March 2016 Goals

March is roaring in like a Lion tonight - cold and very windy.  The strangest and eeriest sounds from the drafty windows and doors - even has my furkids spooked.  One made me jump so that my coffee went to the floor.

I'm keeping my list light again - but that keeps things open to 'More Happy' things.  This is the book I picked for 'Let's Book It' this month.

And this is the project I want to tackle.  This is designed for JR strips, but I have a lot of odd layer cakes and they will work just as well with this.  Yes, I pull favorites out of those cakes and them I have a pile of lonely fabrics whimpering for me to play with them.  This should use them up.

And I will be trying to keep on track with Slow Sunday Stitching.  There are those circles and I haven't touched those two cross stitch in a while.

RSC16 will lead to more scrap play.  The new colors were just announced - purple with a touch of yellow.  I think I will tackle my little 9-patches first

I'm trying to tackle this project, too.  On the right is a lot of kits, my in-progress monthly projects and (gosh) 3 totes stuffed with panels.  The left side is a bit bare.  Those whimpy shelves  are what's left of my yardage.  The shoe box totes are my FQs.  I have about 50 yards of new fabric arriving shortly and I need to make room on those two shelves.  I know some of those need to be put into the FQ storage or my cart and barrel system as they are bits.  And I have some groups of fabrics that are actually projects that need kitting.

Instead of my Miniature Book - I need to work on this.  I haven't worked on this in ?????  It was mixed in with all those kits - lost and now found.

And I found these!  What a shock it was as I thought these had gotten mixed into a 'sent out' box and said farewell.  Now there is a new button on the side bar for an Orphan Adoption, but I send my orphan blocks and projects to Sarah's group.  These - are staying with me and once my Kona arrives - into a quilt.

That's my March - Oh and prep work for a Quilt Show early April, too.  I will share more on that later.

Hope your March ROARS!

Sewingly Yours,
Sharon

Ending the 'Leap' Month

Although it seemed to go by too fast, I am happy February is over.  Now we didn't get all those huge snow storms like so many, but we had extreme cold, extreme rains, extreme thunderstorms, extreme winds and for a giggle - Mother Nature threw in a day or two of warm.  A very strange month! 

How did I do on my short Goal list?

Completed my 'Let's Book It' project.  And you really need to visit the linky party to see what other's acheived - fabulous projects!!  Maybe you will join us next month.

Kept up with all of my RSC16 blocks and the column quilt.  I am glad that we are done working brown.  As someone said to me - brown mud and  brown trees, just tired of it!

  

My Slow Sunday Stitching didn't include any cross stitch this month as planned, but it was used for bindings, a little hand quilting, and keeping on track with the '365' project.  My circles really reflect our February.

Yes, January and  February at a glance.  A bit of color here and there as well as a splash of bright - my hopefull days or my dreaming days.

** linking up with Quilty Folks - 365 **

Now my Do More of What Makes You Happy:

The Amish Nines miniature

Testing patterns for  Bea Lee of BeaQuilter.  

Using up scraps

Building some house blocks for a block lotto

AND quilting

My SIL's quilt using up her scraps - this is her version of Nifty Nines.  I didn't realize I had chopped the top until I came in from photoing, but this has the piano key border all the way around.  She is still working on the binding on the other at home, so a photo will have to wait. 

My Nifty Nines project

The 'Dottie' completed

The last (extra) day of the month I am going to just play!

Sewingly Yours,

Sharon

Slow Sunday Stitching 2/28/16

I will be joining Kathy today with some slow stitching.  I have a few circles to catch up on for the 365 (366) quilt.  Boy, some of my background fabrics really look so pretty with my ironing board cover.

I have just a little bit of quilting to finish on this test project and then the binding - so I will have a binding to hand stitch later today.

It will be a sunny and less windy day today, so I hope I can get a walk in as well as photo a slew of quilts.

Sewingly Yours,
Sharon

Last Brown Weekend

I wish that meant it was the last brown weekend for outside, but things are still in 'winter' sleep around here.  I finished up the brown 9-patches with my 1.5" scraps.  Although, I think I added just as many or more back into that barrel.

The Patiences Corners blocks for the next part of the RSC16 column quilt.  The brown bramble looks like most of our trees and bushes right now and I'm hoping to see our first flowers soon - little purple viney things (weeds).  So this column really represents our February.  And I found these in that scrap tote I am trying to empty out this year.

It's starting to look like a quilt!  Can't wait to see what the next column is going to be - and color.  Maybe green?

Not the kind of brown you want to find.  This beautiful fabric is dated 2005 (not quilting at this time) and I remember getting it to make a table clothe for my kitchen table.  Well,  I was re-habbing from a car accident and someone just threw the fabric on the table and items set on it stained it as well as the moisture pulled the 200 yr old varnish off the table.  I just cannot get this clean.  So I am using it for something else.

Ah, another brownish stain I have trouble removing.  Yup, I made some binding out of that fabric which goes nicely with my blue and yellow scrap 'Nifty Nines' quilt.  She knows once that binding is totally finished - no more cat scanning is allowed, so she's getting her last snuggle in.

I have a few quilts finished (and my SIL) that I hope to some day get photo'ed outside - if the weather ever permits.  We had a couple of days of torrential rains and awfull thunderstorms - in February!  And today was so windy you could have flown the skies with Dorothy and Toto.

