Just took a moment to read last post to see where I left off since I did not post last week. summer is here and time is flying by. It is already June 19th. Unbelievable.
#qp2019sewalong
I did finish up the June blocks for this sew-a-long. I absolutely love these blocks. Mine happen to be Navy, Dark Red, and Cream. It reminds me of a Patriotic block and it would make a fantastic Patriotic quilt. Loved the fabric and the block. Overall this quilt is looking pretty good. I am very pleased with my color pull and how each block has turned out. Of course, they are never perfect, but I can see the improvement in my piecing year over year.
#365quiltchallenge
Happy to report that I finally got restarted on this major challenge. I cut another block and caught up on my printouts. I finished four blocks since my last post. Yea, I know it should have been 12 but 4 is better than none. I have accepted that this will be more than a two year project. I am going to continue working on it. This is one of my designated legacy quilts. I need to make a total of 3 – one for Caitlin, Shaun, and Steven. These legacy quilts I am going to hang onto for awhile and will be something I pass on either when I die or just later. Or maybe as I finish one, then I will give to the designated person but hang onto the last one I completed. Yea, I like that idea. So anyway… I finished four blocks since last time so I was able to wrap up April, which is cool. I have cut my first May and realized that I need to start printing the patterns out again so I did that this week. I still need to work on putting all those cute 3 inch dark blocks into a border. I need a design wall for that. I think I just have a little bit left to do to free up my design wall for this project.
Wooly Mug Rugs
I finished up applique-ing the wool pieces to the coaster. Last night I finished up the stem stitch embroidery on outlining the sunflowers. I realized about a week ago I forgot to fuse the lady bug head on. #lol Lucky for me the pieces are small and I have black wool scraps left to remedy that little problem. So I need to add that and do the French knots for the her spots. Still have the seeds to add to the middle of the sunflower. Loving this one a lot. I love sunflowers!
Easy Pieced Table Runners
Since last post, I did finish fusing the applique to its background. I then proceeded to sew the table runner together. It looked great. When I went to sew down the applique, I realized I should have done that before adding it to the rest of the table runner so I unsewed both ends and did my thread pull this weekend. You may be asking me why I am just not doing the applique after I sew all the layers together. For years that is the way I did that and still do on some of my wall hangings. For something I am planning on washing a lot, I prefer to have the threads for the applique buried in the layers. I have done the knot and pull through and on large applique pieces or only a few layers that is fine. It is not my preferred method with the expected use and intricacy of this applique. Just like I will use the blanket stitch as well. I did consider doing satin because of the use. This time I am going to do the blanket stitch. If it does not wash and wear well, in the future, I will probably do satin stitch then. We shall see. Love the colors of this runner though.
#FW1920EPPSAL
Since I was enjoying the sunflower mug rugs so much, when I was doing hand sewing I kept pulling them out. This past Monday I started feeling guilty that it has been weeks since I worked on this project. At Monday morning hockey lesson, I pulled out the Farmer’s Path block and started. Starting seems to always be the challenge, that is now behind me. I promised myself when I do handwork the rest of this month, I would switch off between the two projects so I could get back on track. This one will be another orange block. Before we leave for Yosemite next week, I should cut two more projects just in case I have a sewing bug. Also, I think I will be a passenger which will give me some sewing time. Yea!
Online goal setting
Since last post there has been two #onethingwithAmy goals. The first one was to finish the fusing which was a successful completion. Last week I got all ambitious and decided that I would applique everything down on the table runner. I probably should rephrase that as overambitious. Since I ended up needing to unsew, that really didn’t happen as you may have noted above. So this week I tried to set a more realistic goal of finishing the coral on both ends this week. I am funny with my applique, I tend to do a whole bunch at once. So Sunday, I pulled out 3 a-door-n-aments projects as well as my Autumn project. Since I sew with matching thread, I like to do multiple projects at once. This is good for me. I don’t have a ton of overlapping colors with my tablerunner, but there is some. Let’s hope next week I have some more to show you.
I am even hoping more that these will be more things off my #2019FAL goals. I still need to check the list but I am fairly confident there is some overlap. With that thought in mind, if there is you will see some short extra posts as you have to have separate posts for each finish to linkup.
My #ssqfinishalong were all quilting projects (I think). I have not done any quilting at all in quite a while. I am not going to rule it out because you never know. I just haven’t had any mojo for that in months. As with most of my projects, I tend to be streaky. I have been on a piecing kick for a while. It is starting to peter out.
I still have to decide if I will be participating @gnomeangel #100days100blocks2019 challenge this year. I have the fabric and pattern. I picked the new Alison Glass Holiday fabric. I need a background fabric to go with it – a neutral of some kind. With the two ongoing challenges (#fw1920eppsal & #365quiltchallenge) I am behind and will not be finishing on the deadline. As evidence by my participation in last years #100days100blocks and this year #trinketsal, I literally don’t have the bandwidth to do 3 sewalongs at the same time. So this is going to have to be a conscious decision so I am not disappointed in myself. Throw in some travel and you have a ton of stress on yourself. How do I reconcile my desire to participate in all these cool challenges? Logically this is easy – Just say NO. Emotionally, all my friends will be doing it….. Oh well, I still have 10 days to decide. Maybe I will start and see how it goes and if something has to give, it will be that project. It isn’t like I care about prizes, it is about community.
Okay fellow adventurers, I want to get in 15 minutes on my Farmer’s Wife block before heading to the rink to pick up my grandson Shaun. Enjoy the post. Until next time…
Adventure Hard…then go home and quilt all about it. – @burlapandblossompatterns
Peggy Stockwell