April Goals

In March, I had plenty of goals...

1.  Manage the red scraps: trimming, Bits and Bobs, Garden Party, Mini 9s, hourglass, and Barn Dance.  I've also pulled out my red/brown/burnt orange orphan blocks and will see what I can eke out of them after all the other goals are done.  Also, Spunky and I are collaborating on a quilt that uses red scraps for half the blocks, so I'd like to get those 17 blocks completed.  I finished all of the above!

2.  Tell it to the Stars UFO progress.  Judy called for number 5, but it's already done, so I'll work on #11.  #11 and its companion are both finished.

3.  Finish Winter Dance.  Whew!  Done.

4.  Make some progress on the Rose appliqué.   Yes.  I finished two complete buds, so progress is being made, however slow it may be.

In April, my goals are...

1.  Manage the multicolor scraps.  Trimming, Bits and Bobs, Garden Party, Mini 9s, hourglass, and Barn Dance.  I have no multicolor orphan blocks, so I'll take a pass on those this month.

2.  Tell it to the Stars UFO Progress, #1, which calls for quilting blocks 3, 4, and 5.  Lucky me, I already finished block 3, so just two to go.

3. Progress on the rose appliqué.

4.  Work on a baby quilt.

5.  Mending.  Oh, the bucket is overflowing.

Optional, if I finish the other goals: Spunky's blue blocks and pillow cases.

from the room of Zana's Ninis,

katie z.

April UFO List

March 1: 14
Started: 1
Finished: 1
March 31: 14

I finished Winter Dance and took on Spunky's project as one of my own.  She found it too frustrating, so we'll try again in a year or so.

Project List:
1. Tell it to the Stars
2. Rose appliqué
3. Bits and Bobs
4. Mini 9s
5. Hourglass
6. Garden Party
7. Barn Dance
8. Pillowcases
9. Orphan blocks
10. Pillow
11. Scrappy DWR
12. ABC appliqué
13. Millie's Tshirt quilt
14. B's blocks

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

March Block Count

I began the month with 167 blocks, added 79, and ended with 248 blocks.  The various blocks are...
17 blocks for Spunky
12 blocks to use up a handful of orphan blocks
4 Barn Raising blocks
20 mini 9s
19 hourglass blocks
5 Garden Party blocks
2 Bits and Bobs

Gardening and crazy life is beginning to take up sewing time, but that's okay.  It's life!

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

Invisible Flimsy

I felt so pleased that after five days away from home, I managed to finish my orphan block flimsy.  I snapped a picture after pressing, and dickered with the Assistant over what fabric should be used for backing and binding.

Then, a certain-two-year-old-who-is-a-defiant-mess snatched my camera, turned it on, and threw it.  Doomed.  The lens will no longer retract, so it's broken.

Therefore, imagine a finished flimsy and a pile of red and pink blocks, if you will.

Ugh.  It's not really so bad, but I struggle with everyone home for break, backing and unpacking, all the homework due over break (in grade school?!), and a certain Miss G who struggles to be two.  I'll no doubt find a way to manage pictures again (my iPad so far evades me), and we'll be back in business soon.

In the meantime, I have plenty of stitching to manage and will enjoy everyone else's fabulous projects.

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

Edited: We can rescue the last photo.

Cardinal, Crimson, and Chestnut

Another busy week, another crazy weather pattern, another exhausted momma.  I'm learning not to read at night because I'm too tired to see straight.  Ah, well.  I sew during the day, so it's all good!

This week, I trimmed up the hour glass blocks.  Maybe next month, I'll get them all out and see what's happening.

I also cut and sewed my Barn Dance blocks.  I was, not surprisingly, lacking in red in my hand dyes, so a bit of pink snuck in too.  I personally love the red and white fabric in the bars of one block.  It was fussy cut from a red and white "striped" hand dye, and I'm glad I took the time to cut it this way.  Next week, since we will be away a few days, I'm bringing a stash of hand dyes and the background, and we'll see how many blocks I can cut for future months.

Finally, I chipped away at the orphan block quilt.  I've decided this one will be called Lincoln Logs, since I'm spending a fair amount of time puzzling together the bits.  I hope my tiny triangles (1" finished) won't look odd with the chunky 2 by 4 bricks, but I have an overflowing bag of these tinies leftover from another quilt, and I don't want to start accumulating odds and ends again, when I'm doing so well at eliminating them!

Stash Report Week #10

Nada.  No in,  no out.  A boring but not bad place to be!

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

Rust and Brick

Ah, the mini nines.  I do enjoy these little blocks, finishing at 4.5", and all the variety the contain.  I ran out of red options, which is just fine.  Several "awkward" fabrics were perfect for this, as they don't need to match anything, or look a certain color, or do anything but be their colorful selves.  I have no idea how the quilt will end the year, as I didn't pay attention to anything but cutting from unique scraps.

