June Block Count

 I made great progress on my split stars, finishing 51 more, and started a new leader and ender, with 62 already done!  Since my plans don’t include much block making for July, we’ll see what happens next month.

113 new blocks

1490 blocks total for 2022

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

July Goals

As days tend to anymore, June was both brief and long.

 1. Scraps: trim, four more hexagon rounds, triangles into a flimsy, finish the green quilt, and work on the split star blocks for blue.  Done, and then some.

2. Make the Assistant’s blue dress.  Well, it’s cut.  Unless I alter and sew it entirely, it won’t be done by the end of June.  I made her cut it out, and she wasn’t in a hurry.

3,  Make a tshirt quilt that was used as a fundraiser for our youth group.  Done.

4,  Make a small tote bag. Done.

July will be a mix of busy and slow.  I’m hoping and praying this month-long migraine will disappear and July will be a little less constrained.

1.  Scraps: trim, five hexagon rounds, finish the Valentine quilt, and ??? Is it bad to admit I made the flimsy for the Valentine quilt in one afternoon.

2.  The dress.

3.  Quilt two quilts for a friend.

4. Process the enormous bag of scraps I bought.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

UFO List

 It was an eventful month for project changes.  I started three projects: a bag for my prayer books, a tshirt quilt fundraiser, and my bow tie leader and ender project.  I then finished four projects: the bag, the tshirt quilt, Triangles, and Oddments.

1. Double wedding ring

2. Pillow

3. ABC appliqué 

4. Hand hexagons

5. Split Star

6. Pink hexagons

7. Valentine

8. Bow ties

June 1: 9 projects

Started: 3

Finished: 4

June 30: 8 projects

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Finished Quilt: Triangles

 And just like that, it’s done.

When I started sewing together 1.5” triangles from my scrap bin several years ago as a leader ender project, I had no idea what the end result would be.

6144 individual triangles later, I’m mostly happy with the results.  Of course, my 1.5” triangle bag has already begun to fill up again (all the triangles from making binding end up here), so I can begin to envision the next round.  In my mind as I looked at the overflowing box of triangles, as I hadn’t done the math, I definitely expected to end with a larger quilt.  Of course I won’t… finished triangles are 1”!

The red sashing feels very appropriate to me, and gives the eye a place to rest in all the chaos.  I did cut it a bit shorter than it should have been, but didn’t realize until it was a little hard to turn back.  1.5” triangles end up with a bit of stretch in the end.  I kept the quilting to straight lines; I suspected some of the bulky seams might break my needle if I tried FMQ.  (It is square, but to get a full picture without a shadow, I’m off to one side.  My ceilings are too low to get any high for a more square angle.)

I love the backing.  It’s also leftovers… ice dyeing with old dye, at least two of which had definitely expired.  There’s quite a saturation of turquoise as that dye had clumped up.  I think it’s all quite interesting to study.

The quilt is roughly 58” x 64”. As the triangles are so small, the quilt certainly has a nice heft to it.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Stash Report Weeks #28-29 and 15 Minutes

 Fortunately, despite not reporting last week, it was a week of small stash usage and no purchases.  I finished 3 cases/covers for some small pillows and didn’t stop at any quilt shops in Colorado as we were generally too early for them to be open.  I am slowly inching closer to my goal of using twice what I’ve purchased.

IN this week: 0 yards

OUT this week: 1 1/4 yards

IN YTD: 71 yards

OUT YTD: 126 1/2 yards

YTD Total: 55 1/2 yards OUT

On the 15 minutes of hand stitching a day, I’m also making excellent progress.  I finished the brown rounds on 3 hexagons over the last two weeks, and a fourth is not far behind.  At some point, I estimated that this hexagon project would take at least another five years to finish, but there’s hope I can shave a year from that.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Stash Report Week #25 and 15 Minutes

 I did manage to find time for hand sewing every day this week, meaning I’m stitched 172/176 days for the year.  With five brown rounds finished this month, my hexagon project is moving along at a lovely pace.

Despite finishing my 6000+ piece triangle quilt, my stash report moving in the wrong direction this week.  I saw Victoria Findlay Wolfe has a seven pound bag of scraps for sale and, well, I bought it.  It may take me a few months to process the batch, but I thought a small injection of new scraps might be good for my boxes.  As I’m working on my bow ties, I find even in a decent-sized stack of blues, it’s mostly 5 or so fabrics.

Fortunately, in July I plan to finish my Valentine’s quilt, and I have no doubt I’ll find a new project to tackle, as finishing a single quilt and having nothing else to sew is definitely not my style.

IN this week: 13 yards

OUT this week: 9 1/4 yards

IN YTD: 71 yards

OUT YTD: 115 3/4 yards

YTD Total: 44 3/4 yards OUT

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Perseverance

I’m still alive, but unfortunately the migraine is still haunting me.  It generally arrives late morning and ruins most of the afternoon.  Blerg.  I do see my neurologist in a few weeks, so we’ll discuss.

