NewFO - February 2014

February definitely flew by, it's hard to believe that the first of March is tomorrow.  I do most of my stitching during the weekends, but those were pretty full this month with things like Science Fair and volleyball tournaments.  It's hard to start a new project during the week, so I wasn't sure there would be a new project to post over at Cat Patches NewFO linky party.

The planned NewFO was supposed to be this Tonga Atlantis Kit using a pattern by Heidi Pridemore.  

But suddenly the pattern just didn't look as appealing to me as it did in July. I still love the fabrics, so a session with EQ is needed to see if an alternative develops.  

With the Tonga Atlantis project off the list, at least for now, plans for a February NewFO were pretty much off.  Then I found time one evening to reduce the stack of quilting magazines sitting by the recliner and this pretty in the December Issue of Patchwork and Quilting caught my eye.  

Poinsettias Allure designed by Judy Blok
from the December 2013 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting

It set the wheels to turning.  There are a few pieces of Hollywood and Vine by Moda in the stash that I take out and pet occasionally  but have never found just the right project to use them in.  So after a few hours playing around in EQ, I think they've found a home. 

This pattern uses templates, something I'm not very good at.  I was going to redraft the instructions, but there is just enough fabric to make the quilt according to the instructions.  So I'm going to learn how to sew with templates on this one.  Since the decision to make the quilt came so late in the month, there's not much progress to report.  I did get some of the templates made and started cutting pieces from one of the fabrics.  

Poinsettias brings the number of  projects on my WIP/UFO list to 21. As much as I enjoy starting new projects, it's time to whittle that list back down to around the 10 to 15 level.  So there probably won't be a NewFO for March.  I plan to concentrate on finishing up a few of the NewFOs that were stared in 2012 and 2013.   

Check out Cat Patches to see all the other newbie projects for February.  

NewFO Inspiration

Only three more evenings in February and I've not yet started this month's NewFO.  The plan had been to start the Tonga Atlantis kit that came home with me from last year's Montana vacation.

I love the fabrics, but after spending a few nights looking at the pattern up on the design wall, decided I don't love it.  The decision there is to see what I can come up with on my own for these fabrics.  So that won't be this month's NewFO.  I have others on the list that could be bumped up but something happened a couple of weeks ago that put me on another path.  

I regularly go through my stack of quilt magazines, pull out the patterns I want and then recycle what's left.  I came across the December 2013 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting during my last clean up day.     

The cover quilt captured my attention.  Isn't it gorgeous?  The pattern is Poinsettia Allure designed by Judy Blok.  In the stash is a collection of Hollywood and Vine by Three Sisters for Moda, plus some yardage of Paris Flea Market also by Three Sisters.  

I have no idea how old these lines are, but I'm pretty sure these were purchased when I lived in Texas, so that's at least 8 years ago. At this point you can probably see where I'm going.  Putting the pattern and the fabric together in EQ, I came up with this.

Looks like some of my oldest stash fabrics have found a home.  I'm not sure I like the dark border, but I can sort that out once all the blocks are made.  I can't wait to get home tonight and start making the blocks for this one. 

Design Wall Monday - Jigsaw Pieces

It was a busy weekend.  Drama Teen had a volleyball tournament that ran both Saturday and Sunday.  Saturday wasn't bad, but the building they played in was so cold yesterday.  We were all tired by the time we got home last night.  I was in bed by 8:30 and morning still came way to early.  


There's not much going on in the sewing room as we've had a lot of stuff going on during the week too.  I did finish three more Jigsaw blocks.  

 Jigsaw
pattern by Alyssa Clancy for Lehmann Quilting

I would have finished a fourth, but I got one of the block pieces turned, so had to do a bit of un-sewing.  There wasn't time to finish it after that.  I've also been trying to work out the color graduations for the lower right hand corner of the quilt.  Drama Teen and I weren't happy with the original layout. 

We were trying to get the colors to fade from dark to lighter as you moved right, so the lower right corner just wasn't working.  I had such a limited choice of fabrics in the red-violet/pink category that we decided to find a few more choices and rework that corner.  I think we finally got it worked out this weekend. 

It's still not perfect, but I think it fades better than the original layout. Drama Teen has given it her approval. If she's happy then I am too.  I had hoped to finish Jigsaw this month.  That's not likely to happen at this point, but it's at least farther along than it was at the beginning of the month. 

That's it for my design wall this week.  Check out all the other pretty projects posted over at Patchwork Times.  

Stash Report - Week 8

The car thermometer said it was 67 F yesterday on the drive to Tulsa yesterday morning.  It was really windy, but it was still nice to have a warm day.  Unfortunately, it's another volleyball weekend, so we didn't get much opportunity to be outside.  That also means that not much sewing got done either. 

