Weekend Stitching: But First Coffee

The Scientist in Training was home this weekend.  We had a great time shopping and just hanging out.  She left after lunch and it was a good thing I had a sewing room to go to.  En Provence was a welcome distraction.  

Before lunch, we were all hanging out in the living room watching Food Network.  While we were all commenting on the cooking shows, I was also making the last few stitches on the binding for the Scrappy Coffee Cup quilt (aka But First Coffee).  

 Scrappy Coffee Cups (aka But First Coffee)

Started 2/27/2012, Finished 10/22/2017

Block patterns from Karen F. Srebro and Janet McCarroll

publised in Block Magic and Block Magic Too by

Nancy Johnson-Srebro

I really like how this one turned out.  The SIT and I were trying to decide on our favorite cups.   

The dark blue with the tulip and the brown cup with the yellow rose are two of my favorites.  

The SIT really likes the Christmas mug on the lower left and the tiger cup in the upper right.  The blue floral with the gold accents has always struck her as being a very elegant cup, but it would one of those you look at and not use.  

The backing is from some yardage that's been in the stash for a while. 

The floral on the back is more green than yellow, but it didn't photograph that way.  It's not a perfect match, but I wanted something light since there is so much white space on the front. I stuck with the same dark green that's in the outer border as the binding.  I suppose that's a bit boring.  At least the label is fun.  

Scrappy Coffee Cups was my first venture into the Rainbow Scrap Challenge back in 2012.  I've participated every year since.  Of the five rainbow scrap quilts started, this is only the second one finished.  I always finish the blocks but stall when it comes to setting them together.  It's nice to see this one come off the UFO list and off my fourth quarter list for the 2017 Finish Along.  But First Coffee is my seventh finish for the year.  That ties my best year for finishes ever.  It seems that finding time to sew each day coupled with setting priorities via the One Monthly Goal and 2017 Finish Along have really paid off this year.  

Linking up with:
Monday Making
Main Crush Monday
Monday Design Wall
Needle and Thread Thursday
2017 Finish Along 4th Quarter Linky Party 

August One Monthly Goal Wrap Up: A Finished Flimsy

With just 2 days left in this month, I got busy last night on the final border for Scrappy Coffee Cups. Getting that project to the finished flimsy stage is August's One Monthly Goal. 

At the beginning of the month the Coffee Cup blocks were all sashed, but not sewn together.  

The final border was sewn on last night. 

Scrappy Coffee Cups

Block patterns from Karen F. Srebro and Janet McCarroll

published in Block Magic and Block Magic Too 

by Nancy Johnson-Srebro

So Scrappy Cups is now a finished flimsy.  That last border is a deep green.  For some reason dark greens photograph as black in my sewing room.  The quilt really is square, not sure why it looks bowed in the photograph.  I've found a good backing fabric in the stash, so hopefully this will move to finished quilt stage before the end of September.   That will probably happen regardless, so I'll probably pick something else as my September One Monthly Goal. 

The news from the south of Texas is improving.  Thankfully all of our friends are safe, though many don't know the state of their homes.  Since the storm moved farther east before making landfall, the rivers in the area are flowing more freely and the expected crests are a bit lower then originally forecast.  Hopefully that will spare some of the communities south of the Houston metro area. Hopes for the best and prayers for those affected.  

Linking up with:

August One Monthly Goal

Let's Bee Social

Needle and Thread Thursday 

Managing the UFO List

At the end of 2016, there were 17 quilts on my UFO list.  To be honest, that number hasn't changed much the last 3 or 4 years. When looking at what I wanted to accomplish this year in the sewing room, number one priority was to get the graduation quilts done before graduation.  Mission accomplished there (and it felt so good).  That took pretty much the first half of the year.  For the last half of the year, getting projects off the UFO list is the goal.  Participating in Patchwork Times' UFO-2017 challenge was one way to encourage me in that endeavor.  

