Sew Speedy---NOT

Quilting bloggers triumphantly display quilt after quilt they have finished. After all, that's sort of the reason why we blog about our sewing projects--to display our masterpieces. I get so many ideas for patterns, color combinations, alternate border designs and quilting motifs. Thank you to all of you who post pictures of your projects. I truly enjoy them!

My finished quilt volume is not nearly as high as most of the popular quilting bloggers. I have a full-time job and lots of outside interests, so I usually finish only five to seven quilts in a year. But I do enjoy the process.  This year I gave myself permission to work on multiple projects at a time, hopefully leading to me completing more quilts with the leader-ender method. Right now it just feels like I am forever making blocks.

I do not have a finished quilt to announce, so I will just tell you what I am working on.

1. Block of the Month projects

Pat Sloan's Out of this World Block #6 - DONE

June's Blue Rainbow Scrap Blocks - DONE

2. Double Delight - more blocks completed for a cumulative total of 14 out of 50.

3. Autumn Stars / Farmers Daughter fabrics - FMQ done in blocks, need to work on sashing and borders. Once that is done I will post a pre-binding picture.

4. New "Squirrel" is Tri Love Triangles, a 1000 Pyramids style quilt. I found a sale on Moda solids which saved me nearly 50% the cost of the fabric bundle that was no longer available anyway from Birch Organic Fabrics.  The only tedious part of this quilt is all the cutting; I am only halfway done. The stitching will hopefully go quickly so I can present this as a wedding gift for a friend. In between sewing Tri Love, I will finish a few more Lady in the Lake blocks and hopefully add borders to a couple almost-finished flimsies so they can go in queue for FMQ on my midarm.

Do you have a wish list of quilts to make sometime in the future?  I certainly do. My wish list is usually inspired by quilting blogs. There are a few designs that have been on my wish list for several years. One of these was Double Delight by Bonnie Hunter which I finally decided to start late in 2018. Today I noticed FIVE quilts on the list featured plaids, so Plaids are likely to be my theme for 2020. There are also three Christmas themed quilts plus a couple string quilts on my list.

Recently I added another quilt to my wish list.  Connecting Threads had a sale on precuts recently, so I bought a layer cake to make "A Formal Affair" by Creek Side Stitches. Nancy at Grace and Peace Quilting blog made a lovely version HERE. This will probably be my next "Squirrel" project. 

What quilts are on your wish list?

May Day Fun

Most of the first day of May was spent at work. As soon as I got home, I threw ingredients in the pressure cooker to make posole (spicy Mexican soup) and headed to the sewing room. Following my quilting plan, I started working on my first priority - making the block of the month for Pat Sloan's Out of This World project and six RSC blocks.

May's OOTW block "Astronauts" is done. Pressing the units with an iron rather than finger-pressing helped this come together perfectly, rather than the disjointed intersections I created in last month's block.

Orange is the color Angela chose for May.  The six RSC blocks are prepped and ready to sew --- and one block is done already. It was amazing how quickly I was able to gather enough scraps from my stash.

As soon as these are done, it will be time to sandwich Highland Fling and get that baby quilted. Then I will knock out a few Double Delight and Lake of the Lake blocks, and/or maybe a few En Provence pieces. Or maybe add the final borders to a couple projects waiting for attention. I have a couple "squirrel" projects clamoring for attention, quilts to give for a wedding in October and a baby due in December, both friends from my church. 

Before April ended, the last stitch went into the bind of April Showers. Here is a final picture:

I'm calling this quilt DONE even though I still need to add a label. I like to print unique labels on fabric, making six to eight labels per printed sheet. I have at least four quilts that need labels, possibly more. And these are iron-on labels, so I don't even need to stitch them down.  Or should I?  Do any of you have experience with iron-on fabric labels?

If you are a voracious reader like me, you might be interested in the Flashpoint Series by Rachel Grant. The first book in this series, Tinderbox, is set in Djibouti. I like the author's sense of humor (Camp Citron vs the real Camp Lemonnaire) and the heat (pun intended) between the main characters. The US has only one military base in the African continent and it is located in Djibouti, a tiny country across from the bottom tip of the Sinai peninsula.  I enjoy fiction that expands my knowledge of world history and geography within an entertaining story. This one is exciting and very interesting which bodes well for the rest of the series. Right now it is $0.99 USD on Amazon for Kindle.

Spring Has Sprung

The weather has been so lovely here in the South. It is spring and the flowers are blooming like crazy! Early April was filled with azaleas, and now the roses are in bloom. Next up are my spirea bushes (they smell so good, too).

Last week I finished up Pat Sloan's Out of This World block for April. I'm not too happy with my precision on those pesky flying geese for OOTW, but Done is better than Perfect.  Maybe it's time to change that needle. LOL

On Saturday, I finished up my aqua RSC blocks. I am planning on eight colors in these two RSC projects, so that means I am halfway there. I can't wait to see what color Angela picks for May. Maybe pink?

On a higher note, Saturday was gorgeous flying weather so we went up in the air. We hopped to various local airports and filled the airplane with lower-priced fuel. Just like you do with your car, we pilots search for airports with better fuel prices. Airplane fuel (100-octane low lead) is about $1 USD more than auto fuel runs and I usually need at least 20 gallons, so it pays to find the best price.  And it was a great excuse to go flying.  We soared over a nearby lake and watched all the boaters enjoy some time on the water. As for me, I enjoyed my time in the air.  Once again, I was too absorbed in the experience to take pictures to show you. I saved them instead in my memories.

Green is for March

Even though I've been quiet, I have not been idle, at least in regards to quilting. This month Pat Sloan had us make FOUR large blocks for Out of this World mystery quilt. They were the same pattern at least. Next month she is unveiling the layout and I hear these big blocks will be the corners. Interesting!

Next I pulled green scraps and made most of my green blocks for my RSC 19 projects.

I also found time to assemble the four blocks from Highland Fling, this year's mystery quilt from evapagedesigns.  Beth gave us several layout options but I chose one of my own. Eventually I will quilt it so it does not linger long as a WIP.

February Love

Hello!  There has been slow but steady progress in February on my various quilting projects.

It is always fun to announce a finish. This is my first finish for 2019 - Irish Star Chain. It's also my first project quilted with my new midarm.  My hubby and I have already snuggled under it watching television one evening. I'm so pleased with how it looks - even my quilting!

April Showers (the 54 degree grey/yellow/teal quilt) is under the midarm needle and about halfway done.. I hope to finish that one next week.

This weekend I finished the Out of This World block and my yellow RSC blocks for February

Then I began working on Highland Fling, evapaigedesign's mystery quilt. After a quick Facebook consult on background color choices (most quilters preferred white for contrast against my brights), I finished all the cutting and began sewing. Now I feel like I have a million half-square triangles to trim. This will be a quick project. Just two more weekly clues and it's done.  I can't wait to see what all these pieces turn into. And this one is all from my stash, even the background!

If you try the accordian trick to make a wide variety of half-square triangles, be sure to have a leader-ender project at hand. I was able to make six Lady of the Lake blocks while making my first set of accordians for Highland Fling.

What's next?  According to my quilting plan spreadsheet, I need to add borders to Acadian Mist and make more units for En Provence over the next two weeks.  Maybe I need to shoot for that 20-minutes-a-day goal so many of you are trying. Some evenings after work and dinner I just want sit and relax. That's probably the best time for some quilt therapy.

Have you been making progress on your 2019 quilting goals, too?