Stash Report Weeks #51-52

With the holidays, visitors, and illness, blogging has definitely escaped me!  My last post for 2019 will apparently be a “state of the stash.”

IN this week: 28 yards
OUT this week: 13 yards

IN YTD: 130 1/2 yards
OUT YTD: 145 yards
YTD Total: 14 1/2 OUT!

I’m pleased I finished the year with more yardage out than in.  It’s a far cry from my original goal of twice used what I buy, but a broken hand in March certainly derailed that lofty plan.  My husband gave me 12 yards for Christmas, and I ordered a few backings for next year, so I can quilt quite a bit before I “need” to buy anything.  Of course, the order from Vicki Welsh for two new quilts for the new year hasn’t arrived yet; 2019 might get off to a rocky start.

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

2018 350 Block Challenge in Review

I did make a few blocks this month and counted a few from last month that I forgot, for 119 new blocks, which brings my total to 1677 for 2018.

In case you wonder what totals I had in in years past, here are the numbers...
In 2017: 1125In 2016: 1007
In 2015: 1400
In 2014: 794
In 2013: 1057
In 2012, north of 180.  Between terrible morning sickness and moving drama, I lost count.

These totals are part of Shelly at Prairie Moon Quilt’s 350 Block Challenge.  Although I didn’t manage to keep my totals accurately the first year, I’ve certainly enjoyed participating since the beginning of the challenge in 2012.  This year was a new record, thanks to the nearly 800 16-patches I made.  There will be more in 2019 as well!

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

Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2019

As I currently find myself under the weather (again or still is unclear), I won’t be finding pictures of my 2018 Rainbow Scrap Challenge finishes.  Instead, let’s mull over my plans for 2019.

I find, in the last few years, I've not been particularly good about keeping to the assigned colors due to the specific needs of my quilts.  Next year’s intentions are a little more free, so I think I can follow the terms more accurately.

Currently, my plans include:
for 1.5” warm colors, finishing my nine patches and stars quilt.
for 1.5” cool colors, making 16 patches for a customer quilt.
for all 2" scraps, making half square triangles for an insane quilt, the name of which currently escapes me, but is full of triangles!
for 2.5” scraps, I’d like to make Lori Holt’s Great Granny Squared.
for my pile of ombré fabrics, I’m going to make a butterfly quilt.
for my hand dyed fabrics, I think I’ll join Soscrappy’s Tiny Tuesday blocks.

I have, for too many years, found myself unable to participate in any "new" projects that appear from time to time, as I have my year too fully planned ere it begins.  I am going to leave my planning open to a few quilt-a-longs or other nonsense.  Of course, since I started this blog post a month or more ago, I’ve already added three projects.  Since my 1.5” plans are small and my 2” plans can stretch over many years, I can push these aside for other projects as they arise.

I wish my favorite hobbies/interests overlapped a little more conveniently.  I quilt daily, love to can/make at home, garden, and take part in Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, including making materials.  I also have a stack of books, generally about the aforementioned topics, next to my chair that needs to be read.  It is hard to choose how to prioritize time, and I hope to do a better job in 2019.  Moderation is an important virtue to cultivate!

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

Finished Quilt: Moonstone and Pearl

I've had a not-so-stitchy start to my day, which is fine considering it's almost Christmas.  Tomorrow, my sister's family arrives for a week visit, increasing our household from 8 to 14.  Today we made peanut-free muddy buddy and kolache dough is rising.  The laundry is endless, as always when we're all home, and the tidying up is never done!

That being said, I did sneak in just enough time to finish the binding on my last quilt which used the pattern Faceted Jewels and which I've now named "Moonstone and Pearl" for grey jewels.  I'm lovely excited that it's finished and beautiful.  There are a few places where the same fabric touches, despite planning efforts to the contrary, but I've decided to leave them.  This Advent, I've made a real effort to stress and worry less, and no one else is going to care if the same fabric touches!

There are other beautiful finishes to be seen as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this weekend.

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

Stash Report Week #50

Oh, dear.  Sunday was spent primarily in bed, so writing this post slipped my mind.  I finished nothing in the past week but hope to finish a quilt this week.  It’s already basted, so I have a decent chance!

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Winter Happenings

As is par for the course for mid-December, I have a cold turning into... bronchitis?  As soon as I finish this blog post, I'm headed to Urgent Care to see if I need an antibiotic.   The coughing slowed me down this week, so my 16-patches were ignored entirely in favor of this beauty...

