OMG

This month I want to quilt the Bricks & Stepping Stones quilt--

Its going to be a busy month, but I hope to make some quilting progress. I'm linking with Elm Street Quilts.

~Lori1R in South Dakota~

Design Wall Monday and Weekly Goals

Last night I finished sewing the Red/White 9 Patches together--

Its 66x76", a couple borders is needed to frame all those blocks in.  I'm linking to Oh Scrap, Monday Making, Small Quilts & Doll Quilts, and Moving it Forward.

Weekly Goals--

NONE!!!  This week is the Nebraska Scrap Attack Cutting Party, and I plan to SLASH SLASH SLASH!!!   

~Lori1R in South Dakota~

Rainbow Scrappy Challenge and Motivation Saturday

January's Rainbow Scrappy Challenge Color was RED.  While sorting I pulled some red scraps--

Puss in Corner and Garlic Knot blocks.   Looks like a lot of red, but a quilt needs 100 or more of these blocks.  And who says I can only make one quilt??!!  I had a few other scraps to play with and made these--

No red, but they were fun anyway!  I'm linking with SoScrappy.

How are my goals??

Prep a top to quilt--No

Organize the scraps etc I am taking to the NE Cutting Party--Yes

Sew more of the R/W top together--Yes

We had a busy couple of days this week, Max came to visit--

We picked him up Wednesday night and I took him home on Friday.  This is the first time he stayed with us without his brothers.  It had its ups and downs, he was homesick.  He immediately was back to his sunny self when we packed on Friday morning and he asked to stop at McDonalds for lunch. 

 Today he played outside with his brothers--

He had wild hair afterwards!  Boy we miss him!  

Back to packing for Nebraska!  Are you planning a Scrap Attack?

~Lori1R in South Dakota~

Design Wall Monday, Stash Report, and Weekly Goals

The Red/White Nine patch blocks are still on the wall--

I've sewn more of them together.  Yesterday I made some Garlic Knot blocks-

All week I've been sorting scraps and small pieces of yardage.   The smaller scraps have been turned into this--

At least 300 5" charms and 300 Bricks.  And two heaping mounds of 2.5" squares were added to the squares box--

I also made a "Garlic Knots" kit.

 Ready for mindless piecing!  But all this trimming made a huge pile of trash--

If it was smaller than a 2.5" square I tossed it.  Every stack of fabric has been pulled out, sorting off the small pieces.  This hasn't been done for 3-4 years.  Time for Stash Turnover! 

Stash Report--

I added 6 yards of white to dye for a backing

I finished the doll quilt for 3/4 yd

Stash is ahead by 5.75 yards 

Weekly Goals

Prep a top to quilt

Organize the scraps etc I am taking to the NE Cutting Party

Sew more of the R/W top together

I'm linking to Oh Scrap, Monday Making, Small Quilts & Doll Quilts, and Moving it Forward.

Do you do Scrap Attacks?  How do you deal with scraps?  

~Lori1R in South Dakota~

 

Motivation Friday

Friday, time to check my goals--

Press scraps--YES

Prep a top to quilt--No

Sew on R/W 9 patches--Yes

Most of this week has been spent on Scrap Attack.  Its been at least 3-4 years since I did a major scrap attack.  At the end of the month 2Rs and I are heading to Dee's in Nebraska and we're going to do mass scrap cutting.  Hopefully I will get enough pieces cut for four quilts.  Two Log Cabins, a Snail Trail, and a Shakespeare in the Park.  Maybe a Churn Dash. And cut the rest into strips for future use.  

The mailman has delivered three priority boxes of donation fabric in the last month.  Since it doesn't cost me any $$$, I don't count it in the stash report.  I use lots of fabric in the boy quilts.  Specifically picked for me by a friend, there were kits, FQs, and lots of green fabric!  This week I rinsed and pressed most the FQs.  This takes out all the set in wrinkles, removes the excess dye, and preshrinks the fabric.  Notice I said "rinsed", I did not wash the FQs.  Grouped by color I soaked them in hot tap water, then threw them in the washer on spin to remove excess water.  A short trip in the dryer, then I pressed and starched them flat.  These are laid flat in a large tote to take to Nebraska.  We will be using Accuquilt Go Cutters to turn scraps into quilt kits using a Log Cabin die, a Snail Trail Die, and possibly a Churn Dash die.  I've gone through almost all my scrap boxes and organized what there was.  Smaller pieces have been cut into my favorite usable precut bits.  So far this week I cut 292 - 5" charms, 173 - Bricks (3.5x6.5") and a small mountain of 2.5" squares.  There hasn't been much sewing this week so tonight I sewed up a few blocks for fun--

Six uneven 9 patches or Puss in Corner blocks and two Garlic Knots.  Next I will check the shelves for small pieces of yardage, especially for lights.  More organization is needed before I go.  

I'm linking up for Busy Hands Quilts, Let's Bee Social, Nina Marie, and Can I Get a Whoop Whoop.

Do you save your scraps for a Scrap Attack, or do you use them immediately?  Or do you not keep scraps?  

~Lori1R in South Dakota~

Design Wall Monday and Weekly Goals

The Red/White 9 patches are on the design wall--

About half of them are sewn in rows.  Plod Plod Plod!!

Weekly Goals--

Press scraps

Prep a top to quilt

Sew on R/W 9 patches

And I have a finish--a small finish!  I am #7 on Stashbusters to be crowned UFO Queen. I remembered where I had stashed the black Perle cotton and quickly stitched the small quilt up!

