What is next?

It's time to pull out the next UFO to work on.  The list is too long, but several of them have been so close to being done that I need to buckle down and just do it. I've been trying to get more UFOs at least to the flimsy stage this year.   

There is now a finishing plan for this one - the batik Hunter's Star.  Originally I had planned to make more blocks to make it bigger.  But since I tracked down more of that black print used in all of the stars, I'm thinking simple borders.  There will be a few orphan blocks to deal with, but that's better than a whole unfinished quilt.  Maybe the extras can become a pillow.

This is probably the last project on the UFO list that could be an "easy" finish.  I did take 2 UFOs to be quilted this month, so when they come back they'll be ready to trim and bind.  But there are a couple of UFOs on that list that are barely started.  Those will require a LOT more effort to be able to finally check them off the list. 

Another project that needed to be tackled is cleaning out and organizing the big dresser in my sewing room.  I began with the top drawer yesterday, mainly because I was looking for something I thought was buried in there.  What a mess of random stuff!  I did find what I was looking for.  But I also threw away some random old craft supplies such as dried up bottles of glue.  The remaining craft supplies and zippers are all organized in baskets, as are the odds and ends of orphan blocks and fabrics.  

There are 3 more big drawers in this dresser to organize, along with clutter on top of it.  Maybe I will dig into the second drawer today.  

Progress, progress, progress

The red/white/blue Buckeye Beauty blocks are adding up.

I need a lot of these blocks for a Quilt of Valor, and I'm getting close.  Today I'll get them layed out and see how I'm doing.  I do know I don't have exactly the same number of each version, and that will need to happen I think.

Yesterday I also made a dent in my project list.  First off came borders - including the border on that hummingbird panel quilt.  I'll show that on Saturday's post.  But I also put borders onto 2 more doll quilts.  The center sections - boots and soccer balls - had been set aside along with border fabric.  These will be the next ones to quilt, maybe in March.

And I got the zippers into all of the little coin purses that were cut out and laying on my big design board.  Finishing them shouldn't take long now. 

Blue and yellow

 Don't we all have favorite color combinations?  For example, I sew with bright saturated color a lot, mixing them with black or white usually.  And I sew a lot with red/white/blue because I do a lot of Quilt of Valor projects.

But there is another color combo I love, but haven't used in a quilt before. Blue and yellow look great together.  And those colors are my college alma matter colors, so I wear that royal blue quite often.  And now I have another reason to combine those colors because of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  February's color was blue, and the March color was just announced - and it's yellow!!  Yay!!

Yesterday morning I showed this project box with a UFO in it.  The pattern was tucked in under all the fabric so it was ready to cut and start sewing.  I jumped in and got a start on the Hummingbird project.  It uses a panel and large pieces so I expected it to go together pretty quickly.  But it was even quicker than I imagined.

Monday afternoon I cut most of the pieces, and Tuesday morning I cut the rest and started sewing.  By noon it looked like this.  The pattern has 3 borders, but I'm considering only using 1 border.  The pieces are cut for that first border so once it's on I'll decide if I want to go ahead with the other 2 borders or stop at just 1.

To Do list grows

I'm working my way through a long list of things I want to see progress on, and am pleased to be checking some things off the list.

These Entwined Star blocks have been one of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge block sets from last year.  I've added a blue version this week.

 

That makes 9 blocks total, some with white backgrounds and some with beige backgrounds.  But all of them have a floral in the block.  I need to remember to make the last 3 of them with beige or cream backgrounds to balance these better.

The biggest list contains UFOs and PIGs, and I pulled out a couple of the smaller projects from that list.  This next one even has a lot of blue, so it will work nicely into the February RSC color - blue.  

One project from the UFO is the Hummingbird panel quilt.  I bought this panel 2 years ago at a shop in Kansas, on the way to Arizona.  I've gathered the blue and yellow fabrics I want to use with it and the pattern, but all has been just waiting in the project box ever since.  So this will be one of the next UFOs I plan to start working on.

A couple of the larger UFO projects on the list are now in the hands of a long arm quilter, so hopefully they will be finishes yet this spring.  

Design Wall Monday - February 24

It was a weekend of swim meets, basketball games, and an evening fundraiser event.  But I did get about 90 minutes yesterday to get some cutting done, and some things organized for this week in the sewing room.

There are 7 more red/white/blue Buckeye Beauty blocks cut out for the QOV I'm working on.  And I pulled out a few blue strings for another string triangle block.

There is one Entwined Star block to finish from last week.  It has royal blue and lime green to go with the floral.  All of these blocks have something floral in them so far.

And you can see the parts for a few more of the coin purses.  I have a couple of patriotic charm packs that I've used for some of the Buckeye blocks.  But some of the prints just don't seem to work as well for those.  However, they will work nicely for the coin purses.  My daughter mentioned taking some to the VA where she works.  So, another good use of those charm squares.

