Stories from the Sewing Room

I feel like I've been really busy, but I have almost nothing to show for it. 🤔 I've been working a lot and I did bind Pat's three quilts that I shared last week. Maybe that's why I don't feel accomplished? It was all for others.

I have four three personal quilts that need to be hand bound. I work on these very, very slowly in the evenings, and not every evening depending on how tired I am by the time I sit down after dinner. 

This is Chalk. The pattern is by Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs. I used Kona Blueprint and Kona White for the front and the backing fabric is an old print from the Sommer line by Sarah Jane for Michael Miller. The blues are really, really similar!

I originally planned to quilt this using matching blue Glide thread, but then I decided I didn't want the blue to show on the white, so I switched to 60 wt Superior Bottom Line thread in one of the white shades. The quilting design is Propel by Jess for Longarm League. I like how subtle it looks with the lightweight thread. Oh, and Quilter's Dream white 80/20 batting. Quilter's Dream battings are my favorite.

Besides binding all the above-mentioned quilts, I have quilted several for others. 

This one belongs to Barbara. It's a nativity scene pattern from Sew Kind of Wonderful. We went with Starry for the quilting, Hobbs batting, and Glide thread in Smoke.

Next is Elaine's quilt. Quilting is Honeycomb, batting is Hobbs, and thread is Glide White.

Toni sent me this beach-themed quilt with a request for a seashell themed design. She liked Sally by the Seashore. Batting is Hobbs and the thread is Glide Pearl. I like how the thread color I chose fits the theme!

The next two belong to Paula. They both have polar fleece for the backing, Quilter's Dream Green, and Glide Seagull thread.

This one is quilted with Boho Boxes. Love all the blues!

And this one is quilted with Diagonal Plaid Bias Cut. She does the best tiny little star sashing intersections.

I have one more of Paula's to complete and I think it is my most favorite quilt ever. You'll have to wait until next week to see it though. 😏

My kids are both on spring break this week. My daughter is splitting her time between working and doing tons of homework. My son has been cleaning out his toys because he wants a desk. He's also trying to resurrect our very ancient Mac to put on the desk.

We are taking a day to go to IKEA to buy the desk, a coffee table, and an entertainment console. Or at least parts of them. We'll have to see what's in stock when we actually get to the store. I've been trying to decide what I wanted to do forever, but I don't like a lot of the furniture that is currently available when I've searched. Or I can't afford it (looking at you $2000 walnut console). So hopefully this will work. We're planning a few modifications to the pieces to customize them. We've had our previous tv cabinet for close to 25 years and it was made for the old style of television. Our worn out ottoman/table is also over 20 years. It's time for a change. 

If you're a One Monthly Goal person, the finish link up opens next Saturday, March 25. Will I finish my goal? You'll have to stop by to see. I'm really struggling because I want to start something new, but I have things I need to finish.

Linking with For the Love of Geese, My Quilt Infatuation, From Bolt to Beauty, and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

I've been sort of busy, yet taking plenty of time to relax. It's quite nice. 

This is my to-do list from last week, along with some status updates.

1. Quilt the #Trending quilt ✅ 

    I quilted this with the Arches design. I'm pleased with the overall effect. I will probably bind this using the backing fabric (eventually).

8.  Fix drawstring in son's pj pants ✅ 

        This one didn't quite go as planned. LOL. I went to post an Instagram story where I pointed out that I pieced two of the units incorrectly. Then I looked back at the pattern and realized that those two were the closest to correct. I had just about everything upside down. 

10.  Try again at piecing the Grassy Creek borders❌

And I had a quilt come in from Sara that needed a quick turnaround. Quilted with Donut Connection.

Now I'm going back on my vacation for the rest of the year.

Our rooster Henry still isn't walking. He has a really good appetite as long as the food and water are near him. He stays in the coop all the time now and still isn't crowing. Smoky, the other rooster, is crowing a lot now, but his crow is very weak and raspy, so it's not as obnoxious as Henry's. Anyway, we can't find any sores or anything on Henry's leg and foot, but we gave him an Epsom salt soak over the weekend. This chicken soaking device is ridiculous looking. 

I have reached the end of the block making for the Tall Tales quilt. I rewarded myself with sewing something different (more on that below). Here are my last few blocks. I'm proud to say that all of the polka dot background fabric is from quilt back trimmings and the spines of 99% of the blocks are from my scrap bins. 

My son helped me tear out all the foundations yesterday, so now I just have to add the block borders and assemble the top. And then make a backing, quilt, and bind.  And I have seven available sewing days left this month. No sweat. Yeah, right. Hopefully I can at least get the top done since that was my goal.

When I finished sewing the last of the blocks over the weekend, I did not want to deal with tearing out all the papers, so I switched back to my Chalk quilt to give myself a break. I have all the rows made now and am working on sewing them into rows. I really liked how these blocks in progress arranged themselves as they fell from my table.

I admire those of you who can start to finish one project at a time. I really just cannot work that way. I don't enjoy it. I need to do a little of this, a little of that. I think this is why I don't enjoy quilting retreats much either. I cannot just sit and sew for the entire day/days at a time. I also find it hard on my body to just sit all day. As part of my foundation removal avoidance, I also cleaned and rearranged my fabric closet a bit.

You've probably heard me mention Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs' mystery quilts many, many times. She released the fabric requirements for the Melodic Mystery last week. I had fun shopping online for fabrics, and then reminded myself that I have plenty and I need to shop my stash first. I wasn't sure what I would find because I don't typically buy yardage of anything except neutrals and backings, but I thought I need to at least try.

Here is my fabric pull. A few of these might look familiar to you--3/4 of them are leftovers from my Flower Patch SAL. I added in the jade colored one--that was one I ordered for my art quilt that ended up looking nothing like it was pictured online, so I'm glad it will get a new life in this quilt. I'll figure out backing and binding in the future, but now I'm ready to start cutting when the August clue is revealed.

Meanwhile, I've been working like crazy on the quilting in anticipation of the upcoming seven day hiatus. 

This first one is a group project one of my guilds made. Quilted with Scribble Hearts.

Next up is Trish's quilt, quilted with Pretty Paisley.

Then one for Haley, quilted with A Fishy Tail. I partially bound this one as well.

Mary Ann's, quilted with Turtle. 

Elle's, quilted with More Square Drama.

Nothing much to report in the garden. I haven't been out much. We did get some much-needed rain Thursday and Friday. I harvested lettuce Saturday after all the rain. Probably should have waited til things dried out a bit. It (the lettuce) was so muddy. I noticed some of the baby zucchinis are rotting at the blossom end, so we removed those. We have a few coolapenos that are ready, but those are my husband's to deal with. There are some baby cucumbers on one of the plants and I should be able to harvest more green beans this week. The flower gardens need to be weeded. Every time I go outside and stand in one spot too long I get chigger bites, so the weeds can just be there for now.

My sweet new friend Trish brought me some fresh lavender from her garden when she picked up her quilt. 🥰

Tune in next week to see if I get those block borders added before my hiatus.