Rekindling the fire

 After wrestling my last quilt through my domestic machine, binding it, and giving it away, I kinda lost my mojo. 

Bonnie Hunter's 2018 Leader & Ender "Jewel Box Stars" with sashing and cornerstones

The quilting is pretty minimal - just in the ditch around all the sashing and

 diagonally through the stars - but I couldn't handle anything more on my machine.

I haven't turned on my sewing machine in three weeks!  But then Facebook notified me about an event that might interest me (I find the algorithms and the tracking of my information unsettling, but this time it was helpful) - a Free Materials Swap sponsored by a fiber-lovers group in a nearby town.  

Free fiber???  And a chance to clean out some of the things I have that I probably will never use??  Yesterday I packed two large tote bags with novelty fabric and some flannels and some yarn that was languishing in my stash, took the top off my Jeep, and set off for parts unknown under a bright blue late spring sky.

What a lovely way to spend the afternoon!  I brought back one tote bag full of goodies with NO GUILT since I had given away twice that much AND I didn't spend a dime!

First, I got some fabric.  My goal was to seek out neutrals in particular, scraps that caught my eye in general (yes, my scrap bin is still full, but I feel like I've seen and used all of those fabrics recently).  Check out my haul!

Then, I snatched up some yarn: a sweater quantity of this rich purple bulky yarn (mystery fiber content, but definitely wool, possibly with some mohair mixed in):

700 grams!!

And a couple singletons that I just couldn't pass up:

Madeleine Tosh Lace!!

Not sure what this is, but it is so soft and orange is my favorite color.  If I had to guess, I'd say it is llama.

Can you tell that I'm an autumn?  These are my colors all wrapped up together!!

I'm proud of myself for my restraint because there was SO MUCH great stuff there.  One of the organizers kept saying, "Err on the side of GREED, we don't want leftovers!"😂

On top of that, going through my stash for things to get rid of also prompted me to add more destash fabric and yarn to my ETSY shop.

Something about reorganizing puts me in the mood to CREATE, so I plan to sew tonight once my meetings are over.

Oh, and the cherry on top - one of the organizers owns a studio nearby where they rent longarm time.  I've been looking for an opportunity to try quilting my own quilts on a longarm since I have SO MANY TOPS that need quilting and I much prefer hand quilting over my feeble efforts to machine quilt on my domestic machine.  I'm going to start with this 70" square Star Sampler quilt top that I made as a class sample years ago.  A friend is getting married this summer, and I am hoping to give this to her as a snuggle quilt.

Kinda looks dingy in this lighting, but the background is a soft gray Kona solid

I am linking up with Oh Scrap and Monday Making.

Other people's scraps

 No sooner did I finish cutting up scraps from one friend,

than another box of scraps arrived from someone else!

I've been in SCRAP HEAVEN, cutting for my modified rail fence, 

my 2020 Scrap Buster Challenge quilt,

and my scrappy bear paw quilt, and cutting all leftover scraps down to my precut sizes.  I've also been knitting some mittens as part of a #mmmittalong on Instagram.

Irish Hiking Mittens on Ravelry from mystery yarn

Man, making makes me happy!  I don't so much mind being confined to the house when I have fabric and fiber to play with!

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

Minor change, but it makes me happy :)

Wow, the resumption of school REALLY cuts into one's sewing time!  I feel like I'm going through withdrawals!  But I did find a couple moments to sew this week, and used that time to make an alternate block for my modified rail fence quilt that I'm making.  Do you notice a difference?

Before - all blocks the same

After - half the blocks w/ HST flipped

I didn't like the way the neutrals switched sides as you followed the HST zig zag trail, so I am making half of the blocks with the HSTs reversed so that the neutrals stay on the same side (bottom and right) throughout one zig zag.  It probably isn't even that noticeable, but I like it better so I'm going with it.

Other than that I did cull some more yardage out of my stash this week to add to my ETSY shop:

because I knew I had a box of scraps coming my way!  

Yippee!!  I'm so much more inspired to sew with scraps than I am with yardage.

Here's hoping I can find some moments this week to sort these scraps and get to sewing!

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

Every little bit

The end of the school year is like riding a panicky, runaway horse with no reins or saddle; all you can do is entwine your hands into the mane, hold on tightly, and try to enjoy the ride.

In the meantime, I've been trying to make sure to carve out moments of quiet sanity for myself, time to sew.  It hasn't been much, but as we all know, every little bit adds up to a lot eventually.

My temperature quilt is moving along well - I enjoy having just one block to make each day.  On Ringo Lake is sitting silently, willing me to notice it again.  The trouble is, despite the fact that the fabrics are scrappy, they are all in the same four color families, and for me, that makes it just a bit too predictable to compel me to work on it.  One day...

