Ready for Retreat

I've been working on planning and cutting for projects to take on retreat. The two new projects are not design wall ready yet - blocks or parts have to be assembled first. But I always take along an extra project in case I finish everything else and still have time. This project has been cut for a while with the layout partially planned in EQ8. It just needed the layout tweaked and finalized, so here it is. 

Do you recognize those colors? Scroll up to my blog header and check out the quilt with the white background, and the fat quarters. Those colored squares are left over from that quilt, which was made in 2012. 12 years is long enough for extra squares to sit in a drawer. With the recent donation to PCQ of several black and white prints, I was able to supplement my own B+W prints and find a use for the colored squares. 

It's hard to tell in this photo, but there are actually two turquoise shades. In the blog header they look different enough, but in this photo they look the same. So I swapped out the lighter one for a paler one for more differentiation. Now I still have a handful of leftover turquoise squares from 2012, back in the spare parts drawer. 

The rows and columns have been numbered and kitted up for retreat. I also packed a black-on-white print for the inner border and a white-on-black print for the outer border. We'll see if I actually get to this project on retreat, or if I'll bring it home untouched. This will be a throw size donation quilt when it's done, so there's no rush.

My other projects for retreat are kitted up and packed in project boxes, ready to leave bright and early Thursday morning. My friend Cherie is flying in from PA to go with us. Bonus - the retreat ranch where we go is at a higher elevation and about 20 degrees cooler there, so it will be nice to get out of the Phoenix heat for a few days. I'm so looking forward to this getaway!

New Project on My Design Wall

Tired of seeing Road Trip on my design wall? Yeah, me too. Now that it's in one piece I've taken it down, although it needs a couple of fixes. With the design wall empty and available, I could lay out some projects that I'm prepping to take to social sewing or retreat. 

For social sewing on Wednesdays, I'll work on the PCQ community service project for July-August. We're using the large Friendship Star pattern again to make kits. Someone recently gave a generous donation of black and white fabrics; our chair passed them to me and asked me to do something with them. Since the pattern relies on strong value contrast, black and white prints will work well. I supplemented with a few pieces from my own stash and a quarter yard from a neighbor (thanks, Linda). I couldn't resist adding a bright red accent! 

Here are the black and white pieces laid out on my wall. This will be a twin bed size quilt when finished. Since I took this photo I swapped the placement of a few squares, but I didn't take a new photo. You get the idea.

The pattern as written is much scrappier to take advantage of the very random fabric stash the club has. The pattern has an alternating block layout, but if I can change up the layout to make it more striking in the black and white version, I might as well, right? 

I'll take the pieces off the wall and package them up into blocks, numbered and labeled so I can work on them as time permits at social sewing. My hive friends and I are also working on a couple of other things at social sewing, one of which has a deadline of next week, so these blocks may not get attention until later in the month, but at least they'll be ready to go when I need them. 

The Friendship Star pattern is one of the Free Charity Quilt Patterns on the tab above. While these patterns were designed to be kitted up for PCQ Community Service sew days, I'm offering the patterns for any charitable purpose. If you would like a PDF of Scrappy Friendship Stars, leave a comment and be sure to type your email address within the text of the comment so I can send it to you. 

Link up: Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Woven Bricks, Daisy Version

 I was able to get time on PCQ's long arm at the very end of June, so I was able to quilt and finish my daisy print version of Woven Bricks.

Woven Bricks is a very simple charity quilt pattern* that we used for making kits for the May-June Community Service sew days project. So often the donation quilts I make are twin bed size because that's what several of the charities PCQ supports require. This one is a smaller throw, and it was refreshing to make and quilt something smaller this time. I think it came out about 45" by 60". 

Among the donated fabrics in PCQ's Floral bin, I found this red and gold border print stripe but there was only a yard of it. The red floral and gold tonal also came from the club's stash, as did the two sashing fabrics. 

With careful placement I could make the daisy print work, supplemented with the gold tonal for the horizontal rows. The red print used for the vertical columns gives it the woven look. 

