FAL - First Quarter

My January goal list was mostly finish blocks, not finish quilts. So...what do I want/expect to actually finish before March 31?

The pile o'unquilted tops is nearing the top of the chair...should probably work on that. 

Specifically, Fall-gyle, Frolicking Pinwheels, Star Wall Hanging, Layer Cake Snowballs, Skorca!, and Olivia Schnibble. That's two a month, one big, one small. Doable.

Two are Christmas, but with a move halfway through the year, I'd really like to get all the Christmas stuff packed and moved together, including the finished quilts. Which requires finished quilts.

I also want to get over my nerves and deconstruct a flight suit. Really want to make it into a camera bag for our Spring Break vacation. Desert or regular?

And I have two t-shirt quilts, a heart wall hanging, and a Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star quilt to make. But they're not UFOs, so they don't count. As much. I took the orders in 2012, so maybe they should count!

Linked:
Finish-A-Long @ She Can Quilt

Finish-A-Long First Quarter Summary

It's March 31st already?? Yikes! 

I said I wanted to finish three quilts this quarter, plus quilt as least one of my languishing tops. 

Then life, as it does, went all topsy turvy. My husband is deploying. In conjunction, the Dude and I are going to live with my parents this summer. They have a huge basement floor perfect for quilt basting. (I can't easily baste anything bigger than 50" on my kitchen floor.)

{And they have three cats. So there will be five of them "helping" me. And one is convinced he's still a kitten. He'll be a BIG help.}

So all tops - except for three baby quilts I need to finish in the coming quarter - will be doing more languishing until then. So I'm not technically finished with these, but I am finished in accordance with the new plans in my life.

Skorca! - top finished

Frolicking Pinwheels - top finished

Big Blue - top finished, quilted, waiting for binding

Linked:
Finish-A-Long
Slash the Stash

WiP/FMC - Mojo

I took a week off to recover my mojo... Part of my time off was not reading blogs. I should have kept that up for another week. What is it about the spring that brings out quilting controversy and the snarky anonymous comments?

{My husband, who reads CNN comments, laughs at me. And then says he's glad he fights for the freedom to make snarky anonymous online comments. And then I start laughing hysterically because seriously, that was one of the comments I read. Yes, people, my husband is heading to Afghanistan to protect your right to make snarky anonymous online comments. We're very proud of him. *inappropriate Team America quote*!}

But, ahem, anyway. My mojo is back.

For my Fifteen Minute Challenge, I'm doing something new. This summer, we're going to be living in a hotel for about six weeks while my husband finishes his training. I will go insane if I can't sew for six weeks, but I won't have access to a design wall or a place to cut yardage. So I'm kitting up some simple baby quilts. Every day I spend fifteen minutes ironing, cutting and bagging up a quilt.

Kit #1: Nine patch and snowball

I started two new quilts this week, both for the same friend who refuses to find out if her unborn baby is a boy or girl. I don't do neutral.

The girl block

The boy block

{I know what you're thinking. Kate, you branched out! It's a half log cabin!}

She'll get one, the other will be for sale on my Facebook page.

I finished Frolicking Pinwheels last week. Been doodling quilting patterns on it ever since. I don't have anything with a curve that big to trace!

Quilt-Alongs
Fat Quarter Stars - 6/12 blocks - none

LQS Saturday Sampler 2012 - 6/36 - new blocks to make

LQS Saturday Sampler 2011 - Blocks done, center medallion started.

Quiltville Orca Bay {Skorca!} - backing pieced and ready for basting

Swoon A Little, Swoon A Lot - no new blocks

Granny Squares - rethought the center squares, and much of the other squares, too. It wasn't bright enough. I salvaged some of the squares and this is the first of the new blocks. Minus the corners. I would totally get the sides and the corners mixed up (I'm using the Traceyjay no-bias edges method), so those will go on all the blocks right before sashing.

