6and6in2018

Time to report on my 6and6in2018  for February.  While I didn't get to a finish, I got my top sandwiched and completely quilted, so I feel I made quite a bit of progress on this one.
This is my Mod-Mod Sampler from Block Lotto.

It was my #10 UFO in Judy's UFO challenge - my other incentive to get old time projects done.  This was begun in 2014.  All the fabrics are from my stash. I quilted each block individually. I want to bind it with leftover fabrics used in the quilt top. Determined it will be a finish before the year is out.
A closer look

The backing I chose
I'm linking to Meredithe's 6and6in2018. Do go by and see how others progressed. Link above.




Some of This; Some of That

Up on my design wall is the doll quilt for Spread the Love.  It measures 26" square and made all from scraps and some leftover binding.  I am privileged to contribute a quilt to this worthy cause.
The front:
The back:

Do visit her link to see the generosity of those others who answered the call for doll quilts. Some made way more than one.  Bless you all.

As to destashing: I used 0.46 yd for the back of this top, 0.5 for a few more HSTs, and donated 2 yards to the Guild.  I'm reporting 2.51 yds out for a YTD total of 9.25 yds.

This Sunday I'm back to hexagons.
Hope to make some on this sunny, but cold day.  I usually try to do some garden work on Sunday afternoons (the green waste is picked up Mondays). However, I'm such a wimp, and weeding doesn't happen in 40 degree temps.  Maybe next Sunday.

I'm linking to Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching, Cynthia's Oh Scrap!Sunday Stash , and Design Wall Monday. See you there.

Friday Finish

It's quilted.  My RSC block for January is actually 30" square. I'm donating it to the NICU ward at our county hospital.  I bound it with the blue in the center. It's already given to the charity coordinator of our guild. Alas, I forgot to take a photo of the bound and finished quilt.

For this preemie quilt I did freezer paper work, tape work, FMQ, used a walking foot, and a Hera marker. The thread was a blue So Fine #50 by Superior Threads.


This is my alternate to ruler work at times.  With my FMQ foot I stitched a triangle.  Then did straight lines inside the triangle - again with my FMQ foot.  I drew one straight line with the Hera marker to keep me aligned.  You can see it in the photo with tape.






Well, they're straighter than they would have been - lol.  Go here to see the posts where Karen of Faeries and Fibres showed us how to do these. I used the Hera marker to draw the lines on the white squares. I found that when trying to follow a Hera line one has to look ahead of the foot to see the line.

I'm linking to Finish it Up Friday, Let's Make Baby Quilts, Finished or Not Fridays, Free Motion Mavericks, Can I get a Whoop, Whoop? and Scrap Happy Saturday.  Enjoy them - I sure do.

Last week's winner of the fat quarter was Chris in Canada.  Congrats, Chris.  I'll be sending you an email.  This week it's another fat quarter for a linker or commentator. Link party button below. Would love to see or read about what you are working on.  Ends midnight, Thursday.

I Like Thursday

Things I've liked this week:

In the garden - we don't have a lawn in the normal sense, but we do have unusual plants. Here's one
It's a convoluted, frilly like, monstrous specimen of a succulent.  Something I'd probably see on the planet Pandora.

With the grandkids - DGS#4 is doing his first animal report.  He's chosen a Carassius Auratus. There are many and belong to the carp family of fish.  Here's one that looks like a former pet.

In our faith life - Lent is ongoing. I'm following along again with Dynamic Catholic's Best Lent Ever  Five minutes of reflection each day that brings me closer and deeper into a daily spiritual life and toward Easter.

And in the sewing room, I'm enjoying the ghost patterns that appear on the back of my Mod-Mod Sampler as I quilt each block.

What has brightened your world?  Leave me a comment - I'd like to know.  Or visit other Thursday posters at LeeAnna's I like Thursdays list.

Some of this; Some of that

Made a few purple HSTs for my RSC 2018 challenge.  These aren't sewn together yet as they need to be interspersed with future ones.
As to the destashing, I used 2 yards (yeah!) for a St. Anne's quilt, .04 yd for the units above, .01 yd for the tiny pinwheels, and .26 yd for the charity quilt for Share the Love. That's 2.31yds - Much better! YTD is now 6.74 yds. (I'll be reporting this at Sunday Stash - have you got numbers for us?)

For my Slow Sunday Stitching, I'm work on this for the week while watching Jeopardy. 


What do you watch as you slow stitch?   Fat quarter giveaway still on. See last Friday's post.

I'm also linking with Sunday Stash

   

Finished a Doll Quilt top

I finished this doll quilt top for Bernie's quilt drive and linky party. She's encouraging quilters to make a doll quilt to go with Amy's dolls. Amy makes dolls that look like the recipient. It is so therapeutic for them.

