New Life

There's a new baby soon to arrive in the life of one of my friends, so we all know what that means?  Time to make a baby quilt!  But time is scarce these days - in the world of college advising, we generally call October Suck-tober because it is such a grind of writing recommendation letters, proofreading essays, and generally just hand-holding our seniors through a stressful time.  So instead of starting from scratch, I went digging through my UFOs.

When I came across the color words made from 1.5" squares that I started back in August 2010 (how embarrassing to have a UFO that old!), I decided that one more color word, Purple,

would round out a rainbow of words.  Since some words are shorter than others, I'm making some wonky stars with four-patch centers to fill space. 

This should go together rather quickly, I think. 

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

Forward motion on FOUR projects!

My kids had a half day of school on Friday, so I picked them up and took them snowboarding for the afternoon, and then out to dinner with my mom, brother, and younger sister and her family.  It was a fun day, but I didn't get a lick of sewing done.  I had prepped some hexies to work on at the ski lodge, but my 2 year old niece was there, so I spent the time hanging with her.

In light of my family-heavy Friday, I had no qualms about sequestering myself in my sewing room this weekend.  Not only did I do a major re-organization and cleaning in there (my brother is spending the night tonight, and since my sewing room is also my home office and my guest room, it needed attention before it was ready for a guest), but I was also able to move four projects forward.

On Ringo Lake now has 28 completed blocks:

22 left to go.  They go together quickly since I've already made all the components, but the monotony of the color scheme slows me down.  Yes, it is scrappy, but I'm used to scrappy with all colors of the rainbow, not just four colors.

Flutterby now has 36 completed blocks:

I am LOVING this!  Definitely making it big enough for me to use!

I've finished 4 Sister's Choice blocks:

5" blocks - I LOVE small blocks!  They are just so cute to me!

But in doing so, I got to thinking how many 5" blocks it would take to make a useable sized quilt - A LOT!!  That's what alternate blocks are for, right?  I've always wanted to make a quilt with QST blocks/hourglass blocks as the alternate block, so I made four alternate blocks to see if I like the look - I do!

My question, though, is this: Since the blocks are so scrappy, should the QST blocks be scrappy, too?  I mean, instead of using one constant neutral and one constant navy blue (although it looks black in the photo, doesn't it?), should I use a variety of neutrals and blues for the alternate blocks?  If you have an opinion, please chime in!

And finally, today I rearranged my Starburst quilt a bit so I can start to quilt it.  When I finished the flimsy in October 2016, I noticed in my photograph that the yellow and green blocks in the bottom right corner should probably be swapped, but ugh!  Unstitching?  Yuck! 

So I just let it sit.  And sit.  And sit.  But the baby I've decided to give it to is due in less than two weeks, so it is time to stop sitting and start quilting.  So I swapped the green and yellow blocks (in the lower left corner in this photo). 

It's been packed up for months - excuse the wrinkles.

Does it make a big difference?  No, but it isn't niggling at the back of my mind now.  My goal is to piece a backing and have it basted no later than the end of the day Tuesday.

Tuesday is also the day that I'll be choosing recipients for my 5 quilt projects that are up for adoption.  If you haven't checked out the quilt adoption items at Cynthia's blog, be sure to hop over there - there's some fun stuff up for grabs for free!

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

Surprisingly disciplined!

I am inordinately proud of myself.  I usually use this space to lament my quilter's ADD, always starting new projects and only rarely completing them.  Today, however, I'm super excited to share that not only did I convert one of my many UFOs into a flimsy,

Getting my boys to work together to hold the quilt straight took forever! 78" square, this quilt was from July 2016's 12 Days of Christmas Quilt Along, even though I made two of the blocks incorrectly.  I also ran out of background fabric, and I thought it was Kona Natural, but it turns out that the color is just a bit off.  No worries, this quilt will be for me and my family to snuggle under while watching Christmas movies, so the mistakes don't bother me.

I also completed the first clue for Bonnie Hunter's newest mystery quilt, On Ringo Lake.

Fifty 3.5 inch (unfinished) nine patches!

Could it be that I am turning over a new leaf? (I don't want to say that too loudly in case I jinx myself.)  I need to keep hand quilting my niece's quilt, but my sister is pregnant again, so I wonder if I have any other UFOs that I can turn into a baby quilt for the newest addition to the family, due on April 1.  Hmmm...

Or maybe this scrappy stars quilt can be his/her baby quilt...

I finished this flimsy in October 2016.  At 50" square, I think it'd make a great baby quilt (even though I think I'd switch the position of the green and yellow in the bottom right corner first).

I am linking up with Monday Making and Oh Scrap.

Starburst

I have two design walls, but all my photos lately have been taken on the floor!  Time to clear up room on the design wall!  Rather than pull things off and put them with my other UFOs,

My smaller design wall has had these left over comfort quilt blocks on it since June!

I took the time to FINISH something!  Woo hoo!

I think I should have switched the yellow and green blocks in the lower right corner.  Is it worth unstitching?

What on earth took me so long?  I love this quilt top!  At 50" square, it seems a good size for a new baby.  Hmmm...who do I know who is pregnant?

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

Procrastinating

Thanks so much for the encouragement about my row for the Row By Row Experience.  I'm feeling much better about everything.  Now I just have to prep kits - in other words, cut, Cut, CUT!!  I admit to feeling a bit intimidated when faced by this 30 yard pile of fabric (and that's only to make 50 kits!),

so I sewed instead.  First, I pieced the May block for the Westering Women BOM by Barbara Brackman, The Platte River.

Then, when I got home after an 11 hour day at work, I treated myself to an hour of sewing at home!  I have a slight addiction to making these blocks that our Guild is making for our Comfort Quilt effort.

I haven't really liked how they look together, though, so I started playing with alternate layouts.  Perhaps some interlocking wonky stars?

We'll see.  In the meantime, I have some cutting to do.