June in Review

Lots of family stuff going on, so it was a month with little sewing. Here's what I did get done:
1.  Finished my blocks for Unit 6 of Sweet Land of Liberty
Embellishments of words in tree block and stars on checkerboard left to do.

2. Made some maze blocks, embroidered a bear block and mitered a border to finish a neonatal quilt.

3.  Finally after years, got these log cabin blocks into a quilt top.

And that's about it.  July probably won't be much different as I'm going to Washington state last week of July, and I'll be baby sitting quite a bit earlier in the month - all fun. So for my challenges - didn't work on my UFOs and moved along on my NSO (newly started object).  How about you?

I'm linking to Can I get a Whoop, Whoop? and Oh Scrap. Also Judy's June UFO and 6 and 6 in 2018

Finally some sewing

Didn't sew in the past week - busy finishing a quilt to turn in at Guild, and flew to San Jose for three days with my TX cousins for a mini holiday within a holiday.  It was fun. But today I took a few minutes and made a block for my Unit 6 of Sweet Land of Liberty.  Glad to be back in sewing mode.

Our trip worked out great and with Google Maps it was easy to navigate around the town.  We went to the Basilica of Saint Joseph (established in 1803)

Old Mission San Jose:
Went to the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles
More pictures later.  I hope you got to quilt/sew today.  Blessings in this coming new week.

Here's the block I made: 

I Like Thursdays and Fridays

cuz they keep me working even if life is just leaving me a few moments to work on my projects.
So, I finished my baby quilt top.

 It has some problems, but I like it. Needed to make my borders about 3 inches longer to miter them correctly.
Sew a little square in the corner and it will not show when I bind.
The top now has batting and a back.  DGS#4 is visiting so I didn't quite get to finish putting it together for quilting.

I also went back and made some more flying geese for scraps of different sizes.  Don't know where I got those crazy sizes fromin my last post about these. I finally figured it out using the sizes determined from the no waste method at patchpieces.com for my refinement using scraps.  To go  over it again:

The no waste method requires a larger scrap than I usually have. Also sometimes I need more variety in my geese body. So instead of cutting out the squares as directed in the no waste method, I cut them out of paper (actually today I cut them out of freezer paper as I didn't have paper 9 1/4" square). That worked out better to lightly attached it to my fabric, I didn't have to worry when I moved my ruler to cut another side.
My Piece of scrap for the goose body

1/4th of the required square(cut with two diagonals) to get my goose.

How I lay my ruler to cut two sides efficiently

Cut my wing square in half and sew to body.

Press wing going out and sew other, then true up goose using 1/4" seam at top of unit.

Trim other side using the diagonal line on the ruler.
Here's the larger size I did using the same method and that 9 1/4" square  of freezer paper cut twice on the diagonal to use on my scraps:
This one is 4 1/2" by 8 1/2" .

I like this method. I'll be using a lot more scraps this way.  I'm linking to Can I Have a Whoop, Whoop? and Finished or Not Fridays.  Also do visit LeeAnna's I Like Thursdays for some great non-quilty stuff.

On my Design Wall

Have added the Maze blocks and a brown border.  Now to find a print to complete this.  Won't be on my DW long.

I'm linking to Design Wall Monday, Monday Making and BOMs Away.  Share your projects.

Some of This; Some of That

I stitched a few more hexies for BLISS, then embroidered a block for my next neonatal quilt top.  It was restful to sit in the living room watching TV and stitching this little guy who measures 6 1/2" square.

I've made some maze blocks (a kind of log cabin) and hope to have the medallion part ready soon - maybe by Friday. I"m also about finished binding another baby quilt. With these blocks and binding, I've used .63 yds. in the last week.

Lastly, in my destashing, I went through a drawer in my closet and found  the equivalent of 2 yards in scraps I no longer want to play with.  Off to the guild Pay and Take.  That gives me a YTD total of 38.06yds toward the 48 yards I need to reach my goal in December.

I'm linking to Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching, Sunday Stash, and Oh Scraps.  Do you have some hand stitching to do today or this coming week?

Top complete!

There are nine of those white centers - couldn't find anyone to hold
it up for me.
After three retreats, I finally finished this Christmas top.  Couldn't have done it without Jean Ann Wrights Log Cabin Trim Tool by Creative Grids. Let me use strips of any size as long as they were a little bit bigger than 1 1/2" wide. The fabric I used was a Robert Kaufman Christmas collection - sorry I don't know which one.

It's going into my WTBQ pile.  I"m thinking of sewing a poinsettia in the white parts and some Holly in the green areas.
What do you think?


I'm linking to Finished or Not Friday, Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop? and Oh Scraps!.  Have a wonderful weekend.

Speaking of Retreat

I had a great time at our Guild's May Retreat. And it was so wonderful that my Mom, my daughter, and my daughter-in-law could join me. Here's are some photos of projects that were worked on by the 22 of us:
the spacious room we had to work in

 
our first make and take - a needle case.

Our second make and take - a quilting in the Neighborhood placemat



Some of the projects worked on:
Tracy's first Dresden plate - she made it into a pillow

Katy's Embroidered starfish - felt like chenille.

A pickle dish project

Fern's fabulous dragon quilt - her own pattern for this panel

Barara's Mad Hatter

Carol's tablet holder

Joyce's lovely stack and whack block

My amazing daughter-in-law took to free motion quilting like a duck to water. Her first quilting endeavor.

Once she had it quilted, she bound it.  It is for her new niece.  And my daughter took Deanna's cut off triangles from her placemat and made a mug rug:
Em's our queen of mini quilts from scraps.
The setting is soothing, the food fabulous, the company a joy. Hope you get to go to a retreat this year. One coming up in November.

Some of This; Some of That

Since I was at retreat two weeks ago and then the funeral the following weekend, I haven't had much time to work on destashing, but I am finally able to report on those two week.  What with  making blocks for my Sweet Land of Liberty, some test geese, creating a medallion, binding a quilt, and working on another medallion, plus three fat quarters for a place mat,  I was able to use 1.62 yds from the stash.  That gives me a YTD total of 35.43 yds toward the 46 yards I need to reach my goal in December. Yes, the difference is greater - such is life.  Just have to keep plugging along - maybe donate some yardage to the guild.  We'll see.

Now something new.  My mom and I are doing a round robin.  Here's what she gave me  - above left.  And here is what I'm sending her.  Have the last row to attach.  We're turning
these into baby quilts.  Just something different for a change.  What would you do with these?
They have to measure around 36" square when done.

I'm linking to Sunday Stash.  How have you done with your destashing?

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...