Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Odds and Ends

I now have 53 Odd Fellows blocks, which leaves me only 25 more to cut and sew!  While I'd love to say I sewed them in fours, I ran out of time.  JoJo and Miss G are both determined to get too close to the rotary cutter, so I'll cut more blocks another day.  I'm very happy to have made so much progress this month, as it makes finishing the quilt by year's end doable.  That means I have one more Christmas present planned!

My applique blocks are also completed for the month.  Two were purple, but I only had the orange out.  I enjoy choosing all the fabrics from my collection from Vicki Welsh.

Finally, my paltry party of Bits and Bobs totaled only 4 this month.  There are lots of other lovely oranges to check out this weekend!

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

Stash Report Weeks #16-17

Last week saw no changes to the stash, hence no stash report, but this week I managed to finish two quilts!  One was for a customer, so the remaining fabric entered my stash.

8 spools of thread used for the year

IN this week: 2 yards
IN YTD: 23 1/2 yards

OUT this week: 9 yards
OUT YTD: 41 yards

YTD Total: 17 1/2 yards OUT!

I've had more impressive years in terms of stash busting, but I've also had worse.  I have specific holes to fill in my stash, so there will be more purchasing this year, but I think I've managed to keep it to fabric I specifically need!

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

Hope

This quilt began out of my love for snowflake and star fabrics.  I've always had "a thing" for snowflakes, going even so far as to label all of my Christmas presents with a snowflake sticker instead of my name for my family a few years.  When I began quilting, I loved the hunt for snowflake and star fabrics, buying without a care for color, quality, or size of pattern.

At some point, I was introduced to Karol-Ann's Rose hexagon quilt (you can see it in her sidebar) and thought I'd do the same with my treasured fabrics.  So it began by cutting a 3.5" x 4.5" rectangle from every star or snowflake fabric I owned.  There are no repeats, to the best of my knowledge, in the entire quilt top.  I even put out a plea on the HGTV boards, when they still existed, and received a lovely collection of fabrics from those ladies.  I cut my own templates from yogurt lids.  I learned about an adequate seams and how to cut larger rectangles.  My blog posts date back to June of 2011.

I couldn't find a higher place to stand last night, in my haste, so the quilt appears wonky but is quite square.

The entire quilt top is hand pieced and hand quilted, including the borders.  I tucked away the hexagons at the point we decided we would sell our house, and pulled them out occasionally, only to be overwhelmed as they became unwieldy.

Finally, I was spurred on by Vicki Welsh's UFO challenge to finally tackle this piece.  It was my oldest UFO, and I knew I had plenty of fabrics to be getting on with.  I intended to piece one "snowflake" a month until I could piece the entire top.

Then, in September of 2015, I suffered a miscarriage.  In my confusion, grief, and loss-of-what-to-do-with-myself, I decided this quilt would become the baby quilt for the baby I lost.  So my goal became to finish by her due date in early May of 2016.

Since then, I have diligently cut, pieced, quilted, finagled, and otherwise made this quilt happen.  I survived the disaster of bleach on it and my son cutting a few holes in it.  I pieced the back out of my favored teal and turquoise scraps.  I hand quilted a different design in every group of hexagons.  I used another beloved snowflake fabric in the binding.

I finished by my goal, and I am both sad and relieved that the quilt is done.  I will enjoy snuggling on the couch with this quilt, and I'm proud to have persevered and given myself something useful out of my mourning.

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

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: this, that, and the other

This week, I finished two quilts.  One was a t-shirt quilt for a neighbor.  The second was my hexagon quilt, which I'll blog about later.

The other push this week was another batch of blocks for my Odd Fellows quilt.  Between the other two quilts and all the farm work this week, I finished 9 more for a total of 45.  Soon, my design wall won't hold all the blocks.  I'm trying to decide if I should sew some of the blocks into four-patches, or if I should wait until I have all the blocks complete.  What would you do?

I hope to finish 8 more blocks that I have cut as well as my Bits and Bobs for the month in the next week.  Do you have any great plans?  I hope a little time is spent enjoying all the orange projects this weekend.

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

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Distractions

Whew, it's a busy week!  We've had 26 chicks hatch, garlic weeded, tomatoes moved outside to harden off, lots of paint purchased (I'm kinda tired of the writing on the wall), 100+ meat chicks to feed, water, and move, and DH has had acres and acres of mowing to do.  Somehow that list just doesn't seem long enough for all the time farming took this week.

In my free time, when I can't sleep because the kids are awake, I've been stitching triangles to triangles and squares!   36 blocks done, 52 to go.

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

Stash Report Week #15

Alas, no changes!  I do think I'll be able to finish my hexi quilt by the end of the month, but I've no idea how many yards it will be.  It's going to take some fancy math to divine that one, as both front and back are pieced!

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

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Oddly Intriguing

Slowly but surely, I'm moving along with my odd fellow blocks.  I now have 29 completed with another 6 in various parts and pieces.  My biggest stumbling blocks are the ridiculous number of triangles and the trouble of lumpy seams as I sew the quadrants together.  I'll get better at both!