I played pretty fast and loose with the challenge the first part of the year, as you can tell by how marked up the 2017 Quilt Plan is.  In order to get the graduation quilts done, I did a lot of substituting of one quilt for another.  But in May, I did start working on those UFOs.  The May UFO was Christmas Angels.  

It's still not done, but now only 3 of the angel blocks still need their borders.  This one should be ready to sew the blocks into rows in the next week or so.  

The June UFO was Blooms and Butterflies.  It just needs binding.

That is in progress.  

The July UFO was Scrappy Coffee Cups.  These blocks needed a setting before this UFO could move along.  

July was a good month, not only did the a final setting get decided on, but all the rows are sewn together and the sashings added. August's One Monthly Goal is to get this project into a finished flimsy. 

So that brings me to the August UFO.  This project dates from 2005, it's the oldest on my UFO list.  

These blocks started in a technique class focused on making these stars.  Initially there wasn't a plan other than making a red, white and blue quilt.  There are 7 blocks completed, but there is still no final setting plan.  With 5 projects working at the sewing machine, I don't won't to add another.  More than 5 projects and progress on each project slows to a crawl.  There will one weekend this month away from the sewing room, but I will have my computer.  So maybe it's time to come up with a final setting for these blocks so the next time they come up in rotation, I know exactly what's left to do.  

No that will not move that last UFO to completion this year, but my goal was to make progress on each project on the list, not necessarily get them all finished. 

Linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday over at My Quilt Infatuation.   

WIPs and UFOs: Seeing Stars but no Angels Yet

We are getting back into the routine after graduation and the holiday weekend.  The repair guy made it to the house yesterday.  The locking mechanism on the front loading washer is bad.  He'll have to order the part.  So I'm likely to be without a washer till sometime next week.  Looks like DT will get her laundromat lesson sooner rather than later.  

On the stitching front, I've felt just a little bit lost.  I started on the graduation quilts in May of last year, so I've gotten used to the "have to sew" projects that have been calling my name.  It's been a bit strange to walk into the sewing room with nothing that has to get done.  So it's time to refocus and figure out what's the goal for the rest of the year.  There are 21 quilts on my WIPs/UFO list.  Of those 18 are UFOs  (projects that were started more than a year ago).  So I've been doing really well at finishing off all the new starts, but not getting back to projects that got put up for one reason or another.  

I joined in with Judy of Patchwork Times for her UFO-2017 campaign at the beginning of the year.  But substituted in the graduation quilts for the first 4 months of the year.  May's focus was on quilt number 11 from my 2017 Quilt Plan.  That's my Christmas Angels quilt started in 2013.  The project box contained all the pieces for the alternate blocks so the easiest thing to do was to start sewing those parts together.  But before starting on that, I needed to fix the pattern.  I didn't realize until the quilt got added to this year's project list that the seams in the alternate blocks didn't match up to the seams in the focus blocks.  It didn't look bad from a distance, but close up it looked sloppy.  So the first step was to fix the design.  That meant adjusting the focus block since no fabric had been cut for those yet.  Here's the adjusted design. 

Christmas Angels:  Self Designed

With that done, I got started on the alternate blocks. 

The centers and four patches are really a dark green, not black as they appear in the photo.  I need 12 of the alternate blocks, so I've made good progress on those.  If Judy continues the UFO challenge, she'll pick a new UFO for June.  Working on multiple projects is pretty natural to me so I'll probably keep working on these alternate blocks as they are almost done.  Whether the focus blocks get started or the whole project gets put back in the box for later will depend on what June's UFO turns out to be.  

Linking up with:
Let's Bee Social
Needle and Thread Thursday
UFO-2017 Challenge

WIPS: A Timely Finish

It's graduation week for Drama Teen, so it's been a bit busy here.  Sunday was Senior Sunday at church.  Monday night DT and I ran a few errands to get ready for the last end of school celebration and sleep over.  On Sunday, DT decided that we really needed another label for the The First Amendment quilt, one that had been signed by all the newspaper staff.  So that left me scrambling Monday night to get the second label sewn to the quilt.  The plan was to present the quilt during the end of the year journalism party yesterday.  That stitching was done and the quilt was wrapped up ready to go before I went to bed Monday night.  So now I can claim that all the graduation quilts are done!  Talk about just in time finishes.  

