Weekly Progress - Back to School

{Dad doing the wake-up via Skype}

{Second grade? WHAT?}

So the Dude is off to school and I suddenly have masses of free time. Which is filled with PTO already. Woo!

Fifteen Minute Challenge

 Pressing and folding all my fat quarters. Slow and steady progress. Benefit: I could find my Poetica fabric! {See below.}

Design Wall

Four-patches as leaders/enders for a little toy quilt. There will be pinwheels in the empty spaces. Eventually.

Finished:

Superhero Squares

Progress:

{Grandmother's Choice - Churn Dash - Thrifty}
LQS Saturday Sampler 2012 (18/36 blocks)
{Check out more BOMs!}

New:

I'm working on quilting a HUGE t-shirt quilt, so when I needed a break and didn't want to do complicated piecing, I put a couple of these together. The pattern is Boardwalk by Fig Tree. It's one of those blocks that looks 'eh' set regular {right} and 'WOW' on point {left}.

No Progress:

Fat Quarter Stars (6/12 blocks)

LQS Saturday Sampler 2011 (12/12 & center) 

Chunky Log Cabin (13/20 blocks)

St. Paul's Cross (2/42? blocks) 

Quilting/Basted: 

Bad Romance

Fall-gyle

Layer Cake Quilt Along

Joining:

 Grandmother's Choice - I know. I KNOW. But, I decided not to do the Vintage Christmas QA, because I really don't need another Christmas quilt. And a long term BOW is nice to have around. And I really want to use my Poetica! {But I need to buy a smidge more now... Oops!} 

Japanese Charm Swap - I did one of these a year ago, so obviously I need to add to my collection. There's a few spots available still {maybe!}

Adoption:

Application Submitted - 2/12 

Home Study - approved 5/12

USCIS paperwork - mailed 6/12
Home Study to Korea - 6/12
Referral Accepted - 6/12

New Projects: 1

Completed Projects: 1

In Progress: 11

Stash Report - Week 34

The only thing I bought last week was the backing for my Superhero Squares.

 Which is finished, and the binding came from my stash, so woo! Numbers should be going down!

Except...I created a monster...and my mother-in-law went shopping...

Three yards of Dear Stella to back my Sunkissed quilt - don't they go perfectly together?

Peanuts Christmas fat quarters for my birthday.

And I am so not counting this stack as mine. I'm teaching her to piece next month so she can make something with it. {And I will steal the scraps!}

Oh, and I also used a fat quarter to make this:

A bulletin board to stick some inspiration on!

Used this Week: 4.46

Used Year to Date: 82.61

Added this Week: 7.97

Added Year to Date: 143.81

Net Used for 2012: (61.20) yards

Superhero Squares - Finished!

I love a quilt that takes just about a week to put together, start to finish. Probably because I have Quilting ADD and I lose interest in a project after that!

This is a donation quilt, for Wrapped in Hope. The kid requested Marvel heroes, red and black. So that's what I did! The squares are 10" finished and the sashings are 1" each, with an overall size of about 60x48".

I didn't use a pattern - and I actually wanted to have the double sashing on the outside edges, too, but I ran out of fabric. Which is probably why you should use a pattern and not guess!

I quilted it with my trademarked* triple diagonal lines through the blocks, with red thread in the black four-patches and black thread through the red ones.

{*not actually trademarked}

The backing is red minkee; the binding is a red dot from my stash. 

The grass is dead...but I shot these few pictures in between thunderstorms, so there may be hope for my lawn.

The solids are Kona black and cardinal. Both of the superhero prints came from Joann's.

Weekly Progress - On Our Own

We dropped my mother at the airport last week, and now the Dude and I are fully on our own. It's a good thing school starts this week, because he is already bored of me!

I have been unpacking slowly and doing a sewing space overhaul at the same time, which has led me to a new Fifteen Minute Challenge - pressing and folding all my fat quarters {and semi-FQ shaped pieces} the same way. 

So far, I've only done it Friday/Saturday/Monday, and I have a pretty big pile to work through. So for fifteen minutes, every day, before I start sewing...press and fold.

Progress:

First thing I unpacked was my Picture-Perfect Polaroid Block Swap fabric, and finished them up only two days late.

{my favorite}

{except maybe this one, with the bunnies photo-bombing...}

 Next, I whipped through my Wrapped in Hope quilt. The kid requested "Marvel heroes, red and black." I think I nailed it! I have all the rows sewn together now, and as soon as I figure out backing, it will be basted.

