Another March Finish and a Stash Report

Whew!  I finished my 6 & 6 in 2018 and my Scrap Attack March goals by the skin of my teeth.  Not really, I still have almost five hours left in the month, but I need to rest once in a while.  It did help that I was able to use the same project for both goals, but it's still two finishes this month, and I like it.  A few days ago I told you about the blue Tom and Jerry quilt I finished.  Today I finished the orange quilt.  

I backed it, quilted it, and bound it with yellow.  I thought it looked good with the cheese!

I had fun taking photos of this one, but I think I need a new venue.  It's getting harder to figure out how to get good shots in my courtyard!

Both quilts will be in the mail next week to Little Lambs Foundation for Kids.  You can see details of the quilt drive for Hands 2 Help Charity Quilt Challenge here.

And now for my March stash report.  I did okay even though I bought way more fabric than I wanted to.  My goal is at least 10 yards a month so I have a little catching up to do.

Fabric Added in March  -    4.5 yards

Fabric Used in March  -    17.37 yards 

Fabric Added Year to Date  -   8.5 yards

Fabric Used Year to Date  -   36.6 yards

Net Fabric Used in 2018  -  28.1 yards 

Linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict,  Pomegranate and Chintz, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, and Tish's Adventures in Wonderland.

One Down, One To Go

I'm "this close" to finishing my March Scrap Attack goal. About 10 years ago I cut out pajamas from Tom and Jerry fabric for my grands, and never got around to making them. This is the month I'm supposed to use these fabrics to make two donation quilts for Little Lambs Foundation for Kids.



















The blue quilt top came together well, but the borders not so much.   A lot of problems with quilt tops "quilt out", and things end up just fine so I hoped that would be the case this time.  It was. Whew!

I had the perfect thread in my thread stash.  (Yes, I know.  I may have a stash problem.)
























In no time at all it was quilted and ready to bind.....

..... and now it's finished and ready to donate.

There's hope for the orange quilt being finished before the end of the month, too.  I decided to do a simple snow ball block for the orange quilt.   What could be more simple. Stitching squares onto corners.....

..... trimming.....

..... and pressing.....

..... and done!

Well, not exactly.  It needed borders before it could be basted.

And, now it's basted and ready to quilt.  Fingers crossed the next three days will yield another finish.  

Blue Tom and Jerry Quilt

My Scrap Attack goal for March is to make something from the Tom and Jerry fabric I have had stashed away for almost 10 years.  It wasn't just fabric that was stashed away, though.  I had actually cut out two pairs of pajamas from it for my grands.  Then I stashed it away!  This week I pulled out the blue fabric to decide what to make.  The cut pieces plus the leftovers added up to plenty, so there's enough for a toddler quilt.

I decided on a simple "Over and Under" pattern with white for the sashing. 

Strip piecing made for simple sewing, and the blocks went together fast.

It didn't take long to get the rows put together.

Getting all the rows into a top didn't take long either.




















It needs a plain white border, right?  That's the easy part, right?  Hah!  I think I spent more time on the border than I did on making all the blocks and putting the whole thing together.

I didn't want any seams in the borders, but a width-of-fabric strip wasn't long enough.  (Or I messed up.)  I decided to just put squares in the corners.  It didn't work.  (Or I messed up again.)  Then I decided to put a filler piece on each side.  I cut them wrong.  (Yes, that means I messed up yet again.)

Every quilter knows to walk away when things are going this way, right?   The time to take a break is actually when things first start going this way.  I kept working and finally finished, but I am definitely not happy with the results. Maybe if I put enough quilting in the borders it will look better.  Right?

Finding the perfect backing fabric in my stash saved the day, so tomorrow will be basting day.  Then quilting.  Then done.  

After all the fussing I really do like this quilt.  It will end up going to the 2018 Hands 2 Help Charity Quilt Challenge.  If you're a quilter you should definitely think about joining the challenge.  This year they've chosen three charities to support with quilts - Little Lambs Foundation for Kids, Quilty Hugs for Happy Chemo, and Victoria's Quilts Canada.  Little Lambs is the perfect place for Tom and Jerry for sure.  I'll have it ready to mail before you know it!

Linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  Can I get a Whoop Whoop?

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T-Shirt Quilt Update

The farther along I get on this T-Shirt quilt the more I want to work on it.  I spent the entire day in my sewing room last Friday getting this far, and boy did I have fun!  (And, boy did Hubby like coming home to a happy wife!)

The first three columns are put together, and I am loving it.
























I haven't been taking enough photos along the way.  I must be "in the zone" when I'm working on it.  So, I just took some close-ups instead.  Josh has some pretty cool shirts.   

And then, right up there in importance with the Grandma Hawaiian shirts is the "Grandpa" Illinois Wesleyan University sweatshirt!

I have two more columns to put together, and they are partially constructed already.   

 I'm "this close" to finishing.  Woot!  Woot!

Throwback Thursday - Tropical Jazz & Tropical Sunrise

In 1999 I took a Stack and Whack class taught by a member of The Flower Valley Quilt Guild.  We used Bethany Reynolds' book "Magic Stack-N-Whack Quilts".  The fabric I used was a beautiful (and bright) floral, tropical print. I was intrigued with the technique and absolutely loved the blocks resulting from my fabric choice. 

I didn't take a lot of photos of my work then, but I think you can see the variety in my hexagons in this closeup. 

I let it live in my sewing room for a while as a UFO.   A long while.  I didn't want to make any more blocks so I added borders to make it bigger (68" by 98"), hand quilted it (heavily!), finished it in 2004, and called it "Tropical Jazz".  I really love this quilt.  So does my sister.  She called it "Barb's quilt" from the minute she saw it..   

   






















"Tropical Jazz" was juried into The Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza in 2006, and since my BFF lives near Phillie she got to see it on display and even sent me photos!

In 2007 I entered it in the Circle in the Square Quilt Guild's exhibit "Quintessential Quilt", and it won 2nd place in their Large Quilts-Innovative category.

Because it was going onto the guest bed it needed a companion quilt to hang over it on the wall.  I made a center block for a Round Robin .....

..... sent it off, and the rest was added by quilty friends so that it finished at 55" by 55".  I hand quilted it, named it "Tropical Sunset", and put it on the wall.  You may have seen it in this blog entry about Round Robins.   (Barb decided this was her quilt, too!)  

By 2011 I was just a little tired of Barb calling these her quilts every time she was at my house.  I decided she was right and gave them to her.  Not really.  I decided because I love her I wanted her to have them.   To say she was surprised is an understatement.

Well, I guess I had more photos than I thought I did!  I hope I didn't overwhelm you, or worse, bore you with them all.  If I did don't tell me.  I had fun reliving it!

    

6 & 6 Report for February

I haven't been doing great on my 2018 goals so far.  Maybe I set too many?  Hmmmm, I don't think so.  There have been years when I completed between fifteen and twenty quilts, so the goals aren't unreasonable.  I just need to get focused.  And centered.  And concentrate.  And stop cooking, cleaning, and doing laundry!  

I finally finished my 6 & 6 in 2018 goal for January.  I'm really happy with the Zen Chic quilt even if it did take a while to finish.  What can I say?  It is a finish, and that's always a good thing!

It's 40" by 49" so it's a great baby quilt that can become a toddler quilt.  It's the first quilt I've made specifically to put back for great-grand/great-niece or nephew babies.  The first of many, I hope.

I hand quilted this one and enjoyed it.  There's nothing more relaxing than sitting in my rocker and stitching.  

The idea behind 6 & 6 in 2018 is to make six new projects and finish six old projects or UFOs.  Now that my January goal is met, and my February goal (the T-Shirt quilt) is progressing, it's time to choose a new project for March. That will be another "Put Back for the Grands" quilt.  I don't have a clue what it will be, but I need to decide quickly.  

In the meantime, here are a few more shots of Zen Chic!

I'm linking up with Meredithe at pomegranate and chintz.  Then I'm going to go sew.