Whoops.
Last week I finished one baby quilt, using 3.25 yards.
This week: + 0 yards, – 3.25 yards
This year: + 44.25 yards, – 65.25 yards
Net destashed added in 2018: 21 yards
If I keep this up, I’m on track for using my goal of fifty yards by the end of the year.
How are you doing?
I finished this quilt a couple of days ago, but today had the perfect bright, overcast conditions to photograph it (and since then, the sun has come out in full).
This was a quick fun project for my Etsy shop, and to work on using low-volume fabrics. You notice that I still crave some contrast, but this is pretty light for me, isn’t it?
I gave a lot of thought (too much) about the quilting. I wanted to quilt train tracks, but wasn’t happy with any I drew- too straight or too curvy. The tracks printed white-on-white on the fabric are irregular and hand-drawn. I opted to quilt a grid freehand (unmarked) across the quilt, using the piecing to keep me lined up (on track?). I’m not sure if it looks fun and organic, or as if I can’t quite quilt straight lines, but I feel good about it.
I’m linking up to Let’s Make Baby Quilts at Michelle’s Romantic Tangle.
May flew by, but I did accomplish my goals!
May Goals:
I’m doing the smaller (63″ x 72″) Fawn Lake quilt, so I think it needs some 6″ borders to bring it up to bed size. And I have the perfect fabric!
June Goals:
We’re looking at a week of cooler weather here (whew!), so I’m excited to get started on my June goals.
Good sewing to you this month!
Hi! Taking advantage of our Memorial Day weekend to get back to the sewing machine. This week I completed twelve donation blocks, using 1.5 yards of fabric.
And I bought 1.75 yards, but it was travel fabric, purchased in Elkins, West Virginia, so it’s okay, isn’t it? Fear not, I have a new baby quilt on the design wall, so I should have more usage to report soon.
This week: + 1.75 yards, – 1.5 yards
This year: + 44.25 yards, – 62 yards
Net destashed added in 2018: 17.75 yards
Keep up your good work destashing!
This week I’m working on donation blocks for Briawna at Purple Poppy Quilts. I usually make blocks for Kat’s Covered in Love, but this month she asked us to support Briawna, and autism is a cause that’s important to me.
I’ve never done these cross-plus blocks before, but they are very easy. Choosing colors is harder, as you can see from mine, but I’m learning. One thing that I like is that it uses scrap sizes I already have cut, and it’s perfect for bright or novelty fabrics that don’t always fit in other places.
Six blocks finished, six more to assemble.
Today was a beautiful day with perfect sunny, mild weather. I spent some time working outdoors, indoors, in the studio, and at the Y. Hope you had a good day, too.
My last Stash Report was a looong time ago. Since then the only thing I’ve finished was the Tree wall hanging, using 2.5 yards.
This week I bought 7.75 yards of fabric. I do want you to notice that most of it is low volume, so I’m trying to meet that goal.
This week: + 7.75 yards, – 2.5 yards
This year: + 42.5 yards, – 60.5 yards
Net destashed added in 2018: 18 yards
How is your destashing going?
So, where did March and April go? It’s not like I was enjoying the warm weather. I remember the end of March, and making a vague attempt to blog, but the days just kept passing by. And when I don’t have clear goals I don’t sew every day and make the kind of progress I could.
I did well enough with my March goals, and for April, I made the Tree wall hanging and part of Clue #4 for Summer Stars at Fawn Lake.
March (April) Goals:
Bonus: I turned a backing scrap with a tree print into a wall hanging.
May Goals:
Now the weather really is warm (in the northern hemisphere), so long overdue gardening will be competing with sewing. Good luck to all of us on our goals this month!
Finally, I’ve finished the Tree wall hanging. It finished at 34″ x 42″. I struggled getting good photos of it today, between the wind and lack of a good place to hang it, so I’ll probably take some more before I list it on Etsy.
I debated whether to bind it in green or purple, so I put it to the #Twilters. Green won, but I went with Darla’s idea of a purple binding with a green (faux) flange. Thank you!
This is the quilt that started with the scrap left from backing the green donation quilt. It was tall and skinny, so I was inspired to cut the top off and let the tree go into the border, like this beauty by Cathy Geier. I started carelessly adding border fabric, but I wish I had measured and been less improv about it. That’s fine for blocks, but I struggled to get this top square again. It’s pretty close, even if it doesn’t look it.
The leaves on the panel were chunky and squarish, so I cut little squares of green, gold, and purple fabric, mostly scraps from the donation quilt. I wanted to sprinkle them around, but they refused to sprinkle, dropping instead as thick, layered clumps, so I ended up hand placing each bit into the areas I had prepared with spray baste.
Then I covered them with water-soluble stabilizer so I could quilt them into place. I used Solvy and Dissolve, and found them to be just the same to sew on and both dissolved fine in the washer. The washer also frayed the edges of the bits nicely.
I used metalic thread to brighten the sunbeam on the right. It really shows more in indoor light (good!) and when you walk by, than in a still photo.
The hanging sleeve is caught in the top binding, and hand sewn underneath, so that’s my hand sewing for the week year.
I like the way it turned out, and if no one else wants it, it’ll look great in my house!
I’m linking up with Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts and Whoop Whoop Friday at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.
First, let me apologize for all the snow some of us are having. I’m pretty sure it’s my fault, after I publicly declared that one (about three snowstorms back) our “last”. And last week I put away my boot tray from the front door. Sorry.
I have made very slow, incremental progress on the tree panel. Thank you to Gretchen and Jaye for your suggestions.
I’m not usually a fan of medallion quilts, so I didn’t want to go that way. I added some borders, but not too many, because they already bring it to 35″ x 45″. I cut off the top of the tree, to help with the proportions, but also because I saw a wonderful tree quilt by Cathy Geier that extended the leaves out into the border, so that’s what I want to do. Not that I think I’ll come anywhere close to hers. I’m thinking of bits of snipped fabric for the leaves.
And I think that sunbeam on the right needs to be highlighted.
So far I’ve used invisible thread to quilt in all the border ditches.
I can’t promise huge progress on this soon. DS is home, so we’ve been doing some things, and DH and I have gone on some outings just from cabin fever.
Hope you’re make good progress on your projects.
This is the leftover fabric from the backing for the Ombre donation quilt. I didn’t plan it this way. After cutting (tearing) my two backing pieces, this is what was left.
I haven’t trimmed it yet. I’m just looking at it and pulling a few scraps to go with it.
What would you add to this or do with it?
Evening in the Garden Quilts 