 My Faceted Jewels quilt is now a flimsy.  Next week, if I feel well enough, the plan is to piece the binding, cut the batting, baste, and quilt.  If it's a really good week, I might finish it before my sister arrives so she can take it with her to the recipient!

I did increase the pile of pink nonsense on my sewing table.  This is for Miss G, who may not like it (she rejected the last quilt I made for her), and she only cares about it being pink.  I used up an amazing amount of pink for this quilt, which is just fine.

I'm mulling over my stash goals for next year.  It's completely ridiculous for me to plan on buying nothing, so I think I'll set a goal for how much fabric I have to have netted out for each quarter or month before I can buy more.  The stash cart is full, and I've no more space to store fabric, so I really do have to keep confined to my current space.

Be sure to check out all the varied projects this weekend!  Although I do love the flurry of finishes in November and December, I'm looking forward to January when the rainbow will come out to play again.  My sewing tends to get rather boring when I only have one or two projects to choose from each week.

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

12 Things Challenge 2019

To be honest, I don't have enough UFOs to fill out a list of 12 projects, so it’s hard to join that challenge with Judy Laquidara.  Instead, I think I'll pick 12 projects from my "someday" list and join her “12 things” Challenge.  I won't finish them all, as a few are hand pieced quilts, scarcely begun, but I will hope to make progress.

1. Miss G's pink quilt
2. JoJo's train quilt
3. Baby quilt
4. ombre quilt butterfly
5. Irish chain in shades
6. Pink hexagons
7. St. Patrick/chubby pinwheels
8. bee quilt/Sister’s Choice
9. hand pieced hexagons
10. Garden Party in shades
11. Stocking #1
12. Stocking #2

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

Stash Report Week #49

I finished no quilts this week, so my stash report is unchanged.  I did wear out one more spool, for 30 spools for the year.

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

Here, There, Everywhere

My fabrics are all spread across the rainbow this week.  I've pieced a few blue, green, purple strips for 16-patches, I've cut and sewn giant pink squares for Miss G, and then I've hit the blacks and greys for a more subdued quilt.

I have spent some time in the last weeks mulling my projects for next year.  I have a tentative list of “non-scrappy” quilts I’d like to make, and I think I’ve narrowed down my scrappy sewing too.  I don’t have anything glamorous planned; I have regretted, in the past, being too booked with my own plans to add anything spur of the moment.  There is room next year!

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

December UFO List

The list is getting short!  I started/remembered four projects: a placemat for my newest nephew, a quilt for Nicole, a purse, and an apron.  Even better, I finished a ridiculous number of projects: the churn dash quilt, the Assistant's quilt, Emily's quilt, Jude's placemat, the purse, and the apron.

1. Pillow
2. Scrappy DWR
3. ABC applique
4. 9 patches and stars
5. king-sized 16 patches
6. hexagons
7. Nicole

November 1: 9 projects
Started: 4
Finished: 6
November 30: 7

Since I don't intend to start much in December (famous last words, right?), I look forward to rolling into 2019 with my shortest unfinished project list ever!

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

Stash Report Week #48

I love weeks with multiple finishes!  This week, I finished a two-sided apron and my churn dash quilt.  I think this means I get to order fabric for a few new quilts for 2019.

IN this week: 0 yards
OUT this week: 13 yards

IN YTD: 102 1/2 yards
OUT YTD: 132 yards
YTD Total: 29 1/2 yards

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

Waning Rainbows

This time of year, in a flurry of finishes, I'm afraid my rainbow sewing becomes a bit dull.  This week was a slog through my enormous pile of untrimmed scraps, which had gotten out of control thanks to all of this month's quilt backings.  Fortunately, they are all neatly put away and ready for new adventures.

I quilted my churn dash quilt on my new Juki and found it to be quite a learning curve.  The quilting foot doesn't seem to lift as high as I'm used to, so I broke three needles on lumpy seams.  I count it as a learning experience, and I'm pleased with the actual finish, so I'm not going to agonize over it.

The quilt is roughly 6' square and currently has no home.  I'm sure I'll find somewhere that needs a donation!

As with all other Saturdays, I'm linking up to Soscrappy for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  Join us, won't you?

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

December Goals

In November, I wanted to...
1.  Keep scrapping.  I will trim the scrap bucket, finish one 16-patch quilt, finish the churn dash blocks, move the Assistant's scrap project to finished (or at least a flimsy), and cut the wings for the 9 patch and stars quilt.  Done, including a finished 16-patch quilt, churn dash quilt, and the Assistant's scrap project.

