Evening in the Garden Quilts

Adventures in Fabric Art


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Sunday Stash Report and April/May Goals

IMG_2637Okay, I bought half a yard of fabric!  I needed it to bind the Coral and Aqua baby quilt.  And that finish finally starts to move my numbers again.

This week:  + .5 yards,  – 3.25 yards
This year: + 48 yards,  – 70.75 yards
Net destashed in 2016:  22.75 yards

 

April was a weird month, with my knee surgery and very little sewing.  I finally got back to the sewing these last two weeks, but only for an hour or two at a time.  I did watch some Craftsy classes and listened to a few podcasts, but I wasn’t really in the mood.  Mostly I read, and stayed caught up on your blogs and social media.

April Goals:

  1. Complete Clue 4 for Charlotte’s Scrappy Blocks Around the Corner.  Yes!  Here.
  2. Make blocks for Kat’s April Block Drive.  I did not.
  3. Watch my Craftsy Classes.  Yes, I watched parts of “Cut to It” (Caffrey) and “Creative Quilting with Your Walking Foot” (Gerhing).  Of course, I bought three more classes, so I’m not caught up…
  4. Catch up, more or less, on quilty podcasts.  I am no where near caught up, but I did listen to several.

(These are modest to accommodate my recovery from having my left knee partially replaced.)

Bonus:  I finished the Coral and Aqua Baby Quilt.

 

I’m still not enjoying sewing for long periods of time, because of the knee pain, and I know I’ll be gone at least one week in May, so I’m not counting on getting too much done.

May Goals:

  1. Make blocks for Kat’s May block drive.
  2. Make Birds in the Air blocks for the Twilters! swap.
  3. Finish cleaning behind the door in my studio.
  4. Make a baby quilt for my shop.

 
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Hope you’re using your stash, and accomplishing your goals!  I’m linking up to the Stash Report at Patchwork Times.


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Coral and Aqua Finish

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Yesterday I finished this baby quilt.  It’s 39″ square, with 7″ blocks.

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The part I enjoyed most was quilting the roses free-hand (or free range!) in the solid blocks.  Roses are all different, and can’t be “wrong”, can they?

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I also liked the tiny chevrons I used for the binding.

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We think it’s a success.

Hope you have some great finishes.


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Sunday Stash Report: 4/24/16

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Nothing in and nothing out this week.  I did sew a little every day, though.  I put a few rows of Scrappy Stars Around the Corner together, and the sashing really changes the look (compare here).

This week:  + 0 yards,  – 0 yards
This year: + 47.5 yards,  – 67.5 yards
Net destashed in 2016:  20.00 yards

Hope you’re making progress using your stash.
I’m linking up to the Stash Report at Patchwork Times.


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WIP Wednesday: The “Fly” Fabric

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Today I finished Clue 4 in the Scrappy Stars Around the Corner mystery quilt.  I like the way they turned out.

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Here are the blocks laid out without any sashing.  The Snow sashing will lighten it up a lot.image

I’ve gotten questions about this very…interesting fabric that keeps popping up in my quilts.  I bought it about ten years ago, and I’ve been trying to use it up ever since.  Yes, I think those are flies.  Almost look like mosquitos.  Surely not supposed to be butterflies?image

I bought this fabric (probably at JoAnn) for my niece’s cat quilt.  (I’m sorry about these phone photos of film photos.)  I needed a “light” black, and this seemed whimsical.  I bought a couple yards because the entire background was supposed to be black.  And it looked great, design-wise.  But it made a very dark quilt for a graduation gift.  So I bought the pale green (with it’s own insects) to finish it out.  And I was left with lots of cut triangles and yardage to use up.  The best place I found to use a lot of it was the second of these Rail Fence quilts.  And maybe the last of it has ended up in SSAtC. image

Yes, this is the “Tidy Cat” on the yellow patches.  Tidy Cat briefly offered their litter in printed feed sacks about 12? 15?  years ago, so I had saved one or two and they were the genisis of this quilt.  You just never know.

Hope you’re making good progress on your projects!


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Birds in the Air

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As I take it easy to let my new knee heal, it seemed like a good time to show off an old quilt. 

The Twilters! on Facebook are holding an exchange of Birds in the Air blocks in honor of Frances’ new book, so I was reminded of this.

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I made this little quilt in 1993, inspired by Ruth McDowell’s Pattern on Pattern.  It’s all hand pieced and quilted (from back when I did that!).  It’s about 39″ square, made from 6″ blocks.

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Some blocks are like we’re making, others are split down the middle, and then color creates the shifting layers of transparency.  Gives me ideas for fancy ways to set our exchange blocks.