And finally, I finished the sashing on Central Park Sudoku. It's not done - I want to add a skinny and a wide border - but that will have to wait until my shopping list is complete.

No Progress:

Fat Quarter Stars (6/12 blocks)

LQS Saturday Sampler 2012 (15/36 blocks)

LQS Saturday Sampler 2011 (12/12 & center) 

Chunky Log Cabin (13/20 blocks)

St. Paul's Cross (2/42? blocks) 

Quilting/Basted: 

Bad Romance

Fall-gyle

Layer Cake Quilt Along 

Joining:

Vintage Holiday Quilt Along - another one for the shopping list. I have piles of Fairy Frost...but none for background!

Adoption:

Application Submitted - 2/12 

Home Study - approved 5/12

USCIS paperwork - mailed 6/12
Home Study to Korea - 6/12
Referral Accepted - 6/12

New Projects: 1

Completed Projects: 0

In Progress: 12

Stash Report - Week 33

Finally found my Avengers fabric!

And Kona black and cardinal to go with it.

It's already sliced up and nearly sewn together. So it should go right back out next week.

Used this Week: 0

Used Year to Date: 78.15

Added this Week: 2.5

Added Year to Date: 135.84

Net Used for 2012: (57.69) yards

Weekly Progress - Home Again, Home Again...

...jiggety-jig!

Before I left, there was a lot of this...

{from the top of the Department of the Interior - my dad scored us a tour, including the Secretary's private office}

{Smithsonian of Natural History...he wanted to see the "cursed diamond" - and then the History Channel was banned...}

{Caterpillars at the Smithsonian}

{the Mall}

{Carousel}

{National Zoo}

And there was a whole lot of packing and driving, which meant there was not a whole lot of sewing. In fact, nothing was done except for Big Blue.

Fifteen Minute Challenge

  Still Big Blue's binding, every day until it was finished on Friday! {And then, no breaks from the packing and driving.}

 

Finished:

Big Blue...like, totally finished.

 

And now I have this...

...that somewhere has my Picture-Perfect Polaroid Block Swap materials...that I absolutely must unpack and finish immediately.

 

No Progress:

Central Park Sudoku (sashing & borders)

Fat Quarter Stars (6/12 blocks)

LQS Saturday Sampler 2012 (15/36 blocks)

LQS Saturday Sampler 2011 (12/12 & center) 

Chunky Log Cabin (13/20 blocks)

St. Paul's Cross (2/42? blocks)

 

Quilting/Basted: 

Bad Romance

Fall-gyle

Layer Cake Quilt Along

 

Joining:

Vintage Holiday Quilt Along

Adoption:

Application Submitted - 2/12 

Home Study - approved 5/12

USCIS paperwork - mailed 6/12
Home Study to Korea - 6/12
Referral Accepted - 6/12

New Projects: 0

Completed Projects: 1

In Progress: 11

Stash Report - Week 32

One last new quilt store before I leave Virginia...Kelly Ann's in Warrenton. Very small but very quaint and friendly.

I bought the bottom fabric, Timber by Jessica Levitt. I've never heard of it, it's not at all what I typically stash, but I had to have it. There is zero logic to my fabric choices sometimes...

The top fabric is from Joann's and for my Wrapped in Hope quilt - the kid requested Marvel heroes. I have some Spiderman, but I'm having the worst luck finding Avengers! I know where I can get it online, so I'll try one more local store before giving up.

And then there's my reward for cutting my sister's Yellow Brick Road - she chose the size for 24 fat quarters and I got the six leftovers! Guess which color my niece doesn't want...?

I also have the cutting leftovers...a whooping 1.25" from each FQ. Not even enough for a log cabin strip!

And in the finishes, one teeny tiny finish...

 Big Blue!

I already counted out the top. The backing was 120" wide, so it doesn't look that impressive on the outs. But the 450" of binding helps!

Used this Week: 4.26

Used Year to Date: 78.15

Added this Week: 2.75

Added Year to Date: 133.34

Net Used for 2012: (55.19) yards

Big Blue Finish!

What do you get when you combine 450" of binding a really slow handstitcher?

A finish that's a long, looooooooong time coming.

Seriously, I think my sister picked out the pattern 18 months ago {from a friend on Ravelry, I believe} and I've had the fabric for almost a year.

I finished the top right around the Super Bowl this year, which is how it finally got a name. It consists of 90 Hunter's Star blocks, in Dutch Wedgewood by Windham Fabric and Kona White.

