Spinning My Wheels

I am still pondering about my RSC2022 options. The list is way too long and I find it hard to remove some contenders. Anyone else with this kind of problem? 

The 9-Patch and HSTs are still on ... like forever! Haha.

The crumb bricks too as I don't have enough to do anything with these. 

Chaser Crumb Blocks

Chaser Crumb to be trimmed and sashed

What if I make a mask every month? It looks like we will be needing these for some time still. One thing I forgot to say in my previous post is that we are working from home again. I go to the office two mornings a week to distribute incoming mail and to mail out what was printed by the caseworkers. I like this routine as it gets me out of the house without meeting anyone. Win-win. 

Masks done in November.
The cat one has been washed already and the fabric shrunk
but not the liner so I have to redo this one.
The yellow one is not finished. 

I would love to do a Scrap Jar Star quilt. So I will start sewing 4-Patch blocks (or 16 Patch blocks) (same thing). Do I sew the block in rainbow colours or one colour? 

Both are pleasing to me. Sigh! 

Then the strings are demanding some attention. I have an idea that would be an opportunity for some of them to shine. Still on the drawing board but here's what I have so far. 

The solid coloured fabric from my mother's stash is also something I would like to use up and I love this quilt. 

from Google search

There's also this. 

Hmm! It could be interesting. No, I don't know the name. Yes, I know where I'm going with this. 

I would also love to make another Hidden Gems quilt

or a Burgoyne Surrounded but for a big quilt this time. 

How many hours of sewing do I have in a month? Darn!  That really cramp my style. 

There's also my Personal Rainbow UFO Challenge. The colour red calls for a new project but that's for another post. Stay tuned. 

Oh! Almost forgot. I have two finishes to show you. YES! 

First, it's Stars in Blue, labeled and all. My first finish of the year! Yay! 

Remember this panel I salvaged from a year ago? It was quilted with only batting. No backing. See this post for the story behind it. It was the perfect size for Stars in Blue. Win/win! (I know it's not straight but it'll do.)

The binding is built with dark blue scraps.

I think it was the only solution to my dilemma since nothing looked good from the front and the back. 

Then, there's this finish. 

Phew! Made it. Looking at the fabric for clues of who goes with who was impossible in the Spider Web quilt. Once I organized the yellow pieces together, pointing in the same direction, it went so much faster. 

All I had to do was to turn the pieces in my hand and search for the yellow piece going to the right. 

The rest of the pieces were picked as per their unique shape. 

Now, I'll take it apart and put it away so my son can work on the puzzle he received on New Year's Eve. 

It's nothing interesting so I won't keep you posted on this one. 

The original post was supposed to finish with this paragraph. 

I am sorry to announce that the year didn't start on the right foot for us. Raven disappeared on January 3. I've been very down and still am. I'm pushing myself to sew as I know it will help me (and you will too with the comments and your posts about wonderful stuff). Thank you for being there. 

BUT 

After 10 days away, he came back home. I just couldn't believe my eyes when I saw him on the deck. He lost a lot of weight but is otherwise okay as you can tell from this picture. 

He's still sassy! Haha. I'm so happy. 

Have a great one! 

;^)

 

Joining my quilting friends

Angela at So Scrappy

Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts

Sarah at Confession of a Fabric Addict

One Continuous Line

... is what time is. It is the last day of the year and yet it is just a regular day before another regular day. Nothing different will happen. No big bang. No threshold to cross. No ritual to do. Well, maybe the clinging of wine glasses but time is just one continuous line. Humans make it the last day of the year. We have to separate things, quantify them and categorize them. When I look back, all I see is one life, mine in one continuous line.

I didn't do a lot of sewing lately but did a lot of quilting. The goal is to get Stars in Blue finished before the end of the year. Almost there. 
This was my Personal Rainbow UFO Challenge for the month of July and August 2021. I got the top together and the backing magically appeared so I sandwiched it right away. It's been waiting ever since. 

