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!

April's "One Monthly Goal"

My March OMG was to get the top made for Natalie's quilt, and I fell far short of that.  I had made more than four-hundred 2" by 9.5" units like these .....

..... and I was certain I could easily make them into a top during the month of March.  Well, what can I say?  I could not come up with any kind of design I liked, so I changed gears and decided to find a way to rework it.  I cut them in half and stitched them back together into wide rectangles like this -

These should be easier to work with, right?  Nope.  I still wasn't feeling it.  So, for April's One Monthly Goal I am cutting them down again.  From 3.5" by 4.5" rectangles to 3.5" by 3.5" squares.   Like this -

Surely, I can come up with something now.  My April goal is to make Natalie's quilt top from these blocks.  Fingers crossed.  I can't keep cutting them down hoping for inspiration to strike.  I won't have anything left to work with!

Linking up with "One Monthly Goal"

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!

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!"

Sailboats for Captain Ivan

Now that it's been gifted I can tell you all about the baby quilt I've been working on.  My newest great-nephew, Ivan, turned three months old last week, so his quilt got to him in plenty of time.  Almost record time for me, lately!   His mommy chose a nautical theme for his nursery, so I wanted to do a traditional Sailboat Block quilt.  

Do you know how many variations of Sailboat quilts there are?  A lot!  After looking at ideas I sketched one on my handy-dandy graph paper and based the whole thing on 2.5" squares.  After I had cut out 306 squares, I realized I could have saved a lot of time by cutting out rectangles for some parts of the blocks.

That's not even a "I can't handle the dreaded math" issue; it's more of a "I wasn't really thinking" issue!  

Something else I didn't think through was the fact that when you make HSTs (Half Square Triangles) from striped fabric half will be vertical and half horizontal.  Like this.

I wanted all my sails to go in the same direction.  The way the wind blows, right?  I mean, these are things you really have to think about when making important design decisions.  That's why I ended up having to add 60 horizontally striped HSTs to my orphan blocks collection.

Is this the cutest low volume background print?  Perfect for this quilt!

Great-nephews/nieces always get hand quilting from their Aunt Sandy.  I have to admit all those squares made it easier to decide on echo quilting for the quilting design.

Oops, I didn't get a photo of the "label" after I washed it.  Please ignore the pencil marks!

 

Another happy quilt for another happy baby.  "Captain Ivan" loves his quilt.

March's "One Monthly Goal" and Stash/Sewing Reports

It's already time to set March goals?  How can that be?!!  

I only have two nieces left from my (long!) list of nieces and nephews who need new quilts from Aunt Sandy.  This one is kinda-sorta a UFO.  But not really.  Here's the thing.  I cut out and started working on a quilt for Natalie then put it in time out, and it ended up on the UFO list.  When I took it out last week to see if I wanted it to be my OMG (One Monthly Goal) for March, I decided I don't even really like it!  So I cut out a whole new quilt.  Still batiks (THAT supply is getting low!), and still contemporary.  For this one I'm using the "Doubletime Duet" pattern from Terry Atkinson's Allegro pattern book.

Except for saying that completing this top is my February goal, I don't have much more to say about that unless you want to see my sewing area at our hotel in Clearwater.  Hey. It works!

My February stash report is much better than last month's!

FEBRUARY

Fabric Added in February - 3.4 yards

Fabric Used in February - 35.1 yards

Fabric Added Year to Date - 14.3

   Fabric Used Year to Date - 48.6

   Net used in 2022 - 34.3 yards

   Days I sewed in February - 28/28

   Days I sewed this year - 59/59

   Percentage - 100%

See you soon.  I'm headed to the beach!

Linking up with One Monthly Goal