Knitting

I did a little knitting last night, I'm working on a dish cloth out of cotton yarn.  I love using this type of dish cloth.  Plus it's a fun little travel project.  This dish cloth is almost done, so I thought I might as well finish it sooner rather than later. 

Unpacking

Unpacking from the Retreat.  Getting everything back in it's place.  I still need to sort through more things in my sewing room, but it's almost done.

I worked on this top while on Retreat.  Last time I worked on it, I didn't pin it and it wasn't flat.  Very wonky and not in a good way.  So I took apart every other row and pinned it carefully before sewing.  It now is flat and square.  Yea!!  Now to get the backing made.

Last Day Of Retreating

Last day of Retreating. I put away the sewing machine and worked on these.  Just one more bag to finish and all the HST will be caught up.

It's always fun to see what others get done.  I didn't take pictures as most were gifts for others.  One quilter even spent her time cutting out 6 quilts.  That's all she did the whole weekend.  I'm thinking I may try that sometime.  It would be nice to have projects ready to sew when I come home from a long day at work.  Not too much thinking, just sit down and sew at the machine.  I try to get things prepared in the morning, but it doesn't always work out.

Retreating

I'm Retreating this weekend!  Love having time to sew with friends!

Projects

I spent my time sorting projects and deciding which ones are moving up the list of priority. Figured out a few so that's nice to have the list ready to go.  This is kind of my end of January into February list.

Fabric boxes
Baby quilt for a coworker
Quilt for a friend.

Wish me luck!

Finished

The binding is finished on the little quilt.  See?

It is on the steps, about the 5th one up.  I love how this turned out.  I collect turtles and this is some turtle fabric I collected many years ago.  A finish, is a finish, is a finish!

Binding

I'm still working on the binding of my little quilt.  Hope to finish it tonight and maybe get a picture tomorrow. 

I use plain hair clips that I bought at Hobby Lobby before the wonder clips became a thing. (If not on sale, you can always use a 40% off coupon.)  I love using the hair clips as I used pins before I discovered them and always got stuck.

Have a great day!

Quips

Bonnie Hunter has beautiful quilts with quotes on her blog.  I have been saving them on Pinterest as I love them.  The one she had on yesterday's Post hit home.  It's so true!  That's the way I feel.  Especially with my larger projects.

Thank you Bonnie for inspiring me to keep at it and to enjoy the process and progress!

Almost Forgot

I almost forgot to make a note of what I did.  I took all the scraps left from making the Twist Bag and cut them into strips or squares. 

I then made binding for a little quilt I made years ago.  I got it out this summer, found backing in my stash, quilted it and then it sat.  So I got the binding sewn on and am now hand stitching it down as I have ANOTHER snow/sew day.  That's 3 since school started back up!

Today started out snowy, then rain mixed with snow, and now back to snow.   Very slushy.  Glad there isn't school as most of our students ride the bus and I always worry about buses on gravel roads.

Twist Bag

I have had this Twist Bag cut out and ready to sew for some time.  Now it's done!  I have picked up sewing fabrics over the years and decided this would be a great project bag.  (I have another one I made, that I use in this way.)  This would be a great Farmer's Market bag, too.

A local quilt shop, Country Sampler, designed this pattern.  Here's link to the pattern, Twist Bag.  This went together so fast, I'm thinking I could cut out another one.  But, I'm going to stop myself, as I have lots of PIPs. (Projects in process.)  Some other day I will play with my stash and create another kit.

Progress

I made progress on squaring up some HST last night while my Husband and I watch a movie. Look at this amazing quilt over at Wedding Dress Blue.  Some day my HSTs are going to grow and become a quilt like this.

I love being able to work on little things like that while I watching something.  Once I get my HST's in the tin caught up, I think I'll get back to working on my hexies. 

So many works in progress......makes me happy to make progress!

Messin'

I spent my time messin' around in my sewing room.

What happened - I saw a notice on Missouri Star Quilts that the pattern "4 X 4" had a mistake and that you could get a copy of the pattern.  So of course I downloaded it.

I like to make kits with fabrics I have in my stash and I have a Jelly roll of 1930's Reproduction Fabrics in my stash.  It was one of the first Jelly rolls I bought.  I pulled that out and now I am looking for a white or white on white that is big enough to use.  I found one piece, but there wasn't  enough.  I do have some fat quarters that I think I could mix in and that should take care of it.

There is an outside border that needs a little over 1 yard and I don't have that.  I have a Google app called "Keep" that I keep a Shop Hop list on.  I'll add that to the list and when I'm out and about, I'll try pick it up so I can complete my "kit".

I'm thinking this pattern would also look good done scrappy.  I have a ton of 2.5 inch strips already cut up.  Just need to count them out and find what I need for the other yardages in my stash.

Do you make up kits with your stash?  Let me know.

15 Minutes

I set the timer for 15 minutes and did some cleaning in the sewing room.  It wasn't much, but every little bit helps. 

I'm feeling unfocused since I got my Sampler blocks caught up.  I do have a bag cut out and the handles sewn.  I think I'll get busy and start putting that together.

All Caught Up!

I'm all caught up on my Sampler blocks!  Whoo Hoo!  Check out the last 4 blocks.

Now to decide what to work on until the next Sampler class......

Another "Snow" Day

The weather/chill index is so cold that we have another "Snow" day.  So guess what?  I'm sewing again today.

I finished 2 of my Maple Leaf blocks.  Two more to go.

After the last two are finished, my Sampler blocks will be caught up.  Whoo Hoo!  Next class is coming up, so I'm excited to have this up to date before I get the next batch of blocks.

Rolling Squares

Rolling squares blocks are done.

And I am in the process of cutting out the next block, Maple Leaf.

