Shards Print Double Four Patch Flimsy

I found this "Shards" print several years ago at one of the pop up shops during Quilt Week in Paducah. I thought it would be good for a masculine donation quilt. 

The top needed borders, which got added in November, and now it's a finished flimsy. My husband saw it on my design wall when I was measuring for the borders, and he really likes it. We're not keeping it; we have plenty of quilts. This one will go to the local hospice that PCQ supports; they need quilts suitable for men. With the borders, this measures 60 x 76, a good sized throw. 

I had forgotten how effective a simple Double Four Patch pattern could be, especially for a charity quilt. The blocks are 16" with squares of 8" and 4". With the borders, this top measures 60 x 76, a good size for an adult throw. This one will go to the local hospice PCQ supports. 

I have backing fabric from PCQ, a charcoal grey tonal print that I can also use for binding. I'll get the back pieced asap. I may quilt this one on my domestic machine since it'll be a while until I can get time on the club's long arm. 

Linking up with Alycia Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict

November Stash Report and Goals Update

 November was a better month for the stash report - nothing added! I'm still in the red for the year, though. That should change in December when I have at least one more finish to count out, so I can break even or better for the year. 

What I can count out for November is the fabric used in this top, which got its borders added this month and is now a finish. The focus print is from one of the pop-up shops in Paducah several years ago. I thought at the time it would make a nice masculine donation quilt. 

Shards print Double Four Patch

 

November Stash Report: 

IN this month: Nothing! 
OUT this month: 5-7/8 yards (Shards print double 4-patch top, 5-1/4  yards.  Binding donated  for Black + White + Brights, 5/8 yard.)

IN YTD: 86-5/8 yards
OUT YTD: 81-7/8 yards
YTD Net Change: 4-3/4 yards added to the stash

I had time booked on PCQ's long arm last week and two quilts prepped and ready to quilt. I knew I couldn't quilt them both in my allotted time. I chose to quilt the Pink Race Leftovers and place Black + White + Brights for someone else to quilt. Since I supplied the binding for it, I counted the binding yardage out. 

Black + White + Brights, placed for quilting by another PCQ member

I used my longarm time to quilt the Race Leftovers quilt. The backing for this came from the club's backing stash and is a giant black and white checkerboard, like a car racing flag. Here's the top before quilting; I still have to bind it. Finished photos to come later. 

Pink Race Leftovers

Progress continued on both my Cube Challenge project and on quilting Candy Land, my two ongoing projects. It seemed like I was busy this month but there doesn't seem to be much to show for it. 

Goals Update:

November Recap

1. Continue quilting Candy Land.  Progress; now 75% quilted. 

2. Finish piecing the cube project and hire a long arm quilter. Progress, just need to add the top and bottom borders. Alycia is going to quilt it. 

3. Prep backing and batting and place the Pink Race Leftovers quilt for quilting by someone in PCQ.  Quilted this one myself.

4. Prep backing and quilt the Black + White + Brights (vertical bricks) project on PCQ's long arm.  Prepped this one for quilting and gave it to PCQ for someone else to quilt. 

5. Work on piecing the Four Patch Shuffle project at social sewing. Progress

6. Start writing a tutorial for Four Patch Shuffle. Progress; working on the graphics and the fabric requirements/cutting instructions.

7. Work on a UFO.  Added borders on Shards top.

Other: experimenting with a FQ piecing concept. 

Cube Project before borders

December Goals: 

1. Finish adding the final borders to the Cube Challenge project. When backing arrives, wash and press it. Order batting to be shipped directly to Alycia. Pack the top and backing and ship to Alycia.

2. Bind and donate the Pink Race Leftovers quilt.

3. Continue quilting Candy Land. 

4. Continue piecing Four Patch Shuffle.

5. Continue writing the tutorial for Four Patch Shuffle. 

6. Continue working on the experimental FQ project. 

7. Prep backing and batting for Shards and place it in PCQ's To Be Quilted space. 

8. Work on a UFO.

It should be a very busy month, all this plus Christmas. 

Four Patch Shuffle blocks

Four Patch Shuffle Progress

No sewing on my Four Patch Shuffle. Nothing new on my design wall to share. Quilting continues on CandyLand but that's boring. The Cube Challenge project looks the same as it did in my last post, but it's been squared up (a big job!), borders are cut and backing fabric has been ordered. So I really have been doing some quilt-related stuff, there's just not much to show for it. 

Instead, I've been working on a tutorial for Four Patch Shuffle. As a reminder, here are my blocks so far: 

It's been awhile since I wrote a pattern and I had forgotten how much time it takes to create the graphics, So today instead of sharing my design wall, I'll share a couple of the graphics for Four Patch Shuffle. 

