Another Pink Project

My goal this year is to spend the bulk of my time doing sew alongs, blog hops, and whatever else sparks my fancy. A few days ago I noticed the Tickled Pink blog hop and thought it would be fun to participate, especially since I had just put together a design for a heart-themed quilt in Electric Quilt.

I'm calling it Pieces of My Heart.

I've been wanting to try foundation piecing and this project gives me the excuse. My goal is for each block to be unique. EQ had quite a few hearts included plus I grabbed a couple of free designs online, like the ones on this page from Carol Doak. 

I'm not entirely sure how many total blocks I'll make. Likely, the size will depend on how many I can get finished between now and my day on the blog hop: Feb 16. It really helps me to have a deadline.

After finishing today's Studio Organizing Challenge, I decided to pull out some scraps and play with making a crazy style block. It's not the most stellar example because I didn't plan the layout at all and I was really scrounging for pink scraps, but it will do for a first effort. Maybe I'll try making another once I get some more pink fabrics.

I broke down and ordered some of the cheap pink fabrics from Marshall Dry Goods. I've ordered their $5/yard cottons in the past and they're sort of hit and miss on the quality. Sometimes they don't look so good after you wash them, but I'll be sure and prewash them before I use them so I can avoid the bad spots.

Tuesday To Do #28

This week went by so fast. I can't believe it's already Tuesday again, so I guess it's time for another Tuesday To Do. Thanks to Linda for hosting the weekly linkup party.

We didn't do much celebrating for Xmas this year, but we did enjoy a nice meal on the day. We didn't see anyone outside our household. That, of course, gave me a lot of extra time to work on sewing projects. 

I was able to finish everything on my list from last week.

1.  Trim down all the pieces that are already sewn together.  ✔︎
2.  Finish Part 4 of the Rhododendron Trail Mystery Quilt.  ✔︎
3.  Get started on Part 5 when it comes out on Monday.  ✔︎

Luckily, I was able to do all of the trimming of pieces while we were watching cheesy xmas movies so I am all caught up through Part 4.

I spent a couple hours this morning cutting out pieces for Part 5 but I didn't manage to finish them all; it will probably be another 3 hours or so to get through all of them. I continued using the Cricut to cut out the pieces because I would rather not waste the fabric for all the little triangle corners that get trimmed off the finished seams. 

It's very possible I don't have enough pink fabric so I may have to drop by my local JoAnn's to get another piece of pink in order to finish. I guess I will see how many more pieces will be needed to finish. If this is the last round of pink cutting, I'll make it. But if there is more, I may have to go fabric shopping. Wouldn't that be horrible—not! =)

My goals for next Tuesday are:

1.  I'd like to finish Parts 5 and 6 of the Rhododendron Trail Mystery Quilt;
2.  I'd like to get started on the first color for RSC 2022 (assuming the first color is released during the next week); 
3.  I think I'll join Prairie Moon Quilts for the Studio Organizing Challenge; and
4.  I'd like to figure out what I'm going to make next. I'm thinking about making the Jade Garden quilt (you can download the pattern for free); I bought all the fabric for it and I've been itching to get started.

You all have a lovely New Year's Day. As usual, we don't have plans. The pandemic has discouraged us from going out much. Hopefully, next year will be better...

RSC 2022 Plans

I have been looking forward to participating in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge for many months. I know I could have just jumped in at any time, but last year I felt I already had too many projects and I wanted to have a plan, so I've actually been thinking for a while about what I wanted to do for RSC in 2022.

I've been keeping an eye out for scrappy projects that I thought I would like but they also needed to be able to have blocks that were basically one color group.

When this rainbow stained glass quilt came across Reddit, I knew I wanted to try and make one too! There is a tutorial on how she made the blocks on Youtube here. I'd like to make some blocks every month, but this one might take a couple years to finish. LOL

I'm also thinking about making the Arlington Square quilt pattern from Pat Speth's Nickel Quilts book. I believe I could make the 9-patch units in different colors each month and then when I have a sufficient number (96), assemble the larger blocks with the strips. I have a shoebox-size tub of pre-cut 5" squares that I cut a LONG time ago (probably 15-20 years) and it would be nice to finally use some of them.

Finally, one last option I'm thinking about trying is the Bloom quilt designed by Kim Brackett, from her Scrap Basket Beauties book. I think I'll just make however many blocks that I feel like making each month and then figure out how many I have at the end.

This seems like more than enough to plan for one year. I'm not sure if I'll get them all finished by December, but it will be nice to have a choice of what to work on.

