Busy

 Last week was busy with lots of appointments. This week is going to be just as busy.

Sooooo...not much sewing was done.

I made some progress on the sunflower wall hanging. Best part, no new drama.

I also finished quilting the purple donation quilt, but it's not trimmed yet so no picture.

Some Days...

 ... you're better off staying in bed.

I swear I've screwed up so many times on my Wind Drifter quilt and on the new sunflower wall hanging that I have seriously thought about chucking both into the bin and taking up a new hobby. Thank goodness I have lot of extra fabric as I have cut and sewed both with lots of errors that Jack could not solve. Sigh.

I did make progress on both.

Wind Drifter. My design wall is not big enough to lay it all out. It's enough for me to determine how to sew the next sections together.

The sunflower wall hanging. Took the picture late last night so it's a little dark. I'm not going to make it as long as the original pattern. Part of me thinks I should have made the sunflower scrappier and the other part of me is saying shut up. This is going to be a gift, I'm tempted to make another one for me.

I got a back made, the quilt loaded and partially quilted.

This is another quilt top that was donated to Quilts for Kids. I'm meandering all around it.

Here are some before and after pictures from the building they are do across the street from me.

Before (screen shot from Google maps)...in there is the house that had two trees fall on it.

After... my house is on the left in the middle of the picture.

Before (screen shot from Google maps). From my mail box across to where most of the houses will be built.

After...well not really after, they have a lot more work to do. 

Done and More Squirrels

 MY TAXES ARE DONE!!! Life doesn't get more exciting than that.

At least for me, we had a really bad wind storm yesterday, and we've had record rainfalls...

My neighbor across the street has had a little more excitement. That white tarp is covering their roof where a tree fell over it. Unfortunately, they had another tree fall on the back side of the house. I haven't been able to see how much damage that cause.

I tried to insert a video here, not working. A developer is getting ready to build 32 new home across the street from me. I don't know if their excavations and tree removal contributed to the downed trees or not. The video I tried to include showed one of the six very large pine trees that were taken down this morning. Makes me very sad to see.

On the quilting front I finished quilting the ark panel and attached the binding.

The back is one of the scrap flannel backs I made a few weeks ago.

The new squirrel? A friend asked me a few years ago to make her a sunflower wall hanging. I've shown the finished panel in a past post but I've never quilted it...don't really like it.  While I was going through all my magazine I found this pattern.

And the fabrics in my stash. I really like this and already have ideas on how to quilt it. I'm hoping to get it cut out this week.

Hello Spring

 I know, Spring started last week, but today is the first day that it has felt like Spring here. I saw my first very fat doe for the year today. Tomorrow is supposed to be a record breaking 83 degrees...then rain for the week. Yup, it's Spring.

I finally got my background fabric cut.

And yes, I messed up on the cutting again. Luckily it all worked out.

I loaded and got the ark panel about half quilted.

I stopped because my frankenbat was coming apart. I used some of my basting glue to fix it. Hopefully I'll be able to finish it tomorrow.

A new clue for the Civil War mini was released Friday. This Friday will be the last row and the finishing instructions.

Bella likes to sleep in her cave during the Winter months. That girl can snore!

I was going to silently "forget" about showing the quilted little basket mini. 

Not happy with it. I really need to practice my long arm feathers more. I also got impatience with quilting the background. It probably wouldn't look as haphazard if I had micro stitch under the basket instead of the whatever that is.

I have been going through all of my magazines (I can't believe I moved all of these). I'm almost done.

 

All of these, plus more, are going to the guild free table over the next couple of meeting. If a magazine had three or more patterns that I liked, I kept it. If it only had one or two, I tore the pattern out...don't you hate people that do that. ;o)

Project Quilting 16.6

It's been a busy week; I wasn't sure if I'd be able to participate in the last challenge: Button it up.  I decided to keep it really simple. 

I decided to make a pouch kit I won years ago. I'm trying to remember if I've ever made a pouch before. The pattern is Zippy Strippy by Atkinson Design. The kit didn't have enough of the contrast fabric - only enough for the lining. The fabric shown is from my stash. The kit had two buttons, but I decided the blue one was kinda blah and layered up the yellow button.

Check out Project Quilting Button It Up, there are some wonderful creative submissions. 

 I chased another squirrel this past week and not much else.

Kathleen Tracy of A Sentimental Quilter is hosting a mini mystery.

I've made her mysteries in the past and they are always fun to make. This will be a row quilt. Three rows done, two to go. I pulled out my reproduction scrap bin, this little project will barely make a dent. The nine patches were kinda fun to make - it's tempting to cut all my scraps into 1.5 inch squares. Or maybe not.

I haven't cut the background for Wind Drifter yet. I hate making the first cut into a three yard piece of fabric - so very awkward to maneuver.

