Stash Report Week #17

10 spools of thread gone already this year...

IN this week: 0 yards
OUT this week: 7 1/2 yards

IN YTD: 8 yards
OUT YTD: 39 3/4 yards
YTD Total: 31 3/4 yards OUT!

Multicolor Madness

My quilting time focused on this (finished) quilt this week.  I'm calling it Hope, and it's for my younger sister, who needs an extra hug or two right now.  A snuggly quilt will have to do, since I'm eight to ten hours away by car.

 This was made of a jelly roll of batiks paired with a lovely yellow background.  Multicolor fabrics usually make me queasy in trying to organize them by color, so I firmly told myself there would be no color pairing happening!  I kept the blocks completely random, partly by dividing the strips into sets (I had enough for three sets), then keeping each set separate from the others so even if a color were to pool in 1/3 of the quilt, it can't be all of that color for the entire quilt.  (Somehow, that doesn't quite relay what I'm trying to say, but I think your quilty minds will figure it out!)

I love the backing, which is full of "God" words, like Holy Bible, heaven, God, etc.  I quilted with unmarked straight lines in Xs through all the background fabric squares, which is twice the quilting I originally intended.  I decided it needed more when I finished all the lines in one direction.  I still love sixteen-patches/

 These four Bits and Bobs blocks brings my needed total down to ten.  Ten tiny blocks stand between me and insanity of laying out the blocks for the flimsy.  When that happy day comes, I shall need to send Miss G away to my mom for the day, else the order will never stay!

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

P.S. Check out all the multicolor loveliness this Saturday!

April Block Count

115 new blocks this month, added to the 248 from earlier in the year, adds up to 363.  I guess I'm done making blocks for the year!  (Just kidding.)

63 for a lap quilt
4 new Barn Dance blocks
20 new Mini 9s
23 new hourglass, since apparently I can't count to 20!
5 Garden Party blocks
4 Bits and Bobs, so that I only need 10 more to finish the quilt!

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

Stitches in a Prism

Barn Dance blocks, four of them, now compete with threads for center stage on my design wall.  (Does anyone have low-effort solutions to the thread "art" that clings to the table cloth?). I cut the rest of my blocks for this quilt over spring break, so it was a quick jaunt from perusing my cut blocks and stitching them up.

It is clearly spring around here!  I was able to catch a bee swarm while my husband was gone.  We've hatched a few turkeys.  I'm picking asparagus and watching the strawberry blooms and rhubarb shoots with great anticipation.  Friday replaced my watering schedule with a pleasant rain.

My 16 patch quilt has taken over my sewing time these days.  I have the first third finished, with the second in strips and the third in blocks.  My goal is, God willing to have the quilt basted next week. It needs to get done ASAP.

In the meantime, PK is busy moving, growing, and exploring.  I'm remembering to be more careful with the iron cord and pins, as any day now he will be pulling down and picking up!

Be sure to visit all the multihued progress this weekend!

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

Polychromatic Pieces

Turkey poults, growing pains, glorious rain, and tomato starts filled my week.  I made the most of my brief sewing moments, and managed my hourglass blocks this week.  Somehow, as I sorted these, the multicolored blocks I am sure I cut are escaping my searching.  So, these are rather bland.  They should play nicely with everything else, and that's the important thing.

More work was done on my daughter's blocks, but as they currently need pressing, there isn't much to see.

The strips are all sewn, pressed, and sub-cut for my sister's quilt, and while these aren't "my colors" at all, and random isn't "my thing" either, I'm enjoying these four-patches.  I had wild dreams of sewing all the four patches this week, but Friday (and Saturday, so far), look like stitch-less days.  Ah, well.  Easter's more important!

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

P.S. Be sure to check out all the multi-colored fabrics this week!

Stitch, Stitch, Stitching...

I bought my first "jelly roll" of batiks.  I love that these aren't pinked, so it's easy to know where to stitch on the strips.  I'll be making a lap quilt for my sister, who has a penchant for mustard yellow and fall colors.  Hopefully, she'll find it a treat.

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

Stash Report Week #14

Nothing in, nothing out.  I've made some blocks and started a new quilt, so maybe before the end of the month I'll see some yardage shift.  Just keep swimming, right?

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

IN YTD: 8 yards
OUT YTD: 32 1/4 yards
YTD Total: 24 1/4 yards OUT!

Piebald Fabric

The week has been a week of this, that, and the other.  Conflict with bad business, insurance woes (sometimes I wonder why we even bother with it when it doesn't cover therapy), lovely wet weather, delicious asparagus harvest, turkey attacks, and a fight with mastitis all mixed in with a difficult Miss G and a fiesty JoJo.

I managed both my Garden Party blocks and my mini 9s.  I laid out my Garden Party blocks, and I love how they look!  I cut down the number of blocks for a smaller quilt, but I very well may have to make another full sized.  This size of strip and block just feels delightful to me.

My mini 9s are less multicolored than I expected.  I thought I'd made a point of cutting into my difficult fabrics, but maybe I had less of them in my 2" box than I recalled.  I still like these little beauties, and it will be fun to lay them out in a month of two.

Another fun project I've begun is a baby quilt.  It's fun multi-colored batiks from a jelly roll.  I've never used or purchased a jelly roll in my life, but this batch doesn't have pinked edges and seems uniformly cut, so it's been a breeze.

The battle with a new camera is launched.  I cannot, for the life of me, find the right cord (some littles opened the box, not me!) to upload, the wifi connection is being difficult, and I don't know how to use this camera.  I will figure out something, but for now, at least I found a (complicated) way to get these photos up for viewing!

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

Stash Report Week #13

I finished another baby quilt from orphan blocks, so stash moved again.

IN this week: 0 yards
OUT this week: 2 3/4 yards

IN YTD: 8 yards
OUT YTD: 32 1/4 yards
YTD Total: 24 1/4 yards OUT!

I need to finish a few (or more) things by July, as I know I'm giving myself a shopping spree since DH and the three big kids are going to Ireland and I'm (tiny sob) not.  It would be silly to take all six kids, and I can't leave JoJo for a week.  That's just asking for trouble.  So I'll buy a little fabric and it'll still be cheaper than just my plane ticket!

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

Slow Stitching UFO Progress

In March, Judy called for #5 to be done.  I already had finished it, so instead I moved on to #11and #12.  These two parts were the outside white border, which I had already outlined, but needed some "filler" shapes.  All that is done!  I realize I'm going to run out of UFO parts before the end of the year, but I think that's an excellent problem to have.

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

Brick Red and Nut Brown

Despite a challenging week and almost 6" of rain, I did find some time to sew.  Two Bits and Bobs are ready to join their friends in the Bits and Bobs box.

I also took the plunge and quilted Lincoln Logs.  I used red thread, which may have been a mistake.  I used this as a practice piece to try more filler patterns, which may also have been a mistake.  Fortunately, my sister has already so sweetly asked if she could have this quilt, so unless she hates the quilting, it's okay.  I really do want to grow more comfortable with more filler patterns, but I do find my little machine makes some of them more challenging than I would like.  I'll practice again on the next quilt, and the next, and eventually I will feel accomplished!  It's bound, and short of a few threads to tie off and bury, it's good to go.  It's about 39" square, so it will make a lovely baby quilt.  I'm happy to have one more little pile of orphan blocks used instead of languishing.

Off to sort my multi-colored scraps today!  Check out all the colorful projects this weekend!

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