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Sunday Stash - Switchover

Oh, this week was glorious. All three basted quilts from last week’s progress post got quilt and bounded, so there’s 14 yds in the used column. One of those is for donation, maybe two or even all three since the jury is still out. For now, though, good progress in the spreadsheet.

As I talked about in my podcast this week, I’m switching focus to total used going forward; the state of my stash is such that I need to purchase fabric to make the sorts of quilts I want to.  I’ll still track stash adds, but the net won’t be my focus since I’m focused on making quilts and not necessarily on decreasing my stash. If I end up with a bloated stash, I’ll focus back on net used again!

In addition to finishing three quilts is also finishing two more tops - one a pattern sample you’ll see if a few months, and another a donation quilt - and also, finally, finally, cue the angels, I stitched down the applique on Dresden Garden and added the first border. I even started on the second border! It is 3″ nine-patches set on point, and I got 14 of the 36 blocks needed for that border. For the record, I seem to have stalled on it in October of 2013, so my one UFO is actually moving again, even if I calculated needing 860 2″ squares for the final border. That plan might change, though!

And not to be left out, it was also Saturday Sampler pick up for both the one continuing program and two new ones. I did sign up for both new programs since one is red, white, and blue fabrics and I figured I could make a Quilt of Valor out of the blocks since I’ll be going to the pick-up sessions anyway. You can see those over on Instagram - Great Grunge, Be My Neighbor, and Quilt for All Seasons.

  • Used this week:  14 yards
  • Total Used Year to Date: 107 yards
  • Added this week: 7 yard
    • 7 yd for new shop sample
  • YTD Used for Charity: 21.75 yards (20% of total used)
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Eat, Sleep, Golf, Repeat - Finished!

This fun wallhanging is a gift for my dad for Father’s Day. I finished it way back in April because that’s how I roll, and it saved postage to mail it with my Mom’s Mother’s Day present.

As you might guess, my dad is a golfer.  When I saw this pattern in the quilt shop I immediately thought of him and knew I had to make it.

The pattern is by Amy Bradley, and I used fusible applique with a blanket stitch to hold it down.

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WIP Whoopsday: Eat

I’m working on an applique project that I need to keep secret-ish since it’s a gift, but I can show sneak peeks of it for the purposes of WIP Wednesday.

I will say that I’ve tried a new fusible for this applique, and I’m not any happier with it than I was my prior one. I still have problems with the paper separating prematurely and some weird fraying.  The fraying could be because of my fabric choice, or how I’m stitching the blanket stitch and getting “the bite” on the shapes. The paper separating could be the brand or could be the age of the fusible, because although it’s new to me, I have no idea how long it was sitting on the vendor shelf. Ugh.

Anywho, I’m carrying on and will just make sure the quilting is awesome!

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WIP Wednesday - Bits and Pieces

This week has involved a catch-up of sorts on smaller projects.  Spring is the season for birthdays and summer wardrobe sewing and all manner of other things around here, so of course I started a new Christmas quilt. Because I haven’t finished my last Christmas quilt, naturally.

Mostly it was Spring Cleaning inspired since I was organizing my stash bits and “to be done” projects that aren’t far enough along to be considered UFOs.  I’ve been holding on to these two Dear Mr. Claus layer cakes for a while because they are fun vintage prints from Cosmo Cricket. I finally decided to just take the plunge and make giant HSTs out of them.

At the other end of the seasonal spectrum, I just finished my first Fold n Stitch Wreath, which is a pattern from Poorhouse Designs. It’s a dimensional wreath that be hung up or used as a tabletopper, and perfect for my MIL’s upcoming birthday. What I like about it is it could be a great project for scraps and odd buttons.  The sewing is not hard, and I’d recommend it for an adventurous beginner sewist.

I’ve got other stuff going on too, but these are the highlights.

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WIP Wednesday - Makin’ Bacon

Having wrapped up the Solid as a Rock quilt late Sunday, I have a little breathing room before the next deadline looming over me.  I opted to finish up the tablerunner I got as part of the swap from the East Cobb Quilters Guild. First up was making some bacon for the very ends of the tablerunner:

To make the bacon, I just laid the center cream fabric on top of the reddish fabric (both right sides up) and made a gentle series of curves with my rotary cutter.  Then I stitched them together with a quarter inch seam and pressed, and they weren’t too jacked up!

I’m in the middle of quilting it with some monofilament right now, so I’m hoping to get it done by the weekend.

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Portlandia #Twilter Round Robin Quilt - Finished!

At last! I finally got around to 1) taking pictures and 2) posting them of my finished Twilter Round Robin quilt organized by Daisy.  I was in Group B with Molly, Sally, Allison, and Kathy.  My starting block was comprised of buffalo bits leftover from the Silver Star quilt I made in 2013 - tiny lime green and white HSTs.

I provided some additional lime green, teal and orange fabric, along with some white on white Eric Carle animal print fabric for the background. And here’s what I got back after everyone else worked their magic! Molly set my block on point with a green batik with bird print on it which was some nice foreshadowing and inspiration for Sally’s eventual round.  Because of the bird print, I decided the quilt needed some feathers quilting into it.

I’m not sure if Molly or Allison did the next round of white with the small corner four patches on it, but then Allison did a LOT of tiny flying geese, which are delightful, and added a much needed pop of hot pink to the quilt.

Sally added some nine patches and fun bird applique.  I alternated quilting the birds with either the same orange peel design as the nine patches or an echo of the bird shape. Kathy finished it off nicely with a thin orange and fatter green outer border.

Sally was also kind enough to include some additional birds, so I picked a hot pink one and stuck it in the middle of my original block to really round it out and tie it all together.

As a special heads up for you guys, I talk more about the Round Robin experience on the next episode of The Stitch, which goes up tomorrow!