June Goals and a Stash Report

We've just returned from a little road trip where I got to see most of my family.  An extra special treat was being able to give my niece, Natalie, her quilt in person.  She loves it!  I thought she would.

I got to see all four of my sisters.....

 ..... and thirteen of my nieces and nephews. 

 

We had a blast!  That's bound to happen on a beautiful day with good food, cold drinks, picnic games, and nearly 60 loved ones getting together.  

So, about those goals.   I've decided to finish a UFO this month.  I started making these appliqued stars several years ago just to have handwork to take along when I needed something to do.  You know, idle hands and all that.

I only have a few more stars to stitch, then I can make some alternate blocks and finish it for a donation quilt.  

 

Hopefully, I've set a more reasonable goal this month.  

MAY

Fabric Added in May - 3 yards

Fabric Used in May - 8.7 yards

Fabric Added Year to Date - 29.3

Fabric Used Year to Date - 77.9 yards

Net Used in 2022 - 48.6 yards

Days I sewed in May - 30/31

Days I sewed this year - 144/151

Percentage - 95%

Mar/Apr Goals Finally Met!

I am happy to announce (happier than you know!) that my March goal (which became my April goal) is finally done!  I knew I was right to not give up on it.  I put the binding and label on Natalie's quilt this week and it's ready to gift.

I was finally able to get some photos that show the true colors.  It's amazing what a little natural light will do.

I'm excited to be able to gift this one in person next weekend.  I've had to mail an awful lot of niece and nephew quilts the last few years, and that's not as much fun.  Isn't that a pretty quilting job by my friend, Shirley Jackson?

It's almost time for May reports, but I haven't done the April reports yet.  So, here they are -

APRIL

Fabric Added in April - 5 yards

Fabric Used in April - 8.9 yards

Fabric Added Year to Date - 26.3

Fabric Used Year to Date - 69.2 yards

Net used in 2022 - 42.9 yards

Days I sewed in April - 25/30

Days I sewed this year - 114/120

Percentage - 95%

Linking up with So Scrappy!

Making Progress!

I'm finally making progress on Natalie's quilt.  I no longer want to give up on it and throw the whole thing into the trash.  Well.  I probably wouldn't do that now that fabric costs about $13 a yard!  

I got all the blocks trimmed over the weekend.  That was fun.  (She said sarcastically!)  The 5" ruler I bought last week was the perfect tool for this job.

It took a while to get through the whole stack .....

..... and look how much fabric was wasted!  Yikes!  Remember I just mentioned above what fabric costs these days?  This is so sad.  

I know some quilters use their scraps to stuff dog beds, so I'm going to find someone who can use them.  

I spent the entire day sewing today, and got all the rows made .....  

..... so, on to sashing now.   I wonder if I'll be able to make my April goal (which was also my March goal!)  With four days left, I'm hopeful.  For a while there this was feeling a lot more like work than fun, but I'm starting to love this quilt!

The Current Plan

I've been really struggling with Natalie's quilt.  I started with one plan then changed to a different plan.  Now I have come up with yet another plan.  Actually, another step in the plan.  Or something like that.  I needed to do something interesting with the 3.5" squares I ended up with after all that cutting, re-sizing, and trimming.  Maybe setting them on point, or putting sashing on two sides, or just about anything!  I got to thinking about a quilt I made a while back with tilted string blocks.  That quilt is one of my favorites. This just might work!

 

My inspiration quilt ("Lemon Licorice Twists") did not have a pattern.  I just sort of made it up as I went along.  I took a close look .....

..... made a sample block .....

..... then got to work.  I couldn't find a blue batik I like so I bought a sky blue Wilmington Prints design called "Spatter".

Hmmm.  Not bad.

I have 212 of these made and ready to trim .....

..... and I really don't want to change plans again.  So.  Fingers crossed!

Linking up with Oh Scrap!

March OMG and RSC-Yellow/Gold Goals Met!

Can I say that March has been a complete bust if there are still a few days left in the month?  Considering what I have left to do it's pretty clear I'm not going to meet my OMG (One Monthly Goal).  Sigh......

The quilt I cut out for Natalie, then put in time out, then decided to make for my March OMG is, umm, not working out so far.  I made 436 of these .....

..... and laid them out in stacks by color ..... 

..... so I could come up with a balanced design.

