September Stash Report and Goals Update

 Well, this month certainly didn't turn out as planned. We were supposed to go to the Gulf coast for four weeks but hurricane Sally changed that plan and cancelled our vacation. I expected to do some serious stash enhancement at a shop in Pensacola. Even though I had packed my sewing stuff and projects to work on, I had a limited list of goals for September knowing I'd be away. Let's see how things turned out instead. 

September Stash Report: 
IN this month: 43-7/8 yards. WOW! (4-3/4 yards low volumes for new LCT project. 29-1/2 yards from quilter's estate. 6 yards from Cherie. 1-3/4 yards wide backing. 1-7/8 yards remnants, etc. from QF.)

OUT this month: 10-1/4 yards (Bug Splatter - 1-3/4 yards total (includes wide backing used for top, back, and binding.) Amber + Olive LCT top - estimated 8-1/2 yards.)

IN YTD: 101-3/4 yards

OUT YTD: 113-7/8 yards

YTD Net Change: 12-1/8 yards out. Still okay after all that fabric added! 

A guild friend had to dispose of a deceased quilter's stash, so that's where most of this month's fabric added came from. My friend had an earlier appointment to shop the stash than I did, and she selected some pieces that she knew I'd like, so in addition to the nearly 30 yards that I took, she passed along another six yards to me. Wow! But I've already put some of it to good use in my LCT project. 

Goals Update: 

September Recap: 

1. Make progress on the pixelated quilt. Yes, blocks are pieced and center of top is assembled, ready for borders. 

2. Piece a LCT quilt to hang in our family room hallway. DONE, post coming on Friday. 

3. Piece and quilt another baby quilt for Operation Shower. DONE, Bug Splatter, but instead of going to Operation Shower it will go to STLMQG's LEO quilt drive. 

4.  Find a UFO to work on and move it forward. No, did not get to this. 

I really pushed to get the pixelated blocks finished before our scheduled trip. 48 blocks, each one different. It's to be a Christmas gift for my grandson who loves superheroes and video games. (No photos other than this because it's a licensed character; I'm interpreting it for personal and private use only.) I'm really pleased that I not only got all the blocks done, but got them sewn together, ready for borders. 

October Goals: 

1. Quilt and finish the LCT quilt. 

2. Add borders to the pixelated quilt, get fleece for backing, layer and baste it. 

3. Make another baby quilt for Operation Shower.

4. Find a UFO to work on and move it forward.

That doesn't seem like as much as usual for a whole month; we'll see how it goes. I've had a lot more time during Covid times to spend in the sewing room and Operation Shower will eventually be the beneficiary of several donation quilts as a result. 

Link up: Quilt Fabrication

LCT Blocks

I've been piecing Log Cabin Triangle blocks for the quilt I'm making to brighten up and update a dark hallway. LCT blocks are fast and easy to make, once all the strips are cut. For a tutorial, check out the 2016 QOV Block tab above. Last week I had all the HSTs made, and this week I added the logs. 

Log 1

Log 2

Log 3

Log 4

And here are the blocks on the wall. 

The top of the layout looks lighter than the bottom. This is intentional. I chose the lightest shades of gold and green for the uppermost blocks, and used the darkest ones nearer the bottom to ground the design. This adds more lightness at eye level and higher where I want to brighten up the room. (The effect isn't quite as drastic as it looks in the photo because the light on my wall is brighter near the top and dimmer at the bottom.) 

This week I'll finish getting the top pieced together and figure out a backing. 

Monday Link-ups: Small Quilts and Doll Quilts,  Love Laugh Quilt

Bug Splatter: A Quick Little Finish

Well, that went quickly. I pieced these squares together as leaders and enders while working on my pixelated project. It went so quickly that I ran out of leaders and enders, so I sewed the rows together. It wasn't quite big enough so I added borders.

With these fabrics this is more of a small child quilt than a baby quilt, not suitable for Operation Shower. I used the splatter print on the back as well as the front. 

STLMQG is collecting LEO quilts for first responders to use with young kids in scary situations. I'll give this one to the LEO quilt drive. 