Here's the finished First Amendment Quilt. 

The First Amendment Quilt, pattern self designed

The First Amendment is printed in the center panel.

The panel was printed using the largest size printable fabric sheet I could find.  This quilt was for Drama Teen's journalism teacher, so that seemed to be the most appropriate theme.  The background fabric is a fake newsprint, which also seemed appropriate.  Trudy Lindemann did a wonderful job on the quilting as always.

A chain of stars in the borders.  

And loops in the star center.  

The quilt was gifted yesterday during the end of the year journalism party.  According to DT, Miss T loved the quilt.  I got a very nice hug when I got home.  Doesn't get much better than that in terms of being thanked.  

The First Amendment quilt is my forth finish this year.  Considering that I only finished 4 quilts in all of 2016 (the same for all of 2015) and it's not even June yet, this is looking to be one of my better years for finishes.  I'd like to have a shorter WIP/UFO list for 2018.  The First Amendment quilt was on my Second Quarter 2017 Finish Along list.  It was number two on my list, so I'm halfway to my goal for the quarter.  That's a good feeling too!  

Linking up with:
Let's Bee Social
Needle and Thread Thursday
Can I get a Whoop, Whoop
Second Quarter 2017 Finish Along

WIPS: The Leaders and Enders Project

I'm a big fan of Bonnie Hunter's leaders and enders method.  It's a nice way to make progress on a project while you are stitching on other quilts.  It's especially nice for a project I've gotten stalled on because I don't like the assembly process.  That's not the case with my current leaders and enders project, I've just been busy trying to get the graduation quilts finished.  En Provence is my current leaders and enders project.  Just before my business trip I finished block number 6 and decided to throw all the blocks up on the design wall to see how it's looking.  

En Provence, A Bonnie Hunter Mystery (2016)

I'd like to end up with 12 blocks, but there may not be enough fabric for that.  There is enough for another 3 blocks, so I'm going to get those made and reassess.  I'm really happy with how it's coming together.  Leaders and enders is a slow way to finish a project.  On the other hand, there would be no progress at all if I wasn't working on a few seams at a time while making other stuff.  

Linking up with 

Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts 

Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

WIPS: Uh Oh, A Whoops

The weather here has been beautiful the last couple of days. Warm, sunny and not too windy.  It's hard to stay in and sew when it's that nice, so I took a walk last night and was rewarded with this beauty as company. 

A Tiger Swallowtail butterfly

Even with the walk there was some time to make a bit more  progress on The First Amendment Quilt.  

The side borders are sewn on.  The top and bottom borders are ready to sew to the stars.  It wasn't till I was editing this photo that my "whoops" became clear.  The corner squares of the stars were supposed to be red, not the newsprint fabric.  

So I'll have to remake the 4 corner square blocks.  The "whoops" stars will probably get used on the back.  At least I caught it before the stars were attached to the top and bottom borders.  It won't take long to get back on track.  

Linking up with:
Lets Bee Social hosted by Sew Fresh Quilts
Sew, Stitch, Snap, Share hosted by Kokaquilts
Needle and Thread Thursday hosted by My Quilt Infatuation

One Monthly Goal - March Wrap Up

Just a few days left in March. It's been a busy month, work is absolutely crazy.  Thankfully the sewing room has been a nice refuge in the evenings.  I've made good progress on March's One Monthly Goal. 

The plan for March was to start piecing the last of the graduation quilts.  There was a laundry list of things that needed to be done to make that happen.

Wash and press all the fabric ✔
Print the center panel on fabric ✔
Rinse, dry and cut the center panel to size✔
Print pattern from EQ, write cutting and pressing instructions ✔
Cut fabrics and start sewing✔

I count a quilt as "started" once the fabrics are cut.  That happened on March 11th.  Since then, the first two borders have been added and I've got a good start on the Friendship Stars that make up the third border. 

