April Block Count

Not much, in the grand scheme of things, just finishing up blocks started in previous months...

55 16-patches
21 blocks for my red, white, and blue triangles
for a total of 76 new blocks, which is 600 for the year.

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

Stash Report Week #18

I didn’t buy or order any fabric this week!  I did finish off a spool of thread for a total of nine for the year.

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

Wrong Color Rainbow!

Well, maybe not wrong color.  A mixed up rainbow?  I’m not quite sure.

I finished 55 16-patches in green this week.  They had been left as twosies and four-patches after my accident, and since picking up pins is part of my OT, I put my fingers to work.

Next up was rigging up a new way to cut.  My left hand can’t push down on the ruler or hold a rotary cutter yet, and my elbow isn’t steady enough, so I’m using boxes of applesauce pouches to weight down the ruler.  Now my yellow churn dash blocks are cut but will wait until my fingers can manage triangles under the needles a little more reliably.

Remember last week, where I thought I’d overshot my nine-patch goal?  Hahaha!  I don’t need 45 9-patches; I need 45 sets of five 9-patches.  Therefore, I dug into the pink scraps and made some more.  I now have 77, so roughly 1/3 done.  I have star points to make for this quilt too, but since those points involve cutting into large pieces of fabric and cutting fiddly angles, they are a task best left for later.

Then, since squares are going so well, I pulled out my dark green 1.5" strips and will work on the next round of 16-patches.  As each month of the challenge rolls through, I'll try to cut fabrics in the right color, but I'll wait on the more difficult piecing until my fingers work a little better.  Right now, due to all the various bits of damage, I can't bend my fingers at the knuckle very well or move my middle finger much at all.  But I can do strips sets, so I will!

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

Be sure to check out the yellow projects everyone has worked on this month!

Stash Report Week #17

 IN this week: 22 1/4 yards
OUT this week: 0 yards

IN YTD: 47 1/4 yards
OUT YTD: 23 3/4 yards
YTD Total: 23 1/2 yards IN

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

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Oops!

It would appear that in my desperation to be sewing anything and my inability to cut much, I overproduced yellow nine-patches!  I have 64 total, including browns and pinks, which is a bit more than the necessary 42.  All is well.  The quilt will be larger and no one but ourselves will know the difference!

I also found a backing and pieced the last of my batting scraps for the little red, white, and blue baby quilt.  Basting is still out of the question, but I have now used up all but one piece of my cotton batting scraps.  It's so nice to have the batting scraps out of my closet, since it's not ideal for fabric storage, and batting only complicates that.

Let's talk about my green scraps.  Now that I'm matching them into halves, the stacks are much larger than I anticipated.  I'm not sure I can finish them before May, but I think you'll also be surprised when I finally post a picture too.  Where do all these green scraps come from?

Despite my writing issues, I found a pretty new notebook for my quilting records for the rest of the year, since my current one is already shredding at the spine.  This is a disappointing development and a new one for my many years of quilting.  Oh, well.  I bought a new set of gel pens and will slowly transfer all needed information over the next few weeks.  It will be a good quilty occupation.

Be sure to see all the yellow blocks this weekend!

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

Stash Report Weeks #14-16

Oops!  Sundays have been getting away from me since the accident.  I’ve been shopping sales and flagrantly ignoring my goal to use twice what I buy this year.  My fabric pieces are rewards for properly doing all my physical therapy each day.

Once I have the hand strength, I do have a large quilt to quilt and finish, so my numbers aren’t too badly in the dumper.

IN this week: 25 yards
OUT this week: 0 yards

IN YTD: 25 yards
OUT YTD: 23 3/4 yards
YTD Total: 1 1/4 yards IN

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

Progress

The sewing scene has changed in these here parts.

I can now hold straight pins between my fingers, even if I can’t yet pick them up.  Over the last two weeks, I’ve managed to finish all the blocks for a UFO!  Fortunately, the triangles were already sewn, trimmed, sewn into sets of 4, and pressed, so don’t let your imagination run away with you.  I’m slowly working on the rows.  Safety pins are an insurmountable hurdle currently, but I’ll check on batting and backing so when I’m strong enough, I’ll get there.