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And, yes, you’ll be glad to know I did have help with these photos.


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Sunday Stash and Knee Report: 4/10/16

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Yuri’s pretty confused.  There’s no sewing going on, his dad is feeding him, and the weather is not cat-friendly, to say the least.   All that should resolve itself soon, and he’ll be back to his routine.

Thanks to everyone for your good wishes for my knee surgery.  They seem to have worked, because I’m doing very well.  It’s been very painful, but I’m walking around fine, using a cane when I go out, and the physical therapist says I’m making great progress.  DH has been doing all the cooking, which is wonderful, but I’ll probably get back to that soon, too.

I’ve been very tired and haven’t felt creative at all.  I have kept up on reading blogs and groups on Facebook and Twitter.  Haven’t touched the knitting.

At least I haven’t bought any fabric (we’re not tracking sandals or workout wear, are we?) so far, so my numbers are still the same.

This week:  + 0 yards,  – 0 yards
This year: + 47.5 yards,  – 67.5 yards
Net destashed in 2016:  20.00 yards

Hope you’re sewing up your stash!


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Sunday Stash and March/April Goals

2016-03-27 10.36.54This week I didn’t buy fabric and I did use 4.25 yards for a commissioned baby quilt.

2016-03-21 15.39.12This week:  + 0 yards,  – 4.25 yards
This year: + 47.5 yards,  – 67.5 yards
Net destashed in 2016:  20.00 yards

Goals:

March Goals

  1. Complete the third clue for Charlotte’s Scrappy Stars Around the Corner.  Yes!  Right here.
  2. Make a back and donate it with the top from Gyleen’s Bricks, Cobblestones, and Pebbles mystery quilt.  Well, it’s not mailed yet, but I did make  buy a wide piece of backing to send with it.
  3. Clear the area behind the door in my studio.  This is mostly finished.  There is still a large photo to hang and a couple things I haven’t made decisions about yet.
  4. Make donation blocks for Kat’s March Drive.  Yes!  Here.
  5. Make some summer-themed wall hangings.  Yes!  Here.
  6. Participate in Darla’s March-A-Long, where we sew a little every day. Yes!  I’m very proud that I spent at least 15 minutes, usually much more, sewing/designing/cleaning the studio every day though March 27.

Bonus:  I made two jungle-themed baby quilts, inspired by fabric I had bought 0ver Christmas.  And I made some blocks for Alycia’s drive.

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For April, I don’t have many sewing goals.  I’m going to have a partial knee replacement on Monday, so it will be a while till I can climb up to the studio to work.  In the meantime, I got out some old knitting projects, and I’ll try to catch up all the audio and visual quilting things I usually put off.

April Goals:

  1. Complete Clue 4 for Charlotte’s Scrappy Blocks Around the Corner.
  2. Make blocks for Kat’s April Block Drive.
  3. Watch my Craftsy Classes.
  4. Catch up, more or less, on quilty podcasts.
  5. Work on knitting UFOs.

Happy Easter to everyone!  I’m linking up to the Stash Report at Patchwork Times.


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Sunday Stash Report: 3/20/16

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This week I made these three spring wall hangings for my Etsy shop.  Each one took about three quarters of a yard.  And I didn’t buy any fabric!  These were quick and lots of fun to work on, and came almost all from old stash.  However, in the last few weeks I’ve used up all my light green Kona solids, so I need to replenish those…

This week:  + 0 yards,  – 2.25 yards
This year: + 47.5 yards,  – 63.25 yards
Net destashed in 2016:  15.75 yards

Hope your stash is headed the right way!  I’m linking up to the Stash Report at Patchwork Times.


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WIP Wednesday

2016-03-16 13.48.15This week I’ve been making wall hangings/ table runners.  This is finished.

2016-03-16 13.47.55And these need the binding.

IMG_2609Well, okay, I put the binding on this afternoon, and I like this photo!

What are you working on?


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Sunday Stash Report: 3/13/16

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It was a pretty good week with the Stash.  I did buy three quarters of a yard of a spring panel fabric.  But I finished this little zebra quilt.  I spent one afternoon just cutting up the scraps and putting away fabric.

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And most of the week went into assembling Clue #3 for Scrappy Stars Around the Corner, so that finish will be way down the road.

This week:  + .75 yards,  – 3.5 yards
This year: + 47.5 yards,  – 61 yards
Net destashed in 2016:  13.5 yards

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Have a great week, and use that Stash!
Linking up to the Stash Report at Patchwork Times.