I think I'll thrown in one block of a different color, but you'll have to wait until it's done to know what color I chose.  The orange has definitely become more dominant as I've sewed up the strips I have, so clearly I'll need to cut more brown next.

Altogether, I need 88 blocks.  My plan/hope is to have 51 blocks done by the end of the month.  So far, I'm doing well with that goal.

Be sure to check out all the other orange (with brown or black accents) projects this week!

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

April UFO Updates

March 1 projects: 18
Finished: 2
Started: 0
March 31 projects: 17

Yeah, yeah, the math isn't right.  There's a reason: I finished Amethyst and Iron and an ABC quilt, but the ABC quilt will never leave "the list," until all the ABC sets are sewn into quilts.  I think I have five more sets.

I'm contemplating a few new projects, namely, a new purse/bag, a quilt for my SiL who's expecting, and a quilt for DH's Memaw.  However, until I start cutting or determine a design, I'm not putting them on my list!  I had enough to do already.

In April, I have a t-shirt quilt for a friend and neighbor that will certainly get done.  I'll progress in Odd Fellows, but it's highly unlikely I'll finish.  Maybe, if I feel the urge, I'll finish the hexi quilt, but it still has three looong borders and a binding to go!


"Something Done"
1. Hand pieced hexi (quilting)
2. Tell It to the Stars (quilting)
3. ABC applique
4. Stockings (4 of 7 done)
5. Twinkler Star (cut)
6. Applique
7. Placemats
8. Bits and Bobs
9. Odd Fellows
10. Tshirt quilt

Not Started Yet
1. Mom's yellow and grey
2. Embroidered pillows
3. Uncle Ron
4. Scrappy DWR
5. Aegean Sea
6. Orphan blocks
7. Pillow

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

April Goals

In March, I wanted to...
1. Finish quilting the hexies.  All remaining will be the borders. I almost finished one border too!

2.  Scraps: trim, applique, Bits and Bobs, and a purple and grey rails quilt.  All done!

3.  A baby quilt for my brother.  Done and gifted!

4.  Taxes.  Delayed due to pneumonia.  I'll see our CPA Tuesday.

5.  Further progress on Odd Fellows once my other goals are complete.  Sewed up more sections!

In April, I hope to...
1.  Quilt three borders on my hexi quilt.

2. Scraps: trim, applique, Bits and Bobs, and more Odd Fellows!

3.  A commissioned Tshirt quilt.

4.  Taxes.

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

Stash Report Week #14

IN this week: 1 yard
OUT this week: 6 yards

IN YTD: 21 1/2 yards
OUT YTD: 32 yards
YTD Total: 10 1/2 yards OUT!

I finished a quilt this week, but forgot to count in a bag of scraps a friend sent last week.  I hear Hancocks are closing, so I may make a few purchases of supplies!

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Not-Cantaloupe-Yet

I've already trimmed down my box of scraps to catch up for the month, but it was boring and mostly blue.

I did finally take a picture of my appliqué blocks thus far.  I had hoped to finish a few more, but, guess what?  I have pneumonia!  Now that the fever is gone, I desperately need to kick this cough.  If you have any relatively palatable home remedies, I'm all ears.  Even the codeine doesn't do enough!  (Please don't pity us, though.  This was an okay time to get sick, in the grand scheme of things.)

My sewing this week mostly revolved around finishing Amethyst and Iron.  I had the border and pieced blocks quilted, but still needed all the setting triangles and center alternate blocks.  I chose feathers.  Let's just summarize by saying they're not prize winners, but I'm improving.  (I apologize for not cleaning my lens AGAIN.  Ugh, blurry pictures!)  I think I need to spend some time looking at pictures of quilted feathers on Google, to get a better handle on filling space and adapting feathers to curves.  I don't think any of that would have made any sense if I hadn't spent this quilt struggling with exactly those things, so I'm excited to learn more.

 The backing is scrappy, light purples and greys, and the binding is scrappy dark purples.  I love how this quilt finished up, and I'm sure I'll find an appropriate recipient soon!  (It finished roughly 60" square.)

I finished the binding Thursday, as it was a good excuse to plant myself in a chair and not get up.  Other than onion planting this weekend, I've got a whole lot of nothing on my to do list!

I had a question to ask yesterday, as I was pinning (and pinning, and pinning) and ran out of pins.  How many straight pins are in your sewing room? A box?  Too many boxes to count?  And what kind are your favorite?  I know I want thin pins, but I can never remember what size that is as I rarely buy pins.  I have a hat pinball with maybe 1/2 a box of odds and ends, and a box of better pins, but that's it.

For April, I'll be back to Odd Fellows.  I discovered I may have nearly 30 blocks done.  I thought I had 25 at best, and I need 88 to finish, so this is a great discovery.

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

March Block Count

In March, I started and finished two smaller quilts, which helped the block count!

16 blocks for Amethyst and Iron
30 blocks for an ABC quilt
7 Bits and Bobs
6 applique for a total of
59 new blocks, plus the 90 old, yields a total of 149 blocks!

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