Thursday, January 30, 2020

Rolling.....

That's right. I got to roll the quilt top and look.... the end of the quilt is in sight! I'll work on the next 5 blocks for the next little while before I have to figure out how to get to the last 5 squares..... I can't remember hot long I left that leader.... I am hoping long enough so that it will roll down and allow me to quilt the end.

My supervisor Peanut is in his kitty sleeping tower making sure all is well.


Tuesday, January 28, 2020

EMD Tuesday...... or not!


Sigh... I seem to have been concentrating on something else.... and opted to get another 1.5 hours of actual work in yesterday and had Greg pick up Emily from school. Aidan was home sick so no pickup for him. Today we have 2 kids home from school. Aidan's fever seems to have subsided but still has the congestion and terrible cough, sore throat and tires easily. Em is starting with sore throat, headache from a stuffy nose and I think she might have an occasional cough. Between the 3 of them it is cough, cough, cough in my house right now. The congested chest liquid cough. Sigh... lots of hand washing for me!
So... I have been concentrating on hand quilting rather than prepping and doing my EMD blocks. But.... I have about 40 minutes left of hand quilting on the green before I get to turn the frame!


I made some cranberry orange scones last night (and prepped the coffee maker to be all set to go!). Boy, were they yummy this morning. Looks like I get ALL of them..... as sick people are not interested! Into the freezer they will go =) I swapped the heavy cream with lactaid milk so Emily can eat them and they came out just fine. I used 1 cup of craisins.


Sunday, January 26, 2020

Slow Stitching......

Progress has been made on the trip quilt on the frame! I was able to roll the quilt again this week and start working on the last set of colors. I got the first part of the blues quilted yesterday and will start on the pink today. That should get me to the green this week and hopefully I get to roll it again soon to work on the middle section of this row.




I should be tying  a new skien of yarn to the crochet project as I am almost at the end of the current skein. I hate when it gets down to the near end as it gets all tangled up while pulling it.

Linking up with the Slow Sunday Stitchers where we enjoy making slow progress on our projects.

Friday, January 24, 2020

A new project....Sweet Confetti


Sunday Best Quilt Book

This will be my last RSC week challenge block! It was a last minute switch from Starling - which took too much fabric for scrappy to Sweet Confetti - which is much scrappier friendly. This pattern can be found in the book 'Sunday Best Quilts' by Sherri McConnell and Corey Yoder. I won this one from a prize giveaway for Happy Little Things. I love this book - so bright and cheerful. I need 96 blocks for Sweet Confetti. I started with 6 bright and light greens and will continue with 10 each month in the RSC color. I'll wait until November to assemble them so I have a good mix of colors.

Another two bright friendship star and nine patch were also added. I think I'll get another 8 sewn this month if I continue with one a day.


A few more of the Stashbuster 2020 block were made this week too.



Linking up to the RSC Challenge on Saturday. I'll be at a Thinking Day event with my troop where we will be handing out green clover leaf swaps since we chose Ireland! I'll be checking the link up's later on Saturday or Sunday.... depending of if the kids let me have computer time or not. It might be gardening time....as they burned off the weeds last Saturday and we have been pulling the rest this week in the nice cool temps in Florida so we should be ready to plant this weekend. 

Thursday, January 23, 2020

Rolling, rolling, rolling....

I got to roll the frame twice within one week! I just rolled it again on Wednesday and got to hand quilt for a bit after picking up one kid from scheduled early release.  So fun to know I am working on the last set of blocks - blues, pinks and dark greens are on this row. Let's hope it doesn't take a couple of years like the first row!


