Quilting is in my Blood

 To-Do for the week of Oct 19th-25th:

1. Finish my Blakely Sew-Along quilt top. √Done
2. Work on my Wolf Abstractions project. √Done
3. Stitch a Sashiko square with the speckled gold background with another color thread. √Done

To-Do #1

I finished my Blakely quilt top that measures 55″ square this past weekend, actually I mean that I re-finished it. Last weekend I sewed the long sashing strips on and when I thought I was done and had put it on my bed to clip threads and to pick off loose threads and pieces of fuzz, I saw what I thought was a piece of dark fuzz, but it was a HOLE in one of the long sashing strips. So I put it aside and a few days later ripped out that sashing strip, cut another strip (thankfully I had plenty of white-on-white fabric left) and sewed on an unblemished long sashing strip between the third and fourth rows.

To-Do #2

I finished making all the units (not all of them are pictured below) for the quilt that measures 60″ x 65″ for my friend, Laura’s 50th birthday in January using Violet Craft’s Wolf Abstractions pattern. I’m liking how this project is starting to take shape.

To-Do #3

I received my order from the Etsy shop Shiboridragon (link to this coaster kit set here) on Friday so had time to stitch a new Sashiko square. I had wanted to try stitching with a variegated black/grey thread but it didn’t work with the speckled gold background (the grey just got lost in the background), so I used three-strands of plain DMC embroidery floss. I think it definitely has a masculine look which will be perfect for my stepson, Drew.

October 2021 OMG Finish

Yesterday I wrote a post about my October 2021 One Monthly Goal. You can read about it here.

To-Do for the week of Oct 26th-Nov 1st:

1. Work on my Wolf Abstractions project.
2. Stitch a Sashiko square with the speckled gold background with black thread.
3. Write my November 2021 One Monthly Goal post.

Linking up with Texas Quilt Gal: To-Do Tuesday.

 To-Do for the week of Oct 12th-18th:

1. Stitch a Sashiko square with the speckled gold background possibly with another color thread. Nope
2. Work on a large-scale paper piecing project that I just started last week. √Done
3. Take the first day of Tara Faughnan’s Small World Quilt online workshop on October 16th. √Done

To-Do #1

Those other Sashiko squares with the speckled gold background have gone missing! I looked high and low for them. Sometimes you just have to take a break from looking for something and see if it decides to reveal itself, but in case it doesn’t anytime soon, yesterday I ordered another set of these Sashiko squares from Shiboridragon on Etsy.

To-Do #2

I am making a quilt that measures 65″ x 60″ for my friend, Laura’s 50th birthday in January using Violet Craft’s Wolf Abstractions pattern. I’m using most of the colorings in pattern cover quilt pictured below but have switched out the blue and green sections. The pattern cover is 9″ x 12″ which provides a nice scale to see how large some of units are. The photo below shows 38 of the 97 units that comprise the quilt top. There is a mirror image of each unit to make up both sides of the wolf.

To-Do #3

I enjoyed Tara Faughnan’s Small World Quilt online workshop on October 16th. I made a couple units using her method that does not involve sewing on the foundation paper pieced template, but for me they’re not as precise as regular paper piecing, so I decide to make one using my tried-and-true paper-piecing method. I plan to watch the recording of the second day of the workshop that will be recorded next Saturday. I know even if I stick to regular paper-piecing, I can learn a lot from Tara especially regarding sewing the units into a completed block. In the pic below the left and center unit are made using Tara’s paper piecing method, and they look just fine, but the one on the right is made with regular paper-piecing, and it’s just a little bit more precise.

To-Do for the week of Oct 19th-25th:

1. Finish my Blakely Sew-Along quilt top.
2. Work on my Wolf Abstractions project.
3. If my order for Shiboridragon arrives in time or if I find my missing Sashiko squares, I want to try stitching another square on the gold speckled background with a variegated black/grey thread.

Linking up with Texas Quilt Gal: To-Do Tuesday.

 To-Do for the week of Oct 5th-11th:

1. Make some blocks for my Blakely SAL quilt top. √Done
2. Make more ombré wonky stars for my Oct ’21 OMG project. √Done
3. Stitch a Sashiko square with a totally different color scheme. √Done

To-Do #1

The Blakely quilt pattern is an easy sew, but it’s best to keep your 1.5″ sashing strips separate from your 1.25″ background block strips. I didn’t even notice I’d grabbed the wrong size numerous times until my rows weren’t matching up. Arggghhh! In the pic below I used FOUR 1.5″ sashing strips instead of the 1.25″ strips. The good news is that I’ve now fixed them all after spending A LOT of quality time with my seam ripper!

To-Do #2

I finished making all my wonky stars, and my Wonky Northern Lights quilt top is finished. Below is a pic of the upper right quadrant. I’ll share a photo of the entire quilt top when I write my October 2021 OMG Finish post later this month.

To-Do #3

I finished stitching one Sashiko square on a masculine-looking speckled gold background using a variegated burgundy thread for a set of Sashiko coasters for my stepson, Drew. I haven’t washed out the pre-printed lines and dashes because I’m not 100% certain I like this floss/background combination. I may try another combo next week.

To-Do for the week of Oct 12th-18th:

1. Stitch another Sashiko square with the speckled gold background possibly with another color thread.
2. Work on a large-scale paper piecing project that I just started yesterday.
3. Take the first day of Tara Faughnan’s Small World Quilt online workshop on October 16th.

Linking up with Texas Quilt Gal: To-Do Tuesday.

