Tweaking My Resolution

 I decided on tweaking my resolution for 2021.  I have a few UFOs in the basement, but most are located in my quilting room.  So I'm starting in the quilting room and will move to the basement when I have completed my sewing room.  But for now, just documenting the quilting room.

We had a big snow yesterday so I've been out shoveling the driveway and sidewalk while my husband does our lane.  Such a pretty morning today!  It sparkles so, but I couldn't catch that with my phone.

Progress is being made on my nine patches for Bonnie Hunter's Mystery Quilt. 

Hope I can get all of this clue completed before Friday, but I'm not going to stress if it doesn't happen.

A New Year

It's almost the New Year and I'm thinking about Quilting Resolutions for 2021.  I have been doing the Dirty Dozen for a couple of years now and I will continue to do this.  I've also participated in American Patchwork and Quilting's UFO challenge.  And a UFO challenge through Guild.

One thing I really like at American Patchwork and Quilting is this tracker for UFOs.  Check it out here.   I added an app called Quiltful to my phone to help me have measurements when I'm shop hopping.  Especially when I see a deal on backing fabric. But something about the tracker is calling to me.

I don't know exactly how many UFOs I have.  (And do I really want to know? EEK!)  I decided I am going to start organizing them.  Not the tops, but the projects I have started but aren't finished to top status.  And I'm going to use the paper tracking form from American Patchwork and Quilting.  My goal is to add one a day until I get them listed and in a notebook.

I have so many ideas of ways I can get these projects completed.  I can do a block a day, I can do Leader/Enders, I can piece backings (one a month), I can quilt an hour (or whatever amount of time) a day.  

But this last year of being confined at home so much has taught me, slow and steady wins the race.  Just keep working on them!  What plans or ideas to do you have for your projects? 

Day 5 Is Done

 Day 5 is done, I love how this is coming along.  Looking at the picture, I see I am a little off on my scarf.  But I'm going to leave it.  This is for fun and I'm not going to stress myself with perfection.

And did you see?  I did guess wrong on Bonnie's mystery.  We have 9 patches and flying geese and red pieces as our clue for this week.  Here is one of my 9 patches.

Hope you have a great day!

Restful Day

 I hope you had a restful day, yesterday.  Or at least enjoyed your day!   I had finished clue number 4 for Grassy Creek Mystery by Bonnie Hunter on Thursday so I'm ready for the new clue!  

I was also able to finish Day Four of "Winter's Walk" Quilt Along by Jen Daly. 

I have Day 5 all cut out and ready to sew.  I will get that block sewn before I start the next clue on Bonnie's Mystery.  I borrowed that tip for some other quilter/blogger.  I'm not sure who, but I love that tip.  I start off my day in my sewing room stitching some things together, so I already have made progress on my project. 

With the new year approaching, I been thinking of what tip I want to add to my routine.  It needs to be something about picking up or cleaning off or clearing off my cutting table.  I am terrible about stacking stuff on my cutting table, making it hard to work on my project.  But I need to piggy-back it to some other part of my routine or I will never do it.  Any ideas?  What tips do you use to keep yourself productive?  

Merry Christmas!

 Merry Christmas!  

Hope you are able to enjoy your day in a way that will make you happy.  

No Whining

 One of the rules of Bonnie's Mystery Quilts is "No Whining".  I do want to clarify, I wasn't whining, just trying to guess what's next when I was talking about the string blocks.  Who knows what is up her sleeve!  

One of my challenges for the mystery quilt is to only use stash, which is why I was even guessing.  I debated changing the color scheme or even just a few of the colors.  But in the end I decided to keep everything as Bonnie suggested.  And however it comes out, that is the way it was meant to be.

We had beautiful sunrise and sunset yesterday.  Such beauty makes me want to try to make a quilt like one of these pictures.

Sunrise

Sunset

So much beauty to be enjoyed!

Uh-oh

 Uh-oh, Bonnie gave us a hint of a block to come, gray string blocks.  If you go to her blog, she has a friend that is offering gray strings at her quilt shop.  I am low on gray and I thought I might go with some yardage I had.  But yardage doesn't make great string blocks.  Not sure if this will put me on hold or if I will do plain blocks for those.  I love the look of string blocks, so we'll see what happens.

I tried to get a picture of the Bethlehem Star last night.  It's not a great picture, but it will trigger a memory for me when I look back at this.  Did you get to see it?  