Between work commitments and family stuff, not a lot time has been spent in the sewing room this last week.  So this week's stash report is pretty anemic.  

Used last week:  0.16 yards
Added last week:  7 yards

Used in 2014:  3.87 yards
Add in 2014:  33.5 yards

Net stashed for 2014:  29.63 yards

There was a butterfly print in the last Keepsake Quilting catalog that looked like it was the perfect print to use as the border for the Scrappy Butterfly quilt.  

I also added some of the bright yellow to use as an accent.

Since the scrappy butterflies are this year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge project, they won't get done till the end of the year.  But the fabric wouldn't be available then and I knew I'd be sorry if it wasn't in my stash when the blocks were done.  The blue background of the butterfly print blends with the blue background fabric in the butterfly blocks, so I think it's going to make a perfect border.  

That's it for my stash report.  Check out Patchwork Times for other reports on stash management.    

Rainbow Scrap Challenge - Out of the Pink

Where did this week go?  Between volleyball practice and other errands, it just doesn't seem like I was home much.  The one night we were home, I ended up spending the evening paying bills. Not my favorite activity, but one that definitely has to get done.  I ended up working late yesterday.  The work week was spent in a training class, so a lot of stuff that needed attention never made it out of my in box. We have a career fair at work next week, which means I'm going to spend a lot of time prepping for and conducting interviews, so it was good to get caught up before I got too far behind.  

All of that adds up to not much time spent in the sewing room.  I did manage a couple of hours last night.  Several of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge Sampler blocks are in progress, but none got finished.  All the half square triangles for the Inverted Star block are made and squared up.  I got as far as deciding on the layout before I knocked off for the evening. 

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

All but two of my pink scraps is included in this block. It's obvious it's not a color I use often.  But I'm happy with the variety in this block.  Hopefully it will get sewn together this weekend.  

That's it for any scrappy goodness going on in my sewing room. Check out all the fun scrappiness going on over at Soscrappy.  

Design Wall Monday - Progress

Since Saturday was spent in Tulsa at a volleyball tournament, Sunday was spent doing laundry and other household chores.  I didn't make it up to the sewing room until early evening.  Last Sunday, I spent quite a bit of time cutting out blocks.  That paid off this week as there just wasn't much time to sew.  I did spend some time cleaning up the sewing room a bit and cleaning off the design wall some.  Celtic Solstice was put away in a project box so there was room for me to work on Drama Teen's Jigsaw quilt.  

Jigsaw
pattern by Alyssa Clancy for Lehmann Quilting

Three of seven rows have been completed.  Most of the blocks for row 4 are cut out and some are even partially assembled.  I have to go slowly so I don't mix up block parts.  Drama Teen is really happy with it so far and so am I.  

By cleaning off the design walls, there is space to lay out the blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge Sampler.  Only one more blue block to assemble and I'll have all of last month's blocks done.

 Rainbow Scrap Challenge Sampler
By Angela Feldbush of Soscrappy

I've not had to duplicate any scraps in these blocks, but the last block will include some duplicates.  I like the set.  I've made a start on the pink blocks, but none are finished yet.  

That's what's up on my design wall this week.  Check out Patchwork Times for more works in progress.  

Stash Report - Week 7

It was nice and warm yesterday, too bad we were stuck inside for most of the day.  Drama Teen had a volleyball tournament yesterday.  Though it seems being inside wasn't enough to keep me from getting a sinus headache yesterday, which has carried over to this morning.  It's making it hard to get moving this morning.  

Drama Teen came down with strep this week, then had a bad reaction to the antibiotic.  I ended up working late several nights to make up for the time we spent in the doctors office and at the pharmacy (we must have the slowest Walgreens in the west).  Consequently not much stitching this week.  I do have a bit going out for the week, all that time spent at the cutting table last weekend made a big difference.

Used last week: 0.66 yards
Added last week:  0 yards

Used in 2014: 3.71 yards
Added in 2014: 26.5 yards

Net stashed for 2014: 22.79 yards

It's a good week since I didn't add anything.  That's going to change as I found some fabric that I think will work with the Scrappy Butterfly blocks which are this year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge project.  I've been playing around in EQ with potential layouts.  I initially thought just a straight set with sashing. 

But that's a bit boring, and I'd need sixteen blocks to make a decent sized quilt.  So after playing around with some sashing/color options, this version materialized.