Untouched This Week:

Chunky Log Cabin

St. Paul's Cross

Awaiting Quilting...will no longer be seen here. After the hotel living, we're going to live with my parents, and they have a huge basement floor that's begging for someone to baste on it. {And, bonus, three more cats to "help"!} So my focus will be quilt tops until then. And I don't want to look at a long list of projects I'm not working on! I will get them listed on a page up top soon.

Awaiting Binding:

Big Blue

Adoption:

Application Submitted - 2/12 

Home Study - home interview is Saturday. I tell myself I'm not nervous...as I scrub the kitchen grout with bleach.

New Projects: 2

Completed Projects: 0

In Progress: 12

Linked:

Work in Progress Wednesday

Life in Pieces' Fifteen Minute Challenge

Sunday Stash Report - Week 12

Remember last week, when I bought A Walk in the Woods? My sister outdid me and bought the whole fat quarter set. Some of them might go missing next time I visit... 

Anyway, she went fabric shopping in honor of National Quilting Day, and at her shop, someone was showing off a finished Orca Bay.

Coincidentally, I'm showing off one too! Small world, indeed.

Not only that, but one of the blue borders was giving me a massive headache (sewed/unsewed it FOUR times), so I whipped these blocks into a finished top to release my frustration.

Of course, I did go fabric shopping last Sunday...

The blue is the borders for Skorca (and granny squares, and possibly Star Wars...) The floral is Denyse Schmidt's Daisy Mae, to back my Chunky Log Cabin (yes, I bought it just for the Mae.) The orange orca flannel is the backing for Skorca...seriously. That's the last time the Dude gets to pick.

ETA: I mailed off my giveaway last week! Duh! Need to count outs wherever I can get them!

Used this Week: 10.35

Used Year to Date: 33.67

Added this Week: 12.83

Added Year to Date: 80.33

Net Used for 2012: (46.66) yards

Check out more reports at Patchwork Times!

WiP/FMC - Not Very Much Progress

Very little progress on my Fifteen Minute Challenge, especially. I moved the blocks around a couple times, and that's about it. Saturday-Monday I didn't even sew, since I was in Texas. My husband and I talked a lot about future plans on the car ride, including my sewing, so does that count?

Frolicking Pinwheels

A friend asked to see it with and without sashing. Any one have opinions?

Hunter's Star, round two - 78/90 dark half-blocks - and 50/90 blocks -one more strip of the dark blues and I'm done! With, you know, the initial piecing.

 

 i *heart* this wallhanging - started and finished last week!

Quilt-Alongs:

Fat Quarter Stars - 3/9 blocks - #3 finished this week

LQS Saturday Sampler 2012 - 3/36 (caught up so far)

LQS Saturday Sampler 2011 - 10/12 blocks

Quiltville Orca Bay {Skorca!} - the wall hasn't changed since Monday, but I made a huge pile of the QSTs needed for the Ohio Stars.

Made in Cherry - 180 2.5" squares and 20 3" squares, ready for piecing

Untouched This Week:

Chunky Log Cabin

St. Paul's Cross

Swoon A Little, Swoon A Lot

Awaiting Quilting:

Sunkissed Jewel Box

Bad Romance

Layer Cake Quilt Along

Hunter's Star

Fall-gyle

Star Wall Hanging

New Projects: 1

Completed Projects: 1

In Progress: 16

 

Linked:

Work in Progress Wednesday

Life in Pieces' Fifteen Minute Challenge

Pins & Bobbins' Made in Cherry

WiP/FMC - of Boys, Fabric & Permanent Markers

I used my Fifteen Minute Challenge this week to finish Frolicking Pinwheels.

It hasn't really been touched since I sliced off part of my finger while working on it. Mostly for that reason, but also because I dislike squaring HSTs bigger than my 6" ruler. So over the past week, I fixed and cut the last two strip sets, and sewed the last four pinwheels, no more than one per day.

Now I just need to decide on a layout - sashing or not?

Regular Quilts:

Hunter's Star, round two - 56/90 dark half-blocks - and 30/90 blocks(!!)