The big stars were quilted with one continuous line. I hope you can see it in the next picture 

A loop in the corner going up to the Hourglass unit side where I sew in the ditch (not that easy when you don't use the walking foot) across the bottom and up the other side to make another loop and round I went. The middle square ends up being sewn all around and everything is well secured. 

The little stars got a different treatment. 

I went loopy all around this one. Free motion with no marking so each one is unique and crooked differently, haha. The white spaces around the middle block are quilted in tight straight lines. 

That's it. Nothing very fancy but I like it and it is done. Now, what to use to bind this one? Blue? 

A scrappy binding of blue, orange, and red? If I want to finish it before the bells of New Years' ring, I better hurry and decide soon. I still have all those threads to bury too. Where is my Fairy Quilting Godmother? 

Another thing I've been doing lately is puzzles. Like this. 

Don't get me wrong. I love Bonnie's quilts but when they look like this, they are a nightmare. 

As you can see, I did manage to get some done but that yellow Spider Web quilt is a doozer! But I'm stubborn; I'll get it done eventually. 😉

Here's my Snow Panther. Haha! He is Snow nothing. He really doesn't like snow. He will only step in my footsteps or those made by other animals. He fell through the snow once and never again. He makes sure his footing is secure before he steps in. He's so funny. 

May you all be blessed with a wonderful new year. May your family, friends, and a smile be with you always. May health be by your side throughout. Let's not forget those who have left and cherish those that are with us. Blessings to you as I am blessed with you as my friends. Here's to another year of blogging, sewing, helping out, laughing out loud, counting units, separating blocks, categorizing fabrics into colours, because this is what humans do. So let's enjoy it all again in 2022. 

Cheers! 

;^)

 

Joining Alycia Quilts for the first time for Finished or Not Friday.  

Joining Angela at So Scrappy for Rainbow Scrap Challenge

Sew Much

There's so much of everything lately. So much rain, so much sickening news, so many changes, so many masks, so many holes, so much fabric, ... oh, I like that one. Let's dwell on that one. 😉

In my first layout plan for the tulip quilt, I hadn't considered Aqua as a colour to do but now that we are in the Aqua month, I'm thinking I should add it in. 

I found some remnants in the gifted bags and sewed one up. What do you think? 

I have very little aqua fabric but found these. They are either dark or light. Some kind of go together but it is a long shot. Oh well, it will have to do. 

The August Personal Rainbow UFO Challenge got together. 

I have found a back for it too. On with the pinning. Do I have the time to quilt it? 

So much fabric. The cleaning continues.

The blue basket is all done and half-filled. It holds dark blue of course and all the blue batiks. 

The neutrals were next. The container is a 40 cup Rubbermaid bin. 

I separated the white scraps from the beige ones and ended up with this. 

White and ivory in the bag, beige in the container, and the pile next to the container are all scraps with colours on them. Not sure where I should add them.  I haven't removed all the tiny little bits to make a basket from the neutrals because I am second-guessing myself on this one. Do I want one or two baskets? Or should I make another basket for neutral with colours? If I make a white basket, there won't be much left in the basket. Should I do just one neutral basket? 🤔

So many fabrics. Carole, my sweet friend, brought me more bags of scraps. Yay! Amongst other things, she brought me a gazillion of triangles. 🤣 

Each little Ziplock bag has one quilt worth of triangles except for the 1930's reproductions. It looks like 2, even 3 quilts worth of triangles. Whoohoo! 

I'll be making HSTs for the rest of my life. 🤣🤣

Talking about HSTs, I did one block in light blue...

... and one (almost done) in beige. 

I've just noticed it is spinning the wrong way ... again. Blooper averted! 😀

Let's go back at the beginning for a second and dwell a little bit on "so many holes". 

I did something that I should have done a long, long time ago. Procrastination is such a dead stop! Eventually, a time comes when you just can't ignore the problem any longer. 

There were so many holes. Then, some holes turned into a giant one. 

I saw on the Net a rapid way to make a new ironing board cover. You cut the ribbon or folded fabric that holds the twine to attach the cover, and you sew it to the new one. It didn't take 30 minutes and all was done. 

