A blog break because... I was busy!

Busy times last weekend.  I headed to Vancouver Island to attend my 55th high school reunion and to work with my sister on emptying everything of mom's that was still filling up her two spare bedrooms. There were boxes of items to go through, things to be photographed and listed for sale and we ended up with a variety of piles: church garage sale, church choir, memory box, photos to be eventually sorted but good for scanning in case of a memorial service, recycling, shredding etc.  

Everything looks perfect now that the job is done. No piles anywhere. Yippee.
I managed to get my mug rug done for my Canadian swap and it mailed off. 

 While I was in Victoria, I visited my dad and there is a lovely new garden behind his building... very peaceful and residents have planted vegetables, flowers and fruit. 

And we had an enjoyable meal with my dad other than some really stringy asparagus soup?

When I returned home, more appointments for my husband and of course, daily tennis but I read an idea on a blog and need to thank Crazy Quilter on a bike... she is pinning papers with projects on them to a wire rack with clothespins.  I was thinking that writing lists is really tedious and they get messy so... I used post it notes and put them on my white board.  At the moment, they are really scattered around and I might take some time to categorize them but now, when I get to remove one from the board, it will feel good!

A little bit more done on my curves, sunrise quilt. 

And my jolly bars that I stitched together in a simple pattern are joined and top is ready for quilting.

My husband had to eat radioactive egg whites for a nuclear test this week... what a horrible meal to have to eat. The only saving grace of this was the little package of strawberry jam! UGH.
The double slice quilt, made from 10" squares is finished. 

The not so delicious radioactive egg white meal? Doesn't look too appetizing.

Heartland quilt is finished.  It isn't a very large quilt but will perfect for donation to someone wheelchair bound.
I have finished more Happy Block quilts.  Some are 40 x 50 and there are two that are preemie quilts at 30 x 36". These are quilt #3 -9

Two quilts got finished this morning and two post it notes came off the board!
My Rainbow colour string challenge quilt is number 3 from blocks made year, a different colour each month.  I made half square triangles from the left over blocks and they are now totally gone!

The surrounded 9 patches is also quilted and bound.This has been a UFO for quite a long time.

And two more quilts are quilted with binding attached but will stitch these bindings down by hand in front of the tv... good use of time while watching the television.
My disappearing 9 patch and the red/white churn dashes are waiting

I have my happy blocks made with 5" centers and they are laid out on the design wall so this is next up for stitching. I will work on this along with making the curved blocks as leaders and enders.  I am actually getting a few of these curved blocks made and need to think about getting the sashings attached.  I was determined to stitch those on as I went!  But hasn't happened.

I am going to go back to my list that was the beginning of July and cross off any projects that are now complete and hope that in the three days left this month, I might get to cross off one or two more and take those post it notes off the white board! 
Enjoy the last days of the month, August is approaching quickly.

Mid July and feeling a little bit ahead and a little bit behind?

Some days are busy with appointments for my husband who is still being tested to see if they can determine why he is so anemic with extremely low hemoglobin.  Yesterday was the dreaded prep for today's colonoscopy and honestly, sometimes it would be easier if I was having the tests, not him! However, we are home and I decided that an update to my blog would be a good afternoon activity.

I have two tops that got finished last week and are in the 'to be quilted' pile.  My disappearing 9 patch and my churn dash blocks are assembled in to quilt tops.

And some finishes!  Time to celebrate.  The good news about most of my finishes is that they are not UFO's but projects that have been started fairly recently. This is the flower shoppe, set on point.  I added more strips to the jelly roll that I started with to make the top a little larger.

The Corner cabin quilt from the Fat Quarter shop is also finished and ready for donation.

I took the last of the RSC blocks (rainbow strip challenge) from last year and added white to create some half square triangles.  This also doubled the number of blocks I had and then I had to make a few more blocks.  I didn't have any yellow left so made a few of those.  Once I laid out the blocks, it was a decent size for a donation quilt and that finished up those blocks!

Then I made my RSC blocks for July 2019.  The colour for this month is pink.  Done!

 These are the blocks that I have made so far this year:

One of my projects that I listed on the Finish Along challenge for the 3rd quarter of the year was to make a pattern called Beehive using jolly bars from the Fat Quarter shop.  This was fabric and pattern from an earlier quilty box that I subscribed to last winter.  When I looked at the pattern and then other patterns using jolly bars (5" x 10") rectangles, none of them would make a decent size quilt without a lot of background.  I went into the depths of my basement storage and found a container that had another set of jolly bars that coordinated fairly well with the package I had. I totally scrapped the pattern that I was supposed to make and joined the jolly bars and then laid them out in a simple rail fence that will be a good size for a donation quilt.  These are the blocks made so far this year:

And from another quilt box is a project called Sunrise.  I was trying to avoid making the curved seam blocks and then challenged myself to 'just do it'.  So, have started and I managed to get all the cutting done during the gentlemen's final game at Wimbledon ( it went on for hours). 

And some of the blocks started and on the design wall.

But, my big push during tennis games this weekend was to get all of my 10" happy blocks stitched into tops for We Care, our guild donation program.  I have pieced the tops and quilted some of them and have done binding by machine on a few and have the binding stitched on to be hand stitched down on a couple.  There are three left waiting to be quilted and bound.  DONE!  All 170 blocks are in quilt tops.  Another WHEW!