I like how it highlights the butterfly blocks, but it seems to be a bit dark.  Maybe if I went for a dark blue rather than black as the background fabric and then switched the border fabric.  What I have ordered has a bright blue background which might work with a darker blue background in the center.  

I played with the idea of alternating blocks and came up with these two options. 

One is light, the other is dark.  The fabric on order for the border is more of a medium, so that might be just right.  Of these two, I like the light colored one best.  I played with a few other alternate blocks, but didn't come up with anything there that I liked. I tried versions of Irish Chain but couldn't make that work to the point where I liked it.  Though maybe a new color scheme will come out once I have a chance to try those with the prospective border fabric that will arrive this week.  

For more on the stash, check out Patchwork Times.  

Rainbow Scrap Challenge - In the Pink

Thankfully we missed all the bad weather this week.  Though the week hasn't been smooth sailing.  Drama Teen woke up Tuesday with what we thought was a sinus infection, but ended up being strep.  Of course they put her on antibiotics, but by Thursday morning she's throwing up.  I'd forgotten that she doesn't tolerate amoxicillin very well.  So back to the pharmacy for an anti-nausea aid.  She finally made it back to school Friday.  

I ended up having to work late a few nights in order to make up the time spent with DT due to her illness, so not a lot of sewing happened this week.  I did finish this month's scrappy butterfly block.

 Scrappy Butterflies
available in EQ 7 Block Library

I'm happy with how it turned out.  I'm up to three butterflies now (one is from last year).  I've been playing around with settings for these blocks, but haven't come up with one I'm in love with yet.  

I'm still stitching half square triangles for this month's Inverted Star block and one of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge Sampler blocks is in progress.  That's about all I had time for this week.

I'm linking up with Soscrappy before we head out the door for today's volleyball tournament.  Check out all the cool scrap projects in the works there.  

Happy Valentine's Day

Wordless Wednesday (On Tuesday) - Something Other than Brown

Design Wall Monday - a Quiet Weekend

It was a quiet weekend.  Drama Teen elected to go spend the night with a friend on Saturday.  So we had the house to ourselves.  It always amazes me just how quiet it is around here when DT is off somewhere.  Even when she's gone, I still listen for her.  I guess it's a "mom thing".  Does it go away when they leave for college?  

So there was no Drama Teen who needed to be carted somewhere and it was so cold even My Guy just wanted to stay home.  I got my wish of a "stay at home" weekend. Though it's hard to tell from what's up on the design wall, that meant a lot of time in the sewing room.  Most of the activity this weekend focused on cutting fabric, not so much stitching it back together.  But there have been a few additions to the design wall.  

Celtic Solstice grew by two blocks.

Celtic Solstice
a Bonnie Hunter Mystery

I've got lots of 4 patches and split triangles made, but I need to cut more fabric to make more chevrons and triangle in a square blocks. Since I need to focus on some other projects, CS is probably coming off the design wall later this week. 

A few more Rainbow Scrap Challenge Sampler blocks were completed.  

 Rainbow Scrap Challenge Sampler
By Angela Feldbush of Soscrappy

I'm enjoying making these little blocks.  The Tic-Tac-Toe one was a bit of a challenge to get it all to line up, but it came out OK.  

Finally, I pulled out all the pieces of the Drama Teen's Jigsaw quilt and finished up another block. 

Jigsaw
pattern by Alyssa Clancy for Lehmann Quilting

I promised DT a bed and bath redo this year.  Since this quilt is the center piece of that, it needs to get done.  These blocks are simple to sew, but keeping up with which tabs go in which blocks has been a challenge.  Two more blocks are kitted up and ready to sew.  Hopefully those will show up on the design wall next Monday.  

That's what's up on my design wall at the moment.  Check out Patchwork Times to see what's up elsewhere.  

Stash Report - Week 6

It warmed up a bit yesterday to a balmy 35 F.  After a week of single digits, it felt like a heat wave.  It snowed last Monday and it's been so cold that most of that snow is still around.  

All the white is definitely better looking than the typical drab brown.  This morning we've got freezing drizzle.  Not a lot of ice build up is expected, but the roads are slick.  Thankfully we have no plans to be any place but home today.

I've been in the sewing room a lot this week, but I've been doing more cleaning up and cutting than I have stitching.  Still there is a bit to report as going out this week. 

Used last week:  0.58 yards
Added last week:  0 yards

Used for 2014:  3.05 yards
Added for 2014:  26.5 yards

Net stashed for 2014:  23.45 yards

Nothing in again this week, so I've reduced the stashed number by a tad.  

The nasty weather and the resulting slick roads is a good reason to just stay in and stitch.  So I think that's what I'll do today.  There should also be some time to check out all the other stash reports over at Patchwork Times.  

