I May Have A Scrap Problem...

Confessions Of A Scrap Addict wrote a very intriguing blog post this morning.

She was talking directly to me!

How did she know that I have a serious, overwhelming problem.

I am out of control. 

I cannot toss a scrap.

I want to blame someone but I am the one to blame.

No one else.

insert sad face here

(I'm hoping I can figure out how to put her badge over on my side bar.

This stuff is a challenge for me.)

This is the top of my string big.

This is the side view of my string bin.

One of them.

another sad face inserted here

This is my table top string bin.

My goal is to empty it.

Use each string until it is gone.

Then grab the next and the next.

After reading Sarah's post, I decided I needed a plan.

In September for National Sewing Month,

I sewed every day.

September 25, 2015 was the last day I made a string block.

Until today.

I made 5 early this morning.

I will make 5 later on today.

( I don't want to fall behind on March 2nd.)

I plan to make 5 a day, every day in March.

If I do that,

 I will add 155 3" string blocks to my collection.

What will I do with them?

Oh no worries about that.

These make awesome borders for string quilts,

fun quilts like Bonnie's Love Shack that I will make someday.

But not today.

I have to empty that string bin down some first!

So I am going to do like Sarah and 

challenge myself every month to get my scraps under control.

I have a good plan for March,

I'll have a good plan for April.

I'll have a good plan for......

you get the idea.

Wish me luck, I'm headed into the abyss. 

Tuesday Fun

I'm trying to not get behind on The Splendid Sampler blocks. The 6 heart block stumped me. I didn't know what to do with it. Since I am using blacks, whites and lime greens, it just didn't compute in my brain. That is until I just sat down and started pulling fabric.  I think I like it. In the big quilt, I probably will forget it isn't my favorite.

I love the split 9 patch but had to change it just a bit when I was choosing fabric. I had 2 pieces of 2" lime green that were only 4" long. Easy, peasy, just make a center block. And that applique flower pot was so much fun! I love playing with thread and free motion embroidery. I'm not that good at it so something simple like this block worked out great.

Design Wall Monday

Yesterday I finished and gifted the Dresden Quilt I showed last week. I know which UFO quilt I want to baste next but wasn't up to pulling out everything to get it started. Instead I pulled out a gallon ziploc bag full of half square triangle parts. In the bag were 10 6" snowball blocks. I don't know who gave me the bag but I know it's been a while because I've moved it from here to there numerous times.

I spent some time in EQ7 drawing this design. Of course it will be super scrappy. I think it will make a nice baby boy quilt. I don't know of anyone having a new baby boy but I bet there will be a new one one of these days.

See what others have on their design walls this week at Patchwork Times-Design Wall Monday.

Finish #5

Today is Miss Estella's 4th birthday. OhMyGoodness, that was fast! I decided the Dresden Plate quilt would be the perfect birthday present for her.

I should have worked everyday so it would be ready for her Saturday birthday party but it didn't happen.

Just like most things I plan, they don't always work the way I plan it in my head.

I love that her Great Gramma gave her this cute frog. Her dress has sparkles in the tulle skirt. I thought it was funny my little Princes with her Frog Prince!!!

The back is flannel and it is oh so snuggly. Sweet dreams Princess!

I wonder what I'll pull out next. This 2016 UFO Busting has been fun!

Design Wall Monday

After finishing 2 little quilts and rosette number 6 for Millefiore this week, I decided to set up the tables and get to pin basting the Dresden Plate quilt. The Daytona 500 was getting ready to start as I settled in to baste. Hubby isn't as big of a fan as I am anymore so it didn't matter that I would be right in the way of the TV. He was deeply into his new book.

By the time there were 8 laps to go, I only had this last little bit of the corner to go. I finished before the race did...good timing. I would have finished sooner if I hadn't taken so many breaks!

So why not go ahead and start ditch quilting. I have a good idea how I want to quilt the plates and backgrounds but the sashings are making me ponder....I love that word!  I think I will practice doing ribbon candy. Debby Brown uses it in almost every quilt she makes. So I want to use it too.

 It's raining pretty hard outside this morning so I'm going to fill my cup and take a little tour around Blogland. I'm starting at Patchwork Times and then on to others that are sharing Design Wall Monday with us. And after a few household chores, I'm going to quilt.

Slow Stitching Sunday

 Rosette 6 from The New Hexagon Millefiore Quilt Along 

is now complete.

I haven't been working on this much but now that I have,

I'm pretty anxious to get it together.

Laying all the completed rosettes on the floor this morning helped get my mojo for this back.

Next is rosette 7 which will go in the open center spot. 