 So, there were those orphan blocks that I mentioned should be in last place.  Well, I finished the mini nines AND the hourglass blocks (although they're awaiting trimming, so we'll visit them next week), and I wasn't quite ready to start the Barn Dance blocks, so I made outer borders to limit my design wall.  I'm cobbling together little bits to flesh out the very center, and then I may need to address the plethora of triangles I have in rusty reds.  Eek!

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

P.S. Be sure to visit the splendor of red projects this weekend!

Slow Stitching

It's a boring view, nearly the same as last month, but I've moved on to filling in the white spaces of the border near the "grey spiky things" that I quilted last month.  I'm thrilled that that the quilting is finally picking up speed.  After this set of borders is done, it will be safe to call the quilt over half quilted.  Woohoo!

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

Sunday Stash Report Week #9

Woohoo!  I finished a stocking, a little baby quilt, and a big quilt!

IN this week: 5 yards
OUT this week: 18 1/2 yards

IN YTD: 8 yards
OUT YTD: 29 1/2 yards
YTD Total: 21 1/2 yards

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

Cherry, Scarlet, and Wine

I won't bore you with illness discussions, or the insanity of the weather, or politics, as I strictly stay away from politics online.

Instead, let's discuss red.  Does anyone else have a hard time finding truly red fabric to buy?  Too often, it's pink leaning, or orange leaning (ugh!), or purple-y.

I made my five Garden Party blocks (pattern by Bonnie Hunter), but had to resort to a wine red and a pink red to make my five.

Then I dug out my orphan blocks in red.  I added the tans and browns and fall colors to the pile, as you can see on the right of the photo.  There isn't much to work with, but I've pulled some triangles and awkward bits from my scrap buckets as well, so I'm hoping I can expand these pieces to make a quilt roughly 40" square.  Of course, these come dead last in the progression of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks, so I may not get anywhere at all.   I'll rearrange throughout the month and see what sparks an idea.

Be sure to check out the red inspiration this weekend!

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

March Goals

In February, I want ed to...

1.  Keep sewing scraps in sea green, blue green, teal, turquoise, etc. Trimming, Bits and Bobs, 4 Garden Party, 20 mini 9s, 20 hourglass, and four Barn Dance blocks.  If all those get done, I have a small collection of orphan blocks to transform into a baby quilt. Done, done, done.

2. Tell it to the Stars: quilt two sides of the grey setting triangle border. Done!  I actually finished all four sides.

3.  Finish Winter Dance.  Alas, not done.

4.  Finish three pillow cases.  Yes!

5.  Finish DH's stocking.  Yes!  It's a little bittersweet to have them all done, but a relief as well.

6.  Baste all my rose appliqué pieces, including stems, to the background.  Whew!  Done!

7.  Start and finish a commission Tshirt quilt.  Yup!

In March, I hope to...

1.  Manage the red scraps: trimming, Bits and Bobs, Garden Party, Mini 9s, hourglass, and Barn Dance.  I've also pulled out my red/brown/burnt orange orphan blocks and will see what I can eke out of them after all the other goals are done.  Also, Spunky and I are collaborating on a quilt that uses red scraps for half the blocks, so I'd like to get those 17 blocks completed.

2.  Tell it to the Stars UFO progress.  Judy called for number 5, but it's already done, so I'll work on #11.

3.  Finish Winter Dance.

4.  Make some progress on the Rose appliqué.

My goal is also to do less... Enough is as good as a feast...  Spring is sneaking up on me, and that means garden time to replace sewing time...

from the room of Zana's Ninis,

katie z.

March UFO Update

UFO/Projects February 1: 16
Started: 0
Finished: 2
Projects February 28: 14

After so many new beginnings in January, it's a good thing I restrained myself: no new starts and two finished!  I had hoped for a third finish, but with all the illness in my house and appointments for myself and the kids, it didn't happen.  Oh, and I lost a few days to a dead machine.

The last stocking is done, so all eight need to meet up for a photo op.  I also finished a commissioned Tshirt quilt.  Now to get it delivered!

In March, I anticipate that Winter Dance will be my only finish.  I'm not even putting the pillowcases on my goal list for the month, but maybe I'll finish a few after all my other projects are done.

Project List:
1. Tell it to the Stars
2. Rose appliqué
3. Bits and Bobs
4. Mini 9s
5. Hourglass
6. Garden Party
7. Barn Dance
8. Pillowcases
9. Orphan blocks
10. Pillow
11. Scrappy DWR
12. ABC appliqué
13. Millie's Tshirt quilt
14. Winter Dance

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

February Block Count

Let me preface my report with the observation that stomach bug 2.0, currently assaulting our house, may be less virulent than 1.0, but just as disruptive and confining to me.

This month, I made 99 blocks, for a year total of 167...

7 rows of a Tshirt quilt

32 blocks for Winter Dance

5 blocks to help use up a pile of UFO blocks

4 Barn Dance blocks

20 mini 9s

21 hourglass blocks

4 Garden Party blocks

6 Bits and Bobs

from the room of Zana's Ninis,

katie z.