Last Weekend in January

I can't believe the end of January is already upon us.  I did get one finish and made progress on many things so my 15 minutes to sew goal is working. 

Above is my "Nickel Bricks" quilt which I made good progress on this weekend.  I laid it out today only to find that I was still 6 blocks short so had to throw those last ones together and I made the pieced borders.  This is all stacked up and waiting to be sewn into rows. 

I also started cutting on my "Positively Bohemian" kit that will eventually look something like this. 

However, the first thing I did was cut some of the main fabric a half an inch too short and had to adjust another piece to compensate.  So...some things will be my own design... I still have plenty of work to do to get this one going.  

This package of fat eighths came in the mail for me this week and have already been going into the teal log cabin quilt that I am currently calling "Calypso's Cabin by the Sea".  

I am loving the way the blocks look!  Not sure which layout I will use yet.  

This little iron is one of my favorite new things!  I ordered it in early January to have at my downstairs sewing station.  I LOVE this iron.  It is tiny and cute and does a great job for pressing the seams of my little pieces.  One of the customer reviews complained that it rusts quickly but I never put water in my iron, I use a spray bottle.  This is a Sunbeam, as is the full size one I have used for years.  

Yesterday was the first meeting of my Spring Running Group and I did five miles.  That's the most I have done since before Christmas but I did well and I feel surprisingly good, especially after a soak in the tub with some Epsom salts this afternoon.  

I am less than thrilled to be facing the work week again.  It seems like the weekends fly by and I only get a glimpse of my kids if  I see them at all. 

Hopefully all this sewing I have been doing will come together into some actual finishes soon so I will have some real quilts to show...

Happy sewing!

May the road rise up to meet you...

So, even though I have been flitting from one project to the next, I did actually have a finish this past week.  It is a wall hanging made from a tea towel that I have had tucked away for a couple of years now.  This is my favorite Irish Blessing. 

Here is a full view.  I need to get a better hanger for it but it currently hangs on the wall just before we head up the stairway.  

 I had quite a jaunt to the local quilt shop yesterday and did a bit of shopping- okay, a spree, it was a shopping spree...
I acquired the kit for this Kaffe Quilt and the new book came with it.."Quilts in Ireland"   I am looking forward to making some of the other projects but probably with stash fabrics. 
Yesterday I got all the flowers fussy cut and started sewing corners on for the snowball blocks.  

This quilt kit also jumped into my shopping bag.  It is called "Positively Bohemian".  I can't wait to start cutting it out.  

I also started (earlier this week) a scrap quilt using this pattern...

from this book...

but I will be making mine from shirts worn by my husband, my son, and myself and one piece of fabric that I threw in for fun.  

It will look quite a bit different from the original but I am loving it.  The blue solid is a Kona and I was a bit disappointed to find that the piece I bought recently to add to what I have is not quite the same color.  You can only tell when you are looking at it in the sun and with the pieces right next to each other so I think I am just going to use it any way.  It is a scrap quilt after all...

So, while I focused on all this, I am still trying to get around to getting borders put on and some other projects going.  

Did I mention that I started a log cabin that I have had cut out for a long time?  Yeah, that too.  

Then this thing called "work" came up today and got in my way.  No sewing has yet taken place today but I may go slip some in before bed.  I have a few projects to do...

Happy Stitching! 

Slow Progress

So, the Weather was a bit wet today and the wind was nasty but that sky, on the way to work this morning, was almost worth getting up and out of the house for...

I have been making good progress on my goal of 15 minutes to sew.  I knew I would not make it every day but each of those little pink hearts means I spent some time at one of my multiple sewing stations, or I cut out blocks, or I did some hand stitching of a binding.  So, even though I am easily distracted and work on a bunch of different projects rather than following one through to done, I am still making some progress.  I hope to get some rows sewn together tomorrow and some bindings sewn on, that is AFTER I CLEAN MY IRON!!!

This is my 3rd block for January.  No, its not sewn together yet because, earlier this week, my husband changed his mind just after I started working and we watched a show instead. 

This is my play block for the week after picking up a copy of the current Quilter's World.  I have been wanting to make another quilt out of my strings for awhile now and felt inspired when I saw the quilt with the diamonds.  I did not follow the pattern for this block but went off the basic idea.  Not sure if this will continue on to a complete quilt or not.  And, while playing, I discovered that I don't have as many strings as I thought.  I think I would rather focus on projects that need to be finished- but that is so hard for me to do...

Hopefully, by the end of the long weekend, I will have some flimsies and some quilting progress to show you.  Also want to squeeze in 2 runs.  But, one of the major priorities is taking down the outside Christmas lights.  Its been so cold and the weather so yucky that it hasn't been done yet.  Happy Stitching!

Family Tea Time

So, one of the gifts I bought my family at Christmas was a Mary Poppins themed tea at the local Tea House, St. James Tea Room.  We went yesterday as part of our last hurrah before the kids start back to University tomorrow. 

We had a lot of fun!  My daughter studies Opera Voice Performance but she has always loved musicals as well and Mary Poppins is one of her dream characters.  

