November Block Count

81 new blocks, for a total of 761 for the year, means I was busy in between everything else in our lives!

I added...

32 border blocks for Tell it to the Stars (a la Judy Laquidara)

13 triangle blocks

6 bricks blocks

30 - 1.5" 16 patches

Too bad so many of my blocks are itty bitty (4.5"), so even though I sewed a lot, there's a lot more to go to make a quilt!

from the room of Zana's Ninis,

katie z.

A Week's Happenings

I finished this dress a few weeks ago, but someone is a sourpuss every time I try to get a picture.  My timing must be bad!  I made a pink and a green under slip, then made this sheer overdress.  It's awfully cute even if it's not practical for winter.  Fortunately, the weather has been mild, so we've been able to enjoy Miss G being a cutie a few times.

I finished 20 more blue 16 patches to have a total of 30.  The original ten (in blue and cream) were bits I sewed together to keep JoJo busy.  As long as they live on the design wall for a while, he doesn't seem to mind that I've taken them back.  I wasn't sure I'd get all of these finished, and I felt a little disappointed that I wouldn't have kept up with my goals.

Then, with a gift of time from DH Wednesday morning, I was able to whip them out.

 I also completed six rows of the Assistant's quilt for her teacher.  She doesn't mind sewing rectangles together, but she's not quite ready to follow directions about pinning (ie, she skips pinning and won't listen when I tell her to pin!).

We may yet have a complete top before the end of Thanksgiving break... and we'll definitely have all the teacher quilts complete by Christmas!

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

Finished Quilt: ABC quilt

A customer ordered a twin-sized ABC quilt.  My original was a baby size, so it required a little bit of resizing.  I finished many of the blocks before Miss G was born, but it took me a while to work up the nerve to quilt it.  I knew I needed to do stitch in the ditch (following the outline of the sashing strips) but  I'm not very good at it.  I tend to rush it and get stretching or warping.  This time, I took it slow... So slow... I needed three days just for the sashing, then only a day and a half for the blocks themselves.

 I have to admit, the SID was absolutely worth it.  The letters and sashing pops against the more densely quilted background, and the SID rather than an overall meander keeps the sashing looking very square.  I really love the way the quilting turned out on this quilt.

 The background fabrics was a cream and a pink fairy frost.  The sashing is a darker pink fairy frost, and the cornerstones and binding are a green metallic dot.  I collected the ABC fabrics over several years before and after the Assistant was born, as the first quilt was for her.

 My favorite fabric may very well be this F.  The colors are so rich and bright!  Unfortunately, I only have enough for a few quilts left, and then I will have to find a new F!

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

Scrappy Happy Saturday

I've been sewing away this week, but most of it has been stitch-in-the-ditch for an ABC quilt (more on that in another post).  I do so dislike stitch in the ditch quilting (probably because I'm not very good at it).  The entire quilt is quilted and binding ready to go, so next week should be a little less tedious.

I worked, in between, on my 16-patches.  Here are JoJo's, which I shall try to take from him when the quilt is ready to assemble.

The Assistant has been working on this lovely.  I'm hoping to convince her to sew all the pieces in to pairs by the end of Thanksgiving Break so I can work on the rows for her.

Be sure to check out all the other projects in blue this weekend.

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

Ooh, and I have a crocheted hat giveaway on another post to celebrate my facebook page topping 200 likes!

Finished Quilt: Rainbow Row Quilt

The Rainbow Row Quilt has been finished for almost two weeks, but it was immediately pressed into service when the cold weather blasted through. Bear Cub's current favorite part is the backing.  Even though I want him to like the actual quilt, I'm glad DH and I were able to pick something he won't outgrow too quickly for the backing.

I made the rows each month as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and found it was nice to make some blocks I wouldn't have chosen myself, but could get a feel for whether or not I'd like to piece an entire quilt of them without making myself crazy.

It fits nicely on Bear Cub and JoJo's full size bed and Bear Cub was very excited that I made it for him, so I think this quilt was a success!

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

200 Likes Giveaway!

In honor of reaching 200 likes on my facebook page, I have a rather happy (and warm!) giveaway to celebrate. Use the lovely rafflecopter below to enter and warm up some happy little one's heads in this chilly weather. The giveaway includes any of my regular hats (so, pretty much anything but the wild turkey) in a child size... your pick! There will be two winners. You must leave a comment to enter, so don't forget! Enjoy!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Blue Bits

I spent most of my sewing time finishing two quilts this week.  Unfortunately, I still haven't taken pictures of the big one, my row quilt, as it's already in use by Bear Cub, who loves it.  The second quilt, a little baby snuggle quilt, is done and even blogged!

I did manage to stitch up and trim my blue triangle blocks.  Somehow I attached an entire row backwards, but since I'm aiming for a bit of quirky in the quilt anyway, I'm going to leave it.

You can see a peek of the Assistant's sewing (red and white).
More on that another day!

I've been battling mice in the house (oh, how I dislike mice!), so there's been more cleaning and moving of boxes than sewing.  Hopefully I catch the remaining mice soon and can get back to more entertaining occupations!