The Flutterby blocks are the ones that excite me the most.  I have 67 of the 140 blocks that I plan to make done, with about 11 more partially done.  As you can see, I've been making the borders as I go.  I really want this quilt to end up on my bed!

I miss my design wall!  The floor just isn't the same.

The Sister's Choice quilt's final size will be determined by the amount of blue and neutral fabric I have for the the alternate blocks.  I've started to make border blocks for that, too, so I can figure out how many more blocks I need to make.

A couple of rows are sewn together, as are the outside borders.  I'm hoping I'll have enough to make this lap sized, but it might end up being a baby quilt.

Both of these quilts have enjoyed an infusion of new scrappy fabric after I received a box of scraps from a a friend back in Virginia.

Is there anything better than someone else's scraps?

So far, I've only made it through one baggie of scraps from the box, but what fun to discover them all while cutting them down into my precut scrap sizes.

Hmm, I need better light in my sewing room!

And when I'm not home, I've been diligent about bringing some handwork along, making more hexie blooms during meetings and sewing them on while attending campus sporting events.

Enjoying softball in the sunshine while putting in a few stitches.

In one month, I'll be on summer vacation.  I am so excited about all I should be able to do over the summer - sewing to my heart's content!

Patchwork, sewn and glued

My "to-do" list yesterday was longer than my arm!  Of course, rather than tackle it, I hid away in my sewing room and sewed together a pixelated heart quilt for my shop window.

made from 2" squares - I hope to get it quilted before February

Then, because I have so many precut squares and because I had a plywood leaf made for my secondhand (leaf-less) shop table, I spent a couple hours Mod Podge-ing squares onto the leaf to make it more appealing.

Before the plywood leaf - this is a typical Thursday night at my shop and it is WAY too crowded around the table!

The new plywood leaf added LOTS of room (36" on each side), but it's kinda blah.  And rough to the touch.

I much prefer the color that the fabric adds to the leaf!

Don't tell, but I stood on the table to get this shot.  TSP stands for The Stitchin' Post, which is the name of my shop.

Lots and lots of squares used, and I didn't have to cut anything!  THIS is why I cut my scraps into precut sizes - when I just want to sew, I can just sew!

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

Sunny Day Sewing

I love my sewing room, particularly when the sun is streaming in the windows, warming up the space and dancing with all the colors.  Monday was such a day, so I spent hour after hour down there, working on several different projects.  (As a shopkeeper, my "weekend" is Sunday and Monday.  Sunday is more of a family day, but Monday is all about ME since the kids are at school and I am off.)

First off, I pulled some neutral strips and starting sewing together some 4-patches.  I bet a good number of you can guess why.

Yep, I'm jumping on the Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt bandwagon!  I've made several of her quilts and have all of her books, but I've never done a Bonnie Hunter mystery.  When describing En Provence, she mentions being inspired by lavender fields.  That was enough for me - lavender and lilac are my two favorite flowers and anything inspired by either appeals to me!  I'm a week behind, but I'm sure I'll catch up.

I made a couple more PLUS blocks.  These are fun to make as I work my way through my scrap bins.  The idea is that once I pull a fabric out of the scrap bin, I use it up completely, either by putting it into a quilt block or cutting it down to one of my precut scrap sizes or both.

And I thought I had made all of the strippy four-patches that I needed for this quilt, but it turns out I'm missing one.  Only one set of 10 blocks has been sewn together so far.  I'm hoping that making the strip sets to go in between the 4-patch strips will use LOTS of scrap strips!

When I wasn't sewing, I was knitting.  The color in this cowl makes me happy, the way it pops out against the black.  The yarn is Bamboo Bloom Handprints, and the pattern is Interrupted Cowl.

All in all, one of the most productive weekends I've had in quite some time.  It feels GOOD!  I'm linking up to Oh Scrap and Monday Making.

Quick Comfort Quilt Block

I've had lots of company lately, which means loads of fun but not much sewing.  Today, during a quiet moment in the shop, I couldn't stand it anymore - I just HAD to sew!  My quilt guild is doing a Comfort Quilt workshop in June, and while I can't attend, I figure I can at least sew up some blocks to donate.  I'm not sure what this block is called, but it is a super way to use up my precut 5" squares from scraps (cut down into 2.5" x 4.5" bricks).

Eight 5" squares plus 15 to 20 minutes equals two scrappy 8.5" blocks.  I bet I can whip up 2 a day of these most days, no problem!

