Stash Report: Unmoved

I sewed plenty, but with no finishes, no changes.  Maybe next week!

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

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: This and That

True facts: I function best on 8+ hours of sleep.  I have not slept through the night in over 10 years.  I will find a way to manage JoJo's 1 am awake spells and his 4 am wake ups.  Somehow, I'm of the opinion that it should include trains or magnets for him and hand sewing and hot chocolate for me.  F course, when I'm in the throes of it, I just want to lay in bed and hope he won't wander.  Ooh... Another true fact: Friday I learned he can operate the microwave, immediately leading to its smoky and smelly demise.  Fortunately, other than the additional loss of a timer, we are all well.  I need to find a way to cover the buttons on the stove.

Anyway, this was the first full week of school, and the three of us at home really enjoyed the more relaxed routine. I made myself a list of 19 chores beyond the daily stuff and told myself that was enough for the week.  I still am fighting the poison ivy (almost four weeks in), JoJo needs calm, and I can only do so much with a walking Miss G wanting attention.  I managed to finish all my chores and rewarded myself with some sewing here and there.

My Scraps to Treasures quilt is basted and ready to quilt.  Ooh, I'm so nervous about that one!

I finished a total of 43 Bits and Bobs blocks for the month.  I cut more 1" pieces for the nine-patches and know I have more than I can finish this year, which is fine.  Who said this quilt would be done this year?  Not me!  I kinda want to keep this quilt for myself, but maybe not.  I'm still undecided.

While not in indigo, black, or grey, I made great progress on the Assistant's scrappy Irish Chain blocks. They are all sewn into pairs, and some into four patches.  She's been choosing mates and I've been pinning and stitching.  I think she'll be amazed at how quickly the top comes together from here.  I'm agonizing over the backing, as I don't have a single piece in enough yardage, but it's for an in-law who may not "get" a scrappy backing.  I really wanted to maintain my fabric fast, but I don't want to be cheap.

Next month should be fairly quiet, so I'll knock out my Scraps to Treasures quilt and the Irish Chain quilt.  Then it's on to a quilt for my grandpa, all from stash and scraps, that needs to be done by Christmas!

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

P.S. Be sure to check out all the indigo (and not-so-indigo) projects.

Stash Report Week #33

One quilt finished and four more spools of thread finished up..

28 spools of thread used

IN this week: 0 yards
OUT this week: 10 1/2 yards

IN YTD: 5 1/4 yards
OUT YTD: 95 yards

YTD Total: 89 3/4 yards OUT

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

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Worn Out

School started this week, so the days are suddenly quieter (and tidier!).  Dishes and laundry stay done for more than five minutes, and JoJo has become quite a chatterbox when no one else is around.  Miss G is a walking fool, so the days are still busy.

 I finished my quilt for my brother!  There are still a few threads on top to knot and bury, but it's washed and crinkly.  Finishing the binding was a challenge in stealth as JoJo wants to crawl under blankets and play peek-a-boo with me.  I'm glad we're playing, but it's a dangerous game with needle in hand!

 It's not scrappy, so I know it doesn't really fit with the challenge, but the idea for this quilt has long been on my mind and the fabric in my stash, so this was as good a time as any to break into it.  I was a strip short of aqua, so sprinkled throughout are 12 substitute squares.  I'm relieved to see they aren't too obvious in the picture.

 I enjoyed trying some new quilting shapes, even if they aren't very even, and I'm glad to have this quilt done.  It finished at around 6 feet by 7 feet, so it should be a generous size for my brother on his bed.  He's at Notre Dame studying for his doctorate, and I heard a rumor his old quilt from me had worn out, so this will be his Christmas gift this year!

More Bits and Bobs blocks are complete.  I was surprised by the abundance of yellow in my triangles

 All the Assistant's scrappy Irish chain blocks are completed!  I'm ready for the brown month, as I'll be churning out this quilt.  She still can't quite imagine how the blocks are going to lock together, so it'll be fun to sew while she's at school and surprise her.

