This and That

I have a finished flimsy for the week!  While it’s not aqua, it is all scraps and stash!  The binding is already gathered from my 2.5” strips of yellow, and the backing will be a green fabric I ordered earlier this year and was all wrong for what I wanted.  It will be perfect for this.  Today I’ll cut the binding.

I will also finish my last lonely aqua box block.

I started a new (small) project, sashiko patterns on the canvas bag I use as a purse.  I’m testing it on the back first, and then I’ll add to the other sides.  It’s hard to use a palm thimble on this bag (I should perhaps have made my first attempt on a plain piece of fabric).

I have made a dozen of so jumeoni (pouches), most in the last few weeks.  I’ve used my favorite fabric combinations, so I’ll do something else for a bit, hence the sashiko.

Our weekend seems to be full of things to do, so I’m off to the next thing!

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

 

Stash Report Week #38-39 and 15 Minutes

 I have finished no quilts, only used some silk scraps, so the stash report remains unchanged.

Between my jumeoni and the hexagon quilt assembly, I still do plenty of hand stitching every day.  I think I need to tweak this goal next year.  Clearly, just doing handwork is a fine habit, so how should I adjust this?  As the hexagon quilt gets bigger, the trouble is that it is no longer portable for trips, and I’d like to keep this goal attainable daily.

I’m going to a musical in a bit, so I need to move along to the next task!

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Life, Full

Another full week, another sick kid (repeat, bless her), and more scraps to enjoy.

I’m afraid I don’t have many turquoise scraps this week, unfortunately, just a lonely box block.

I have been using scraps, including random strips of a black gradient from Vicki for a new bojagi for my window.  It will be quite unlike the others, but that’s fine.  I enjoy them all.

I (and the kids) have 3 cubic yards of soil and compost to move into garden beds.  Fortunately, Q is 13 and has nothing better to do, so I can assign him a certain number of loads of dirt each day, and he can do it independently.

I’m also painting the (unfinished) stairway to our (unfinished) basement.  Our house is about 20 shades of tan, and we’re ready to add a little color.  It will take me three coats, I suspect, so I’ll be at this for a few weeks.

But I did sew.  Lots of twinkle star and then I played with some 16 patches.  These are most of my remaining 16 patch blocks from the year.  I already made three more red blocks (from my stash, since I ran out of scraps) and have sewed most of the rows.  I do see one I sewed in the wrong order, so there will be some ripping done today.

 On to the next thing - homework with the sophomore.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Snippets

My box blocks are the leader and enders between my star blocks, so I have a handful of teal scraps sewn for the week.

My handwork (besides the usual hexagon assembly) has been a flurry of jumeoni (pouches or pockets).  BJ wanted one to carry change at church, so I had to find a bit of orange in my silk scraps.

Of course, once I finished one, I wanted to make a few more, so I made one with pink silk scraps.

And then I made a gwi jumeoni (triangle ear pouch) in blue silk.  I have trouble making the two ears the same size!

With seven children and thirteen nieces and nephews, I’m sure I can find a good home at Christmas for any extra pouches I make.

I have a pile of blacks and gray scraps on my ironing board as I ponder the next jogakbo for my windows.  I have two finished, but the other two panels are still red curtains.  I’m sure it looks a bit peculiar to our (rare) visitors!

No one missed school last week, so I think we’re near the end of this round of allergies and colds!

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Stash Report Week #36 and 15 Minutes

 With a twin sized quilt finished and a cathedral window piece done minus minor decorations, I am counting some stash and scraps out this week.

IN this week: 0 yards

OUT this week: 13 3/4 yards

IN YTD: 40 3/4 yards

OUT YTD: 81 1/4 yards

YTD Total: 40 1/2 yards OUT

I like to think I won’t order any new fabric for the rest of the year until I make a few decisions on the hexagon quilt (order a backing from Vicki or dye my own?), a larger cathedral windows piece (how large do I want it to be?) and another ombré quilt (what colors and how large?).  I have plenty to finish: box blocks, 16 patch blocks, a wedding quilt, and an apron.  I really should focus on what I have for a few months!

I did work on hand sewing every day, both the hexagon quilt and my Korean sewing, so I have worked on hand sewing every day this year.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Week’s End

 What a week.  I caught the cold or had severe allergies that turned into a bit of bronchitis, an ear infection, and to wrap it all up, a ruptured eardrum.  Thus, most of my week was spent sitting in my sewing room doing things that required little energy.  I’m doing better, almost done with my antibiotic, and I took the dog for a (short) walk for the first time all week.

