have binding cut. 

Vintage Spools are another Rainbow Scrap Challenge patterns on my 2026 list.  I actually began making these last fall in random colors.  But this month each of the 2 different blocks will have blue in them somewhere.  Lots of cutting has blocks prepped.  These are 6" finished, so I'll need a lot of them. 

Also for RSC I'm doing 12" Snail Trail blocks this year.  Up until now there were only 2 brown (from 2025) and 2 blue (2026) Snail Trail blocks finished.  My plan is to do 3-4 of each color. 

Two more of the brown and blue are cut out now and layed out on a design board.  The thing I really love about the design boards is that I can lay out the parts and pieces for a block or project in the right order or direction to be used.  It cuts down on sewing something wrong - doesn't eliminate it, but cuts down on it.  And I can just move the design board around from my cutting space to the ironing board or next to my sewing machine. 

I only sewed one more of the BH mystery blocks, but I do have the units all paired up so that the various fabrics don't end up repeated in the blocks. 

Having all of this prep work done ahead will make for some very quick sewing this week.  And hopefully getting some of these blocks done and off the design boards will make my sewing room a bit neater.