I tried multiple layouts.  I hated them ALL!  It seems not every pattern works when you try to make it scrappy.  Definitely not the "Doubletime Duet" pattern.

Now I'm in the process of cutting all the strips in half and sewing them together so I end up with 436 of these -

I only have about 400 left to make.  I'm fairly certain I won't be finished by the 31st.  

The good news is I have my yellow/gold blocks for March's Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC2022) finished.  I even found more of the Paddington Bear fabric on Etsy, so I'll have enough to finish all the Star blocks!

Did you notice that I have a new cutting board?   The perfect purchase when you have a 60% off coupon from JoAnn's.  Also the perfect purchase when your old cutting board looks like this -

I think I got my money's worth from that one!

Linking up with "One Monthly Goal!", RSC-2022, and "Oh Scrap!"

Excuses, Excuses.........And a Finish!

Excuses, excuses.  Or should I say, Reasons, reasons.  I have been too busy to sew lately let alone blog about it!  I guess I should have just been blogging instead about my crazy life, at least then you would know why I'm not sewing.

The last sewing I did was at the June retreat I told you about.  Here are a few of the things that have kept me busy the last several months.

Two of my sisters, Barb and Dee, came to see me for a weekend.

My sister, Debbie and her girls, Natalie, Carrie and Emily, came to see me for a weekend.

Hubby and I took our grands to Seattle for a week to visit our son, Aaron, and see the sights.

We spent a week in Destin, Florida with our son, Adam and his family.  

I celebrated a birthday!  


This is what my sewing room has looked like for over a month.  It was turned into an extra guest room and it has stayed that way.  Hard to sew like that!

The one thing I did manage to finish was the NewFo I started in May.  It was a completed top so it only needed hand-quilting and binding.  That's not work, though.  That's therapy! 

And here's the reason I managed to get this one quilt completed at all.  Little Gracee Mae-Rose, our newest great-niece.  After all, every new baby needs a quilt!

This has been a whirlwind summer.  One last thing will keep me from sewing this week - the AQS Quilt Show in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  I'm going with my sweet friend, Faye, where I know I will be inspired and motivated to get sewing again.  I feel pretty certain that I'll be in my sewing room when I get home from that.  

Just for Mimi -- Quilt Fronts

Since Mimi accused me of teasing by only showing the backs of quilts last time, this is just for her.  Quilt Fronts!!!  Actually, I was going to show them to you eventually, I just didn't want to share everything in one long blog.  You might have become distracted and not seen it through to the end, and that would have  been awful.

First though, I have to tell you that I'm saving the quilt with the gold colored stripe across the back for another time.  No, I am not teasing.  I just want to tell you sometime about the ribbons I have won.  (Believe me, it will be a short story!)  

The blue backing I showed you was for the back of my niece Natalie's quilt.  Her quilt is a scrappy version of "Four Patch Plaid" from the book "Nickel Quilts" by Pat Speth and Charlene Thode.

   

Here's Natalie with her quilt:

The first purple backing shown in the post is the backing for my niece Carrie's quilt.  Her quilt is just something I made up on my own by alternating scrappy 16-patch blocks and white blocks with appliqued hearts.  A perfect little girl quilt.

Here's Carrie with her quilt:

The next purple backing was for my niece Emily's quilt.  It's a scrappy version of "Apron Strings" from the April 2000 issue of McCall's Quilting magazine.  By the way, this quilt has 1,820 pieces in it.  (Can you tell I was wanting to use up scraps in these three quilts?)  

Here's Emily with her quilt:

I had made each of the girls a baby quilt when they were born and a doll quilt when they were little.  When I found out that they loved their quilts so much that they were still sleeping with them, I knew that new quilts must be made, and quickly!  I made all three of these quilts in about two months.  But love them, they did!  

Since I made these quilts for the girls in 2005 here is a more recent photo of them with me, getting ready to leave for one of our fun "Niece Outings."

One more from the last blog.  The backing I made from grays and blacks was for a charity quilt I made for teenagers in foster care.  The pattern is from the book "Easy Pieces" by Margaret J. Miller.   I could just see some teenage boy, between foster families, loving this quilt of his own.

So that's it for today's installment of "Fun with Quilts."  Both backings and fronts. But, guess what?  I have a lot more nieces.........