Sew Close!

Basically every single day I think about sewing and almost everyday I don’t quilt. But I want to!! I miss sewing when I’m not doing it. I’ve also been trying to incorporate more slow practices into my daily morning routine, and I really want to include sewing. So each day, I think about how I can get started on that.

I decided to pull out the quilt that I am sooo close to finishing! I’ve only been working on it since 2009, so it’s not like there is any rush. But I feel like having a finish will make me feel accomplished and be able to get started on a new work with a real drive to finish whatever I pick up next.

To inspire some action I laid the quilt out to see exactly how much I have left to finish before moving on to the binding. This little bit is the last bit to quilt! That’s it

Another reason I can’t wait to finish this quilt is that it has accumulated quite a few stains over the last 12 years. I can’t wait to wash this quilt!!

Are you close to a finish?

Linking up with Kathy’s Quilts today and Slow Sunday Stitching.

WIP

It’s growing.

Linking up with Kathy’s Quilts and Slow Sunday Stitching.

When in Doubt, Scrap It Out (or "Just Sew Scraps")

Is sewing block a thing? I’ve been experiencing it lot in recent years. sometimes it lasts for months or years, sometimes a few hours or days. I know how to loosen this block, but whether I actually do it, is up in the air.

The best cure for sewing block, for me, is to get out the scarp bins. Just Sew Scraps could be a mantra.

I have been stumped with the quilt I’m working on. I’ve been only a few lines of quilting away from being ready to bind for over a month now. And yet, somehow I never pick it up to finish. The folded quilt leers at me from it’s spot near my favorite chair, ready for me to pick it up. The thread sits patiently on my desk so I have to look at it every morning. And yet….

Rooting around in the scrap bins feels less weighty, easier to tackle, more like play.

So, a few days ago I did the thing that I know will help unblock my sewing block, and I started sewing some scraps. And I feel so much better!!

What helps you unblock when you are suffering from a sewing block?

Linking up today with Kathy’s Quilts Slow Sunday Stitching. Glad to be back, as always.

Picking Out My Next Quilt Finish

I’m getting close to a finish with this quilt I have been working on for a long time. It’s about now, I wanted to start looking at the next quilt I will start to quilt. I hope that this will help motivate me to make that final push on my current quilt, so I can go ahead and move to the next one.

There were a few choices but the one I landed on was small, and I’m hoping this will make a good easy, quick (fingers crossed) finish, for the end of the year.

Now that I have decided which quilt I want to work on, I have to decide how to quilt it! I have three choices of thread. I have some ideas for quilting. I’ll have to get through my current quilt to find out which I go with!

Martin is helping me with this quilt and I’m linking up with Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy’s Quilts.

Slow Stitching Goal Sliding

It’s more than half way thru the month and it doesn’t look like I’m going to finish my goal of two quilt finishes in September. I may not even finish one! I will continue working on this quilt that I started way back in 2009, but I will see how far I get. Although, my September goal feels like it’s sliding away from me, I have high hopes that I can start fresh in October. For the rest of this month, I will try not to worry about my goals but simply enjoy the slow stitching.

Linking up with Kathy’s Quilts and Slow Stitching Sunday.

Lines and Fans

For the quilt I’m working on right now, I’m quilting with freehand fans and lines. I’ve never used this pattern before, and I’m really enjoying it! This is an easy quilt to sew lines on bc a lot of the fabric has patterns that can be used as a guide. Lines are kind of quick to quilt but also feel quite slow at the same time. I want to get the quilting finished soon, so I can move on to binding!

New (Very Old) WIP

My plan for quilting for the rest of 2020 is to get at least two finishes per month. One of the things that I did upon returning to quilting was to see what quilts I have that are not finished. There are a lot of them.

My next WIP, the “new” quilt I’m working on, is very old! This quilt was started sometime in 2009, I believe. It’s ready for a finish! Irving is turning out to be quite a quilt cat and he is ready to help!

Linking up with Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching to get some inspiration and get moving on this very old WIP.

Summertime Makes Me Want to Quilt

You would not think that the hottest month of the year would make one crave to be seated, inside, under layers of cotton and batting, squinting and repeatedly poking themself with a needle. No one wants to sit under a sturdy quilt in August Summer for a few minutes, let alone the hours and hours it takes to make one, right?

But every August, without fail, that’s what I get a craving for.

My early life of quilting was mostly concentrated on vacations, in August, in the balmy Vermont Summers. And I just can’t shake that muscle memory or the desire to return, year in and year out, to those simpler times. Mid August rolls around and I start to dream of lush green vistas, sitting by a lake, or out on a porch, with a freshly peiced quilt over my lap, myopically poking away and sweating.

