Stash Report Week #13

Nothing in, nothing out in terms of yardage, so I'm at net 19 yards out for the year.  I'm still plugging away at my hand quilting, but JoJo has recently decided he wants to lay on my lap when I quilt, and it is challenging to make progress when a cute little head bobs up and down underneath.

Next up for finishes will hopefully be the queen sized Carrie Nation quilt as well as a lap quilt for my mother in law.

I did empty another spool of thread, which makes 12 total for the year.  I know quilting slows down significantly in the summer and fall as I tend to use only 24 or so spools a year!

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

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Yellow!

Where does the week go?  I intend to blog more often, to separate my scrap challenge posts from my other projects, but I don't seem to manage very well!

I finished my seat cushions for a customer and hope she'll send me pictures to share.  I'm quite happy with how they turned out and relieved to have conquered another challenge.

My aunt requested some memorial wall hangings from my grandma's clothes, so I finally took a deep breath, sorted, and made preliminary cuts.  I have one of seven complete.

On the scrappy front, we managed to get the Carrie Nation sewn into pairs of rows.  I pin, pin, pin, and Sarah sews, sews, sews.  We'll press again and soon have a top.  We pulled some fabric for the backing.  I'll have to measure and figure out if we have enough.

For my niece, I finished the next set of blocks (28?).  They lack the final press but are working out well.  The most recent set of 1.5" four patches went much faster.  Maybe I'll get the next set of 20 done in the next week.  If not, I'm happy with my progress for the month.

I completed six more blocks for my Bits and Bobs quilt.  Part of me wonders how well my blocks will play together, but I can save that worry for another day!

ironing awaits!

Finally, I've been sneaking in a bit of stitching on the Assistant's project of an Irish Chain quilt for a Christmas gift for her grandad.  We're exhausting my scraps in green and brown before we tackle the stash, and I'm itching to know how many blocks we can complete.  She's currently bored with sewing quilt bits together, so I've been figuring out how many pieces to cut for the alternate blocks and begun sewing a few strip sets together.  Maybe some progress will spur her into action!

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

Stash Report Week #12

No prizes this week to "mess up" my incoming, and two dresses finished to beef up my outgoing...  Unfortunately, I don't envision any more finishes in the near future, so I may have a wash, rinse, repeat, kind of report for a while!

IN this week: 0 yards
OUT this week: 2 3/4 yards

IN YTD: 2 1/2 yards
OUT YTD: 21 1/2 yards

YTD Total: 19 yards out!

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

Yummy Yellow

Spring Break flew by in a whirlwind!  DH was out of town for three days, my sister had major surgery, and potatoes were planted, all in addition to the usual nonsense.

I finished two dresses for the girls and made good progress on the custom seat cushions.  I had no idea there were 12" long upholstery needles, but now I own one!

On the scrappy yellow front, I finished the first twelve blocks for my niece's quilt.  The tiny blue four patches feel as though they take ages to complete.  The next round of blues is the worst (most numerous), but then is should all be downhill from there.  I will try to finish the next set of blocks this week, and then we'll see what April holds for sewing time!

I also finished up my 10 16-patches.  I would have liked 20, but there aren't any more yellow 1.5" scraps, so this is it for now.

Next week, I hope to finish my next set of Carrie Nation blocks, my Bits and Bobs in yellow, and the seat cushions (so they're off my list).

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

Finished Project: Dresses

Sometimes, I have an idea, even buy the fabric, and then I procrastinate.  There are so many things to sew, and so little time... and I am afraid of garment sewing, even though I do a decent job.

The last time we went to a funeral (about three funerals ago), I found no black or even dark clothes in the girls' lineup.  I know black isn't required, but we do attempt to dress in more somber attire.  The next time I was at the quilt shop, I found a lovely black and turquoise batik that I paired with a marbled black.  I even knew what type of dress I would sew.

Huh.

Since Vicki Welsh has a UFO challenge running this year, and I don't have so many UFOs but more planned projects, I decided to participate.  It's amazing how much a deadline, no matter how self-imposed, can inspire me.  This month, I was determined to finish these dresses, as they should be quick and painless, especially after Easter sewing.

The Assistant helped with measuring and cutting, and once I had an empty bobbin to fill with black, I sewed these up in a matter of a day or two.  They could probably have better finished seams, but I don't expect them to last forever, so I decided not to be to finicky.

I still love the blue and turquoise and wish, just a bit, that I had oodles more of it.

Spunky wanted longer sleeves, and they each picked the buttons for their belts.  My button hole on my machine doesn't go as large as their buttons, so the buttonholes are less than glamorous.

Still, done is far better than fabric lying in a box, and now that I've made them, we won't have any funerals to attend for a while!

