Backseat Sewing

The week began a bit disjointedly, with BJ coming down with another nasty winter cold, but fortunately he recovered and is army crawling with the best of them.

It took me an extra few days to finish my Garden Mosaic quilt, then wash and package it, but it’s finally on its way and should arrive Monday to its new home!  I don’t see any bleeding fabrics, which is always thrilling.  I feel like, after years of no problems, the last few have seen more than my share of issues.  My quilt holder yelled, “Hurry up!” as her arms are just long enough to spread the quilt and hold it up.  The Assistant is great!

It was a busy week of “life,” so several days only found my hand quilting checked off, and nary a stitch on the machine.  When I did get to the machine, I focused on the little boys’s vests.  I’m very pleased to have 3 of the 4 done, and the fourth under the needle.  I think that means next week, I need to measure and cut skirts!

My new leader and ender for 2020 is still not underway, as I’m playing catch-up with my temperature quilt and using it in between lines of stitching.  Maybe in March (or maybe not, we’ll see!).  The color for March was revealed as teal, which is far and away my favorite color, so I’m ready to sew.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

P.S. I’m eager to visit the Rainbow Scrap Challenge linkup.  Last week, with BJ crying all day, I didn’t really visit anyone.

February UFO Summary

February was, most pleasantly, a productive month.  I finished the placemats and the Garden Mosaic quilt, while adding Easter clothes for the kids (vests for the boys and skirts for the girls) and a temperature quilt.

My list is still under 10, and I hope to finish another project or two in March to keep the numbers tidy!

1. Pillow
2. Scrappy DWR
3. ABC appliqué
4. King sized 16 patch
5. Hand pieced hexagons
6. Irish chain
7. Courtyard steps
8. Temperature quilt

9. Easter clothes

February 1: 9 projects

Started: 2

Finished: 2

February 29: 9 projects

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Stash Report Week #8

I’m fudging numbers a tiny bit here.  The last stitches weren’t taken until Monday morning, but since I was so close, I’m taking it for week 8 anyhow.

My finish is the leftover Garden Mosaic blocks from last year.  There weren’t enough to do the 16 sections, so I did 4 with 100 blocks.  These may go back on the to-do list in 2021, but I’m done with them for now.  I’m looking forward to washing and drying it to see the texture.  Then it’s going off to a friend!

IN this week: 0 yards
OUT this week: 11 yards

IN YTD: 1 yard (a gift!)
OUT YTD: 30 1/4 yards
YTD Total: 29 1/4 yards OUT

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

Sneaking in the Stitches

Somebody now has four teeth, can almost sit up on his own, and can army crawl with the best of them (especially if there is paper or a screen within sight), so I’m finding sewing time a little more challenging to come by this week.

Oops... sideways and a short quilt holder!

I did very simply quilt the remaining Garden Mosaic blocks this week.  I have a sudden need for a giving quilt, so the clock is ticking on this one.  My hope is binding today and tomorrow and a good wash, then in the mail it goes on Monday.

A few more Garden Party posies are on the wall.  Oh, I love making these!  This quilt is going to be such fun to assemble.

I started my temperature quilt.  This is the first 18 days, and it’s looking about as I expected.  I am just hoping I won’t think it looks ridiculous when it’s done.

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

P.S.  I link up each Saturday to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  We are going strong on oranges (although I’ve run out).

Stash Report Week #7 and 15 Minutes a Day

There’s been a stash report change this week!  I finished a table runner and a placemat.  There was another new grand baby born in November, so we have the placemat made for him, and my sister and I collaborated on a table runner for a baby that died between my sister and I.  This way, the entire family is represented at our big family dinners (in the past, I made little table decorations for the baby my sister lost and the one I miscarried four years ago).

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

IN YTD: 1 yard (a gift!)
OUT YTD: 19 1/4 yards
YTD Total: 18 1/4 yards OUT

I also used up a second spool of thread.  Having such nice stash use early in the year is always nice.  It makes me feel ahead of the game, and later this year, when we go on vacation, I can find a quilt shop or two!

On the 15 minutes of hand quilting a day, I am pleased to report another stellar week.  I’ve now quilted 43/46 days.  The quilt is so close to halfway.  I still don’t know what I’ll be stitching in the blank light diamonds, but I’ll be honest that I haven’t contemplated it too hard.  I think I will bind it after I pull it off the frame (I may have mentioned this already) as some of the side seams are wanting to pop.

