Make A List Monday: What's In Store For March

With the month underway it's time to assess what's in the quilting queue for March.  

National Quilting Month

First up, it's time to celebrate!  March is National Quilting Month and every year, the third Saturday is National Quilting Day which is on the 18th this year.  

Check out the websites of your favorite quilt designers, museums, industry companies and vendors as most will probably be offering special projects, programs and sales in honor of OUR holiday!  

My DH has a vacation coming up later this month and we have already made plans with my MIL to go down to North Carolina to visit her.  That's doubly good news for me because it means an opportunity to have another mini Quilt Retreat with her that week.  

March Block A Day with Pat Sloan

Pat Sloan's March Block-A-Day series continues this year.  She is offering a block called "Cheerful".

I have enjoyed doing these the last two years, each time with my own twist on what block I piece.  I really wanted to do this year's blocks but couldn't choose between a couple of fabric themes I could see myself doing them in.  So once again I decided on a pivot:  since I already have blocks for two projects that I need to finish up and both needed about an additional fifteen blocks each, I decided to make those the blocks I will sew up daily for the month.

So for March Daily Blocks sewing I will finish piecing the blocks for "Roll, Roll, Cotton Boll" in the first half of the month and continue working on my APQ "Scrap Happy" QAL blocks for the second half.

This will keep the "RRCB" project on the front burner for another month thus improving the possibility that I will finally get it to a top this year.  We'll be down in NC for part of the period I work on the "Scrap Happy" blocks.  I'll be returning to the scene of the crime with them since I had worked on them down there last year too.  It's also another chance to dig through my MIL's scraps to help "fund" the remaining blocks.

In other related Block-A-Day news, I also hope to quilt my "String Beans" quilt (that used a Log Cabin variation block) this month.  It was last year's B-A-D project (pun intended!) which I basted together last month.

Top and basted bundle showing the pieced backing.

Focus projects:  Raffle Quilts and a Memory Quilt

I have two projects that I also need to focus on this month: first is to resume work on the basket blocks for the two quilts I want to make to raffle off at my community garden's opening day.  

Technically, I can see this being another "block a day" project if I am going to have any hope of getting this done by the end of April deadline.  

The second quilt I really need to work on is a photo memory quilt for a long-time friend of mine.  This is a project that has been in discussion for at least three years now.  Last year she gave me the last of all the pictures I can choose from to put in it.  I found a pretty fabric line for it that had colors I know she'd like.  I also purchased some additional coordinating fabrics and novelty fabrics related to her life and interests.  

I did a preliminary layout in EQ8 but that's as far as I got.  I know I have procrastinated on this because it's such an important quilt and I want to really do something special for her.  It's time to face the challenge and get on with it!  

APQ UFO Challenge

This month's number to work on for the American Patchwork and Quilting UFO Challenge is #11.  On my list that is to finish quilting my "Modern Twist" project.

This is an oldie but a goodie that was a one of the three Planet Patchwork mystery quilts I worked on years ago.  They had been in the process of closing the website down around the time that I made this  one and it looks like the domain name is being used by another company now.  

This is not the first time this one has been picked for the UFO Challenge and in recent years I've frequently considered working on it.  The hold up has been that I always saw the piecing as "pipes" and the blues in it reminded me of water so I wanted to use various "flowing water" motifs in the "pipe" sections.  I only did so in one and then got stumped on additional motifs to use.  Over the years I've found a few more but have been working on transitioning to using different machines to quilt with so really haven't focused on getting back to this one.  Now that I've gotten a little more comfortable with my machines, I think I'm finally ready to resume quilting this one.  

Finishing up the Christmas Quilts:  Quilting Christmas Ribbons

Yet another on the "To Be Quilted" March wish list is to work toward finishing up the last of the Red & White Christmas quilts by quilting my "Christmas Ribbons" project that now also includes the bow applique I added.  

You can see the full top here.

The backing is ready and I also have the batting so at the least I'd like to get the next step done this month which is the layering and basting.  I also have already sketched out a preliminary quilting plan.  I'm actually thinking about taking this one down to North Carolina with me since I think I could quilt it on the Featherweight.  We'll see if that happens.