 

I've completed all the in-the-ditch quilting on the little basket block. I want to practice some feathers and other designs in the basket and borders.

But I'm still having tension issues. It is just a practice wall hanging so the back doesn't really matter but I would like to get it right. I ordered a Towa bobbin tension gauge that should be delivered tomorrow. Hopefully that will help resolve the issue.

I'm like everyone else and am boo-hooing that Joann's is closing. Most items are still only 20% off but they finally reduced their flannel to 40% - two yard minimum. 

I bought a few four yard cuts. Three of them were end of bolt and the last bit wasn't a full yard...maybe 7/8 yard...they are still giving a remnant discount. 

Arrrrgh

 Almost forgot again. Why do I keep thinking Monday night is Sunday? Especially when there are so many things that I have to take care of during the day on Mondays...you'd think the day would stick in my brain into the night.

Not too much exciting this past week other than it was busy with non-quilting related things (like an invasion of ants).

I did add borders to these...

The panel turned out cuter than I thought it would. I'm really glad I went with the blue inner border first. It really brightens the panel colors.

This block was on either the guild or QFK free table. I added borders and loaded it on the frame. Haven't gotten much further as I'm having tension issues and haven't taken the time to fuss with it yet.

I did a quick quilting job on this QFK sandwich.

I did scrap the Project Quilting Follow the Arrow challenge. The red and blue blocks are already in the orphan block bin, and I've pulled new fabrics to go with the animal print that I think with work better.

I decided to start a new project that I've been wanting to work on for a while. The pattern is Wind Drifter by Robin Pickens.

I'm doing a darker version like the picture shown. The prints are Australian fabrics that Donna gave me a few years ago. The black dandelion print will be the background.

The Arrrgh is because I screwed up the cutting tonight - twice. Luckily, I had more fat quarters to pull into the group. Just peeved. My own fault for not paying attention and not following the pattern instructions.

FYI, I've noticed that all my comments are coming in as no-reply blogger. I think it is a Blogspot issue not how either you or I have configured anything. If I can't respond to your emailed comment, I'll respond to your posted comment. I really do appreciate your leaving comments.

Yikes and more Yikes

 
Yikes, I went to turn off my laptop at 12:45 a.m. and realized I forgot to do my Monday post. More on why in a minute.

I decided to load another small quilt onto the quilt frame.  This was made in February 2023. 

Simple grid lines that took no time to quilt on the frame.

Then I chased a squirrel and made another March themed wall hanging.

Loaded on the frame and testing thread colors.

The shamrock is a free tutorial pattern from Lake Girl Quilts. I made it with a fat quarter ombre green I found when I was searching for fabric for another project. 

The colors are little dark in the picture. This was an easy, quick, fun project. 

A new Project Quilting challenge was released on Sunday. This is where the second "yikes" comes in. The challenge was Follow Your Arrow.  

Okay, after thinking about it for a bit I had an idea. Sunday, I found a pattern, pulled the fabric and cut everything out. Yesterday I started sewing. After a few interruptions during the day, I had enough blocks made to start laying it out on my design wall.

Ewwww. Neither the red and blue blocks or the design looked good with the animal print. I tried at least six other prints and a couple of different layouts and didn't like any of them. I stopped at 12:44 a.m. - see first "yikes" above.

This morning I decided that everything was going into the scrap bins and something would be made with them another day. Now I need to decide if I'm going to skip this week's challenge or make something else. I'll do that tomorrow.
 

Not Much New or Exciting

 Not much going on this past week. I did finish my Project Quilting birthstone challenge...barely. Scroll down to my last post.  I wasn't overly motivated and almost decided not to do it...but I already cut everything out and had it partially sewn. I didn't want another UFO.

I think this is the second time I've loaded a small project on my quilt frame.

I don't know why I don't do it more often (I have lots of little things that need quilted). It is actually quicker to load a small project than pin baste it. 

I forgot how much I like using my rulers. It took about 10 minutes to quilt each item.

Yesterday I did a major clean up of my sewing room. Cleaned up / picked up all the mess from the last few projects I've finish then vacuumed everything in sight. I also prepped (cut out borders and binding) a couple of small projects that I'll work on this week.

Today I finished sewing pieces and parts of flannel into another future back (no picture). I also put together a new chair.

Yes, I put the arms on backwards. I don't use them so I may not fix them. This thing is so comfortable. I haven't decided if it will be my sewing chair or my desk chair...or as Stephanie suggested buy another so I don't have to decide.

Project Quilting 16.4 Birthstone

 One of my birthstones is alexandrite.  The other is pearl. Stephanie told me your birthstone can also be determined by zodiac sign and month, which would have allowed me to use just about any gem color I wanted. I decided to stick with alexandrite. 

