SEW much getting done around here!

Hmmm, I seem to have forgotten to post last week.  Having too much fun sewing, hand quilting, knitting and reading, I guess!  It's still an abnormal summer with the amount of work I've had to do for my job (supposedly I don't work in the summer, but I've had meetings every week, sometimes up to four days a week!), but I've been making time to relax and read in the hammock, be productive in my sewing room, and do some slow stitching parked in front of a screen.

I finished the churn dash top and picked out a backing from my stash.  I have one more top to finish and quilt up and then these two quilts will go to a set of sisters who are in the process of being adopted by a friend of mine.

I quilted, bound and delivered the Giant Pineapple quilt, finishing up just 30 minutes before the baby shower when it was to be presented.  I decided on a combination of hand and machine quilting, echo quilting by machine around the pineapple and hand quilting with perle cotton inside the pineapple.  I bound it with the same fabric that I used for the backing.  The end result is far from perfect, but I am hoping it gets lots of use for tummy time and picnics with the baby.

Big stitch quilting with perle cotton was so fun, I pulled out this quilt to quilt the stars using the same method and my big stash of perle cotton.  It has been languishing for over a year - I hand quilted in the white sections and then couldn't decide what to do with the colored stars.  Meanwhile, my niece is now two years old and still without her baby quilt!  Gotta get stitching!

I started knitting an oversized shawl, The Campfire Cozy.  I can't wait to wrap up in this when the weather cools down!

And I've been swapping yarn scraps in preparation for the Scrappy Happy Pals Knit A-Long (#scrappyhappypalskal on Instagram).  I'm hoping to finish my shorty socks by September 1.

I've also continued to add destash fabric to my ETSY shop.  It is getting easier to let go as I contemplate how long different yardage has been sitting unused in my stash.  I only ever seem to use yardage for backings, preferring to reach for my scraps when piecing, so it doesn't make sense for yardage to sit around unused.  This week, I said good bye to this eclectic assembly of fabrics in hopes that they will finally get cut up and put into someone else's quilts:

I'm looking forward to spending some (social distanced) time outside with family as my sister hosts her annual Lammas Day celebration tomorrow, albeit only with my twin sister and me and our families.  Ah, summer!

Things are looking up!

First off, my sister-in-law is COVID-free and home from the hospital!!  Her recovery is far from over, but we are so thankful that she is out of the woods!!

I've been trying to discipline myself to finish things up rather than start more new things.  I got the pineapple baby quilt top pieced together and basted, now just contemplating how to quilt it.

Not sure yet how I will quilt it...but it is basted and ready to go!

I put a skinny border on my cross-patch quilt, and am trying to decide if that is it.  I think so...but I'm going to let it sit for a while.

I don't think I want to add more borders, but I'm not sure.  Gonna revisit this in a little bit.

I pulled out my 2018 temperature quilt top.  I've been trying to figure out what to do for borders. 

I have SO MUCH Kona solid left after making this project!

At first I thought I'd do a border that had all 32 of my Kona fabrics that I bought for this quilt around the outside, but I got two sides done and didn't like it, so instead I pulled the two fabrics that represent the yearly average high and low temperatures, and used those as borders.  DONE!  Now to baste and quilt.

I also finished knitting a rainbow shawlette...

Still needs to be blocked...hopefully it won't look so lopsided then!

and have been making progress on my Earthy Excavation scrap blanket.

I love, Love, LOVE this project!  So simple and interesting and I'm using up all the little bits and bobs of leftover yarn!

Can you tell I've also been spending a lot of time outdoors?  Lots of reading going on, too!  According to my Goodreads account, I've read and/or listened to 55 books so far this year.  My goal of 24 books in 2020 was obviously too modest.  Maybe I can read 100?

I'm linking up with Oh Scrap and Monday Making.

Quilting to keep my fears at bay

I know I'm not alone - in my fear, my anxiety, my heartsickness.  But seeing what is happening in the US this week while social distancing is particularly trying.  How many times have I said, "thank goodness for quilting?"  It helps to calm my mind and my nerves.  And this week, my efforts have been towards creating yet another baby quilt for a little one who is due at the end of August.

I ran across the Giant Pineapple Quilt by the Stash Bandit, and decided to go with another pineapple quilt (remember the ones I made a little over a year ago?).  I started with 7" squares, so my finished block size will be 5.5", so I guess that will make a quilt that is approximately 33" x 44".

For those who read last week, my sister-in-law is out of the ICU, but still hospitalized.  Progress.

And I braved my fear of crowds and COVID19 today to take my boys to a Black Lives Matter vigil (masked up and keeping 6 ft distance from others as much as possible).

These are my sons, ages 17 and 14

What breaks my heart is that this isn't the first vigil my boys have attended.  Protesting murders has been a mainstay in their lives since we first took them to Washington DC in July 2013 to protest the murder of Trayvon Martin.  What kind of world is this that my kids have been protesting the murder of black people by the police and white citizens who take it upon themselves to "police" us for fully half of their lives?

I'm linking up with Oh Scrap and Monday Making.

Crushing my goals!

Usually, I set goals that turn out to be too lofty, but this time, I'm getting it done!  I finished piecing the second baby quilt:

I like this one better than the first.  Better balance.

AND both quilted and bound it before the weekend was over, right on schedule.

I will definitely be machine quilting with cross hatching again.  I love the look, and it was so easy! 

I had enough of this super soft yellow to back both quilts.  To bind this quilt, I used up this floral scrap.  I love the feeling of using up all of a fabric.  As much as I hate to see a fabric go, it frees me up to buy more with no guilt!

Today, I basted quilt number two

and I plan to start quilting it tonight, finish quilting it tomorrow, and get it bound by Wednesday so that I can wash and dry them on Wednesday night and deliver both quilts during faculty meeting on Thursday (both dads are back at work already).

It feels so good to finish something, rather than start it and then have it languish.  It helps that they are small baby quilts (both 40" square) and that I machine quilted them.  Whoever suggested cross hatch quilting to me after I stressed over stitch in the ditch for my last quilt - THANK YOU!  I love how it looks, and it was so easy to do!  I was worried that it would detract from the piecing, but, if anything, I think it enhances it.

I'm linking up with Monday Making and Oh Scrap.

Quilt in a Day!

Two of my co-workers gave birth this week.  I told myself I wasn't going to start anything new, that I had enough things going on without adding new quilts to the mix, but I couldn't help myself!  Babies need quilts!  Luckily, both new babies have short four letter names (Otto and Liam) so as I sat up sketching possible quick and easy "Welcome to the World" quilt ideas last night, what I did for one would easily work for the other, too.  I've always wanted to make pineapples...

After lunch, I got started picking out fabric and sewing.  Much of the squares came from my pre-cut scrap bins, and the background is a larger scrap from my neutral drawer.  The size of that scrap pretty much dictated how big the quilt would be.  I was thrilled to have very little of that fabric left - it will quickly be cut up and added to the scrap bins.

I'm moderately pleased with the final result.  There seems to be too much white space on the bottom and in the middle, but I'm leaving it.  It measures 40" square. 

I hope to get the second one pieced by Wednesday, and get at least one quilted (by machine, yikes! but there's no time for hand quilting) this weekend.  By next weekend I'd like to have them both ready for delivery.  That's pretty ambitious for me, but I'm gonna give it a go.

I'm linking up with Oh Scrap and Monday Making.