Two months late or 10 months early?

Last November, I took a class with Karen Thurn on making tiny half square triangles (some made larger but I didn't want a big quilt) and creating a tree wallhanging.  I stumbled over how to quilt this project but finally, just jumped in and did it!  Finished the binding and am ready for December!

I got busy and made a few more buckets for my scraps.  I decided to make them slightly larger and use a little more of the fat quarters that they are made from.  They aren't any wider but are almost 2" taller. So now, there is a red, black/gray and blue bucket.

I groaned a lot and worked on my next row by row.  It was interesting that this week, we had a guest speaker at my quilting group and they have all their row by rows available - you can purchase a pattern or a kit or, a laser cut kit.  I checked out the price for the laser cut kit and they are around $70-80.. yikes!  I have quite a few of these rows and if I had purchased laser cut kits, they would have been so easy to make and much less time involved and I would have over $500 invested!!
Row 4 is done... none of them have the stitching done.  Just the tracing, fusing, cutting and making background and placing the pieces on where they are supposed to go.

Still more kits waiting.

I have been working on multiple projects at once.  I start one and then see another... and start and so it goes.
However, I have finished the half log cabins though I now need to lay the blocks out and figure out the size to cut the setting triangle blocks for the diagonal setting. My heartstrings group is really motivating me this year.  I finished two charm quilt tops this month and have started on the March quilt.  We are to use a pre-cut and I happened to have a set of jolly bars (5" x 10") which are from the Fat Quarter shop.  I think that they are 2 or 3 years old and wasn't thrilled with the pattern that came with them.  Last week, Fat Quarter shop released a free pattern using jolly bars and jelly rolls.  I went through my jelly rolls and found one that I thought would work well with the jolly bars and have been stitching these blocks and they go together quickly.  I must say, I was surprised that the jolly bars are not quite 10" long!  It is ok because of the block I am making but couldn't figure out why the 10" strips were hanging slightly over the ends?

Of course, am plugging away on the Connecting Threads kit, Sea Star.  What a load of half square triangles are needed!  UGH.  That is why I like to work a few projects at once... distracting!  I am not sure how y'all make and trim your half square triangles but thought I would show you one way that is really efficient (to  my way of thinking).
I cut my squares larger that what I need so I can trim them to the correct size. I press the lighter fabric in half to create my center line and then stitch a minimal ¼" seam either side.  Then cut down the center. This is probably what everyone does?

But, then I use my triangle ruler to trim the blocks BEFORE I press them open. Notice that I have these cute little stick on arrows so I don't mess up with the size and don't have to keep looking for the correct line.  I put the line on my stitching line and then trim each side.

These little arrows come in a package like this.

The only down side to the this method is that you still have trim off the corners.. which I do with scissors before I press the seam.  I was lazy and pressed my seams to one side but usually, I like to press my seams open.

This is what the final block is going to look like. It will be a 15" finished block.

Nineteen blocks to go! I am almost done making the half square triangles.  Boring!!

So, I am stitching away, going through bobbins like crazy.  My method is to sit at my machine for as long as possible before I get up and press and/or trim.  This is what my floor looks like as I finish stitching and they pile up waiting to be taken to the ironing board.

This how my week is going and I hope to be able to cross a few things off my list by the end of February, on Saturday,  and begin March with more new projects and get some UFO's out of their bags/packaging and onto the design wall! 

Mid February 2020 and plodding along like a senior

I don't really want to admit that I am senior but my age is a fact that I can't argue with!  With age comes a few issues that I try to fight like memory, not being as efficient, and tired earlier in the evening.  I do play tennis almost daily and I walk but when I get to my sewing room, I seem to bog down some days.  So, I plod along and take comfort that I am creating and slowly accomplishing my goals, it just takes forever it seems!

This week I spent more time organizing and one project that was in my way, was a massive container of plastic bags!  Does anyone else collect plastic bags but can never find one when you need one?  Mine are sorted into smaller bags, medium size and those plastic zip containers that bedding comes in.  That was one of those silly jobs that didn't that long once I started.

The two preemie quilts made from charms are done.  They will head north with me in April and get layered, quilted and bound for the NICU in my home town.  The heartstrings group that I belong to, chose charms for February and I put together two tops.  The second one is the Oh My Stars pattern by Pat Sloan but I made it smaller since our NICU likes quilts to measure 30" x 36".

I also finished knitting another toque (or beanie for my US friends).

In my stash of UFO's, I had a kit from Connecting Threads and the intended quilt was called Offset.  I decided I would like to make something else and thought about this Fat Quarter shop pattern.

But then, I went back to my square in a square stand by for fat quarters.  So easy to cut up and make.  I did have to do a bit of math and figuring as the fabrics in the kit were long quarters, not fat quarters but, paper and pencil and a bit of math and I managed to cut all 20 fat quarters correctly.

So quick to stitch these blocks up and then trim and put together into a finished top, ready for the next step, again, will happen in April.