The stone's color can vary based on lighting. The few I've ever seen were small, man-made and VERY expensive. Mine are also small, woman-made and were very cheap to make (stash + scraps = free). 

The stone can be blue-green during the day and purple-red at night. I tried to give them gem shapes, but I think they look more like Easter eggs to me.

So, I put my mom's rock egg basket on top of one. Now I'm ready for the holiday two months early instead of six months late.

Check out all the other creative gems here.

Does it Fit?

 I adore this quilt. It is so incredibly soft. I have the binding almost done...

I've forgotten how much I like hand sewing binding. It's going to be a gift, but I may have to keep it a while so I can pet it more.

I also adore the texture this pantograph pattern creates.

I didn't take a picture of the finished puzzle, but I did take a picture of Bella in the empty box.

You know how it goes "if I fits, I sits".

Speaking of does it fit...this week's Project Quilting challenge is birthstone. My birthday is in June - which is alexandrite, which is very rare and very expense, and pearl. Alexandrite's change colors depending on the lighting. Daylight they can be blue-green; nighttime purple-red. While normally white or cream and round, pearls come in a large assortment of colors and shapes.

I'm stretching it big time by saying the center of these little table toppers are "pearls" and the outside is "faceted alexandrite".  Or maybe they are funny looking Easter eggs?

 I think I've already made and finished more quilts this year than I did in all of last year. Last year I primarily quilted tops others made.

I have the flannel quilt half loaded onto the quilt frame. Now I'm trying to decide on thread.

I don't have a large selection of thread colors. I think this dark brown works best. The back is a medium gray, so hopefully the brown won't peek through too much.

Then I will have to load my latest finish.

My oldest UFO is now a quilt top. Not my favorite layout, but it works and it's made. The binding is made and I think I have a fabric that will work for the back. I'll just have to stare at it a while to figure how I'm going to quilt it.

I haven't been sleeping great lately, I think it's the time of year, so I've been working on this late at night.

Having large cutting mats to cover the puzzle is perfect protection from Bella.

Project Quilting 16.3 Common Blocks

Rule one of this week's challenge was: You must incorporate three (3) common blocks in your project. I originally thought three of the same block when I read the challenge description.

Then I started second guessing myself. But I had already cut everything out. So I turned the half square triangles into three different common blocks: pinwheels, broken dishes, and flying geese.

The quilt is a variation of Happy Go Lucky from Quick'n Easy 3-Yard Quilts. The fabrics had selvage dates of 1999 and 2000! The back is the same fabric as the front, and I still had almost a yard left over.

Hello February

 Well, historically Punxsutawney Phil may not be very accurate, but I think he hit the nail on the head this year. We got about five inches of snow today.

Very wet snow. The kids across the street tried to sled down the road. It looked more like they were swimming on paddle boards as they pushed themselves down the road. Looked like they were having fun. The guy who got his truck stuck while slip sliding up the road did not look like he was having fun.

I worked on more miscellaneous stuff last week. 

Last year I threw my UFO list out the window. I don't think I worked on any of them. These three blocks and the coordinating fabric have been on my UFO list for the last five years with zero progress made. 

I finally had some inspiration on a quilt design using them. Stand on your head, this is actually upside down. The "bricks" are actually stacked 5 inch squares. I probably won't be able to sew it together until next week.

I loaded, quilted and added the binding to another two fabric donation quilt.

And added binding to two guild community service quilts (no picture).

This week I'll be focusing on Project Quilting 16.3 challenge: Common Blocks. We are supposed to make something with at least three common blocks - I don't know if this means three different common blocks or if we can use 3 (or more) of the same block.

I'm going very common...half square triangles.

Above is the pattern and fabrics I'm using. Some of the oldest fabrics in my stash. The pattern is from one of the 3-Yard Quilts books by Fabric Cafe'

Everything is cut. The half square triangles are made and trimmed. As a CYA, I'm going to make one row of pinwheels, one row of broken dishes, and probably one row of square in a square blocks.

Miscellaneous

 While it may seem like I've only been working on the Project Quilting challenges since the beginning of the year I haven't. There is a week between each challenge. During that time, I've been trying to get a few little things done. 

Like...

Piecing odd leftover backing flannel strips into new quilt backs. This is my third one. I have at least three more to go.

Don't faint! I've been making Aunt Daisy blocks. This is four out of five that are made...eleven more to go. I've made the executive decision that I'm going to make a queen size quilt using twelve blocks and a lap size with a pieced border using four blocks.

I quilted and donated another quilt top. 

And I have sorted through my fabric bundles and donated a lot to the guild boutique. A lot! The bin was full of flannel pinwheel blocks and HST flannel blocks - Angela brought them up last October. It went to our guild community service coordinator.

Little things but it sure feels good to have them done.