We had a rough week, sleeping wise, but JoJo slept through the night last night and got up at five this morning, so maybe we've ended that stretch!  Enjoy your week.

from the room of Zana's Ninis,

katie z.

P.S. I may have a dearth of indigo (I think there might be some in the binding of my finished quilt), there are plenty of other scrappy projects waiting to be enjoyed this weekend!

Stash Report, August 9

My mom and sister did some shopping as a gift for me, so I've another 1 1/2 yards in.  It's funny that I've been gifted or won so much fabric this year!

The quilt closest to the finish line isn't done yet (alas), so I've gone backwards.  That's okay!

IN this week: 1 1/2 yards
IN YTD: 5 1/4 yards

OUT this week: 0 yards
OUT YTD: 84 1/2 yard

YTD Total: 79 1/4 yards OUT

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Mood Indigo

I need to begin with gratitude to my mom and eldest sister, who, on a trip to visit my brother, stopped in a quilt shop just for little old me and even took the time to ask me for the month's scrappy color!  I'm now the happy owner of three snowflake fat quarters (I kinda have a collection of stars and snowflakes) and some indigo-ish fat quarters.  I am so blessed!

This week saw me all over the map.  JoJo had his big evaluation with the specialist (intense!) with an unofficial diagnosis of autism.  There's no surprise in that.  I was able to ask a few questions, particularly about sleep, and we have a road going forward.  More therapy is in the works, which will mean less sewing, so I need to reconsider my goals for next year.  It's all good because my most important goal is to hear JoJo someday tell me, "I love you," and I'm in it for the long haul.

Then, oh my quilt friends, then JoJo apparently rolled in some poison ivy and shared it with me.  He has no rash, but I have enough rashy spots for the entire neighborhood.  I'm pretty diligent about poison ivy myself, but there's no knowing with JoJo.  Oh, it's bad.  I've never had it this pervasively.  I'll be hiding out in the AC for the next few weeks.

You may be wondering, what did I manage to sew this week?  You know very well I must have sewn something, as I can't deprive myself for too long.

I have 13 more 16-patches, 35 more Irish chain blocks, and 2/3 of my indigo-and-others quilt.  I had hoped to finish the quilting but that was too much.  By next week, I think I'll have it finished.

How is your sewing going?  How is your weather?  It's cooled off by to low 90s instead of 100, so it's still a long way to fall.

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

Stash Report Week #whatevertheheckitis

No changes!  Just keep swimming, right?

from the room of Zana's Ninis,

katie z.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Random

I ought to have more indigo today, but, alas, it is not so.

My triangles are all sewn up, so six more blocks joined the ranks.

The 16-patches are moving along slowly.  I'll have more in grey and yellow next week.

My glacier-inspired quilt is a top, the backing is pieced, and the batting is cut.  Finding time to baste it has been impossible.  Maybe this week, and I'll quilt it, although the plan there is nonexistent.  Oh, well.

I've also made great progress with my Scraps to Treasures top, but I can't show you that.  It's coming together better than I feared but not as well as I would like.

My scrap boxes are emptying nicely, and I'm already plotting a few quilts for next year.  It's going to be fun!

Be sure to check out the other projects.

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

UFO List, July Updates

July began with 25 projects
I added 4 new
And finished 4,
so July ended with 25.

The Rainbow Star project is done, as well as the charm pack baby quilt, old uniforms into doll dresses, and a purple and blue baby quilt.

The new projects were the aforementioned purple and blue baby quilt, a found project of Christmas stockings, a requested quilt for my grandpa, and an autism puzzle quilt.  We'll see how fast I get to any of those, as there are plenty to work on in August.

I continue to debate how to list my UFOs.  Some of these are only fabric pulls, or a block idea, and it seems like those aren't quite UFOs.  I think I'll keep a UFO list (something is actually done) and a total project idea list.  We'll see where that gets me.  I'm adding two more blocks plans.  I'd like to get my UFOs under 10, so I'm going to get busy!

