Get It Done: May!

April's goals were:
1. Mystery medallion quilt step 4.  I'm still loving this mystery!

2. Use up my scraps of the given color (GREEN!).  I didn't use up my scraps, unfortunately, but it was not for a lack of trying.  I did well, then created more green scraps cutting for a pieced back.  Here's what I accomplished:

3.  Finish all my blue and red blocks and assemble them into a row.  Easy peasy, lemon squeezy, as my daughter says.  Two more rows to go, then quilting time!

4.  Quilt the Tshirt quilt for my husband's cousin! Done.

For May, my goals are (tentatively... the end of school gets crazy!)

1. Finish the Spring Green (Blue Ridge Beauty, pattern by Bonnie Hunter)

2. Finish Mystery Medallion Step #5

3. Finish another row of my sampler.

4. Use up my scraps in the given color.

5. Work on my Scraps to Treasures quilt.

6.  Maybe.  Maybe.  Maybe. Write up directions on how to make a twirly skirt, as a favor for a friend.

from the room of Zana's Ninis,
katie z.

Gobs of Green

Spring Green! The top is complete; the backing is in rows.

Simply Woven blocks are done, and now they will sit until a blue month.

 A passel of spools!

from the room of Zana's Ninis,

katie z.

Blocks Totals

I made LOTS of blocks this month, so the total for the year is...

* 92 from finished projects
* 126 spools finished this year
* 40 for my red, cream, and blue sampler
* 4 - 2" blocks
* 6 - 9s and 6s blocks
* 24 Simply Woven blocks
*120 Blue Ridge Beauty blocks

for a grand total of : 412 blocks!

from the room of Zana's Ninis,
katie z.

Short List Revision

Since half of the short list is done, it's time to redo it!  Here's how it stands currently:

• COMPLETE: 1. T-shirt quilt
• COMPLETE: 4. train pillow case
• COMPLETE: 6. In the Pink baby quilt
• COMPLETE: 7. girls' dresses
• COMPLETE: 8. Easter clothes
• 2. Sampler Quilt: 3 of 5 rows complete
• 3. DWR quilt for Alzbe: cut, awaiting piecing
• 5. twirly skirts for my girls: one done!
• 9. Easy Street: a TOP!
• 10. Medallion Mystery: Step 3 Complete!

And here's where it's going:

• 1. Sampler Quilt: 3 of 5 rows complete
• 2. DWR quilt for Alzbe: cut, awaiting piecing
• 3. twirly skirts for my girls: one done!
• 4. Easy Street: a TOP!
• 5. Medallion Mystery: Step 4 Complete!
• 6. Spring Green: blocks made
• 7. Woven Quilt: blocks made
• 8. Letters for Lettie
• 9. Scraps to Treasures challenge quilt

from the room of Zana's Ninis,

katie z.

Medallion Mystery Take #4

I love this mystery!  I have time to work on more pressing quilts in between.  The clues aren't too strenuous... This one was cut on Monday and stitched up Tuesday, following a marathon production of 144 other blocks (posts about those to follow!).  The fabric is beautiful, and I think I'm stitching better, although the machine still wants to eat corners.  I love the center so far, and I'm looking forward to what comes next!

Thank you, Judy and Vicki.

from the room of Zana's Ninis,
katie z.

Finally...

Some things take me a while to blog, such as this T-shirt quilt.  It was completed last Wednesday, but it's so large, I couldn't find a place to photograph the whole thing.  Then, getting to the computer to upload photos is always a challenge, especially since Q things he should join me watching a Thomas the Train video if the computer is on.

But here it is, in all its size (90" x 105").  I learned my machine hates quilting through the new, heavily painted logos, so some of those were left unquilted.  I think it's fun!

from the room of Zana's Ninis,
katie z.

Green with Envy

...I'm feeling pretty good about my life right now, so at least not too green with envy currently!  We've had much needed rain, the temperatures seem to be rising, and the garden is sprouting!

In sewing news, there's been much movement of green scraps.  Unfortunately, in the process, I created more.  

There are several new spools.   For some reason, I want to call them bow ties, although they are clearly spools.  I wonder why?

The 240 four-patches and half-square triangles (240 of each) are done.  There are still still half-square triangles in need of trimming, but the worst is over.  As you can see from the picture, some of my half-square triangles were pieced from green scraps.  This made it possible for me to use up most of my 1", 1.5" and 2.5" scraps in addition to all the 2" scraps cut up for the four-patches.

Unfortunately, I decided I should also piece the back.  While this alone is not unfortunate, the amount of green scraps being produced IS!  I will end the month with plenty of green scraps still, but at least they will be new!  I have been cutting new spools from the scraps too, so although I'm almost through the green spools I cut at the beginning of the month, I think I've found another 10 or more to sew up!

Since this quilt is going to be a birthday gift for a little girl early in May, I need to hustle to get this quilt done.  I'm not sure it will be a top by the end of April, but I am actively sewing 1/2 blocks while I finish up trimming.  I'm looking forward to putting the blocks together, as I am uncertain as to whether all the different greens (the whole gamut) will play nicely together.

from the room of Zana's Ninis,

katie z.

Happy belated birthday...

... to the Assistant.  At 7, where did the time go?

We broke out the fancy china (what good is it if you don't use it) just to celebrate.  The funny part is that some of the plates still have the price tags on them... from our wedding...  nearly 8 years ago.

from the room of Zana's Ninis,
katie z.

