So, You Made a Scrappy Quilt

and you THINK you've mixed all the scraps up so that the colours are well balanced across the whole quilt. You've looked at it and looked at it again and again, from every angle, and you've removed certain prints to add more variety or you've moved them around several times to see WHERE was the best place for this or that pattern. You made all the decisions yourself to make sure everything was perfect. 

Riiiiigghhtt!!!! 

And you are so proud of this beautiful scrappy quilt that you decide to hand quilt it. 

The brain is such a wonderful piece of art. Since the beginning of time, humans have sorted and stored things. Innocently, it started with grains and seeds to grow them again the next year, making sure not to mix the seeds, etc., and things evolved and we started sorting and storing bigger things by groups and categories, and labelling everything, etc. 

I believe this process is now in my brain's DNA. Look at a close-up of the image above. What do you see? 

Circles,  

Circles, 

Circles!! 

These 3 prints are one above the other one, meaning in different rows but same column. My brain told me the colours were evenly spread. I forgot to ask my brain if the PATTERNS were repetitive! 

Now, if we look at the left of these circles, we will see a fox (and circles)

Look up at the print above this one and you will find 

a fox ! 

I am NOT kidding you. Go back up to the second image and look at it again. You'll see. It's all there. 

Did you see the green dot to the left of the fox? Guess what? 

Yep! 

Dots, dots, dots!! 

I have one of the craziest brain. Even when I don't want to overthink something and have it all sorted out, I do it anyway! I'm SO good. 😇😂 

I've been doing very well with the quilting on this quilt - Friends' Favourite. 

If I quilt one block a day, it will be done by March 18, 2027. That is the challenge. 

Meaning on Monday, August 17, I should have 40 blocks done. Instead, I had 48 blocks done, INCLUDING the sashing. Three rows were done. Yay me!! 

The hardest part is the first and last block of each row. As you can see the quilt is so big that it's very close to the frame. It is very awkward and cumbersome to sew the end blocks. It takes me longer than the rest of the row. 

 

Some crumbs got together

There are 16 blocks per row. So, I was thinking:  if I quilt 2 blocks a day there would be 14 blocks done at the end of the week. So, if I were to quilt 2 blocks and a bit, I could finish  one row every week. 😲

More crumbs

I know I shouldn't push myself like this because I don't want it to become a chore. It is a relaxing exercise and I want to keep it that way but GOSH! it's tempting. 

Just one more crumb block, I promise

With September sitting on my doorstep, the winter routine will start soon. Actually, September first is my group first meeting, so I wouldn't be able to quilt that evening. Then, the baby quilt drive will take center stage once again, not to mention a retreat in October. This means many evenings with no quilting time. As life gets busier, it will become harder to keep that fast pace of 2 blocks and a bit per day.

Did a crumb star instead, lol. 

So, on Monday, August 24, I had the fourth row finished. WHHAAATT!!?? Yes, because I though I might as well make the most of it while I can because soon I'll be too busy. There are days when I don't really feel like quilting and then I hear myself say "get the sucker done and move on" and I just do it. Lol. (Blocks required : 47 - Done : 64) 

Now that my fingers and wrist are stronger compared to the first few days of quilting, I can quilt longer. The issue now is my back. It's started to complain. It doesn't like the long sitting session, bent over the quilt. It will be another thing to take into consideration in my 2 blocks and a bit per day shenanigans. 

This one, I did do on purpose.
They aren't the same print as the little piece
is not perfectly arched like the square one is but they are so cute. 
Maybe this is where my brain thought it was okay to do associations? 

While I sewed some pieced-backings for the baby quilts, I managed to get a few crumbs blocks together. And a star. (Shown in the photos today)

Hope all is well with you and you get to sew a little bit every day. 

;^)


And I'll try to catch these talented ladies' link-party. See you there.
Angela at So Scrappy
Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts
Alycia for Finished or Not Friday

Kathy Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching 
Cynthia for Oh Scrap!

More Fun Time

In Canada, we had a long weekend (August 3rd). Yeah for some time off. And then, my supervisor surprised me with the rest of the week off. What??? Believe me I ran out that door before she could change her mind. WhoopWhoop! Vacation time!!