{It has been cat loved.}

It is 105x115", which is 10" bigger than king size.

 It's waaaaaaaay bigger than a queen size bed.

It was quilted by Paula, because there's no way I would have even attempted this size. We decided to use a plain white backing {in order to avoid piecing it...not a whole lot of 120" backings out there!} But we chose blue for the thread, so when she turns back the quilt, you get to see the pop of color.

I highly recommend the ruler if anyone attempts this. Everything cut neatly and fit neatly together, even with the eight seams meeting in the star. There's a bit of waste with the original directions, but I figured out pretty quickly how much smaller I could cut the blocks and still come out okay.

Now I kind of want to get my Hunter's Star top quilted!

Weekly Progress - Still on Vacation

I need a vacation from my vacation from my vacation! 

Last week was great, until I shared a water bottle with my two year old niece. You know, one of those germy creatures? Everyone but the Dude ended up with a nasty cold. I'm still recovering, but the vacation continues with DC this week!

We went to a botanical garden outside Charlotte - gorgeous! I have picture after picture of color inspiration.

The kids, of course, were most fascinated by a frog.

Fifteen Minute Challenge

  Still Big Blue's binding, but I'm on the last side! Which is good, because it needs to be done by Saturday... 

In-Progress:

Central Park Sudoku - okay, it still looks the same, but there's only one seam left on the inner sashing. Then outer, then border shopping!
 

Not mine, but I cut my sister's "Walk in the Woods" fat quarters for a Yellow Brick Road. So I think I should get credit for it. I was kind of hoping for more scraps, but this darn pattern is very efficient in cutting. Maybe there will be some scraps in the sewing process...

Quilted Enough So That I Could Baste Another Quilt:

Bad Romance & Fall-gyle - yup, that's seriously a category now. Lines go in one direction. Will finish when I get back home. Need more pins... 

Basted:

Layer Cake Quilt Along - man, some of these quilts have been backlogged for a while! This is going to take longer to quilt - I will probably just anchor it with stitch-in-the-ditch on the sashing for now. I want to do each block differently, and that will take some planning.

Swapping:

Picture-Perfect Polaroid Block Swap - a little cutesy, but I'm enjoying my Peter Rabbit fussy-cutting.

Joining:

Vintage Holiday Quilt Along - I decided to bust into my Fairy Frost collection for this. Sparkly Christmas ornaments! Even though I really don't need another Christmas quilt.

In-Progress-But-Not-This-Week

Fat Quarter Stars (6/12 blocks)

LQS Saturday Sampler 2012 (15/36 blocks)
 

In-Progress-But-Not-This-Summer

LQS Saturday Sampler 2011 (12/12 & center) 

Chunky Log Cabin (13/20 blocks)

St. Paul's Cross (2/42? blocks)

Adoption:

Application Submitted - 2/12 

Home Study - approved 5/12

USCIS paperwork - mailed 6/12
Home Study to Korea - 6/12
Referral Accepted - 6/12

New Projects: 1

Completed Projects: 0

In Progress: 12

Stash Report - Week 31

One of the best things about vacations is fabric shopping in new places. 

My in-laws live near Charlotte, and so of course we needed to stop by Mary Jo's. WOW. Such an amazingly good mix of fabric, and huge! I kept telling my mother-in-law, "I can't believe this is your local quilt store!"

The start of what will be an indecent Star Wars stash
Dinosaur Train for a Road to Oklahoma quilt for our adopted baby

Two Fairy Frost pieces for my already indecent stash
And a clearance piece that somehow coordinates - not planned!

Then, on the way home, we stopped at Batiks Etc/Sew What Fabric in Wytheville, Virginia. And they were having a fat quarter sale. I'm glad I'm not a batik-er, because I really don't know how they limit themselves! There's such gorgeous colors available!

Two Peter Rabbit FQs for the Polaroid swap
Five Eric Caryle prints for the Dude
Two Paddington Bear FQs
Two FQs for decoration {Make Life bulletin board! Scissors for the sewing room!}
And nine random blenders

Nothing out, since I'm on vacation from my sewing machine. Although this week's vacation includes a sewing day with my sister, so hopefully the numbers will go back down. No, wait, it includes another fabric shopping day, too.

Used this Week: 0

Used Year to Date: 73.89

Added this Week: 8.39

Added Year to Date: 130.59

Net Used for 2012: (56.70) yards