The first task today is to sew a label onto a Quilt of Valor that will be awarded to a local veteran this evening.  

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

https://songbirddesigns.blog

RSC25 - Week #8

 There was a lot of stitching this week partly because it was so bitter cold that I had little interest in getting out and going anywhere. 

A few more of the red/white/blue Buckeye Beauties have been made.  I have 58 of them so far.  And there will be more needed for a Quilt of Valor. I have more cut and waiting to be sewn.  So, it's an on-going project all month. 

Pulling out the bin of the Travel Star parts and pieces revealed several blue squares.  These are the squares shared at guild by members who travel.  We share 6.5" blocks of fabric representing our destinations.  I've made at least 3 quilts with those squares over the years but the bin is still pretty full.  These blue Travel Star blocks used up 3 of those squares. 

The focus was on the royal blues for a new Night Vision block.  The bonus pinwheels are done too.  I didn't count these blocks but I must be getting close to having enough for a child sized quilt. 

Two of the Brighten blocks happened, one royal blue and the other in a pale baby blue. 

The piano key border is done on 2 opposite sides of this scrappy project.  This is the Make Your Point pattern, using 1.5" squares and 2/5" HSTs. So it was a great use of 16-patche units and pinwheels already made.  I'll need to make a lot more of the "keys" before I can do the other 2 longer sides.  I'm thinking of doing 4-patch blocks in the corners, or maybe pinwheels.  Those little keys are good as Leaders/Enders. 

A scrappy doll quilt was also finished this week.  There was a whole bag of these 4-patch blocks, and now that bag is empty.  Yay!!

No sewing is likely to happen this weekend, as a granddaughter is arriving Friday afternoon, and swimming in the State A swim meet just down the street.  And this evening we're attending a Dualling Pianos show with friends that is a fundraiser for the local fire department in the small town we used to live in. 

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

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

Weekly progress and 2 finishes

Last weekend I had made a list of projects I wanted to move forward, and there has definitely been some good progress made on most.

This week's block for the Riley Blake challenge is done.  Block #6 is Starburst by Amber Elliot.  Those purple star points could have been more easily made using a tri recs ruler than with the technique in the pattern.  However, not everyone would have that ruler - I do - so the pattern used oversize rectangles resulting in a lot of fabric waste.  But I followed the directions just as the pattern called for.

On the Stay At Home Round Robin I've been stuck with absolutely no ideas for Rounds 3-5.  But this week I had a thought on how to do Round 4, so I'm skipping Round 3 for now and may add it later.  Round 4 was to use "slashed" blocks.  I did long strips with random slashes added for 3 of the sides.  Round 5 is a Quarter Log Cabin.  My plan is to do a row of colorful versions across the bottom. I'll need to do some math to figure out how many and what size to make those Quarter Log Cabin units.

*  a backing to piece for a big UFO - Done & dropped off to be quilted

*  lots of RSC blocks using blue scraps - a few blue blocks made

*  the 4-patch doll quilt to be quilted and bound - DONE

*  some progress on the SAHRR project that has stalled - 1 round 
*  some cleaning/organizing in sewing room - very little cleaning

*  new block for this week in RBD challenge - DONE
*  work on applique pillow top (yes - it is a squirrel) - DONE

*  AND - whatever else pops up!!

The binding was completed on 2 baby quilts in the last week.

It was quilted with a bright variegated thread that really shows up nicely.

This is a Villa Rosa pattern called October Sky, and a Laurel Burch panel with a fun jungle theme.  This one is going to be a baby gift for a coworker of my daughter.

The other baby quilt that is finished is a Quick Strippie, using 1 yard of 3 different fabrics. It has the cutest little birds wearing hats, carrying umbrellas, and flying around in the sunshine.  It's a free pattern you can download from Mary Quilts.

 https://maryquilts.com/quick-strippie/    

One last bitter cold day yesterday, and hopefully we won't see those below zero temperatures again this winter.  We even stayed home from the Jackrabbit basketball game on Wednesday night rather than be out on the road when the wind chill in negative 30 or worse.

A new pillow

A new pillow is gracing my family room sofa for February.

This is the squirrel that I was following, and it was a quick finish.  The pattern is actually for an 18" pillow but I cut it down to 16".   It does still need a 16" pillow form to really fill it out, but I had a 14" one in the closet so that will do for now.  The applique was a little "putzy" to cut out all those tiny holes scattered among the hearts.  I made the decision to not do any stitching around all those pieces after fusing them down.  

Instead I did matchstick quilting, every half inch to hold everything down.  The envelope back is a fun heart print fat quarter that was in the stash.  Even the background was in the stash.  I bound the pillow with the same pink as the heart applique.

