Get It Done June

Let's end May with some honesty... I didn't get it done!

1. I finished Spring Green (Blue Ridge Beauty, pattern by Bonnie Hunter).

2. Finish Mystery Medallion Step #5

3. Finish another row of my sampler.  Bwahhahahaha... At least I cut the rest of the blocks!

4. Use up my scraps in the given color.  Too much... I did almost finish Simply Woven.  There is just no time to sit down and hand stitch the binding to the back!

5. Work on my Scraps to Treasures quilt.  Worked on it.  I may be approximately half done with piecing bits of it!

6.  Maybe.  Maybe.  Maybe. Write up directions on how to make a twirly skirt, as a favor for a friend.  Yeah.  Not so much.

For June!
1.  Finish Simply Woven.

2.  Finish the mystery medallion step #6.

3.  Finish a row of my sampler.

4.  Use up my yellow scraps.  There aren't many, so this should be do-ale, unlike last month's plethora of blues!

5.  Work on my Scraps to Treasures quilt.

from the room of Zana's Ninis,

katie z.

May Blocks

23 bowties for 444 blocks total!

Eight years ago today...

...I married my husband.

Today, we celebrated by going to Mass together, picking up ice cream, and eating a sandwich at home while my family watched the kids.  It was a beautiful day!

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

Medallion Mystery: May Edition

Let's sum it up by saying my square-in-a-square blocks could use some work (as could my photography... I'm running out of places to hang it!).

Beautiful despite the missing points.  Thank you again, Judy and Vicki!

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

Spring Green

If you're visiting for the first time from Amy's Blogger's Quilt Festival, welcome!

My name is Katie Z.  As a mother of four, a mostly-stay-at-home mom (I own a VERY small business), and responsible for a growing large garden/small farm, quilting is what I do to keep myself sane!

What a splendid project was this quilt!  I made it as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, where we work with using up our scraps from the selected color for the month.  Last month was green, and I had decided I was crazy enough make a whole scrappy quilt, start to finish, in one month.  It took a little more than the month, as I had lots of scraps to work through.  I even had to piece some of the scraps to make squares large enough to make the half square triangles.

 Assembling the blocks was the hardest part.  Who knew you could sew together half square triangles and four patches together (incorrectly) so many different ways!  I had a set of blocks I ripped out at least three times before I got them right!

Even a scrappy backing!

 I gave the quilt to one of my nieces for her birthday.  She kept asking if she could take it home, so that means she likes it!

Pattern: Blue Ridge Beauty by Bonnie Hunter in Adventures with Leaders and Enders

Pieced and Quilted by: ME!

Size: 60" x 72"

Fabric: Scraps

RSC: Blue Edition

Yikes!  Another week without posting!  (This is what happens when a bookshelf blocks your access to the computer until you clean the moldy carpet and put furniture back.)  We're still unpacking boxes, but it's back to work!

I managed to baste my Simply Woven quilt, which is a blue and green scrappy quilt. I hope to quilt it and get the binding ready for hand stitching before our company comes!

Backing of the quilt!

A few more blue spools joined their friends on the wall.

My Irish Chain block Bs are all done (44).  Now to see what I can accomplish in the next week, before school is out for the summer.  I won't get all 45 block As done as the garden is still awaiting sweet potato slips and corn to be planted.  A few more herbs, and I may actually be done planting.  Whew!

Check out all the other lovely blues at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge every Saturday!

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

Got the Blues...

... as I didn't get to sew as much as I had hoped.  Thursday night after supper, we discovered a 9x10 space of soaked carpet and mold in our office.  Thus began the days of packing books, moving desks, and pulling up carpet.

My Simply Woven quilt top is in six pieces, so progress is being made.

I cut fabric for the Irish Chain and sewed a bit.

Finally, I started my Scraps to Treasures quilt... But it's a secret, so you'll have to wait until October to see it!

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

Blue Moon

Blue, blue, blue...  All my lovely blue scraps.

In reviewing both my stash and scraps, I have overkill in DARK blue scraps, a fair number of lights, and next-to-no mediums.

In order to save myself from last month's agony, I cut the scrappy backing for my Simply Woven blocks first, rather than last.  I chose some of my favorite blue star fabrics (my star and snowflake fabrics are kept in a separate hoard from the rest of my stash) and cut my squares.  Then, I had a pile of blue scraps to chop into 2" squares for a blue Irish Chain (also from Bonnie Hunter).  Since Spring Green, last month's scrappy green quilt, is for one of my nieces who has a sister, I'd better make a quilt for her sister too!

While cutting and planning over the last few months, I've come to the conclusion that it's very difficult for me to use 1" scraps, particularly 1" squares.  I'm not accurate when sewing them together, they tend to distort in sewing and pressing, and have so many seams that they become stiff.  (Now, if you are a 1" keeper and have no issues, good for you!  I have issues, and they're probably my fault.  I'm okay with that). Therefore, I'm not going to cut 1" squares anymore.  If that's all I can get out of a piece of fabric, it's done.  1.5" squares are fine, and I think 1" strips that are at least 5" long will be the narrowest bits I'll keep.

What's the smallest piece of fabric you keep?

800+ 2" squares that, no matter how I photograph them, are dark!  I need to work on purchasing medium blues when I buy blue!

I've cut 32 spools from my 1.5" scraps for use as my in-between quilt.  I already have close to 50 in blue, but since my design wall is in use for my scraps to treasures challenge quilt, I'm not sure I'll be able to post all my spools together at the end of the month.

My 2.5" pieces are being cut into squares and bricks for my daughters to use this summer.  They've been begging to learn to sew, and the Assistant even received a new sewing maching for her birthday, but we've had to many issues with scissors for me to feel comfortable having them cut out all the pieces.  Cutting from all my scraps should give the, a nice wide variety.

Off to sew down a binding on Simply Green!

from the room of Zana's Ninis

katie z.