Elvira Finished

       In March of 2020 as we were beginning our quarantine for Covid-19, Gudrun Erla of GE Quilt Designs offered a free pattern for Elvira and a fun day quilt along via Facebook Live. I participated and by the end of the day had it pieced. A few days later I decided to add a border and then it sat. This week I quilted and added binding. 

I plan to donate it to a charity.

     The past 2 days have been beautiful with 70+ degrees so I spent them working to get the garden ready for spring. We expect a little rain today so I will enjoy the rest and do some sewing.

I'm linking up with Alycia for Finished (or Not) Friday and with Sarah for Whoop, Whoop Friday. Check out the inspiration.

Stay safe and healthy while you enjoy some time sewing or quilting.

A Finish and Weekly Progress

      Setting weekly goals seems to be helping me stay on track to accomplish more. Having specific weekly goals is a great reminder. So far this year I have finished 6 quilt projects on my UFO list and feel good about organization projects around the house.

How I did last week – Feb 15^th

1. Quilt one of the waiting. Done. The batik rectangles quilt is finished and I should be able to quilt another this week.

2. Sew blocks from blue scrap units for comfort quilts. Done. These were inspired by CILs Winter Blues block drive and resulting quilts. I tried to work on these as leader/ender but then took an afternoon or two. I varied from their plan for some blocks as I used rectangular pieces or bricks along with the squares of various sizes. I have 20 made for a 48 by 60” lap quilt. This picture only shows half.  I still have a stack of 4 1/2” strips that can add a scrappy border to make it a little larger and use up more blue units. 

3. Piece a couple of maple leaf blocks. Done. 30 complete.  Two new blocks  were made and here are 28 that were made before this week. This is not the layout, just up on the design wall to see how they look. That is about half of what is needed for a lap quilt.

4. Record stash fabric used or added. Used: 2 ½ yds for binding plus blue scrap units

                                                             Added: 0

5. Clean and organize a drawer. Done and I uncovered family memories. One was a wine making booklet of my father's with a page of his handwritten notes. My younger son took it.

Goals for the Week of February 22^nd

1. Quilt the Elvira top.

2. Piece blue scrap quilt top.

3. Piece a couple of maple leaf blocks.

4. Record stash fabric used or added.

5. Clean and organize a drawer.

Stay safe and healthy while you enjoy some time sewing or quilting.

Finished Tops

      We had 5 days in a row of rain before the sight of sun. Thursday was another rainy cold day so, of course, the perfect time to sit and sew. I finished my second “Colorworks” quilt top. The pattern is great for using many different fabrics. The first one used bright child themed fabric. You can see it here plus a link for the pattern. My church quilt ministry needs more quilts suitable for men so I chose fabrics with men in mind.

     Some time ago I uncovered a sandwich bag of triangles and squares of someone's leftover pieces. The fabric has unusual Christmas colors. I played with them to see what kind of blocks I could make. I was able to piece 4 -12” finish squares and create a small 36” table topper.

Today is starting with more rain and should be a great day to get busy quilting.

I'm linking up with Alycia for Finished (or Not) Friday and with Sarah for Whoop Whoop Friday. For some inspiration check out what others are doing. 

Stay safe and healthy while you enjoy some time sewing or quilting.

Weekly Progress and Goals

    We had more rainy days so more inside time and things got done.

How I did last week -

1. Sandwich a small quilt or 2.  Done and waiting for quilting. I need to get more of the color thread I want to use for these 2. 

2. Sort and organize blue scraps for comfort quilts. Done. The blue scraps went from 2 stuffed 2 gallon bags to much smaller bag of crumbs and these piles of neatly organized units for my scrap user system.

3. Piece a couple of maple leaf blocks. Done. I pieced 2 more blocks.  It gets more difficult to put a pretty leaf together from the leftover pieces.  I need to count finished blocks. I think I have 23 now.

4. Record stash fabric used or added. My stash is moving in the right direction for this time of my life. 

 Used: 3.5 yds for backing and 4 more Valentine mug rugs
Added: 0
5. Clean and organize a my craft table drawer. Done. It is so nice to have a neat and organized craft drawer.

I pieced the second BOM for the Old School Mystery.  

I need to catch up with last week's block for Pat Sloan's "Home Is" mystery. 

    So far this year I feel good about clearing out drawers and using up some stash. I have also made good progress on UFOs but I feeling pressured each week to accomplish my goals. When the weather is nicer and I can get out in the garden, I don't think it will be as easy to do.