2.  Finish Emily's quilt.  Yes.  She was so appreciative, particularly of the quilted prayer words, so my heart was filled with her gratitude.

3.  Cut and begin Nicole's quilt.  Yes.

4.  Make 8 market bags.  Nope, I scratched this plan.  I decided I've done enough for Christmas gifts this year, so I'll use the market bags for next year's gifts.

5.  Mending.  I want it done before Christmas decorating and preparations begin at the end of the month!  Surprisingly, there were very few items despite their bulk, so this onerous task was done in a day or two.

6.  Bonus: Jude's placemat is done, I made a purse and inner bags, and an apron!

In December, I would like to...
1.  Oh, the scraps.  There is a ridiculous pile of scraps due to November's multitude of quilt backs.  I'm also going to keep on with 16-patches, since they are mindless enough to be quick to sew between concerts, parties, projects, and visitors.  I might begin sewing on the wings of my stars quilt, but I'm making no promises.

2.  Finish Nicole's quilt.  I have few scrappy projects, so I should be able to make this beauty come together.

3.  Begin Miss G's pink quilt.  It's going to be large pink squares, so an uncomplicated quilt.  The cutting will take a bit, as my hand is aching again, but the actual stitching will be quick.

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

LEFT-EZE Rule

This is a long-delayed review for which I was not compensated in any way (or she would have fired me by now).  I think the broken left hand contributed to my delay, but I also forgot to add it to my "to do" list!

You may not know I'm left-handed.  It's a surprisingly common trait in my family... my maternal grandmother was, my mother (out of three) is, my two sisters and I are, and so far, my three boys are lefties.  Growing up, the girls sat on one side of the table and the boys on the other just to manage elbows when eating!

In most crafts, being a leftie has made learning a challenge.  My first 10+ years of crocheting were a terrible mess of incorrect stitches because the pictures never looked like my work, and I simply didn't understand what I was doing well enough to read the directions correctly.  I finally got that figured out!

When I began quilting, it took me a significant amount of time to twist and turn rulers to be able to cut correctly and accurately.  Again, a certain portion of the trouble was me, but it's always frustrating when a right-handed quilter (or any other crafter) says "just flip it."  Have you ever tried to "just flip it?"  That doesn't work in a number of situations, and rarely having pictures to compare your own actions to proves challenging.

A Left-Handed Quilter has been outspoken about the need for better tools for lefties, so it was with great excitement that I read she created a ruler for cutting half-square and quarter-square triangles that were designed for left-handed use.  I, of course, ordered one early on.  Check it out here.

Did I use it as frequently as you would imagine?  Not at first.  I had wrapped my brain around using the Easy Angle Ruler so I would use whichever one I could find at .he time.  Recently, however, I accidentally destroyed my Easy Angle Ruler, and I am enjoying getting to know my LEFT-EZE Rule better!

Fortunately, any time I am stuck on how to cut without awkwardness, there are tutorials with pictures (in the same direction as my hand!) to which to refer.  I also really like that I don't need two rulers (Easy Angle and the Companion Ruler) to cut different types of triangles.  It's much more convenient to flip the ruler orientation and keep cutting.  Also, it's one less ruler to lose!

So if you are left-handed or have leftie friends, I would love to recommend you check out the LEFT-EZE Rule ruler, and even if you aren't left-handed (shocking!), you might enjoy reading A Left-Handed Quilter's blog on occasion.  It's a hoot!

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

November Block Count

Given my plan for the rest of the week (block components, trimming, and binding), I don’t anticipate any new blocks for the month so...

I’m calling it 28 new churn dash, as I think I “lost” 10 somewhere over the course of the year.  The quilt required 170, and I made an extra, so 28 for this month.

I’m also estimating my contribution to the Assistant’s quilt, as I suspect I made a few more than 40, but what’s a few blocks between mother and daughter?

That brings my Block Count for November to 68, for a grand total of 1558 for 2018.  I don’t know that December will bring too many more blocks.  I have already surpassed the block total for any past year, so that’s fine if this is my quitting point.  I love that all the blocks but the 16 patches are ending the year in a finished quilt, and the 16 patches have big plans for 2019!

