April 350 Block Count

Whew!  All month long I felt as though I wasn't sewing much, but by looking at the numbers, I clearly sewed plenty.

42 blocks for a quilt for my mother-in-law, and the quilt is finished!
2 more memorial mini quilts
38 more carrie nation blocks for my niece
2 points of the Rainbow Star quilt
6 more triangle nine-patches
20 16-patches
20 Bits and Bobs blocks
For a total of 130 new blocks.  Add that to the previous count of 314, and I'm now at 444.

My May goals definitely don't include nearly so many blocks.  Let's see what happens!

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

May Goals

My April goals were...

1.  Quilt more on TTS (a Judy Laquidara pattern).  Hmmm... I think I'm stalling on this.  It is so hard to find a good time of day to work on it.  JoJo makes bedtime a two hour production, and the morning  is already so full!

2.  Finish the rainbow Carrie Nation quilt.  The top and backing are pieced, the batting is cut, and I think I have a thread color chosen.  It's finished.  Woohoo!  I love it.

3. Two more mini quilts for my aunt (and finish up last month's).  Four total are done, with three left. I'm pretty excited to be past the halfway point.

4. purple scraps: trim my scraps, Bits and Bobs, triangles, 16 patches, Rainbow Star, and a lap quilt.  Done, done, and done!  All I have left is the binding on the lap quilt, and that will be done by tomorrow.

5. 4 hats, etc., for donation.  Done!

6.  Ugh.  Mending!  I conquered the mending monster for a while at least.

May goals must be brief, as we're busy, busy, busy.

1.  Tell it to the Stars.  If I don't at least list this goal, I'll never make any progress.

2.  Customer quilt.  Precut squares, some piecing complete.

3. Scraps: triangles, Bits and Bobs, 16 patch, and baste Rainbow Star.

4.  Four hats/scarves/etc.

If I finsh #2, I'll add Anni's quilt, my memorial quilts, and my scraps to treasures projects.

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

Stash Report Week #17

IN this week: 0 yards
OUT this week: 20 1/2 yards

IN YTD:  2 1/2 yards
OUT YTD: 40 yards

YTD Total: 37 1/2 yards OUT!

Whew!  Finishing a giant quilt all from scraps certainly changes my numbers.  I finished off another spool of thread as well, and have another top ready to quilt next week.  Let's get those numbers moving!

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

Pleased as Punch

My friends, it has been quite the scrappy week!

The Bits and Bobs blocks were prolific this week.  All these triangles clearly came from a number of quilt bindings.  I had no idea I'd bound so many quilts in purple.

My rainbow Carrie Nation quilt is done, done, done!  This giant finished at approximately 96x104, and I love evey last inch of it.  My original intent had been to piece it more in keeping with the rainbow scrap challenge, but the intended recipient, who was learning the basics of quilting with this quilt, asked if we could finish it by her wedding in June.  Um, sure?!?  We raced through the blocks (we'll need to talk about when to pull pins out), into rows, past miles and miles of pinning rows together, and finally into a beautiful top.  I pinned the quilt on my own, one day when the kids were mellow, then quilted it over two or three days.  The binding took three days, and then I was done!  My friend gets to practice pinning, quilting, and binding on a smaller and less urgent quilt.  I calculated 20.5 yards out with this beauty, so I'll finally have movement on my stash report as well.

As if such a massive finish weren't sufficient for the week, I also managed to pull this blocks into a flimsy on Friday.  You might ask where the purple went, since we're supposed to be using purple this month, and I'll point you to the backing.  What do you think?  Part of me wishes I'd cut the sashing narrower, or added a darker color in somewhere but I was limited to the coordinating fabrics and what was in my stash that went along.  I'm planning on some straight line quilting, but I have time to ponder.

Be sure to check out the last of the purple projects this weekend!

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

P.S.  Miss G is going to crawl any day!

Stash Report Week #16

Rinse, wash, repeat!

Nothing in, nothing out.

I'm sewing the binding on a quilt this week that will result in 20.5 yards out, which will double my fabric usage for the year.

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

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Purple

I love sewing.  I love the methodical and repetitious nature of running piece after piece through the machine, then adding on and repeating.   I do not love mending.  I am, in fact, a little ashamed of my distaste for mending, as I generally love to repair, reuse, and attempt to do with less.  Mending is like learning an entirely new routine, as no piece of mending exactly matches the next. Due to my deliberate neglect, the mending pile rose shockingly, and it was time to tackle it again.  Twelve items of clothing later, I'm free!

My 16-patches are all neatly sewn together.  Twenty small blocks later, I'm still happy with these wee bits.

The rainbow Carrie Nation quilt is completely quilted.  Whew!  We chose a pale pink thread as the idea of changing threads every row made me twitchy.  This is gong to be a fabulous quilt and, at 20.5 yards out, my stash is finally decreasing a bit.

Hangovers from last month, I now have 50 of my 80 yellow and blue Carrie Nation blocks complete.  In the ideal world, I'd finish these in the next 15 days and send the quilt to my sister for my niece's birthday but... this is not the ideal world.  I have a project that must be done ASAP!

I have various projects on the go and next month, seriously need to rein in my enthusiasm.  I have a customer quilt to finish, a two year old who lives to be outside, and the garden.  (On a side note, how big does your growing space have to get before it stops being a garden and becomes a farm.  We have over an acre in production, so are we beyond "crazy garden folk" yet?  Farmer sounds nicer.)