Another Clue

 Bonnie Hunter had another clue to her mystery quilt, Grassy Creek Mystery, on her blog today.  I'm almost done with clue #3 but I had to see how clue #4 was going to look.  So I made up one this morning.  Once I finish the last of my #3 blocks, I'll be ready go!

I like the way it looks.  I'm really curious to see how this block will be used in the quilt.  Is it sashing?  Will it have more pieces added to it?  Looking forward to the next clue!

Mystery Quilt Progress

 The mystery quilt progress is coming along.  I'm working on Step 3 of Bonnie Hunter's Mystery Quilt Along, "Grassy Creek".   I do have a link attached but it won't work once Bonnie removes the clues from her blog and it becomes a pattern in her shop or in one of her books.

So far I'm happy with how they are coming along.  I do think I may lose a few points once they become part of a block.  I'm trying my best, but these are tricky!  Love that I'm always learning.

How was your sewing today?  Any tricky blocks for you?

Oh My!

 Oh my!  It is hard to say no to all these new projects!  I started another one!  This is another Mystery Quilt called "Winter's Walk" quilt along.  A cute little wall hanging.  Not sure if I'm going to keep it or give it away.  Check it out here at Jen Daly Quilts.  I have the first 3 steps completed.

One of the blocks.  What quilt alongs or sewing projects have captured your heart during this time?  

Startitis

Startitis has hit again!  The Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt was too much to resist!  I have Clue 1 completed:

and Clue 2 is almost done.  

 

If you're interested in her mystery, check it out here: Grassy Creek Mystery   She will have this mystery up for a period of time for free at her website and then the pattern will be added to her store.

There are so many QALs and Countdown to Christmas, and other mystery QALs, it's hard to decide which one you would like to do.  Which is why Startitis hits so hard!  What are you working on?  Has Startitis hit you?

New Number

Mary of Country Threads pulled the number for December's Dirty Dozen, Number 4!

My Number 4 is a panel kit I bought years ago at Prairie Star Quilts.  The top has been done for a long time so it's time to get it basted and quilted.

  It's a perfect quilt for the Season!

Ornament

 I found my little ornament and it is done complete!  My first ornament for 2020.  And my October "Dirty Dozen" finish.

I bought this little kit last year on "The Great Fall Escape" bus trip.  I am missing all those fun trips and shop hops.  But I am getting some things made and using up some fabric that I had already purchased, so all is good. 

 Hope your day is sew happy!

Cutting

 Cutting fabric for a new quilt use to be one of the things I kind of dreaded.  It seemed to take so long to get the fabric cut so I could get to the "fun part" of sewing.  But my attitude has changed.  I enjoy the cutting process now.  Although some days it seems to take forever.  For example when I was cutting background fabric for "Growing Up Odd", a free pattern from Wedding Dress Blue blog.

It's a little over 3 yards of background fabric cut into 2 inch strips.  And then to the length needed to complete the block and for sashings.

It has become a form of meditation for me, this cutting of fabric. And I have given myself the luxury to take my time with cutting.  Not only is it safer, but I enjoy seeing how the fabric design ends up on the strips.

What parts of quilting have you changed your attitude about?

Tracker

 I was doing so well with this Habit Tracker from Shelly at Prairie Moon Quilts.  

As you can see, the Tracker stops about the time I went to Retreat.  I also had finished my UFO Challenge for that Retreat.  I didn't start up again after Retreat. Nor did I start up for October and November.  So December is going to see the return of the Tracker.

The HSTs I worked on during that time are now becoming Bear Paw blocks.  I'm sewing them up as leaders/enders.  Most of those HSTs were Bonus Triangles from other projects.  Fun to see those fabrics show up in other projects.

What fun projects are you up to?

Guild Pre-School Quilt

I finished this quilt the end of October.  It's a double 4 patch which is a fun quilt to work on as a Leader/Ender.   Click the link to learn about leader/enders. 

Our Guild's project this year is to make "nap sized" quilts, about 40 x 48 inches, for the local pre-schools.  It was so hard to choose what I was going to make.  I had been a scrap kick this summer, so that's what I went with, almost an "I Spy" quilt.

Hope you're have a day filled with sewing goodness!

