Stash Report and Design Wall Monday/Goals

First my stash report--I bought a bunch of solids and two half jelly rolls on sale--

Do you use solids in your quilting?  So my stash report is--

Stash added this week--15 yds

Stash out this week--0

Stash is ahead 15 yards!

The borders for the Orange 30's project are on my design couch--

I need to mark the seam lines on the edges.  The borders have to fit exactly so the design continues around the quilt without a break.  Tedious and time consuming but not hard.

I've been playing with these fabrics--

Myra sent me some "boy" themed fabrics and I pulled others from my stash.  Horseshoes, baseballs, African Savannah, cowboys on horses, horse heads, tooled leather, and anything I thought blended with them.  Next I searched the scrap boxes--

Anything I found in the scrap box I thought might blend with the other fabrics.  I want to use them in this pattern--

Its a free pattern called Shuffle.  It uses 5x10" rectangles, perfect to use the boy fabric but leave the motifs as intact as possible. 

Weekly Goals--

Orange 30's borders

Press/cut the Shuffle fabrics

Scrap Irish Chain

That's enough for this week, its a busy week.  I'm linking to QuiltPaintCreate and Quilting is More Fun than Housework. 

~LORI~ 

RSC Saturday

January is light to medium blues--

A few extra spool blocks--there were pieces laying there begging to be used!  The Ritzy Cracker blues were found in the "chunks" piles.  Not a FQ but an odd shaped piece.  None of these projects have enough blocks to make a quilt--eight Three Steps Forward, a small pile of spools, and 54 Ritzy Crackers.  Please see what everyone has made with blues at SoScrappy.

~LORI~

OMG

For January I'm going to have the Orange 30's project into a finished top. 

 It needs more sashings and the pieced borders.  I'm linking up with Elm Street Quilts.

~Lori~

Design Wall Monday and Weekly Goals

The Orange 30's project is coming along--

Some of the sashings are sewn on.  When the center is together I'll add the pieced borders.  I love this color--its 30's orange but I call it melon.  Where do you keep melon fabric?  

In the produce drawer!  Spritzed it with water and sealed in a plastic bag.  If its longer than a few days they go in the freezer.  The yellow for the ICC challenge is frozen.    I could have put it outside, its currently -14F.  Last night was -24F.  UGH!  COLD!!  Liz said it was cold at her house--I suggested she check this-

I gave her instructions on how to turn it up.  Aren't I a nice friend?  She lives in balmy Houston.   I'm linking to Small Quilts and Doll Quilts and Oh Scrap.

The days between Christmas and New Years were spent preparing for 2018.  I have four new starts--

Labeled project boxes!  I did lots of cutting and I'm ready to start sewing AFTER the orange project is together.  I did post this in my 2018 guidelines--

Finish a UFO before starting a new project

Its only been one day and I'm holding firm!

Weekly Goals--

Sew on the orange project

Cut more parts

RSC Light to Medium Blues

That will keep me busy.  Have a great week and a wonderful start to 2018!

~LORI~
 

Happy New Year 2018

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! 

 

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

 

2018 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, ICC 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 ENJOY, FOCUS, and BALANCE!!

They have worked well for me, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!"  I did add Focus and Balance to my words in 2016 & 2017 and I'm using them again in 2018.  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, its used a lot.  I've been limiting my internet time and sewing more. 

 

 

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

 

Happy New Year!

 

~LORI~ 

Christmas is over, back to real life!!  First my last weeks goals--

Cut more Irish Chain strips--Yes

Cut more Blue/Green bricks--No

Cut more Weekwacker strips--Yes

Decide Honeycomb quilt fabrics/size--Kinda

Cut for Caroline Chain quilt--Have plenty for now

Sew borders on 30's UFO--DONE

Now for goals until 2018--

Work on Orange 30's project

Cut more strips for ICC, Honeycomb, and Weekwacker

Decide background for Honeycomb

These will do.  I have lots of cutting to do, and I sew on other things for a break.  I also have to set 2018 goals.  

A few pictures-- 

The 30's orange UFO straight out of the bag--a tad wrinkled!

 A little bit better picture of the colors.  Its that wonderful 30's melon.  

I found a package of Super Hero capes and mask.  Four costumes for the four Thomas boys!

Here are the backs--Batman, Captain American, the Flash (??) and Spiderman.  