I tried something new for me with the quilting in the green borders. I wanted to learn to do ribbon candy, but my practice attempts did not go well. I tried this, and while it's still pretty wobbly, for a first attempt it's not bad.

This quilt came out to about 42 x 52". A quick little finish and a nice break from piecing pixelated blocks. 

Friday Link ups: Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Alycia Quilts, Wendy's Quilts and More

Light

 Back in February when we thought we'd soon be selling our house and moving, we had a realtor come and advise us about things we needed to fix up before we put the house on the market. One of her concerns was the darkness of the area between our family room and our kitchen. 

This quilt - my first! - has been hanging there since the early 1990s. Getting rid of this dated look will certainly help refresh that space. 

One thing I can do to add more light to the space is hang a quilt with a lot of low volume negative space. My Log Cabin Triangles pattern will work (shown here, scroll down). Lots of negative space and much more modern. I can make it using colors that will coordinate with the adjacent family room. 

I bought some new low volume prints to add to my collection. These are just a few new ones, as I already had several in my stash. The more variety, the better.

I recently shopped a quilter's estate and I found a bundle of amber, gold, and ochre fat eighths. Combined with some greens from my stash, they'll work perfectly for the HSTs in my Log Cabin Triangle blocks.

These colors are much lighter and brighter than the old hunter greens in my bear paw quilt, and the variety of low volumes are much lighter than the khaki background in the old quilt. 

My goal is to get the top pieced by the end of the month. Lots of log cabin strips to cut and add to these triangles. Check out the 2016 QOV Block Tutorial tab above for the instructions. 

Link up: Quilt Fabrication
 

Change of Plans

 I was supposed to be here. 

Sally came instead. 

DH and I were planning a month at the beach to celebrate his retirement. But this is 2020....

I had projects kitted up to take with me, packing lists, stuff staged for loading in the car, care arrangements made for the dog, meals prepped, etc. Then the hurricane hit. It came ashore at Gulf Shores and Orange Beach AL. We go to Perdido Key which is just across the Florida line from Orange Beach. They got at least 20 inches of rain and 100 mph winds. We don't know yet about the damage at the condos where we always stay because the managers* there are too busy with hurricane recovery and we don't want to bother them. 

We've been looking forward to retirement and opportunities to travel. 2020 is the first year since 1978 that we have not taken a trip. Sigh.

But this is a quilting blog so let's get back on topic....

I've been working hard on a secret sewing pixelated project for a Christmas gift. My goal was to have all of the blocks pieced before we left for our trip. 

So pedal to the metal, I've been making blocks and I not only got them all made, I got them sewn together into the center of the top. It's ready to have the borders added. I set it aside to finish up after we got back from vacation and I packed up other projects to work on while we were on vacation. 

Those semi-pixelated blocks have a lot of seams! Even though I chain pieced as much as possible, there were a lot of starts and stops so I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to use leaders and enders. I had some precut squares of this bug print so I cut some squares of this splatter print to go with it. 

A few more squares were needed, but with leaders and enders this top came together quickly. 

It's about 45 x 58" which is a good toddler size. I'll quilt it and donate it to STLMQG's LEO quilt drive. LEO (law enforcement officer) quilts are carried by first responders to use to comfort children in scary situations and may be given to a child. 

I was looking forward to visiting a unique fabric shop in Pensacola, but obviously that's not happening now. Those projects that got kitted up and packed for vacation? I'll be working on them at home. 

*The managers at the condos we go to are Valerie and Lawrence for whom I made the Beach Baby quilt in May. You can see that quilt and the place where we stay in this post.

Monday Link-ups: Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Love Laugh Quilt

Bug Splatter

 Well, what would you call a project made with these fabrics? 

I'm still working on my pixellated project. Even though I'm chain piecing as much as possible, there are still a lot of seam starts and stops. I need leaders and enders. 

The bug fabric above is precut squares that were given to me by Wanda of Exuberant Color. The splatter print is a wide backing remnant I got on sale a couple months ago. I'll cut same size squares and use them for leaders and enders, which will get me started on a new donation quilt. 