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

Stash Report Week #47

This week, I finished off a placemat, three sorting bags for my purse, and a new purse.  This is what I like to write in a stash report!  It generally takes me to the end of the year to see nice numbers out for the year (which is quite my own fault), but I do enjoy buying fabric on sale, and I do finish plenty of quilts each year.  It is hard to keep a good balance between a stash that is “just large enough” and not having enough variety to complete projects without shopping.

IN this week: 0 yards
OUT this week: 1 3/4 yards

IN YTD: 102 1/3 yards
OUT YTD: 120 yards
YTD Total: 17 1/2 yards OUT

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

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Dithering

With last weekend ending in a funeral and long drive, rolling right into a week off for the kids, I’ve definitely lost my regular routine.

I did finish Positivity, wash it without incident, and dry it.  The Assistant is pleased with the outcome.  Although she thinks it’s a little small, it looks just right to me!  It will be a teacher quilt gift, and as I can never presume to know one's decorating scheme, it's easier to make a lap quilt than a bed quilt they can't/won't want to use.

Instead of regular block construction this week, my dithering centered around attempting to follow a poorly written Simplicity for a new purse/tote bag and some inside bags to keep my purse more organized.  All the diaper supplies can be in one pouch, all my change and envelopes for cash in another, band-aids and lipgloss in another.  The bag is a little small and flimsy, but I have some ideas about that, and it will serve for now.  Eventually, I won’t have anyone in diapers, and having the inner pouches means I can remove such things when I don’t need them.  Three pouches and one purse later, I’m fixed up.

Finally, on Friday, after procrastinating, I basted my churn dash quilt.  I can see some of the purple blocks are slightly larger than the other blocks, but it will be okay in the end.  I’ll just be careful about my quilting.  The backing is a geode from Vicki Welsh.  It was the perfect width!

My biggest bit of quilty news this week is a rather large, expensive purchase.  I ordered a Juki sewing machine, as I’ve been saving up for one for quite a while.  It’s going to be a slight learning curve, but I keep reading directions and trying again.  I’ve never had automatic anything, so cutting the thread between pieces has been fun.  Unfortunately, the 1/4” foot was out of stock, so I’m making do with painters tape for now, but I found one in stock last night, so it's ordered already.

I’m looking forward to quilting on it for the first time next week!

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

P.S. Each Saturday, I link up to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I invite you to enjoy the glorious rainbows too!

Stash Report Week #46

I finished TWO quilts this week, so I finally have used more than I purchased.  Woohoo!  I’m looking forward to the next six weeks.  I foresee a quilt, a placemat, a bag, and an apron.

IN this week: 0 yards
OUT this week: 16 3/4 yards

IN YTD: 102 1/2 yards
OUT YTD: 118 1/4 yards
YTD Total: 15 3/4 yards OUT

I’m also at 27 spools of thread used up for the year.

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

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Positivity

This week, I hustled through getting the blocks into a flimsy for this quilt.  I had high hopes that, if I could quilt it before late Thursday morning, I could machine sew on the binding and have the hand binding for the drive to my grandfather's funeral.

I paired this plus quilt with a backing full of positive phrases.  Despite breaking my backup sewing machine (sigh.  I need a new non-computerized brand of sewing machine.  Suggestions?), I did quilt the entire project and sewed on the binding.

As it would turn out, I didn’t do much hand sewing, so it’s not quite done, but it was nice to have along for a few spare moments.

It was good to gather with my family to remember my grandpa and to support my mom in her loss.  All but one brother were able to come, including another brother I haven’t seen in two years.  DH manfully handled the kids during the funeral luncheon so we could have a good visit.

After the lunch, the entire family visited some dear old friends.  We took shifts, as one of sisters, in her late 90s, is dying and we didn’t want to overwhelm.  I am glad we had an opportunity to say goodbye, if that’s the case, and to introduce all our kids.

I hope today, other than endless loads of laundry, I can finish the plus quilt and have a little blog reading time!

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

Wednesday UFO Update

I love finishing a quilt when all the steps go right.

Since I often work with 1.5” pieces, these 3.5”x6.5” bricks felt enormous when I started cutting and sewing the strip sets.  It’s amazing how fast a top comes together with such large pieces.  And now, it’s quilted with prayer words for my friend who is recovering from a TBI.

At one point, I considered mixing up the red and tan prints, but then I realized it could be fun and not too complicated to run them down in diagonal rows.  I like it.

