Here, There, Everywhere

 Last night, I whipped out the binding on the baby quilt for my nephew.  One more Christmas present ready!

PK saw me making aprons for cousins and pleaded for one of his own.  I had to make up my own measurements from fat quarters, but he’s thrilled, so it’s good.

I finished another hexagon flower, so here’s what I have down for the entire project.  I’m years away from a finish, but I still like it and enjoy sorting my hand dyed fabric for the project, so it’s good.  My hope is that every fabric will be different, even if it does look like some of them are the same in this picture!

Spunky and I dove into the orphan blocks and picked out anything that might “go.”  It feels like too much green at the current stage, but I think it will be fine in the end.

One more row was added to the temperature quilt.  We have clearly headed back into cooler night temperatures.

In November, I definitely need to cut out a new scrap quilt.  I’ll be assembling my courtyard steps, but once that’s done I’ll need more variety to entertain myself when sewing!

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

P.S. It’s Rainbow Scrap Challenge time!

November Goals

 In October, my plans weren’t  terribly exciting, but that’s okay.

1. Scraps: trim, the last of the courtyard steps, one large yellow hand pieced hexi, and finish the Garden Party quilt.  Done, done, done, done!  Although I must admit I am thoroughly appalled at how full my scrap box is this month after making aprons, pillowcases, and more masks.  (Always more masks.  125 so far.  3 more waiting to be finished.)

2.  Finish the one row and make one more for the temperature quilt.  Yes!

3.  Make some Christmas presents.  Some nieces are getting aprons, and others are getting pillowcases.  They are all done.  Whew!  See the note about scraps above.

For November, I’m going to plan like I have plenty of sewing time but promise not to be too hard on myself if the goals don’t happen.  I don’t know what Thanksgiving will bring.

1. Scraps: trim, complete courtyard steps, piece several small hexagon flowers, and cut one new scrap quilt for next year.  I supposed Spunky’s freestyle quilt fits in here too, but I won’t  have a timeline for it until the mess of scraps disturbs me for too long,

2.  One more row of the temperature quilt.  It will be longer than it is wide after this!

3.  Make my Christmas apron.

4. Maybe sew up the Assistant’s floral skirt or start her pineapple quilt.  Both have been on the “future projects I ought to do” list for too long.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Stash Report Week #43 and 15 Minutes

 I love stash reports in which I can report hearty numbers out!

I finished two more Christmas gifts with two aprons.  Then, Saturday evening, I rushed pellmell into the last side of binding on my Garden Party quilt (pattern by Bonnie Hunter).  I also realized I had finished another mask in the last month and never counted it.  All told, I get to count 18 3/4 yards out.

IN this week: 0 yards 

OUT this week: 18 3/4 yards

IN YTD: 99 yards

OUT YTD: 203 yards

Total YTD: 104 yards OUT

I did a little fabric ordering this week, but I think my usage this year is quite happy.  Next year, I’d like to seriously challenge myself to a minimum of fabric purchasing, just to see what I can do to demolish some areas of my stash.  I intend to allow myself a little neutral purchasing, maybe a backing or two, and something fun.  We shall see.

Every day this week found me with my needle and hexagons.  I have some organizing and sorted to do, but I think I’m ready to keep stitching away.  282/294

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Yellow Submarine

It’s finally? fortunately? Unfortunately? cold here.  We thought we’d have a freeze last night, but didn’t.  By Monday we should drop to 28 F, so any and all plants in the garden will be done at that point.  Today we added bedding to the chicken coops, put new tarps, filled waters, detached hoses... the regular cold weather stuff.

Spunky changed our new project to a more abstract piece of work, so I’m sewing odd bits together instead of panels for pumpkins.  I have plenty of odd bits to keep us busy for quite a while.

The baby quilt is in one piece and basted.  It will get some simple straight-line quilting next week, so it should be off my list before the end of October.  I took the block idea from Bonnie Hunter’s leader ender project, but since I needed only a baby quilt, this is quite enough of this block for me.

The Christmas sewing (not so secret, but none of my nieces are on social media as they’re too little) is going along nicely.  I finished the first apron.  I have two more cut, and then PK has begged for one of his own.  I’ll make him a small yellow, non-floral one.

Garden Party quilting wrapped up Sunday.  I am not impressed with my own quilting in the blocks, but doing is the way to improve, right?  I do like the border of leaves, and I’m happy with the ombré/color wash from the chain fabric.

I hope to sew more this week with the cold, and Halloween will be quietly spent at home.  I’ve got candy and pizza already stocked as our case numbers are rising, so maybe I can turn on a movie and quilt!

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

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

Stash Report Week #42 and 15 Minutes

 I quilted... and quilted... and found myself bored with quilting... and kept quilting.  This morning, I finally finished quilting my Garden Party quilt.  I’m looking forward to binding it this week and counting the yardage as out!

I cut out three aprons for three nieces, so I have great plans for stash busting coming soon.

My high hopes for possibly assembling my Easy Breezy blocks were not attained in the past week.  In fact, today (Sunday), while listening to a virtual meeting of my parents and siblings, I finished everything but one last seam.  As this will be another quick finish, I see more yardage heading out the door!

It was easy to keep my hexagons in front of me this week.  I’m at 275 days out of 282 (how can so many days in 2020 be past?!).  

