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.

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

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....

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.

Bouncing

It may appear that I'm bouncing all over, but I am doing it in a focused way.  I know, it sounds like that can't be.  I printed out the Habit Tracker from Shelly at Prairie Moon Quilts.  I didn't find this tracker until the end of May, so I jumped right in with June. 

Work on UFO 15 minutes/day is for working on a UFO I started in December of 2013, Celtic Solstice.  I finished the 4 patches and have now moved on the Split Triangle Unit.  Had to sew one together as a sample that I cut everything correctly.

So I'll be working at making kits of this block so I can sit and sew, sew, sew!

I Really Have Been Working

I really have been working on projects.  It's just that everything is at the stage....

I have been working at cleaning off my cutting table.  Cut some 4 patches for Celtic Solstice and I have had these strips sewn together for what seems to be forever.  I am cutting and sewing them to clean off the table.  The bonus is, I have some more blocks done!

Ready to sew.

The hot mess.

More strip sets ready to cut, will work on those again this evening.  I have homework for my sample class and a graduation quilt I need to get going on.  I need the room.  It's going to get cleaned!!!

Four Patches

I've been working on four patches for Celtic Solstice.  For some reason I went back and read through the directions again for this step and discovered I needed to twirl my patches.  (Link explaining how to twirl.)

There are over 100 four patches I am having to go back and twirl.  BUT, progress is being made!

Back Burner

School started this week and I'm back to work so quilting is going to the back burner.  I had the wonderful big push last weekend to keep me inspired.

It was rainy every day this week and it made it hard to get out to garden.  Finally we were able to pick produce and oh my goodness!  Lots of beans, tomatoes and basil.  I was going to stop making pesto but, I guess not.  The garden has kind of put a crimp in my sewing time.  But I did do some.

I did decide it was time to head back to Celtic Solstice since Bonnie has been talking about how she is working on this year's Mystery Quilt.  I'm so excited.  Really would like to have this quilt top done before she announces this years.  I am on Step 4, making green and orange 4-patch blocks.  I have 10 done, only 290 left to go.

 
I've been trying to use greens and oranges that I have in my stash, plus the few that Jeanine gave me from Quilts From The Bluffs stash.  This quilt is going to QFTBs when it's completed.  Hope you had a wonderful weekend.  I'm still off work today for Labor Day.  Back to work tomorrow.

Done And Done

Step 2 and Step 3 are done and done!  

Going to be spending some time now cutting out blocks for "Hard Tack and Coffee" along with strips for making 4-patches for Celtic Solstice.

Yay For Progress!

Yay for progress!  I have 19 Hardtack and Coffee blocks done! I have 200 chevron blocks and 20 pinwheels blocks for Celtic Solstice.

I now have to start cutting more half square triangles for Hardtack and Coffee blocks.  But I couldn't find my Easy Angle ruler!  Achhhhhh.  So a friend has let me borrow her ruler until mine shows up.  Thank You Jeanine!  

The weather has been beautiful and today was amazing.  Worked in the gardens this morning.  Picked lots of lettuce and basil.  Yum!  Also saw these two little guys resting in the shade of a bush this afternoon.  One is hidden by the other.   I love seeing the babies.

Blocks With Lots Of Little Pieces

I've been working on blocks with lots of little pieces.  First up are the Chevron blocks for Celtic Solstice.  These blocks use 6 pieces to make a 3.5 inch block.  Love the way they are turning out.

And than there are the blocks for "Hard Tack and Coffee".  These blocks measure 5 inch square when complete and there are 15 pieces to this block.  Again, loving how they are turning out.

But I'm starting to question my sanity....

Summer Break

Today is the first day of my summer break!  I love this day.  I have so many projects I want to work on this summer, namely those UFOs that I listed out at the first of the year.  I have yet to take any to the finish line, but soon.

It's been kind of wild weather-wise around here.  We had a big storm on Sunday and then another on Tuesday which left us without electricity both times.  Plus, we didn't have any last night.  No storms, I figured they had to cut the power to finish working on a major project.

This is what we ended up with Tuesday:

Hail

At least we had little hail and not the big stuff that was north of us.  We had that a couple of years ago, so I really feel for what our neighbors to the north of us are going through.

Water

The water came rushing off the fields behind and to the sides of us.  This is our side yard.  Lots of old corn stalks left for us to pick up.

Today is overcast and I'm working on cleaning up my cutting table.  Along with that, I'm cutting the 2 inch squares I need to finish step 2 of Celtic Solstice.

Hello!

Hello!  Long time, no see.  I know, no blog post, but I have been busy.  I didn't want to bore you with the "daily grind".  I have cut out all 388 of my HST pairs for Celtic Solstice and they are sew together!

I chain pieced the triangles and cut the chain into groups of 10.  I now have the joy of pressing and trimming the dog ear off of each one.  I like to do that in groups of 10 as it's a way of tricking myself.  Ten at a time isn't hard.  Thinking of all 388, that sounds hard.

I also cut out a quilt that is on my UFO list for this year.  It's the quilt kit I bought at last years Iowa Shop Hop.  My goal was to have it made before this year's Hop as I told myself I couldn't buy a kit this year if it wasn't done.  I need to get busy as the Iowa Shop Hop starts in June.

And progress was made on "Everything But The Kitchen Sink".   Two borders have been sewn on and am getting the piecing done for the third border.  See all the little pieced squares?

So it's been productive even if I haven't finished anything yet!  I was feeling bad that I haven't had a finish for this year, but soon!

Stash

I've been rooting through my stash looking for bright yellows for my Celtic Solstice.  When I find a bright yellow, it's usually a solid.  Really has me thinking about what fabrics I need to look for the next Shop Hop I go on.  I did find this block of the month from 2002 that Hancock Fabrics did.  I never was very fond of it as it reads as too much of a solid for me.

But the yellow, green and royal blue will be perfect in Celtic Solstice!  I'm going to sew the blocks together and use them on a backing, the pieces of blocks will go in the orphan block box and the yardage into the stash for Celtic Solstice.  Nice to finally make a decision on this project.  

Long Time, No Posts

I know, long time, no posts.  Two weeks ago, I was sicker than sick with the flu or some virus.  Nasty, nasty thing that really put me out of commission for the whole weekend.  Last weekend we went to MN to visit the Grands and to celebrate Sophie's 4th birthday early.  She was so excited!

And because we were traveling, I was able to finish another hexie.

During the week I have been working on my pieced border for "Everything But The Kitchen Sink".  These blocks are 2.5 by 2.5.

I also have been cutting out Step 2 of Celtic Solstice.  I'm sewing it as a Leader and Ender.  

  I have 488 green rectangles cut out and am working on the yellow squares that will be sewn to the corner of each rectangle.  I still have the light squares to work on too before I'm ready to bag these up.  I've been marking the little squares as I go, so everything will be ready to sew.  

Hope you're making progress on your projects, too!

I Love Progress!

I love progress!  I have 23 of my 30 double nine-patch blocks done.  Yea!  I did come up with a little system for doing more than one at a time.  I used my leader/ender block as a demarcation between the blocks.  I have each block at a different stage so I don't get confused.  (And I can get confused fast when trying to work with multiples.)  Here is a picture:

See the blue block?  That is the block from Celtic Solstice.  I have 50 of those done now!  Whoohoo!  It does take me a while to make one block because, as I've said before, I am a pinner.

Tomorrow school has been called off as it's going to be really cold.  I get an extra day to sew!