November 2020 Dirty Dozen

 Mary has pulled the number for the November 2020 Dirty Dozen and it is number One!  For me that is 3 pre-printed Snoopy baby bibs that have been in my closet for years.

I know there were 7 of them, one for each day of the week.  I not sure who or where the first 4 bibs went.  But I do want to get these finished.  I also have my little ornament to finish from last month!  

I broke a needle while using my Featherweight machine and couldn't find the tip.  I even shook the machine upside down.  No needle tip.  So I started stitching again and I could hear/feel something in the bobbin area while trying to sew.  I stopped immediately and I will be taking it in to see if they can find the little tip.  I'll also have it cleaned and oiled while it's in the shop.

Have a great day!

Recycling!

I feel like I did some major recycling with my last project. I had a bunch of denim squares that I had cut from old jeans.  I also had a flannel sheet that was in good shape, just had shrunk so much it didn't fit well on the bed.  So I cut it up and I made some rugs.

Two of these have been made in this size and I want to make one more that is bigger.  And I still have lots of squares left.  It is essentially a rag quilt but instead of clipping the seams, I stitched them down.

I had made these originally when our dog wasn't able to jump up onto the bed.  She wouldn't sleep in a dog bed but would stretch out on the floor.  She did like to be on the quilt, especially in the winter, so I made a couple for her.  After she died, I started using them as rugs and I really liked them.  They wash up so easily and I didn't pay an arm and a leg for a washable rug.  I have a navy top sheet that I may cut up and add to the toile sheet.  

Another Finish

 I'm on a roll, another finish!  My September Dirty Dozen is completed!  WooHoo!

I did this cross stitch 47 years ago.  Oh. My. Goodness!  That's old!  I never got it framed as I always thought I would make it into a pillow.  It's taken me a long time, but it's done!

A Finish

 I have a finish!  I had this top made and it has been hanging around waiting for me to get a backing for it.  I finally found something I liked.  It's all quilted in a cute daisy design.  The fabric is cow themed and the daisy design made me think of Ferdinand the Bull. 

Dirty Dozen

 Did you see the new Dirty Dozen number was drawn?  Number 6.  My number 6 is a little wool Christmas ornament.  I'm hoping it doesn't take too long to make.  

AND, I still need to finish up my September project.  I haven't forgotten, I've just been busy with Celtic Solstice.  I was trying to finish it up for my challenge with a group of friends.  I did get the top done.  I guess next year's challenge should be creating a backing and getting it quilted.  Although, I'd like to have it done before that time.

Decision

 A decision has been made!  I ended up using the orange for the last border on Celtic Solstice.

Now to figure out a backing.  I haven't made many pieced backs, but I'm thinking I will need to on this one because of the size.   Plus, what a great way to use up some fabric from the stash.  Speaking of which, most of this quilt was made with stash.  I had to buy some orange and some of the cobalt blue. But I did use up all of those colors in my stash. 

Fall is officially here and our garden is winding down.  We planted watermelons this year and were able to have only one for us because of the deer, raccoons and turkeys.  We have figured out a better fence for the patch, so hoping to have more next year.  But this one was amazing.  The flavor was so sweet!

Enjoy your day!  Happy quilting!

Plugging Along

 I've been plugging along on my Celtic Solstice.  I've been trying to use my stash to do the last border, but I'm just not finding the right fabric.  So I'm leaning towards making a trip to a quilt shop to buy fabric for that last border.  At least I have some time to think about it. In that respect it's not like before COVID, I would have already been to the shop and home again.  Now I really weigh the need vs the want before I head out.  My two choices:

In the meantime, I've been working on a sewing mat.  My friend Jean teaches classes and she had a class on making a mat, but at the time I was working and wasn't able to go to the class.  She sold the pattern on Craftsy before all the changes and that's when I bought the pattern.  She does have an Etsy shop with some of her patterns, but not the sewing mat.  But if you really want the pattern, you could contact her for information.

So without further ado, here's the mat:

It's such a nice size mat.  The pattern called for adding a piece of ironing board fabric to the right, but I have a little wool mat that I'm going to use instead.  I'm loving the pockets, it will be perfect for storing some items instead of having them on my table.

Playing

 I started playing with my Dirty Dozen challenge for this month.  I measured out how big I could make it  based on the size of pillow form I could get.  Dreamed of fancy borders made with stars and fussy piecing.  Then I woke up!  Just get it done!