I had a kit arrive in the mail and am quite pleased that this is the only thing I have ordered this year (so far).  Since I was annoyed that I couldn't keep the deal I made with myself to only stitch stash projects, I cut it up immediately so that I have it ready to stitch.

There are hundreds (at least), of half square triangles to make so I have them next to my sewing machine and will work on them as leaders and enders.

While reading blogs this week, I saw a project on Creating in the sticks and thought it would be a brilliant way to use up a jelly roll.  I didn't have a pattern but it wasn't too difficult to figure out.

 I have my jelly roll strips paired up with a background and am stitching them together.

 A simple method, once the two strips are sewn together.  I cut a piece at 2.5", 4.5", 6.5" and 8.5"... it is a bit tight to get them out of a 42" strip if the selvedges are wide but I am being careful when cutting. There is no room for error.   Cut a 10.5" strip of background and then put together like a log cabin.

My current UFO and something driving me crazy for having done this a long time ago, is the row x rows from here in AZ.  They have been sitting around for far too long.  I worked on one starting mid January and it seems to take forever to trace, fuse, cut out and place?  Maybe I am just not inspired but this is what I have done so far.  A long way from finishing!

There is a good friend here in our park who recently attended a memorial service and everyone had the option of taking home a t-shirt that belonged to the fellow who had died.  She asked me if I could turn the t-shirt into a pillow for her and it was a simple project.  He had a massive wardrobe of Grateful dead shirts.  I thought it was a brilliant idea and was happy to do this for her.

My husband is still hobbling along with crutches but he is able to do more without pain but we are still icing his knee and he has his cranky moments.  And, I have my podcasts to listen to! 
Hoping that I am as productive this week and get more projects either started or close to completion.
My goals for the rest of this month|
1. Work on row x rows
2. Layer and quilt/bind my Xmas tree wall hanging
3. Get the blocks made for the half log cabins
4. Work on QOVC bento box blocks
5. Make two more fabric scrap buckets in red and yellow?

The weather here in AZ is absolutely perfect.  Cool at night, warm (mid 70's) during the day.  Love it! Weeds are growing and my bougainvilla needs pruning but one day at a time.

February - winter weather?

Weather here is quite cold in the early mornings and those 7am practices require dressing in layers and a toque as well as mittens.  But, the sunshine is glorious and there is no rain!  So, am not complaining and this is the kind of winter weather I enjoy.

It has been a busy week with tennis but slow around our house.  See the crutches?

The good thing is that they aren't for me... my husband got hit in the knee with a wild hit in softball and is in agony and really grumpy.  sigh.  But he is hobbling around on the crutches and using one of our kitchen chairs on wheels to get from here to there.  He is not happy and of course, is bored and quite bossy with getting me to do the jobs he usually does.  For the first few days, I seemed to be on demand with all the things he couldn't reach or get to.  Four days later, he is at least able to get onto the sofa and watch Saturday night hockey (thank goodness for small mercies) and I managed to get a few hours of sewing time.
Last week I worked on the new colour for February for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  Orange is the colour so  I dug out my scraps and worked on the various blocks that I making this year.  I am making less of each block so that I will have three or four quilts to make that are different from each other.

 I think I messed these up when I looked at the green rail fences from last month (dark and light are reversed in the first set I made) and I may have to do some frog stitching later if they won't play nicely with the other blocks when I lay them out. 

You can see the edge of the blocks I am working on for Quilts of Valour Canada.  The bento box block is being made all across the country.  I am playing with a different method for making the blocks and am happy with how they are turning out.

I also got caught up with my 52 blocks in 52 weeks and have them finished.  Later this spring, I will add the outer borders to the blocks and they will join the previous blocks made through the last 12 months.

I enjoy making these scrap buckets and made two more this week.  I am determined to have all my scraps sorted. Teal and purple scraps are in their new homes.  The colour doesn't look like teal?  But it is!

The heartstrings group that I belong to, chose charms for the February challenge.  I decided to try something new to me and this is a pattern by Cluck, cluck sew.

I cut up 30 charms and got busy stitching.  My goal is to make a preemie quilt which is 30 x 36".  With an afternoon of stitching (including cleaning my machine and winding 8 more bobbins and changing the needle... after I stitched for 10 minutes with no bobbin thread... grrr), this is what is on my wall.  They still need trimming but I think it will be ok for some wee baby girl.

I did decorate a little for Valentine's day but am not holding my breath that it will be a special day here with the man in my life being a little cranky and in pain.
Last Saturday was a great day playing in a US/Canada tennis tournament here in our park.  Sadly, we lost by 8 points but our excuse was that we were missing some key players due to injuries or having to go home for one reason or another. It was a perfect winter day!

I also got my 'pet' fix, looking after the neighbour's cats while they took a short trip.

I am hoping that my husband heals and gets back to his regular routine of tennis, softball and watching hockey and doing our yard work so that I can get back to my normal time spent sewing, playing tennis and enjoying some quiet time!