RSC25 - Week #16

Some weeks are really productive in the sewing room, and some are not.  This was a "or not" kind of week in terms of sewing productivity.  I did make some progress on the decluttering front, so it's a win.  But sewing is therapeutic for me, and by yesterday morning I was definitely craving some extended sewing time. 

First up was adding the borders to finish a flimsy.  Enchanted is a pattern from Fabric Cafe in a 3-yard quilt book.  It's perfect for showcasing a bigger print that you don't want to cut into small pieces.  That beautiful poppy print was a perfect choice for those big blocks, and I must thank blogger friend Connie for sending it to me.  I actually made this bigger, using more like 1.5 yards of each fabric.  I really love how this one turned out.  It's just a flimsy right now but I'll be looking for a backing. 

 The strip sets are now all sewn to make a kid sized quilt using the Mickey Mouse fabric.  I love the red and grey together.  Assembling the quilt top is on my To Do list for today.

Block sewing wasn't a big priority this week, but a few were added to collections.

Neutral string blocks make a pretty interesting choice for these Drunkard's Path blocks.  Two red blocks have been added to the little pile.  These are only 6" (finished) blocks, and I have no plan yet for them.  But they are fun to play with.  

A few Hollow 9-patch blocks happened this week.  Two of each - red, blue, and yellow are now in the little bin with the pink ones.  These use 2.5" squares to make 6" finished blocks, so I'll need a lot of them.  I keep thinking there are more of these somewhere, hiding in a drawer, but haven't found them yet.  Surprise, surprise!

Two red Gameboard blocks were yesterday's addition.  There is still no real plan for these blocks, but they are kind of cute.

There is a new rainbow themed project waiting in the wings, and this one doesn't involve scraps.  I promised myself that I wouldn't start working on this one until I had the Poppy quilt top sewn, and the Mickey Mouse quilt top sewn.  But I'm getting ready . . .

I'll be linking up today with Rainbow Scrap Challenge:

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/ 

More decluttering

 There was absolutely no sewing happening yesterday, but I did a LOT of spring cleaning of a closet.  And I spent 2 hours in the afternoon shredding more old paperwork.

There is a large box of extra bedding from the top shelf of the master bedroom closet.  There is a big shopping bag of shoes and belts, another smaller bag of clothing.  And a small bag full of ugly costume jewelry and craft supplies, such as sea glass, ribbon, and marbles.  This whole stack will be going to donation.

There are a few more items headed to my daughter's summer rummage sale.  And - in the trash went some really ratty old shoes, some lingerie no longer wanted, and a bunch of craft supplies of no use.  That whole shelf section of the closet is now neat and clean, and even has some empty spots.  

Decluttering in my house is helping to declutter my mind as well.     

Midweek check-in

 

Block #12 is Crossroads by Amber Johnson was posted Tuesday morning, and I went right to work cutting it out.  Sewing it took less time than choosing which fabrics to use.

I actually spent more time focusing on the decluttering yesterday than I spent in my sewing room.  A car load of things went for donation. And 2 garbage bags of old paperwork went to the trash.  Dave found a couple boxes on the top shelf in our basement storage area containing old materials from workshops and grad classes I was teaching several years ago.  I went through them all, but trashed almost everything in there - old handouts, course notes, and even 6 packages of dried out markers.  I couldn't have put those boxes up on that shelf myself, so I'm guessing he put them up there when I cleared out my office in a local elementary school and moved it all to my home office.  

I'm up to 114 items removed from my house - more if I had counted some things separately, like those packages of markers.  

Next week is the city wide clean-up week when we can put large items out on the curb for pick-up on our designated garbage day.  We've pulled a few items from storage that will be going out that day.  I can't wait to have some empty spaces.  

To Do Tuesday

The RWB Hexie table runner is a flimsy.

It's sandwiched using leftover batting, and a leftover backing.  The plan is to do some simple hand quilting on this, probably just outlining those hexies.  It's only about 20 x 26 so it shouldn't take long to hand quilt - even as slow as I am at it. 

I finished sewing the blocks for the Poppy quilt, and have all 5 rows sewn together.  There will be 2 borders added to it for finishing.  Maybe that will happen today, or possibly tomorrow.  

Design Wall Monday - April 14

The weekend got away from me, and so did the idea of any post for this morning. A good night's sleep also got away from me, as the wind howled all night.  And I laid awake listening to that wind howling.  I'm thinking a nap will be in the plan for today. 

I did get 2 more blocks made yesterday for the Poppy quilt.  That makes 14 done and 6 more blocks to sew.  

  The center section of a new red/white/blue table runner is done.  The next step is to add the outer border.  I've been picturing this runner being hand quilted, eventually.  

On Saturday we received the pattern for the 3rd row of this year's Saturday Sampler.  It's another row similar to month #1 - with 15 smaller blocks making up the row.  Those attending SS on Saturday morning were asked to hold up their March row to show everyone.  Wow - there were so many gorgeous color combos.  Mine is looking pretty drab so far, with cream, tan, brown and 2 shades of burgundy.  The only spark of color so far is the tiny bit of lime green in the February row of chevrons.  It's good to step outside of my comfort zone however.

I keep thinking about some new projects I want to begin, so it's a struggle some days to keep working on projects that are on-going.  Hmmm . . . so many potential projects and not nearly enough time. 

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I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

RSC25 - Week #15

Happy birthday to my husband today!  

He has caught up with me again.  For 3 weeks every year I'm the "older woman".  This picture is a favorite of mine, even though it was taken a few years ago when there was still a hint of red in that hair.  I liked that red truck too, but he has a silver one now - which matches his current hair color.  

It has been a busy week, with plenty of red around here.  

Red Dresden blocks are done, including the black blanket stitching on the edges.  I did go back and blanket stitch a couple of the other color blocks while I had the machine threaded with black.  There are still enough red blades to make another block, but I will hold off on that until I know how many total blocks I actually need.

There will be 20 blocks total in the red Poppies quilt, and I have 12 of them sewn.  But only one row of 4 has actually been assembled so far.  

Red was quite dominant in the vinyl fronted project bags finished this week.  I've made a bunch in the past to gift, and even sold a couple of them.  These 5 will hopefully be sold soon.  Some of the ladies in the DAR chapter have requested some patriotic versions to purchase.

There has also been some progress made with another small UFO found in the bottom of the UFO fabric bin.  I've had a pattern for a hexie table runner, and even had most of the red and blue hexies cut for it.  This week I added some light colored ones from the QOV scraps, and actually have 3 rows all sewn together.  These do have Y seams, so it's stretching my skills in a good way. Once the hexies are all sewn together, there will be a border around all sides. 

When I need a break from sitting at the sewing machine, then cutting and kitting up a new project is a change of pace.  Plus I really enjoy kitting up projects, so they are ready to sew whenever.  The pieces are all cut for another Quick Strippee child quilt - in Mickey Mouse fabric.  The red and grey look good together.  This will be a project for later in the month.

I'll be linking up today with RSC . . .
https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/ 

RBD block #11

 

Sandy Gervais designed this week's block for the Riley Blake Design challenge. Crown Jewel is a really cute block.  Only 5 blocks remain to be released, and then we'll get layout information.