After the quilting wrapped up (quickly, in spite of everything), the binding was a fantastic thing to keep me resting my body.  It’s been washed (twice) to deal with a pesky bleeding pink and is now quite cuddly and lovely.  I need to get it up to my sister for a friend’s child who went off to college.

I used all of my purple and pink 16 patches as well as most of my turquoise ones.  A few were too green for this quilt, so I set those aside.  The 2.5” scrap box still has plenty of fabric, even after all these 16-patches!

I was happy to find this quilt laid quite flat for quilting.  Sometimes I am lazy and end up with less than perfect quilts, and I pay for it in the quilting, but the straight lines for stabilizing had very few puckers.  Yay!

The backing is scrappy.  I don’t always love scrappy backings, but I really wanted to use the piece of turquoise and purple from an ice dyeing experiment, and there was ample pink to finish the backing.  The entire quilt finished about 74”x92”.  It’s sashed and bound with some fairy frost, so it has some fun sparkle.

I am almost done with my last yellow box block from last month, so here’s my pile of turquoise ready to go.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

August UFO Report

 I have missed a few of these as I’ve become a bit sporadic with my monthly posts.

August 1: 7

Started: 2 projects

Finished: 1 project

August 31: 8 projects

1. Double wedding ring

2. Brown pillow

3. ABC appliqué 

4. Hand pieced hexagons

5. Pink hexagons

6. Boxes

7. 16 patches

8. Twinkle Star

I have a pink/blue/purple 16 patch quilt, but I am including that in my 16 patches.  I finished the emergency quilt and started a wedding quilt.  Now I appear to have a sinus infection and I’m off to rest!

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

September Goals

 August goals, I think, were mostly accomplished.

1. Scraps: trim, finish my teal 16 patches, make more teal box blocks and cut and sew yellow ones, continue hexagon assembly.   I didn’t finish the yellow and teal box blocks, but I finished the rest.

2. Finish my sea bojagi and work on my yeouijumunbo.  Done.

3. Make an “emergency” quilt.  Done,

4.  Make a purple or rainbow quilt (by request).  Not done, but quilted and the binding is half on.

5.  Plan a quilt for my best friend’s wedding.  Planned AND cut out!

September goals are a bit lengthier, but I full accept not all of them are going to be finished.  It’s more a note of things to be done so I don’t forget!

1. Scraps: trim, continue hexagon assembly, finish teal boxes, and finish the 16 patch quilt.

2. Finish my yeouijumun.

3.  Work on the star quilt.

4.  Mending.

5.  The Assistant cut out a pinafore and I should sew it up.  It won’t take long, just a bit of concentration.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Stash Report Week #35 and 15 Minutes

 Alas, the stash report remains where it is.  I anticipated getting most of the quilting done on my 16 patch quilt, but that’s not what happened, and that’s okay.

I worked on my hexagon quilt every day, and I even found my graph paper to work on the edges!  I need 16 different “units” to fill in the edges, but fortunately I have a few more months before I need to have them cut and ready to go.

I’m recalling loving my cathedral windows work.  The main piece is all stitched, so now it’s adding a backing and then some bakjwi maedup (bat knots).  I spent years avoiding much handwork beyond my hexagons as my back would get a numb spot and my hand would cramp, but it looks like I’ve relearned s few good habits and am happily on my way.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

A Bit of a Whinge

 I’m enjoying work this year, but the rest of school can go fly a kite!  We’ve had sickness early and often this year (with six kids in school, I realize it’s inevitable, but we’ve already had three kids home sick and one twice!). I’ve mentioned before I need a good routine, and this year is not one for routines, apparently.

Enough of that.  I am trying to get my sewing moments in, and I know by the checkmarks I make on my list each day that progress is happening.  It’s just slow.

I made a few more yellow box blocks, but I’ll continue them into next month, along with all the turquoise blocks I haven’t made yet.  Then I think it’s time to decide what I’m making with these blocks.

I spent last Saturday cutting out all 90 twinkle star blocks for a wedding gift.  I had big dreams of getting a good start on the blocks this week, but my quilting of the 16 patch quilt interrupted these plans.

Finishing the quilting will be my big goal for next week.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

August Block Count

 And thus ends August.

My block count is nothing dramatic, just 75 blocks for the month.  I made 19 box blocks, 13 rows in an quilt, and 43 16 patches.  Somehow I feel there should have been more blocks, but that’s really plenty.  My total number of blocks is 853 for 2023.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z