 The First Amendment Quilt
self designed

The left star border has already been sewn together and attached to the center panel.  The star blocks for the right side are still being assembled.  I wasn't sure how well that news print fabric would work, but I'm liking the effect.  Thankfully Drama Teen fully approves.   So I'm three for three on my 2017 OMGs.  I really do like this link up, it's been a great motivator each month. 

I've also been working really hard to get my Meadow Mist Mystery Quilt into finished flimsy form to show off in April.  I've been assembling the last set of blocks. 

 Meadow Mist Designs Mystery
By Cheryl Brickey of the Meadow Mist Designs Blog

The quilt has 8 of these blocks.  That's number 6 and 7 up on the design wall still under construction.  So just 3 blocks left to assemble and I can start sewing the blocks together.  Drama Teen and My Guy are going to a concert tonight, so I'll have the house to myself.  I'm contemplating putting this project front and center for one night to see if I can get it together before Friday.  I'd like to be able to submit a finished flimsy for the quilt parade.  

It's been a good month in the sewing room.  Wish I could say the same about work!  

Linking up with:
Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts
Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation
March Finish Up - One Monthly Goal at Elm Street Quilts
UFO-2017 at Patchwork Times

WIPS: A New Start

I'm taking a few days off to spend with Drama Teen as she's on spring break this week.  However, since the washer is out of commission (parts are on order) the day isn't going to be what we'd originally planned.  I'm heading off to the laundromat this morning, while DT is going ice skating with friends.  We were going to go prom dress shopping, but DT's friends came up with an alternate plan.  So I'll get to sew this afternoon then DT and I will have a girls night out this evening. At least that was the plan when we went to bed last night. 

Geometry came off the design wall last week and has been sent out for quilting.  That left the big design wall completely empty. Time to pull out the fabrics for the last graduation quilt and get started.  

I've gotten the first two borders on the center panel.  The next set of borders will be friendship star blocks.  The pieces are cut, but none of them are sewn together yet.  I'm hoping this project goes together pretty quickly.  This quilt is for DT's journalism teacher, so the use of the newsprint fabric was deliberate.  I wasn't sure how well that was going to work, but I like the effect.  The center panel was designed using My Memory Suite and printed onto fabric using the tools available in Photoshop Elements. It turned out much better than I thought it would.  DT loves how it's coming together.  

Progress has also been made on getting the Meadow Mist Mystery quilt into a finished flimsy.  The 4 patches needed to assemble the last block are all made. 

I'm hoping to get some of these made into blocks this afternoon.  Slowly but surely these WIPs are moving along.  That should mean some finishes later this year.  

Linking up with Let's Bee Social and Needle and Thread Thursday.

February One Monthly Goal: The March of Graduation Quilts Continues

I've been home with a nasty cold since Monday. That definitely wasn't the plan for the end of January.  Thankfully I finished up January's One Monthly Goal before the crud took over.  Now it's time to contemplate the February One Monthly Goal. 

Drama Teen asked me last year if I would make quilts for her best friends and her favorite teacher for graduation this year.  So she gave me plenty of notice.  One is finished (Zombie's in Paris) and the second has been sent out for quilting (Bejeweled).  That leaves quilts 3 and 4 that have to be finished before May.  The third quilt, Geometry has been up on the design wall since December.  

The blocks are just big HSTs, so they go together pretty fast.  I'm almost finished with the purple blocks.  That leaves blue, green and yellow blocks that have to be made.  February is a short month, and we have a wedding to attend the last weekend that will cut into my stitching time this month.  Considering all that, my goal is to make all the blocks and get them into a finished flimsy by the end of the month. That should set me up to finish the back and get it out for quilting in March.  

I'm also participating in Patchwork Times UFO-2017 this year (the more motivation the better).  Geometry is #2 on my list, so I'm substituting it for whatever number Judy draws for February. 