Two of the charities we support can use throw size quilts, so this will go to one of them, a local family services agency that serves victims of sexual violence. I hope this cheerful quilt brings a measure of comfort to the recipient. 

Linking up with Alycia Quilts (July 5) and My Quilt Infatuation (July 11)

* If you would like a PDF of the Woven Bricks pattern for any charitable purpose, leave a comment and be sure to include your email address within the text of the comment so I can send it to you. 

June Stash Report and Goals Update

 Wow, I can't believe it's the end of June already. It seemed like June was busy, but I don't have much to show for it. I was out of town for a couple days and then came down with a nasty virus, so I've been out of the sewing room a lot this month. 

No fabrics were purchased this month, and none of my own fabrics used, so no change to my stash report. The only complete finish I had used all club fabric for the front and back.

Mostly this month I worked on assembling my Road Trip top. A few partial seams, but not as bad as I expected it would be. I actually have the top all sewn together. And then I discovered I switched the placement of a couple of blocks so I'll have to fix it. Here's what it looks like before fixing: 

I haven't figured out the fabric usage in Road Trip yet. I'll figure it out and count it when I get the top fixed. I have quite a lot of leftover blocks and components, probably enough for smaller throw size quilt. I'll figure out what to do with them and count all that fabric separately. I'm tired of looking at Road Trip now, though, so I may put dealing with the leftovers on hold for a while. 

Another thing I finished this month is my community service top from the May-June kit. I had time on the long arm yesterday so I was able to quilt it. I haven't blogged about it yet so it'll get its own post later, after it's bound and finished. Again, the fabrics used were all club fabrics, so none of mine to count for my stash report. 

I actually accomplished more in June than I originally thought. I have a retreat coming up in mid July, so my goals and priorities have to switch over to retreat project prep now. 

Goals Update: 

June Recap

1. Finish the Road Trip top. Yes, but... It's all sewn together but I've noticed a couple of changes I need to make, which will involve ripping out a couple of blocks and replacing them. 

2. Quilt and finish my Tropical Stacked Slabs charity quilt. DONE and donated. 

3. Plan for making kits for the July PCQ Community Service sew day. Work on finishing the May-June top. DONE; directed the kitting up of the July project and finished my May-June top.

4. Prep projects for retreat in July. Started, more work needed. 

5. Finish the Kaffe Gradient flimsy. No

6. If time permits, prep a backing for something and book quilting time for early in July. Yes, got long arm time on June 29 and quilted my May-June community service top. 

Other: made six more Periwinkle blocks for Edna's hive project. 

July Goals: 

1. Prep projects for retreat.

2. Bind the May-June community service quilt (Woven Bricks pattern).

3. Make a couple Scrappy Celebration blocks in autumn colors for retreat hostess Shiela. 

4. Revise Road Trip top.

5. Finish the Kaffe Gradient flimsy.

Hopefully I can publish more blog posts in July, too. 

Stacked Slabs

Although I haven't been blogging much lately, I've been working on PCQ community service projects behind the scenes. 

We revised our schedule this year. Last year we were a little too ambitious, - and productive! - and we had a new quilt project for each month's Community Service sew day. Our batting budget couldn't keep up. Some of us felt pressured to finish a charity quilt top each month. This year we're allocating two months for sewing a given pattern. 

Our March-April project was a new pattern for us, Stacked Slabs. After finishing the top in May, I had time booked on the long arm at the beginning of June and got it quilted, and now it has been finished and donated. It's twin bed size because that's what several of the agencies we support need. 

When we made up the Stacked Slabs kits, I chose from the overflowing Novelty fabric bins and pulled everything with an ocean/beach/tropical/water theme: dolphins and whales, surfers and surfboards, palm trees, mermaids... I had made my Sea Turtle toddler quilt then, so I added in the turtle print leftovers, too. Then I pulled from the blue, teal, and green fabric bins to round out the palette. 

This pattern is super easy, just 4-1/2" wide strips cut either 20-1/2" or 10-1/2" long, laid out in rows staggered like bricks. No blocks, no seams to match, and the fabrics do all the work. 