So I'm going with a plain border around the whole piece and figuring out how to use some of my old All Iowa Shop Hop fabric to make the back envelope.  

As I said, just get it done!

Cutting, Cutting, Cutting

 I have been cutting, cutting, cutting.  I have 3 projects cut and ready to sew.  Do you ever do that?  I know Bonnie Hunter will cut and kit up blocks or part of a project, so I decided to see how it works to cut all that I need for a couple of projects. 

We'll see if I'm any more productive or if it all moves at normal speed.  I'm thinking it will all go at normal speed.  However, since I'm in the mood to cut fabric, it's a good time to do it.  

September Dirty Dozen

September Dirty Dozen was announced on the first of September.  Number 11.  And for me that is a counted cross stitch picture that I have had done for years and I want to make it into a pillow.

I thought this is a good one, since it's an election year.  

Not sure how I'm going to finish it.  I have some fabric pieces I have pulled from the stash that I added to the bag it's in.  I have an idea, we'll see how it goes.  Wish me luck!

Rulers, Gadgets and Stuff

As quilter's we are always getting new rulers, gadgets and Stuff.  Then comes the problem of how to organized it so we know what we have and where.

I've gotten a few rulers over the years and I had been keeping them in a fabric bin on a bookshelf.  But I've gotten rulers that come with instructions and patterns.  Where to keep those?

I came up with this idea for now.  A two pocket notebook.  

It all fits on my bookshelf.  The pattern stays with the ruler and I don't have to shuffle through it all to find the ruler I want.  We'll see how this system works.  I may be changing it if I see something else.

August DD Is Done!

August DD is done!

And August isn't even over!

These are 2 pillow cases made with fabric by Chez Moi, called "Sophie".

The pattern I used was from All People Quilt, pattern 38 Pillowcase with Diamond Band.

Finally A Finish!

Finally a finish!  My July 2020 Dirty Dozen project is done!  I'm planning on keeping just one of these for myself.  Not sure who or where I am going to give the other three to.

In case you don't know what the Dirty Dozen is, it is a challenge I'm doing with Country Threads.  You can read what I wrote about the challenge here and here.  There is still time, you can join in.

Still At It

I'm still at it.  Working on Celtic Solistic.  I'm almost done putting rows together.

And after the center is done, there are three borders.  I may only do two....

Little Turtle

Slow and steady Little Turtle.  That's what I keep telling myself.  Progress, progress, progress.

And I'm trying not to think about the next steps as there are 3 borders to this quilt.  I'm not the best at borders.  You would think that the more I do them, the easier they would get.  I guess I just need to change my attitude about them.  Sigh

I Didn't Forget

I didn't forget about the Dirty Dozen.  I'm still working on last month's little wall hangings.

Three are quilted and ready for binding, which I had needed to buy some fabric for.  So while I was out shopping for that, I found some red fabric to border the littlest banner.  The border is cut and ready for me to add.  Binding is up next.

And August's number is #3 Sophie pillowcases.  These pillowcases are made with the fabric designed by Chez Moi called "Sophie".  Because I had scraps left, I picked this pattern to use:

The band is almost complete!

Finally!

Finally!  All of the 54-40 or Fight blocks are done.  Whew!

Progress!

I'm so excited by the progress!  I have finished all the parts to the blocks and assembly has started.

And there was this beautiful sunrise this morning!

Hope you have a special day!

Brilliant Idea

I had a brilliant idea, if I do say so myself.  LOL  It's either that or a smack in the head that I didn't think of it sooner.  Actually, it may be the latter.

So I've been working on making my split HSTs.  

And I've been using some 25 patch blocks as my leaders/enders as I sew these.  But wait!  I could use my block pieces that will make my 54-40 or Fight blocks!  They are to the point that it's like making a nine patch.

That way I have pieces made for the next block and I complete the 54-40 or Fight blocks, making me that much further ahead.  Sometimes....

Slowly

I've been slowly getting my split HSTs put together.  Slow and steady wins the race.  This quote from Bonnie Hunter inspires me to keep going.

And I'm not stopping!

Progress

I've made some progress on my split triangle blocks.  They are a little time consuming, but they are going together nicely.

I bagged up all the units for the block that uses the four patches.  So those are ready for me to sit and sew. 

As I was bagging them.

One step closer to being finished.