Monday, January 1, 2018

Weekend Stitching: Finally Progress!

Happy New Year!  We made it to midnight last night, barely.  My Guy and I celebrated with a small glass of wine and a toast to the new year, then went to bed.  We are such party people.  

The plan for last week was for lots of  afternoon sewing every day, but alas, life decided it had other plans.  I did finally make it to the sewing room for some weekend sewing late Friday afternoon.  Progress was made, but there's not much to show for it today.  The big priority was to get Geek Chic into a finished flimsy.  Not there yet, but I should get there today.  That project has to come off the design wall before the Scientist in Training gets home on Wednesday.  

Progress was made with On Ringo Lake, but I laid out the pieces for the block after Bonnie's clue on Sunday and didn't like it at all (so much so I'm not willing to share a photo at this point).  Bonnie revealed the final quilt today, I'm going to go play with pieces and see if I like it any better with all the sashing pieces added. If not, then I'll start moving the block pieces around and try some substitutions to see if I can get something else the works for me.  It's not Bonnie's design, my fabric choices didn't work very well. 

After that disappointment, the focus shifted to finishing up the blocks for December's One Monthly goal.  The commitment was only four blocks, but those little blocks have a lot of pieces.  Not quite a midnight hour finish, but it was almost 10 PM before all four were finished. I was the last one to join the December OMG linky.  

Twinkle Stars, Tutorial by Andrea Feldbush of Soscrappy


That completes all the blocks needed to finish the layout.  All the blocks are back in the project box and will come out to decorate the design wall later this year.  

One of my goals for 2018 is to do something with all my scraps. There is a call out for Perkioman Valley blocks to make quilts for the California Thomas Fire victims from the Ventura Modern Quilt Guild (that link is here).  I pulled my bags of 4.5"  and 5" scrap strips and went to work.  

Perkioman Valley Blocks for Thomas Fire Victims (instructions here)

 I only finished two blocks yesterday, but have plans to put a few more together today.  I'd like to get whatever blocks that are finished in the mail by Friday.  Carole, who blogs at My Carolina Home is also collecting the blocks and donations to make quilts for the victims (that post is here). 

I'm going to spend the rest of my New Year's Day in the sewing room, wrapping up 2017 stuff and resetting things for 2018 after my marathon of sewing yesterday.  I'm linking up with the usual Monday linky parties:

Monday Making
Main Crush Monday
Monday Design Wall
BOMs Away

Wishing everyone a productive and joyful 2018!   

21 comments:

Marti said...

I'm sorry you didn't like your color combinations for On Ringo Lake. That's the main reason I don't usually do mystery quilts. I'm not sure I like mine either, but I'm far enough behind that I can change one offending fabric without losing too many blocks. See, there is a good thing about procrastination!

But your Twinkle Stars more than make up for that. It's going to be a beauty. Have fun in the sewing room today.

Libby in TN said...

I will say that Bonnie's block looks better set on point. If you check my blog you'll see I came up with a different block and setting.

Unknown said...

I love your Twinkle Stars, it will be a beautiful quilt. I have made 8 blocks to send to Carole @From My Carolina Home. Can't wait to see Geek Chic. Blessings for the new year!

AnnieO said...

That’s the risk with mysteries, right? I’m sure you’ll figure out a solution.
That’s my Guild the Perikomen blocks are for! Quilters everywhere have been so generous with donations of fabrics and blocks. We’re going to be able to make a lot of quilts. Thank you.

Lynette said...

Oh, that's frustrating for that to happen with your Ringo Lake- BH mysteries have a TON of work in them. It's happened to me before, too, but fortunately the pieces lend themselves well to playing out - leave out one of the elements, or add another (or sashing, for example), and you can find something you like! I still have some green checkerboard pieces boxed up that I took out of my Grand Illusion, and I'll make a cool St. Patty's quilt with them some time. Thanks for working on some Perkiomen blocks, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE all your stars at the banner pic!!!

BillieBee (billiemick) said...

Love your OMG blocks.

Val's Quilting Studio said...

Thanks for sharing...I'll make a few today too.

Home Sewn By Us said...

Hi Katie,
I sounds like you had a very productive day in your sewing room! I made a couple of blocks for Carole, too, and will get them in the mail tomorrow. I love your twinkle blocks - can't wait to see what you do with them. ~smile~ Roseanne

Louise said...

I really like your Twinkle Stars! Very nice color combos in your little batch so far. And thank you for stitching up some Perkioman Valley blocks for charity, Kate. I'm feeling a little guilty for not contributing to that cause, so I'm glad to see others are taking part!

Julie said...

I sucked in my breath when I read about your BG Mystery debacle. It happened to me last year. My fabric choices, too, but such a disappointment! I vowed to do no more mysteries. I feel for you.

Yes, scraps, and this year. Everyone I visit says the same thing. Finish it up, and clean it up. Seems to be the unwritten theme this year. The best of luck with your work in 2018!

Barbara said...

Yep...that’s my problem with mysteries too...never happy with my fabric choices. I relented on my no more mysteries promise and made a small doll quilt last year. Didn’t like it either, so I’m back to no mysteries. You’re very brave doing so many. I’m loving your twinkle stars. Gorgeous.

Beth @ Cooking Up Quilts said...

I'm sorry you don't like your ORL fabrics. That is exactly why mystery quilts scare me. I'ts difficult for me to choose fabrics for a quilt when I know what the finished project looks like. Choosing for a mystery sends me into a tailspin! I hope you can work it out and find something that works for you.

Preeti said...

Honestly, I am too much of a control freak to participate in mystery QALs. On the upside, the stars are bright and beautiful. Thank you for sharing the link to Perkioman Valley blocks. I will check it out. Hope you have a fabulous 2018!!!

thea said...

Happy New Year! Love the new header!

Jennifer said...

Glad you had a productive day and got so much done. Hope you can make your Ringo Lake pieces work one way or another!

Sandra Walker said...

You sound like us on New Year's...and I'm good with being that way. :-) thanks for the reminder to do the blocks for Perkioman. Sorry to hear that about On Ringo Lake, but knowing you, you'll come up with a good plan!

Katie Z. said...

Good for you! I love reading about your goals and plans.

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry you don't like the mystery quilt blocks. I looked at the reveal after I read that, and have to admit the original quilt isn't to my taste. There are a lot of moving parts though. You should be able to come up with a quilt or maybe two that you like.

Sandy Panagos said...

Love the Twinkle Stars squares! We rarely make it to midnight on New Year's Eve either. When the ball drops in Times Square I consider it the New Year in every time zone! lol

Bonnie said...

Thanks for the info on the quilt blocks for the fire victims. I may try to get some made to send out. Love your twinkle blocks.

Quilter Kathy said...

So sorry to hear your Ringo Lake blocks were a disappointment. I'm sure you'll figure out a better solution for your fabrics.
I'd like to make some of those blocks for the fire victims also... I'll see what I can come up with in the studio on the weekend.