I soaked the backing ahead of time, knowing the red and black fabric, a batik, was highly likely to bleed.  It took quite a bit of soaking to release all the extra dye, so I’m glad I took the time.  When I washed and dried the quilt, I did look for bleeding, but this time, all was right with the world.  It's a comfortable lap size, about 60" x 72".

Now I need to pack it up and ship it away!

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

Stash Report Week #45

I didn’t finish a quilt this week.  It was a matter of three feet of binding, but that will make next week’s stash report all the more lovely.

I did use up three different spools of thread, so now I’m at 26 spools for the year!

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

Rainbows of Scraps

Progress is being made.  I quilted last week's flimsy, but it's by my chair waiting for binding attention.  I'll snuggle down in that right after I finish this post.

I've already done my morning duty of attending to our chickens in the 17 F weather.  My pointer finger nails still burn, despite the gloves and winter gear.

Here are most of my churn dashes, ready to piece together,  I've pulled the center squares to work on, so you'll have to wait to see the finished product for a few weeks!  I'm so glad the color balance works out pretty well, despite no replanning.

I also have been piecing together the rows for the Assistant's Plus quilt.  I bungled sewing the rows together after the first two, but I decided I didn't want to rip the rows out so you can see two white blocks touching.  Oh, well.  This is by no means a perfect quilt.

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

Wednesday's Work in Progress

Ordinarily, I would post about one of my 12 chosen "UFO" projects for the year.  In reality, none of them were UFOs, but patterns or quilts I wanted to make, or collections of fabric that I wanted/needed to use but kept delaying.

Here's my original list:

1. Red and white Ohio star completed 2/20

2. Dragon quilt completed 6/7

3. Aegean Sea completed 10/6

4. Red and green Jared Takes a Wife completed 7/5

5. St. Patrick quilt

6. Rainbow Log Cabin completed 8/3

7. Green and brown fabrics for a boy quilt completed 9/23

8. Baby fat quarters completed 3/19

9. RWB triangles completed 5/20

10. Charm pack completed 1/9

11. Hand pieced hexies

12. Chubby pinwheels

In reality, number 11 was never going to be finished in the space of a year, particularly after I broke my hand and couldn't hold a needle for months.  I think numbers 5 and 12 will be combined into one project.  Right now isn't the time, however.  Other, unplanned, quilts have demanded precedence, I will be working, as part of this challenge, to finish the Assistant's abandoned plus quilt and my friend Emily's quilt.

I have four rows together, and everything else arranged for sewing.  They're a bit tedious to line up since I need to keep turning blocks to make seams nest, but it's exciting to see it finally coming together.  The garnet background fabric is a leftover from dresses I sewed for all the girl cousins when my youngest brother married a few years ago.  It seems to be the gift that keeps on giving, you know, one of those fabrics you keep using and it never disappears?!

I look forward to another list for 2019.  I guess it's already time to begin the list.

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

Stash Report Week #44

I finished the binding on my teal 16-patch last night, so I get to count a finish!  I am only 1 yard away from finally using more than I’ve purchased for the year.  It is possible but unlikely that I will finish another quilt this week, but being so close may be enough to spur me on!

IN this week: 0 yards
OUT this week: 12 yards

IN YTD: 102 1/2 yards
OUT YTD: 101 1/2 yards
YTD Total: 1 yards IN

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

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Measured in Inches

How was your sewing week?  With Halloween in the middle, I expect it was out of the ordinary for nearly everyone.

Of my 18 remaining churn dash blocks needed, I made three.  Yup, that's it.

 Instead of finishing those blocks, I finished my red and white bricks into a flimsy, soaked and prepared the backing (yes, it bled profusely), and thought about basting it until I woke up Friday with a sore hand.  I opted for basting next week.

I also soaked my Stained Glass Stars, as I was afraid of the backing on that one too.  It took three bathtubs of water before I was comfortable washing it, but now it's splendid!

The real time-consumer this week was the yards and yards of straight-line quilting on my 16 patch quilt.  I've just begun the binding, hence the "measured in inches."  I'm looking forward to this quilt.  You can see, behind it in the picture, the original 16 patch quilt that lives on my armchair.  Huzzah!

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

October Block Count

October was a little slower for blocks, but that's because it's the time of year for flimsies and finished quilts!

I made 20 rows for a brick quilt and 54 16-patches, for 72 blocks.  That brings me a total of 1490 blocks for the year!