I miss summer.  I miss flowers.  So I planted an amaryllis bulb and it opened on Christmas Eve--

Four flowers, they are bigger than my hand.  I wish I had 10 more!  

I hope you had a great Christmas.  Four days until 2018--are you ready??

~Lori~

Motivation Friday

The pieced borders are on the 30's Granny's Strippy quilt--

Sorry about the dingy night photo--but I'm excited!  Now I can decide if I'm pulling out another UFO, or which one it might be.  

I've made a few Christmas treats, and cookie dough is chilling until later.  There is time to cut more strips for my ICC projects.  

~LORI~

 

Weekly Goals--Christmas Quilts--ICC

These were my goals from last week--

Sew Jelly Roll Twist blocks together--Done

Cut more Irish Chain Challenge Strips--Yes

Look at a 30's fabric UFO --on the wall

First the 30's fabric UFO--

Kat called it a Boston Commons type quilt.  Its from a Darlene Zimmerman book called Granny Quilts.  All the sashings are on, next are the pieced borders.  The night picture makes it look drab, the colors are more like this--

I'm linking up with Small Quilts and Doll Quilts and Quilting is More Fun Than Housework.  

Love Laugh Quilt asked if we had Christmas quilts.  We have this one on our bed--

It was a long ago English paper piecing project done with Christmas fabrics.  Here is one more--

A Christmas tree quilt.  I was taking a picture of the Amaryllis--it is 27" tall from the top of the bulb to the tip of the plant.  No flower yet!  A Chinese Christmas Coins is on the spare bed, and a log cabin made with the last of the Christmas fabrics is under the tree.

All the decorations are out.  I'm starting to make a few Christmas treats.  

Weekly Goals--

Cut more Irish Chain strips

Cut more Blue/Green bricks

Cut more Weekwacker strips

Decide Honeycomb quilt fabrics/size

Cut for Caroline Chain quilt

Sew borders on 30's UFO

There are three starts that use "chains" to direct the eye--the Irish Chain, the Honeycomb, and Caroline Chain.  Carolina Chain just recently was released as a free pattern on the C&T website.  Thank you Bonnie Hunter!

I'm inviting you to join the ICC - Irish Chain Challenge.  The guidelines are simple--cut a project (or start sewing) before 2018.  The project has to have an eye drawing chain in any direction.  A finished flimsy by May 1st.  You can repurpose UFO's, leftover bits (many quilters say that have a stash of 9 patches) or start a new project.  You can buy fabric or use stash.  ITS JUST FOR FUN!!  I'll be posting what I'm doing here and on Stashbusters at Yahoo Groups. 

Christmas is this weekend and I still have baking and present wrapping to do.  

~LORI~

Design Wall Monday, Weekly Goals

These blocks are on the design wall--

Will play with the arrangement and sew them together. I'm linking up with--

Live Laugh Love, Quilting is More Fun than Housework, Cooking Up Quilts, and Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

2Rs was here a couple weeks ago and we shopped.   I bought from the sale table--borders, backgrounds, and bindings.

Asher had a birthday--he's six now--

Birthday cake and ice cream was had by all!  Moustache has become part of the family.  He got a new toy--

He tolerates Max quite well--

Moustache was sleeping on the couch and Max decided it was cuddle time.  

There's been lots of sewing here.  I finished putting together another set of Irish chain blocks from years ago--

It needs borders yet, one of these days I'll have a border sewing day.  For fun I made two Garlic Knot blocks--

just because I wanted to! 

Weekly Goals--

Sew Jelly Roll Twist blocks together

Cut more Irish Chain Challenge Strips

Look at a 30's fabric UFO  

More than enough for this week. Christmas is coming and I'm not ready!  

~LORI~ 

Design Wall Monday and Weekly Goals

These blocks are on my wall-

Quarter Log Cabin blocks.  Its a free pattern.  

Remember when I cut a big basket of 2.5" strips to take in the camper in May?  This is one of the patterns I made with them.  I have enough Quarter Log Cabin blocks for two boy size tops.  I'm linking up with Quilting is more Fun than Housework. This pattern has NO BACKGROUND--perfect for making a Hug quilt. 

 It's been busy here.  Last week we picked up a "new to us" camper--

I hope we like it, one more slide and a rear kitchen--I like a rear kitchen in a camper.  