Does anyone else get sick of figuring out meals for the week? Just me? Really?
I think I had a successful one this week so far. Since we cancelled the scout meeting on Monday night...it gave us time to make the tamales! Boy - they are very time consuming! I did a pork butt in the crock pot as Carnitas. After I shredded it we made the tamales. Tuesday.... on the ride home the boy came up with the idea of Cubans. We stopped at Winn Dixie on the way home they have awesome cuban bread there. Picked up pickles too, and we had ham, swiss and carnitas and mustard at home. Used my pampered chef skillet with press and oh boy, those were yummy. I had half a head of cabbage that we shredded and made a vinegar slaw to go with it. Wednesday - Emily's meal (she didn't like the last 2 days... but did eat the shredded meat plain). Roasted veggie and italian sweet sausage pasta. Hmmm two more days of meals to deal with. Maybe baked fish tomorrow with sweet potato fries and a salad and Friday....pizza?

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Log cabin quilt finished! OMG January Finish!

My January OMG (One Monthly Goal) was to get this quilt to a top. I was successful! (I only had enough fabrics to add 6 more so I got a 12 block quilt). I managed to get this one quilted (free motion baptist fan on my domestic machine - I am way out of practice but it is done!) and bound this month too! This finished at 36x48 for a small child snuggle blanket.


I know that last time I posted a finish there was a question on the hangers. No affiliation - just love these little guys. I can't remember where I got them but if you do a search on Mini Hang Ups - you will find some places to purchase them. 


I'll link up to Elm Street Quilts and the One Monthly Goal January Finishes once it opens up. 

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Tuesday EMD blocks....

The second block from last week of month 4 went from this....

 to this last week!

Another block from Month 4 - the leaf and circle block got started. I have made no progress on this since horses on Saturday morning. I really do have all the leaves but one small one back basted. I need to figure out the circle size and cut a plastic template to stitch around and pull to get a nice circle to applique down.  Maybe in car lines and evenings this week I'll finish this one off?


Monday, January 20, 2020

Progress... and time to roll!

I managed lots of hours of hand quilting yesterday and the second row of the trip quilt is completed! Woo Hoo! Time to roll and start working on the next set of colors - green, dark blue and pink!



Sunday, January 19, 2020

Slow Sunday.....

Yes, it will be thanks to an extra day off on Monday for everyone! Kids go to Grandma's today (we will see if they take her up on the overnight offer) so Mom gets to relax and play! Hand stitching is so relaxing and rewarding.

There might be a movie time.... so I can work on the binding for this little log cabin quilt that I was able to machine quilt this week. I attached the binding before I knew I was hitting Joann's last night...so it is the dark tan that I had in my stash. This truly is a stash quilt! It is 36x48 so a small child quilt.

Some hand quilting will also happen - maybe catch up on a few shows on Amazon or Netflix? I was able to turn the quilt Friday night  so I just have the last 3 squares of this row to stitch in purple, teal and orange before I get to start on the new and final colors!

I also have some work on an EMD block that I have been back basting to prep the last few days. One more block from Month 4 to prep for hand piecing today... then I'll download the next set of Month 5 with lots of applique of peels!


What will you be stitching on today? Head on over to Kathy's Quilts and see what others all over the world will be slow stitching on.


Friday, January 17, 2020

RSC Saturday in Green

Only a few scraps of bright greens remain!

I was able to add a 12 inch crumb block to the very old pile I have sitting around. For some reason there were no green blocks! I added 4 - 6.5 inch blocks in bright greens and then sewed them together to add to the little pile.

 

I also pulled some lighter greens and added another 16 patch this month. I seemed to have a couple of purple ones hanging around as well.

Over at Stashbusters 2020 the block uses 2 inch strips and 3.5 inch squares to bust your stash with the square dance block. This one 'acts' like a log cabin for settings. I was able to pull a few greens to make one so far this month. I am adding darker greens to get the look of light/dark that I want for these blocks. It's green... and they were in the scrap bins!


Yet another challenge - a nine patch a day that I wrote about here over on Facebook. That will work into a couple of projects I have plans for this year. The first one - with the RSC is adding some friendship stars in months other than purple and red (I seem to have 12 of these already) and adding a fun scrappy nine patch to go with them! I see a 12 inch block made up of 2 nines and 2 stars. That should make a fun and colorful quilt by the end of the year. These are using 2.5 inch squares.