So what will you be working on in March?  I hope you also get to celebrate National Quilting Month and Day with some fun quilty projects or special things from your quilt supplies Wish Lists!

Two Mug Rug Christmas Gifts Finished!

There's no doubt about it, mug rugs make great gifts!  l also love that you can personalize the sentiment in them for the person you are giving it to.  You can use the rug design to express it and/or give a mug appropriate to the situation or to them.  That's what I did for the last rug I made for a friend's desk at her job:

This time around I made two rugs for Christmas gift giving.   My MIL is my Kringle giftee this year.  She is a quilter too so of course part of her gift is fabric -- a small quilt kit and the backing for it.  I had also found a cute basket to pack it up in but I needed to add a little something to fill it out.  My first thought?  A cute mug with quilty sayings!

I found this one on eBay but I've got to tell you it was really hard to choose!  There were soooo many funny ones that I also could have sent like this....

or this.....

...oh and this!

I settled on the first one because in my book 'ya can't send a mug without an accompanying rug and I already had these in the house....

June Tailor has a couple of versions of these mini panels for mug rugs and each version has a different theme.  I really wanted the set with Quilty sayings but couldn't catch it on sale so settled for the "Uplifting" set.  I felt the top sentiment in the picture below went perfect with her mug.

The great thing is the panel set had one perfect for her sister too.  It wasn't originally in the plan to send her sister a mug and rug but I think the Quilt Muses were ahead of me on this one.  You see, each year (regardless of whether or not we have them for the Kringle) I also bake and send my MIL and one of her sisters Peanut Butter cookies for Christmas.  That started on one of the last Christmas' when they were still here in New York. We were talking about cookies and the sisters reminisced about how they had loved the ones that their mother used to make.  My husband then bragged about mine so that year I sent them both a batch.  It was a big hit to the point that even if I don't feel like making them, I'd better get them out in the mail because I WILL get calls if they don't show up!

I usually try to plan the cookie drop to coincide with the Kringle gift drop to consolidate the mailing efforts.  It just so happens that this year my husband has his Aunt as giftee so the good news is that I could send her cookies along with his gift.  Then I remembered that I had found a mug related to Christmas and cookies while out shopping either last year or the year before and had saved it for just such an occasion.  So when DH said he couldn't think about what to get her, I told him about the mug and said I'd even make a rug for it.  He loved that idea and then said it'd be great if we could find a cute cookie jar to go with it.  Fortunately Home Goods came to the rescue on that one!

My MIL's favorite fabric is batiks so I bought her a batik fabric kit for her gift and then I decided to use prints from my own batik stash to make her rug.  For her sister's rug, I was told she liked neutrals.  I didn't have that in my batik stash but I do have a stash of Black and White fabrics -- the original neutrals!

The June Tailor panel kit has mug rug designs patterned in the package for each size panel offered in the kit so I wasn't going to have to think about a design for them.  However, for his Aunt's panel, the rug layout used a Card Trick block and I wasn't in love with that.  The good news is a Squirrel Moment came to the rescue:  This month, the American Quilters Society (AQS) has been offering their annual set of Christmas Countdown blocks.  This year, they are giving the daily instructions for the blocks two ways:  colored in Red and White and in Red, Black and White.  Perfect!  I decided to pick one of the RBW blocks to substitute for the Card Trick block in the pattern.  I chose Block #6 and resized it to the 6" finished size the panel pattern used.  Then I figured out where else I could insert a little more red in the design for balance.

It took me a few days to get both rugs done.  I had originally just quilted my MIL's in Quilt-As-You-Go fashion by adding the strips right onto the layered batting and backing.  But after it was done, I felt like it needed just a little more quilting so had to take some time to figure what to stitch on it and then execute it.  The idea of using the echoed "Serpentine Curves" came from Mary Mashuta's book "Foolproof Walking Foot Quilting Designs".  This was good because at first I thought about doing meandering.  I've only tried free-motion on my 401 once and need more practice on it so really didn't want to try that on this deadline project.