UFOs
1. Irish chain
2. Glacier quilt
3. Triangles
4. 16-patch
5. Bits and Bobs
6. Coordinated fabric scraps
7. Scraps to Treasures
8. Tell it to the Stars
9. ABC quilts
10. Place at
11. Hand pieced hexis
12. Stockings

The rest of the story
13. Mom's yellow and grey quilt
14.  Odd fellow
15. Scrap crystal
16. Appliqué
17. Scrappy DWR
18. Lime, Aqua, white
19. Alzbe Tshirt quilt
20. T &H
21. Orphan blocks
22. Puzzle quilt
23. Grandpa's northwoods quilt
24. Pillow
25. Embroidered pillows
26. Twinkle star in pink and green
27. Purple and grey quilt

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

August Goals

In July, I wanted to...

1.  Work on red scraps.  Done.  I finished the Rainbow Star and have it ready and waiting for donation.

2.  Finish Spunky's baby quilt.  Done!

3. Irish chain strip sets. Yes!  We managed to finish all the strips, and now I'm pinning together the blocks.

4.  Make a doll dress from an old school uniform.  The finished result could use some tweaking, but I'm satisfied with what I did.  Now the other school uniforms can be cut down and stored for another project.  (I don't have one yet.  Just in case.)

5.  Spunky's second baby quilt was even faster than the first, as it's not very big.

I also finished the blocks for my brother's quilt and made a plan for the coordinated scraps.  All good.

This month, I'd like to...

1.  Play catch up on scraps.  I have more triangles, 16-patches, and Bits and Bobs in previously covered colors to finish. Trimming is done as I write this, and I was impressed to discover that last month I trimmed almost everything as I went.  Yay me!

2.  Finish my brother's quilt.  The top and backing are ready.

3.  Mending.  I worked on mending Saturday and Sunday.  Oh, how I dislike mending, as it requires flexibility on my part.  I'm down to one pair of pants to mend.

4.  Scraps to Treasures.  I cut.  I balked.  I started sewing Sunday and have great hope that my plan will be successful.  I need a finished quilt top by the end of August.

5.  I'd like to piece all the Irish chain blocks.

6.  The scraps of coordinated fabric were on my UFO list.  Last week, with all my goals completed, I started in a small bag.  Saturday, I powered through and finished up, so this goal is already complete!

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

Stash Report Week #32

Saturday afternoon, I managed an unplanned finish, so I have something to report.  I made a little bag out of leftover coordinating prints, so it also checked off another project off my UFO list.

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

IN this year: 3 3/4 yards
OUT this year: 84 1/2 yards
YTD Total: 80 3/4 yards OUT!

I only foresee one finish for the entire month of August.  That's really okay, as I don't have a goal for how much to use this year.  My main desire remains not to buy fabric, which I've managed for seven months now.  (In case you don't know, all my incoming fabric came from winning two giveaways.)

A few months ago, I swapped the locations of my fabric and yarn stashes, so the yarn moved into boxes and the fabric is now in a glass-fronted cabinet next to my sewing machine.  The ability to look at all the fabric at once definitely squashes frivolous fabric buying impulse, but it also helps me analyze what I truly need.  No more aquas right now, I know, but definitely more yellow, pink, and purple.

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

Busy Hands

I had four goals for the week: process 100 pounds of peaches, catch up on bills, skin all the ripe tomatoes, and get my brother's top to a flimsy stage.

I came close.  By the end of today, I may just accomplish my goal, as I have one seam left to pin and stitch.  It goes nicely with this month's colors, I think, since it has black, grey, and dark blue.  Initially, I wasn't sure what to do with these fabrics, but I'm quite happy with how the quilt is turning out.  Quilting may stump me, but I have a bit of time for that.

I surprisingly have not trimmed down my scraps yet.  Usually, that is first on the list, but the above four goals were large and looming, so the trimming still awaits.  I did skin all the tomatoes and catch up on bills, and the last of the peaches will go in the canner or the freezer today.

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