June UFO Report

It’s been a busy month for starts and finishes!

I started... two weighted blankets (erg, the mess!) and a new quilt for my niece that I’m currently calling Flying Stars, since it contains both stars and flying geese.

I finished... finally... my lovely Irish Chain quilt, the king sized 16 patch (as well as a bonus baby quilt), Spunky’s bee quilt and the two weighted blankets!

1. Pillow
2. Scrappy DWR
3. ABC appliqué
4. Hand pieced hexagons
5. Courtyard steps
6. Temperature quilt

7. Fox quilt

8. Flying Stars

June 1: 10

Started: 3

Finished: 5

June 30: 8

The Assistant would like me to start a pineapple quilt for her, but I think I have a few minor projects to wrap up first... mending my first quilt, which my sister returns once a year for mending, a skirt for the same sister, and repairing some chairs on the porch.  Fiddly work.

I originally intended to take July off from mask-making, but the state has mandated masks in public beginning Friday, so I may not get the break I wanted.  Sigh.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Stash Report Week # 26 and 15 Minutes

Masks... I made my last masks for a while this past week, wrapping up a set of matching masks for the Assistant and her classmates.  Almost everyone wore them, so that felt good.  Now, with a total of 98 masks under my sewing needle, I think I can say I’m happy with my pattern and will make more later, when I know they are needed for someone specific.  For now, I have a small stash of them for the family.

I finished the second weighted blanket on my list, so those are done for the year too.  Another fiddly project bites the dust!

Finally, the smaller 16 patch quilt wrapped up this week too.  It was a great week for stash usage!  Two spoons of thread ran out, bringing my total to 9.  This is actually a bit on the low side for me, but that’s fine.

IN this week: 0 yards
OUT this week: 12 1/2 yards

IN YTD: 49 yards
OUT YTD: 132 1/2 yards
YTD Total: 83 1/3 yards OUT

As to hand work, I sewed every day.  Several days were devoted to the 16 patch binding, but the rest were for basting hexies.  It’s amazing how much hand work I get done when we sit down together to listen to a book.  We are not all loving the Swiss Family Robinson, but Q seems to find it interesting after attempting to read it on his own and not understanding it, so I’m willing to keep going.  Next time we’ll find something less unrealistic to read!  I’ve done handwork 172 out of 179 days this year.

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

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Pinks

I have two quilts of scraps finally finished: the king sized 16 patch and a generous baby/toddler 16 patch.  I blogged about them here.  It feels good to have the project box empty and my brain space a little more available.  I also made two weighted blankets over the last two weeks.  Those are so messy and awkward to wrestle, so I’m grateful to have them off my to do list.

As I sewed the rows of the weighted blankets, I used the pink stars for leader enders.  Once a quilt really gets rolling, it’s so exciting to see it develop!

The foxes are clamoring for attention, but they were a bit neglected this month.  I’ll get back to them in July.

My other leader ender or in between project was the temperature quilt.  It’s turned very warm, suddenly!  I am enjoying the visual representation of the temperature ranges for the year.  I think it’s funny how few blues played into the weather, it really went purple to green.

I confess, I’m currently tired.  Not enough sleep plays into it, but I feel the weight of selfish human beings in the world around me.  I know I’ll feel better about humanity eventually, but why can’t we just care about others?

All too soon we will be changing colors for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and I’ll see where my projects take me next month!

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

Another One (or Two) Bites the Dust

And just like that, after years of adding to the pile of 16 patches, the project box is entirely empty.  The first quilt is 24 blocks by 24 blocks, so about 96” square, and has fabrics ranging from purple to blue to green.  I used an extra wide backing for this giant, quilted it on the diagonal, and bound it with an Uncorked fabric in dark turquoise.  I’m very happy with how it turned out.

 Unfortunately, when I finished  making the chunks and rows for the giant 16 patch quilt, I discovered I still had a pile of blocks left.  Only in blues and greens this time, it makes a nice oversized baby quilt or toddler quilt.  The project box is empty, the remaining strips are back in the 1.5” scrap box, and I’m ready to move on to another block obsession for a while.