Wobbly primitive big stitches done with black Perle cotton.  Its 17x24" and a perfect size for a doll quilt.  The yellow binding was a piece left from another project.  I'll estimate 3/4yd of fabric was used.  Putting this in the mail to Maddy.  I'm linking to Oh Scrap, Monday Making, Small Quilts & Doll Quilts, and Moving it Forward.

~Lori1R in South Dakota~

Motivation Friday

Time to check my goals for this week--

Prep one quilt top and backing to quilt--No
More Hoytyville sewn together--DONE
Press scraps--No

Not following my goals but I have been busy sewing.  Solved the dilemma of the square Jacob's Ladder quilt.  I added picket fence borders--

Night picture--sorry about the quality.  Added a 2.5" brown border and then picket fence border, used this book for ideas--

Its one of my favorite go-to books for ideas.  I have all of Pat Speth's Nickel Quilt books.  I'm also moving up the list on Stashbusters--I think I will be queen soon.  Lucky#7 and the list is moving fast.  Maybe a small UFO to finish?  Much searching, a box of junk sorted and tossed, and the small UFO was found.  Only--it was like an amoeba--it has split into TWO matching small quilts.  EEEKKKKK--UFOs are multiplying just like scraps!  Decided to maybe do something different with this one and got it ready for hand quilting.  No--I haven't lost my mind, I want to try big stitch quilting.  

Its 17x24"--a small quilt.  It was made 15 years ago maybe??  Now I need to buy perle cotton and big eye needles.  I thought I had some but alas, none has been found.  

And some shopping this week, not fabric--shoes!  Ordered these off the internet and they are exactly what I wanted.  Flat dress shoes--

Ken laughed at them, said he thought he wore shoes like them in grade school or high school.  They remind me of the shoes nuns wore 55 years ago, only these aren't all black with small heels.  Do you remember those shoes? 

Tonight I printed off instructions to a couple of the UFOs I pulled out.  Will put a set of blocks on the design wall.  Once they are up I can ponder where to go next.   

~Lori1R in South Dakota~

 

 

Design Wall Monday and Weekly Goals

These blocks are on the wall--

This is Hoytyville #2.  I'm sewing it together in between other projects.  These tops were on the wall too--

Stay Center is a free pattern at APQS.  Dee in Nebraska and Lorri2Rs swapped blocks with me.  Swapped blocks make a quilt extra special.  I added a row of brown blocks because I wanted it a bit bigger and I love brown.

These Jacob's ladder blocks were made for the RSC.  Its 72", I don't like square quilts so I'm considering added a pieced border at the top.  Its scrappy with scrappy neutrals so adding a pieced border will be easy.  Maybe.  

Weekly Goals

Prep one quilt top and backing to quilt
More Hoytyville sewn together
Press scraps

I am about one month behind schedule due to late harvest.  So I doubt any quilting will happen before February 1st.   But my favorite word to describe my progress is "plod".  Lots of plodding is being done!

Later this month 2Rs and I will road trip to visit Dee in Nebraska.  We are having a "cutting party".  Lots of fabric scraps will bite the dust!  Dee and 2Rs have Accuquilt cutters.  My goal is strips for a couple log cabin quilts.  Its been a while since I made one, but I admire them.  What is more comforting than a log cabin quilt?  So I will press what scraps I can ahead of time and lay them flat in a large tote.  What quilt do you think of as "comforting"?  Is it the color, the pattern, the fabric, the maker?  

Anne on Stashbusters had this quote in her post--

When Pooh asked Piglet what day it was and Piglet said "It's Today"...Pooh's response: "Oh good, its my my Favorite Day!" 

I love it!!!  Make today your favorite day!!

I'm linking with Oh Scrap!, Monday Making, Small Quilts & Doll Quilts, and Moving it Forward.

~Lori1R in South Dakota~

Sorry--no matter what I do I cannot change the size of the text on this post!  ARRRGGHHH!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! 

 Its a new year, and I'm using my 2016 & 2017, and 2018 Guidelines again--

2019 Guidelines

Refold/organize ONE cube/spot in my stash per month

Work on ONE UFO per month and move it One more step towards completion.  (add borders, set blocks into a top, etc)

Any piece of stash less than 9" WOF goes into the scrap box to be recut into usable units--noodles, 3.5" x 6.5" bricks, 5" charms.  

Finish a UFO before starting a new project (this one is a bit iffy)

I plan to participate in Design Wall Mondays, Stashbuster's UFO Challenge, Rainbow Scrap Challenge, Precut Challenge, and other internet fun.  Even Stash reports!  I may not post to each one every week--but I enjoy them. 

I plan to make quilts for donation and for family. 

I will participate in internet fun.  

I will remind myself its the PROCESS I love the most!

 

 My words for the year are KINDNESS, ENJOY, FOCUS, and BALANCE!!

They have worked well for me, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!"  I added KINDNESS because I want to add it to my life.  I've learned a very helpful phrase--Just One Thing--JOT.  Even if you don't think you have time or don't feel like it, do JOT.  Wind bobbins.  Rip the mistake you laid to the side.  Press the blocks you pieced.  JOT can be locating a pattern, doing math, or making lists.  JOT is a task that might take 15 minutes.  Its a great tool, I use it a lot.  I've been limiting my internet time and sewing more.  I need better record keeping, I've ordered a Quilt Journal.  And since my new word is KINDNESS, I also ordered a gratitude journal.

These guidelines have worked well for me.  I have less UFOs.  More finished quilts.  And its been fun!   

Happy New Year!

~LORI1R in South Dakota~