Linking up with 
Elm Street Quilts
Let's Bee Social
Needle and Thread Thrusday

January One Monthly Goal - The March to Graduation Finishes

It wasn't hard to decide what project to do for January's One Monthly Goal. 

The question was how much to try to get done?  I do not like to over commit on my projects, but considering that May is only 5 months away now and I have three quilts to finish by the middle of that month, pushing now is necessary in order to be ready for graduation.  So the plan is to get Bejeweled from where it is now,

to being shipped out the door for quilting.  There's only two columns of blocks left to be sewn together before the center of the quilt is assembled.  That leaves the top and bottom inner border and a final border to be cut and sewn on.  The backing will be scrappy left overs of the fabrics used in the blocks.  That will have to be assembled as well.  But I think it's all doable, January is a long month and other than DT's birthday, there's nothing likely to pull me out of the sewing room for a weekend.  

Bejeweled is number 1 on the quilt plan for this year, but I'm substituting it for my number 3 quilt for the purposes of Patchwork Times UFO-2017 Challenge.  I need to start and finish quilt #3, which is the First Amendment Quilt by May too, but it's just seems smarter to finish Bejeweled first as it's the closest to being done.  

Linking up with:
One Monthly Goal
Let's Bee Social
Needle and Thread Thrusday

WIPS: Rest in Peace Zombies

The joyful hubbub of the holiday season has definitely lessened.  Now My Guy and I are enjoying our end of the year vacation days.  We spent yesterday morning tackling our over stuffed walk in closet.  It's amazing what stuff accumulates on the shelves in there and what's hidden in those piles.  We'd been looking everywhere for my keys to My Guy's vehicle for the last few months. I was convinced they had fallen out of my purse.  But we found them in the purse I was carrying last Christmas!  We're about a quarter done with the whole closet.  So far we've taken a box worth of luggage/duffel bags/purses to Good Will and have filled up one trash bag.  We'll be back at it later this morning.  No telling what else we'll find.  

That was my morning, but the afternoons this week are reserved for more fun stuff.  My Guy went for a bike ride, while my plan was to sew for a while.  It was a nice sunny day, so I took the opportunity to get photos of my last finish, Zombies in Paris.  It's been finished since the end of November, so was definitely time to get those photos.  

I couldn't resist doing some staging for the final photo shot, for once I actually had the time.

Zombies in Paris by Kate
Finished November 30, 2016

The colors photographed much truer outside.  It's a fun quilt.  The zombie fabric is a perfect fit for it's intended owner. 

Trudy did a wonderful job with the quilting, the double hearts echo the quilt blocks. 

The backing used the fabrics of Paris landmarks that didn't make the cut for the front of the quilt.  

The lighter purple was used for the binding. 

Drama Teen helped with the label, we kept the message simple. 

DT asked for the quilts for her best buds so they would have something to take to college that they could cuddle with when things got stressful and to remind them of their friendship.  

So one down, three more to go.  

Linking up with:
Let's Bee Social
Needle and Thread Thursday
Finish it Up Friday

WIPS: Here and There Progress

It has been a busy week already and it's just Wednesday.  Last night was package cookie night.  Drama Teen baked Snickerdoodle cookies to share with some of her more far flung friends.  So we spent the evening getting all the cookies into tins, adding festive trim to the tins and than packing for shipment.  Since Tuesday is also gym night, I didn't make it to the sewing room. 

I've been blogging about the progress on En Provence, but haven't said too much about the other projects which are in the works.  Bejeweled is the "priority" project at the moment.  It's one of the 4 graduation quilts, so it has a May due date.  

Bejeweled, From the book "All About Strips" by Susan Guzman

A few more columns have been stitched together and some of the sashing strips have been added.  So this project is moving along.  I'm hoping to have this one to the finished flimsy stage by the end of the month. 

Blooms and Butterflies has also been progressing.

