Rainbow Scrap Challenge Teal and Red

It was a long work week, I'm definitely ready for a weekend and some stitching time.  The forecast says we've had a cold front come through so our highs this weekend will be in the mid to upper 90F range (around 35C).  That's down a bit from the high of 99F we had yesterday.  Still it's too warm to do much other than seek refuge in my nicely air conditioned sewing room this afternoon. 

It was a pretty productive week for this year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge project, the Squared Away Sampler.  All the teal blocks are now finished. 

 Squared Away Sampler
designed by Mari (The Academic Quilter) and Angela (Soscrappy)

I really like how they turned out.  With those done, I was able to make a good start on this month's red blocks and actually have one finished. 

 Squared Away Sampler
designed by Mari (The Academic Quilter) and Angela (Soscrappy)

These are fun blocks, they go together pretty quickly. The last two red blocks are under construction over at the sewing machine.  There's one more weekend in the month so I may actually get caught up this month! 

Linking up with Soscrappy for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge today and with Oh Scrap on Sunday.  Stay cool and stitch (my motto for July).   

Weekend Stitching: Stars and Stars

Yesterday was yard work morning (it's too hot to work much past 10 AM).  Then we hung out with the Scientist in Training for a bit before she headed back to college. She'll have tests to study for and papers to write next weekend. We probably won't see her until it's time for her move from the dorm to the apartment they've rented for next school year.  

It was late afternoon before I managed to make it to the sewing room.  The last Red, White and Blue Star block made it under the needle and is now finished. Here's all 12 blocks up on the design wall. 

These blocks were last June's One Monthly Goal. For now, these stars will go back into the project box. This is my oldest UFO, so I'd love to finish it, but there are other quilts on my UFO list that need to be finished by the end of the year. This one is probably staying with me, so it doesn't have a deadline.  It's definitely going on the 2019 quilt plan.  

July's One Monthly Goal is to get all the Inverted Star blocks framed so they are ready to set together.  

Inverted Star
by Jessica Boschem of Common Threads
available from Craftsy as a free download

Each block gets a very narrow white frame, followed by a wider colored frame. Only the last row needs the white frames sewn on and I've got a good start on the colored frames. The colored frames are wider than necessary so the blocks can all be trimmed to a consistent 15.5".  The top row of blocks is all trimmed up and ready for sashing. I'm hopeful that I'll actually meet my OMG this month.  

Linking up with the usual Monday morning crowd.
Monday Making
Main Crush Monday
Design Wall Monday

Week 28 of Stitching and De-Stashing

It's been a busy weekend.  The Scientist in Training is home for the weekend, plus we celebrated our wedding anniversary on Friday.  So it's not been easy to find those 15 minutes of stitching time the last few days. 

But I managed to fit in just enough time to make my goal of 15 minutes each day this week. 

15 minutes stitching days/week = 7/7 days
15 minutes stitching days/July = 14/14 days
15 minutes stitching days/2018 = 185/195
Success Rate = 94.87%

A lot got done last Sunday, which is good.  That's where most of this week's usage comes from.  In doing my part to support our local quilt shop, I've exceeded my goal to limit stash in.  But the damage isn't too bad. 

Fabric used this week:  0.28 y
Fabric used in 2018:  26.17 y
Fabric added in 2018:  20.41 y
Net fabric out for 2018:  5.76 y

Even though I've exceeded my goal on fabric in, I'm still doing well with an excess on the outgoing side.  So I'm pretty happy with how the stash management is going this year.  

I did get flowers for my anniversary.  

My Guy let me pick them out.  He suggested the yellow roses, which are my favorite, but these were just more fun.  

How are you doing at finding time to stitch and managing the stash?  You can link up below to report on how the stitching time is going and then you can link up over at Quiltpaintcreate to report on your de-stashing (or stash enhancement efforts as the case may be). 

1. maggie f 2. Melissa G

3. Mary-Kay 4. Shasta

5. Christina's Handicrafts

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2018 Finish Along - Third Quarter Projects

Half way through the year and I'm not even close to having six finishes.  Getting the UFO list trimmed down to at least half was the plan for 2018.  So hopefully linking up with the 2018 finish along for the third time this year will be the charm and there will be a flurry of finishes before October. 

