No Sewing

 Still no sewing but mental progress has been made.

I've made the executive decision that the Grid Girl Aperture quilt is going to become a UFO. I've already boxed it up. I'll add it to next year's list and decide then whether to add borders or just quilt it as is.

April's UFO Challenge project is this string quilt.

I started making these blocks in February 2019.  It came up as a UFO Challenge in October 2021 but I decided not to work on it then. I doubt I'll finish the quilt but I would like to make some progress. I have 50 blocks made - with no frame - and need 30 more to make a nice size lap quilt. My goal for April is to at least add the frames on the existing blocks.

While I was doing some clean up I found these 9-patch blocks. Hmmm, I know I didn't make them (they are too nicely made and very nicely pressed) but I don't 100% remember where I got them...I think Donna made them and gave them to me when she gave me all of her batiks.

 There are 47 print 9-patches and 49 cream 9-patches. I think I'm going to keep it simple and make a couple of long table runners for my bedroom dresser and blanket chest. I've been wanting to make something for both for a while now.

Hopefully both of these projects will get me back into the sewing mood.

Scrappiest Quilt Ever

 Trying, not too successfully, to get my sewing mojo back. 

I put the Grid Girl's center together.

Then measured it for borders. Sigh. Right side length measures 66 7/8, left side is 67 1/2, and the center is 68 inches. Sigh deeply.  I plan on ignoring it for a few days to see if the issue will go away.

On the positive side I loaded the trapezoid quilt on the frame. I made a back from flannel crumb blocks. Wow, I can't believe it was over 10 years ago that I made the crumb flannel squares. Here's a link to the old post.

Even the binding is scrappy. Since this quilt had soooo many seams I quilted it with a large meander. This quilt makes me happy - joyful sigh.

Nada, Zip, None

 Not a stitch was sewn last week. BUT my master bathroom is done! Seems kinda strange not seeing Mike's work trailer in the driveway.

This is the before picture - don't look at the mess.

I didn't get a picture of the shower but think of blah beige marble everywhere. You can see a little bit of the old floor tile in the bottom right of the picture.

And this is the after picture! 

I Love IT! I replaced the shower, floor, vanity, toilet, removed the old medicine cabinet, replaced all the lighting and fans, and all the plumbing fixtures.

I also had my linen cabinet, walk in closet, and bedroom painted, floor trim install in the bedroom and all the old blinds removed in my bedroom. I really need to get the new blinds ordered.

Mike also replaced the window in the long arm room.

Big hole in the wall. I forgot to get an after picture.

I tried taking before pictures but you really couldn't see how bad the window was...sitting against Mike's trailer you can see how bad it was...more like you can't see. Now I have another window with a view.

Mike also took care of a lot of "honey-do's" for me. Climbed the ladder to replace filters and light bulbs. Fixed a drawer in my dresser that was damaged when I moved. Fixed a little side table that likes to periodically fall apart. Pressure washed the back porch and driveway.  He'll be back in a week or so to paint the outside window frame and spray all the moss on my roof...more ladder work. I'm sure my niece is peeved as he has taken care of all my honey-do's and probably none of hers. ;o)

I do have a sewing item from the previous week that I forgot to post about.

Pot holders for the guild quilt show boutique. 

Therapy Sewing

 I have a necklace that says quilting is my therapy and it is very true. This week has been a little stressful without much therapy. 

I finished the race car quilt.

I could have sworn I made the binding for this quilt, or at least set aside fabric for the binding. I might have used the fabric as a back for another quilt. Oh well. I used a solid black and I think it turned out great. This quilt was a bit a chore all around (panel blocks not square, finding a design that didn't leave me with a long narrow quilt, and how to quilt it), but I'm really happy with how it turned out.

I did get the rows of the Grid Girl mystery quilt made.

And that was it.

On the bathroom remodel project, other than the plumbing, the shower is done.

Looks a little blah in the pictures but in real life it looks great. I love how it turned out. Mike had to go home to take care of taxes and business but should be back tomorrow. So close to being finished!

Third Times the Charm

 Hmmm, just not really in the mood to sew / quilt this past week. I did get my Project Quilting challenge finished, and I loaded this quilt.

This was the third time this quilt has been loaded to a quilt frame. I loaded it once and just couldn't figure out a quilting design so I took it to Donna's when I visited her last year. She uses Red Snappers with her Gammill and the back wasn't long enough.

I was determined to get it done.  It also came up with my random number generator as the next top to quilt. ;o)

I recently purchased some new pantographs. I thought this would work. 

I lost at bobbin chicken...sooooo close.

I finished it but haven't trimmed it or added the binding yet. So, to be continued...

Project Quilting 15.5 Wearable

 Hmmm, I think my garment making days are over.

PQ 15.5 is Wearables: your project must be wearable, or have been made from previously worn items, or have another connection to clothes, shoes and fashion accessories.