Blooms and Butterflies
Bloom block by Lea Brummett, setting by Kate

Sorry for the slightly crocked photo.  I had to lay Blooms over Bejeweled which is taking up most of the big design wall.  It was hard to get it on the wall straight with the other blocks behind it.  At any rate, the pieced butterfly blocks borders are all attached.  This one just needs one more narrow border of the polka dot and then the final border added.  Depending upon how much time I have after Christmas, this quilt might just make it to finished flimsy stage by the end of the month. 

Linking up with 
Let's Be Social
Needle and Thread Thursday

WIPS: Piecing Gems

Wednesday already?  It's been a fast week, playing catch up after being out of the office for a week will do that.  There's not been a great deal of time for stitching in the evenings and what time I have had was spent on finishing up the binding for the Zombie quilt.  I've just got about 20" left to go on that. 

The few minutes I had in the sewing room Monday evening was spent cutting the remaining sashing strips needed for Bejeweled.  All the blocks were finished a couple of weeks ago.  Over the weekend I started sewing the columns together and started adding the sashing strips.  

 Bejeweled
From the book "All About Strips" by Susan Guzman

The strips hang off the design wall, so some of the blocks at the bottom of the quilt are still in the project box.  I'll pull those out as I sew the columns.  It seemed prudent to start with the outside columns and work in. Overall it's coming together pretty quickly when I have a chance to work on it.  Drama Teen is happy with all the colors.  She and I discussed replacing the dark plaid, but she likes the contrast.  To be honest neither of the plaids photograph really well, they have a lot more detail in them than shows up in the photo.    

Linking up with:
Let's Bee Social
Needle and Thread Thursday 

WIPS: Just in Time Stitching

Often life interferes with my ability to keep my stitching plans on track (It's a common problem with various degrees of severity).  My most recent derailer is my day job (it pays for my quilting habit, so I try not to complain too loudly).  Thankfully since the big project launch in August, the job has been mostly on simmer.  Drama Teen isn't playing sports any longer, so we are not running all over the state for volleyball tournaments these days.  Though I think we do have to spend a weekend in November as debate judges.  So you'd think I'd be more on top of my stitching these days.  Not so much it seems.  

However, I did manage to get the steps in the first clue in the Meadow Mist Mystery finished. 

 Meadow Mist quilt along mystery by Cheryl Brickey

Which is really good because clue 2 comes out on Thursday.  I don't think the white fabric was my original choice for a background, but I can't tell from fabric photos taken last month.  It seems a bit stark to me, but hopefully it won't seem that way once more of the mystery blocks are made.  I really like Cheryl's mysteries.  The two I've done have used relatively large pieces, they go together fast so it's easier to stay on track.  It also helps that the clues come out monthly. 

Linking up this week with Let's Bee Social and Needle and Thread Thursday.  

WIPS - Starting an New Mystery

It's been a while since I've been able to post for three days in a row. To do that requires time in the sewing room and progress on multiple projects.  Up until this last weekend, sewing room time had been a bit scarce.  Thankfully the shoulder problems that kept me from stitching are abating and I can enjoy both sewing and blogging again.  

In addition to getting a start on the second graduation quilt last week, I was able to get a start on this year's Meadow Mist mystery quilt.  Cheryl's Midnight Mystery from last year was such fun that I really wanted to play along again this year.  I even finished last year's mystery quilt back in July so I could play along this year and not feel too guilty for adding another project to the list.  Here's this year's fabric choices:

And here's what I've gotten done so far on Block 6, the first step in the mystery.

Block 6, Meadow Mist quilt along mystery by Cheryl Brickey

I've got all the HSTs made, but the blocks aren't all sewn together yet.  There's another set of HSTs that need to be made this month, I should get started on those before the next set of instructions come out.  So I'll likely be a bit behind, but that's OK.  These are 4.5" HSTs so they go pretty fast.  

Linking up with Let's Bee Social and Needle and Thread Thursday.

WIPS-A Finished Flimsy Finally

Starting the work week on a Tuesday always gets me out of wack with my days.  We had a good holiday weekend, though we didn't really do much, which seemed to work well for all of us.  My shoulder is doing much better.  I still have to watch my computer time, but I can sew without pain now.  Which made for a very fun weekend in the sewing room.  