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

Stash Report Week #25 and 15 Minutes

Happy Father’s Day to all dads out there, in whatever form that may take (uncles, want-to-be fathers, godfathers, step-fathers, unrelated men who step in as a father figure, you name it).  I’m fortunate to have a biological father to be grateful for and a supportive husband who is an amazing father to our children.

I smoked pork butt (yum!), brisket (meh), and garlic (fail).  We had a splendid dinner with my parents and our immediate family, as we’ve formed a quarantine small group, vowing to keep ourselves from outside unnecessary contact so we can continue to see one another.  Smoking meat takes a lot of in and out trips for me, so I didn’t quilt quite as much as I hoped Saturday.

It was still a fabulous week for finishes: a giant 16-patch quilt, a weighted blanket for the Assistant, and 8 more masks.

IN this week: 0 yards
OUT this week: 22 1/2 yards

IN YTD: 49 yards
OUT YTD: 120 yards
YTD Total: 71 yards OUT

I do need some plain white fabric (gasp, I don’t have any solid white!), but I’m going to behave myself otherwise.

I forgot to mention my 15 minutes of handwork a day!  Now that the Irish Chain is done, I’m returning to my hand pieced hexagons out of delicious fabric by Vicki Welsh.  I finished a green one this week, and plan to follow along with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month for the next one (pink!). I have done handwork 165/172 days so far this year.

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

Long Days, and Full

I would love to have another hour or two in my day, as I never seem to have enough, but such is summer and the work that fills it.  Our garden is producing, the first chickens went to the butcher, and the next round of chickens arrived in the middle of (of course) heavy rain.  We filled half a day with tie dying (oh, my goodness, it’s a lot of fun), and I can’t seem to keep up with the cooking, cleaning, and dishes.  None of this is intended to be a complaint; I would rather be busy than be in trouble!

All that above just means the sewing hours were few and far between this week.

While we listened to books on CD (we finished the Hobbit, so now we’re listening to the Swiss Family Robinson), I finished cutting my pink fabrics for the next scrappy quilt.  The piles of triangles are high!

I’m afraid the Garden Posies for the month are still missing pink, but they are scraps.

My next scraps are lacking pink as well, but I’ve emptied the project box of 16 patches.  I finished the large quilt (hopefully I’ll take pictures tomorrow) and have this wee quilt to make next week.

Oh, yes, there have been masks!  The Assistant celebrates her graduation next week, and I offered to make a matching set of masks for her and her classmates (there are only 14 total), so I have masks to finish.

I made the Assistant a weighted blanket.  I’d blissfully forgotten what a pain they are!  I need to make one more, then I’m done for another year or two.

It’s taken half the day to get this written.  Now I’m going to try to sew!

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

P.S.  I’m linking up to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

Stash Report Week #24 and 15 Minutes

The 15 minutes report comes first this week, as I’m so excited about it.  I finished my Irish chain quilt!  The hand quilting wrapped up on Friday, and as I’d already bound it after quilting all the chains, it’s all done.  We put it on our bed last night.  DH was concerned it was too small, but when I planned it, I didn’t want it to hang past the mattress to get caught in the drawers.  The next quilt (the 16 patch) is much larger, so if he doesn’t like this size, I’ll keep it folded at the end of the bed and he can spread the other out on the bed.

I’m very pleased with the finish, down to the block design.  The fabric, if you’re wondering, is all hand dyes from Vicki Welsh.  Hopefully we can keep the kids away from the permanent markers and Nutella anywhere near it!

The stash report was pulled in both directions this week.  I received 5 layer cakes (mask choices for the kids), but I also finished 8 masks and the Irish chain quilt, so I still moved in the right direction.  I’ve now made 80 masks.

IN this week: 14 1/2 yards

OUT this week: 19 yards

IN YTD: 49 yards

OUT YTD: 97 1/2 yards

YTD Total: 48 1/2 yards OUT

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z. 

Hustle

I need to be out the door in ten minutes for the oldest to take some placement tests, and this morning we already had to deal with a 7 foot rat snake, so I’m a little flustered.  We’re fine, only a snake was harmed (no chicks), and it’s good the test is finally being done, but it all makes for a busy Saturday.