** linking up with **
Feline Friday

RSC16

Oh, Scrap

Sewingly Yours,

Sharon

Let's Book It - Feb 2016

Boy, this month just flew by didn't it?  I know there are a few more days, but I have scheduled posts right to the end of the month - so link up is a day early.  BUT remember, it is about pulling that book, magazine, pattern, or saved file and work that project - does not have to be finished.

   

This Paula Stoddard book was my inspiration for this month's project.

I pulled my scraps - my tote of shirtings and homespuns.

The bits needed for the flowers (and their background fabrics) were pulled from another scrap tote. 

I used black thread and one of the blanket stitches on my machine to do all the flowers and their parts.  I spent time at my daughter's (babysitting while she attends lectures for her next degree) and that's when I did the hand quilting - after the munchkins went to bed.

The binding is all the scraps from the piecing - all of those scraps used up!

The back was an old piece of Debbi Mumm - gone!!!  and there were just two 4.5" squares left of that tiny buffalo check - my hanging corners.  Yes, the batting used was a cut off from a quilt, so more scrap used up.

Finished sized is 12.5" x 26.5" and I love it!!!!!

Now it is your turn to link-up:

This month's charm is the LeMoyne Star

  

An InLinkz Link-up

Monday's Play Date

I had my very handy, helpful furkid assist with pin basting my SIL's latest quilt.  See that look and that paw - she is a very handy, helpful un-baster if you don't watch her.  This goes under the needle today.

And because I need a few projects going at the same time - These fabrics have been sub-cut for some paper piece over at the other machine.  Another testing project.

Today is warmer and the sun is shining, so I hope to get a walk outside today.

Sewingly Yours,
Sharon 

Something New

I can finally show you what I was doing with the Fox and Houndstooth fabrics.  This is a pattern I was testing for Bea Lee of BeaQuilter.  This is her latest release with Connecting Threads.  And if you hop over to her site you can register to win a copy of this pattern as well as see more of her tester's quilts.

I, also, need to thank Wendy Sheppard of Ivory Spring (a thank you card went out to the sponsor) for this gorgeous bundle of 'Katherine Ann'.  This is destined to be a quilt for my Catherine.  I've made the grandies several quilts, but never my daughter - well, I made her a very crude panel snuggy when she was little (not giving her age now).

This I have had this for a while.  I treated myself during a sale. Robert Kaufman's  'Rhoda Ruth' and matching bundled Kona Solids that I plan to use for the Farmer's Wife.  I have made all the blocks in the original book several times - and gifted them out in one form or another.  I have the new FW 30's book, too.  So once I have some commitments finished, I will be finally playing with this.  

I know, I am a scrap quilter - but there it's like a breath of fresh air when you get to play with something new.

 Sewingly Yours,
Sharon 

Whooping it up with Scraps

Sarah over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict raised the question on dealing with the scrap pile dilemma and will be putting together several posts on the subject.  I see a lot around the web on busting the stash and scraps.  I am a scrap quilter and would be lost if I used them all up.  But I do have a very comfortable working system of storing and using them.

  

This little tub is the left over scraps from last year.  I have other NEW bags of scraps, so don't fret.  But in looking for browns and pinks for the RSC16, I came across these few strattas in this tub and that darn 'squirrel' interupted me.  Yes, that squirrel syndrome of when you are distracted from your course.

What can I do with these?  Besides, they are brown and pink.

I just took my 'strip tube' ruler and got the most cut from each stratta.  Yes, I tossed the left overs - it is ok to toss out those little items sometimes, especially when you aren't really sure what you will use them for or when you will use them.  A border added to bring it up to size for a 16" pillow.

I went to the yardage shelfing - yardage to me if usually a FQ, but I knew my pink FQ tote really didn't have enough for a pillow back.  This is a few pieces of a deco-fabric from a 'gifted' bag of scraps which was probably what was left of a re-cycled curtain.  It was just enough to make an envelope back for this pillow.  Now I need to get a form and a 'squirrel' project finished completely from scrap - all cleared out of storage.

I, also, found in this tub enough bits to make my flowers for my 'Let's Book It' project.  They need to be stitched now.  I even found something for the last border on this.

I keep snack barrels of pre-cut squares - all chopped down left overs from projects.  I am trying to tame my 1.5" barrel - yes, if there is a 1.5" square that can be cut from that last bit, I cut it.  January's RSC16 was blue with a touch of purple.  I did the blue 9-patchess and now the purples join them.  

My pink spool blocks made from the strip tote.  I've made way too many strip blocks, so this is another fun way to use those.  A 2" x 5" center strip and four 2" squares for the flip corners on the 2" x 5" black strips (left overs from sashings).

  

The purple spools - some of these came out of that tub and some from the strip tote.

And skinnier strips are being used up in these cute little 3" log cabin blocks.

The pinks to join them................

and the purples.  The blues are done, so a nice start to a quilt a little bit at a time.

And all the left overs from these projects - cut down into my barrels - not back into those totes.  And I work a lot out of those barrels.  In fact, I have the pinks and browns pulled from the 1.5" barrel to make some little 9-patches to join the others - I do have a plan for those little blocks.

I will be linking to

Whoop Whoop Friday

RSC16

Oh, Scrap

Sewingly Yours,

Sharon