Happy Endings

While preparing for the Quilty Orphan Adoption Event, I pulled out a set of 21 blue rail fence blocks that had been donated to me years ago.  No two blocks were the same size.  None of the blocks had been squared up, but some had been sewn together anyway.  In my eyes, it was a wonky disaster, and I was prepared to toss it.  My mom, however, who was here helping me out, saw past the imprecise construction and saw the quilt it could be.  At her urging, I separated the blocks that had already been sewn together, squared them all up to the same size (ignoring the uneven seams within the blocks), and sewed them back together again.  The resulting 44" x 55" top was better than I expected,

but my mom wanted borders, so I dug into my stash to find fabrics that would work.

I didn't have enough of the dark blue, so I pieced similarly dark blue scraps to make two of the sides, which, of course, made my scrappy heart happy.  So, in one day, this project went from "headed to the circular file" to a finished quilt top which I will teach my mom to tie.  The final quilt is 65" x 76".  I completely busted 5 fabrics out of my stash to make the borders.  I love happy endings!

I'm linking up with Oh, Scrap!

The Skeletons in My Closet

My husband and I are switching rooms again, his office and my sewing room.  I'm not-so-secretly THRILLED because that means I'm moving back into the room we originally planned to be my sewing room when we finished our basement: it is bigger, has much better natural light, has a closet and has walk-out doors to the yard.  Happy me!  Except moving all my sewing supplies is a lot of work, taking time away from actual sewing.

However, the beginning of the year is the time to re-assess and re-group and clean anyway, right?  I've been feeling a little overwhelmed in my sewing space, so time to get my act together down there. As I moved things over to the new room, I took time to organize them and make lists.

Oh, boy.  Making lists illuminates so much, sometimes things that you'd prefer to remain obscure.
Like how many UFOs I have: 28
Like how many completed tops I have that need quilting: 25
Like how many quilts I am currently quilting (I'm a hand quilter): 7

Top shelf = UFOs, middle shelf = flimsies, bottom shelf = being quilted
(ignore the defunct water softener in the yard outside the window - it is headed to the dump)

I know that I am a process person, not a finisher - that's no secret.  But this is a bit out of control, don't you think?

On to the fabric stash.  Much of it is contained in these drawers, neatly enough for me.  Then there's another HUGE drawer of a dresser that is also full of assorted yardage that doesn't fit in these drawers.

The smaller drawers are sorted by color - the larger drawers are for novelty (2 drawers) and multicolor florals (1 drawer)

But any of you who know me knows that I work primarily with scraps.  They make my heart SO HAPPY!  They are the first place I go when I start a block.  I pre-cut scraps into various squares from 1.5" to 5".  They are relatively neatly organized.

No worries - I won't be leaving these in the window for long; they are just here while I rearrange and figure out where to put things.  There is also a big drawer full of 5" squares and a baggie full of 3.5" squares.  I have the same system at work, with about as many pre-cut squares, but that's at work so it doesn't count, right?

BUT (and this is a huge but), I am a bit behind on my scrap cutting.  These 3 tubs, box and plastic bag are scraps (hangs head in shame).

Ignore the mess ON the futon - that's just stuff I haven't put away yet.

And then, there's one more skeleton in the closet that needs exposing.  Remember how I'm a process person?  Sometimes I make just one block.  For the process, not to make a quilt.  Or I abandon a quilt idea altogether after making some blocks.  So I have some orphans.  Or more accurately, HUNDREDS of orphans.

To be fair to myself, I did INHERIT some of these orphans, and I also dumped all of the bonus triangles I have sewn into this drawer, too.

But no worries, I have a plan!

1. I will dedicate a minimum of 15 minutes a day cutting scraps.  I recognize that there will be days when I don't get to cut scraps, and that is OK, but it means I'll need to make up for it on other days.  I have already printed out a calendar to mark on for this, and have been keeping track since January 1.  I am giving myself the winter to get my scraps under control.  When spring arrives on March 20, any untamed scraps must leave my house!
2. I have joined Aunt Marti's UFO Challenge (the challenge is at the bottom of the post).  Hopefully this will help me get 12 UFOs to the flimsy stage. 
3. I will participate in Block Lotto again.  I've enjoyed this in the past, and it gets me using my scraps.  Plus, all the blocks I make LEAVE THE HOUSE instead of staying here and adding to the lists.  (of course, one time I won Block Lotto - those blocks are all together now on the UFO shelf)
4. I will post at least 2 pieces of yardage for sale in my ETSY shop each week to help me de-stash.  Honestly, there's no reason to keep holding onto fabric without ever using it.  I actually started this a month or two ago, and have been headed to the post office at least once a week shipping off fabric.
5. I will finish an orphan quilt by the time the Drive-In opens this season (end of March).  I made an orphan quilt years ago, and loved taking it to the Drive-In movies and on road trips.  In fact, it never left the car until it went missing.  I have plenty of orphans to make another.  I will tie it like I did the last one, not quilt it.  I can do this!
6. I will finish quilting at least 4 quilts by July.  I owe quilts to two babies.  I'm working on one for my mother (shhhh...don't tell!).  And I'll need an entry for the local quilt show like I do every year.  That's a month and a half for each quilt.  The baby quilts and the one for my mother are small-ish.  Not sure yet which I'll choose for the quilt show.