I thought the men looked cute with the chimney sweep tools!

And here Lilly is seeing how she measures up...

Here are my men with their matching cars.  The boy got the hand me down after his accident and is happy to be looking at lower gas costs.   My husband bought himself an identical one.  We now own three Priuses...Prii?  We do love them. 

I finally found a good shawl pin for my crochet garments.  It is actually big enough to work.  I am currently a little obsessed with bees so...

Here I am, resting up with a favorite quilt after all the family fun.  After a short nap, we jumped up and headed off to FlixBrewhouse to see Aquaman.  It was about as good as expected but we had fun.  Jason Momoa...enough said.  

Today I slept in and it is snowing so the running is not going to happen, though if I was a die hard, it would.  That means I should go to the gym instead since my husband headed off to climb.  However, the sewing room is definitely calling my name...

Joining in on a Block of the Month

 I decided, last week, to join in on this Block of the Month from A Quilting Life.  https://www.aquiltinglife.com/2019/01/2019-block-of-the-month-january.html/

I originally planned on using fabric that I had but then decided I wanted solids and I just didn't have any.  While there, I found this cute little paper airplane piece so had to throw that in as well. 

You really just need to make a bunch of half square triangles and then each month you will get layouts for the blocks.  I chose to use the directions for "8 at a time Triangle Square Units" from the Nov/Dec 2017 Fons and Porter Love of Quilting.  My blocks are larger than the ones  from the quilt along.  I started with 10 inch squares and so my finished units are for 4" and my blocks are 16". 




I am loving the crisp look of these blocks and I think it will be a beautiful quilt. 

I still need to make a third block for January. 

I am moving very slowly on this bee quilt as it is the focus of the 15 minutes of sewing for each day.  So far I have only managed 3 days this week so the block of the month took up a lot of that.  I am hoping tomorrow will be spent getting some borders put on and some rows together of other quilts.  The pattern for the bee quilt can be found in the Jan/Feb 2017 issue of Love of Quilting.  It's called "Grandmother's Album".

I also have some binding to sew down and a long run to fit in this weekend.

But, this morning, my family is attending a Mary Poppins themed Tea at a local tea house.  Looking forward to the special family time after the stress of my son's car wreck, buying a replacement car, and before the kids start back at University on Monday.  

Can't believe that January is half over already!

Sew with love this weekend!

results so far for 15 minutes of stitching

I sewed for hours each day but that's just because I was still off from work.  Have to go back Monday so the progress made this week will not be repeated for the rest of the year- most likely...

15 minutes stitching days/week = 5/5 days
15 minutes stitching days/Jan = 5/5 days
15 minutes stitching days in 2019 = 5/5 days
Success rate = 100%

Sewing until 3 am

This is a quilt that I started a few years ago when I realized I had A LOT of green and browns left over from other projects.  

It is from this book and uses my most very favorite- four patches.  I just think they look so perfectly quilty!

I chose to change the sizes of the blocks used to accommodate my 2.5 inch strips so my blocks come out a bit bigger than in the original pattern and I am using a total of 88 blocks instead of 80 so the quilt will be a big one.

After napping in the chair while my husband played Tomb Raider- exhaustion from the stress of the accident and aftermath finally catching up to me- I, of course, couldn't sleep when I went to bed.  So, I headed to the sewing room and stayed there until 3 am.  I had not even accomplished half the blocks so I had a lot of cutting and digging through my stash for more fabrics.

I am completely out of neutral backgrounds at this point and will have to replenish soon.  Not even sure I ended up with enough to finish these blocks.

Now, I should be going to the gym, but I have a headache and I am feeling very stingy with my time since I go back to work on Monday, so, I think I am heading back to the sewing room, in my pajamas, to spend the day.

My husband and son are off to the climbing gym, the accident hasn't slowed my son down much at all.

I also need to get the borders onto this scrappy quilt.  They are cut and ready to go...

I noticed, when sewing this together, that I got one block oriented the wrong way.  I had no desire to go back and redo so I just left it.  Can you find it?

Unfortunately...

The quilting and vacation fun came to an abrupt stop yesterday when, while sitting with a friend and teaching them to hand sew a binding, I got a phone call from my son that he had been in a car accident.  My son is completely fine other than the expected soreness and post traumatic stress.  He is in one piece, spent a few hours in the ER yesterday where his main concern was getting out of there so he could eat! 
So today will be spent dealing with some insurance and going to the towing yard to collect some items.  Then lots of errands since I have to get back to work on Monday. 

So, 2019 started off by reminding me of how blessed I am to have a beautiful family and the heavens blessed me again by keeping them safe!
Best wishes to all for a SAFE 2019!  Hug those babies tight every chance you get!  So relieved to be hugging mine today!

Scrappy Stars is a flimsy...

This is what I did as we were snowed in on NY Eve.  I have the backing fabric in the dryer right now, maybe will get it put together this weekend and on the quilting frame.  Today I worked on a miniature quilt and a true, no-editing, scrap quilt.  Pictures to come tomorrow when I hope to be sewing it into rows.