It’s time for bed, so I should wrap this up and go to sleep planning my sewing for the coming week.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Not Much Progress

 The wind is currently blowing fiercely, so I need to check on tarps and toys this morning.  It’s been a busy week with family, flu shots, and a birthday, so I’m ready for a nap or two (or three!).

My sewing time was divided mainly between quilting my Garden Party quilt and hand piecing my hexagons.  I’m quilting each posey differently, and my brain is out of ideas, so now I’m repeating.  Let’s be honest... new ideas are not my strong suit.  I’m bored, but I’ll get there.

I’m making quick progress on my large hexagon star for this month, so much so that I may start a new one next week.

The other fabric related project has been sorting scraps for a fall/pumpkin quilt.  Spunky wants to help with it, so once Garden Party is done, we’ll start something new.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

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

Stash Report Week #41 and 15 Minutes

 It’s been a productive week for finishing things.  I finished 3 pillowcases and blanket for PK’s stuffed animal.  Small projects are so great for stash busting!

IN this week: 0 yards

OUT this week: 3 1/4 yards

IN YTD: 99 yards

OUT YTD: 184 1/4 yards

YTD Total: 85 1/4 yards OUT

On the hand stitching front, I made great progress on my yellow hexagons, so I’ve done hand workouts 268/280 days for 2020.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Working Away

 Three days until Miss G turns 6.  She wants a unicorn case.  Monday, I’ll try my hand at it.

In simpler news, I finished my last courtyard steps blocks.  I had hoped to lay them out this week, but school and appointments kept me busy.  I went back to the neurologist for more medicine adjusting.

The last Easy Breezy blocks are done too.  I know some people work on them all year, but I need a baby quilt, so this is it.  I think the arrangement works.

Finally, I started the quilting of Garden Party.  So far, I’m doing boring but necessary straight lines through the chains and around the border.  This gives me time to think about the next part.  I am not a skilled free motion quilter, but I try new things to keep learning.  We shall see.

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

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

Stash Report Week #40

 Here we are, with a few minutes less daylight each day.  To be honest, when we get to fall, I am eager for dark to arrive earlier and earlier; I am tired of the outside work and ready to have a longer evening inside.

I made a pillowcase this week.  This year, I’ve decided pillowcases for the littler nieces and nephews and aprons for the older will be our gifts.

IN this week: 0 yards

OUT this week: 1

IN YTD: 99 yards

OUT YTD: 181 yards

YTD Total: 82 yards OUT

I asked my daughter how long my current stash would last me if I purchased nothing new.  I was pondering Bonnie Hunter’s comments about her own too-large stash and how it will be hard to use it up in her sewing lifetime.  My goal has always been to have a modest but working stash.  It’s definitely expanded over the years as our income has grown, but I think it’s still exhaustible.  The Assistant thinks 2, maybe 3 years; I suspect more like five.  I wonder if I have the discipline not to buy fabric for a year or two and see what happens.  Hmm...

I was able to settle with my handwork 6 of 7 days this week.  BJ is hard to get to sleep and hard to keep asleep at night, so my preferred window of time hasn’t worked as well.  Still 261/273 days for the year isn’t bad.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

 We had a field trip this week, to the end of the Trail of Death and the place where a saint lived in Kansas for a year.  It was a good trip, although a long day that precluded any quilting except for a few moments of hand piecing.

The best quilting accomplishment this week was pressing Garden Party and ekeing out enough of my shades of green fabric to make an ombré flow on the border.  Binding will be another story.  It really does lay flat, I promise, but it is on a slick wood floor and the kids were “helping” by walking over it repeatedly.

My Easy Breezy blocks are going to be done soon.  Playing with block arrangement is a pleasant activity when I have a few moments.

I’m very happy with the three rows of the Temperature quilt I finished in September and the first few days of October.  It’s fascinating to see how we warmed up out of the blue fabric range, but we’ve already dipped back down into it.  It gives me a different perspective on our weather.  Another year, I’d like to do something with the precipitation and sky conditions, but I think I have to plan a little more on that.

I’ll be trimming fabric this weekend and hopefully organizing my last courtyard steps blocks.

I link up each Saturday to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

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

September UFO Report

 Somewhere along the way, I realized that a major project of mine has not been on my list.  How did that happen?  Garden Party has been a project since January, but it’s getting added to the list just as I hope to finish it.  What a silly thing!

August 1: 8 projects
Started: 2
Finished: 3
August 31: 7 projects

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

7. Easy Breezy Leader/Enders

8. Garden Party

September 1: 7 projects

Started: 1

Finished: 0

September 30: 8 projects

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

October Goals

 In September, I had moderate hopes of homeschool improving, and I’m happy to report it did.  On the quilty front I did okay too.

1.  Scraps: trim, courtyard steps (but not in red), Garden Party posies, and one large hand pieced hexagons Star.  Done.

2.  Temperature Quilt: 3 rows, to catch up from last month. I need to finish the last row.

3.  Millie’s quilt.  It needs repairs, new batting, setting triangles, new backing, and actual binding this time.  All done.

In October, my plans aren’t terribly exciting, yet again.

1. Scraps: trim, the last of the courtyard steps, one large yellow hand pieced hexi, and finish the Garden Party quilt.

2.  Finish the one row and make one more for the temperature quilt.

3.  Make some Christmas presents.  Some nieces are getting aprons, and others are getting pillowcases.

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