Weekend sewing

Yesterday and today have been bone-chilling cold, and today it's snowing as well.  Guess it doesn't matter because I wasn't planning to go anywhere. My plan was to stay home and sew - and watch some college basketball on TV. Oh - and the Super Bowl today of course. 

I so enjoyed the sunshine yesterday but today we are back to grey skies and grey light.  And that grey light means that color just doesn't show up correctly no matter where I try to photograph my projects.  The Flamingo Quick Strippee quilt is finally a flimsy and ready to quilt.  

One of my favorite child or baby quilt patterns, the Quick Strippee is a free pattern from MaryQuilts.com.  The pattern is here:  https://maryquilts.com/quick-strippie/  It's simply cut from 3 different fabrics in 3 sizes of strips across the whole width.  I love how it allows a fun novelty print to be the focus.  And it's so quick that normally you could sew this easily in one short day - unless you get lazy like me and keep setting it aside to sew other things. 

I did get a better picture of the colors under a lamp.  It's has very bright aqua prints with narrow gold strips separating them.  The flamingoes and toucans are so cute. 

 

I can check off 3 more pillowcases from the ones I kitted up earlier in the winter.  Both granddaughters will get zebras pillowcases on their birthdays.  Sophia will be 9 in March and Olivia will be 8 in April.  This zebra print is so cute with a colorful stripe on each animal.   

Jonah will get this insect pillowcase when he turns 8, also in April.  I searched and searched for an interesting bug print.  Finally, at Spoonflower, I found this one with the scientific names of each insect.  He's fascinated with bugs, so maybe he will decide to learn some of the Latin names for them too. 

And this classic car pillowcase is one we'll keep.  Our family room sofa always has a bed type pillow hanging out at one end - for napping of course.  I'm tired of the winter pillowcase currently in use, so this one will replace it.  

Lots of other sewing happened this weekend - blocks and binding included.  But I'll leave those for another day.  

A little stitching to end the week

 Working extra hours cut deep into my sewing time this week, but I managed to end my Friday afternoon with some stitching.

String blocks are part of my RSC plans again this year, but I decided to do something a little different from last year’s rainbow strings.  I’m putting 4 blocks together like this for each color.  The individual quarters are squared up to 9.5”, so the 4 together make an 18” finished block.

One yellow Wisdom block is joined by a pink one and a green one.  I have 25 of these now in the set so I’m close to having enough.  I also have a second set of these going that I’m making from a layer cake. Those will be a separate project. 

The whole weekend is predicted to be bitter cold with highs in the single digits, and I’m hoping that means I get to spend lots of time sewing.  Add these yellow blocks to what I made at the beginning of the week, and I have a great start on the RSC blocks for this month. 

Focusing on yellow

My yellow scrap bin wasn't overflowing like some of the other colors, and the stash drawer with yellow isn't as full either.  But there is still plenty to choose from.  And I have a good start on my February RSC blocks.   

"Home Is . . ." is a Pat Sloan block that she shared as part of one of her Sew Alongs this winter.  I love the house block with the little heart coming out of the chimney.  So far the only other block from that series that I might make is a courthouse steps with a cat or dog silhouette appliqued.  I could use all of RSC colors in the steps to make it kind of a centerpiece to mix in with the house blocks.  

And of course more Ohio Star blocks had to happen.  I like making these blocks so much that I'm thinking instead of just making a few to enlarge the existing flimsy, maybe I'll just make a second quilt.  The first one is a great size already for a large couch throw or child's quilt - approximately 50 x 60.  

So, this UFO will be finished at this size and I'll focus on making enough blocks to make a second quilt. These will be good donation quilts. 

Tracking my finishes

I will readily admit to being a bit of a nerd - with a love of spreadsheets. They are a terrific tool for tracking all kinds of things, and don't need to be fancy or complicated. 

At the end of 2020 I found myself wondering just how many finishes I actually had for the year.  I could go back in my blog and literally count them, but that seemed like an awful lot of work.  So, for 2021 I've set up a simple spreadsheet to track finishes.

As I've worked on projects - or kitted them up - I've added them to the list.  If I haven't worked on them, then they won't get added to the list.  On the right side I set up a drop-down list of project types to help me organize them further.  You can't see it in the photo, but I have a COUNTIF set up at the bottom, that will keep a running count of finishes in each category. And I removed the category for unfinished things so it's only counted after I add the date and choose a category from the drop down. 