I made bonus half square triangles from the rolling squares blocks.  I have been trimming them up as I go, a la Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  She is cutting her scraps as she finishes a project.  So I'm taking a cue from that and staying on top of the bonus HSTs.

I have a small tin, about 3 x 5 in size that I have thrown them into during previous projects.  I'm now working at trimming these up and placing them in the proper bin, based on their size.  Someday I'm going to make a HST project from these.

Another Set Done

I have another set of the sampler blocks done and the new set cut out.  Whoo Hoo!

One Done

Well, I have one done.  I think I'm going to love the pop this block will give to the quilt.

Back To Work

It's back to work today.  But I did accomplish a few things that I wanted to do yesterday.  First up, I finished these 3 blocks for my sampler quilt.

And I cut the next set of blocks out.

You may not be able to see it, but there is yellow hidden underneath the coral and gray triangles.

I also cleaned a little in the sewing room.  And I caught up on a couple of shows I had DVR'd

Snow Day! Sew Day!

It was announced yesterday that because of the storm coming through, that school will be closed.  So a Snow Day becomes a Sew Day for me.

I stopped at the local quilt shop, Cut Up & Quilt, on my way home yesterday to pick up fabric I needed for the sampler quilt.  I know, most people go to the grocery store.

Sewing, sewing, cleaning, sewing...Oops! How did that cleaning get in there?

Reorganizing

I did a little reorganizing.

Since I have my good machine on the kitchen table from when I was quilting my sister in law's quilt, I decided to leave it there and work on another quilt that I have some quilting done on.

I set up my travel machine in my sewing room and am doing the piecing of the Churn Dash blocks on it. I did get a little sewing done on the first block.

Another Block

I have another block for my sampler quilt cut out.  It's a Churn Dash block.  It should go together fast. 

I also received a surprise in the mail yesterday.  A gift from my sister, a subscription to "Easy Quilts".  More projects on the horizon....

 

Gifted

The quilt I just finished has been gifted.  She loved it!  The fabric is line is "Fragile" by Zen Chic and I bought it at Log Cabin Quilt shop in Exira, IA last Fall.

The pattern is called "Gemini" by Villa Rosa Designs.  I love these little patterns.  They are so quick and easy and create such beautiful quilts.

Done!

The quilt is done and is going to be gifted this afternoon.  Picture coming......😊

Binding

My binding is all cut and sewn together.  Now to attach it.....

Binding

I found some binding fabric for the quilt I just finished quilting.  I'm so excited.  Hope to get it cut out tonight and sewn on Saturday.  Or maybe it will all be done on Saturday.  But a picture soon.

Quiting!

I finished quilting the top I got pinned on Tuesday.  Now to see if I have fabric to use for the binding.  I may have to make a trip to the fabric store. I hope to have a picture this weekend of the finished quilt.

I have loved this winter break, I feel like I am making progress on projects.  I also finished the other 3 blocks on my sample quilt.  All four are done!

Sewing

I spent the day sewing with friends.  I was able to pin a quilt for quilting and to get one more section of my Christmas trip around the world done.

The weather was a little warmer yesterday, all the way up to 19 degrees according to my car.  But it's to drop again, after all, it is Winter.

All Done

I'm all done with bagging up my little nine patch squares.  Those last two bags took a while as I wanted even more variety and cut more strips into squares.  But if feels good to have them all ready.

To continue with my ramblings of yesterday on what inspires projects, other bloggers do.  I did this 100 patch quilt from a free tutorial from "Wedding Dress Blue"  She has some other projects I want to do.

Jo Krammer at Jo's Country Junction has been making quilts from one of Bonnie's books and she plans on making all of the quilts in that one book.  Amazing.  Plus, she has a block of the month challenge going on.  You take a BOM that you haven't finished and join in on the fun.  To help you get those UFOs done!  I'm been thinking about this one, as I have a couple of BOM that I'd love to finish.

My local quilt shop does a monthly challenge of making a quilt top every month. You can take it to the finish line, by quilting it, but if you work, just getting the top done is an accomplishment.  This past year the patterns have been from Villa Rosa Designs.  I love these quilts, as they make great gifts.

So I'm off to play in my sewing room today.  Hope your day is sew fun!

Happy New Year's Day!

Happy New Year's Day!

We had a quiet New Year's Eve.  Just the way it needed to be with all the cold weather we're having.

I cut squares and cut squares yesterday and bagged them into 10 sets of 9 patches into a bag. (90 little squares in a bag.)  I still have 3 more bags to go.  I need almost 300 nine patches for this quilt and I have over half of them done.  It might even be closer to 2/3s done.  But it will be nice to have my leader and ender project ready to go any time I sit down to sew.

I've been thinking about ways that I decide on projects.  One year I worked on only my Christmas fabric.  Made up kits (yes I still have a couple more to do) and cut fabric into sizes needed in the Scrap User's System plus 5 inch squares as I love Nickel Quilts too.

Another year I joined in with Country Threads UFO project.  You wrote down 12 UFOs and each month Country Threads would draw a number and that was the project you needed to work on that month.  I haven't been as successful with this method since that first time.  I tried this last year with American Patchwork and Quilting UFO Challenge, but never got anything completed.  They are doing it again this year, so it might be something you could think about.

So this year is just work on whatever and blog about it.  Maybe that will take me to the finish line with some of my projects.  I'm also going to work on any projects or kits that are in my sewing room.  (I have more projects, kits and fabric stashed in the basement.)  I figure it's one way to clean my sewing room. 

I have also considered working on one kind of quilt a month.  For example: one month is string blocks, another month is baby quilts using fabric from that bin, or scrap quilts such as Sarah at "Confessions of a Fabric Addict"is doing.

Let me know what you are planning this coming year.