I finished my Irish chain quilt last night.  Come back tomorrow for a picture or two.  It’s beautiful.  I’m looking forward to putting it on my bed tonight.

I cut for a new quilt for my niece.  She likes pink.  My original thought was to default to a 16-patch quilt, but I decided to look in my quilt books and pick a real pattern.  Why else did I spend money on these books?  It’s from Miss Rosie’s Farmhouse Favorites.

I quilted the entire behemoth that is my 16 patch quilt.  The binding is cut.  I’m looking forward to yet another quilt finish next week.

What else?  The masks are ready to finish today when I get home.  I only made one fox this week, and a few not pink Garden Party posies.

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

P.S. I’ll be linking up to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!

Stash Report Week #23

This was a great week for stash busting.  Not only did I finish my 8 masks, but I also finished a quilt! Spunky’s bee quilt is all done.

I do have 1/4 yard in this week.  I needed to order another Left-Eze Rule for triangles after I knicked a substantial chunk out of my old one.  I am a leftie, so I’ve really enjoyed this ruler.  Kitty was so kind as to send a fat quarter with the ruler (in blue, so a perfect choice).

IN this week: 1/4 yard

OUT this week: 7 yards

IN YTD: 34 1/2 yards

OUT YTD: 78 1/2 yards 

YTD Total: 44 yards OUT

On the 15 minutes front, I worked hard to squeeze in extra hand quilting time.  I finished 9 blocks, leaving me with only 8 more.  I quilted two today, so I’m really, really looking forward to finishing this quilt this week.  I will get to put it on my bed just as I convince DH to put the wool quilt away (it’s HOT!).  Another finish will also be a lovely boost to the stash report.  The Irish Chain quilt has taken me a long time from start to finish, so the finish is going to be so satisfying and I think very time-freeing!

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Sewing Days

Woohoo!  First scrap accomplishment this week (in yellow, not pink, but still...) is a finished quilt!  Spunky’s bee fabric quilt is all done.  I need to wash it, but I’ll wait until it’s closer to time for her to give it away.  I like finishes and checking projects off my list.

Secondly, my 16 patches (over 9000 pieces) are sewn into a flimsy.  It took 625 pins, 3 hours, and I had a handful of hundreds of threads cleaned off it, but I basted it all.  I love this quilt; I don’t know what it is about checkerboard-like quilts, but they make me feel so happy.

My masks are done for the week.  I’ve used up odds and ends of leftover pieces, and my full-length 15” strips are getting low, so it’s time to cut more.

Four courtyard step blocks are completed.  That’s it for pink!  My Garden Party blocks don’t have pink since the quilt is for my grown brother.  I am going to start a pink quilt from stash (I don’t keep many 3 1/2” scraps, so I need stash instead), so maybe I’ll hustle so I have something to show!

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

P.S. I link up to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge each Saturday.

May Block Count

Ah, block count...  I enjoy seeing progress.

This month, I added 3 16-patch blocks, 21 bee blocks, 19 foxes, 2 courtyard steps, 10 Garden Party, and 24 temperature quilt blocks.  This means I made 79 blocks this month, bringing my yearly total to 440, a nice, tidy number.

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

June Goals

In May, my plans are...
1.  Keep up the hand stitching.  A block a day is not happening, but 16 or so a month is attainable.  I think I actually finished one a day!

2.  Scraps in dark green: trim, courtyard steps, Garden Party posies, and maybe some 16 patches.  Done.

3. Temperature quilt: one more row.  Done.

4.  Fox quilt: many, many more blocks!  19 more blocks done, and plenty more cut.

5.  A cushion for the front porch.  Done.

6.  Probably masks.  Yes, lots of masks.  I’m up to 64.  

In June, I hope to...
1.  Keep up the hand stitching.  I am FINISHING my Irish Chain this month!

2.  Scraps in pink: trim, courtyard steps, and Garden Party posies (in red?  There’s no pink in that quilt).

3.  Temperature quilt: one more row.

4.  Fox quilt: more blocks!

5.  Quilt and finish the 16-patch quilt as well as a “mini” 16-patch (baby sized).

6.  Finish the bee quilt.

7.  32 masks.

8.  Weighted blanks or other things on my “non-quilting” tasks.

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