I decided to drive south. South as in Cornwall, Ontario. My friend Pink lives there and we haven't seen each other in WAYYYY TOO LOOOONNNGGG. What joy she is! A balm on my overstressed system. A reboot was what the Doctor prescribed and she is the best one to help me accomplished that.

And we went shopping! Oh no! Yes, I did bought a *few* things. Haha. 

I'm sorry but in my excitement of being in a fabric store I forgot to take pictures. :^( 

We went to Auntie Em's Quilting. My sewing friends go there but it was my first time. A lovely little store. 

The purchases: I bought a Mystery bag of 10 fat quarters. I thought it would enhance my stash (like it needs enhancement??!!) to finish some projects. To my surprise, the bag contained this: 

Ten matching fat quarters. This is a quilt in itself. So I guess I just *accidentally* added another project on my to-do list, lol. 

This Sewing Tote kit came home too. It has the hardware and the zipper included. I'm sure I can find some fabric in my stash for this. I will have to purchase the foam stabilizer and fusible batting it requires. 

Then, Pink gave me some fabric too. Oh MY!! 

Lots of fat quarters here too. So generous!! Thank you so much sweet friend. 💗

What else have I done? Hand quilting. It is so pleasant. 

You can see that I'm now on the third row. Whoop Whoop! So much time to sew when one is on vacation. 

I switch the chair to the other side of the frame. Since I'm left-handed having the window on my left side caused me to work in my shadow. Now it is so much brighter. 

My friend Lucie opens her garage during the summer for her quilty friends to gather and enjoy some SEWcializing. We were 7 quilters in her garage on Wednesday. I'm planning to go again as she does this every Wednesday. 

I had so much fun there too. Of course, I bragged about my Parking Spot plate that Pink gave me on Saturday. (Yes, another gift from Pink. 💕) 

Lots of jokes and comments were said about that one, lol. 

Lucie assembled her batik quilt. It was a kit she bought a few months earlier. Planning the borders now. 

Michelle worked on her Delectable Mountains using 1.25 inch strips. 

Françoise did the binding on another baby quilt for my drive. Isn't it a gorgeous one? 

And these are the other baby quilts that were ready for me to pick up. 

I didn't bring my sewing machine but worked on an old project turned UFO. Lori from Humble Quilts did this quilt-along back in 2023. It's Parsonfield. 

I did a heart in the centre and some straight lines on the diagonal. I was there for the social part of the gathering much more than for the quilting part, lol. I brought everything I needed except for my scissors. Sigh! How can a quilter forget the scissors?? Lucie lent me hers. 

They have a little heart for the tip so they don't pierce her sewing bag. It's so cute! 

Some photos from my *Bucket Garden*. 

Mint and radishes. This is the second batch as the first batch of radishes drowned. It's so wet here. 

The beans took hold of the patio table's leg and won't let go, lol. I'm not expecting a big harvest from that one. 

Bucket full of carrots. 

The sweet peas are not liking the wet summer we're having this year. Or is it my poor gardening skills that is killing this plant? 

Cucumbers. I might harvest some of that. Fingers crossed. Well, at least I tried. And yes, I will try again next year. I believe it's time I weed out this garden bed. Lol. (it's a hose, not a snake.) 

Raven is very happy to have me home all day. It's funny how he sleeps exactly in the same position that I do. 

I'm heading back to the office on Monday, but my intentions are to enjoy this weekend to the fullest. What about you? 

Okay, just one more picture because it is so cute! 

I will visit these talented ladies' link-party this week. See you there.

Angela at So Scrappy
Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts
Alycia for Finished or Not Friday
Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching
Cynthia for Oh Scrap!

This Week Was Fun

And what a week it was! 

First and foremost, my youngest DS told us he got a job. His formation was on Friday (yesterday) and he's starting next Tuesday. It's a contract for 6 weeks and I am SO happy for him. (Six weeks is better than nothing.)

DH finally got back to work (after two weeks at home, nursing a nasty cut on his thumb) with his sore thumb but he managed to tough each and every day out. Yay! 

