Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Progress

Hmmm... I thought I took a photo of the finished "Christmas" flimsy, but apparently, I didn't.  I guess we'll enjoy it in all its finished glory, hopefully next week!

I do have my Stained Glass Stars done for the month.  Again, some of the centers are a little jumbled, but I'm still working on dexterity in my fingers, so I'll blame it on that!

 I finally have started hand piecing again.  Holding a small needle is hard on my fingers, so I can't do too much or for too long, but I did get this one together.  It felt good to work on my hexies again.

 The biggest accomplishment of this week was the first round of teal/aqua 16-patches.  Here are 73, using up my dark strips.  I have my light aqua fabrics in 4-patches, so I intend to finish those in July.  I haven't even started the strip sets for the medium values.  Did I mention this is my favorite color of fabric?  Also, I was originally saving all my turquoise scraps to make Aegean Sea (scroll down on this post by Judy Martin), but I've decided I'll buy fabrics specifically for it to get the flow of color I want.  I'd rather have my beloved scraps in a quilt I'll keep than one that will probably be given away.

It is so hot.  I've been throwing the kids outside for at least 30 minutes early in the morning as well as doing all my garden chores between 6 and 9 since the heat and humidity become unbearable after that.  I run into the problem of my face becoming flushed and simply refusing to cool down, so I'm learning my limits.

I'm wondering what color will be enjoyed next month (tomorrow!) and puzzling what I think I can accomplish.  Angela's page is, as of this writing, pink, but since we've already had a pink month, I don't think that's it.  I have no major travel plans for July, so I'm hoping I can finish a few quilts.

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

P.S. Check out this weekend's lovely display of quilt blocks.

P.P.S. I'm so glad the blogger comment drama has finally been resolved!

June Block Count

This month was a good month for blocks!  I have 97 new blocks, for a total of 833 for the year.

I finished 7 Stained Glass Star blocks,
17 Churn Dash Blocks,
and 73 16-patches.  I probably have about 150 more of those 16-patches to make in teal/turquoise/aqua, but there simply wasn't time this month!

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

Stash Report Week #26

 I nearly have a flimsy, so I am hopefully two weeks away from a shift to the better.  I ordered two of Vicki Welsh’s crystals; ergo, fabric in.

IN this week: 2 yards
OUT this week: 0 yards

IN YTD: 63 1/4 yards
OUT YTD: 35 1/2 yards
YTD Total: 27 3/4  yards IN

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

Summer Means Less Sewing

I had hoped to finish my Stained Glass Stars this week, but, alas, they are each in nine pieces.  That's better than 60 pieces, so I've made progress, but not quite what I planned.

I've cut my dark and light teal strips into twosies.  I see an insane amount of 16-patches in turquoise, maybe even a quilt in only these colors.

 I had another pie-in-the-sky goal to assemble my Christmas blocks into a flimsy this week, but, remember (I need to remember this), it's summer.  Everyone is home.  They have activities, JoJo has speech (only for another month, then he graduates!), I have hand therapy, and, oh yes, there was a funeral of a high school teacher of mine on Friday.  Last night, DH picked up three beehives from an hour away and raced lightning and thunder home.  I'm tired simply thinking about it.

I should have some time today to sew, during which I hopefully complete my Stained Glass Stars.  Next week should be a little better, but have its own craziness.  Good luck with your week!

I have hopes that the comment issue is resolved, so I hope to answer all my comments again.

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

P.S.  What can we find that's teal this weekend?

Stash Report Week #25

Due to vacation and the state of my projects, I had no finishes last week, so the stash report remains the same.

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

IN YTD: 61 1/4 yards
OUT YTD: 35 1/2 yards
YTD Total: 25 3/4  yards

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

Favorite Fabrics

I spent the first five days of the week in Nebraska, enjoying a cabin with some of my siblings and my parents.  We enjoyed lovely views, space, adventures, and companions.

While there, I brought my strip sets to sub cut.  All done!

Today, since unpacking and laundry are finally done, I powered through the churn dash blocks.  Now I only need warm colored churn dash blocks to fill out my design.  We'll see how long those take since I definitely have less warm color scraps.

 Then I spent the evening making a start on my Stained Glass Stars and making more strips sets!

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

P.S. Check out the link up this weekend!