I bought a Liberty of London fabric at a garage sale years ago. It was about 2 yards long and 36 inches wide. It has a funny feel to it - I think it is a very old rayon. I washed it after I bought it. I've been wanting to make a top out of it ever since. I used to make garments...tops, skirts, doll clothes and Halloween costumes...but it's been a while.

I bought this pattern.

Cute top, looked like it would be easy to make. And it was.

It's huge! About three sizes too big, and I don't think the fabric drapes enough for the style of the pattern. 

I'm sure it will look good on someone but not me. Oh well, I did meet the challenge requirements.

 

Scary

 Last night I used the microwave oven to heat up my dinner, heat up water for tea, and to heat up my rice bag that I use to warm my feet in bed. When the timer went off I removed the rice bag and shut the door, the microwave started "running" again after I remove the bag even though the timer wasn't going and I hit the Stop button several times. I thought maybe it was the vent (microwave is over the stove and acts as a microwave / vent / stove light combination. I stuck a Corning Corelle bowl with water in the microwave to see if it was running or the vent...I thought it was the vent so I left the door open so it could cool off and turn off...which it seemed to do. So I shut the microwave door and went to bed.

This morning while I was drinking my coffee and reading my email I heard a loud noise for about 10 minutes...I thought at first it was my heating system making a really bad noise, then I thought Mike was running a power tool. The noise stopped. Mike came into the living room and noise started up again. When I opened the microwave door I found this:

And this:

The Corelle bowl was melted. If you look where the yellow circle is part of the bowl fused to the glass turntable. It must have been running off and on all night. Mike was smart enough to unplug the microwave.

Now I have this:

So glad Mike was around to switch out the appliances. 

On the non-scary side I did very little sewing.

Attached the borders and made the binding for Stephanie's quilt. 

This was my February UFO challenge and has now been moved to my to-be-quilted pile. My March UFO is a large quilt that I cut out a couple of years ago. I'm debating about working on it knowing I won't get far with the bathroom remodel and two more Project Quilting challenges also happening this month.

I cut the setting triangles and borders for the Grid Girl's mystery quilt. The pattern name is Aperture.

 And finished this little mug rug from leftover wedges from my Project Quilting 2023 challenge piece from last year. 

Speaking of Project Quilting, the 15.5 challenge is: your project must be wearable, or have been made from previously worn items, or have another connection to clothes, shoes and fashion accessories. I have no clue what to make...guild name tag? new apron? easy summer top from rayon fabric I bought at a garage sale years ago? another paper pieced mini?

Teaser on the remodel.

This is the bathroom floor tile. The bathroom, my closet, and the master bedroom have been painted. All the lights and fans have been replaced. Almost all the tile is laid, the final wall in the shower couldn't be installed until after the floor was down. Mike will be grouting everything this week. It's getting closer to done!

Getting Things Done

 If you see an incomplete blog post it is because Bella is insisting on "helping".  She's not happy just sitting in front of me so I can't see anything she has to stand on the laptop keyboard while she is doing that. Otherwise, she is chewing on the power cord. > <  

I'm making great progress on my February UFO challenge. To be truthful Stephanie did the hard work I just had to sew the blocks and sashing together. That part is done. Below you can see the border I plan on adding. Borders and binding are cut out - I should be able to finish the top by the end of the month.

I finished quilting the gold cat quilt yesterday and added the binding today.  I used a new pantograph that I was a little worried about as it had swirls, flowers and echoing. I did a couple of practice passes without actually stitching to get a feel for the pattern. It turned out to be fairly easy...lots of stop points...lots of stop points means lots of opportunity to beathe. ;o) The back is a very soft flannel.

I was right about the Grid Girls second block layout. The final clue was just released, the blocks are set on point. The setting triangles will be the floral print. Luckily I still have a lot of the print as I also want to use it for the border and binding. Maybe with a narrow pop border of both the green and lavender to break it up a bit?

I should be able to finish both of the tops this week. 

Then I'm not sure what I'm going to work on. I don't have anything ready to load on the quilt frame. I do have a couple of little table toppers on my list that I may quilt on the Juki.

Happy Leap Year everyone!

PQ 15.4 Hourglass

 My Project Quilting challenge quilts seem to be getting smaller and smaller. 

I have a bazillion triangles of all sizes that I have cut off of flying geese blocks and folded corners. I can't seem to toss them. So last Sunday when the challenge of Hourglass was announced I thought about some of the triangle scraps I have...could I turn some of them into something?

Yes, I could.

Very very small hourglass blocks. They finish at about 3/4 of an inch. After making 12 (didn't use them all) and unknotting my fingers I decided I'd made enough.

A couple of borders and a very poorly sewn single fold binding and ...

Voila! 

OMG!!!! I just saw the mistake! How??? How??? My nose has been attached to this piece to make sure the points were good, the seams even and flat, the borders even. How???