Some of you asked about MY work at the office. If I start later in the morning, do I work later in the afternoon?  No. My work hours were cut at both ends. (ouch, says my budget.) From 8:30 to 4:30 (lots of weeks until 5pm), I now work from 10am to 2pm. Or at least that's the plan. I still work until 3:30 - 4pm when there are many meetings to help Danika with the clients. Yes, I know, I used to do it all by myself but she doesn't have an ADHD brain (firing on all 8 cylinders) and the load of experience in customer service I have (she's 19, I'm 63, enough said).  I have good hopes for her. 

Also at work this week, I received my own laptop. My email signature now says Administrative Assistant instead of Reception. My new tasks have also been received. Fun! So, this being said: 

let's sew!

 

Some crumb blocks in whatever-comes-out-of-the-bag and more in aqua. (4.5" and 6.5")

Two 18-Bricks blocks. One in Aqua and the other one in Seafoam Green. Is Seafoam part of Aqua, Turquoise, Teal? Well, I thought it was so I made a block. I know! The butterfly print is in both blocks but I had to use what's on hand, right? 

When sewing crumb blocks, I work on a few blocks at a time (like any true ADHD person would do, lol). Some might be sewn together to reach the perfect size, whether it's for 4.5" or 6.5" or a 8.5 X 6.5" block. The pink one, on the right side, might be big enough for a 6.5" square. I'll iron, measure and trim that one today. 

The chair at my sewing desk is now empty. That big pile has been dealt with. (see last post)

Friday night (yesterday), I challenged myself again. 

The Challenge 

I have (at least) three bags and a drawer of rainbow-coloured strings. I have a drawer (like the one in the photo) for neutral (full) and another one of black (half-full). This rainbow one has been overflowing for years, hence the three bags. Obviously, I still can't close the drawer. It is time to stop stuffing bags and to REALLY tackle the problem. So I did.  

The mess 

One bag down, two to go. 

The progress

Once the three bags were done, I went to bed. My legs were so numb from sitting on the floor. So, this morning (Saturday), the sorting continued. 

Empty, at last

Two cups of coffee and one and a half hour later!! 

The result

Plastic bags are hard to photograph. I didn't pay much attention to the size of these strings. I was watching Project Runway on TV. I did remove some bits and bobs that can't be call "strings" by any definitions. I'm sure more can be remove but won't make much of a difference. The black and greys are together. Other groups include whites, beige, dark whites, yellow, light green, dark green, light blue, dark blue, pink, purple, red, orange, brown, multi-coloured and a jelly roll. I haven't bought that jelly roll so it must have come in a gifted bag or was free with a purchase I did at some point. Can't remember. Guess what colour the jelly roll is? Pastel! So, Angela!  I am ready for Pastel month next year. Lol. 

What prompt this challenge: Terry! Have you seen her string quilt? Click on the link. You won't regret it. 

Early in the mornings, now that I start work later, what do I do? Have coffee on the deck with the cats, do stretches and then I'm suppose to be cleaning the sewing room but Friends' Favourite keeps calling me.

It is set in the loft (the game room), not the sewing room

I timed myself and it takes 20 minutes to do one square including stitching the neutral frame around the square. Like this: 

(Little kitty watching you from the upper left corner. )

The quilting in the coloured sashing is another 15-20 minutes. I'm sewing straight (trying to keep it straight) down the middle of the frames and sashing. So, instead of sewing 1/4 inch in the square, I decided to go with 1/2 inch there too. I thought of doing fancy flowers and butterflies, but then thought if I want to finish this soon, better keep it simple. 

I calculated that if I sew one block a day, it would be done by March 18, 2027. That's not counting the sashing part. I wonder if I can finish it before that. Dare to bet?  Lol. 

So, that's what happened this past week. Hopefully, I can sew some more this weekend. How about you? Hope you find time to sew something too. 

Take care. ;^)

And I'll try to catch these talented ladies' link-party. See you there.
Angela at So Scrappy
Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts
Alycia for Finished or Not Friday
Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching
Cynthia for Oh Scrap!