 To-Do for the week of Sept 28th-Oct 4th:

1. Stitch a grey Sashiko square with variegated turquoise floss. √Done
2. Write my October 2021 OMG post. √Done
3. Make some ombré wonky stars for my Oct ’21 OMG project.√Done

To-Do #1

This is was a quick Seven Treasures Sashiko square to stitch. For now I’m done stitching Sashiko squares with this color scheme. I plan to minimally quilt five of these gray/turquoise squares, bind them, and make them into a set of coasters for a Christmas gift.

To-Do #2

See my October 2021 One Monthly Goal here. Below are the first four stars I made for this project:

To-Do #3

And here are four more wonky stars (they are definitely fun to make):

And a Squirrel…

I made a mini for my Denver Broncos-loving friend, Erica. I decided to somewhat replicate the shape of a football and made it reversible. I used some of what I learned from Nicholas Ball’s Quilt Finishings to bind this small curved mini that measures 3.75″ at its widest and 6″ long.

To-Do for the week of Oct 5th-11th:

1. Make some blocks for my Blakely SAL quilt top.
2. Make more ombré wonky stars for my Oct ’21 OMG project.
3. Stitch a Sashiko square with a totally different color scheme.

Linking up with Texas Quilt Gal: To-Do Tuesday.

 To-Do for the week of Sept 21st- 27th:

1. Work on a simple I Spy quilt top. √Done
2. Write my 2021 September OMG Finish post. √Done
3. Cut fabric for our family Blakely Sew-Along. √Done
4. Take a Quilt Edge Finishings online workshop with Nicholas Ball through CraftyMonkies. √Done

To-Do #1

I made a simple I Spy quilt top using this tutorial for a special child in my life who will turn one in December (her parents are not comfortable with any kind of specific online reference to her, so I’m respecting their wishes). I found I needed to cut my longer sashing strips 6″ long rather than 5.5″ as stated in the tutorial. It was a quick quilt top to make that I was able to finish in less than a week.

To-Do #2

I wrote about my North Stars quilt top finish in my September 2021 OMG Finish post.

To-Do #3

I got all the cutting done for my family Blakely Sew-Along project and saved a lot of time using my Accuquilt strip cutter to cut the 2.5 inch strips. This is hands-down my most subdued ombré project this year!

To-Do #4

I really enjoyed the Quilt Edge Finishings online workshop with Nicholas Ball through CraftyMonkies on 9/26/21. I took a lot of notes and screen shots. I really want to try his pillow case facing method (see class demonstration photo below) as well as the Welsh Knife Edge technique. I could not find the pillow case finishing method anywhere online but I did find a post on Welsh Quilts: How to Sew a Traditional or Knife Edge. Nicholas’ method is a little different and much clearer to me than the Welsh Quilts tutorial, but it is a cool way to finish a quilt without using extra binding or facing fabric.

To-Do for the week of Sept 28th-Oct 4th:

1. Stitch a grey Sashiko square with variegated turquoise floss.
2. Write my October 2021 OMG post.
3. Make some ombré wonky stars for my Oct ’21 OMG project.

Linking up with Texas Quilt Gal: To-Do Tuesday.

 To-Do for the week of Sept 14th-20th:

1. Work on the Fritz & Fred Foxes block for the North Stars quilt for my SIL Sharon. √Done
2. Stitch a grey Sashiko square with variegated turquoise floss. √Done
3. Finish pulling fabric for our family Blakely Sew-Along. √Done

To-Do #1

For the last 24″ square block for Sharon’s North Star quilt, I made the Fritz & Fred Foxes block. I used the a red grunge fabric for the foxes and the same coordinating fabrics as I used for the Brown Bear block. I was able to get the quilt top finished on Sunday and will share about it in the OMG post I’ll write in the coming week.

To-Do #2

I used a plastic Sashiko stencil to trace the image of a Cherry Blossom (Sakura) and used my pretty variegated Caribbean perle floss to stitch the flower. I’m planning to make a set Sashiko coasters using this floss on grey cloth as a Christmas gift.

To-Do #3

Here is my fabric pull for our Blakely family Sew-Along:

To-Do for the week of Sept 21st- 27th:

1. Take a Quilt Edge Finishings online workshop with Nicholas Ball through CraftyMonkies.
2. Write my 2021 September OMG Finish post.
3. Cut fabric for our family Blakely Sew-Along.
4. Work on a simple I Spy quilt top.

Linking up with Texas Quilt Gal.

 To-Do for the week of Sept 7th-13th:

1. Make the second block for the North Stars quilt for my sister-in-law, Sharon. √Done
2. Start cutting fabric for the third North Stars block. √Done
3. Write a post about my finished Ombré Lotus quilt. √Done

To-Do #1

For the second 24″ square block for Sharon’s North Star quilt, I made the Meredith Muskox block. I used three different Essex linen fabrics for the ox, more fussy cut squares and rectangles out of Tim Holtz’ Christmas Carol fabric, and some taupe, gold, and red fabric from my stash.

To-Do #2

I had an unexpected time windfall Friday afternoon when our governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, gave state workers four hours of seasonal leave for all our hard work during the pandemic, so I not only got the pieces cut for the Reggie Reindeer block but was able to get it done on Sunday. It went together fairly quickly since it is the same color scheme as the muskox block, and I had already had some fussy cut Christmas Carol fabric plus some HSTs previously done.

To-Do #3

Here’s the link to my Ombré Lotus Quilt Finished post.

To-Do for the week of Sept 14th- 20th:

1. Finish pulling fabric for our family Blakely Sew-Along.
2. Work on the Fritz & Fred Foxes block for the North Stars quilt for my sister-in-law, Sharon.
3. Stitch a grey Sashiko square with variegated turquoise floss.

Linking up to Texas Quilt Gal: To-Do Tuesday.