I'm so happy with the new one. The iron doesn't get stuck in the holes anymore! Should have done that a long time ago. I cut my fabric too big. I didn't take into account the amount of fabric added by the twine section. Lesson learned for next one. 😉 

Monday will find me at work in the office. I am going back full-time. I need to make more masks so I can change during the day. My days of working from home are done. No more sewing during lunch break! Gosh! I'm gonna miss that. 

Him too, I will miss. 

Have a great weekend. 

;^)

Joining
Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Angela at So Scrappy
Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts
Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework
Denise at For the Love of Geese
Pat at Life in a Scrapatch

August Personal Rainbow UFO Challenge

It's like I knew I would need more than a month to work on this one. 

My personal Rainbow UFO Challenge for August is the same as July. See what I wrote back in January of this year. 

                        "The next ones are in case Angela calls a darker shade of a colour, so
                                            Dark Blue or Aqua - Star in Blue (2016) ..." 

It was a long weekend for us in Canada, so I was able to work almost all afternoon on Star in Blue on Monday. Option #1 was everyone's favourite.  

The missing Star in Blue block was done as were some alternative blocks. 

Lots of dark blue scraps were used in these as they are very small stars. The centre measures 5" unfinished. 

By Monday evening my design wall looked like this. 

Now, to work with Aqua I first had to locate it. Remember the blue scrap basket waiting on the sideline? 

It finally got the much-needed attention. 

Wow! That took forever! Well, at least a few hours of Olympic events watching. On the sofa we have, from left to right: Aqua - light blue (really not a lot in that group) - Batiks - Solids. On the floor, 

a pile (Pile? Mountain!) of what needs to be cut up and resized - basket with the dark ones - medium - strings. 

I am so proud of myself. Once I put the light, Batiks, medium back with the dark in the basket, it was full. It confirmed what I suspected.  I do need another blue scrap basket. (Or sew more with blue.) 

This spurs me to continue with green because I might find some aqua-ish-turquoise-teal in there too. Some more Olympic events later and ta-da! 

From left to right, Aqua-turquoise-teal colour - lights - and to be cut up and resized pile. In front of the empty basket - medium - dark - strings. Yes, my green basket is bigger than the blue one. It might explain why this one is not so full. Ha! 

I ended up with quite a pile of scraps in Aqua-ish colour. Unfortunately, I didn't have a lot of sewing time this week.  

Crumb blocks in the making. 

Thank goodness for weekends! 

Hope you have a great one. Take care! 

;^)

Joining
Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Angela at So Scrappy
Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts
Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework
Denise at For the Love of Geese
Pat at Life in a Scrapatch

My Personal Rainbow Scrap Challenge

In July, I was to work on my Stars in Blue quilt. Nine blocks were made and abandoned in 2016. I played with a few ideas most of the month to finish this quilt. Someone commented that I should add stars in my sashing. (thanks for the inspiration, Gayle. Always helpful. 🧡) So I played with more stars. 

I made two testers, took some pictures and played on the computer. 

I came up with these options.

option 1

option 2

option 3

I didn't bother to photograph all 9 blocks, so it will look different when done but it gives me an idea of what to expect. I'm not too keen on option 3. One Ohio Star block is missing to make this pattern. It will be done this weekend. So, what do you say? 

Last week, I show you this picture. 

When I took it down from the design wall, I realized it isn't flying the right way. 

It will need a session with the seam ripper. Haha! Blooper! 

The cleaning of the sewing room continues. I discovered where the bonus HSTs from the first tulip blocks were hiding. I quickly turned them into shoo-fly! 

With all the cleaning and cutting I didn't get to play with Shoreline. Depending on August's colour for the RSC, I might continue to work on it. 

That's all I have for now. Take care everyone and have a great one! 

;^) 

Joining
Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Angela at So Scrappy
Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts
Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework
Denise at For the Love of Geese
Pat at Life in a Scrapatch