What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

No change in the numbers.  I did not visit quilt shops during our trip or buy fabric when I was out and about yesterday. 

I don’t have much new to share this week.  My “sewing” time went into adjusting the tension on my machine and choosing quilting designs for Tropics.

Most my progress was stitching related. I took Christmas Cottage with me when we travelled, and I’ve worked on it since. 

I would love to finish and frame it this month to hang for Christmas.  The kit came with a house shaped frame that is too cute.

Fabric ...

Could the months go any faster?  Again, I’m scrambling to post before the linky party closes.  I don’t know where the time goes.

There are three projects I want to finish before the end of the year.  Any one would make a fine OMG.  I waffled a bit and then decided to choose the oldest project.

MY OMG for November is to finish Tropics.  I’ve renamed this piece three times, but Tropics is the name that stuck. I made the blocks in a class in 2017. It’s time to finish it.

I’m about 1/3 ...

 I love your comments!!! It makes me smile before I start writing! And the blog will be late today because I slept in. I had trouble sleeping last night, and since I have a travel day (by car), I'm not in any hurry to hit the road. 

And yes -- I think Elle and I are within a few years of each other. People have tried to pin down the year I was born, and it would be easy to tell you, but what is the point? I am not defined by my age. I know what would happen: people ...

No change in the numbers.

I haven’t spent much time in the sewing room this week.  Work got really busy, which I expect will continue through the year.  The evenings are short on week nights. 

That means quilting on Tropics proceeds slowly.  All the white strips are quilted.

The checked sections are also quilted but it doesn’t show up very well, even in person.  The plan going forward is to squeeze it in when I can.

Fabric Added: 17.875

Fabric Used:  10.625 yards

Net Fabric Added:  7.25 yards

How did you do this week?

No change in the numbers.

Every week is a different adventure in the sewing room.  This week I started quilting this project.

I’ve changed what I call it three times.  The most recent name is Tropics.  I’m quilting a different design in each section.  It will either look really cool or be a hot mess.

I also stumbled across a church rummage sale this week.  I paid $1 for a ziploc bag with all of this in it.

The patterns will go on the free table.  I wanted the floss, needles and hoop and didn’t realize the ...

The second project I worked on at retreat was Moondance, a very old block of the month by Beth Ferrier.  I started piecing the setting blocks at retreat and finished sewing the row after I returned home.

Here are both the rows I have pieced.

There is another row with setting blocks and spacers that goes between these two rows.  The next time I pull this project out I will work on that row.

I am content working on this quilt as a palette cleanser between other projects.  Piecing the setting blocks can be a bit tedious.  Finishing this quilt ...

No change in the numbers.

I think I touched everything I have in progress this week.  I sewed the next sashing block and added to the row on Moondance.

I added crayon over rubbing plate and paint to the Paint Chip Challenge.  I think I added five blocks.  I’d really like this quilt done and out of the way. 

I also spent a lot of time on Fairy Tales, another project I’m ready to finish.  In hindsight, this project would have been easier if I used Pattern Keeper or something similar.  Live and learn.

Fabric Added: 13.625 ...

No fabric in this week.  I’m counting out the fabric I passed for the swap a few months ago.  If it ever makes it back to me, it will come as a finished quilt.

I had the urge to piece this week and pulled out an old UFO.  The pattern is Moondance by Beth Ferrier.  At the time, it was a free block of the month.  Now it’s part of a book.

I decided years ago that I wanted the background fabrics in the stairstep sashing blocks to match the background in the adjacent blocks.  It took me ...

No change in the numbers.

The runner I call Harlequin is now basted.

The blocks came from a class I took in 2017 on improvisational curved piecing.  This is the third quilt from the blocks made in that class.

A lot of the fabrics are my hand dyes.  I didn’t have enough of the blue or green for the border.  I got lucky and found the blue solid at my Guild’s fabric sale.

I could do simple quilting and finish it quickly, but decided to play around with the quilting on this one.  Except for the black and ...

