Sew the Scrap out of March!

 Um, what happened to February?  How did I not post even once during that long, dreary month??  I certainly did some sewing - look what I finished last night?

I think I'm going to call it X-Pop

I love it!  It still needs quilting and binding, but at 36" square, that won't take long.  The baby recipient is due to make his/her/their entrance into the world any day now.

Anyway, I'm joining up with Tea & Brie for her National Quilt Month Scrap Challenge, Sew the Scrap out of March!

I dumped out my bag of scraps...

Size 7.5 foot for scale (and handknit socks!)

My goal this month is to make this pile disappear!  More than sew the scrap out of March, I want to CUT it!  The plan is to cut the scraps to the appropriate size for some of my current projects:

Scrappy Trips for the long strips

                                           

My Barbed Rail Fence is growing - uses shorter & skinnier strips and all those corner cut-offs

No name yet for my 2020 Scrap Buster Challenge Quilt, but these blocks can be cut from chunky scraps

I just added this project to my current scrappy projects in an attempt to use some of the tan/beige/tea colored scraps I have.  I LOVE the look so far.

For the 2" squares

In addition to cutting scraps for particular projects, I will also cut my precut scrap sizes to add to those bins.  My scraps are so much tidier when they are cut to size than when they are crammed in that bag!  And I love just pulling out some precut scraps and sewing - immediate gratification!

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

Black and White

 I just found out a co-worker is expecting their first baby.  You know what that means, right?  Yup, dropped everything else and started a baby quilt!  Inspired by a photo I saw on Pinterest, I got my first nine blocks sewn up today.  Blocks are 6.5" unfinished.  I don't think I'm going to add a border, so this will likely end up around 36" square.

Working on this also made it easy to complete a black block for my scrappy bear claw quilt.

In other sewing news, I also sewed two buttons on today.  I've been putting it off forever (literally for years with the pajama top) and it only took about seven minutes.  Why do I hate mending so much?

Yesterday and I finished knitting my first mitten and made sure to cast on the second right away.

And since it has been so cold, I curled up on the couch to continue hand quilting this Starburst quilt so the quilt could warm me while I worked.  I have yellow, pink and blue finished with purple, green, red and orange left to go.

It looks like we are about to get more snow, but since we are a boarding school, there's no chance of a snow day.  Oh well, I'm just not ready for this crafty weekend to end!

I'm 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.

Lots of stitching going on!

I had hoped to get lots of creating in during my winter break from school...and I did!  It started with a mad dash to make a memory quilt for a friend who lost her beloved dog.  I had six pages of printer fabric sheets, so I found some photos of her pup online and made a quick quilt for her.  She is TALL and I wanted her to be able to cuddle in it, so it is pretty large, about 65"x 98".  I can't make a quick quilt that big using my usual little pieces, so the blocks are huge, each finishing at 31.5" square.  What a departure for me!  Probably not something I'll do again, but she really appreciated it so mission accomplished.

Preparing to baste for quilting...

After that, my desire to sew was gone, so I spent a lot of time knitting:

RBG Ornaments

Christmas crowns for my nieces

Socks for my sister-in-law

A Shoulder Cozy for my mom

More progress on my Excavation Blanket

Using up more sock yarn scraps in my Coziest Memory Blanket

And then, just like that, I wanted to sew again!  I joined a Block Exchange and have already completed and mailed January's blocks:

Mother Hen Block

I made two blue Bear Paw blocks  - this is the year I am determined to finish this quilt and give it to my stepfather.

I've been working on this since October 2019 - what's taking me so long???

I've been chipping away at my scraps.  With this bag of scraps and this tin of HSTs,

I am making this modified Rail Fence.

Hmmm...might reverse the HSTs on half of the blocks to see if that makes them all seem continuous...

And making blocks based on the 2020 Scrap Buster Challenge from Border Creek Station.

Haven't decided on a layout yet, just playing around as I add blocks

I'm sad that vacation is over but I'm glad I had so much time to create, create, create!  Now it is back to work, work, work.

Happy New Year, everyone!  I'm linking up with Oh Scrap and Monday Making.

I miss blogging!

 Working at a boarding school during a pandemic is no joke.  I thought I was busy the last three years here - ha!  I barely have time to eat or use the restroom this year!  But the first round of college applications have been submitted, so I am finally feeling like I can stop and breathe.  The students leave for an extended break on Friday, at which point I hope to spend more time reading and knitting and quilting.

I have gotten a few things done in the last few months, though, by making sure I make time for me, even if it is just 15 minutes of sewing or knitting every day.

Just today, I finished piecing a top for a friend's daughter whom she will be adopting into her family in just a few weeks.

Jewel Box Stars - 2018 Leaders & Enders Challenge by Bonnie Hunter (69.5"x69.5")

A few weeks ago I finished this baby quilt and gave it to a co-worker's new baby.

Inspired by a photo I saw on the internet (32.5" x 40.5")

I've made dozens of masks - I think this one is my son's favorite.

I love this pattern!

I knit crowns for three friends for their birthdays during long Zoom meetings.

I whipped up a couple more mini Christmas stockings for my ETSY shop.

And I am just ten LONG rows away from being finished with my Campfire Cozy Shawl.

It's too big to get a real picture until it is off the needles.  Hopefully by Thanksgiving.  I plan to curl up in this all winter long!  Here, I was knitting during Dining Hall Duty.

Looking at all of this, I'm pretty impressed with how much I got done this fall!  What's on/under your needle?  Another thing I hope to get back to during break is reading everyone else's blogs!

I am linking to Oh Scrap and Monday Making.

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!