Be sure to fill up your inspiration tank on purple goodness this weekend!

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

Stash Report Week #15

I'm holding steady at 19 yards out of the year, with no purchases and only a few yards of prize winnings.  Approiately enough, having my UFO list staring me in the face keeps me from even desiring to shop for new fabric.  I will eventually need some light neutrals, but not anytime soon.

If you remember, I've half challenged myself to finish hand quilting my latest quilt by Judy Laquidara before I buy any fabric.  At the rate I'm going, it may very well take me two years to do so!  Eek!  I've tried to speed it up, and life seems to have sped up instead.

Ah, well.  No shopping this week, as the very least.

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

Wee Snippits of Purple

The growing season has definitely commenced!  Friday evening was spent entirely outside, squashing bugs, pulling weeds, and chasing JoJo.  Sewing time has declined significantly.

I have a few more tiny nines completed for Bits and Bobs.

My Rainbow Star to is in one piece and is waiting with batting and backing for basting pins to be freed up.  All my pins are currently occupied by holding together my Tell it to the Stars and queen sized Carrie Nation quilt.  I surely did pin baste that giant, over three or four hours.

I also began my MiL's quilt, and it is coming along nicely.  The last few days have been dawn-to-dusk busy and today looks to be no quieter.  Maybe Tuesday?!?

Be sure to check out all the lovely purple projects of the month!

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

Stash Report Week #14

No movement this week in fabric, so I remain at net 19 out.  My goal of staying on a fabric fast until I  hand quilt my queen sized quilt is becoming a longer and longer time span as the house has begun warming up and my desire to sit under a quilt wanes.  Nuts!

I did finish off another spool of thread, for 13 for the year.

UFO Update

Rather than trot out the same long list again, I'll update you on my work...

34 UFOs to start the month
2 UFOs finished... Funeral dresses and customer seat cushions
0 UFOs added...
32 UFOs to end the month

This month, I'll plug away at the Tell it to the Stars quilt, Bits and Bobs, triangles, 16 patches, the Rainbow Star, memorial quilts, and maybe Anni's Carrie Nation.  I hope to finish the Rainbow Carrie Nation quilt and a quilt for my mother in law.  We'll see how the weather changes my plan!

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

Purple People Eaters...

It was a busy week (again? as usual? will I ever grow accustomed?), so I'm pleasantly surprised at my progress in purples.

Last month, I fought to keep my scraps properly trimmed as I created them over the weeks.  This paid off in a big way when it took me less than five minutes to strip down the remaining bits and put everything in its correct storage container!

Then I pulled out my purple triangles, trimmed and sorted.  I was impressed at how many there were, as I must like to bind quilts in purple.  I was also intrigued by the "flatness" of the remaining triangles, predominately in green, red, and orange.  Six lovely triangle blocks are now completed.

My friend and I have completed the top and backing for her wedding quilt (a giant rainbow Carrie Nation quilt).  I finished piecing the batting yesterday evening, and the next time we meet up, the basting pins will come out!

My 1.5" purples are hacked up into pieces for my 16 patches, triangles are lined up for my Bits and Bobs, and I even cut the 1" strips for my tiny nine patches.  I find I like to cut all in one go at the beginning of the month, as my sewing time comes in fits and starts, so now I have plenty to occupy my fingers in my free moments.

I cut most of a new quilt as well.  I bought a lovely print and coordinates a few months ago, then couldn't decided what to do with them.  I knew I wanted a lap quilt for my mother-in-law, but was afraid to "ruin" my fabric!  Finally, after running some numbers (over and over and over) in my head, I forged ahead with cutting and hope to have a finished top by the end of April.

There should be an overflow of purple inspiration over at the Rainbow Scrappy Challenge!

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

April Goals

In March, I wanted to...

1.  Quilt more of Tell it to the Stars.  Well done, says I.

2.  Finish my customer seat cushions.  Done, done, and done, despite a lousy zipper at the 11th hour!

3.  Sew two mini quilts for my aunt (I need seven quilts total.). One done, one awaiting binding.  So close!

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.  Yup, yup, yup.

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

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!  Done. I think they're very classy, even if Spunky says the texture to the fabric is all wrong.

For April, I intended to moderate my plants but am not sure I've succeeded.

1.  Quilt more on TTS (a Judy Laquidara pattern).

2.  Finish the rainbow Carrie Nation quilt.  The top and backing are pieced, the batting is cut, and I think I have a thread color chosen.

3. Two more mini quilts for my aunt (and finish up last month's).

4. purple scraps: trim my scraps, Bits and Bobs, triangles, 16 patches, Rainbow Star, and a lap quilt.

5. 4 hats, etc., for donation.

6.  Ugh.  Mending!

from the room of Zana's Ninis,
Katie Z.

March 350 Block Count

It was a busy month in the sewing room by the numbers, although the outdoors are beginning to clamor for attention and time.  This month, I added 135 blocks, for a total of 314.  What did I do?

... I made two memorial wall hangings,
... 42 blocks for another Carrie Nation quilt
... the last 72 blocks for the queen sized Carrie Nation quilt
... 2 more wedges for my Rainbow Star
... 1 lonely triangle nine patch
... 10 16-patches
... And 6 Bits and Bobs blocks!

April has significantly fewer blocks partially done, so I doubt I'll almost double my numbers again!

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