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

Tiny Things

Bitter cold mixed with rain, snow, and ice made of an interesting week.  It’s not often, here in Kansas, that we have a day full of lovely snowfall, but we did.  Miss G and PK both had a good time running in the snow.  Since then, the mornings have been 7 F, and the chickens have needed extra attention.  Today it appears everything will melt, and we’ll be back to our normal brown winter.

I think the sewing side of life went pretty well.  Firstly, Garden Mosaic is a finished flimsy.  I did require one more block than I had in the box, but that was easy to stitch.  Now, do I put a green border on it or leave as is?  It’s currently 60” square.

In between all those pins and seams, I made 9 posies for my Garden Party.  There’s one more under the needle that I may finish later today.  More oranges made it to the wall than I expected!

Finally, I began cutting strips to make a temperature quilt this year.  I’ve been marking the temperatures on a calendar but needed to label my fabrics and cut a few strips.  Several fabrics may not be large enough to last all year, but I’ll deal with that as it comes.

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

PS Check out the Rainbow Scrap Challenge each Saturday!

Stash Report Week #6 and 15 Minutes

No finishes but... I did quilt both placemats, so we may have a stash change next week!

I am most pleased that I managed to hand quilt for at least 15 minutes every day this week.  I’m now up to 36/39 days for 2020.  I rolled the quilt again, so I only have this section and two more before I can remove the quilt from the frame.  I may bind it before I fill in the blank stretches, since some of the seams have begun to pop (they may have had help from a few little people).

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

Half Time

Suddenly, half a quilt is on my wall!  I have hesitant hopes that I will finish off the Garden Mosaic quilt this month.

The courtyard steps finished faster and more smoothly this month, even with the addition of another set of green scraps!  I didn’t sort very well last month, apparently, or I would have seen these.

Everyone is getting well, some faster than others, so we had a good week of resting, sewing, and lolling about.  This weekend, I have a few hours of outdoor chores, and then a dance this evening with DH.  I loathe social occasions, so this will be a trying evening for me.  I’ll need plenty of sewing tomorrow to recover!

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

P.S.  It’s Saturday, so I’m linking up to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!

February Goals

Self, where are your January goals?  MIA, apparently, so let’s recap:

In January, I intended to:
1. Spend 15 minutes or half a block a day hand quilting my Irish Chain.  Glory, glory, the quilt is moving right along!  This seems to be a good pace, as the back numbness is not recurring.

2.  Scraps: trim, log cabin, brick and squares, Garden Party, and Garden Mosaic.  Well, I trimmed, started a courtyard steps block instead, totally ignored bricks and squares, made all the chain blocks for Garden Party, and turned my Garden Mosaic blocks into foursies.  Good progress.

3.  Start a temperature quilt.  I recorded temperatures and gathered fabric, but I cut nothing.

In February, I hope to...
1.  Spend 15 minutes or half a block a day hand quilting.  If I can get 6 of 7 days a week, I will be content.

2.  Scraps in orange: trim, courtyard steps, make some Garden Party posies, and finished Garden Mosaic.  Once Garden Mosaic is done, I can move on to a new leader and ender.

3.  Start the temperature quilt.

4.  My sister finished her amazing embroidery, so now I need to quilt and bind the placemats.

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

Stash Report Week #5 and 15 Minutes

Ah, another week over, another week of hours spent happily stitching. This week, I lost a day to the bed and illness, but otherwise managed to, at the very least, sneak in my 15 minutes of hand quilting.

29/32 days for the year is none too shabby!

I’m nowhere near finishing anything, so the stash report stays unchanged.  There’s no fabric that currently (and strongly) calls my name, so I’m set for a while.  I have a pile in my corner that won’t fit on my shelves, so I’m working on contentment with my current lovely stash.

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

Not Much Sewing Here, Folks

Sunday was a great day for sewing, with all the chains for Garden Party now finished!

Then, Sunday night, JoJo fell quite ill, and, since I was the cleanup crew, Tuesday night I became violently ill.  I’ll spare you the details, but I’ve lost more than 10 pounds so far and even though I’m eating some now, I’m still dropping weight.  Yeah, it was quite an illness.

So... there’s nothing else to show for the week.  I’m sorting orange scraps and all that jazz, with lots of lie downs in between.  Maybe next week!  I will take some time to visit all the other blogs.  Oh, yes, and I apologize for not replying to all comments.  Gmail has moved some of them on me.  I also have a number of blogs where my comments just don’t register, and while I’ve signed in and done all that, I do love reading even if I don’t say hello!

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