I'll be using the fabrics from my Allietare to bring in some red and black.

So this morning was spent sorting paper pieces for rosette 7.

I'll pull the fabric basket  and get those pieces cut and ready to baste.

Maybe I'll get numbers 8 and 9 sorted and pull fabrics for those too.

It's nice to have the picture now so I can decide what colors I want to use next. 

Today's quilt inspector is my little Jessie dog. 

Isn't he adorable!

I'm hoping to have some slow stitching time today during the Daytona 500. 

Visit Kathy's Quilts today to see what others are doing on Slow Sunday Stitching.

Finishes 3 & 4 WooHoo!

Last year I gifted my nieces, great nieces and the little great nephews with quilts.

My youngest sister wasn't coming down for the family reunion so I was going to finish her grands

quilts later and send them to her. 

You all know what happened.

Time slipped away!

The quilting was almost finished and the binding was ready but I put them aside.

Until yesterday!

They are ready for gifting today.

Finishes 3 & 4 for this year.

This bright, happy 9 patch is for little Miss Justice.

This fun little lap quilt is for her brother Malachi.

I couldn't give the great nieces a quilt and not give to the little great nephews.

It just wouldn't have been right.

I don't know if I will ever again do a big secret project like this again.

Number 1, it was really, really hard to keep this a secret.

Number 2, that was a lot of pressure I put on myself.

Now I will finish a quilt and just give it to who I want.

No more big secret projects!!!

No more big secret projects!!!

Now to relieve that pressure,

Miss Polly,  #1 Quilt Inspector.

I should get her a badge.

And here they are with Gramma (Sister Holly).

I think they love them.

I love a good surprise. :)

Design Wall Monday

2016 UFO Busting is full speed ahead.

I finished the Pine Tree wall hanging Friday morning.

UFO #2 started out as 5 Dresden Plate blocks appliqued the background,

2 plates ready to applique.

The background fabric went missing so I used something else.

After playing in EQ7 for a while,

I came up with a plan.

 Friday afternoon I cut 2 more colors and made the plates.

Saturday morning I appliqued the final 4 plates while watching a weird movie.

Saturday afternoon the sashing, cornerstones, borders and binding were cut. 

Sunday I put the top together.

It's amazing how fast it goes when everything is prepared, ready to go. 

I plan to get some lavender flannel for the back and

quilting will be simple. 

This pile of half square triangles need pressed and the dog ears clipped off.

Then they will be pinned in groups of 10 and put in the Jamestown Landing bin.

I love how fast they add up when I don't pay attention. 

To finish off Sunday evening/night,

I had to make the Hearts Aflutter block for 

The Splendid Sampler.

This morning I'll be hanging around Blogland

via Patchwork Times-Design Wall Monday.

2016 Finish #2

I am bound and determined to reduce my UFO count substantially! This is 2016 Finish #2 and my first UFO busted this year!

It's nice to walk by the bedroom and see this hanging on the wall. Too bad the picture is so dull with the crappy florescent light and the pale yellow wall, the phone camera just doesn't do it justice.

This Pine Tree Round Robin was started in September 2002 and I honestly don't know why it was put away. Maybe I had intentions of making bigger. The truth is, I have no clue. ;)  I'm happy to have it finished. I had fun quilting it and even did a few feathers. I have to admit, they aren't as scary as they once were.

Next!!!

2016 UFO Busting

I've started quilting the next UFO. This one is a round robin from WASIQ  (Washington State Internet Quilters) Yahoo group that started in September 2002. I found it pretty amazing that I still had the original letter and label that I sent out with my starter package.

Three of the ladies signed the label but the maker of border number two is unknown. I guess it will remain a mystery.

I am making good progress on this. The tree, checker board and flying geese are quilted. I have an idea for the 9 patch/rail border but I'm still thinking about the green and cream sections of border two. I'm hoping to have this little quilt hanging on the wall by the end of the week. Darker brown fabric has been chosen for the binding.

The next UFO project to be worked on will be my Dresden Plates that haven't seen the light of day since July 2013.  That's not too bad. wink, wink!  I need to pick up some solid background. I used white for the 5 blocks that are appliqued already so I think I'll use cream for the last 4. Oh boy, that means I only have to make 2 more plates, I already have 2 that need appliqued down. That just made me smile!

I posted the pin basted picture on Facebook and my sister asked about the little colored things. I love those little colored things!!! They are called Quilter's Delight Safety Pin Grip Covers. Previously I had bought a bag of them and needed more. JoAnn's had a good sale so I bought them the other day. Now I need to get one more bag and should have all my pins covered. It sure makes a difference to my arthritic fingers when I use these. Who would have thought that little bit of grip could help so much....probably the makers of these pin grips. 

