A Great Start and A Final 2022 Stash Report

2023 is off to a roaring start.  I already have four finishes which also means four UFOs off the list.  Yay me!  

The first thing I finished this year was this Churn Dash baby quilt.  Sometimes, a simple, traditional block is the best choice for a sweet quilt.

These two quilts were started at a retreat last July, and I told you about them here.  They're going to a local group that makes quilts for St Jude Children's Research Hospital. 

The very last of the orange Tom & Jerry fabric (read about that here and here) was used up in this fun improv quilt.      

I struggled with this one a little, because of all the curved piecing and making all the pieces fit together, but I'm really happy with the result.  I call it "Tom and Jerry High Jinks".  It's also a St. Jude donation.  

I hope I can keep up this pace all year.  Wouldn't that be something!

DECEMBER 2022

Fabric Added in December -  0 yards

Fabric Used in December -  4.4 yards

Total Fabric Used in December - 4.4 yards

Days I sewed in December - 30/31

TOTALS FOR 2022

Total Fabric Added in 2022 - 86.7 yards

Total Fabric Used in 2022 - 222.8 yards

NET FABRIC USED in 2022 - 136.1 yards

Days I sewed in 2022 - 354/365

PERCENTAGE OF DAYS SEWED in 2022 - 97%

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%

A Finish, Some Donation Projects, and a Stash Report

A lot has been going on lately in this sewing room of mine.  After spending two solid days of spring cleaning I spent some quality time in there last week.  

First, my "Lazy Eyes" quilt came back from my quilter (the fabulous Shirley Jackson), and I got the binding on it.  It was nice to finally check off something from my UFO list.  I love how it turned out, but I need to rename it.  I'm still thinking about that.   It might be inspired by the Post-It Note look!

 

I didn't realize how grainy the photos are until I had already shipped it, but I'm pretty in love with this quilt, so I'm going to overlook the blurry pics.  The most important thing is that my niece loves it.   Removing something from the UFO list isn't bad either!

I got five pillowcases made for the North Alabama Foster Closet, keeping up with my goal of making five each month this year.  

Then I decided to use up some fat quarters that were gifted to me a few years ago.  I added a teal print and a light aqua solid from my stash .....

..... and used a pattern designed by a friend.  Fun quilt, right?

It needs to be backed, quilted, and bound.   That should get done soon.  I am not going to let it end up on the UFO list!

With all this work I thought I would have a better stash report for March, but I knew I'd better buy the backing now for a Christmas Block of the Month I'm working on while matching fabric is still available.

MARCH

Fabric Added in March - 7 yards

Fabric Used in March - 11.7 yards

Fabric Added Year to Date - 21.3

Fabric Used Year to Date - 60.3

Net used in 2022 - 39 yards

Days I sewed in March - 30/31

Days I sewed this year - 89/90

Percentage - 99%

Can't wait to see what April brings!

Linking up with TGIFF!

Another Great-Grand Finish

Not only did I just finish another quilt to put back for the great-grands, I also got something checked off my UFO list. That's two things to be excited about!

I started this quilt at a retreat in April of 2016, but I just barely started it.  That made it officially a UFO, and now that list is down to only five. The pattern is called "Framed" from the book "Simply Retro" by Camille Roskelley.  The fabric line is "Bright Sun" by Sherri and Chelsi of a Quilting Life for Moda.   Cute, right?

This one is hand quilted with echo quilting and a square-in-a-square design in the largest pieces.

A simple design with simple quilting still makes for a special quilt to put back for future babies.

That's the third baby quilt I've made to put back for the grands .....

..... and my 14th finish this year.  I'd say this has already been a very good year. 

Linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict.
Linking up with Tish's Adventures in Wonderland.

Bits 'N Pieces

This has been a very good week.  I completed my 10th finish of the year and checked off another UFO, leaving only five on the list.  "Bits 'N Pieces" is done!