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

November Goals

In October, I had hoped to...
1.  Plow through more scraps: trim, cut the star points for the 9 patch and stars quilt, make one 16-patch flimsy, finish the light blue 16-patches, and finished the Stained Glass Stars quilt.  I also want to sort the fabric for the remaining 18 churn dash quilts.  Done, done, done.  

2.  Finished my UFO, Aegean Sea.  Done

3.  Maybe start another quilt?  I did!  It's a flimsy.

In November, I would like to...
1.  Keep scrapping.  I will trim the scrap bucket, finished one 16-patch quilt, finish the churn dash blocks, move the Assistant's scrap project to finished (or at least a flimsy), and cut the wings for the 9 patch and stars quilt.

2.  Finish Emily's quilt.

3.  Cut and begin Nicole's quilt.

4.  Make 8 market bags.

5.  Mending.  I want it done before Christmas decorating and preparations begin at the end of the month!

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

November UFO List

1. Pillow
2. Scrappy DWR
3. ABC appliqué
4. 9 patches and stars
5.  Hand pieced hexagons
6. Stained Glass Stars
7. 16 patches
8. Churn dash block
9. Aegean Sea
10. The Assistant's Quilt

October 1: 10 projects
Started: 1
Finished: 2
October 31: 9 projects

I finished Aegean Sea and the Stained Glass Stars this month.  Those are both glorious finishes!  My only new project is a quilt for a friend, and as it’s already a flimsy, I’m not too worried about it.

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

Stash Report Week #43

No finishes, no purchases.  I have used 23 spools this year!

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Basted Flimsy: Teal 16 Patches

Despite choosing completely to rearrange our storage room, complete with disassembling shelves and reassembling into different shelf heights, I made it to "basted" stage for my 16 patches!  I chose a lovely magenta for the backing and basted the entire thing Thursday.

No, I probably shouldn't be rearranging with my hand, but there're pounds and pounds of produce needing storage and no proper place, so I did it.  I will probably never learn.

I also began the process of sewing the segments for my last churn dash blocks for the year.  My hope is a churn dash flimsy in November.

Really, the rest of the year should see a flurry of flimsies: Emily's quilt, churn dashes, the Assistant's Abandoned Plus Quilt, and possibly another 16 patch quilt.  Then it will be time to start some new things!

from the room of Zana's Ninis,

katie z.

WIP Wednesday

Since my UFO for the month is finished, this isn't quite a UFO update.  Instead, I'll call it a "Work in Progress" update.

Here're most of the rows for a new quilt!  I didn't have this quilt on any of my lists at the beginning of 2018, but a neighbor who moved away (and will hopefully come back soon) suffered a traumatic brain injury and is still recovering.  Sounds like a good candidate for her own quilt, right?  So I'm at work.

The bricks are 3"x6", finished, which is enormous compared to my 16 patches constructed of 1" finished squares.  The speed of growth is quite nice, as I'm already sewing rows together, and I started sorting them into rows only this week.

I could be farther along, but I've been distracted by tearing apart my storage room and rearranging.  (DH doesn't know this yet!)  It's where our bulk food storage, miscellaneous goods, and garden produce are stored, and it was just a mess.  It will get worse before it gets better, but I have a plan and have made good progress!

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

Stash Report Week #42

Woohoo!  ‘Tis the season for quilt finishes, so I have another jump in stash numbers this week.

IN this week: 0 yards
OUT this week: 11 1/2 yards

IN YTD: 102 1/2 yards
OUT YTD: 89 1/2 yards
YTD Total: 13 yards IN

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

Finished Quilt: Stained Glass Stars

 I had ridiculous notions of, after the kids off school for an extra two days, writing my blog post Friday night and having it ready to post this morning.  The reality was a morning full of parent-teacher conferences (five of them!) and an afternoon full of the zoo and little people drama since they were tired.  It's all good, but I'm later than I'd like finally getting to the computer.

Thrilled would describe my feelings about this finished quilt.  I, of course, didn't remember to measure the finished dimensions and there's now a wet floor between me and it (I'm teaching my oldest to steam mop), so here it is.  It is slightly wider than a queen mattress.

 I certainly have a few puckers here and there, as some blocks were definitely slightly larger than 8" finished.  I don't think any of them are particularly visible.  My thread barely held out to finish the quilting, which was delightful.  I didn't want to order and wait for a new spool, so I'd picked out a close companion, but it would have been disappointed to do that.  Instead, here we are.