Stash Report Week #24

Woohoo!  I had a lovely finish this week, so there are nice changes to my stash report.

IN this week: 0 yards
OUT this week: 8 1/2 yards

IN YTD: 61 1/4 yards
OUT YTD: 35 1/2 yards
YTD Total: 25 3/4  yards

I'm now over halfway out of the hole I dug (lovely hole, full of fabric!).  On I go.

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

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Chop, Chop

Most of the week’s sewing time was devoted to finishing my son's belated birthday gift.

When I was taking breaks from quilting and binding (which still makes my hand cramp), I worked on cutting my Stained Glass Star blocks.

 And then I did more cutting of my churn dash blocks.  After I'd cut all that, I sewed the sets of triangles and rectangles for each block.  I even pressed them!

 Finally, I sewed a pile of strip sets for my 16 patches.  Don't worry, the basket is still 90% full.  I didn't make much progress.

And that's enough, since I spent hours outside this week, weeding and tending to chickens.  There are miles of weeds that have crept up in my long spring convalescence.

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

P.S. Don't forget to check out all the lovely aqua projects this weekend!

Finished Quilt: Eragon

I finally worked up the nerve and strength to quilt Q's quilt.  It turned out just right, with no bleeding fabric.  I'm calling it Eragon after the Inheritance Cycle series.

The quilt was based off a pixel picture I found, all out of 2" squares.  I did some strip piecing where possible, but there were many, many individual squares lined up for each row.  I'm thrilled to have it finished, even if it's a few months later than intended.

This is #2 on my UFO Challenge list.

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

Stash Report Week #23

I finished something!  It was only 1 1/4 yards of fabric used, along with batting and PUL, for a “pee pad.”  Mr. PK is still nursing at night and has a habit of overflowing his diaper.  I’ve gotten tired of stripping beds 3-4 times a week, so this handy little pad goes on top of his sheet to save me laundry.  He already soaked it last night, and it’s already dry and ready to go again!

Now I need to behave myself on purchases.  I’m holding out a plan that once I can make a fist again, I’ll order something yummy from Vicki Welsh.  Every day is getting better, but I’m tired of therapy and “not normal” status of my life, so maybe a bribe will keep me going!

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

IN YTD: 61 1/4 yards
OUT YTD: 27 yards
YTD Total: 34 1/4 yards

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

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Messy

The first full week of everyone home for the summer means a touch of chaos.  I actually printed chore lists and a schedule, which is serving us well.  Still, I’ve lost track of earlier in the week!

I did finish the pink and yellow Stained Glass Stars.  Yay!

I sorted and trimmed and put away scraps.  Success!

I sewed up 30 Jared Takes a Wife/Blackford Beauty Blocks in red, green, and cream for a Christmas quilt.  The various block parts have served as leaders and enders for a few months.

I dug out all my aqua/turquoise/not blue not green scraps and thought to myself, “Self, there is no way we can sort, cut, and sew all this before month’s end.”  To which I replied, “Challenge accepted.”  I get myself into trouble with this internal conversations!

The dragon quilt is officially under the needle.  I have two kids and DH gone for a few days, all in different places, and I’m trying to take advantage of the time by quilting the entire quilt.  I’ve found the binding is harder for me than the quilting since my fingers cramp around a needle, so I can quilt to my heart’s content and not worry about the pain later.

Be sure to check out all the beautiful, inspiring projects this weekend.

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

June Goals

I think I forgot to post my May goals, so I’ll recap.  In May, I hoped to...

1. Manage the pink scraps: trim, nine patches, Stained Glass Stars, churn dash, and wrap up my green 16-patches.  I actually finished them all and caught up on my yellow churn dash and Stained Glass Stars!

2.  Finish the red, white, and blue triangle quilt.  I did!  The binding made my hand cramp, but now I know to take it slower.

3.  Ambitiously, I wrote down “finish the Christmas quilt.”  I didn’t quite finish it, but all the blocks are made and I’m working on the sashing!

In June, I would like to...

1.  Keep up on aqua scraps: trim, churn dash, Stained Glass Stars, and maybe even the 16-patches.

2. Quilt and bind the dragon quilt for Q, since it’s been basted since before my accident.

3.  Finish the Christmas quilt.

4.  Start the Meadow Mist Designs Quilt along, which will be based off her Plus Quilt book.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.