I've been thinking I should add new worksheet for RSC blocks or other "random" blocks I'm making for future projects.  I'm sure the numbers in that category would add up fast.  For example:

On Tuesday afternoon I made 3 more Patriotic Star blocks for our QOV group, and then made 6 little Hourglass blocks from HST trimmings from the stars.  I'm trying NOT to allow these little (3.5") blocks distract me too much, but sewing them up right away kept me from having those triangles laying next to my cutting board.  They've been added to the bag with the others - now adding up to 20 little blocks. 

And on a side note - the cutting station is still clean.  The rulers are all returned where they belong, and the only thing laying next to the mat is the stack of binding strips I just cut to bind the Unity quilt.  It simplifies my life just a little to have that clean surface ready for the next cutting task.  Let's hope I can keep it clean for longer than a few days.

Pleased As Punch - a finish

Pleased As Punch is a 30" square Simple Whatnots Club 9 project - and it's DONE.  These Kim Diehl projects are about the only projects I've done in the past couple of years that don't contain lots of bright colors.  As most of my readers have probably figured out, I gravitate toward bright happy colors in my quilting most of the time. 

But I also love these darker, rich colors.  And I think this may be one of my favorite Simple Whatnots projects ever.  There is just something about the design of this one that really speaks to me. ADDED NOTE:  these are the actual Kim Diehl fabrics she designed for these quilts, so I didn't choose my own colors.  

 

This was a project that was on both my UFO Challenge list, and also on my PHD (projects half done) list for The Pin Cushion (local quilt shop).  For my 2021 PHD list I chose 12 unfinished projects from the longer UFO list that I really see as a priority to finish.  And this one is my first finish from that priority list. There is another Simple Whatnots on the list too.  

In 2020, for the first time ever, I managed to finish all 12 PHD projects, and those finishes earned me a lovely little stack of "Bonus Bucks" that I can spend in The Pin Cushion.  Thank you Brenda for challenging and rewarding us!!!

February plans

It's one month closer to spring . . . not that I'm silly enough to think we'll see spring arrive in South Dakota this early.  But February, and Valentine's Day, usually make me think of spring colors even when there is still snow on the ground.

My goals for the month of February are:

• Saturday Sampler - February sections
• SAHRR - Stay At Home Round Robin - catch up with rounds
• Quilt of Valor - 5 star blocks 
• Kim Diehl 
• Laundry Line - finish cutting out and begin sewing
• cut out 1 more Simple Whatnots project
  
  
• Quilt and bind
• Unity quilt 
• Kim Diehl - Pleased As Punch (Simple Whatnots)
• patriotic table runner
• Unicorn doll quilt (Olivia)
  
  
• Pillowcases
• 2 Quilt of Valor presentation  pillowcases
• Harry Potter for Mason
• Zebra for Olivia
• Bugs for Jonah
• Cars for Dave

• UFO & PHD Challenges # 2
• Quick Strippee with flamingoes
• Humble Homes
  
  
• RSC21 blocks - YELLOW
• Ohio Star - 2 blocks
• Blossom Time - 4 blocks
• Gingham - 2 framed blocks
• Home Is - 1 house block
• String - 4 blocks
• Wisdom - 5 blocks
• Twinkle Star - 2 blocks

• Organizing
• Empty large scrap basket
• Sort and separate bin of pink/red/orange scraps

Design Wall Monday - February 1

 What's on your design wall this morning? I've linked up Design Wall Monday: 
https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/

Well, the UFO Challenge number drawn for February was #2, and there are 3 items on my list for that number.  I'm starting with the easiest one to finish - a Quick Strippee baby quilt that was all cut and ready to finish.  I have the top and bottom rows done, so it won't take long to put the rest of the rows together.    

This is a free pattern from Mary Quilts and the link is below.  I've made several of these as baby gifts including for some of my own grandkids.  It's quick and easy to cut and sew, plus the layout allows a focus fabric to really be the star.  This one has the cutest flamingoes. 

Once this flimsy is done, it will join the pink and grey one with sheep and go to the quilter.  One more is already cut, and that one is red, white, and black with Scottie dogs. https://maryquilts.com/quick-strippie/