What do you crave in the summertime?

Something Nice

A new little patchwork.

WIP 2/20/18

Finally got to quilting this one!! 

Feeling hopelessly out of practice and behind. All the more reason to carry on. 

OMG December

Although I did have a finish in November, I did not complete my November OMG. It was a month that I thought I would get a lot done, but it all went by so fast! December promises to be just as hectic, but I'm still hoping to get a lot done on a little ladder quilt that I've been working on.  

That's a vague One Monthly Goal, but I'm gonna go with it!

I haven't had the most productive OMG year. Here's what my One Monthly Goal 2017 looks like:
Jan - Quilt Maybe Lyz - Not Finished
Feb - Quilt Tom Mat - Not Finished
Mar - Finish Tom Mat - Not Finished
Apr - Finish Little Baby Quilt Top - Not Finished
May - Finish Little Baby Quilt Top - Finished!!
Jun - Baste and Tie Little Baby Quilt Top - Not Finished
July - Baste and Start to Quilt Little Baby Quilt - Not Finished
Aug - Sew Honey Pot Bee Blocks into a Top - Finished!
Oct - Baste Little Blue Quilt - Not Finished. 
Nov - Baste Little Blue Quilt - Still Not Finished

Linking up with Elm Street Quilts + OMG, and around the web!

WIP 11/15/17

Tom has been sitting by the heater, which means it's time finish Tom's Mat. 

Wrinkly Old WIPs

In September I got out almost all my WIPs, these are the some that are basted and waiting for quilting. 

This is my largest unfinished quilt and perhaps my largest quilt to date. I have to figure out how to  smooth it and how to quilt it. 

This "heart quilt has been around for a long time. It's a great lap quilt size and I'm sure someone would love it! I haven't thought about the quilting on this one yet, either. 

I'd be happy to finish either of these quilts this year, but with all the other less finished projects I have to do, I doubt it will happen. 

What are your closest to done WIPs?

Vintage Quilt Parts

Last weekend, while rummaging thru the Far Hill sale, I came across a bundle marked as quilt parts, unfinished. I had no idea what to expect, but I had to find out! By the time I had gotten home, I had pretty much forgotten about this mystery. When I started un binding the fabric to wash, I unwound it and to my delight found the following:

Someone put so much care into piecing together each square! What a treasure! 

I'm not sure how I'll put this little quilt top together, but I'm over the moon to be able to continue the careful work another quilter started! 

Have readers found any quilting treasures lately?

2017 FAL Q3 Wrap Up + Q4 List

My Q3 list was a short one and yet.... Nothing got done! 

1. Do everything for the mystery Gift Quilt.
2. Finish quilting, bind and Label Tom Mat
3. Baste, tie, bind and label Little Baby Quilt. 

Zero finishes in the third quarter, but a little bit of progress on each item listed. On to Q4!

1. Finish top, finish back, baste, quilt, bind, label and gift Mystery Quilt.

Sooooo, this quilt completely changed from when I first started it, but I am happier with it's progress now!

2. Finish top, make back, baste, quilt, bind, label and gift Stripy Baby Quilt. 

The start of this little quilt was quick. It has to be done before the new year. 

3. Add borders, make back, baste, quilt, bind, label and gift Quilt for Isaac.

My BFF asked for a quilt and this top was done. I need to add more volume to make this a usable quilt for him. 

Bonus: Maybe Lyz Quilt.

This one has been on the lists forever. I'm not fully committing to finishing it, but if I do it's a bonus!

Linking up with Q4 and the global hosts. 

OMG October

I think only the most simple goals are achievable in my quilting life this year. And even those have been tough! For Oct, I would love to get the mystery quilt basted. I feel like this is the most simple goal I can come up with. 

I should have had this quilt finished months ago, but I'm really hoping to get it done this month. This OMG is the first step. 

Linking up with Elm Street Quilts and One Monthly Goal!

WIP 9/26/17

Many projects to work on and many threads to snip. (And lots and lots of cat hair!)

YOTS2017 / Wrinkly Old WIPS

All year, I've been meaning to get out my WIPs out to take a comprehensive look at what I have. I kept putting it off, but knowing that I need to baste some quilts and a recent request from a friend, I was motivated to finally take them all out and have a look. It was a good opportunity to see a lot of what I've worked on over the past few years. I wrote down where in the process I am for each project and my goals and ideas for them in the future. Many, I put right back into storage, but some I was happy to see could be advanced to next steps.  

