Stash Report Week #30 and 15 Minutes

 This week I did a weed out of some unwanted stash as well as made a little doll quilt for BJ, who turns 3 in a few days.

IN this week: 0 yards

OUT this week: 6 1/2 yards

IN YTD: 71 yards

OUT YTD: 133 yards

YTD Total: 62 yards OUT

I’m inching closer to my goal of using twice what I buy.  If I can just ignore shopping and sales, I should get along splendidly.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Purple-icious? Purple-Lacking

 I ran out of purple scraps for bow ties this week, so please forgive my straying on the color wheel.

All my split star blocks are finished.  Correcting the one mistake block took even less time than I expected.  Now, it’s time for decisions. Which way do I want to arrange them?  Opinions welcome!

I currently most like this arrangement.

Option 2 is lovely, but I commonly arrange my blocks in this fashion, so perhaps it’s time for something different.

Option 3.  I was really excited about this arrangement when I found it in a google search, but in person it is distinctly lacking in appeal.  When I look at it in real life, the star pattern is much less distinct and it delivers more of a hot-mess feel.

I will be laying out the blocks in a 8x9 grid, so there were a few other possibilities I rejected because they wouldn’t end evenly.

It’s raining lightly today and the heat has finally/temporarily broken, so I hope to spend some time outside today!  Next month is orange for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, so I certainly need to find an orange project.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

August Goals

How am I already planning for August?  I’m having difficult wrapping my brain around back to school shopping.  Maybe I’ll just keep my head down in the sewing room for a little longer before I need to worry about school!

July was quietly productive.

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?  All done.

2.  The dress.  Happily finished.

3.  Quilt two quilts for a friend.  At her request, only quilted one.

4. Process the enormous bag of scraps I bought.  I processed the purple.  Since I received the scraps after a horribly long migraine, I decided messing with too many (possibly smelly) scraps from someone else was dangerous.  Each month I’ll tackle a color until they’re gone.

August Goals are a bit hazy still.  I’ve mostly run out of Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects and other than assembling my split stars, I’m not “busy” with any project.

1. Scraps: trim, 5 rounds or 1 star, and ???

2.  Tie dye.  We had hoped my sister would visit earlier in the summer and we’d dye things together, but Covid hit them hard.  We should do our shirts, towels, and a few odds and ends before school starts.

3. Spunky’s skirt in a splendid yellow-gold.

4.  Process one color of scraps.

5.  Finish the split star quilt.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

August UFO List

 My UFO list is so short!  While I’ve done a number of UFO challenge variations, I think Vicki started the current iteration in 2015.  At one point, I think my list had over 34 items.  I certainly attribute the many finished projects to the monthly reporting of my UFO list.  This month, I wrapped up the Valentine quilt in conjunction with purple for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

The current list has three (four?) projects I have no intention of working on anytime soon, but they belong here for that very reason.  The hand pieced hexagons will hang out on this list for a few more years, but I have been spurred on by reporting it each month.  I have two last split star blocks to assemble, and then this project, started before I moved, will finally move along to flimsy and quilting stage!

1. Double wedding ring

2. Pillow

3. ABC appliqué 

4. Hand hexagons

5. Split Star

6. Pink hexagons

7. Bow ties

July 1: 8 projects

Started: 0

Finished: 1

July 31: 7 projects

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

This, That, and the Other

 Last Saturday, we were 8 hours from home in a house with 12 children, so I didn’t have a chance to post.  Therefore, this is two weeks’ sewing.

Before the trip, I made a scrappy pillow cover to accompany my Valentine quilt.  It used up my unintended extra block.

This week, after returning home Tuesday, I made 10 of the 21 remaining split star blocks.  Definitely not purple, but my leader and ender bow ties are.  I have very few different purples, so the blocks repeat plenty.  They are all scrappy, which is the point.

I am at a temporary loss for another scrappy project.  It’s okay; there are many other things to do, but I do enjoy the passion for a project.  All in good time.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Finished Quilt: Valentine’s

I am so pleased with the final quilt.  I used a variety of different styles and sizes of hearts.  Variety and trying new techniques are both hard for me.  I like every block to follow the same process.  I knew this one would be much more pleasant with variety - size, pattern, color.  Roughly 100 blocks later, the end result is quite lovely.  I’m also relieved the big heart shows up well.  Some of my fabrics were a little light for the center, but I think it’s fine.

The backing of this roughly 64” by 72” was made last summer in a fit of tie dyeing.  I still have lots to learn about saturating the entire piece of fabric, but I’m happy that pink, red, and purple are all distinctly represented.

Did I use up all my pink, purple, and red scraps?   Of course not.  I’m not sure I used even half of them.  At least they are no longer wadded in a project tub but neatly redistributed to their proper containers.  Even the binding is bits of 2.5” strips and the batting was pieced from four scraps from previous quilts.

I’ve washed, dried, folded, and tucked this one away for next February!

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

 

Stash Report Week #27 and 15 Minutes

 Woohoo!  I stitched every day this week, finishing one round of hexagons and nearly finishing a second.  That brings my days up to 186 of 190 days for 2022.