Mine is 26 inches square. I made it with 4 nine patches of 5"  squares from scraps in my novelty leftovers. Then I used the disappearing nine patch trick.  I'm going to try to quilt it this weekend and send it off early next week.  The quilt is matched with an 18"  doll.

Earlier this week, I sandwiched a quilt for St. Anne's.  Here it is on my kitchen table being pinned.  I use an old corrugated cardboard cutting mat and I pin my back right into the space between the two pieces of cardboard. The two clamps you see are to keep the mat from folding onto itself.  Once that is pinned (taut but not tight) I lay on the batting and top, then pin all three together.  This saves my back as I can't get down on the floor or carpet any more.
You're seeing the back of the backing.  Another to quilt! As for me I'm linking to Crazy Mom's Finish it Up Friday, Finished or Not Friday, and Can I get a Whoop, Whoop?  Lots to inspire there.

Have plans for quilting this long weekend?  Come by and link what you're working on. We'd love to see it.  Last week's giveaway winner is Lee Anna at Not Afraid of Color.  I've sent her an email.  She's getting a fat quarter once I know what color she'd like.  Want a fat quarter?  Link up to this week's party for an opportunity to do so.  Ends Thursday, midnight. Linky below.

I Like Thursday

because I get to play with fabric.  My daughter gave me some plaids AND in search for another fabric I found a bag of stripes and plaids,  so I'll be able to move forward on Unit 2 of SLOL.
Outside and catercorner to our house is a magnificent floral display:
It's a bougainvillea.  It blooms like this when it gets lots of sun and little water - way earlier than normal for the year.  I'm enjoying it while I can - who knows what it will do this summer.

The colorful part of the plant are the leaves (called bracts) which surround the true minuscule flower - sort of like the poinsettia.  I save photos like these for our hot summers as a relief from the brown and gray that can overwhelm us.

I'm off to Lea Anna's I Like Thursday post. Go on by and see her Thursday delights and those of others.

Some of This; Some of That

Giveaway still open - see last Friday's post.  I haven't shown you my 2nd Design Wall in a long time.  Here are some bits and pieces that reside there. LOL - I'm hoping they won't always reside there.
New-ish are the three new hexagon flowers I machine appliqued to the backgrounds and some more teeny pinwheels for My Small World. The rest is a holding ground for things I"m working on.
The main design wall (as you can see) is empty for a change. I actually haven't started anything recently. I'm still working on quilting my Mod-Mod. I've been held back trying to figure out how to mark a white square and then Barbara at Baltimore Garden Quilts posted the very thing I needed - How to Use a Hera Marker. Perfect!  Learn a new technique and get on with that block.

I went to a quilt show with my Mom [I'll show photos soon], and found some fabric for my primitive quilt from a vendor there - Simply Put Plus. I wasn't having much luck on the Net.
As I'm going to use up these fat quarters, I'm not counting them as adds to my stash.  She has a lot of good stuff and fabric for my primitive Sweet Land of Liberty. If you can't find plaids and such, send her an email. Since she makes kits, she'd be happy to sell fabric, too.  Her business is patterns, etc. I'll be linking to Design Wall Monday and Esther's WOW, and other linky parties under my more tab.  See you there.

We were promised rain, but it never appeared. Now they say by the beginning of next week, the eternal summer will be back.  Stay warm those of you who are really experiencing winter. We're resigned to the return of drought conditions.

Blessings to you all,

Slow Sunday Stitching

Added a few bits to my eagle, and now I'll be slow stitching the words today.

I've made two more teeny blocks for My Small World and can count the new border on the baby quilt.  So I had a grand total of .30 yards to add to my destashing.  YTD now 4.43 yards.  I better do something big or some culling as I should be more like 12 yards destashed so far.  Hmm.  Actually, once I get the quilting on the Mod-Mod lap quilt done, I'll have time to use more stash starting with the binding for that one.

Giveaway still open. May be a book, or EPP papers or fabric. Go to last Friday's post to link.  I'm linking to Sunday Stash and Slow Sunday Stitching.  Hope you got to sew/quilt today. Blessings!

A Two Month WIP Gone

I finally managed to finish the baby quilt top.  I was first just going to have all the border pieces matching, but it was too hard trying to get those stripes to line up on both sides.  So I though I'd miter the corners. After cutting off  the vertical pieces for my first attempt, the fabric was now not wide enough to have a long enough piece to miter. I learned that you have to double the width measurement and add an additional 5" to the piece cut to have enough for a miter.  In my case it would be 31.5"+3+3+5 or 42.5 inches and I only had 35".  So I did cornerstones to solve my  border dilemma.