I did have another quilt that I finished the binding on - the double slice 10" squares is now in the donation pile.

And something that makes me happy.  I seem to have lists on clipboards, calendar of things to remember and do and lots of paperwork that surrounds my computer, covers my coffee table and generally looks messy.  So, this morning, between tennis and picking up husband at the hospital, I popped into Michaels and bought another one of their carts.  And, as I was getting help to get one down from 'way up there', the gal mentioned that I had chosen one of the newest colours to arrive in the store and of course, I love it!  I have it put together and loaded all my 'stuff' onto it.  Now I can hopefully keep paperwork, washi tape, stickers and lists plus calendars contained and wheel it to where I want to use it. 

A few days ago, I loaded a list with pictures of projects that I hope to finish in the next 3 months.  Will I or will I get distracted by fun, new things to make?  Time will tell. 

Finish-Along-2019

This is the third quarter of the Finish-Along and I am posting my list and pictures of my projects.  Not very exciting reading for most of you but I need to be able to link back to my list and post from it.
1-5 Hugs blocks that need to be quilted and bound.  I made 170 blocks and am working on getting them made into quilts for donation to our guild We Care program.

#6 Finish Disappearing 9 patch

#7 Finish Churn Dash

#8 Finish Rainbow Scrap Challenge HST quilt.  These are the last of my blocks from last year and I didn't have enough for a quilt so made each block into an HST.

#9 Cutting mat carrier
Project in a bag.

#10 Beehive
Another project in a bag

#11 One more project in a bag... Curved blocks.

#12 Rain Fence Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  These blocks are from 2018 and are waiting to be assembled into quilts.

#13 Polka Dot blocks - made in 2018 as a Sparrow quilt shop sew along/challenge.

#14 Canadiana blocks that I played around with earlier this year.  I would like to get more made and finish a quilt for Quilts of Valour

#15 Hourglass blocks
Another block project that I think would be great to make and finish

#16 Woodland kid's quilt
I have had these fabrics selected for ages and would love to get the quilt made.

#17 Kid's yellow brick road.  I have a stack of fat quarters that are kid themed and if I could get them all made into Yellow Brick Road blocks, then I would probably get 3 or 4 quilts from them.

#18 Solstice blocks.  These were made in 2017 with a block of the week from Pat Sloan and they have been living on a hanger.  Time to finish!

#19 Welcome Autumn
This has been like this for 3 years.  It only needs the applique stitching done and binding, hanging sleeves and I could display it this October?

So there you have the list and the pictures.  Now the challenge is to get this all finished! 

Five days into July

I can't believe how fast the first five days went by.  How did that happen?  I pieced two more happy block quilts and pulled out the 'girlie' blocks from the pile to use up.  The blocks that are left are all suitable for 'boys'... no pink! These two tops are now moved onto the hangers in the 'to be quilted' section. 

I finished the binding on a couple more quilts.  These two are going back to Kelly, the quilter, who is also the rep for Victoria Quilts and the quilts will go to cancer patients undergoing treatment. The first is a pattern called colorweave and is free on the Moda site.  The second is a Villa Rosa pattern, Something Positive.

The Corner Cabin quilt is quilted and waiting for the binding to be stitched on.
And, new projects for July that I have started are making 6 more churn dash blocks and there will be enough for a Quilt of Valour in red/white fabrics.

And I have some Happy Blocks that are 'adult' that I need 13 more to have enough for a quilt for Victoria Quilts.  So, have pulled some fabrics from my scrap bins and will get those blocks made.

And then I have my "floor" projects.... in bins and just sitting there!

My list for July to work on is as follows, but, as always, lists for me are just a guideline because I am so easily distracted by something new and more interesting.
1. Polka dot blocks made 2018 for the Sparrow block of the week challenge
2. Make the kid's happy blocks into 5 quilt tops
3. Adult happy blocks for Victoria quilts
4. Churn dash - red/white
5. Solstice blocks from Pat Sloan mystery - from 2017
6. Quilt and bind RSC strips#2 quilt from 2018
7. Work with my RSC rail fences from 2018
8. Make hsts from my leftover RSC strips from 2018
9. Quilt and bind Heartland
10. Bind Corner Cabin
11. Applique Welcome Autumn wall hangings from 2017
12. Quilt and bind 9 patch Tailor's tack
13. Dig out Ohio star blocks and make enough for a quilt 2016
14. Quilt and bind Disappearing 9 patch challenge
15. RSC 2019 pink blocks for July
16. Make a block for Joanne's quilt to replace the US flag with maple leaves
17. Cut up kid's fat quarters for a Yellow Brick Road

So, some projects are really old UFO's (and there are lots more in a bin that I am ignoring) and others are current or will be new projects.
I have many sets of blocks on hangers and they all need more blocks made to have enough for a complete quilt top.  This list however, doesn't have any of the new, fun, "oh look" ideas that I will be encountering as the month progresses!  But, at the same time, lists keep me organized and feeling in control of what is happening here in the studio.  And, I did well in June.  I went back to my June list and crossed off all that got completed and that is a good feeling to know that I didn't have move those to this month.
Hope everyone enjoyed a great July 1st and 4th.  Maybe our weather will get hot enough for me to dig out my tank tops and shorts?