Progress

 

Mike is making progress on the master bath. The master bath, walk-in closet and master bedroom have been painted. I was kinda worried at first because it was really neon glow white! Luckily it warmed up a bit as it dried. I really like the color. Two of the shower walls have tile. There is still a lot to do but it's nice to see actual progress. I need to start looking for or deciding on fixtures and such. I think I've decided on the vanity mirrors - a simple beveled edge rectangle. Now I have to decide on a toilet...OMG, you wouldn't believe how many different types there are and the price differences. Do I really need a toilet that can flush a hole bucket of golf balls without clogging? (hehehehe)

Finished the quilting and binding on the Thomas the Train panel. I donated it last Friday. 

The back is pieced, and I had enough of the train fabric to use for the binding. Not my favorite, but it's done and off my UFO list.

I made some progress on the Grid Girls mystery.

I don't know why my photo editor distorts some pictures. I took this picture a couple of days ago - I guessed at what the secondary block would look like, and I was right, clue 7 was released a couple of hours ago. I think there is only one more clue. This has been a fun easy mystery.

Speaking of mysteries, Project Linus announced that it will not be doing a mystery quilt this year. I have mixed feelings about it...the mysteries were fun and totally different from my normal style but after making seven I think I'm ready for something new.

Next up on the frame is the gold cat quilt.

I think I'm going to use a pantograph on it so I should be able to finish it this week between trips to Home Depot and Lowe's. ;o)

Not Much

 

Most of last week I was focused on the Project Quilting 15.3 challenge (see post below). I did finish clue 5 of my Grid Girls mystery.

Well, part of the mystery is solved...one of the blocks is an X-block. I have no idea how the next block will be pieced. Clue 6 was just released but I haven't looked at it yet.

I got the Thomas the Train panel loaded a couple of days ago and didn't do anything until about an hour ago. 

Definitely not my favorite. The fabric is not the best quality, at almost each stitch I can little thread pulls. I'm pretty sure it is the fabric and not something wrong with the tension or machine. I want to finish it by Friday's Quilts for Kids meeting.

Progress has been made on the bathroom remodel. 

Lots of demolition and prep work but we (meaning Mike) are starting to make major progress. We had to re-think the tile wall layout as the tiles are large and one of the walls is narrow - we would have ended it with slivers of tile - not a good thing. A new layout was agreed on and Mike will be installing it this week. Paint has been picked out and it didn't take me a week or more to decide, major progress there. ;o)

Inside Only

The Project Quilting Challenge 15.3 is Inside Out. Rule one: some part of your project must thematically or literally be inside out.

My poor Bella is strictly an inside only cat. She would love to be outside chasing birdies.

This is her favorite place when the sun is shining and there are birdies in the front yard.

These guys look like outdoor kitties to me. Singing in a feral cat choir.

This is the first time I'm made a cathedral windows block. I love how the technique lets you bring the surprise inside out to shine.

Whoo Hoo!

 

I made my first Aunt Daisy block!

And right off the bat I made an error - turned a block. Can you find it? It will be an easy fix. This block is huge! I'm having second thoughts about making a king sized quilt...maybe a queen size and a nice throw would be better. We'll see as I progress.

Guild community service top is quilted. The back is a solid red. 

I'm not a fan of solid backs - shows everything, but it's not too bad if you have a thread color that matches perfectly on the back and top. Kinda bad when the top has a border that reads like a solid and the red thread shouts against it. Oh well.

Clue 3 was trimmed up last week and clue 4 is ready for trimming this week.

Love the Bloc-Loc templates for flying geese trimming. Expensive but  worth it!

I won this fantastic seam ripper from Project Quilting. 

Alas, I've already had to use it. The fat grip is wonderful. The cute sewing machine paper clip came with it. This week's challenge theme is Inside Out: Some part of the project must thematically or literally be inside out. I have a few ideas - I might even make two very different projects for the challenge.

I finished the duck panel. Very quick and easy. 

I used flannel scraps for the back. It and the above guild quilt were quilted using a swirl pantograph. They turned out much better than my free motion swirls.

Next up is this Thomas the Train panel. It should be another quick and easy finish.

Monday Monday

 So good to me...well, as good as any other Monday. ;o)

Still waiting for tile so the bathroom remodel is still on hold.

I finished my January UFO challenge quilt.

And it's quilted! I added the softest green plaid flannel on the back. I love how this turned out.

February's UFO challenge is more of Stephanie's extra blocks. 

Needs more sashing made but should be another quick finish. I'll decide if I'm going to add a border after the top is put together.

Other than trimming these to size I'm caught up on the Grid Girl's clues. 

Clue 4 should be released in about 30 minutes.

And the next quilt is ready to be loaded. This should also be a quick finish...once I decide if I'm going to do an edge-to-edge or free motion. Decisions, decisions. ;o)