The green and cream log cabin got quilted on the domestic machine - I tried a baptist fan freehand. The machine had some tension issues so it was a struggle but..... I think I realized I can do free motion on smaller projects again! I don't seem to have enough brights for a binding... I am in the do I go buy some or do I search the stash and go with something I have.... either a dark tan or dark greens? Still thinking on that one.... This one finishes at 36x48. Trimmed up and ready for a decision. I've been wanting to try this quilting of baptist fans for a few years... love how it turned out.

Linking up on Saturday with the RSC. Head on over and get inspired to use up those scraps.

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Nine Patch sew along....

I was on facebook yesterday and someone in the Celebrate Hand Quilting group mentioned there was a nine patch sew along - the idea being that you sew a nine patch a day in 2020! Do I need another sew along? Nope..... will I join in? Probably!

There is an RSC Challenge project that I started ages ago... and it has not made much progress. I think this is the year.... and this challenge might help me get it moving along and completed this year.
That is the hope anyway.....

I was making friendship stars using 2.5 inch squares. I seemed to have done purple and red. Another year I had the idea of adding a scrappy nine patch and was thinking of making a 12 inch block using 2 of each - 2 friendship and 2 nine patches. I found 8 light blue ones....... and I do believe the boo boo one did get fixed.  Hopefully this year I might make some progress by adding one (I'm going to count that friendship star as a nine patch... cause I can!) a day and see if maybe by the end of the year I'll have another scrappy quilt completed?

If you would like to join in - search in facebook for One Nine Patch a Day. I believe the group started over in Northern Europe. Over 100 people were added since the post on CHQ yesterday! Lots of great ideas being shared as well..... and so the squirrel projects begin! Now, technically is it a squirrel project if I incorporate a new idea into an existing UFO? Now to figure out where the heck those blocks are in the sewing room! I pulled in these photo's from previous blog posts =)





Tuesday, January 14, 2020

EMD Tuesday...

Month 4 - the first one of the set got completed this weekend. I decided to back baste this one and it went along pretty well. I managed to prep 2 more of that set on Sunday and have most of one block done. Progress comes in baby steps, one stitch at a time!


I do have lots of car pick up lines this week so I should be able to finish off this second one (There is a circle part with 4 applique hearts that is then appliqued down to the center) and start on the 3rd applique block - leaves and circles. I hope to cut out the 4th block for hand piecing tonight. The 5th month of blocks is released tomorrow! Lets hope I can get caught up and keep up with the one per week again in the coming week.
The patterns can be found over at SentimentalStitches and she has a facebook group for this sew along as well.


Sunday, January 12, 2020

Sunday.....

There will be a little slow stitching today to do the last 5 squares in the lower left hand corner before I get to roll the quilt on the frame! I have 3 squares of each of this row left to do on that roll.... then I get to see what the last set of colors are on this quilt!


Looks like blue, pink and dark green is next! The sage, yellow and maroon were the first row I quilted. Each 'block' is 30 inches.



I have been working on this EMD block this week in the car line and yesterday while doing guinea pig supervision as his cage got cleaned. I did back basting and then needle turn applique. I left off the middle square.... I didn't feel like walking into the sewing room to cut it out last night....and I like the look as is. That's my story and I'm sticking to it! I need to prep the other 3 blocks from last month.... yikes the next set is released in 3 days!


Linking up with the Slow Sunday Stitchers.

Friday, January 10, 2020

2020 Rainbow Scrap Challenge

I'm a week late but I am joining the RSC again this year!
I was busy playing with green scraps last week but didn't link up. I was a wee bit busy (and tired) last Saturday as I was with 7 of the 9 girls in my girl scout troop for a 24 hour sleep in at the church hall where we meet. Friday 3PM to Saturday 3PM.

I did manage to finish off another 6 green and cream blocks to go with the 6 I had already made. This is a small top at 36x48. I hope to machine quilt this one this weekend.