For her sister's rug, I did a simple crosshatch over everything but the panel.  I also decided to do a faux piped binding hoping to add just a touch more red to the mat.  I used instructions for the technique that I've used before but on larger quilts.  The piping was a little more prominent than I would have liked so if I was to do it again on a piece this size,  I'd size the piping strip an 1/8" smaller and add that to the strip that creates the binding portion.

I think they both finished up very nicely and now both sisters will have a nice mug to fill with the hot beverage of their choice and have a pretty mat to sit their cookies on while they munch!  For me, I get another notch on the year-end Challenge finish list!  That's as sweet as a peanut butter cookie!

Before It's Over, I Better Get Out The June Update!

As of last Wednesday, it's now official -- Happy Summer!  I had hoped to get back to post before the end of May but life and "squirrel" moments got in the way!  This is the first full week of Summer and I am happy because as of right now, all of my community commitments (with the exception of the community garden) are on hiatus until September. 

Even all the spring prep work for the garden (both the community one and my terrace planters) is finally completed.  So far I'm signed up for volunteer hours on Sunday afternoons (with DH) and Wednesday mornings in July but there shouldn't be any of the hard grunt work of the last few months to do when I go.  That means I can expect to spend less time there (just our regular four hour shifts rather than a whole day) and expend far less physical energy than I have to date.  Not being exhausted on the return from the garden means I am more likely to be able to sew when I get back.

It is my plan to try to sew every day for the summer.  I didn't get to sew every day during the Spring but I did get some quilting done.  So what has kept me so busy these last two months? 

Well, I finally pushed through to a finish on the Baskets mini quilt!  You can read more about that here.

I also finally got started on "Catch" my project name for Brenda Henning's "Alaskan Silhouette Sampler" which I'll talk more about in future posts.

While finishing the basket mini and sewing the "Catch" blocks, I used "leader/ender" piecing and was able to finish the last two Scrappy Trips blocks I had set up as well as two more.

As you make stuff you generate more scraps and since I also needed more "leader/enders",  I also pulled out my "Scrappity-Do blocks"  (last seen on the blog here) and got nine more made up!

Still to do:  On the right in the picture of the "Catch" blocks you can just about see that my "En Provence" pieces are also still on the design wall.  That's because I want to lay all the blocks out before stitching them up but I'll need to remove the "Modern Twist" top (under the Catch blocks) to do that.

I have big plans for doing some Modern quilting on that one and have spent all Spring gathering ideas for that so now need to finalize them and get it quilted.   It should be noted that it was my APQ UFO pull for January!!  Needless to say that other project numbers have been drawn for all the months since and all of mine need to be quilted.  Yikes! That's six UFO projects identified but none quilted yet.  I really need to get to work!

Another thing I STILL need to do is finish the gifts for my friend and her husband. 

That's an old picture -- as noted in a previous post, back in May I got her mug rug quilted and bound.  The couple had traveled to Europe last month and I thought I'd give myself a deadline of finishing the projects up while my friends were away.  Unfortunately, I didn't have the date of their return before they left and cell access was spotty so we couldn't communicate.  Then I let other things intervene and they were advised by the U.S. Embassy to cut their trip short and return early.  The last leg of their tour had been scheduled to travel to Manchester shortly after the bombing that happened there.

Now that they're back, we're planning to get together to see all the pictures from their trip and I'd like to bring the gifts with me to that event.  My friend's mug rug only needs a label (and cookies baked to go with it and the mug) but I've still got to quilt and bind her husband's quilt.  With the "Blue Baskets Mini" done, that has to be the next priority.

The other "squirrely" (away from the machine) things that grabbed my attention all Spring:

Pat Sloan's 182 Day Solstice Challenge that started in December just ended last week. 

The MODA Blockheads have been going on since March.  Block #17 will be posted on Wednesday.