Monday afternoon, the final two border strips were added to Poinsettias, finally moving that project to the finished flimsy stage. 

Poinsettias Designed By Judy Blok for the December 2013 issue
of American Patchwork and Quilting Magazine

I'm really happy with how this quilt turned out.  Poinsettias started out as a leaders and enders project in 2014.  There are 289 pieced 4.5" squares in this quilt.   Making this my leaders and enders project was my compromise to allow me to start on this project, but still put the focus on those projects that needed to get finished.  The fabrics are Moda, I don't remember the line now, but they were purchased when we lived in Texas, so they are at least 10 years old.

I have the backing fabric picked out, but piecing the back will have to wait a bit.  Not much has changed since 2014, there are still other projects that have deadlines on them.  So for now piecing the back for the Zombies in Paris quilt needs to come first.  

These panels make up the center of the back.  There's not enough of my backing fabric to cover the whole back, but adding these 6 panels makes it all work out.  These fabrics were purchased when Drama Teen and I were working out the quilt design for this project, but they didn't make the final cut to be used on the front. It's a little more work to make a pieced back, but since this is a gift, the extra effort is worth it.   

Linking up with 
Let's Bee Social
Needle and Thread Thursday

August One Monthly Goal: Back on Track

One more week in August.  That's hard to believe. Not sure where the summer went.  The beginning of the month was a bit busy, but it's slowed down a bit.  Last weekend was really nice as I got to spend a lot of time in the sewing room.  There was lots of progress on numerous fronts, including getting Zombies in Paris to the point of being a finished flimsy. 

Zombies in Paris by Kate

The border is a really dark purple not black.  Even Photo Shop can't seem to bring out the true color.  This is the first of 4 graduation quilts that Drama Teen has commissioned for next May.  She wanted each person's quilt to be something that they could wrap them selves up in next year at college when they feel they need a hug.  I think this quilt will do that.  I've got some left over fabrics and some that we bought, but didn't use in the front that we want to work into the backing.  I've been playing with layouts.  Hopefully, I can get the back made soon so it can go out for quilting.  

August's One Monthly Goal was to reach the finished flimsy stage.  That's done, earlier than I expected.  That's 7 out of 8 months where I've reached my monthly goal.  These monthly goals have helped keep the focus on moving one project ahead each month.  The progress hasn't hit my finished quilt list as much as I would like, but if I keep it up, there be a few more finishes to add before the end of the year.  

 I'm linking up with My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday and with Red Letter Quilts when she posts the end of August One Monthly Goal link up.  

Blooming WIPs

This week has gone fast, it will do that when your work day is spent working towards a deadline for a big project.  I'm not the lead for the project (thankfully!)  but those of us filling "functional expert" roles have to finish our tasks by today.  I got home later than normal last night, but still found some time to wind down a bit in my sewing room.  

The Zombies quilt is my focus project for the month, but I can't work on just one thing. Poinsettias had to come off the design wall in order for me to put the Zombie blocks up.  But I'd gotten two sections of border attached before it came down.

Poinsettias Designed By Judy Blok for the December 2013 issue
of American Patchwork and Quilting Magazine

The narrow red border is hard to see in this picture, it will be more visible when the next border goes on.  

The Blooms and Butterflies project is still up on the small design wall. 

 Blooms and Butterflies
Bloom block by Lea Brummett, setting by Kate

I'm really liking how this one is turning out.  The little butterfly blocks take some time to make, but they are such fun little blocks.

The butterfly blocks finish at 4", which is pretty small for me.  I used the block library in EQ to work out the size of the pieces for this block.  

Flowers and butterflies are some of my favorite photographic subjects, so it's been fun to work with them in the sewing room too.  It's nice have such bright and fun projects to come home and relax with.  

Linking up with Let's Bee Social and Needle and Thread Thursday.