Stash Report Week #26

I'm steady at 72 yards out for the year.  I have a few projects approaching the finish line, but I think it would be too much to plan for one in the next week.  We'll see, I guess!

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

Rainbow Scrappy Challenge

Whew!  I sewed and sewed Friday morning, so I do have some great progress to share.

All told, I sewed up 52 Bits and Bobs blocks.  In the last five months, I've only completed 67.  It's no wonder I felt like the pile would never end!  I know the blue 1" strips are still uncut, so I'm not caught up, even now, but maybe I'll tackle them on an orange month, since I don't have many oranges.

The finished Blue Crosses quilt is lovely, although I will admit to a sick feeling in my stomach when I realized one or two of the "inherited" black fabrics bled.  Grr.  I'll be sure to give it to someone who will use it for a picnic quilt or some such messy purpose.  I think my "swirly" quilting turned out rather nicely!

Spunky and I managed to make the nine blocks for her baby quilt.  I see some pieces were rearranged in sewing or sorting, but who cares?  I had planned for simple straight line quilting 1/4" from either side of the seam lines, but Spunky requested hearts and loops, so hearts and loops it will be!

My Rainbow Star is moving along briskly.  I am over 1/2 done with the cross hatching in the background and 5/8 done with the star points.  It is still hard to hand quilt with the babies, but I'm still motivated to finish more projects before I begin anything new!

My quilt for my brother is coming along nicely, although I have discovered I sewed (and cut!) an entire strip set wrong.  There is plenty of time to fix that.

Be sure to check out all the other scrappy projects this weekend!

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

Stash Report Week #25

I finished a largish baby quilt this week, so..

IN this week: 0 yards
OUT this week: 4 1/2 yards

IN YTD: 3 3/4 yards
OUT YTD: 75 3/4 yards

YTD Total: 72 yards OUT!

I'm approaching a six month fabric fast.  I still have plenty of neutrals, so I need to stay disciplined and finish more projects before starting something new!

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

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Blues

I have pictures, but no camera cord, as we traveled to San Diego for a few days with DH's family.

Before we left for the trip, I finished another batch of blocks for my Bits and Bobs quilt.  There are still more to go (I definitely need more nine patches!), which I'll try to get to next week.  I find churning out copious amounts of the same block to be boring, so they were set aside.

Instead, I dccided to go for broke in finishing the large baby quilt in blues, blacks, and browns.  I managed the last few stitches in the binding before bed the night before our trip, and I did try some swirly quilting.  I, of course, have plenty of room for improvement, but I'm happy with how it turned out.  This will be for a special someone who is pregnant (not me!) if it turns out she's having a boy.

My Rainbow Star has also seen tremendous progress in the hand quilting arena.  I wanted to take it in my luggage, but was worried all the safety pins would slow us down at security, so I finished the quilting in five of the eight star points and thread basted the last three.  I have the cross hatching complete in three of the eight background areas and have started on a fourth.  I'm really pleased with how it's going and hope to make more progress in the remaining dats of June.

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

Stash Report Weeks 23-24

No finishes this week.  I do have a quilt basted, and maybe I'll quilt and bind it before next Sunday.  Maybe.  At least I didn't buy anything!  I really would love to finish a few things. But Miss G is at the "I'm too mobile for my own good, so hold me!" Stage, and I don't want to run over her finger when she sticks it under the machine needle

I did use up a spool of thread, so I've finished off 17 spools this year.

IN this week: 0 yards
OUT this week: 0 yards

IN YTD: 3 3/4 yards
OUT YTD: 71 1/4 yards

YTD Total: 67 1/2 yards OUT

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

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Crazy Times

As many of you may know, I am usually a stay-at-home/farm-at-home mom.  Over the last two weeks, I've spent eight days offering formation courses during the day, and thus evening have been crazy.  While I loved teaching, I am relieved those crazy times are over.

Friday, one of my aunts, whom I've seen twice in 20 or more years, came to visit.  It was splendiferous.  She's generous, kind, and funny like my mom.  The three of us toured the farm, moved furniture, visited, and even purged the art room, right down to sorting out the pencils from the crayons.  I am so blessed by my family.

I even managed a decent bit of sewing, often snuck in first thing in the morning or past thing at night.

My blue, brown, and black bricks are a top, even pinned for quilting.  Before you feel too impressed, you should know all the cutting and half of the sewing was done before this most recent week.  I'm torn on the quilting plan.  Straight lines?  SITD?  Meander?