Can I tell you a not-so-secret?  It wasn't until I finished sewing the stars into rows that I realized they don't all spin the same way.  I thought I put so much effort into keeping the center pinwheel correct, going so far as to pull out an old block every time, but somewhere along the way, I went astray.  Alas.

All fabrics from the front and binding are Vicki Welsh hand dyed fabrics.  If you haven't tried them yet, please do so.  They are so beautiful and Vicki is wonderful to work with.  I miscut my setting triangles and had to order more, but this fabric had been a non-standard order, so she had to do more than the usual work to make it happen, but she did so.  There are a number of blocks that, as I went over them quilting or burying threads, I thought I should order this specific color.  It's a treasure trove of color!

In other news, I've been pinning and stitching on my 16-patches.  My hope had been to have the flimsy in five pieces by this morning, but the week was busy with digging sweet potatoes and days off school.  I have a plan to work on them this morning.  I'm not sure I'll be able to part with this quilt at its completion, but I think I can give it up to the guest bed a few nights a year.

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

P.S.  Others are sewing with dark green or sage this week.  I suggest checking out the link-up!

UFO Update: a Finished Quilt

I finished my UFO for October!  Aegean Sea is officially ready for guests at Christmas, down to the washing and drying!  In reality, I completed the quilt last week, but posting about my UFO, unfortunately, didn't happen last week.

 The directions, by Judy Martin, call this a twin quilt, but it's super wide, not quite queen-size, but maybe for a full? A queen-size would have had three more blocks, to make a square quilt, but I had quite enough to do keeping all these different fabrics sorted.  I used blue and green shades from the Color Wheel Solids, as well as a variety of neutrals from both Connecting Threads and other (lost to memory) purchases.  I organized the cutting from light to dark, although I would hazard to complain that the color wheel solids don't really "go" together in order.  They tend to be slightly varied more blue or more green than the previous or next selection.

My backing fabric is seamed down the middle, and is another fabric from Connecting Threads.  I am ever so grateful that it did not bleed when I washed and dried it!  I chose to use the yellow that peeks out from the stars in the quilt.  I think I had one 2.5" strip left, so it was perfect!

For quilting, I initially envisioned something more complicated for the large neutral spaces, but my sewing machine decided to die.  It turns out the brushings were never oiled by the manufacturer, so there was nothing I could do.  I purchased a cheap machine while I was waiting for the first to be repaired, and there's not much throat space in either, so I began to rethink.  I followed the lines of the fabric through the border, but the main part of the quilt is a simple meander.

I have another quilt waiting on more quilting, so I need to wrap this up and move on!

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

Stash Report Week #41

I have no changes this week, which is a pleasant surprise after the temptations of Christmas fabrics.  At one point, I had an extensive collection of star and snowflake fabric, so much so that I hand pieced an entire quilt from them.  I still pick them up here and there, so I’ve been daydreaming.

But I don’t need anymore fabric right now.  None.  My cart/shelving unit is plenty full, and I have a plethora of quilt dreams to work from without any new fabrics.

So...

IN this week: 0 yards

OUT this week: 0 yards

IN YTD: 102 1/2 yards

OUT YTD: 78 yards

YTD Total: 24 1/2 yards IN

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Slow and Steady

Where did the time go?  It escaped with the warm weather and the rain, apparently.

I started with stitch in the ditch for the Stained Glass Star quilt, then progressed to the setting triangles, then dithered over the stars themselves.  Since they were stitched on more than one machine, with multiple skill levels on the cutting (remember that pesky broken hand?), and with different hand abilities, some are a little, well, bubbly.  All will be well in the end, although there may be a lump here or there.

 16-patches are at the difficult stage of requiring pinning for any progress.  Right now, they are all stitched in pairs and pinned to make strips of 4.  Once I use up another bobbin of dark blue, I'll return to stitching these.

I chose and cut the fabrics for the remaining 18 churn dash blocks, but I imagine those will wait for next month.

I did plant garlic this week, and bake for a funeral and a birthday, and DH was gone for a few days, so this is good progress.  Maybe next week I'll have a quilt to show you!

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

P.S. The proper color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is dark green, but I haven't any more of those to make, so I'm finishing projects.  If you want to be inspired by green, go here!

Stash Report Week #40

Woohoo!  I finished a (large-ish) quilt, so we have some nice stash departure this week.  I only count fabric out when I complete a quilt (quilting, binding, and all), so it's been a while.  My adjusted goal for the year is to use more fabric than I buy.  I keep cutting and sewing and keep ignoring the sales fliers, so I'm making good progress.