Quilting this one was not a good experience.  (I was going to say that it was a huge challenge, or maybe a real hassle, or maybe even a pain in the neck, but I'm trying not to be too negative.)  First, I spent an hour trying to get the tension right.  I was trying to use a light grey thread on top and black thread on the bottom, but it was not working at all.  I knew it would be better to use the same thread on the top and bottom for the tension to work out.  My friend Faye at Mimi's Passions told me to think about using chartreuse or orange thread.  Now, why didn't I think of that?  I'm always suggesting that to other people, but I didn't think of it for myself.

You know what?  I really liked the orange!

Then, I had a lot of trouble stitching through all those layers.  In some spots with all the slashing apart and sewing back together, there were so many thicknesses it was really difficult to get smooth curves or keep the needle going without it getting hung up.   To top it all off, I managed to do this - 

Take my advice.  Don't do that.

I felt better once I decided on a binding color (with the help of Hubby) and I knew I was almost done.

Hand stitching the binding down is my favorite part of making a quilt!

Now that it's finished I really love this quilt.  There are so many fun fabrics in it, from plaids and selvedge edges .....

..... to thirties prints .....

..... to juvenile prints.

Even watermelon!

So, tonight I'm sitting back and enjoying my accomplishments (when I'm not doing a happy dance!)

I haven't kept a quilt for us in a long time, so I'm looking forward to snuggling up in this one, drinking coffee, and reading a book.  

I may just do that every morning!

If you want to see how the blocks were made look at this blog entry then read this one.

I'm linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  Can I bet a Whoop Whoop?
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I've Been Rockin' those UFO's Lately!

I pulled out a UFO the other day.  (I'm determined to get as many finished this year as I can.)  

This particular quilt top was started in 2011 when I participated in a block swap involving "made fabric."  That's when you take your small scraps and sew them together, then use that "made fabric" in other projects.  Some people call them crumb quilts.  If you google "crumb quilts" or search Pinterest for them you will see some great quilts made that way.  Here are some examples.

 In this blog post from 2011 you can see how my blocks were made.  The basic blocks were by the other gals in the block swap.  I made the purple ones.  (I know.  Purple, right??)  I cut them up and rearranged them, then added the contrasting strips.  After that, it became a UFO because I couldn't figure out what to do about borders.  

This week, determined to get something checked off my list, I pulled it out and started to play.  At first, I thought I would put a small black inner border and then use made fabric for the outer border working my way around the top with red, then yellow, then teal, purple, blue, etc.  I wan't motivated to do that much work, though.  Lately, I've seen a lot of quilts with a pop of black and white stripes so I thought I'd do something with that.  It works.

What to do for the backing was another tough decision.  (I'm not used to making all these decisions without input from Hubby, but he was out of town, so I had to do the best I could!)

Thinking I would use a black on white print I dug through my stash and, instead, came up with these very cool prints.  I had about 5 yards of each.  I remember buying these at Hancock's of Paducah a while back when I was at a retreat at Kentucky Lake. 

Here's the backing I came up with.

Now it's basted and ready to quilt.  

That's the goal for this coming week.  Checking off another UFO from the list will be so fun!


I'm linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  I'll wait until it's finished before I ask for a Whoop Whoop!

Quilted Village Update - WIP's Be Gone!

In 2012 I started working on a Block of the Month called Quilted Village.  You may remember me writing about it in this post.  I normally don't like to make my quilt just like everyone else's, but prefer to make my own version.  This is what the pattern writer had in mind .....

As this is my "Year of the UFO" I pulled this project out last week and started making more houses.  I made 8 of the 12 house blocks and lost interest which is why this ended up on the UFO list.  Anyway, I finished block # 9 last week .....

..... so this is what my village looks these days.

Here are a few closeups of some of the embroidery.

I started block #10 this week.

I'm thinking this one may actually get checked off the list this year, but for now it is still a WIP (Work in Progress.)

I am linking up with A Quilting Reader's Garden for their WIP's Be Gone Week 7.