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

Stash Report Week #11

IN this week: 1 1/2 yards
OUT this week: 0 yards

IN YTD: 2 1/2 yards
OUT YTD:  18 3/4 yards

YTD Total: 16 1/4 yards OUT

The numbers took another hit this week, but once again, I didn't buy anything!  My prize-winning streak continued with a package of scraps from Vicki Welsh for her UFO challenge.  I'm estimating they are about a yard and a half.

I had hoped to finish a pair of dresses for the girls but... Yeah.  My life is just a bit of turmoil, mostly good, so sewing time is hard to come by.  I would love to spend an hour or two at the machine, but, alas, there are more pressing (and less fun) required activities. Maybe this week I'll get the dresses done, even if I don't get any of my other goals!

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

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Yellow Edition

One lonesome triangle nine patch.  Poor thing, there were no more triangles to make another!  I have oodles and oodles of green triangles, however, so I will make up for the lonely block another month.

I had great plans for a fabric finish to help my stash report and my UFO list, but, alas, we had a number of "on the road" days, yielding only hand quilting for most of the week.

I did finish 72 Carrie Nation blocks!  I decided, in fits and starts, to finish all the four patches in all colors before assembling the blocks.  It sure made this week feel productive after a month of no new Carrie Nation blocks!  All the quarters were ready, so an hour or two of pinning and sewing whipped out the last blocks.  Now we have to plan the layout, and on to the rows we go.

Finally, I finished all the yellow four patches for the new quilt.  I've begun the blues, but with no four patches complete, it would be a dull photo of blue squares and green squares.  Maybe (maybe, as it is spring break), I'll have a finished block or two next Saturday!

Be sure to check out all the other sunshine-y projects this Saturday!

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

Stash Report Week #10

IN this week: 1 yard
OUT this week: 0 yards

IN YTD: 1 yard
OUT YTD: 18 3/4 yards

YTD Total: 17 3/4 yards OUT!

I'm still on a fabric fast, if you're wondering.  I haven't set foot in a quilt shop for months, and I've only filled and deleted a cart online once.  So that fabric that came in... Was a prize!  Prairie Moon Quilts is in the third year of the 350 blocks challenge.  I was the January prize winner, and part of the prize was four lovely fat quarters.  I AM behaving, and it is so nice to have new fabric and not pay for it!

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

You are my Sunshine

Woohoo!  We are accident free for a week.  JoJo's insomnia has returned, however, but I prefer that to the eye injuries.  In an attempt to keep things mellow for JoJo this week, we spent a lot of time in the basement playing and sewing.

I was able to finish 8 cushions for a customer, except for the buttons.  Those are on order.  I'll be glad to have the pile of cushions out of the play room, but I definitely have learned and enjoyed them once I had the process down.

The Rainbow Star is now 3/4 assembled.  I am doing better at organizing my triangles for sewing, and I definitely see the improvement over the original, several years ago.

I also started some four patches of luscious hand-dyed fabric from Vicki Welsh.  We'll see if my sister Alzbe recognizes what this is for as I proceed.  I have three more shades of yellow to sew up, and then comes the blues!  I suppose these aren't precisely scraps, but I don't have many yellow scraps, and this is a good time to make progress on this quilt.

Be sure to check out all the other yellow projects (there's always so many inspiring posts... I will not start a new project...)!

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

March Goals

In February, I wanted to...

1. Quilt some part of Tell it to the Stars.  I need to start.  Somewhere.  Anywhere.  I love this quilt and want to use it! I started quilting it!

2. Make three more Easter clothes.  I finished the Easter clothes, except for finishing touches on one dress.

3. Scraps: trim my scrap bucket, Bits and Bobs, triangles, 16-patches, Carrie Nation, Rainbow Star, doll quilt, and finish my blue zigzag quilt from last month.  Done, done, and done!

4. Make or pull from my store four more hats for donation.  Finished!

5.  Finish my kitchen towels.  Finished!

In March, I want to...

1.  Quilt more of Tell it to the Stars.  My current goal is 15 minutes 6 out of 7 days each week.

2.  Finish my customer seat cushions.

3.  Sew two mini quilts for my aunt (I need seven quilts total.)

4.  Manage my yellow scraps: trim, Bits and Bobs, triangles, Rainbow Star, finish the rainbow Carrie Nation blocks, and make significant progress on my niece's yellow, blue, and green Carrie Nation quilt.

5.  Make/pull four hats or scarves for donation.

6.  Make funeral dresses for the girls.  They need some dark dresses for funerals, and we seem to have been to our share of funerals lately!

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

February Block Count

I added 51 blocks to last month's 128, for a new total of 179.

There was ONE doll quilt and TWO star wedges, accompanied by FIVE blocks for my Bits and Bobs quilt.  These were chased by SEVEN triangle nine patches, TWELVE more Carrie Nation blocks, and nearly smothered by TWENTYFOUR sixteen patches in pink.

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

Stash Report Week #9

Nothing in, nothing out this week.

Total YTD: 18 3/4 yards OUT