Galactic Project

At work, some of my tasks have changed. The one I'm really happy about is starting at 10am instead of 8:30. It gives me more time to do things in the house while I have the energy to do it. So . . . 

I gave myself a little goal : cleaning the disaster in my sewing room. A little goal, lolll. It's more of a galactic proportion but if I keep at it, a little every morning, it will get done, right?

Because of my super power, (see last post) the top of these boxes was piled high, full of *stuff*. I grabbed all and dumped it on my chair. This is what I have to do this week. And on the sewing machine table, yes, you are right. 

I don't know exactly what's in there but there are flannel backings for the baby quilts and a whole lot of *miscellaneous* fabric. Surprise! 

So, I sorted, cut and/or folded and put away. 

Here’s an example of what’s in the pile. These scraps (maybe 25 pieces) are left over from the fabric we cut for the baby quilt' tops. I didn’t have the time or the energy to trim them and put them away properly when they returned to me. They were just *piled* (stacked). Now, it's time to cut them into useable sizes. 

The end result : (4) 5" triangles, (2) 2.5" triangles, (2) 2.5 X 4.5 rectangles, (8) 3" squares, (8) 2.5" squares, (2) 2" squares, (3) 2' strips of different length, (3) 1.5 X 2.5", (3) 1.5" strip of different length and (1) 1.5' square. I was so happy about this little "clean up" that I grabbed another one and cut some more. 

It's a leftover too but I really don't like this fabric. The teddy bears behind the white grid do something to me and blur my vision. It's worst in person. The camera lens kind of lessen the effect somehow but I think you can see what I mean. Anywho! I was still determined to cut it up. Started with the bigger chunks and worked my way down. 

 

The end result : cut strips at 2.5" for binding; there was enough for 228" long binding. Whoohoo! Then (3) 5" squares, (3) 4.5" squares, (1) 3.5 square, (1) 3" square, (2) 2.5 X 4.5", (4) 2.5" triangles, (3) 2" strips and (2) 2" squares, (2) 1.5" squares and (2) 1.5 X 2.5" rectangles. I'm glad this one is behind me. Phew! 

Needless to say that these cutting sessions are adding bits and bobs in the bag I want to empty. Scraps of fabric will exist as long as the sun rises from the East. Haha.

The chair is still full of stuff. I will continue to work on it this weekend. 

I found this box. Thinking it was leftover fabric again, I thought I could put the fabric away and get rid of the box but, wait! It's a project. 

I had to look it up because I couldn't remember the name of this mystery by Bonnie Hunter back 2016. It's *En Provence*. 

So many pieces cut and sewn but not much put together yet. I gathered everything in a plastic bag with more instructions and set it aside. 

It prompted me to have a place for my "started" projects. It will be easier for me to know what I have and mostly where it is. When I leave for a sewing retreat, I'll just dive into this milk crate and get a few projects out to bring along. As you can see, En Provence didn't stay alone in there for long. Lol. 

A quick scan around the sewing room has revealed more PiGs. I'm sure more will join these one as I continue to declutter.

It brings me to show what I did sew last weekend. (nothing got sewn this past week. Too much cutting! Ha!) 

The purple crumb block you see on my sewing machine in the last post now measures 6.5" square (untrimmed). I added an orange one and a little 4.5" square for the Crumb Star project. I also added the points to this centre to have a second aqua star. This one has dusty rose fabrics from light to very dark. 

I was also able to find enough of these "in-between" reds to finish an 18 Bricks block. 

From dusty rose to bloody orange along with watermelon, salmon, coral pink and tomato reds. All the fun ones are in there. 

Lastly, I got Friends' Favourite on the frame (FINALLY!) and hand-quilted one square. Only 255 to go, lol. 

It's raining here this weekend. More time in the sewing room for me. Hope you get to add a few stitches to whatever project you are working on. 

;^)

And I'll try to catch these talented ladies' link-party. See you there. 

Angela at So Scrappy

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts

Alycia for Finished or Not Friday

Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching

Cynthia for Oh Scrap!