June UFO Report

 1. Double wedding ring

2. Pillow

3. ABC appliqué 

4. Hand hexagons

5. Pink hexagons

6. Boxes

7. 16 patch

I finished a tree skirt and started no new quilts.  Here’s where I need to have a little chat with myself: How do I track my Korean projects?  And my wool mugs?  They are easy to complete, start to finish, in a month, and even my bojagi pieces can be left as they are and be “done.”  Do I need a second UFO list for non-quilt projects?

But as it stands, I only have seven quilt projects hanging out.  While I am making a quilt from my 16 patches, I will make more blocks, so they will just remain on the list for now,

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

July Goals

 Ah, goals and travel and summer.  It’s ridiculously hot today, so we worked outside early, shut all the blinds, and hunkered down for a quiet day.

My June goals were:

1. Scraps: I’m supposed to use blue scraps, but I already used them earlier in the year, so I will trim, begin assembling the hexagons, make teal boxes, and yellow and red 16 patches.  All done except the teal boxes because there are dozens of them!

2. Finish the placemat.  Done.

3.  Make a tree skirt (this is take two) for my sister.  Done,

4.  The current, interim hand project is wool mug ornaments.  I’m kitting up one at a time and they’re nicely portable.  I have several finished, but these have taken a back seat to other stitching.  The hexagons take up my hand stitching goal of 15 minutes a day, and these mugs just… wait.

My July goals will be quiet.

1. Scraps: trim, finish my teal boxes and make some red ones, finish the rainbow wedding quilt, continue hexagon assembly, and maybe make some teal 16 patches.

2. Work on mugs.

3.  Somehow I need a flexible goal for my Korean stitching.  There are so many directions this could go - jogakbo, embroidery, pouch-making, bakjwi… I would like to work on something everyday, depending on how the creative urge points me.

4.  Mugs, if we travel.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Stash Report Week #25 and 15 Minutes

 With a curtain panel and a tree skirt finished, my numbers are changing this week!  I finished off my 15th spool of thread as well.

I’m also over half finished with assembling a quilt from my 16-patch blocks, so in the next two weeks I should have an even bigger shift in numbers.  Since I have a new long term project possibility that requires a healthy amount of background fabric, I need to clean up my stash numbers.

IN this week: 0 yards

OUT this week: 3 1/2 yards

IN YTD: 23 1/4 yards

OUT YTD: 45 1/4 yards

YTD Total: 22 yard OUT

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Summer

 Being gone for most of a week, in a different time zone, and all the travel involved in that threw me for a loop.  It hasn’t bothered me, but I lose track of time every afternoon and fail to have dinner ready unless I set an alarm!

I have been busy in the garden, reading, and of course, stitching.  After finishing my red 16 patches, I laid out the first quilt with these blocks.  I needed two more orange blocks for the pattern, and I still have dozens of blocks for another quilt.  This one is going to be for my sister’s niece, who is getting married in August.  I have the first rows assembled but need to press it.  My sewing room gets warm in the summer, so I avoid ironing and then do lots of it at once.

I finished my (light blue) tree skirt for my sister and my mom already took it to her.  I’m much happier with this one than the previous one.  (It is square, but apparently I didn’t stand square with it!)

Red for July?  I will be focused on finishing this quilt, but hopefully some red box blocks will make their way into the mix.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z

Stash Report Weeks #22-24 and 15 Minutes

 I have had some type of handwork every day for the last two weeks, so I am steady at not missing a day in 2023.

My 14th spool of thread for the year ran out yesterday. I used 38 spools last year, so I’m using a bit less than last year.  I have noticed this year I have much more handwork and less machine work.

IN these weeks: 1/2 yard

OUT this week: 1/2 yard

IN YTD: 23 1/4 yards

OUT YTD: 41 3/4 yards

YTD Total: 18 1/2 yards OUT

I bought two fat quarters as Nakakon with the girls and finished a placemat (three weeks ago!).  Next month, I know I’ll be working on a quilt with my 16-patches, so I will finally finish a bigger project.  I’ve only finished six quilt so far this year, which is half of what I normally have.  The last few years have seen an average of two quilts a month, but 2023 has included lots of pondering about rushing through quilts as opposed to moving a little slower.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Sewing Room, Revisited

 Today was the only day this week I touched my sewing machine, after five days away and a “recovery” day of cleaning and finding lost things.

My 16 patches are all block halves now, and I made a few box blocks.

I haven’t touched my hexagons or the tree skirt, but they will be back on my list next week. My Rainbow Scrap challenge plans this month are a bit off color!

While I was away, I couldn’t be totally without needle and thread, so I made a little jumeoni (pocket/bag) and embroidered on a small purse that I use when I walk and have no pockets for my phone, house key, etc.

(The green one was made before my trip, but carried my jewelry.)

I enjoyed the break in routine but am looking forward to normal habits again next week.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Scrambling

Packing and planning for family to be in three different places is a bit of a scramble.  I leave early tomorrow for National History Day with Q.  The Assistant and Spunky also leave tomorrow for a float trip vacation with my parents (Q and I were going on that trip until Q made it to nationals), and the husband will be at home with the four littles and work.

I need to clean up my sewing room before I leave so all the tools and projects are put away safely.

My red squares are in four patches, but an untidy mess with no picture.  I love revisiting all the different fabrics.

The cutting and sorting for box blocks took many sessions this week, but I now have 50 or more blocks ready to sew.  Clearly these colors are my favorites, as the variety and quantity was more than even the blues!

Finally, for the properly light blue fabrics of the week, I only need to stitch down the binding on this tree skirt.  I prefer it to the previous one I made, but my older sister will get to pick which one she wants (or both!)

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I hope you have plenty of stitching time and very little scrambling in the coming week.  I don’t know if I’ll report in next week… DH has to leave for a funeral right as I get home from D.C.!

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z. 

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

Summer, Both Chaos and Calm

 Somehow, the past week felt both insanely busy and preternaturally still.  How, you might ask?  The busy: packing for DH and 2 boys to go to Scout Camp; everyone being home makes extra chores, mess, and sensory overload; I turned some “want to” projects into “have to” and felt pressure instead of anticipation; there was some work related difficulties; and I am disorganized with the beginning of summer. The calm: three people being gone makes the house so quiet, I finished lots of tasks and had free time, it rained so our outside tasks were sometimes abbreviated, and my three oldest are at the delightful age of being really helpful when I need them.

On the Rainbow Scrap Challenge front:

I am still puzzled by the 38(!) 16 patch blocks that came from my scrap box.  Clearly yellow has been neglected.  I’ve begun the red ones, since I sewed up my blues together.

The box blocks are in a similar situation of not-blueness.  I’ll be cutting up my teals and turquoises as again, I sewed dark blue with light.

Then there is this whirlwind of chaos and delight: 

With finish of the last hexagon star, I am now ready to assemble the main body.  Filling in the edges will come later. My goal is to attach one round or half a star each day.  As I make progress, I’ll update you!  This is one of the projects I’m glad to have at this stage but also feel pressure to “hurry up” and assemble.  It also feels a bit tedious since nothing new is being created.

Finally, I have a blue tree skirt in progress.  Today I’ll piece batting and prepare to baste it.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

May Block Count

 With a flurry of 16 patches finished on the 31st of the month, I actually finished 102 blocks this month: 13 boxes, 51 16-patches, 16 jewel “blocks”, and 22 hexagon stars get counted.  That brings my total to 646 blocks for the year!

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.