I finished my Valentine quilt last night around 8 pm.  I honestly intended to finish it this week, but the prospect of changing this stash report as well as having a lovely finished project spurred me on.  I’m only sixteen yards away (and no purchases) from using twice what I’ve purchased.  16 yards is not an insignificant amount, but I will use 10 yards or more on the split star quilt.  What am I going to choose for a new project?  Hmmm…

IN this week: 0 yards

OUT this week: 9 yards

IN YTD: 71 yards

OUT YTD: 125 1/4 yards

YTD Total: 54 1/4 yards

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Improvements

I had four headache free days AND saw the neurologist this week.  With two new medicines in my arsenal, I’m hopeful that better days are ahead.

Since I was feeling a little less at death’s door this week, it was easy to quilt my Valentine quilt.  I played with a ruler for the light background, and while it’s certainly not perfect, I’m glad I tried it instead of having to mark so many lines.  The heart itself has a mix of hearts, loops, and meandering.

The binding, of course, is scrappy strips.  I’m working on the hand stitching today and will finish it in time for next week’s post!

 

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Stash Report Week #26 and 15 Minutes

  I do have a flimsy ready to quilt and I finished the forgotten placemat for my newest nephew.  I basted it, forgot about it, quilted it, and forgot it again.  Now I bound it in the span of a brief hour; how silly to delay it!

IN this week: 0 yards

OUT this week: 1/2 yard

IN YTD: 71 yards

OUT YTD: 116 1/2yards

YTD Total: 45 1/4 yards OUT

21 spools of threads used

0 masks sewn this year

While I wish I had maintained the goal of using twice what I purchase, there’s still half the year for sewing and preferably a bit less shopping.  Fortunately, I am enjoying all my projects!  I’ve exhausted my supply of 60” wide fabric for backings, so maybe piecing more backings from stash will help me.  Larger lengths of fabric are hard to come by anymore in my stash, but a challenge is always good, right?

Fortunately, I remembered to work on my hexagons every day this week, so I’ve stitched 179 of 183 days for 2022.  I finished the last purple hexagon, leaving me with brown rounds on roughly half of them as well as 11 more large stars.  The end finally feels closer than the beginning of this long project!

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Ahead of the Game

 Migraine.  Still visiting.  (Maybe less all-consuming, but it seems dangerous to even whisper that it might be letting up.)

Chaos was the name of the game this week, but we handled it pretty well.

My Valentine quilt was up next for attention.  The last time I worked on it, all the blocks were finished and I had slowly begun assembly.  Earlier this week, with my 10 split star blocks finished, I played with a little more assembly.  Suddenly, despite one flipped group of hearts, I had a flimsy!  I’ll be piecing a scrappy batting; I am working hard on batting scraps not stacking up again.  The backing is ready.  I suppose next week I’ll be quilting it, so who knows what I’ll do for the rest of July.

Of course, there are always blocks I might change, some being a touch light for the main heart, but I’m quite chuffed with the results.  I like the variety in blocks.  I did not, as is so often the case with scraps, use nearly the amount of scraps I thought I would!

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Mid Year Analysis

I thought I’d take the opportunity of the half-year mark to review how I’m doing with my goals for 2022.

 For the stash…

1.  Use more than 100 goals.  Already done.  I’m not sure I’m deliberately heading for 200 yards used, but I could use some emptied spots.  My purple, red, and pink solids have outgrown their storage spot, so I’m considering a quilt with red as the background.

2.  Use twice what I buy/receive.  I know this is a goal I will revisit all year long.  I am keeping projects moving, so I think it’s fair to say I’m using plenty and not just buying, but I am a sucker for scrap bags and large pieces of yardage for backings.  At the current point in my life, I don’t terribly enjoy piecing backings.

For the Rainbow Scrap Challenge…

1. Continue hand pieced hexagons.  Ah, the progress.  Half of the flowers have their brown rounds added, one last flower is in the process of being assembled, and I have 15 of the 22 needed stars.  Once I have all the major pieces done (next year?) I’ll figure out what top, bottom, and side pieces are needed.  It will be exciting to dig into the smaller scraps for the little pieces.  I love how it’s looking.

2. Make a quilt out of the scrappy 1.5” triangles.  Done, and linked below.

3. For pink, red, and purple, make a Valentine’s quilt.  I am enjoying this quilt as much as I hoped.  When purple rolls around, this will be an delightful finish.

4. For blue and gray, make the split star quilt.

5. For yellow, gray, and black, make a quilt from scraps of bee fabrics. Much more quickly done than I expected.

6. For blue, teal, and green, make a quilt from the 2.5” scraps (bricks, squares, triangles).  Done.

People who need quilts….

1.  My sister, in the form of the Rhododendron Mystery. Done.  With much relief!

2.  Our lovely mail lady is the intended recipient of the triangle quilt.

3. A gentleman from church has been in treatment for throat cancer. I’m still working on this one.  At least I’m finally making progress.

4.  We met a lovely and lonely neighbor.  I think she needs a quilt.  Done.  Splendidly.

5.  My sister has asked for a tree skirt.  I’m going to use blue, silver, and white.

I’ve started and finished several other quilts already…

1. three tshirt quilts

2. a quick quilt from fat quarters

3. Oddments and Friends for friends of my daughters

4. the rocket quilt

5. somehow I didn’t have my Farm Quilt on the list, but it was certainly on my mind!

6. Early in the year, I finished the Macaron Mystery.  Her latest mystery begins soon.  Will I start it?!