UFOs

Just for fun, what projects do I have laying around?

Tops awaiting quilting...

Easy Street

Blocks awaiting being made into a top...

Hexagon quilt


Blocks in process...
Judy's mystery medallion quilt

DWR in blue and gold
Sampler in blue, cream, and red

9s and 6s

2" scrap blocks

Bowties blocks

Woven quilt
Blue Ridge Beauty

Pieces cut/Material purchased...
Ribbon weave quilt

Plans for...
Scrappy DWR
Alzbe's Tshirt quilt

Yikes!  There are many more than I thought there would be.  It's time to finish something...

Kermit the Frog and other such creatures

That would be true IF I had spent much time on my green scraps.

However, most of my week was spent on a long-overdue Tshirt quilt for a customer/cousin.  It took her two years to select the shirts, and then I was pregnant, so it was put on the back burner.  The better part of one day was spent basting.  Then, two partial days and one full day of quilting rounded out the week.  Now, with the binding machine stitched on, all I have left is the handwork.

In other news, of my four green projects, here are the statuses:

2" 36-patch: DONE!

spools:

Blue Ridge Beauty (a la Bonnie Hunter) in green:
Some cutting still to go (I didn't have 480 green 2" squares)
Plenty of ironing of aforementioned 2" squares in four patches
Most of the marking of diagonal lines to make the half-square triangles.
This may not be finished by the end of the month!

There are a few spools in here too!

Simply Woven from the Moda Bakeshop:
I already goofed, irreparably, but I think it will still be lovely.  If it's not finished this month, I'm not worried, as it took all of my blue AND green 2.5" and1.5" in medium and dark tones to cobble together the strips for this.  Thus, a ready-made project for the blue month too!

from the room of Zana's Ninis,

katie z.

Tshirt Quilt...

...quilted!

Sampler Quilt

Row three is DONE!  I love the blue and red together.  Too bad I'm committed to just blue rows for the next two.

With this third row down, I'm at the 60% mark and am enjoying this quilt more.  Cutting all the blocks for a row at one DEFINITELY saved me significant time and make the process much happier.

Now I have a Tshirt quilt to quilt, so this project will be set aside until May!

from the room of Zana's Ninis,
katie z.

Happy Birthday

Look who's three!

Going Green

I should have taken photos of the cutting frenzy that was my house Monday and Tuesday.  See, life was exciting.

Easter Monday was supposed to be a work day at Yahweh Jireh Acres (our house).  The morning was spent dealing with the IRS.  Long story, their fault, we still have to fix it.  Then, I take a peek at DH's email and see (gasp!) his meeting out of town is Tuesday, not Thursday.  Tuesday, as in, he must leave this afternoon and be gone.

Then, in the midst of crazed plan making, Spunky decided to roll off the couch onto my black sewing/crocheting bag. Onto a pair of razor sharp scissors.  With her foot.  Oh, the blood.   Oh, the stitches.

And then, bye-bye, DH!

And I didn't see him again, other than in passing or in bed, until Friday.

Sigh.

When my husband is gone that much (two nights for the meeting, one night for the college course he teaches, and one night at Purgatory Ranch and obedience class for Hope), I sew rather than keep house to keep my sanity.  Putting four to bed by yourself is exciting.

So, I cut all my green scraps.  All that I have left is 1", 1x1.5", 1.5", and 1.5x2.5" squares/rectangles.  Everything else is taking its turn under the needle.

First up, my 2" 36-patch.  I think it looks lovely with the other colors.  Considering the size of my green mess, I would have expected more of these squares, but the pattern I chose to use up my green scraps calls for 2" green squares.  Since it requires 480, there weren't many to spare.

Here's where I stand with green spools.  I should have 10-odd more before the end of the month.

My scrap bags are noticeably smaller after purging the green.  In fact, I was able to cut two quilts out of my scraps.  I may have to supplement a wee bit from my stash, but since it's getting down to funny bits too, this is progress!

Check out the other green pages HERE!

from the room of Zana's Ninis,

katie z.

Madrona Road Challenge: Complete

I used AmandaJean's Zig Zag Quilt tutorial.  It's super... no triangles.  The rows are easy to lay out and sew together.  The only problem I currently have is what to do with the cut off triangles, as I can't just toss them!

The Wichita Modern Quilt Guild participated in a national challenge.  Of course, since we were a little delayed in distributing fabric (babies... lots of new babies in our guild), we were a little late in getting started.  Now I'm done in time for the April meeting!

I can't say I love the yellow, but the fabrics work together very well (of course).

Fabric: Madrona Road prints, Michael Miller solids, and Kona solid
Size: 46" x 61"
Pieced and Quilted by ME!

from the room of Zana's Ninis,
katie z.

Anniversary Sale!

While this blog is, almost entirely, a quilting blog, my crocheting does make an appearance from time to time.  Today is one of those days!

March 29, 2013, marked two years in business for me!  My little shop, found on etsy or Facebook (or at occasional fall craft shows in my area), has been such fun and a wonderful learning experience for me.

To celebrate, for one week only (April 1-7), I am giving a coupon code good for 50% any hat in stock in my etsy shop, Zana's Ninis.  Stop by my facebook page for the code, then shop away.  If you haven't ordered through etsy before, it's easy to set up a profile, and I accept paypal, credit card, or check, so payment is easy too!

from the room of Zana's Ninis,
katie z.

p.s.  I will return to accepting custom orders on April 8!