This project also fits in perfectly with YOTS (Year of the Stash), bc if it's still in the house, unfinished and unused, it still counts as stash to me! When quilts, minis, pillows, garments are finished, they go in a basket to leave the house, either to sell or give away, or they get used at home. Only at that stage do I reconsider their Stash Nature. 

I found I had WIPs in all stages, from just a few blocks to close to done. The following are the quilts that were pretty near to finished and that I definitely left out to work on.

We've all seen this quilt before which I call Maybe Lyz Quilt. I've been working on and off on this one for more than a year.  It's a big heavy quilt so it was hard to work on in the warmer weather. 

The front uses a lot of vintage fabric, all calicos! This was my first attempt at an all calico quilt and is a very old quilt top for me. I can't wait to have it finished and out of the house!

The back is also all calico, most a gorgeous tiny yellow rose print that I thrifted in Vermont. 

Tom's Mat is the closest to being done as a small project that I still really enjoy. This one will be good to finish before Winter so that Tom can enjoy it as well. 

Here the dark purple T and the yellow border are both vintage. 

I mentioned enjoying a project bc this one I hate! OK, I don't hate it, or I just wouldn't do it. But this little Flying Geese Mini is just totally meh in my mind. I do want to finish it, but it's been so long, I don't remember my direction. 

I loved this out of character pink leaf fabric and I think these are the last scraps I had. I made this mini to try flying geese, and i've never attempted them again! The red seersucker and pink floral square are vintage scraps. 

I stopped working on this Fat Little Cross pillow cover bc the tread was catching on the batting and it was absolutely frustrating. I still really like it tho and think it will eventually be a sweet pillow. Just got to get it done!

This top is totally vintage! Not sure what I will back it with to make the pillow but I really dig this top. 

These WIPs won't help me use up fabric from the totally unused stash I count each month (except the backing for that pillow!), but I did also do some sewing this month. Here's my stash report:
Fabric Added Since Last Update: Approximately 0 (I did buy a vintage sheet, but I think I'm going to use it instead of cutting it up!)
Fabric Added Year to Date: Approximately 23.25
Fabric Used Since Last Update: Approximately 1 yd
Fabric Used Year to Date: Approximately 13.5 yd

I have many more Wrinkly Old WIPs to show you, and some that I'm sure I didn't unearth. And hopefully some finishes to share when these are done and dusted! Where in the process do you consider a project no longer stash? Any WIPs out there to share with us?

YOTS2017 / Starting New

There is a pheonomonon in quilting, I'm sure you sewists know it, in which it is far easier to start a new project than to finish an old one. 

No matter how in love with a WIP I am, there comes a time in the project when starting something new becomes too appealing to resist. I love every part of quilt making, but starting something new is extra special. 

Starting a new work isn't bad, in fact for Year of The Stash, it's quite good!! For me, it means more stash is getting used. But if the abandoned semi-finished project still lingers in your home, is it still stash? I think for a project to be truly complete it must be used and useful. So while starting new isn't bad, it does drag out the finishes and that's not good.  

It's been a few months since my last update and I can't quite recall if anything new has come into my stash. Since there is nothing I can remember, I'm calling it zero! Here's what my stash report looks like this month:
Fabric Added Since Last Update: Approximately 0
Fabric Added Year to Date: Approximately 23.25
Fabric Used Since Last Update: Approximately 2 yd
Fabric Used Year to Date: Approximately 12.5 yd

What are your thoughts on starting a new project before finishing the old one? I know many quilters are like little butterflies, flitting from one project to the next with ease and grace. Are there any true blue one-project-at-a-time people out there? How does it effect your stash?

2017 FAL Q2 Wrap Up + Q3 List

1. Do everything for the mystery Gift Quilt.
2. Finish Quilting, Bind and Lable Maybe Lyz Quilt.
3. Finish quilting, bind and Label Tom Mat.
4. Finish Top, Create Back, Baste, Bind and Label MCQBOM2016 Quilt. 

Some work was done on each of these quilts is Quarter, but sadly no finishes were made!! I did have a few off list finishes, so I do not despair. But I would really like to get more done in Q3. 

1. Do everything for the mystery Gift Quilt.

I'm rolling this one over. It needs to happen even if it's the only quilt that gets finished in 2017!

2. Finish quilting, bind and Label Tom Mat.

I'm so close to finishing this one!

3. Baste, tie, bind and label Little Baby Quilt. 

This one is new to the list and I'm hoping it'll be an easy finish. 

And that's it!! Only three finishes for this quarter; two hopefully easy, one very necessary. I'm too late to link up with the globle hosts this Quarter, but that's OK! I am linking up with Move It Forward Monday, MCM and Monday Making.