Stash Report Week #25

This week, I finished a baby quilt and the last three bags for Christmas gifts.  I’m almost to my goal for usage for the year, so as long as I behave myself, I can shop a little the rest of the year as long as I keep finishing things!

IN this week: 0 yards
OUT this week: 7 yards

IN YTD: 41 3/4 yards
OUT YTD: 68 1/2 yards
YTD Total: 26 3/4 yards OUT

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

This and That

Early this week, I had the pleasure of finishing my four Tiny Tuesday/Scrappy Sampler blocks.  My photo is a hint blurry, and I see my Grandmother's Fan won't win any awards, but I'm very happy with the outcome of the blocks.  They are done in one try, and they are going to be glorious with the other blocks.

 In other news, since there's no rain (thank God) to report, here's a view of my machine.  I'm quilting the sashing right now, and then I'll decide what to do about the blocks.

It's finally gotten hot, the mosquitoes are out in force, and I unluckily received the first tick bite of the season.  Fortunately, we removed it without issue, and now we'll be paranoid for a while!

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

P.S. Please enjoy other inspirational blue projects this weekend!

June Block Count

In June, I was busy with scraps again, dark blue this time.

I finished...
6 Great Granny Squared blocks
2 Lepidoptera blocks
4 Soscrappy Sampler blocks and
96 Garden Mosaic blocks
for a total of 108 new blocks and 940 for the year!

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

Finished Quilt: Levi’s Quilt

And just like that, I have a finished (much more satisfactory) quilt.  Last month, I made a quilt that was intended for a special baby due in August.  Sadly, I was highly disappointed in the process, so I found the end quilt not up to my expectations.

This time around, I opted to hand quilt one of Vicki Welsh’s crystals.  It’s backed with some fun train fabric and bound with another Vicki Welsh fabric, I think actually a cut of waste fabric.  I love that the binding coordinates perfectly without any planning. The finished quilt is roughly 40” square.

My quilting mostly followed the pattern of the fabric with a little filling in of my own design.  I marked with a washable Crayola marker which came out perfectly in the wash.  I’m surprised how quickly the quilting went, and now I have an itching to start another (I do have a pink and purple crystal Miss G uses as a cape).  I think I will work on my hexagons instead of starting a new quilt; I don’t want that UFO list to grow too much!

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

Stash Report Week #24

This morning started dark and early with a tornado warning and order to seek shelter at 5 am.  Once it was light, we discovered an enormous limb down in our yard.  Thank God it didn’t hit the roof, so DH will tidy up later.

I have used 12 spools of thread so far this year.  Two more bags for Christmas are finished, so I have stash movement again too.  With only 10 1/4 yards to go for my goal for the year, I’m doing a good job not shopping for fabric and a good job finishing projects.  It feels pretty good!

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

IN YTD: 41 3/4 yards
OUT YTD: 61 1/2 yards
YTD Total: 19 3/4 yards OUT

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

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Imperfectly Perfect

We had rain one day, and the longest day of the year was also our hottest and muggiest to date.  Last night, we had hours of dry lightning.  At least it was quiet, so no one but me was awake, and I enjoyed it.  Our garden needs weeding, but it’s so much better than last year, with my hand, that I’m not terribly concerned.

Please excuse the photo arrangement.  I’m on my way out the door to the farmers’ market.  As I wanted to finish this before I leave, I’m using my iPad and having a few minor issues!

This week, I made two more bags for Christmas presents.  I will get pictures at some point, but I just keep folding them up and putting them away so Miss G, who is back in a bit of a destructive phase, doesn’t cut or color any of them.

The next order of business was my second Lepidoptera block.  Can you see my mistake?  I’ve decided to leave it, since finding the right shade of ombré in the right size and amount might well be impossible without ordering more.  Surely God makes butterflies that aren’t perfectly symmetrical!

I also churned out my Garden Mosaic blocks this week.  I have lots of dark blue so I could have made more; this is enough for now.  When we get to year’s end and I take stock of blocks, I look forward to playing with these!

My final sewing mission for the week was to work on my whole cloth baby quilt.  I decided to trim and bind it so I could get a better feel for what I still need to quilt.  It’s almost done!

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

Stash Report Week #23

This week, I finished two bags for yardage out, but was “foiled” by some gifts of fabric.  I’m still ahead on my goal for the year.

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

IN YTD: 41 1/4 yards
OUT YTD: 58 3/4 yards
YTD Total: 17 1/2 yards OUT

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

Got the Blues?

This week...  a family close to us had a tragedy last Saturday, and we’ve been a bit numb and disconnected since then.  The bare minimum of yard work, etc., has happened, but not much else.  Friday was a long day, and I’m still recuperating from it.  In more cheerful news, my sister and her family joined us for three days this week, which was rejuvenating and distracting in a good way.

In the moments of self care, I did eke out one Lepidoptera block.  Alas, I have no more blue, so the second one for this month will be black.

Next up, I worked on a quick project, two more Christmas presents in the form of market bags.  The process isn’t too tedious, and at two a week they only take an hour or two from start to finish.  This week, I added pockets and the results are just right!

This next week will hopefully be a little more full of fabric!

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

Stash Report Week #22

I finished two “market bags” (I’ll link the pattern in a future post), and received a gift from my older sister this week.

IN this week: 1 1/2 yards
OUT this week: 2 3/4 yards

IN YTD: 37 1/2 yards
OUT YTD: 56 yards
YTD Total: 18 1/2 yards OUT

In Which I Eat An Elephant...