Yesterday morning I sat down on the front steps to tie up my walking shoes and suddenly stopped... where there had been abundant Geranium blooms only the afternoon before, now there were only chewed-off bare stems!  Groan. The midnight munchers (deer) have been at it again. I use a product that works well in the perennial garden but hadn't even considered our front steps! I've never known

Yesterday morning I sat down on the front steps to tie up my walking shoes and suddenly stopped... where there had been abundant Geranium blooms only the afternoon before, now there were only chewed-off bare stems!  Groan. The midnight munchers (deer) have been at it again. I use a product that works well in the perennial garden but hadn't even considered our front steps! I've never known

Happy Mother’s Day!  Do something nice for yourself today.

No change in the numbers.

I finally came up with a quilting plan for K’s quilt.  I’m about half way through the quilting.  I’d love to get the quilt finished this week.  I don’t like that I have to keep it a secret. 

I’m also looking forward to working on other projects and starting the paint chip challenge.  As a reminder, this is my paint chip.

In addition to the beach runner, I also started working on this UFO from a class several years ago ...

No change in the numbers.

I have no idea where the week went, but I don’t think I spent much time in the sewing room.

When I did, I worked on K’s quilt.  A few people in the group look at the blog, and I don’t want to spoil the reveal with pictures.  I admit using some of those tiny HSTs.  That surprised even me.

I also pulled backing and binding for the beach runner.  The backing is a nice pale blue floral.  It’s rainy and overcast outside, making the fabric look gray.

Fabric Added: 1 ...

It’s that time to pick a new goal for the new month.  Time passes so quickly….not sure where the days go.

I’m moving on to a new project for April.  I pulled out all the pieces for my Art Quilt Group challenge, which I refer to as K’s quilt.  The challenge is to complete a small project out of another group member’s UFO.  As a reminder, I’m starting with this.

And this.

I haven’t quite figured out what I’m making.  Regardless, my April OMG will be to put the top together, whatever ...

At Art Quilt Group this week we started a new challenge.  Everyone brought a small unfinished item in a paper bag, which we traded.  We have two months to turn the contents into a finished project.

This is what I put in my bag for someone else to finish.  I made it in a class many years ago with no real plans for it. The fabric is painted with leaves stamped on it. The circles are Shiva paintstik over rubbing plates.

This is what I received.

There are three blocks, some random fabric pieces, and 2/3 of a gift ...

No change in the numbers.

My local library had a book sale this week, and I picked up this book.

I doubt I’ll ever make a quilt from it.  I bought it because it belonged to a woman I knew from a Guild I was in many years ago.  Her name and contact info were written in the front.  She was such a nice person and an amazing quilter.  Inside there were pages of hand written notes describing a quilt she designed.  It had to go home with me.

In the sewing room, I added borders to the striped ...

Working my way through bins of completed blocks-of-the-month, I ran across these nine blocks from 2023. The class was "Aspiring Stars" taught at my LQS. They were just begging to be set together~  "Circle of Nine" to the rescue!  This book contains plenty of inspiration for unique and attractive settings for those occasions when you might have less than twelve blocks (not to

Working my way through bins of completed blocks-of-the-month, I ran across these nine blocks from 2023. The class was "Aspiring Stars" taught at my LQS. They were just begging to be set together~  "Circle of Nine" to the rescue!  This book contains plenty of inspiration for unique and attractive settings for those occasions when you might have less than twelve blocks (not to

I LOVE hearing all your stories of repurposing projects, prepping for upcoming surgeries (good luck), and ideas for my Prince challenge. It's a process to be sure, but when you have a plan, or whatever you want to call it, life is good. I know the times I find hardest are when I have something (or multiple things) to do and no plan. Sometimes that is as simple as writing things down. 

I had several computer tasks to do, and I kept reviewing them in my head. That was taking up a lot of energy to keep track of ...

This is the Cream & Sugar quilt top, finally together! Hooray!! This was taught at my LQS back in 2023 and I did persevere through the first six months, concentrating on the largest blocks in the layout. I fell away from the project after that, always thinking that "I'd get back to it...". You know how that goes. It took a full retreat weekend for me to sew up the smaller, setting, blocks!&