Goals for the Week of February 15^th

1. Quilt one of the waiting.
2. Sew blocks from blue scrap units for comfort quilts.
3. Piece a couple of maple leaf blocks.
4. Record stash fabric used or added.
5. Clean and organize a drawer.

Stay safe and healthy will you enjoy some time sewing or quilting.

On My Design Wall

      It is a rainy day today and sounds like it will be for the whole weekend so perfect time to get some piecing done.  I started sewing together 4 units to create the Jewel Box Star. Here are some on my design wall.  

Instead of sewing them all together, I plan to add a narrow sashing between the stars so they show up more. That also means I have to match fewer seams.  I have enough units to make this about full bed size. This was a leader/ ender pattern from Bonnie Hunter for 2018.  You can still get the free pattern on her blog. 

Hope you enjoy some time sewing or quilting. 

Progress toward Goals

       With several rainy days it was a good time to stay inside and I worked on my goals. Even though I did not accomplish them all, I feel good about what I did get done.

How I did last week -

1. Quilt “Wickedly Easy” day bed quilt. Done. That is another one off my UFO list. Friday I shared a picture of the day bed quilt without binding. Sunday I machine sewed on the binding for the quilt and one pillow sham. I have 2 more pillow shams to bind.

2. Sort and organize a box of scraps. Not touched

3. Piece a couple of maple leaf blocks. Not done

4. Record stash fabric used or added. 

                 Used: 4.25 mug rugs and pillow sham.

                 Added: 1.5 yds for binding

5. Clean and organize the linen closet this week instead of a drawer. Done.  This was a big job. I cleared and organized 2 large shelves. I have many old towels to donate to the animal shelter.  I found some surprises.  At least 2 of these Swedish embroidery towels I did when in about 4^th grade. I think a couple came back to me when my mother and an aunt passed.  This is something I hope will interest my granddaughters.

I also found several old pieces that I was given 50 years ago and would love to use in a crazy piece style wall-hanging or something.  I am not ready to give them away yet.

      A pile of Valentine mug rugs have been mailed so they can be enjoyed for longer than just Valentine's Day. My artistic sister sent me one she made so I have one to enjoy.

Goals for the week of February 8^th

1. Sandwich a small quilt or 2.

2. Sort and organize blue scraps for comfort quilts.

3. Piece a couple of maple leaf blocks.

4. Record stash fabric used or added.

5. Clean and organize a my craft table drawer.

Stay safe and healthy will you enjoy some time sewing or quilting.

Finished – almost

       My day bed UFO is quilted and trimmed. It is sort of a funny looking shape to fit a twin size mattress on a day bed. No binding yet. I'm not sure what color to use or whether to make it scrappy.   I used the “Wickedly Easy” pattern. I also quilted 3 pillow shams to match. Wish I had chosen different colors, but I will live with it for a while. At least it is one more off my UFO list.

    More fun Valentine mug rugs got made and 16 have been mailed already. Now I need to tackle a couple of weekly goals or they won't be done for Monday.

  

I'm linking up with Alycia's Finished ( or Not) Friday. 

Stay safe and healthy will you enjoy some time sewing or quilting.

Goals for the Week

      My progress maybe slowing down.  I don't feel like I accomplished as much this past week. Hopefully, I can stay motivated to accomplish my goals each week. After all it has only been one month of the new year. I did enjoy a couple of days out of town for GD Mattie's 13^th birthday so I have some excuse.

How I did on past week goals –
1. Sandwich and start quilting “Wickedly Easy” day bed quilt. It is sandwiched
2. Sort and trim cream based neutral fabrics. The bin is neat and organized. I spent at least 3 ½ hours sorting and ironing pieces and cut up some into 2 1/2” strips and units.

3. Piece a few maple leaf blocks. 3 pieced.  Here they are with the 1 from last week.

4. Record stash fabric used or added.
Used: 1 yd for mug rugs
Added: 0
5. Clean out another drawer in the house. Recycle or re-home items that I will not use this year.
Done. I cleaned out 3 small desk drawers.

Goals for the week of February 1^st
1. Start quilting “Wickedly Easy” day bed quilt.
2. Sort and organize a box of scraps.
3. Piece a couple of maple leaf blocks.
4. Record stash fabric used or added.
5. Clean and organize the linen closet this week instead of a drawer.
      I hope to also make more Valentine mug rugs and get them in the mail.

Stay safe and healthy will you enjoy some time sewing or quilting.