Last night I tried a new recipe--Plain Crumb Platz

  

I changed it a little, I added about 1/2 c. of mini chocolate chips sprinkled on the dough before the topping.  I followed the directions but think I needed a bigger pan than the recipe calls for--the dough really puffed up but it has a tender crumb and very good.

And I'm inviting you to join an Irish Chain Challenge.  We're doing this on Stashbusters and I'm inviting you to play along.  Irish Chain quilts can be anything you want--vintage to a more classic look.  This is the book I'm using--

Its a GREAT book--single, double, and triple Irish chains.  Charts for using 1.5", 2.0", or 2.5" strips.  Pressing directions.  It breaks each size down for yardage or number of strips. All sizes of quilts too. Search for Irish Chain images--and prepare to be overwhelmed.  Mine will be a triple, using a soft yellow background, and "mostly" scrappy.  This is a quilt for ME. 

Remember all those magazines and books I brought home from the guild's rummage sale?  I have a small stack beside the bed for late night reading--

Best purchase ever!  

Weekly Goals--

Cut Irish Chain Strips

Finish last six seams on Quarter Log Cabin

Put a new project on the design wall

Sew more binding

That will keep me busy.  Have you put your Christmas decorations up?  I'd like to put our tree up and find the Christmas quilts.

~Lori in South Dakota~   

I'm Back!

Its been a busy month. No more volunteering until next year.  

October 9th we moved the camper home.  October 12th I went to Sioux Falls for guild.  Friday I helped hang quilts for the quilt show.  Saturday was spent with the grands, and Lorri2Rs and I went to the quilt show on Sunday.  A few pictures from the show--

 

Quilt photos are missing the edges because I could not get any further away when taking pictures.  Did I buy anything at the quilt show?  Two boxes of used magazines and books for $2 each.  A hand quilting PVC quilt frame in the original box for $2.  That's it.

And when I got home with the camper we discovered OUR FRIDGE IN THE HOUSE WAS DYING! ARRGGH!

Luckily we have another fridge in the basement but it got old running up and down the steps.  This is the new fridge--a french door with freezer on the bottom.  No more bending when looking for leftovers.  This was delivered a couple weeks later.

The Monday after the quilt show I was doing this--

That's my job--running the combine.  A few small breakdowns but nothing major.  

My lunch box in the combine.  The pliers is to turn the heater on--the knob turns hard so I used a pliers.  The heater works well--nice and toasty but ITS NOISY.  I alternated turning the heater on and becoming deaf with turning it off and getting cold.  Oh well.  We got done!

Only one flat tire this year.  Yippee!!  We finished harvest the day before Halloween so I was able to visit the boys and hand out candy at their house while they went round the neighborhood with their parents.  Unfortunately they brought home more candy than I was able to hand out!

I'm stilling putting stuff away from the camper.  Very little sewing.  I did finish a few things--

I did not make these quilts.  All I had to do was quilt and bind them.  Judy in MO furnished two of the backings.  So the amount of yardage leaving my stash was 7.5yds. (The quilts finish about 75x90")  Thank you Liz, Mary, and Judy.  It was a pleasure to quilt your tops.  They have been donated to McCrossan Boys Ranch.   

Bonnie Hunter's mystery On Ringo Lake starts soon.  The color choices are favorites--melony orange, teal, and brown.   Saturday I did a little stash enhancing--

My stash has some of the melons, but I needed teals and brown.  I bought one brown-that is all the quilt store had where I shopped.  (Its a small store).  My stash has little teal or brown because I LOVE those colors and use them up as fast as I buy them!  Bonnie said try a salmony pink so I bought one of those too.

Oh, during all this my DISH TV in the sewing room needed fixing, and I had to move stash off the shelves (the cable runs behind them).  The first tech didn't have the part, and I waited another week for the 2nd tech.  He was here Saturday and I've been sorting and refolding stash.  The pinks, purples, oranges, yellows, golds, and browns have been resorted and moved.  Well, guess that takes care of one section of stash sorted this month!

Still plenty of sorting and putting away.  There are binding projects beside my chair.  Maybe now I can get back to sewing.  This summer I made several sets of blocks.  Fall in the City is still on the design wall, only three long seams left on it.  

And Moustache has moved in with Laura Beth, Nick, and the boys--

He sleeps on LB and Nick's bed, says its the very soft.  And he loves his new mother!  If its story time he climbs up and settles in.  I'll try to check in more often now. 

Lori in South Dakota