I have worn out 22 spools of thread this year.  I need more piecing thread, but I can't find it on sale right now.

IN this week: 0 yards
OUT this week: 14 yards

IN YTD: 102 1/2 yards
OUT YTD: 78 yards
YTD Total: 24 1/2 yards

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

Pinning and Pressing

The past week has been, for scrappy sewing, round after round of "pin, sew, press, repeat."  Unfortunately, none of my scraps are green.  I sewed those up back when I was barely able to sew after hand surgery.

 All my 16 patches, at least for this stage of the game, are complete.  I sorted them out to make two quilts, one teal and one blue/purple/green.  I have enough for a good start on a third so there will be more 16 patches in my future scrappy sewing.

The 1.5" strip box is still not empty, despite its extensive use this summer, so it's a good thing I plan to make more 16 patches.  I think I'm going to add in gray since those scraps are lonely from neglect.  Those may come out to play in November or December, once I see where my other scraps take me!

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

P.S. Be sure to check out the GREEN scraps this weekend!

October Goals

In September, I wanted to...
1.  Stay current with dark blue scraps: 16-patches.  Done.

2.  Since the scraps are down to one project, I hope to get my Stained Glass Stars into a flimsy.  Unfortunately, since I botched the cutting of setting triangles, I need to order more fabric.  Done.

3.  Finish Aegean Sea?  This may be ridiculous, but I’m going to try.  Ridiculous.  Yeah.  I basted it.

4. The  UFO number for this month is #9, my red white and blue project.  I finished this back when I was recovering from my hand being crushed, so I’ll tackle #6, which is a set of green and brown fabrics.  Hopefully, since it will be small, I can finish it.  Done.

5.  This is my third year participating in the Teal Mini Swap, and since it’s due October 2, I aim to finish this month.  Done.

In October, I hope to...
1.  Plow through more scraps: trim, cut the star points for the 9 patch and stars quilt, make one 16-patch flimsy, finish the light blue 16-patches, and finished the Stained Glass Stars quilt.  I also want to sort the fabric for the remaining 18 churn dash quilts.

2.  Finished my UFO, Aegean Sea.

3.  Maybe start another quilt?

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

UFO Wednesday Update

I've made progress this week!  I have the quilting well underway.  In fact, I need to remove a hundred or so pins and trim the edges to give me a little more space to maneuver.

I'm off to quilt!

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

October UFO List

1. Pillow
2. Scrappy DWR
3. ABC appliqué
4. 9 patches and stars
5.  Hand pieced hexagons
6. Stained Glass Stars
7. 16 patches
8. Churn dash block
9. Aegean Sea
10. The Assistant's Quilt
September 1: 9 projects
Started: 3
Finished: 2
September 30: 10 projects

In September, I started and finished the Teal Mini Swap and a green and brown baby quilt.  I also "started" or took command of the Assistant's long-abandoned plus quilt.  She professes a vague interest in seeing it finished, but her time has been captured by sewing clothes and knitting scarves.

My goal is to keep my list to 10 or less projects, so I'm doing find with my UFO list.  Of course, as I wrap up scrappy projects, I find more and more quilts to start.  Somebody stop me!

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

September Block Count

This month experienced a flood of new blocks.

I wrapped up the Aegean Sea units, with 42 new.
I made 155 new 16 patches.
For my green and brown baby quilt, I made 25 blocks.

That brings my September total to 212 new blocks and 1418 for the year.

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

Stash Report Weeks 39-40

You’d think, on a week that I finally finished something, I’d get around to my stash report, but somehow it still escaped me last week.  This week, I’m happy to report that I finished my Teal swap mini as well as my green and brown baby quilt.  I also received two packages, one an order to finish my Stained Glass Stars and the other a prize from Prairie Moon Quilts.

IN this week: 1 1/2 yards
OUT this week: 3 1/2 yards

IN YTD: 102 1/2 yards
OUT YTD: 64 yards
YTD Total: 38 1/2 yards IN

Given that the year is 3/4 spent, I won’t be reaching my goal of using twice the yardage I purchased.  I’m not too upset by this, as I did have a broken hand and major surgery to ruin my sewing, and I used fabric as an incentive to keep up with my physical therapy even when it was grueling.  40 yards out by year’s end seems reasonable, since I have Aegean Sea, Stained Glass Stars, and at least two 16 patch quilts that can certainly be finished in three months.

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