January Ends & Odds

 I don't want to jinx myself for the rest of the year, but if I can keep up the sewing pace I set in January, I'll get all my goals accomplished!   Hahaha - who am I fooling?!

I experimented with a couple of potential new Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks, but in the end decided this was not the time to start a new RSC project.  That may change as the year goes on, but for now I'm going to attempt to finish some RSC UFOs before I tackle something new.

The Antique Tiles block is a carry-over from 2021.  These three blocks feature January's RSC color:  red.  I don't have an entire rainbow's worth of these blocks yet, so I'll keep adding to the collection as the year goes on.

While we're talking Rainbow Scrap Challenge:

I just finished stitching this RSC project which features Bonnie Hunter's Easy Breezy block.  I put an audiobook on my phone and plowed through the stitching in about three days.  That's 143 blocks; finished size 66" x 78".  I'll definitely be sending this to the "spa" (Pat Sloan's term for sending a quilt to the longarm quilter), and ultimately gifting it.

And since we all need to have the hope of Spring, I offer a Mary Engelbreit garden-themed panel quilt kit.  Forgive the crazy indoor picture - this is another Dear Hubby-made quilt hanger in our hallway.  It's a great location for displaying quilts, but not great for taking pictures.  I finished hand-stitching the binding on this, but was afraid to wash the quilt.  So - the edges are a little wavy.  I'll have to figure out what I want to do about that.

 

 

Leave it to Mary Engelbreit to layer color and shape and texture!  I follow her on Instagram and I'm always amazed by the creative work she shares.

 

 Happiness Must Be Grown In One's Own Garden.  

Absolutely!

I love the quilting on this!  At first, I didn't think all-over quilting would work, but I decided to jump in and see how I liked it.  Quilting by Diane Knott of Butterfly Threads Quilting.  

 

I'm looking forward to February's quilting endeavors!

Unearthing Treasures

For the past several years, I've used the end of the year to review my quilting plans - past and future.  After digging through all the drawers and bins of fabric, thinking about patterns on my Quilting Bucket List, and taking a hard look at UFOs, I make a list of projects to focus on in the coming year.  I'm not sure this process improves my creativity, but it does help me focus on projects that need completing!

Before I could do any reviewing and planning for 2020, I needed to do some cleaning and organizing in my sewing room.  It took a couple of days to get the worst of the clutter tamed, but now I can access my fabric stash much more easily, and my main work table has been de-cluttered.

The floor of my fabric closet was so cluttered with tote bags, fabric bundles, and projects, I could barely walk around in the closet, much less open the drawers of fabric.  I found a new home for the tote bags, organized the projects into containers, and filed the fabric bundles in a new location.

Reproduction fabrics are stored in this bureau, so I cleared out some additional room and added the repro fabric bundles that had been stashed willy-nilly around the sewing room.  I re-discovered a couple of fabric bundles that are probably close to 20 years old themselves!  Non-repro bundles got stored in a plastic bin next to the bureau.

To help me keep track of all these treasures, I created a spreadsheet in Evernote where I listed info about the fabric collection, including pictures of the fabrics and any inspiration or pattern ideas related to the collection.  The beauty of Evernote is it works across multiple platforms, so I can access that information from my computer as well as any portable devices, i.e. my phone. (I have no affiliation with Evernote, just a satisfied customer.  The app is free, but if you want to use it on multiple devices, you'll need to pay for the Premium upgrade.  Not expensive and worth the investment.)

As I was cleaning up, I came across a couple of well-aged projects that needed scrutiny.  Both projects had started with good intentions, but gotten side-tracked for one reason or another.  

This Mary Engelbreit panel was the basis of a quilt kit I purchased to make for a friend.  That was in 2007!  I decided it was time to at least finish the flimsy and get it on the list of quilts waiting to be quilted.

It didn't take long to finish up - the green scalloped border was machine-appliquéd, as well as the flowers and "notecard" at the bottom right.

Close up of the appliqué.  I'm not sure when or how this will be quilted, but at least it's a flimsy!

Another buried treasure was this batch of antique Lemoyne Star blocks.  I had originally planned to stitch these blocks into a quilt, but on re-examining them I realized the fabrics were too fragile to support any type of re-stitching or quilting.  

Instead, I think I will use the blocks for inspiration and recreate them using current fabrics.  A quick check of the stash convinced me I already have fabrics that mimic the plaids, checks, and prints, so all I need are some solid background fabrics.  

I'd like to say this will be a project for 2020, but there are still more UFOs that need attention, followed by a new BOM from Barbara Brackman, and Diane Knott's sew-along, and Rainbow Scraps, and - well - you get the picture!

New: Project & App

I don't blog from my iPad with great frequency, but it's a nice option to have.  I recently updated my iPad blogging app and had an epic fail when I tried to blog while traveling.  Today's post is an effort to overcome iPad blogging obstacles.

Here is my latest sewing project at the camp.  It's a Mary Engelbreit kit from Moda that I bought several years ago to make for a friend.  I didn't think it had been in the queue THAT long, but when I started working on the project I noticed the date 2007 on the selvedge!  The good news is this will be a quick project, although I am contemplating hand quilting.