Have a great Wednesday. I'm going to spend part of it with my Binding Friends.

Design Wall Monday

I heard a rumor there was a big football game on Sunday.

Hubby watched, I sewed.

I've had Swoon Nora cut out for a few months.

I knew she would take up a bit of time,

 so on Saturday I did all the prepwork

and on Sunday I sewed. 

The fabric was a gift from my friends Marian and Sharlene a couple years ago.

(I'm glad I saved it for the perfect project.)

And vinyl! 

I learned quite a bit about vinyl.

I had to call my daughter for tips on sewing/gluing.

She's used a lot of vinyl in her bag making.

My machine sewed right through it.

Nora is a nice size traveler bag.

Included in the pattern are 2 smaller sizes. 

Before I started Nora and after finishing Pineapple Crazy,

I decided to make my log cabin blocks for a swap with a group of friends.

The last log is medium blue under the yellow.

These things are like Lays Potato Chips,

you can't make just one.

Soon there were 30 blocks ready to trade.

Are you planning to participate in The Splendid Sampler?

This block is a bonus block or can be used in a design/pressing station.

I'm using mine as a bonus block.

I've decided to use lime, black and white for my fabrics. 

I'll be linking up with Patchwork Times.

Pineapple Crazy, The Finale!

Here she is.

2016 Finish #1.

The last stitch was taken Wednesday, February 3rd.

I love her so much more now. 

My friend Mel has a fabulous dog named Gordon.

I've never met him but she posts pictures of him on Facebook.

Here's to you Gordon!

Design Wall Monday

 
I'm so thrilled that the quilting on Pineapple Crazy is complete. 2 days of intense concentration! I did nothing fancy, I just quilted a medium meander and the texture that it gives is amazing. The red binding strips are cut and today I they will be sewn on. That is, after I finish trimming it. I used wool batting and a wide back that I was in my stash. Did I say I was thrilled?!?!?  (Thanks Jo for the shoutout!)

Next up, I pulled out more blue and neutral strips for Jamestown Landing. I cut my fabrics into 7" chunks so I can do a good mix up of blue and neutral. I used up quite a few chunks that were left from other projects. 

The neutral strips mostly came from strip swaps with friends at retreats and the a lot of blues came from an online swap. Whenever I cut fabric for something else, I try to cut for my strip boxes--2 1/2", 2" and 1 1/2". 

These 2" neutrals are what I had left from Allietare. I am cutting off the half square triangle ends-they will go into the 2" HST bin and the remaining pieces will be cut up for log cabin blocks that I am getting ready to start for a swap with local friends.

I'm going to go over to Patchwork Times and go Blogland cruising this morning for a while and see what my friends are working on.  I love Monday in Blogland!

Design Wall Monday

Pineapple Crazy is a completed quilt top.

You can read that story here if you like.

I'm still pretty excited.

Remember last week when I showed you my basked to half square triangles.

My friends on Facebook turned my post into a fun little contest.

These are the start of my newest project Jamestown Landing.

Another quilt by Bonnie Hunter in the String Fling book.

I used lots of them as leader/enders while putting PC together.

Afterwards I didn't have anything close to the machine to sew on,

so I started chaining these together.

Pretty soon the basket was empty.

I pressed and trimmed 10 at a time.

Sunday evening I counted.

254! I was shocked.

My friend Mary guessed 257.

Pretty good guesser, isn't she!!

Now I have to get her prize in the mail.

She's going to like it. *wink, *wink

Plans for this week include cutting more HSTs, pin basting PC, start quilting PC.

No plans to go anywhere or do much away from home.

From where I sit on this early Monday morning, it looks like a good week ahead.

I'll start by visiting friends throughout Blogland!

Check out what's happening around town at Patchwork Times.

TaaaDahhh!

Here she is in all her glory!

Pineapple Crazy is officially a quilt top!

She still needs a good final pressing before quilting.

This has truly been a labor of love!

My friends have all contributed to my scrap baskets 

and that make this even more special.

If you've read my blog for any amount of time, 

you know Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville has had a huge influence on my quilting.

When she first posted pictures of these little 5" blocks, I was smitten.

I'm not sure if this is the first post but I believe it might be.

I knew that someday I would make this quilt.

Here is my first post about this quilt.

Yesterday was a funny Facebook day.

This showed up as one of my memories.

It was from one year ago.

How appropriate and almost scary.

But not really true because I never wanted to quit.

I never considered this to be a UFO even though I started it over 3 1/2 years ago.

It was always a work in progress.

I would pull it out and make a few blocks,

then put it away again.

All the while, saving itty bitty scraps.

Later today I am going to pull out the backing fabric.

I was going to piece a bunch of things together 

but this weighs a ton.

I think a nice one piece backing will be perfect. 

When you see her again,

She will be finished! 

Design Wall Monday

Now that Allietare is a finished top,

I am deep into Pineapple Crazy again.

I am so close to having all my blocks finished!

I only need 9 more pineapple blocks.

I have 5 triangle border blocks in progress

with the last 10 waiting.

As my granddaughter says,

I'm super duper excited!

It was fun to use the triangles from Allietare for the neutral corners.

Those are gone.

I took a sewing break yesterday to do some cutting.

My next project uses these half square triangles.

I posted this picture on Facebook with the caption of 

I wonder how many half square triangles are in this basket.

My original intent for these were as leaders/enders.

I didn't intend for it to be a contests but my silly friends turned it in to one.

I know what I'll be sewing on soon. 

Guess I'll have to cut more tumblers for leaders/enders.

It's Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times.

I'm going to refill my coffee cup and hang out with my friends for a while.

Have a great day!

You'll find me in my sewing room later this morning.

Allietare-My Official First Finished Top of 2016

When others look forward to shopping on Black Friday,

I look forward to Clue 1 of the Quiltville Mystery!

Look for the Allietare Mystery tab at the top of her page.

I wish I had a place to lay it all out for a good picture.

I will have to wait until the lawn is dry.

 I just love it!

A little help from Miss Polly,

aka The Quilt Police.

One piece went into the garbage can,

the other to the string bucket.

Nothing like having just enough fabric.

Next up is making the backing.

I'm thinking about using all the leftover fabric for that.

Thank You Bonnie Hunter for another fabulous mystery quilt!

Looking forward to the next one.

Design Wall Monday

I cannot begin to say how much I love this quilt!

Alliatare, the Quiltville mystery

is now my new favorite quilt, 

replacing Roll, Roll, Cotton Boll on the most favorite list.

Today the setting triangles will be trimmed.

The borders will be added.

The backing fabric will be pulled.

Since I didn't want to set up my big table to trip my triangles,

I decided to make a triangle for Pineapple Crazy!

Check out other design walls at Patchwork Times.

Slow Stitching On Sunday

I'm still stitching along on Millifiore. This is block 6. I was so excited to start and now I'm not sure of my plan for this block. But whenever anyone posts this thought on the Facebook page, everyone encourages them to keep going. So that is what I'm going to do. After I fix a couple of whoopsies and get that last part sewn in.

The purple triangles were not this way in the original design. But I had the extra triangle papers from past blocks so I used them instead of piecing 2 papers to make 1 triangle out of the same tone on tone fabric. I'm sure the original was fussy cut.

I'm anxious to start the next round. I have one set of blocks ready to baste and the second set of blocks still needs a decision for the focus fabric. Right now I"m iffie.....

Maybe by next Sunday the decision will be made.  In the meantime, I'm going to see what others are working on at Kathy's Quilts: Slow Sunday Stitching.

Design Wall Monday and...

...Mystery Monday Link Up, The Reveal!

Not my reveal. I have nothing to reveal other than 2 stacks of blocks--with more blocks in various stages of construction.

There is a method to my madness. I work on 3 blocks at a time. Thursday night, after the clue was released, I sat and clipped block parts together. I tried to keep from having the same golds in a block. That didn't happen though, I didn't have a huge selection of fabrics so that prevented that from happening. It also meant that each block had to be laid out with like golds being kitty-corner from each other.

This is the first time I have laid my blocks side by side. I wanted to just make them, press them and stack them until all the parts were ready to lay out on the bed.  I couldn't believe the restraint I had. I was focused on blocks, that's all.

I should have been more focused on pressing. All of these 4 patches had to have the center seam unpicked and the seams sewn the correct way. I knew I should have double checked those instructions, but nooooo, I just went along as I wanted!!! And then I paid the pressing and unpicking price.

I have 10 gold blocks left to finish 1 is complete, needs it's final press. 1 needs the rows sewn together, 1 on the design board, 1 under the needle and 6 in the pile.

Then it's on to the setting triangles and borders. I'm hoping to have something to show off to the gals on Wednesday. I am amazed at all the fabulous quilt tops already completed. There are so many wonderful color combinations! Thank you Bonnie for another fabulous mystery.

See all the fabulous-ness by touring Blogland today. Check out all the links at Patchwork Times and Quiltville.