On a more positive note, I finished both the smelly (to me) tshirt quilt and washed it.  I also finished the triangle quilt.  It’s currently bathing, so I’ll be sure to post about it when it’s dry.  With the triangle quilt complete, my sewing room and time feels a little strange.  I feel like I’m forgetting to work on a project, or I should be cutting something.  All in good time with July almost here.

I also completed 10 more split star blocks as well as most of the components for the remaining 30 blocks.  I love the barn raising setting because it’s so symmetrical, but I plan to take some time to play with setting possibilities.  (ha!  I see a half square triangle turned the wrong way in one block.  I’m pleasantly surprised I only have one finished block with an error.). Googling log cabin settings has given me ideas.  Of course, we’ll change colors this week, so I won’t finish the blocks for a bit.

I have plenty of my bow ties piling up as well, but I need to collect them all in one place before I get a picture.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

 

Stash Report Week #24 and 15 Minutes

 No stash changes this week.  I did quilt the tshirt quilt, but it won’t change my stash report.  The triangle quilt is well underway, so I should have changes soon!

I missed two days (gasp!) of hand stitching this week.  This beastly migraine knocked out two days.  Oh, well.  I’ve still stitched 165 of 169 days this year.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Delayed and Discombobulated

 I’m the delayed and discombobulated one of the title today.  I’m a week deep into a persistent migraine - wheat harvest has begun in the area, I’m allergic/sensitive to the detergent used on the current tshirt quilt, we’re having a heat wave, and the heat made butchering the meat chickens an immediate necessity.  Let’s just say I’ve had better weeks.  Fortunately, the butchering is done and the tshirt quilt just needs binding sewn down.  I’ve survived.

When the rescue medicine has relieved me, I quilted the tshirt quilt and made a few blocks.  I’m already one the second background for my bow ties.  I made need to branch out for even more backgrounds if I want these blocks to hang around for a while!

Ten more split star blocks are also finished, so I’m nearly to the halfway point.  I will be reluctant to put these away at the end of June.  They’ve definitely grown on me!

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Finished Quilt: Oddments

 And, voila!  A finished quilt.

Oddments fulfilled the challenge to use green scraps for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, as many of my green scraps and almost all of my green stash came out to play for this one.  I used any green from yellow to brown, avoiding most of my mint, teal, or blue leaning greens.

The intended recipient is a teenage boy, so I made a 72” by 84” quilt and hope that it is plenty of length.  I lost steam after so many fabric choices, so I didn’t make it 98” long as originally planned.

Of course the picture is sideways.  Oy.

The pattern is from the book In Love with Squares and Rectangles by Amy Walsh and Janine Burke.  It’s called Square Dance I loved that there were no seams to match between the three types of blocks.  I did not love that the various strips were cut in sizes from 1.25” to 2.5” in 1/4” increments.  My scraps are stored in 1.5”, 2”, and 2.5” sizes, so there was lots of trimming or cutting of odd sizes of strips which, at the end, required even more trimming.  In the end, that’s not a complaint or detraction to the quilt, just something that didn’t fit well with my scrap use.  This pattern was certainly a stretch outside my usual planning and block choices, and I’m glad I did it.  It also forced me to cut into shades that I have avoided.

The Assistant and I made the backing with a hundred or so rubber bands to make circles.  While the dye turned out much lighter than I expected, it’s great.  I love that it could stand alone as a bed covering or picnic quilt and be plenty interesting.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Stash Report Week #23 and 15 Minutes

 The hand stitching is moving right along, even if I struggle to find the best time of day to do it.  When we have appointments, it’s easy, but at home I struggle to find the best niche.  I didn’t miss a day this week, so I have stitched 160 of 162 days for the year.

On the stash front, while I finished two projects, I also purchased some PFD extra wide fabric for future backings.  They were out of bolts, so the “damage” isn’t as bad as it could be, but since I used an entire bolt of 60” wide for backings over the last year, I know I will be happy to have these 8 yards when I need them!  I finished Oddments, which still needs a post, and a small bag to carry my books for my holy hour each week.  I have reached my goal of 100 yards used for the year but still need to balance out my purchases if I want to reach my goal of using twice what I buy for the year.

Two more spools ran out this week, for a total of 19.  I haven’t decided if it’s that I’m doing so much more piecing this year or if I’m doing better about using up partial spools, but this number is higher than it’s been in years past.  Either way, I’m definitely whittling down the excess.

IN this week: 8 yards

OUT this week: 15 1/2 yards

IN YTD: 58 yards

OUT YTD: 106 1/2 yards

YTD Total: 48 1/2 yards OUT

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge:

The summer heat is creeping in, so I’ve already done my outside chores for the morning.  Fortunately, I haven’t had much watering due to the lovely rain; I will miss it when we renter the dry season in a few weeks.  Mostly, I have weeds to pull and chickens to tend.