While I had the bright scraps out.... I made a 16 patch block as those will be one of my weekly blocks to do this year.

The 16 patches are so versatile.... I am not sure if it will become a star quilt like these...



or maybe another version of a cube quilt this year?

We will see how things are looking in November! Until then I'll just make some 16 patches with 2.5 inch blocks.

Another week will be these nine patches with a grey middle. I'm using 2 inch scraps for this one. I was thinking of making 14 each month for a strip of color. Each block finishes at 4.5 inches so 10 months and 14 blocks each month would give me a 45x63 inch throw quilt.


I only have a few more scraps of the brights which are being sewn into a crumb block on the machine right now. You'll notice I had to be a little creative there on a few of these but it is using up those scraps!

Linking up with the RSC Challenge.



Wednesday, January 8, 2020

Log cabins.....

Did you know if you actually go into the sewing room and sew you accomplish something? I went in there Monday afternoon after work and again Tuesday between kid pick up's from school and again after dinner and a walk with Aidan. I got the 6 log cabin blocks done to add to the original 6. I'm calling it done for blocks. It will be set 3x4 for a 36x48 little quilt.

I set them down like this at first.


The kids didn't like it..... so I moved things around and came up with this. They liked this better.

I didn't take another photo... but the cats went in and decided they didn't like it and rearranged it to their liking! You can use your imagination on that one!.... Ok, I took a photo this morning of the cat's version!

30 degrees this morning at 7:10 when I was taking Emily to school. She got to scrape the windshield 2 days in a row!




Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Tuesday....... will be EMD update day in 2020!

There. That should get me back to making one per week! EMD is short for Ella Maria Deacon - quilt along over at Sentimental Stitches. I am a wee bit behind but have the first 3 sets completed now. The borderie perse block was finished off in 2 car lines today. (Did you hear the yippee of JOY as the kids were dropped off to school today?) I really don't care for this block... I might make the future ones into an applique of some kind instead but I tried it once!


Sunday, January 5, 2020

Slow Sunday...

Today is a recovery day for me and there will be slow stitching and relaxing today!


I managed to get the orange section quilted last week on the trip quilt and started in on the teal. I'll plan to finish the teal section today and work on the purple this week. That will get me to a roll on the frame and just a couple of blocks left of each color to stitch before starting on the last 3 colors!

I'll also stitch the borderie perse on the 12th block of the Ella Maria Deacon Quilt (Yup, behind again!) and then will prep a couple of the 4th set of blocks for hand work in the car line... the kids FINALLY go back to school on Tuesday! It has been a long break and we are ALL ready for the normal routine to hit again.

Some crochet or knitting might happen as well depending on how I feel. I should pop onto work for a short time and just prep for an install tomorrow as well but that will be quick.

Linking up with Kathy and the Slow Sunday Stitchers. I did finish off my Happy Little Things wall hanging on New Years day - I machine stitched it and hand stitched the binding for my first finish of the year. This finished off at 32 inches.

The reason I need the recovery day....... I had my troop do a sleep in at the church we meet at Friday afternoon to Saturday afternoon. The junior girls earned their simple meals badge and 2 parts of a journey. My brownies finished a journey and did another one. They also had lots of play time and bonded and made some great memories. One went home sick around 5AM..... so hopefully no one else comes down with a stomach bug. Me.... I am feeling a sinus headache coming on so Advil and lots of liquids for me today since I know I did not drink enough water the last 2 days. Friday morning kinda threw everything off - I was trying to work and when I came out to feed the guinea pigs while getting myself some water.... only one moved! Sadly, Flower the guinea pig (Emily's) passed on. Looking back - he was drinking a lot of water the last week so something must have failed. He was just a few months shy of 4 years old. Jimmy Jr (Aidan's guinea pig) will needs lots more petting and attention now as they are a sociable animal. Good thing he doesn't mind being picked up and cuddled.
Emily years ago with Flower and Sophie the cat.

Jimmy Jr is black and brown and Flower is the brown and white.