The pattern is Forever Love by Lisa Bongean of Primitive Gatherings.  It was offered free on her blog last week through February 16, but can be purchased online now.  I follow her blog, so was quick enough to download it while it was free.  Lucky me!! 

A small squirrel and small finish

A squirrel has crossed my path, and of course I had to chase it.  

It's a small squirrel . . . but could get kind of messy.  It involves lots of small cut-outs, and was traced onto fusible before ironing it onto the pink fabric. 

There was a small finish - actually more than one - that I'll show off today.  The 4-patch doll quilt is all done.  The pink squirrel above was sitting on this little doll quilt and you can see I used some of the leftover cat backing I have.  The quilting is just simple diagonals through each of the 4-patch units.

This doll quilt is 24" square, and is the 6th one I've finished so far this year.  I've challenged myself to make at least one per month using up orphan blocks and leftovers.  There were still 5 of those 4-patch units in the bag.  Since they are just 2.5" squares, I zipped my seam ripper through them, and dropped those squares into my bin holding that size.  They are more likely to get used from the bin than in a bag hiding in a drawer.  

The other finishes are baby quilts that I finally got bound, and I'll share those another day.

Tuesday To Do

 

I'm happy to check off the first item from this week's To Do list - the Saturday Sampler row.  This year's project is a row quilt, and this is the very first row.  There are 15 chevrons plus the spacers to make a row approximately 58" wide.  I'm ready for next month now.

It was so bitter cold yesterday, and I spent most of the day in the basement sewing.  Once the Saturday Sampler row was finished, I worked on sandwiching the doll quilt and even got some of the quilting done on it.  But the afternoon was mostly taken up with piecing the backing for a huge UFO quilt.  I'm hoping to take it to the quilter tomorrow. 

Design Wall Monday - February 17

I took the weekend OFF - from sewing, and spent time with friends and family.  

Saturday morning we left the house about 8:00 am to drive to Brookings where the youngest grandson had a basketball tournament.  So we watched his 3rd grade team play 2 games, hung out with the son-in-law in between games, then scooted across town to the Jackrabbit women's game in the afternoon.  That was very handy, as it was the big rivalry game and we wouldn't have wanted to miss the Jackrabbits vs the USD Coyotes.  Jackrabbits had a win but it was a close game.

We got home Saturday just in time to meet some friends for supper and an adult beverage.  We met at one casual restaurant and after eating, we walked next door to a new brewery for one more beverage.  That was fun too.  

And Sunday morning we met our daughter at the interstate and rode to Pierre with her to watch a granddaughter wrestle that afternoon in the state Middle School meet.  Our granddaughter earned a second place medal in her weight class, pinning both the 3rd and 4th place girls.  So it was a good day.

I did sew the binding onto this little doll quilt in the car on Saturday.  And I worked on the binding on a baby quilt in the car on Sunday.  There is only about 18" remaining to be stitched down.  That is the only sewing since Friday afternoon, which means it's time to get back into sewing mode today, before I go through withdrawal.

Carried over from last week are the chevron blocks for Saturday Sampler.  I have only 3 of the 15 left to make.  Then the row of chevrons will get a narrow top and bottom strip.

Also carried over from last week are these Buckeye Beauty blocks for a new Quilt of Valor.  The count is adding up quickly, but it will require quite a few more yet.  So these will be an ongoing project.

There are more things happening on other projects including . . .

*  a backing to piece for a big UFO

*  lots of RSC blocks using blue scraps

*  the 4-patch doll quilt to be quilted and bound

*  some progress on the SAHRR project that has stalled
*  some cleaning/organizing in sewing room

*  new block for this week in RBD challenge
*  work on applique pillow top (yes - it is a squirrel)

*  AND - whatever else pops up!!

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

https://songbirddesigns.blog

RSC25 - Week #7

It's been bitter cold here this week, so just perfect to hunker down and sew.  With a focus on blue this month I've been working on some Quilts of Valor blocks as well as some scrappy projects.  

  There are 55 of these 8" (finished) blocks now.  I haven't decided yet how I want them laid out, and whether or not to add a border.  They are very addictive to make.

 These string blocks are pieced on muslin foundations, and are squared up at 9.5".  When I opened the project box with the muslin squares I found a partially finished brown one.  I finished that one and added a blue one.  And I sorted out more blue strings. 

Those additional blue strings became 3 more blocks later in the week, in between other projects.  They make great Leaders/Enders.  There are now 37 of them but I'm aiming for 48 blocks total so more will happen.  

The hanger these blocks were clipped to was getting very full, so I've taken 12 of them and begun assembling a top.  