My 6000+ triangles are all happily joined into a flimsy, and I’ve spent the last few days dyeing a backing. It’s currently soaking.  I used old dyes, so we’ll see what colors emerge, but it will be fine regardless.  I definitely love the red sashing for the triangles!

My new leader and ender is going to be bow ties made from my 2” scraps.  So far, I’m sticking to what is in my bag of squares, but then I’ll cut into the shortest strips and make quite a mess!

My main project is these split stars.  If I remember correctly, I saw them on Jo’s Country Junction, but when I went back to find a post to credit, I didn’t have much luck.  It doesn’t help that I don’t remember how long ago I saw them.  I know it was at the old house, so maybe 2+ years ago?  I need another 48 blocks, but had to pause to create more sub units.  I’m ready for next week with parts and pieces, and so far my variety of scraps is holding up well.  I have some neutrals set aside to use as needed, but I’ll have to use stash if I end up needing more medium/dark fabric.

 I am very pleased with the stars.  I suspect I’ll keep the center diamond arrangement, but we shall see when I have more blocks to play with.  I don’t intend to finish the blocks this month; any amount finished will be a win.

Angela is busy cleaning up at her new house in the mountains, which sounds exciting and exhausting.  She hosts the Rainbow Scrap Challenge each weekend.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Stash Report Week #22 and 15 Minutes

 The fabric stash is unchanged this week, but my thread stash is one spool smaller, with 17 used this year.  I finished quilting Oddments yesterday, so I’m anticipating a very nice stash change next week.

On my 15 minutes of stitching front, I did, alas, miss a day.  BJ, almost 3, has terrible sleep habits.  Lately, he’s falling asleep around 8:30 and getting up between 4 and 5.  Not only is he short on sleep, but DH and I are definitely not getting 8 uninterrupted hours of sleep each night.  Thursday night was a struggle to get BJ to sleep, so by the time I had him asleep, my brain and fingers refused to contemplate hand stitching.  Into bed I went.

Fortunately, I had nearly two hours in a waiting room (lots of appointments) earlier in the week, so I still managed to finish one brown round and get more than half another stitched in place.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Developments in Scraps

The first week of summer is over.  I’m not sure we’ve created the right structure for our days (always necessary with seven kids), but we’re definitely working outside, keeping the house clean, and limiting screen time more than my five year old would prefer!

Yesterday the oldest and I spent some sweaty, smelly time mucking out the barn.  The latest rain storm delivered multiple inches in a short time, causing water than normally drains around the barn to run through it. Between old chicken bedding and accumulated straw and dirt, the barn stank.  It should be better in a few days as the floor dries.

Inside, I’ve basted and begun quilting Oddments.  I love it so far.

For my blue scraps, the split star blocks have been resurrected.  I was delighted to discover I had more “parts and pieces” prepared than I expected, so I’m humming along splendidly.  My enthusiasm for these blocks has returned!  Let’s see if it survives the 72 or so blocks I need.

My glorious chaos of triangles that has served as leaders and enders for the last two years is quickly becoming a controlled rainbow.  These triangles finish at 1”, and each strip has 1024 triangles (background and color).  The final quilt will have over 6000.  Because the triangles are so petite and their color so riotous, I decided a little sashing would be good.  Fortunately, I’ve learned from my bleeding fabric sorrows of the past and chose to soak the fabric BEFORE assembling the quilt.  Three changes of water later, I’m hopeful that there won’t be any bleeding from the sashing.

My new “in between” project is going to be a variation on a bow tie block.  I’ll be using scrap 2” squares for the color part of the block and various light backgrounds for the 3.5” square.  I failed to get a picture, but I promise it will make sense when you see them!  It requires a little more planning than I would prefer, but as my 2” scraps block is full to bursting, I needed something that used plenty of them.  10 2” squares will go into each block, so I think this is a good beginning.  Realistically, there are multiple quilts hiding in this box, so I’m hoping for a decrease but certainly not an emptying of the box!

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

P.S. While I often forget to post a link, I do link up to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge most Saturdays!

 

May UFO Report

 May saw the finish of my long-term project of the farm quilt as well as a tshirt quilt for my SiL.  I started a new quilt that I’m calling Oddments.  It’s already basted, so it should be a lovely finish for June.  My triangles are quickly organizing themselves into a quilt (all 6144 individual triangles), so I need a new leader ender project.  I would be most happy with an easy to organize, easy to sew block, preferably that can use my 2” scraps.  I guess I need to do some browsing of my books and favorite blogs!

1. Double wedding ring

2. Pillow

3. ABC appliqué 

4. Hand hexagons

5. Split Star

6. Pink hexagons

7. Valentine

8.Triangles

9. Oddments

May 1: 10 projects

Started: 1

Finished: 2

May 31: 9 projects

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.