Sharon Barnes of Australia who had previously reproduced the beautiful Chester Criswell Quilt has been posting test blocks for reproducing her Malanga antique (actually "vintage" since it's from 1937) quilt.  She hopes to publish a book on the quilt and the blocks in 2018.  I'd love to dive into my 30s stash and work on those this Summer.

I've also been following the Simple Simon Modern Quilt Along in the hopes of doing another Modern project in the future.  It's posted on the first Wednesday of the month, starting back in February and will end in November.

At The Quilt Show, they have so many things going on:
* The Halo Medallion BOM designed by the recently departed Sue Garman and running through December.
* Zoo Nouveau,  a Summer techniques sew along which started back in April.
*Designed To Quilt:  A series of lessons on the elements that make up appealing quilt designs.

Ricky Timms, the co-host of TQS, also has the free Legacy Quilt Club BOM going on at his website.

Piecing the Past Quilts (from whom I got the Blue Baskets kit) finished their Peace & Healing free BOW (Block of the Week for 33 Blocks) in May and started a new one, Rest & Refreshing, at the end of April that will end in September.  Block #10 was released today and prior blocks can be purchased from their site. They also have a free Summer Sew Along that started last week but I'm sitting that one out!

About a month ago, I discovered that Quiltmania has been doing another free BOM called Tuesday Hearts that posts on the Second Tuesday of each month.

Of course I'm also following Barbara Brackman's 2017 Civil War BOM called Yankee Diary the next post of which will be on Wednesday (they post on the last one of each month). 

And last (for me) but not least, the Temecula Quilt Co. scrappy First Friday Sew Along that posts -- you guessed it -- on the first Friday of each month!  I'd like to do this one (and/or Jen Kingwell's "My Small World" quilt) straight from the scrap bins this Summer.  Got to get organized though -- not my scraps, they're all sorted -- just me!

I know there's even more out there but with all of this, no wonder I'm so distracted!  Hope you are happily stitching away as the official Summer season gets underway.   As always, I wish you Happy Quilting!!

3rd Quarter Finish Along Check In

The Bad News?  Despite the long list I hoped to complete for the 3rd Quarter, I only managed one finish.  The Good News?  It's a gift for my neighbors that I am very happy to be able to finish and give!



This was #4 on the 3rd Quarter Finish Along List I posted here.  It's now dubbed "The Mack's Morning Catch" from the pattern "Morning Catch" by Rochelle Martin of Cottage Quilt Designs from her book "Man Cave Quilts".  

I did it up in batiks taking the fabric cues and color scheme from the pattern but added the bobber and tackle box applique from the book "A Star "4" Every Season" by Kansas Troubles.  I also changed the names of the fish used in the pattern to the types of fish in our local waters.  While the fish applique at the bottom was also made from a batik, the others were cut from regular quilting cottons.  The words, fishing rod and bobber were made from Windham hand-dyes leftover from another project and some Cherrywood fabrics from sampler packs that I had purchased at a quilt show a few years ago.

Some detail shots:

My favorite fish....

 although these came out pretty good too.

 The "fishing line" is pearl cotton couched on to the top.

The tackle box is made of a brushed cotton plaid and flannel from my scrap stash.

You can really see the quilting on the back which is also flannel.

      
It took me a while longer to complete than I thought it would and it's been hard to get good pictures because it has been cloudy the last few days.  But I needed to get this done if I was going to make the quarter reporting deadline!

This wasn't the only thing I worked on this quarter.  They don't rank as a finish (which is why I'm not reporting them separately), but I was able to move #2 on my 3rd Quarter list, the two Civil War Repro lap quilts, to the flimsy stage:

While I'm still in quilting mode, I'm hoping to get these quilted up over the next week (although knowing me, it will probably will wind up taking a few weeks).

Now that I've checked in, it's time to go see what everyone else got done! If you want to see that too, head on over to Katy Cameron's blog The Littlest Thistle and see all the other lovely quilted goodness that was completed this quarter!

September Update

The blog has been quiet but the sewing machine has been busy! I finally got this quilt, which is a secret gift for my neighbors, to a top.  I need to get this finished because I have a lot of other things besides this to finish up for the 3rd Quarter Finish-A-Long finale that will be linking up at the end of the month.