Update: Added in late-January. Flowers for Nana Girl, from Scrap Basket Sensations by Kim Brackett. It's been in the queue for a couple of years and I think I can finish this one too.

2022 Quilt Planning

Looking back at my Planning Party quilt plan for 2021, I actually did better than I remembered. I made three of the four quilts I had hoped to make. 

There was the Queen's Jewel that I finished in February, after I got it back from the long armer.

I also said I wanted to make the Snake River Log Cabin in William Morris fabrics. I finished that flimsy in January. It hasn't been quilted yet because I decided to buy a long arm so I'll eventually do it myself, once I get skilled enough.

And I said I wanted to make an Unbeweavable quilt with 4" squares, which I finished in September. This was a fun one so I'll definitely be making this pattern again.

The last quilt, the SeaSwept, I haven't made yet because when I received the fabrics I'd ordered, the colors were all wrong so that one is still pending fabrics. I hope at some point to take the fabrics I've already received and go to a quilt shop and pick out the perfect colors. Mail ordering batik fabric sucks when you're looking for the perfect shades.

To be honest, now that I've participated in WOOFA for two years, most of my old UFOs have been finished (or abandoned) and I have almost no in-progress projects but I do have quite a few fabric sets I purchased during the pandemic. So, I decided to plan for an overall monthly goal, rather than for specific quilt designs. I don't want to feel so locked into a schedule that I can't participate in unanticipated Sew Alongs. That way, I can just choose to go wherever my mood takes me. 

So, for 2022,  I would like to finish an average of one quilt each month for family/friends, including lap-sized quilts. I've made a page where I link up the quilts I've put into EQ8 (not necessarily my designs), so when I am in the mood for a new quilt, I can start there for inspiration.

It would be nice to learn how to applique and foundation piece. I've been wanting to try both techniques for a couple years now and I'm hoping this will be the year that I either take a class or just follow along from books/videos.

I would like to become proficient using my new Handiquilter long arm, beyond just edge-to-edge. I want to be able to quilt borders and blocks separately, I want to be able to fill odd-shaped areas, and I want them to look professionally done. 

I hope to finish quilting the dozen or so unquilted flimsies I've accumulated during the past couple of years. 

I'd like to be more disciplined about making pillowcases as soon as I finish the bed-size flimsies. I don't want to have to keep leftover fabrics separated from the stash simply because I'm too lazy to spend another hour or two actually finishing everything I planned.

Finally, I would like to engage with both of the Portland-area Quilt Guilds (Northwest Quilters and Portland Modern Quilt Guild) by participating in some of their activities. I'd like to make some local friends who share my enthusiasm for quilting.

I'm linking up with JetGirl's 2022 Planning Party.

Tuesday To Do #27

We finally got our basement empty for our remodel project so this week I was able to get started on the Rhododendron Trail Mystery Quilt.

I used my cricut to do all the cutting because it was much faster and helped me get caught up. I cut the pieces a little oversized and I'll need to trim them down to size.

These are the pieces from the first three parts.

The geese from part 2.

The triangles from parts 1 and 3.

I've got all the pieces cut out for the hourglass blocks and I expect I'll be able to get them finished before the next clue comes out on Monday.

For next Tuesday:

1.  I'd like to trim down all the pieces that are already sewn together.
2.  I expect to finish Part 4 of the Rhododendron Trail Mystery Quilt.
3.  I also plan to get started on Part 5 when it comes out on Monday.

Since it's Christmas week, it's probably better to keep the expectations low so that's it. I'm linking up with TuesdayToDo.

December Plans

Three weeks ago I was talking to our contractor and he said he could start our basement project early if we could get ready by the 15th. While I wasn't excited about having the mess and chaos during the holiday, I am really eager to get the project finished so I can take delivery on my new Handiquilter long arm. So, I set aside my sewing projects and have spent the last couple of weeks packing, sifting, and selling stuff. While we still have a fair amount of loose stuff to deal with, we have dealt with most of the furniture and items we want to keep. 

I have so many fun projects I'm looking forward to working on, like these lap quilts I designed using Pat Speth's Member Appreciation Blocks from her Facebook group.

Get That Morris Feeling, MAB #8 & 12

Spring Has Sprung, MAB #7 & 16

I hope to be able to return to sewing on Dec 16th, once our contractor has started work in the basement. I'm eager to get to work on the Rhododendron Trail Mystery Quilt before I get too far behind.