Original Layout

Parent Blocks for Block A

QOV option

I'll continue sewing blocks at social sewing, and working on the tutorial as time permits. Hopefully I'll have both finished by January. 

Linking up with Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Linking up with Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Closer to a Finish

 Not quite a finish yet, but getting closer. All the piecing seams are sewn, now I just need to add the borders. 

I need to square it up before I measure for borders, and I'm going to need to spread it out on the floor and get my husband's help to do so. Hopefully we can do that soon, although he has plans for working in the yard this weekend. 

The side borders will add a lot more background/negative space, and bring the total width to 96". I also plan to add narrow 2" borders to the top and bottom, across all those vertical seams, to contain them. The finished height will also be 96". 

So, not quite a finish, but certainly getting closer. 

Link ups: Alycia Quilts, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Four Patch Shuffle, Continued

I got a few more Four Patch Shuffle blocks made at social sewing last week, a set of four blocks in the green/orange colorway. 

Normally I try to have everything cut and kitted up for social sewing, but the parts for these blocks were not cut ahead of time so I had to think about the cutting while at social sewing. Think being the operative word - snowbirds are back and social sewing is all "So glad to see you!!! How was your summer?"  Very social.

These are the parent blocks for the set.

block parents

Thank goodness, I didn't make any cutting mistakes and the piecing came together smoothly. The parent blocks were sliced and diced and recombined into a set of Four Patch Shuffle blocks. 

block quadrants

A reminder of how they'll look in the quilt:

I'm  a bit less than halfway finished making the blocks. No rush, no deadline. This is just a donation quilt. I don't expect to make any progress this week because we won't have social sewing this week. The room is being used for a class instead. 

Linking up with Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Pot Holders

A very small Friday Finish...  New pot holders for me. 

Because the old ones were beyond shabby. They were already old in 2019. These are the two that were described as "still usable" in this May 2019 post; I never did make a couple more back then. Time for new ones, don't you think?

Shameful

Much better, and much cuter with my southwest kitchen colors here.

PS - the two green ones that were new in 2019 are "still usable," but I'll definitely replace them before they get this bad! 

Link ups: Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Alycia Quilts

October Stash Report and Goals Update

Well, it seems I'm going in the wrong direction with my stash management. Not really, I just don't have the finishes yet to offset the acquisitions. A shop hop this month did me in, plus I needed something specific for a project. So many of the projects I work on use donated fabrics in the piecing and/or PCQ's stash for backing, and I never count those fabrics out because they were never part of my own stash. 

My big finish for the month was the Hot Race quilt, but the fabrics used in the top were already counted in September. 

The race leftovers went into another top, so only the black and white block frames were counted out. 

October Stash Report

IN this month: 8 yards (Shop hop and extra shopping)
OUT this month: 4-1/8 yards (Gift, 1-3/8 yards. Black and white for Leftovers block frames, 2-3/4 yards.)

IN YTD: 86-5/8 yards
OUT YTD: 76 yards
YTD Net Change: 10-5/8 yards added to the stash

Ongoing projects, the coral snake quilt called CandyLand and the cube challenge project, are progressing and will add to the amount of fabric used when they get to finished stages, but they're not there yet. 

Meanwhile I've started the next project to piece at social sewing, using almost all my own fabrics. I'll see how far along I get with it this month. 

Goals Update

October Recap:
1. Continue quilting CandyLand.  Progress. 

2. Continue piecing the cube project; start looking for a long arm quilter to custom quilt it.  Progress

3. Quilt the Hot Race quilt on the club's long.  Done and donated.

4. Piece a charity quilt top from the race leftovers.  Done.

5. Plan a new charity quilt to work on at social sewing. Planned and started. 

Other: made a couple of new pot holders.

Quilting Progress: about 5/8 complete

November Goals: 
1. Continue quilting CandyLand.

2. Finish piecing the cube project and hire a long arm quilter.

3. Prep backing and batting and place the Pink Race Leftovers quilt for quilting by someone in PCQ.

4. Prep backing and quilt the Black + White + Brights (vertical bricks) project on PCQ's long arm.

5. Work on piecing the Four Patch Shuffle project at social sewing.

6. Start writing a tutorial for Four Patch Shuffle

7. Work on a UFO.

The biggest challenge this month is going to be finding a long arm quilter for the cube project. I've had recommendations of people to talk to, so at least I have a start. Since I need it in February, I'm hoping that someone can do it after their Christmas orders. I'm also a bit concerned about the cost; prices for custom long arm quilting are much higher here than what I was accustomed to in STL. 

The cube project: 3 more long seams plus borders

November goals don't include any Thanksgiving plans. No guests, but we'll be cooking for ourselves and enjoying some festive food. We won't be travelling this year. Last year our trip back to Missouri was a disaster - everything that could go wrong did - so we'll stay home this year. 

More time to sew and work on projects!