So what's on the list for third quarter, pretty much most of the list from first and second quarter, plus a couple of new additions.  Might as well be ambitious right?  

1.  En Provence (from the first quarter list)

 En Provence, A Bonnie Hunter Mystery (2016)

I was stitching on the binding for En Provence at the end of second quarter and just wasn't able to get it completely finished before June 30th.  So this quilt is a definite finish for third quarter. 

2. Magnolia Mystery (from the first quarter list)

Magnolia Mystery by Cheryl Brickey of
Meadow Mist Designs

This project is back from being quilted and needs to be trimmed and bound.  So this one is definitely going to be a finish this quarter. 

3.  Vintage Dresses (from the first quarter list)

 Vintage Dresses by Charise Randell

This was supposed to be a high school graduation present for a niece going into fashion design.  The plan now is to finish it in time for Christmas.  It needs borders and a backing before it can go out for quilting.  Adding borders and making a backing always takes longer than I think it will. So we'll see if it actually gets done 3rd quarter.   

4. Christmas Angels (from the second quarter list)

Christmas Angels Pattern by Kate

Another quilt that needs the borders, backing and prepping for quilting.  It's another Christmas present. I'm not sure this one will actually get done, though I'm hoping to at least have it out for quilting by the end of the quarter. 

5.  Inverted Star (new for third quarter)

 Inverted Star
by Jessica Boschem of Common Threads
available from Craftsy as a free download

This is a college graduation quilt for one of the Scientist in Training's friends.  She graduates in December, so I'm hoping to move it to finished. Being honest, this one will likely make it to the finished flimsy stage by the end of the quarter. I doubt it makes it to finished quilt.  But I'm adding it in so it stays on my priority list for the quarter. 

6. Twinkle Star (new for third quarter)

 Twinkle Stars Tutorial by Andrea Feldbush of Soscrappy

Another college graduation quilt for one of the SITs friends.  But she doesn't graduate till May. Still it would be nice to have this one finished well in advance for a change.  I'll be happy if it's ready to go out for quilting by the end of the quarter.  Again it's here so it stays on the priority list for the year.  

That's a pretty ambitious list isn't it?  The first two on the list are pretty easy finishes, so that really only leaves 4 quilts that are going to take some effort to move to finished.  If I can finish another 2, to make for a total of 4 for the quarter, I'll be pretty happy.  

Linking up with She Can Quilt for the 2018 Quilt Along Third Quarter Dreaming of Finishes List.  

Finally a Finish!

I'm not looking forward to a full week of work.  It was so nice to have a few days off over the 4th of July holiday.  We visited the family, spent some time with the SIT and I did get in one full day of stitching.  Enough time to finally finish getting the binding on En Provence.  

 En Provence, A Bonnie Hunter Mystery (2016)

I like how this one came together and it may be my favorite Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt so far.  My version is made from yardage, not scraps.  The fabrics used in this quilt are left overs and rejects from the Geisha quilt made for my niece several years ago.  She's been asking me if I have a pastel quilt as she'd like a lighter colored one for the spring and summer, so I think she's getting this one too.  she has a birthday in August, so that works out nicely.  The feature fabric from the Geisha quilt got used up on the back of this one, as did the pink and the burgundy. 

After piecing the back, all that is left of these fabrics is pretty much just scraps.  It's nice to finally find a final home for them and have them out of the stash.  

Trudy used an all over floral motif for the quilting. Very pretty and it gives the quilt a nice drape.  

So that's one off the UFO list for 2018. 

I can't seem to make it below 17 UFOs.  I've done a pretty good job on finishing off most of my newer projects within a year, but I'm struggling to finish off the older ones.  Progress has been made, so at some point I should start seeing lots of finishes.  

Here's one last look at En Provence. 

The next finish will probably be the Magnolia Mystery, the Meadow Mist Designs 2017 mystery quilt.  All it needs is binding.  But since that one isn't a year old yet, it will not lower my UFO numbers (It will keep the number from going back up to 18, so that's good too).  That one should be finished by August.  At the moment, I'm trying to finish off the Red, White and Blue Star blocks that were last month's OMG.  Then those will go back to the project box till probably next year.  

Linking up with:
Monday Making
Monday Design Wall
Main Crush Monday