24 of my 25 new Bits and Bobs blocks are on the design wall.  As I placed them, I found I had turned a triangle on the last one, so it's waiting for a date with the seam ripper.  Not many are blue yet, but I still have a number of nine patches to make and a large pile of triangles to trim and press.

I began cutting for a Trip Around the World quilt, in blues and greys.  I've been hoarding the solids for quite some time.  They were purchased after some friends took a cruise to Alaska and shared images of the fabulous colors in icebergs.  Surely my color balance is a bit dark, but it's for my brother, who probably would refer a darker to lighter quilt.  We'll see how far it gets, but it's on my list, I have the fabric, and he needs a new quilt.  All good motivators, don't you think?

Be sure to check out other lovely blue projects this and every Saturday!

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

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Missing the Boat

I'm afraid my work isn't aligning with the color as nicely as I might hope.  I do have a baby quilt from stash and a stashed charm pack in the works.  This is Spunky's summer project:

 This next scrappy project isn't light blue, but it is blue.  I don't have light blue triangles or 16-patches to make this month since I used them with my dark blues previously, so this is my remaining blue project.

I might, given an unforeseen opportunity of time, start a quilt for my brother who's studying for his doctorate, but I really want to finish the above project first.  I am in a finishing mood, not a starting and leaving mood, so I might as well run with it!

Be sure to check out the lovely baby blues this Saturday!

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

UFO List, May Updates

Number of projects in process, May 1: 29
Number of projects completed: 5
Number of new projects started: 3
Number of projects "trashed": 0
Number of projects in process, June 1: 27

I finished my Carrie Nation quilt and a customer quilt.  I also started and finished another customer quilt and a weighted blanket.  Additionally, my friend and I cut a quilt top and she finished it in one day!
In process:
1. 5" squares 
2. Bits and Bobs
3. 16-patches
4. Triangle scraps
5. Donation Rainbow Star
6. Irish chain in green and brown
7. Aunt Monica projects

8. Scraps to Treasures

9. Blue chevron

10. Glacier fabrics

Non-Quilt Projects:

1. Placemat
2. Pillows
3. Someday, inherited embroidery

4. Old school uniforms 

Future: 

1. Giant chevron for my mom
2.  Sets of coordinated scraps, one set left
3. Tell it to the Stars
4. Odd Fellow block
5. Scrap crystal
6. Hand dyed applique

7.  ABC quilts

8. Scrappy DWR
9. Lime/Aqua/white diamonds
10.  Alzbe's Tshirt quilt
11. Tom and Hannah
12. Orphan block quilt
13.  hand pieced hexi

from the room of Zana's Ninis,

katie z.

June Goals

In May, I wanted to...

1.  Tell it to the Stars.  Fail.  I think this will have to wait for fall.

2.  Customer quilt.  Done.  Inadvertently sewed the wrong quilt together as neither of us realized there were two different quilts in the boxes.  The second (correct) quilt is also done.

3. Scraps: triangles, Bits and Bobs, 16 patch, and baste Rainbow Star.  Done, except for the Bits and Bobs.  I finished 19 blocks, but still have green parts left.

4.  Four hats/scarves/etc.  Done.

Bonus: 
5.  I finished the quilt for my niece.

6.  I finished a weighted blanket for JoJo.

7.  Spunky and I began a baby quilt.

8.  I began my Scraps to Treasures quilt.

In June, I teach a course for eight days and we travel for four, so sewing time is going to be hard to come by.  Even so, I'd like to...

1.  Finish the memorial quilts for my aunt.

2.  Get my Scraps to Treasures quilt to flimsy stage.  (fat chance)

3.  Get the strip sets done for the Assistant's scrappy Irish chain.

4.  Get Spunky's baby quilt to the flimsy stage.

5.  Light blue scraps:  I have the 16 patches done and no triangles to sew, so I'd like to buckle down on the Rainbow Star.  Also, I have lots of triangles the size for my Bits and Bobs, so some catch up there would be great.  I'm working on a blue, black, and brown quilt from 2.5" strips, and if that gets too dull, I could start a new quilt from stash fabrics in blues and greys.  It won't all get done, and much of it isn't light blue, but those are my scrappy plans for the month.

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

May Block Count

93 new blocks...

41 rows of sewing for a customer
13 triangle blocks
20 16-patches
19 Bits and Bobs (I didn't finish this month!)

... add that to the previous 444 blocks, and I have 537!

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