This is the only time you'll see it on the design wall. It doesn't need to be laid out, and at 9x10 10" blocks, it won't fit anyway.

Quilt-Alongs:

Fat Quarter Stars - 2/7 blocks - #2 finished this week

LQS Saturday Sampler 2012 - 3/36

LQS Saturday Sampler 2011 - 10/12 blocks

Quiltville Orca Bay {Skorca!} - slowly filling in the gaps. This is where the aforementioned boy, fabric and permanent marker comes in. One of the issues I have with my quilt is not all of the black pieces are black enough.

The cow print being the primary offender. This makes the black Ohio Stars not stand out as much. Solution? Tape off the irritating QST and hand the Dude a black marker.

These are clouds, so I'm told. And see how the cow print on the left needs the same treatment?

Made in Cherry - my new sewing room has a big open wall, and I'm going to fill it with a big scrappy star made of these. Actually, a small one - I'm cutting my squares to 2.5" and should end up with about a 40x40" wall hanging.

Untouched This Week:

Chunky Log Cabin

St. Paul's Cross

Swoon A Little, Swoon A Lot

Awaiting Quilting:

Sunkissed Jewel Box

Bad Romance

Layer Cake Quilt Along

Hunter's Star

Fall-gyle

Star Wall Hanging

New Projects: 2

Completed Projects: 0

In Progress: 16

 

Linked:

Work in Progress Wednesday

Life in Pieces

Work in Progress Wednesday - Week 20

This week, the major WIP has been the air conditioner. :(

This was Sunday; it was fixed Monday; it briefly went down to 76 on Tuesday; died again Tuesday night. Today, it's already 86 inside and 92 outside, at 9 am, and it's supposed to reach 110. I'm praying the repairman gets here on the early side of "mid-morning."

Needless to say, the sewing machine and the iron are not on until this is fixed. My sister was here last weekend, so I didn't get much sewing done beyond basting a dress for her.

Luckily the Dude was cleared by his tonsil doctor to go to day camp, so he's safely in the air conditioned kids' museum while I sweat.

I screwed up cutting enough border fabric for the Christmas Kaleidoscope, so it's going to be borderless. I started piecing the back together using leftover yardage from my stash.

I finished one more Frolicking Pinwheels as a leader/ender.

Untouched This Week:

Steelers Quilt 

 

Awaiting Quilting:

Bad Romance

Layer Cake Quilt Along

Hunter's Star

iSpy Sliced Coin Quilt

Charming Wildflowers

In Planning:

Cars Quilt (the Dude)

Hunter's Star (my sister)

New Projects: 0

Completed Projects: 0

In Progress: 11

Check out more at Work in Progress Wednesday!

Work in Progress Wednesday - Week 19

I have a finish, woo!

Well, a piecing finish. I'm adding applique hummingbirds to the corners.

Christmas Kaleidoscope is mostly pieced and on the floor. Which means...

Time for a cat inspection!

I just need to piece the fourth row, then the rows, then the borders.

I have a couple other Christmas in July projects finished/in the works.

I pulled out Frolicking Pinwheels out for leaders/enders. 

I've also been doing some organizing.

 All my scraps are sorted and labeled. The other stuff is vintage sheets and pillowcases, or my horribly disorganized clothing fabric. That's my next task now that my quilting stash is in order!

The boxing and labeling extended to the playroom. Why do we need a 16-quart bin of Play-doh supplies??

Untouched This Week:

Steelers Quilt 

 

Awaiting Quilting:

Bad Romance

Layer Cake Quilt Along

Hunter's Star

iSpy Sliced Coin Quilt

I think my goal for August will be to quilt this pile. Less fun than Christmas in July, but necessary!

In Planning:

Cars Quilt (the Dude)

Hunter's Star (my sister)

New Projects: 0

Completed Projects: 0

In Progress: 11

Check out more at Work in Progress Wednesday!

Work in Progress Wednesday - Week 8

I'm cheating - I'm posting after a quilting retreat day at my LQS. So I'm much further along now than I was this morning!