And speaking of Leaders/Enders, I've been working on a Piano Key border a little bit at a time for a scrappy UFO that I want to finish.  Again - all of these are scraps.  

One more scrappy project that surfaced this week - a scrappy 4-patch doll quilt flimsy.  This one is about 20 x 24.  I will dig into the backing leftovers and see if there is something that would work for this and try to get it quilted soon.

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

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

More churn dash

 Yesterday I needed a break from the chevrons for the Saturday Sampler project, so I made a few more churn dash blocks for the baby quilts.

A few at a time do add up quickly.  And I had several fat quarters set aside for these churn dash blocks.  These will go nicely with the more pastel group. 

And I did get 3 of those chevrons made, so only 5 more to go to complete this month's row of blocks.  Maybe today I'll get them done.  Or maybe not.   

Bags, blocks and binding

Besides working on the Saturday Sampler this week, I'm finishing a few little things, and keeping up with other weekly tasks.  

The first month's row for Saturday Sampler is almost halfway done.  Seven of the 15 chevrons are assembled and all of the other pieces are ready.  I've made a few each day this week, with other sewing in between them.  I have until the 2nd Saturday of March to finish this row, but plan to have it all done much sooner than that.  

Those little coin purses I was working on are finished.  I think I've made 13 of these so far.  All of them are made from scraps, except for the zippers and lobster clips.  But I had those zippers and clips in the stash anyway.   

The 5th block for the Riley Blake Design challenge was posted on Tuesday, and I got this block cut out and sewn on Wednesday morning.  It's called Flower Patch, designed by Heather Peterson.  This was an easy one.  I've been using my stash of Tula Pink fabrics.  The fussy cut center square has a squirrel.  

The binding is prepped for some small projects - a baby quilt and a doll quilt.  First thing today I plan to sew the binding onto the baby quilt so I'll have that to work on in the evenings while watching TV.  The doll quilt binding is actually ready for hand stitching.  

Snow and sew

 We finally got some measurable snow on Monday.  It snowed all day long, and I stayed in my sewing room most of the day.  

We ended up with about 4" total, and then the cold moved in behind it.  Yesterday morning it was -14 when I got up, with a "feels like" temperature of -36.  And we were much warmer than anyone north of us!  But the sun was shining on all that new snow.  These are the days that I'm grateful that I didn't have to be on the road before dawn for work.

When I picked out the top stitching on each of the coin purses, I managed to make a big hole in the aqua star version.  But the others went just fine. For the one with the hole, I just removed the zipper completely and replaced it with a different outer fabric.  All 5 new coin purses are ready to hand stitch the lining closed, and then turned right side out.  

And I did the cutting for the new Saturday Sampler.  Once the pieces were all cut, the assembly has begun.  I switched the dark brown for the lighter shade so there was more contrast with the chevrons.  One third of the chevrons are sewn so far.

To Do Tuesday

 Well, one of the first things on my To Do list today is to fix the mistakes I made yesterday.

My big design board had the parts for 4 coin purses, and a bunch of Quilt of Valor blocks.  And I wanted to clear off the design board so I could use it while cutting the pieces for the new Saturday Sampler.  I started by putting the zippers into the coin purses, which only took about 15 minutes.  Except, I forgot to include the lining pieces.  ARGGGG!  I kept thinking I was doing something wrong, but kept sewing anyway.  

I did make the Quilt of Valor blocks however.  So now my design board is ready to lay out the pieces for the Saturday Sampler as I get them cut.  

Design Wall Monday - February 10

A fresh new week, and some new priorities are popping up.

On Saturday we got our first month's instructions for Saturday Sampler.  This year we're doing a row quilt designed by Mariah of Knight On the Prairie.  She is a new young pattern designer who also works at the local quilt shop.  I'm excited about this new Saturday Sampler program because it will be very different from anything we've done before.  This month's row will use 3 colors to make 15 small chevron shapes, and the whole pattern is based on stranded knitting designs.  I'm hoping to have the pieces all cut in the next day or so.

I still have the parts for 4 little coin purses waiting on a design board to be sewn.  The board also contains several more of the red/white/blue Buckeye Beauty block parts.  My goal is to get this design board emptied by the end of the week.  We'll see how that plan goes.

The next prompt for the Stay At Home Round Robin comes out this morning, and I still don't have last week's prompt added.  However, I do have a plan for last week in my mind.  I'm hoping this next prompt will "play nicely" with my plan. 

There are also some blue Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks in the works.

On the hand-stitching front I'll be working on a couple of binding, starting with a kid sized quilt that is on my UFO list.  It's a Laurel Burch panel and I used a Villa Rosa pattern called October Sky.  

And there is a doll quilt that is ready to bind.  My plan is to finish at least one doll quilt each month this year.  

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

https://songbirddesigns.blog