... one bite at a time.

Ah, early summer, when the days are long but the to-do list is longer.  The big kids and I have worked hard on weeding and mulching.  The Assistant and I labored through planting 100 more strawberries since our original batch drowned.  Those last 25 were hard so I just wanted to quit!  We’re all done now.  The Noah-like rains have abated, at least temporarily, so we are all enjoying being a little drier.

There are mulberries to pick, but it may be the birds’ lucky year, as I don’t have the energy right now.

Once we recover from outside chores each morning, I’ve been working away at my Great Granny Squared blocks, making my 16-patches into strips of 4, and hand quilting a whole cloth baby quilt.  I’ve officially reached the halfway point for the Granny blocks, a little behind schedule, but I can always adjust if I end the year with not quite enough blocks.  Aren't they so happy?

All the blue 1.5” scraps are already sewn into 16-patches, so I don’t have them to sew for June.  I have no idea if I have enough 16-patch blocks for a king sized quilt, but rather than count, I’m using them as leaders and enders by sewing them into a strip of 4.  Five sets of four make one row, and 22 rows will make a quilt.  I’m not making the rows right now, so if it turns out I need more blocks, it will be easy to incorporate them later.

The baby quilt is chugging along nicely.  My goal is one length of thread a day.  The designs are what slow me down, as I don’t know how close I want the quilting.  (ooh, and Vicki, who made the crystal I am using for my whole cloth quilt, is having a sale!)

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

P.S. Be sure to check out the inspiration of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!

May Block Count

Where has the time gone?  I’m back-dating this post to early June, but I didn’t get it written until midJune!

This month, I only finished 94 blocks.
1 Great-Granny Squared block
46 Garden Mosaic blocks
2 Lepidoptera blocks
4 Tiny Tuesday blocks
41 nine patch and stars

This brings my total for 2019 to 832 blocks.  It’s looking good!

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

Stash Report Week #21

Last Sunday evening, I finished the last stitches in the binding of the baby quilt, so I get to report fabric out for the week.  I’ve been browsing a few sales, but my desires to meet my stash goal for the year and to empty out the shelves a little has kept me uninterested in purchases.  I’ve surpassed my goal for the first half of the year, since my total yearly goal is 30 yards out, but I know there’s a new fabric line coming out in July, and if I want to order any, I need to finish a few more quilts before I can!

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

IN YTD: 36 yards
OUT YTD: 53 1/4 yards
YTD Total: 17 1/4 yards OUT

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

June Goals

In May, I wanted to...
1.  For my fifth project on my “12 Things” list, I’ll be making a baby quilt (or two, depending on how it cuts up).  I finished one quilt and am doing another.

2.  If there is time, I’ll start on some market bags for Christmas.  Started, barely.

3.  Scraps: trim up the (much emptier) bucket, make orange Garden Blocks, make one Great Granny Squared,  2 Lepidoptera blocks, my Tiny Tuesday blocks, and make my warm 9-patches into blocks.  I’m not sure I’ll get all 42 done, but I’d like to make good progress.  Done, and even made the blocks into a basted flimsy!

In June, I would like to...
1.  Make 8 market bags for Christmas gifts.

2.  Finish hand quilting the baby quilt.

3.  Maybe finish the 9 patches and stars quilt.

4.  Scraps: trim and blocks in blue: Garden Mosaic, Great Granny Squared blocks, 2 Lepidoptera blocks, Tiny Tuesday blocks, and make my 16-patches into rows of 4.

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

No Rainbows Here

Good morning, sewing friends!  There are no rainbows here because we’ve finally had no rain since Tuesday.  Of course, there are severe storms predicted for this afternoon and the entire next week, but at least the ground is drier and the ditches have drained.  We have been working at breakneck speed to catch up in the yard and garden.  All this adds up to less sewing, but I’ll take it.  There will be time for sewing during the wet days this week.  In fact, it is so sunny that I struggled to find some floor space that wasn't sundrenched.  What a glorious problem to have!

I whipped up my four orange Tiny Tuesday blocks.  Aren’t they so happy?

The final inches of binding on the baby quilt are done.  It’s been washed and dried and now set aside for giving away.  I have no idea why I’m so disappointed with this quilt, as it’s perfectly lovely, but there it is.  The backing is a remnant of a glorious fabric by Vicki Welsh (can you tell I love her fabric?).

I’ve started a new baby quilt using a crystal from Vicki Welsh.  It has been a pleasure to plot hand quilting for the lovely dyed designs on it.  I hope to work on it a little every day, as that gets me off my feet and out of the garden when it’s sweltering, and maybe finish it by the end of June.  I’m using washable markers to mark the quilting designs and stitching everything in a grey-blue thread.

Most of my sewing time found itself devoted to my nine-patches and stars quilt.  When the month of May began, I had no intention of getting too far on this quilt, but it’s now basted for quilting.  Although I rarely leave basted quilts to be quilted for later, I may very well do that with this one.  There’s no hurry to it, and I can finish it when we get to pink or brown later in the year.  I didn’t realize until I was basting the flimsy that I really needed to be more careful with my sashing, as the triangles from each block needed to match up with those in the opposite block.  Well, I didn’t realize, and I won’t fix it now.  (Oh, yes... and the quilt that was my inspiration is found HERE.  The link was saved on my old iPad, which the kids now use, so it hasn't been convenient for me to snatch it up!)

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

P.S. Be sure to check out, this Saturday as every Saturday, the Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects.  They'll be shifting from orange to blue!