Layer Cake Quilt Along - done to the top and bottom borders, which are cut and ready to go. It's wrinkled because after cutting the borders, I realized I was late for school pick-up and shoved everything into a bag. Fabric can be ironed; kids can't wander around a school without parents. At least, not kindergartners.

Hunter's Star: around 40 blocks finished, and the new fabric is in so I can continue working on it. I'm aiming for 88x80" which is 110 blocks, so I have a long way to go.

Frolicking Pinwheels: all the sets of five are sewn together. On to slicing and dicing!

I've actually been working on the iSpy Sliced Coin Quilt as well - I made it to a city with a comic book store and picked up the inserts everyone has been blogging about to fold fabric. (Yes, it's amazing.) So as I've been folding, I've been slicing my novelty fabrics and the pile is growing.

Finished: Cow purse (no pictures until I figure out how exactly one takes good pictures of a purse.)

Untouched This Week:

Steelers Quilt

LQS Saturday Sampler

 

Awaiting Quilting: Bad Romance

In Planning:

Rudolph Quilt (the Dude)

Hunter's Star (my sister)

Non-quilting:

Second Snow White commissioned.

Knitting bag and pattern holder for my sister. Fabric is here!

This Week's Stats:

New Projects: 0

Completed Projects: 1
In Progress: 11

Check out more at Freshly Pieced!

Sunday Stash Report - Week 16

This week was a bit of a haul, but it's all stuff for projects I'm actively working on, and some will go right back out this week. Right...

On the left, 5 half-yards of Mon Sheri for my Hunter's Star; one yard of Henry Glass Sewing Room Social for the knitting stuff my sister wants me to make.

On the right, 2.67 yards of Boutique to add to the Frolic pinwheels - this includes backing, though. Three-quarters of the neutral dots for sashing my Layer Cake Quilt Along; 1.75 yards of Happy Campers for LCQA borders.

Unpictured is 30" of black Kona for the Steelers quilt and a yard of pink Kona for the Hunter's Star.

There was a little bit of out in a purse that I don't have good pictures of yet. Stay tuned!

Used this Week: 2

Used Year to Date: 48.88

Added this Week: 10.5

Added Year to Date: 69.96

Net Used for 2011: (21.08) yards

Check out how everyone else is doing on Patchwork Times!

Work in Progress Wednesday - Week 7

This week, I devoted most of my time to the Hunter's Star, so I'd know how much more yardage to order. (The answer: a lot.) 

 I have 31 blocks completely done and another 30 near completion, but I need 100 (or so) for the top. Long ways to go.

On the plus side, I'm really enjoying my Frolic leaders/enders since I ran out of black for the Steelers quilt. Each 5-strip set makes a 19.5" pinwheel (actually, two, but I'm only using one per quilt.) So nine pinwheels will make a nice 57" square. I just need to pick up three more strips from somewhere - Lollipop, probably. 

Finished: Come Sail Away Quilt

Untouched This Week:

iSpy Sliced Coin Quilt Along
Layer Cake Quilt Along

Steelers Quilt

LQS Saturday Sampler

Awaiting Quilting: Bad Romance

In Planning:

Rudolph Quilt (the Dude)

Hunter's Star (my sister)

Non-quilting:

Second Snow White commissioned.

Knitting bag and pattern holder for my sister. Fabric should arrive this week. (Didn't I say that last week?)

This Week's Stats:

New Projects: 0

Completed Projects: 1
In Progress: 11

Check out more at Freshly Pieced!

Design Wall Monday - Week 15

The Hunter's Star is moving right along, although I think next time I'll go with three colors to get more definition to the stars.

And since I ran out of black Kona for the Steelers leaders/enders, I started a new one. Good solution, right? 

This is a Frolic jelly roll, five strips sewn together and cut to 10.5" squares, matched with Andover Dimples (my go-to neutral) and HST-ed into pinwheels. Simple and oh so adorable.

Check out more design walls on Patchwork Times!