I've made good progress on the country roads quilt I am making. Right now, it is the right size for the top of the bed. I think 2-5 more rows might be enough for a queen size bed.
The new litterbug - how many masks do you count?
I have just been working on my country roads quilt top - trying to get it together. I have 16 rows together so far. I think I will need at least 4 more. And these are the longest rows. In between rows, I can sew leaders/and enders. It keeps me happy.
Next year, 2021, I want to work on my swap houses block quilt. Four of my quilting friends and I swapped little 4 1/2 inch houses in 2015
My friend, and one of the swap partners, suggested we bring them to the Saturday sew in, and, at least, take a look at them. Maybe, by doing that, our heads might start percolating ideas for the quilt. It did mine. I knew I wanted to have trees in the mix, so I tried a few and was hooked. They are busy, the houses are busy, so I will need a sashing, I think.
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| just need trimmed |
One comment we both made, was how we had forgotten just how cute the houses were. I am looking forward to making that quilt next year.
I am linking:
I have had a hard time this year setting goals for next year. Maybe, because it has been an uncertain year. And yet, I finished the most ufo projects I have ever done in a single year. Now, that I think of it, I might be tired of finishing, but, I have many more to finish. I am not sure how to find the balance between finishing to accomplish, and starting new to enjoy. The more I stick to a list, the less I quilt.
Still, I've made my list for next year and the PHD 21.
2.frolic mystery quilt. This was last year's quiltville mystery and I had it done pretty quickly, but, I wanted to finish older ufos, and this was sidelined.
3. end of the rainbow. I think the white space makes me nervous to quilt. This was a rsc project for 2019. I really like it and hope to finish it this year.
And, with all the quilts I finished this year, I didn't finish any rainbow scrap challenge quilts. I finished the tops of 5 or 6, but, didn't get them quilted. And there are none on my 12 PHD2021 list. So, I need to fix that.
Oh wait.. I finished birch trees from 2018 rsc
and woven checkerboard from 2019
I think that is why I am trying to not start any new rsc projects this year, but, only finish them. I have a few to carry over. But, Angela has hinted there might be a group project.....I would HAVE to do that.
I have been anxious to lay out my country roads blocks and choose a setting. I have no idea how many blocks I will need, now that, I have decided on an on point layout for the blocks. My first choice was the fabric for the alternate blocks. And, then, the setting triangles fabric. I am just using some favorite colors that I already have in the stash. I am using the companion ruler to cut the setting triangles, although, I know I have an actual setting triangle ruler somewhere very safe.
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| the first corner goes so fast |
I laid it out on our bed to get an idea of how long I want the middle diagonal to be. And, I will go from there. At first, I was just making rows, but, I want to start sewing it together, since, I am always surprised at how much it shrinks up after sewing it together.
country roads is a free pattern that I have made for the rainbow scrap challenge this year.
I am linking:
I have a few minutes in the evening to sew on my treadle - I really didn't want to start a new project, but, I wanted to make a quilted twins quilt called swingin checkerboard, this year, and didn't get to it. So, I am giving myself permission to just sew a few strips together while watching conference in the evening.
That is, until, I become consumed with the project, and it takes over what I am doing. I have quilter's ADD, I guess. First, I just cut a few strip sets to see what they would look like, now, I am over half way with the pieces that I will need. This will be a great scrap buster.....
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I had a big milestone yesterday - I added the finished in 2021 tab to the top of the page. I felt hopeful. Not that I can't add one last quilt to 2020.
I think I need to spend the rest of this year cleaning up from all the projects this year, and, try to get a bit more organized for next year. First, I need to reclaim my cutting table. I find, that I will travel around the house to cut, since the cutting table is a mess. It's embarrassing, but, I am sure it will be fun rediscovering missing items.
Saturday was an all day sew day. And, I used the time to work on my grassy creek mystery quilt from quiltville. It seemed harmless enough... 25 sets of matching blah blah blah. I didn't cut the pieces until the morning of, so, I didn't have a lot of time to think through the math. I just cut a bunch. I spent 3 hours sewing the pieces, and, I still wasn't done. 25 sets was actually 400 pieces. hmmm. I chained pieces in their sets, which was a little fiddley. I cut them after each set.
I am linking:
I am sewing here and there on my current scrap projects, hoping to make some more progress before the end of the year. Can you believe we are nearly there? What a year.
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| psp20 |
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| psp20 |
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| stash buster and easy breezy |
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| getting close |
I finished star gazing quilt yesterday. We even put up our tree this week.
I am linking to:
rsc20 super saturday
oh scrap
UFO busting
Star gazing is a Bonnie Hunter pattern in her book scraps and shirt tails. This is finish number 27 for the year for me. Many of the scraps for this quilt are upcycled shirts. I cut it out in 2014. It has been a top since 2017 after a back and forth visit to the ufo closet. It's a big quilt 82 x 82 and used 22 yards of fabric. I made mine one row bigger across.
I did a free form pattern on the longarm. I used a sheet from the thrift store for the back, and black binding. I used a machine to attach the binding.
As I am making postage stamp blocks, I am playing around with these cute little waffle blocks. They are trimmed to 5 1/2 and take 10 - 1 1 /2 inch squares. I found them to be very fun and addictive.
I decided I would sit and cut a bunch of 1 1/2 inch strips for the framework. It takes 16 1/2 - 17 inch strip to cut a matching set. I was able to cut 106 sets in one evening. It helps that I have 1 1/2 inch strips already cut. I threw the leftovers back into the drawer, but, it would have been smart to have a plan for the leftovers.
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I haven't been to rug hooking in a while. The pandemic, my hubby's retirement, and feeling behind has left me wanting to stay home. I had already decided, that, I didn't want to cart my big project (snowmen) out of the house any more. I picked a smaller, easier to carry project to take with me, when I go. I took a class last year for this project. And, I would like to see it move along..... I need to go to rug hooking. And today is the day.
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| my work so far |
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| the class sample |
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| another classmate's work |
I am linking to:
We had a sew day, Saturday, and, I took grassy creek mystery quilt clue #1 as a project. I had 1/2 of the sets cut, and, I cut the rest while I was there. I managed to get them all sewn. I didn't trim them until I was home in the evening. I pressed them, and counted them, and was short a couple of sets. I have them done now. May I say, again, as I did last year, I don't like the matchy matchy way of making a scrappy quilt.
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| hexagon table toppers for Christmas |
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| start of a donation quilt |
Yesterday, I posted my traffic jam finish. Today, I want to share a bit about a new experiment in machine binding I have been doing. One of the presenters at a guild presentation, this fall, mentioned, that, he used steam a seam when attaching his binding. I was intrigued and went to Joann fabrics that night to find what he used.
This is what I chose using a coupon. It was 2.39. I had decided that if that was too expensive, I might use the BYT and cut it myself. The package came with 2 rolls.
I tried it the first time on my Big easy Christmas quilt, and, I loved it. Someone asked if I would share how I used it. I used almost half of one roll for that quilt.