The quilt I'm making for them is Rochelle Martin's "Morning Catch" from her book "Man Cave Quilts".  Here's what's been happening all month:

Starting the layout and choosing fabrics for the sections (it's all batiks):

 

Establishing the final layout:

Adding the  fish appliques and "fish words" (I changed the pattern's words to ones that represent what people fish for in our area).  The word fabric is a hand dye leftover from another project, the fish are various cotton and batik prints and all were fused on with the edges finished with zigzag stitching:



 

Adding the final border:

The rod applique and the fishing line (couched pearl cotton) are part of the original pattern design.  I added the bobber and tackle box which I got from the "Summer Star" quilt pattern in the book "A Star "4" Every Season" by Kansas Troubles.  Some of the solid fabrics used for these are more of the hand dyed project leftovers, the rest are from a couple Cherrywood "Grab Bags" I purchased at a quilt show a few years back.  The tackle box fabrics are from my flannel leftovers/stash: 

 

 

Finished top viewed from either direction.



 

I already have backing and batting in house so hope to get this layered and maybe even quilted this weekend.  There is also a market bag that's going to be given with this gift which should be quick to cut out and make up as well.  I also need to go through the batik leftovers because I have another quilt (this time a surprise for my DH) that I hope to add some of these fabrics to. 

 

It is chilly today so feels good to be able to stay in and sew.  Hope you have plans for a very quilty weekend too!

August Update, On to September!

The Design Wall is finally EMPTY!!!

With the long weekend, I finally got the borders on the two lap quilts so now all the Civil War repro projects are flimsies and I've managed to whittle down a significant portion of that stash:

Kaye England's Re-Piecing the Past:

Kaye England's Civil War Legacy:

and the CW mini quilts:

Top left:  Inspired by Judy Rothermel's "Hummingbird" in Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting. March/April 2004 but using the piecing techniques by Sue Bouchard of Quilt In a Day and the Lazy Angle Ruler.
Top Right: "Reproduction-print Table Topper" from the American Patchwork & Quilting website.
Bottom:  Kathleen Tracy's "One Patch Doll Quilt" from her book "The Civil War Sewing Circle".  I've also got more scraps cut to make the "Soldier's Cot Quilt" from the same book which after displaying it for awhile, I hope to be able to donate it to the Home of the Brave Quilt Project.  
 
When I had finally cleared the wall, I also took an opportunity to throw up the blocks I have accumulated towards my "Scrappity-Do" scrap quilt.  I was encouraged to do this when I saw that Deb of the Stitchin' Therapy blog is also using up her scraps right now to make these blocks.  I been using up my stash and scraps to do all of the recent repro piecing but I've also tried to put some of my scraps towards other projects.  I managed to add a lot of additional blocks to what I had already pieced and these blocks made great "leader/enders" along the way:

Hmm, compared to hers (and the pattern sheet I'm using) mine are really looking a little dull!  The good news is that this lets me know that I need to try to add more color and bold fabrics to my blocks as I go forward and use stuff from other projects.  

For now, I plan to take a break from the repros for a short while before trying to finish them all.  I have a project that I had hoped to get done last week (because the repro projects were supposed to get done much earlier in the week).  It is a project from my 3rd Quarter Finish Along list and is a gift for my neighbors.  I'm hoping to knock it out and then get to quilting all the repro projects.

Speaking of the Finish Along, we're in the final month before reporting and I haven't gotten anything on the list finished!  After such a great second quarter, I'd hate to completely flame out for the third.  So September had better be a big finishing month or I'm toast!

Hope everyone had a good holiday weekend and are ready to get back into the swing of things and the start of school for those of you with kids still at home.  I think the Fall is going to busy for me and not just quilt-wise!  Here's hoping that I can continue to whittle down the Phd (Projects Half Done) list and still get some big finishes done by year's end.  Geez, thinking about year's end already?  Where has the time flown?   Happy quilting to all!