As is par for the course, even my pared down daily activities take longer and wear me down, so there aren’t many long stretches in the sewing room.  I look forward to the day when normal isn’t so complicated, but I’m currently content with progress.  I saw the doctor this week, and it turns out my “optional” surgery wasn’t so optional.  My broken bone had pinched soft tissue between the pieces so it would not have healed without surgery.  I’m so glad I chose surgery now!

My yellow and green 1.5” scraps are keeping me busy.  I can carefully and tediously make small cuts, so I’ve been sub cutting yellow strip sets. Maybe next week I’ll have a few 9-patches to sew!

Thank you for all your encouragement, sympathy, and well wishes.  I am behaving myself and doing my therapy, and I look forward to quilting madly to make up for lost time in a few months.

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

Be sure to check out the glorious yellows this month!

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Baby Steps

Ah, another week.  A little short on fabric, perhaps, but I'm working to resolve the situation.  Physical therapy is not for quitters, so every day I do all my stretches, I reward myself with a half yard of V and Co.'s metallic confetti ombre fabric.  So far, I have two pieces.  My hand is still a black bruise, and my stitches haven't come out yet, so I have plenty of therapy ahead of me.

 PK says I should read him more books and learn to throw with my right hand.

 I've sorted my yellow scraps, threaded my machine,

 and have been webbing blocks.  I'm awaiting a roll of white 1.5" strips to allow me to make strip sets for my yellow 9-patches.  I can't cut until I can press my hand firmly enough to anchor the ruler.

What are your yellow plans?  Do you have any good books of quilty inspiration to suggest?  I'll be lurking to see yellow blocks this Saturday.

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

April Goals

In March, I wanted to...
1. Keep using scraps: trim, 16-patches, Stained Glass Stars, churn dash, and hexagons.  All but the 16-patches.

2.  Finish the Tshirt quilt.  Yes.

3.  UFO #8, a baby quilt from a few fat quarters and some supplemental fabric.  Yes.

4.  Finish the dragon quilt, as Q has a birthday in early April.  Alas, no.  It is basted and in a pathetic heap on the floor.  It will be a while before my hand will be strong enough to quilt again.

5.  Sew some clothes with/for the Assistant and my sister.  Half done.  Handed over to my mom.

6.  Mending.  Oh, how I dislike mending, but it’s filling the end of my ironing board!  Done!

In April, I would be thrilled to...

1.  Sew some yellow scraps.  Maybe cut a few.  Baby steps.

2.  Sew my red, white, and blue triangles into block rows.  If I can hold pins by the end of the month, maybe I can have completed blocks!

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

April UFO List

1. Pillow
2. Scrappy DWR
3. ABC appliqué
4. 9 patches and stars
5. Dragon
6.  Hand pieced hexagons
7.  Christmas Jared takes a Wife
8. Stained Glass Stars
9. 16 patches
10.  Churn dashes

March 1: 11 projects
Started: 2
Finished: 3
March 31: 10 projects

This month, I started some garment sewing and a baby fat quarter quilt.  I finished the Tshirt quilt, the baby quilt, and half the garments.  My mom is taking on the rest since I can’t currently sew.

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

March Block Count

This month was going so well.  87 blocks and counting and then...

(Cue dramatic tractor noises... I painfully broke a few important bones.)

So, 6 new Stained Glass Stars, 18 churn dash, 63 rail fence, and a whole heap of incomplete 16 patches brings me to 87 new blocks for a total of 524 for the year.

My goal by the end of the month is to be able to cut fabric again, so we’ll see if I can find a way to sew some strip sets.

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

Stash Report Week #13

Nothing, not a stitch.  I did test rotary cutting with my right hand, but I can’t keep the ruler steady with my left (yet).  I’ll rethread my machine in the coming week as I found a UFO with enough pieces cut that I can sew without pinning or anything else requiring two hands for a week.

Oh, yes, and I did some online fabric shopping.  It all has a purpose!

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