I now find myself with 4 baby quilt tops  that need to be sandwiched and quilted.  How did that happen?  I must confess I'd rather put a top together than do any of the other steps in making a quilt. Good thing I have St. Anne's to help me get some of these done.

Speaking of St. Anne's,  we're raffling a quilt under the auspices of our parish (they're 501(c)(3) hoping to raise some monies for our associate pastor from Uganda.  The village where his mother lives is desperate for a nearby source of potable water.  They want to build some wells.  Here's the quilt we're raffling:
It's a vintage top a neighbor gave me.  We had it quilted.  This photo doesn't do it justice.  The fabrics are all from the 30s-50s.  Here's a close-up:
The Dresden Plates are hand pieced and hand stitched using the buttonhole stitch to the squares. The sashing is sateen ( I think).  It's a queen size quilt.  As you can see from this close-up photo the quilt squares are white not the yellow in the nighttime photo. Drawing winner March 8th.

I hope you liked this eye candy.  I'm linking to Finish it Up Friday, Finished or Not Friday and Can I get a Whoop, Whoop?  Go visit and see all their quilting goodness.

Want to share your goodies (doesn't have to be finish)?  Link below and I'll come by and see what you're up to. Blessings!

Some of This; Some of That

This week of making a baby quilt top, finishing SLOL unit, and a block for Block Lotto, I used .98 yards. It is what it is - way more than last week, but not 2 yards. New YTD total 4.13 yards.

I should have been quilting my Jan UFO. Instead I made the Feb block for the RSC 2018.

Those bluish blocks in the center aren't really blue.  The camera wasn't cooperating. The fabric does look more purple than blue.

I'm linking to Sunday Stash, Oh, Scrap, Design Wall Monday, and others. Check out my linky party list under the "more" tab.  Blessings!

Slow Sunday Stitching

Half done with this one block from Sweet Land of Liberty's unit 2.  Words, star and laurel leaves yet to do.  Called for a feather stitch, but I couldn't make it work going on a curve, so I "winged" it.

What are you up to?  Go by Kathy's and link and show us or leave a comment here and I'll come take a look.  Blessings!

On my Nightstand

The Christmas holidays  is not the time to read a book and review it.  What with decorating, baking, cleaning, hosting out-of-state company, shopping, visiting  and all the church events to attend, not much time is left for reading.  However, I ordered it and it came. Not til mid-January was I able to start on it.

To Light A Fire On the Earth is a book I had heard about on Facebook.  After reading other of Bishop Barron’s books, I knew I wanted to have my own copy.  This is not a book that you can read at one sitting, and then go lightly on one's way.  Then when I started reading it wasn’t what I expected.

With a subtitle of Proclaiming the Gospel in a Secular Age, I imagined the book would be about evangelizing God word in today’s world, and it is, but in a different  way.  As I began to read, even in the introduction, it read more like a biography of the Bishop than anything else.  Then in answer, or more as an explanation of the Bishop’s method of evangelizing, it became autobiographical with excerpts of answers to Barron by questions asked by John Allen, Jr., a collaborator in this work. This is a new type of format for me, yet it worked in getting the reader to know Bishop Barron and proclaiming the Gospel.

Throughout the book and at the end, what I digested is that here  is a man passionate about evangelizing people to get them to know the beauty, truth and good of the Catholic faith. He wants to reach them with the positive, find ways more inviting, point to the good in the culture, experience the lyrical in Catholicism.


I received this book (published by Image Books/NY) from Blogging for Books for this review. It has found a place on my nightstand where at night, like saying the Psalms or the evening Office, I can reread a few pages, think about what I’ve read, and delve into their richness as I sleep, so I can perhaps in a tiny way live them the next day.

Jan UFO

More than half way!
Judy of Patchworktimes.com has pick #1 as our February challenge and since I was so close to finishing this one, I went ahead and put it on my 2018 list as #1.  Well after I posted the list, I snuck in some sewing time and finished all the blocks, then forgot to take it off my list.

I am done with that one for now.  I'm saving them for July when I have my Christmas in July sewing month.  Here's what I wrote:   

1.  Finish making the blocks of this scrap log cabin. Twelve to go if I have enough fabric.  If not, then I'll have to think of a new layout.

I had enough fabric. 

I think I'll continue with the January UFO which got sandwiched and more than half way quilted.  
I even figured out what I'm going to do for a binding. I'm bound and determined to finish this one in Feb.

Life is good!
Blessings,

SAHRR Round 5 and 6

  Ready to show rounds 5 and 6. Actually, the prompt for 5 was make 4 of something. So I chose four patch, and actually since that made my q...