Rainbow Scrap Challenge - Pretty Pinks

I'm ready for winter to give it a rest.  It's been so cold this week. We are projected to break freezing today and I'm more than ready for that.  Even with the projected heat wave, I think we are all ready to just stay home where it's warm this weekend.  Spending the afternoon in the sewing room playing with scraps sounds really nice.  

The pink scraps didn't get collected till last night.  This pile is lot smaller than my blue pile.  

I didn't get very far last night. The pieces for this month's scrappy butterfly did get cut out.  It should get assembled today.  

Progress has been made on finishing up the blue blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge Sampler.

I found some more blue scraps while searching for the pink scrap fabrics.  I'm planning to finish up all the blue blocks for the sampler since I definitely have the scraps that need to be used up.  

The plan is to cut out the squares for the pink Inverted Star block this afternoon.  Hopefully it will get made this week. 

That's all the scrappy goodness going on in my sewing room.  Check out all the links over at Soscrappy for more pretty in pink scrappiness.   

Design Wall Monday - A Little Progress

The weekend was way too short.  That's what happens when one spends Friday night and most of Saturday somewhere else other than home.  It was nice to get to stay home on Sunday and stay out of the cold.  

Most of yesterday afternoon was spent in the sewing room. It's the only real sewing that got done this week.  I finished two more blocks for Celtic Solstice.  

Celtic Solstice
a Bonnie Hunter Mystery

I love the secondary pattern in this pattern.  

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge Sampler blocks was the other project that got some attention yesterday.  

 Rainbow Scrap Challenge Sampler
By Angela Feldbush of Soscrappy

Pink is this month's color, but I wanted to finish up the blue ones before I put those scraps up.  Only one got added to the design wall, but there are two more in progress.  So far I've not duplicated any scraps in these blocks.  

That's it for me this week. Hopefully this week won't be so crazy and there will be time for some stitching.  Check out all the other design walls linked up over at Patchwork Times.  

Something Old, Something New - February Update

I almost forgot about the Something Old, Something New Challenge over at Never Too Hot to Stitch.

Link up day is the 2nd, which is today (actually it's yesterday already down under where Lynn resides).  The something old is UFOs or WIPs that haven't been worked on in a while; the something new for Lynn is learning a new skill. I'm using the something new as permission to start a new project.  

For January, my something old was to finish binding and labeling Mon Ami.  Done!

Modified from Mon Ami
by Miss Rosie's Quilt Company

It's been rather gloomy since Friday, so I've not had a chance to get a good photo. This is my 2013 quilt of valor, so I'm just a month late getting it done.  

The something new for January was to make an Inverted Star block for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  Done!

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

All those half square triangles didn't want to match up real well. Hopefully my February version will go together a bit easier.  

For February, the something old is to get Jigsaw to the finished flimsy stage. 

Jigsaw
pattern by Alyssa Clancy for Lehmann Quilting

Drama Teen asked for this quilt a couple of years ago. I made great gains on it last year, but then got caught up in Celtic Solstice and haven't made any progress on it since.  

My something new is to pull out the Tonga Atlantis kit I picked up on vacation in Montana and get it started.  It will be my NewFO for February.  

I've never made a quilt from a kit, so that is something new for me as well.  We'll see how well this works out.  

February is a short month, plus I already know Drama Teen has two volleyball tournaments this month.  That will be two weekends with limited stitching opportunities.  Wish me luck, I'll need it to get both of these things done.  

Stash Report - Week 5 of 2014

I am so glad it's Sunday.  It's been one of those whirlwind weeks with lots of ups and downs.  Between the swim meet and Science Fair, we've not had a chance to catch our breath.  I judged the junior division in our district Science Fair on Friday and My Guy judged the senior division yesterday.  Drama Teen presented her project yesterday.  

She ended up with a second place finish in her division and was selected to go on to the State Science Fair next month.  She was in the last group announced, so she was sweating it.  Her goal was to get to go back to state.  

In spite of the busy week, I did get some stitching done, but most of it was hand work finishing off the binding on Mon Ami.  I finished that Friday night.  No stitching yesterday as we had so much going on.  This week's report is definitiely on the anemic side. 

Used last week:  0.11 yards
Added last week:  0 yards

Used for 2014:  2.47 yards
Added for 2014:  26. 5 yards

Net stashed for 2014:  24.03 yards

So not a lot of gains on the stash reduction front.  At least there was no fabric added this last week. I continue to delete the fabric shop emails to avoid temptation.  

That's it for my stash report this week.  Check out all the other stash reports posted over at Patchwork Times.