I’m going for shorter post today and just going to talk about what I have been working on this week. Like most of you, I have very productive weeks and not so much other weeks. This is a middle of the road week.
Good Morning Mugs Table Runner
This is a sew-a-long with Pat Sloan. It only came as a kit. I cut all the pieces earlier this month and have been whittling away at these 5.5 inch blocks. There are some very tiny pieces involved. I have to laugh at myself as I don’t seem to be able to sew straight. Because I am working with so many tiny pieces, I did shorten my stitch length to 1.7 and am trying to sew slower. The kit used Happy2 fabric by Lori Holt and it is adorable. There are a total of 18 blocks and I have finished all 18 of them and pieced them together. Only thing left is adding the border.
Macaws
I have been collecting Elizabeth Hartman patterns for probably two years now. I have had every intention of making one of her patterns but never taken the leap. I am not sure if it is because I didn’t purchase a kit or just being intimadated by the pattern. Quilty Box featured her a couple of months ago and I got everything I needed to make her Macaw pattern. Once I started sewing the Good Morning Mug blocks, I realized that her pattern was very similar and decided that I would make the jump.
Last two weekends I cut all the pieces for all three blocks. I used some removable stickers I found last year to label all the pieces and put them in alphabetical order. I felt like her cutting instructions wasted a lot of fabric and I could have done it differently but like with most receipes, I follow the instructions first time through.
Her patterns are pretty intense for me. I opted to use the construction of this wall hanging as a leaders and enders project.
I recently discovered what that means and it is something I have been doing for years, I just am not doing the scrappy version – yet. If you are wondering what it means, when you are chain piecing, you often use a scrap to begin or end your chain piecing. Now I have the scraps laying around for when I need it, but typically, I sew two projects or blocks at the same time. I am not a true chain piecer. I make too many mistakes when I do that, so I typically sew two projects at the same time. It is one of the reasons, it takes me longer. It works for me.
Check out my three finished blocks on this “enders and leaders” project!
Jelly Snowflake Mystery Quilt
I finished all the blocks last week and this week I attempted to lay it out so I can assemble the quilt top. Nala was very “helpful”. I will have to lay it out so I can get a picture of the four quadrents that I need to assemble. Many posts are showing people making piano borders to extend the size of the quilt. Once I get it assembled, I will have to decide if I am going to do that or not. I may just save the leftover jelly roll strips for a future project.
Are you Game? Mystery Quilt
Last week the next Cotton Cuts Mystery Quilt – Are you Game? shipped. When I signed up, the colorway I really wanted was not available so I put my name on the waiting list and signed up for the small version of this quilt in a different colorway. For this quilt I went with batiks as I have not done a batik for a while. I was very happy when I received the email notifying me that they had more openings for the fabric selection I wanted (a ocean theme) so I signed up for the large of this coveted colorway.
I received both clues and this week I assembled both of them! It is interesting doing one of each size. I love the colors!
Jolly Bar Row-A-Long
This is the last week of the jolly bar rowalong with Fat Quarter Shop. They called it a kiss, but I see a butterfly. The quilt assembly instructions will be released next week. The jolly bar I selected is cute but the palette is very limited. This was a sampler quilt of some of the blocks in the Jolly Bar 2 book. One pattern is one that I had done a couple of times from other people’s blogs. There is a few blocks that I wouldn’t want to make a whole quilt and there are others that it would be so fun.
Some of these blocks would lend themselves to either sashing or borders. The possibilites are endless. Here are my blocks that I have made since the last time I posted about this quilt.
Going on a Picnic – Weekly Block with Pat Sloan
I am so loving this quilt and the fabrics I am using for this. They are so bright, cheerful, and unique. It is nice to work on a sew-a-long that is just fun! I’m not really expanding my skill set, just having fun making a quilt. I do not know if it is normal, but with each block release, she includes a “how to” make an entire quilt using that block. How cool is that! My latest blocks:
Quilter’s Planner 2020 Block of the Month
I was able to cut the August block and I hope to show you the completed block by the time this blog posts (picture collections takes me a while). You have probably heard me say it before. I am loving this all solids quilt this year. This is only my second all solids quilt, but it will probably be finished first.
Halloween Hexie Swap 2020
While technically this is not under the needle, I did sign up to participate this year. This will be my second swap ever. The rules are slightly different. I was thinking I had a ton of halloween fabric. Uhhhh. Not really. I have a ton of Fall fabric but not Halloween.
So either I use up my Halloween fabric or I buy Halloween colors – black, orange, purple, lime green. This turned out to be somewhat challenging for me. I decided to just go with five fabrics and my host approved my selection. I began cutting the fabrics this week into 2.5 inch squares with piles of 20. My take away from this swap and Jolly July – I need to sign up for holiday fat quarter club!
New Hexagon Book
I think I mentioned in prior post that I had got the New Hexagon book by Katja Marek. If not, well I picked this book up as well as her newest book The New Hexagon 2 and her perpetual calendar. This is an English Paper Piecing series. While I am definitely intersested in make a quilt with some of these, I currently have 3 major long term projects under construction. I don’t need another one right now. So….
I love to make potholders and mug rugs as well as other useful items around the house. I had this great idea to make a set of potholders and mug rugs from the Walkabout Moda fabric leftovers I have from my table runner that I made using Shabby Fabrics May pattern last year. I made placemats and napkins to match the table runner already.
Last week and this week found me working on these projects while I was at hockey practice. EPP is my go to project for hockey practice. Last night I finished the second potholder and the first mug rug. These are going to be a wee bit bigger than my normal mug rugs, but not to bad. The potholders I am thinking will be appliqued onto a 7.5 or 8 inch square.
Here are the EPP hexagon blocks 1, 2, 3 & 4
I finished. I know normally you would make the potholders or mug rugs match, but do you really have to? I just made sure I used the same fabrics for the pair.
UFOs
LOL! And this is a short post because I have only included what I have actually worked on in the past two weeks. When I started this post, I was thinking it would not have been much. Thanks for helping me see, that I am touching on quite a few projects.
We have discussed in the past that I have a definite problem. While someone who has OCD would be compelled to begin and finish a project, those of us with ADD can’t seem to stick to one project and tend to have no finishes for long periods of time and many new starts.
To help me focus, I do have a TO DO list. This week’s list has 34 items on it. Most of the time, it will be the next step for a project or sew-a-long. Occasionally, I realize, I keep skipping a project over and over. I know it is time to put it away for awhile. I am super happy if I check off 10 things on my list. I keep a variety of things on the list as I never know what will inspire me: Cutting, Piecing, Quilting, Binding, English Paper Piecing, Foundation Paper Piecing, Applique, Challenges, Block of the Months….
You get the idea. Variety is the spice of life, right? This is my hobby not my job. I like to make presents (most of my stuff is gifts) but not committ to a time frame. If I am not loving what I am doing, then I change it up. Other times, I just need to make myself focus.
I have enjoyed sharing this with you. I hope you enjoy it as well. I am leaving you with the latest Nala and Simba pictures. They are now 5 months old!
Stay safe and enjoy what you do!
Peggy