After I had pulled all the fabrics for the top, we received another very generous donation of fabrics which included this stunning African print and some watery prints in matching colors. With careful planning, I was able to piece together a large enough backing featuring the African print. This could almost be a two-sided quilt. 

If you would like a PDF of the Stacked Slabs pattern for any charitable purpose, leave a comment and be sure to type your email address in the body of your comment. When I get a chance to update my Charity Quilt Patterns tab above, I'll add this pattern to it. 

Linking up with Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Road Trip and Other Work in Progress

 Road Trip is at the point where I'm starting to puzzle it together. There are a few partial seams, but not too bad so far. I have the upper left corner assembled.

When not working on Road Trip, I've been thinking about my Black and Tan project. Here are a few test blocks. The pale one on the left doesn't cut it; too blah. 

Primary blocks have black corners. When they surround the alternate blocks they create a star, which will continue out into the border. I'm using triangle papers to mass produce those corner HSTs. I've revised the layout in EQ several times. If I'm careful with the value placement, I think the blocks will create an interesting secondary pattern. 

I need my design wall to work on the Black and Tan project and other quilts besides Road Trip, so I really need to focus and get Road Trip assembled so I can move on. 

Linking up with Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

May Stash Report and Goals Update

 Well, some goals just weren't met this month. But all in all, I did get a lot done, especially on my Road Trip project. I was able to find more of the license plate fabric from a Google image search so I got another yard of it. I've used nearly all of it. I've finished reconstructing the blocks, finalized the layout, and now I'm working on the fill-in bits. Here's a photo from a few days ago.

The girls in the hive finished the warm version of the batik Scrappy Celebration in warm colors, so I can count out my share of the fabrics used. Per EQ, that's about 2 yards. Didn't make a dent in my batik scraps! I went with Linda and the chair of PCQ's Community Service committee to deliver both batik Scrappy Celebration quilts to Magdalene House and gift them to the recipients. No photos for privacy reasons, but the ladies were truly touched and very appreciative. 

Other than that, no finishes this month so I can't count anything else out of my stash. 

May Stash Report:

IN this month: 1 yard (license plate print for Road Trip)
OUT this month: 2 yards (my share of Warm Batiks Scrappy Celebration)

IN YTD: 23-1/4 yards
OUT YTD: 20-1/8 yards
YTD Net Change:  3-1/8 yards added

No worries. Road Trip is getting close to a finished top, and that will be a lot of fabric to count out because it's so huge and there are so many unused blocks and block parts. The Kaffe Gradient project is close to a finished top, too. Plus, I have a couple other projects cut or in progress using my own fabrics, so I'll be able to count the fabric out eventually. My goal is to break even for the year. 

Goals Update:

May Recap: 

1. Ship and/or deliver Ruby Jubilee and Sea Turtle quilts. DONE

2. Continue working on Road Trip. Yes, good progress. Finished remaking all the blocks and revising the layout; now working on filler bits and joining the blocks together. 

3. Finish the Kaffe Gradient flimsy. No, not worked on. 

4. Begin planning a new project for July retreat. Yes, cut pieces for a black & white project for retreat. 

5. Work on Black & Tan scrappy blocks. Yes, modified the plan and made several more blocks.

6. Quilt something on the club's long arm. No. But I have a time slot booked for early June to quilt my Tropical Stacked Slabs.

7. Quilt something on the club's long arm. No. But I have a time slot booked for early June to quilt my Tropical Stacked Slabs.

other: finished piecing my March-April community service quilt, Stacked Slabs. I made mine in tropical and ocean-themed prints from the club's stash. I pieced a cool backing for it from donated fabrics, too. Photos to come when the quilt is finished.

June Goals:

1. Finish the Road Trip top

2. Quilt and bind my Tropical Stacked Slabs charity quilt.

3. Plan for making kits for the July-August PCQ Comm. Svc. project. Work on finishing my May-June Comm. Svc. top. 

4. Prep projects for retreat in July

5. Finish the Kaffe Gradient flimsy

6. If time permits, prep a backing for something and book quilting time in early July. 

Plenty to keep me busy, especially since I'll be on vacation for a few days!

Linking up with Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts