May OMG Fail

I had expected we would have to wait until late summer to get our vaccine when I made my plan for May's One Monthly Goal. But we were both fortunate to get our shots early in May and then our attention turned to seeing other people again and getting out of the house.

We spent a pretty solid three weeks sifting and cleaning to get our house presentable again. We made two dumps runs and a couple charity donations. We've started having friend visits, plus we hosted a BBQ for Memorial Day weekend. 

While I am bummed to fail on this goal, I did go ahead and finish the Sewcialites Quilt Along early. I didn't want two projects sitting around unfinished all summer.

This is as far as I got on the Finger Lakes Log Cabin quilt, plus cutting everything out. This is 24 of the center blocks, almost finished. They all need two more sides, and then some of them need a third edge for the pattern. 

Oh well. I will get back to it later this year, after we've had our fill of visiting and adventuring. You all have a good summer!

Sewcialites Flimsy

Thanks to the Fat Quarter Shop for hosting the Sewcialites Quilt Along. I had intended to finish my quilt at the same time as everyone else, but I was eager to get the mess of scraps cleaned up and when I realized I would not be able to finish my May OMG, I figured I may as well finish something this month.

While I liked their suggested quilt design, I decided for my blocks I wanted to try a layout with sashing and two different-sized blocks, which also gave me an excuse to play with Electric Quilt 8. I am happy with how it turned out.

I was surprised I made virtually this entire quilt, not including the border, from a pile of pieces leftover from the Queen's Jewel quilt. I took them apart at the beginning of the project and I used practically all of them. (I omitted a couple of fabrics.) This gives me a new perspective on the value of using scraps. This project definitely made a dent in my purple, blue and green scraps.

I tried a border I've never made before, called "Beads on a String," from The Border Workbook by Janet Kime.  I had to make some changes from the original design to get it to fit to the actual dimensions of my quilt but I like how it turned out. I cut up the last of the yardage for the light-colored portion of the border but the prints were all scraps.

I'm linking up with TGI Finished Friday, Finished (or Not) Friday, Brag About Your Beauties, Peacock Party and Whoop Whoop.

May Friday Night Sew In

Thanks to Wendy for hosting this month's Friday Night Sew In.

I took the opportunity to catch up with my Sewcialites blocks.

While I was working on these, I had an idea for a project that would use old jeans. My husband has an apron I bought him very many years ago, but it is no longer applicable.

Jeff is definitely not a diet dropout. He lost 60 pounds
and has kept it off for more than a year.

I thought I could probably make him an apron from a pair of jeans. I had rather expected to need both legs pieced together to make it big enough, but some of my old jeans are obviously monstrous. LOL

I actually finished this project up on Saturday. I used the bottom of the second leg to make the large pocket and I reused one of the back pockets on the top. I used a buckle and nylon webbing I bought to make dog collars for the straps. 

Rather than try and hem all the way around, I actually cut out a second apron from a remnant of purple twill and sewed most of the way around and turned it. So, technically, it is reversible.

It definitely isn't perfect, but this was a fun and quick way to reuse an old pair of jeans.

I'm also linking up with Finished (or Not) Fridays and Whoop Whoop. You all have a good weekend.

Tuesday ToDo #13

Thanks to ChrisKnits for hosting the Tuesday ToDo. Last week my goals were:

1.    Finish the first set of 24 blocks for the Finger Lakes log cabin quilt. X

I didn't finish this project. I got distracted by more pressing house tasks.

2.    Cut up wool scraps into 6" squares.  ✔︎

I spent a lot of time—too much time—on this project. I had intended to only cut up the wool scraps, but once I started sifting, my hoarding gene kicked in and I started cutting up the linen and brocades too. 

Since I haven't finished cutting up all the scraps, this project continues.

I also had a bunch of canvas scraps leftover from making canvas bags and I decided to cut them up into rectangles to make tote bags, combined with denim, in a running bond pattern.

For next week, my goals are:

1.    Sewcialites Blocks #31 and #32.

2.    Finish cutting up the fabric scraps and pack them up. 

3.    Cut up sentimental T-shirts I set aside for a quilt. (Just cut out the relevant parts to conserve storage space. Not making the quilt yet.)

4.    Finish the first set of 24 blocks for the Finger Lakes log cabin quilt.

Tuesday ToDo #12

It's been another week. I cannot believe how fast weeks are flying by right now. I guess it feels faster when you keep busy.  My list from last week:

1.    Sewcialiates Block #30. ✔︎

2.    Finish cutting out the Finger Lakes log cabin quilt.  ✔︎

Complete, for the most part. I'll probably have to cut out a few more pieces along the way, but I have finished cutting everything I planned to do beforehand.

I also spent a couple days sewing the logs on one of the sets of blocks. 

I also finally did our taxes. 

Other than that, we finally finished my closet so I spent most of the week working on unpacking. I have an insane amount of square dance clothes; some of them definitely need to be cut up and made into quilts. Or I need to start dancing again. LOL

I couldn't fit quite all the skirts. They are packed tight on that bar.
Some downsizing is definitely needed here.

I am getting my second covid shot tonight so I am going to keep my expectations low for the week. 

1.    Finish the first set of 24 blocks for the Finger Lakes log cabin quilt. They need three more edge pieces which I can probably finish in a couple of days. This is the goal.

2.    Cut up wool scraps into 6" squares. During my unpacking and basement sifting efforts, I found three large tubs of brocade and wool scraps. I decided to send most of the scraps to a textile recycler, but I think I will cut the nicer wool scraps into squares and eventually make some sort of rag quilt out of them. 

Thanks to Chris for hosting Tuesday ToDo. It has helped me set and keep weekly goals.

Finger Lakes Quilt Started

Thanks to Cheryll for hosting the monthly Friday Night With Friends. I was happy to be able to join again this month. I spent another 3 hours cutting out my green and cream pieces and am finally finished. It took about 6 hours total to cut all these little pieces.

Last time, when I made the Snake River quilt flimsy, I mostly made each block one at a time. This time, I am making the blocks with more of an assembly line process. I need to make 24 of these.

During FNWF, I got the center sections assembled.

Even though it feels like it is taking longer, I believe this will save me quite a bit of time over the entire project as I'll spend less time trying to figure out the next piece. Though, it is possible it will be more boring. I will soon find out.

I'm also linking up with Finished (or Not) Fridays and Whoop Whoop. You all have a good weekend.

Tuesday ToDo #11

I can't believe it's already been another week. Where does the time go?

Last week my goals were:

1.    Sewcialites Block #29. ✔︎

2.    Cut out the Finger Lakes Log Cabin quilt. 

Almost finished. I have about another dozen strips to slice up into 1½-inch pieces. I could easily have finished, but I got distracted, in a good way. I started sifting fabric/lace/trim boxes that used to live down in the basement.

3.    Take photos and measure at least two fabrics I'm getting rid of so I can start listing them for sale. ✔︎

I actually sold 39 yards of wool yesterday. Most of this fabric went away last night.

(4.    I also still need to finish our taxes. Of course, I didn't finish them by April 15 when Biden gave us an extra month! LOL)

Yeah, I didn't do that either. 

I spent most of the week (again) sifting and organizing. A few days ago, I received 84 of these winding boards. This motivated me to pull up some boxes from the basement and start unpacking lace and other trims. The bottom shelf of the bookshelf in my sewing room is now crammed full plus I have two full tubs I stashed into the top shelf in the closet! I need to come up with some projects that use lace! Or sell some. (I have so much lace because I used to make a lot of square dance clothes.)

I also spent two days sifting and winding metallic trims I use for medieval costumes. Now they are all nicely organized into one tub where they'll be easy to find should I start making costumes again.

For next week, I'd better keep my list pretty small. I finally have all the parts so I need to spend most of the week finishing my closet and then unpacking boxes and hanging clothes. And there are still those pesky taxes I need to finish. =)

1.    Sewcialiates Block #30

2.    Finish cutting out the Finger Lakes quilt.

Thanks to Chris for hosting the Tuesday ToDo linkup to help keep us all motivated.

May One Monthly Goal

This month I'd like to work on a new project, the finger lakes log cabin quilt from Judy Martin's Log Cabin Book. I really like how the snake river log cabin quilt turned out and so I'm eager to try another. This is my plan.

I've already spent about three days cutting it out and I still haven't finished, but I am getting pretty close to having all the pieces ready to get started.

Thanks to Patty at Elm Street Quilts for hosting the OMG link party.