Meanwhile, as I work on the secret pixellated project, if I don't post as often as usual, it's because that project is keeping me busy. 

Monday Link-ups: Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Love Laugh Quilt

A Quilter's Estate

Recently, some random guy contacted one of the members of our guild. His mother, a quilter, had passed away and he didn't know what to do with her fabric. Long story short, my guild friend took everything with the goal of passing it along to guild members and giving anything left over to Charity Sharity, a local organization that takes fabric and craft donations. 

"Everything" turned out to be a garage-length wall of boxes stacked chest high. It took several trips for her to get everything in her car and to her basement. 

She contacted the members of the guild and scheduled one-on-one appointments to come and shop the stash. (Masks required, social distance, and come in through the basement door.) My turn came after others had already selected what they wanted, and there was still an overwhelming amount of fabric. 

There was almost every kind of quilting fabric you could imagine, solids, traditional prints, a few modern prints, lots of blenders including Grunge, Hawaiian-shirt prints, and lots of novelties. This lady had wide-ranging taste. Apparently she also left some UFOs which some of the other members had taken to finish. The patriotic prints and most of the reds and blues went to the guild member who heads up a QOV group. 

I spent an hour selecting what I wanted, and came away with a paper grocery sack crammed full and overflowing. My friend chided me for not taking enough. 

Once home, I immediately washed it all. Two loads, darks and lights, with color catchers just for good measure. Here's my haul, fresh out of the dryer: 

I was particularly pleased to find a bundle of fat eighths of amber and gold prints, maybe part of a kit? I have an immediate plan for them. There were some nice black and white prints, good stash additions. And several 2, 3, and 4 yard cuts that will make great backings. 

The pile, from the other direction. This is the view from standing at my ironing board. 

It took me over four hours to get all that fabric ironed and put away. I'm ballparking that there was about 30 yards there. I was complaining recently that I'm bored with quilting from my stash; well now I have no reason to be bored, I have lots of new-to-me goodies to play with. 

This is not the first time my guild has had to help with a deceased quilter's estate. Do your family members know what you want done with your stash when the time comes? 

Link ups: Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Love Laugh Quilt

An August Finish

The baby quilt in boy colors was actually finished in August but I never posted about the finish, so here it is. It still needs a spin through the washer and dryer, then it'll be ready to go to Operation Shower. 

The framed squares seemed to need something so I quilted spirals in them, with a simple meander everywhere else. 

This quilt finished at about 36 x 46".  The backing is brown solid because I had enough of it in my stash. Not the most popular color among millennial moms, but it's just the back. The mom can put it on the floor for baby's tummy time and it won't matter. 

By the time we can get together again, I'll have a nice pile of baby quilts to give to the Operation Shower coordinator of my guild. These stay-home Covid times have enabled me to be very productive! 

Link ups:  Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Alycia Quilts, Wendy's Quilts and More

Semi-Pixelated

 I have a new project but it is secret sewing for Christmas, so this is the only time I'll post about it. 

A chance remark by my son about my grandson CJ inspired the new project. My son has a new home and they are decorating CJ's room. CJ is 5-1/2 and loves super heroes, video games, and cartoons, so there's the theme for the room decor. 

The new quilt is a pixelated picture made of 1" squares. I traced a picture onto graph paper, then refined it and colored it in EQ. Because it's a licensed character and I don't have the rights to it, I'm interpreting it for personal use only and will not show any more progress photos, nor will I post the finished quilt.

Actually, the piecing will be semi pixelated, because where there are several squares of the same color in a horizontal row, I'm combining them and using strips. My 1-1/2" strip die is getting a workout. Here is one block laid out, ready to sew. 

The block finishes at 8". Each little square is 1" finished. This block has a lot of individual squares; some blocks are simpler than this, but you get the idea. By making one block at a time I can determine which way the seams need to be pressed so the blocks and rows will nest together. 

There are 35 blocks in all. This should keep me busy for awhile! So far it's going pretty well, but it is tedious. It'll be worth it, though, to see CJ's excitement when he receives this quilt. 

 

Linking up with Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication