September Block Count

This month was a busy one!  Fortunately, by choosing a simply strip pieced quilt for Christmas gifts, I made a big stack of blocks without spending too much time on them.  Of course, then I worked on my Odd Fellows blocks have a bazillion triangles, and I'm nowhere near finishing any more of those blocks.  It's good to balance easy and complicated, right?

100 bricks
9 blocks for a mug rug
4 Bits and Bobs
So 113 new blocks.  Add that to the existing 562 blocks from earlier in the year, my current total is 675 blocks.

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

Stash Report Week #39

Woohoo!  I finished my mom's quilt and managed to stay away from online shopping this week.

IN this week: 0 yards
OUT this week: 12 1/2 yards

IN YTD: 64 1/4 yards
OUT YTD: 91 3/4 yards
YTD Total: 27 1/2 yard OUT!

Keep On Keepin' On

The giant quilt is quilted!  I always love removing the last pin from the quilt with the last stitching line.  Since I only stitched diagonally in one direction, this quilt really moved along nicely.  I used a "new to me" tool to mark the lines, and it worked great!  I've read regularly of quilters using a Hera marker, and it seemed to be just the thing for this quilt.  However, I don't need more gadgets, so I looked around the house to see what I could use instead.  I decided to try our plastic pizza cutter, and it was perfect!  Lines marked, no chalk or ink, and off we go.

Even better, because the quilting went so quickly, I was able to stitch down the binding and check this large, long-promised project off my list.  I'm glad my mom is patient, as it's taken at least two years for this quilt to work its way up the list.  I love the extra-wide backing, as the lack of seam and lack of piecing was much quicker.  I opted for a mottled dark grey for the binding, and even if it's not a solid, I think it works.

My one Odd Fellows subcomponent is done (33 batches of 8) but not get ironed.  It's been too hot and too humid for me to turn on the iron for long.  Next will be the remaining component, which I hope to finish in October.

The teacher quilt (all stash and scraps), is in the assembly progress.  I've webbed one half and laid out the second.  Niggling in the back of my mind is the need to plan one more teacher quilt.  I have a focal fabric and a few solids pulled, but that's as far as I've gotten.

Four lonely little Bits and Bobs were stitched up this week.  My quilting and long strings of triangles weren't particularly conducive to leaders and enders, but I think next month will be better for that.

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

Stash Report

another 1/4 went out last week in the form of a finished stocking.  I don't have all my numbers before me, and the iPad is tedious for copy and paste, so we'll be brief: I'm doing well using more than I've bought.

This week I'll be quilting my mom's quilt and, if my 2 year old (who suddenly doesn't take naps and is destroying everything) doesn't drive me nuts, maybe I'll bind it too!

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

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Moving Right Along

Well, it rained again.  This time, it was only two inches, so while the ditches filled up, the road stayed clear.  Whew!

I managed to baste my mom's quilt, but didn't make any further progress.

I was too busy trying to get one set of pieces sewn up to my Odd Fellows quilt.  I chose to start with the more finicky piece, all triangles, and while I didn't get all 33 sets of 8 done, I made significant progress.  There's still hope that I'll finish this quilt for a Christmas gift for my nephew!

My Teal Swap mini has finally made it to the post office, so I don't live in fear of the kids decorating it any further.  Of course I didn't snap a picture, but that's okay.

A new stocking was begun in brown, royal blue, and ice blue.  I think this one will be for PK and the one I finished last week will be for JoJo.  This is my portable project, so I'm not too concerned with making rapid progress.  It's going quilt despite this, as it's almost all appliqué and very little embroidery.  After this one, unfortunately, I'm out of patterns, as Prairie Moon Quilts has only published 7 and I don't think a new one will be forthcoming this year, as she's crazy busy.

My last big accomplishment was finishing all the (super simple) blocks for a teacher quilt.  I completed the strip sewing in between batches of triangles.

The only scrap of rose sewing this week was a test block for one of my scrappy projects for next year.  I'll be making hour glass units from my 2.5" scraps, and I wasn't sure how big they would come out.  Once Odd Fellows is done, I intend to do a healthy dose of pre-cutting, so that when the baby arrives, I'll still be able to stitch a little without too much preparation.

Be sure to check out all the lovely rose and gold projects this week.

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

Stash Report Week #37

Two finishes!  I completed my mug rug as well as my appliqué flimsy, so the week went well.

IN this week: 0 yards
OUT this week : 6 1/4 yards

IN YTD: 64 1/4 yards
OUT YTD: 79 yards
YTD Total: 14 3/4 yards out!

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

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Drying Out

Do you remember two weeks ago, when I was bemoaning the loss of our driveway and road?  Ah, well, I'm shaking my head in round two.  Thursday night into Friday morning, we received another 9 inches of rain and were without power for 8 hours.  This pregnant lady couldn't sleep with dead silence in the house (I need my fan!) and fretting over the inoperable sump pump while the drain tiles poured into the pump.  God is good, however, and we had minimal dampness in the basement and power is back (for now).  Our driveway, alas, is missing again.  The public school district cancelled school Friday, and since I couldn't get out with the van and DH nearly died in his truck, we kept the kids home for the day.  We had another 2" Friday night, kept power, and are preparing to go to the state fair.

Meanwhile, busing is less chaotic, JoJo is less exhausted by school, and I've been sewing up a storm.

The first major task was to complete my yellow and grey flimsy.  It's done, pressed, batting cut, and I'm waiting for a good day to baste it.  I have a hard time basting right now, as the floor and pregnancy are not the most compatible.  Next week.

My second goal was to quilt my appliqué quilt sandwich.  I will readily admit my marking of the quilting was less exact than perhaps is wise, but I hope the relatively equal spacing of the lines fools the eye enough.  I love the cross-hatching, and I always forget how much faster a small quilt moves along in comparison to a queen.  I had this lovely done in two days, trimmed, agonized over binding, and cut and sewed.  Whew!  I didn't try to match the binding to the color flow of the border, since I was using the entire rainbow, and I hope it works.  While choosing fabric for the binding, I sorted my beloved hand-dyed fabrics (mostly purchased from Vicki Welsh), as I have plans for another glorious quilt next year.  Pieced, not appliqué.  It washed splendidly, no colors bled, and it's ready to gift.  Initially, I thought I'd use it for a donation quilt, but I think I'll give it to one of the kid's teachers this year.

Finally, I've pegged away at my Odd Fellows blocks.  There are so many triangles, and I find the repetition tedious.  I did allow myself to cut and begin piecing another teacher quilt, so I reward myself after every 16 triangles with a rectangular piece of sewing.

Be sure to check out all the rosy hues this weekend!

from the room of Zana's Ninis,

katie z.

Static Stash Report

Alas, no change.  I hope to finish quilting a quilt this week, so I'm only a week or two away from a finish, which will mean change!

from the room of Zana's Ninis,

katie z.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Off Color Problems

Alas, I have no plans for a rose bouquet with a touch of gold this month.  No pink, no red, no following directions.

Instead, I've got a few quilts to finish.  See, there's only 15 weeks left until my due date (and 16, incidentally, until Christmas), so I shouldn't be starting new projects.  (Insert sad face here!)

I began the week with tackling the scrap bucket.  Since all the bits I'd hoarded while I was making the appliqué blocks were now free, I had my work cut out for me.  Fortunately, these glorious piles of usable bits were the result.  They are now safely tucked away in their bins and bags, ready for next year!

I basted and began marking the applique quilt.  It does have a lovely garnet backing, which may be my claim to following the rules this month!  I'll be doing a simple cross hatch, which will be more time-consuming than a meander, but will secure all my pieces.  Quilting begins next week, and I've chosen a lovely pale green.  Please don't tell me if you think that's a terrible choice.

My mom's quilt, which provided a stash-busting and scrap-creating project for the past month, will reach flimsy stage next week, barring crisis.  I have three quadrants pieced, the fourth laid out, but JoJo pulled down blocks so I'll need to resort.  Oh, well.

Finally, I set my goals for the month and realized I needed some serious focus to accomplish them all.  I spent a little time breaking down tasks and which week they need to be done.  One of the major, tedious tasks is to cut the remaining 33 blocks for the scrappy Odd Fellows blocks, as this quilt needs to be done by Christmas.  I've already cut the pieces for 20 more blocks, and hope to finish cutting the rest next week.  Then, the insane triangle piecing and trimming marathon will begin.

My computer is not here yet, since our UPS man doesn't believe in ringing the door bell, but slapping up a notice and running away.  I think he must be afraid of our dog, which is hilarious since she begs for petting and never jumps, even if she is large.  Hopefully, Tuesday.  Until then, I'm sewing up a storm!

Be sure to check out the projects done in the proper colors this weekend!

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

September Goals

In August, I hoped to...

1. Work on grey scraps: trim, last 4 appliqué, Bits and Bobs, and start on my mom's yellow and grey quilt. Yup, yup, yup.

2. Finish the quilt for Memaw.  Done!

3. Work on something for my uncle.  I'm not sure what shape it will take!  Done!  I don't like it but it does the job.

4.  Ugh.  The mending is piling up, and I already have two new pieces, but I finished the old pile!

In September, I need to sew like mad...

1.  Scraps, as always: trimming, finish the appliqué quilt, sew up some more Bits and Bobs. 

2.  Finish my mom's quilt.

3.  Cut the remaining blocks for my Odd Fellow quilt, and start stitching!

4.  Finish PK's stocking.

5.  Make a mug rug for my first ever swap.

6.  Maybe think about a quick quilt for teachers.  Somehow, I only have one ready, with nothing in the pipeline.  Since the baby is due before Christmas, it's clear my brain wasn't working when I DIDN'T plan teacher quilts.

from the room of Zana's Ninis,

katie z.

September UFO Update

Two years ago (or three?), when I first joined Vicki's UFO Busting Challenge, I was quite dissatisfied with my (to me) atrociously long list of UFOs.  So many of the projects were non-quilty or simply tedious, and it was nice that the link-up definitely spurred me on to clearing out the silly to do list. This brings us to the current list:

Something Done"
1. Tell It to the Stars (quilting)
2. Stockings (4 of 7)
3. Applique
4. Bits and bobs
5. Odd Fellow
6. Mom's grey and yellow

7. ABC applique

8. placemat

Not Started Yet/On Hold
9. pillow
10. Orphan blocks
11. Scrappy DWR
12. Embroidered pillows

August 1: 13 UFOs

Started: 1

Finished/abandoned: 2

July 31: 12 UFOs

I completed Memaw's quilt and the project for Uncle Ron.  I am not pleased with the quality of the finished product for my uncle, but in reality he probably will stick it in a closet and never look at it again, so I'm trying not to beat myself up too much.  I added a placemat for the new baby to my list, even if I'm not quite ready to decide what it should look like.

In reality, the four "on hold" projects have no future out of the box right now.  They are on the list more to remind me that I want to do them someday than out of any prospective progress.  Come January, I'll be bulking up my list with all my new projects for this year, but for now, I'll focus on completing two more projects, the applique quilt and my mom's quilt.

from the room of Zana's Ninis,

katie z.