Check out the other lovely light blue projects that are part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge every Saturday!

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

Finished Quilt: Ribbon Weave Baby Quilt

As I rock Miss G to sleep (she says she still has a burp, so she wants to stay up a little longer), I've been looking over my blog.  First off, why is it so hard to blog during the week?  There are lots of excuses, mostly attributable to JoJo (oh, that boy!), but I do find I like to "do" during the week and "wrap up" on the weekend.  I'm trying to do better, as I have two finished quilts this week!

This little baby quilt finished at 36" x 45".  When we were packing our old house to market it, three years ago, I worked on tidying my scraps by cutting out two of these ribbon weave quilts.  The first, in blues and greens, needed more contrast, some pressing changes, and was finished two years ago.  Oddly enough, I only gave it away last week.  Since it is an afternoon for observation, I realize back then, I had a single gallon sized ziplock bag for all of my scraps.  I can't even imagine trying to quilt with so few scraps now!  I still don't think I had "lots" of scraps, but I have enough I can make a quilt out of only some colors and actually have enough.  I'm much more organized in my scraps than I used to be.

I like this block, although I think if I were ever to make it again (unlikely, as there are SO many blocks to try), I would use larger strips than 2" to make larger blocks.  Still, this is a nice size.  I like quilts that are small enough to wash quickly, as I use them for covers for the pack 'n' play or the floor to protect from spit up.

I quilted this on the diagonal to keep it simple but pretty.  I'm not sure where this quilt is going either, so I guess I'll save it for the next baby gift!

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

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Blue, Blue, Blue

There isn't much "light" blue sewing in evidence this week, but it's there, hiding!

 I sewed up all my triangle scraps, including some more greys I found (or created, possibly) since I sewed up some last month.  Now they're in the process of being trimmed.  I think there are only three or four truly light blues, but I'm sewing all the blues - no doubt there will be more by the time another blue month rolls around.

I have a few more 16-patches.  These are actually ones I started earlier in the year to give JoJo something to measure and "trim" (with just the rulers, no rotary cutter), but since they fit in, I'll be sneaking them back at some point.

There are other bits and pieces scattered here and there, but I'm currently working on the binding for the rainbow row quilt for my son, so the bits and pieces will just have to stay scattered for now.

Be sure to check out the rainbow of projects that are part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  Not everyone is sticking to light blue, so it's lots of colorful inspiration!

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

Finished Quilt: Rainbow Scrap Sampler

Woohoo!  My second of four teacher quilts is complete, down to the washing.

Unfortunately, it would appear my top and bottom border were a little shorter than they ought to be.  Hopefully, a little spritzing and stretching will fix the worst of it, and if not, c'est la vie!  (The quilt IS square; I don't have a wall to hang quilts on, so all my quilts looks slightly off kilter due to where I stand to photograph!)

The Assistant organized the layout, and we chose a simple wavy quilting pattern to keep the quilt soft and the quilting quick.  She's also stitching the units for her other teacher's quilt, so we may have them both completed by Christmas!  This teacher's favorite color is blue, so we found a nice blue print for the backing.

The blocks were made as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, although I stopped at 72 and didn't make most of the blocks that required pieces larger than 2.5."  I really wanted to shop my scraps, so unless I was cutting a larger strip for something else, I didn't want to have to rifle through my stash to obtain one smallish square or triangle.

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

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Blue

the best laid plans of mice and men...

Why can't the stomach flu simply assault my whole family at once and be done?  Instead, we've had at least three of us fall ill (probably two more in less dramatic ways) spaced out by a week and then three days.  So, just when I think we're past... I managed to catch it, which makes sense since I stayed home with the sickies, cleaned up, and washed dishes and clothes.  Ug.  I do not like being bedridden.

So, complaining aside, I'm feeling much better but definitely not 100%.  Instead of lots of sewing time while Miss G slept, I spent some time sorting scraps that my daughter fetched for me when I didn't leave my bed for most of the day.  I have been cutting up all my blues, not just my lights, so that some of them are ready to go for next year's projects.  I'll still have oodles of background to cut, but at least the main color will be ready to go.  I even sorted out and trimmed the necessary triangles! That way, if Miss G turns out to be a drama queen, I'll still be able to sneak in some sewing.

I finished and pressed my brown 16-patches.  I think I'll probably be tired of these by the end of the year, since both cutting and pressing are pretty tedious with 1.5" squares, but it is definitely time to use up some of the short bits that don't work for other projects.  This should leave me with pieces that are a little easier to adapt to "scrap" projects that take more than what I consider a scrap size.

I'm trying to decide what to substitute for on point 4 patches in these tiny blocks, as the idea of cutting setting triangles for something that small makes me slightly crazy.  Blank blocks or negative nine-patches?

Halloween was lovely for the kids.  I'm buying off all their sticky candy this year, so save their teeth, so they are happily sorting upstairs.  JoJo had an epic meltdown, so I have no picture of the cutie in his tiger costume.  Just pretend.  (Imagine red eyes, snotty nose, and screaming!)

He looks so sad in this picture, but we're just trying to get a shot of the head!

Check out the blue projects that are part of the first November weekend at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

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