I can DO this.  Just putting my hands on everything as I've moved has been inspiring to me.  I'm itching to get down there and sew, now that it is more organized and I'm in a bigger space.  GO ME!!

It's a party!

Quilter's Blog Hop Party, that is!  To celebrate the Quilting Gallery's 5th birthday, bloggers around the world are having giveaways.  Click the graphic below to see the list of other participating bloggers, but not until you keep reading to see what is happening in my little corner of the world!

Note that the party doesn't officially start until Monday morning, so if you are visiting on Sunday night, she may not have the list of links up yet.  If not, check back on Monday to join the fun!

For any new readers out there, here's a quick introduction.  My name is Erin, and I have been quilting for about 10 years now.  I adore working with scraps, and I cut my scraps into predefined sizes, using a system very much like Bonnie Hunter's Scrap User's System.  I rarely follow a pattern, either while piecing or while quilting.  I am a hand quilter, so it takes me forever to finish projects, but I do my best to always have something with me as I rush through my busy life to work on while waiting in doctor's offices or sitting on bleachers watching my kids play sports or even just during my lunch break.  In addition to being a quilter, I am a mom to 2 boys and wife to the most handsome man on earth, have a full-time job in college admissions, take and teach karate, am a cub scout den leader, and teach an after-school quilting class to kids grades K-5.

Recently I've undertaken an effort to provide some warmth and comfort in the form of quilts to those were affected by Hurricane Sandy in New York and New Jersey, and I've been so blessed by quilters all around the world, sending enough blocks and completed quilts to donate more than 3 dozen quilts so far.  You can see an up to date list of all the ANGELS who have helped with my project over there on the right under the heading MY HEROES.  Understandably, I joined this Blog Hop so I could give a little something back and to say THANK YOU!

Since I've been working on the Hurricane Sandy Project, there have been quite a few projects that have been moved to the back burner for a while.  The longer they sit there, the more I want to get back to them.  One that has really been calling to me, and that also very much illustrates my quilting style, is my color quilt.  Using 1.5" precut squares of scraps, I have been spelling out color words with scraps of that color.  I have no idea yet how I'm going to put them together, but that is par for the course with me.  Here's what I have so far:

THE GIVEAWAY!

Do you have projects that you look forward to getting back to eventually?  If so, leave a comment letting me know what that project is.  Or are you one of those amazing people who has no UFOs, who always finishes what you start?  If so, leave a comment and let me know your secret!  Either way, I'll enter you into my drawing.  I'm a visual person so links to photos of projects are encouraged, but certainly not required. Just one comment per person, please.  I'll leave the giveaway open until 6 AM EST, Monday, December 17. That's when I get up for work.  It'll help me get out of bed on a cold, dark Monday morning if I have something fun to look forward to other than my job (which I love, but which I love a little less at 6 AM on Monday mornings).

The winner will receive a package of over 150 assorted 2.5" scrap squares,

plus, three approximately half-yard cuts of a fabric that a co-worker brought back from abroad for me (I believe from India) that I love, but can't for the life of me figure out what to do with.

She brought back a yard of each, so half goes to you, and half stays with me.  I'm hoping to be inspired by what someone else does with it.

I will ship anywhere in the world.  Please know that you cannot win if I have no way to get in touch with you, so please, either be a blogger with an email address in his/her profile, or leave your email address in your comment.

I hope you will come back to visit again!  Enjoy the party!

Done and done

The boys practiced their square knots and finished up the Cub Scout quilt. I can't wait to have them display it at their Blue and Gold ceremony on Saturday. Even though the birthing process was a hassle at the time, now, the quilt is DONE and done feels great!

I've had some squishy mail lately. First, some unexpected Katie Jump Rope scraps from Angela - thanks, Angela!

And then the fabric for my February Bee Block. Pink and brown - pretty!

The instructions were to make a 9.5" Shoofly block and add scrappy sashing to two sides. My first instinct was to make one of those scrappy sashing blocks a mini shoofly block, but I goofed and the points got cut off - that's OK for a quilt that I'm keeping, but not for a block that I'm sending off to someone else.

So I substituted that mini shoofly with a mini 9-patch - I don't like it as much, but it'll do. I hope she likes it!