Squirrels!

OK, so I succumbed. There I was, just sewing along, checking off items on my sewing To-Do list, month after month. Three finishes in August, three in September, four in October. Then out of the blue....

It had to happen. I was bored hurting  Oh heck, no excuse. I just wanted to do some Christmas stuff.  It began with a real, planned project on my WIP list, Let it Snow. I finally managed to get the da** thing quilted. The dense snowy swirl design took four bobbins-worth of thread. Never. Again. Yes, I’m icing my shoulder as I type this.

OK, so my squirrels swirls leave a lot to be desired. Don’t look too closely. Of course, by saying that I realize that you WILL look too closely.... So here is a close up of the wonky swirls. Feel free to shake your head and cluck you tongue. I’ll wait until you’re done....

Let it Snow still needs binding and a small hanging sleeve in back, which will happen today. When it’s done, I’ll do a happy dance and finish post, as this is on my Finish-Along list for this quarter. The rest of the sewing squirrelly projects are not. But let’s take a peek anyway, shall we?

This is a table runner made from cute wonky trees. It’s just pin-basted for now. It will be quilted with a simple stipple this week. The trees are made by layering three 8-inch squares, right sides up and cutting. I used a tutorial from the Block Lotto group, but there is a similar free tutorial HERE.  I used up my old red and cream scraps here as well as some leftover green from Bruce’s Groovy Guitars quilt. Next time I do one of these, I’ll use more contemporary fabrics.

And I had lots of little squares of fabrics that I’d ordered a few years ago from Spoonflower. Cousin Kim gave me the idea to make coasters out of them. So, here they are, all 20 of them. They’re layered and quilted and the edges are stitched. Kim will get 12, we’ll keep 8.

And we needed a tree skirt. So this happened. It still needs to be layered and quilted. That will probably happen this week. The backing fabric will be that cute zig-zag.

Rainbow Scrap sewing? Um.... well..... I DID get Exploding Boxes basted. That will be quilted and finished this week for a reveal next weekend. Ish. And speaking of basting quilts, I’ve been using the quilt basting spray again. Or should I say STILL? There’s more in those 505 Quilt Basting Spray cans than I originally thought. With my current can, I spray basted California Poppies, Let it Snow and Exploding Boxes. I do pin the edges because I get a little spray-shy about not coating the surrounding areas with spray when I use it. But there is still more in the can. I’m definitely going to order more of this stuff! My shoulder is happy about avoiding a bazillion safety pins.

I’ve also been working on my On Ringo Lake. The first diagonal rows of one block and three blocks are sewn. The next row of five blocks is just pinned. Hopefully it will look neater after being sewn. And then there is the next row of seven waiting in the wings. I’m torn between going the distance (after the row of seven would be two rows of nine before reducing down to 7, 5, 3 and 1) or just doing two rows of 7 and then reducing. If I do the latter, it would leave 18 blocks for the back or another project. And it would be a manageable size for me to quilt. Still thinking on this...

I’m linking up to Rainbow Scrap Challenge (Saturday) and Oh Scrap! (Sunday). 

By the way, if you like Kona cotton solids, JoAnn’s has restocked their colors and even has a dedicated section for them now. Their regular price of $8.99 per yard is ridiculous, but if you get your hands on a 60% coupon - which happens regularly if you get their flyers or subscribe to their app on your phone - you can pick up Kona for $3.60 per yard. So far I’ve stocked up on white and black, but I intend to get some grays, red, etc. 

Making Some Progress

Autumn is progressing nicely here in the Salt Lake Valley. The leaves are bright and about half-on, half-off the trees. Halloween evening was cool, but not frigid, and the kids turned out for their treats as expected. We handed out mini pumpkins from our garden and stickers. We also had some candy in case of an “emergency”, but most of the little ghouls and goblins were happy without.

I made some decent progress on my quilting projects this week. It feels so good to feel physically good again, without the aches and pains of pinched nerves and side effects from medications. So, here is what emerged from the needle this week.

Exploding Boxes is a flimsy! This is a Rainbow Scrap project that I started in January. It’s made from the quarter log cabin blocks I sewed every month. The only color I didn’t include was light blue. Those were the blocks from the first month, and the center starting squares  were quite a bit larger than I did in subsequent months. So, into the Parts Department they went.

Now it’s ready to be basted and quilted, which is on the schedule for the upcoming week. I’m wavering on the choice of fabrics for the back. I have several pieces large enough, or I could cobble together some extraneous fat quarters. Still thinking...... Anyway, I’m linking up to Angela’s Scrappy Saturday blog post. Come see all the fun projects being finished up!

About the name Exploding Boxes - rather an unfortunate metaphor for our times, sadly.  But that is what this style is called.... 

After assembling the above quilt top, I began working on my On Ringo Lake blocks, the Bonnie Hunter 2017 mystery quilt. They’ve been sitting untouched since last February. Somehow, I thought I was farther along, but
I’d previously only stitched up 16 of the 50 blocks. At least all the component parts for the rest were made. So this week I stitched up the remaining 34 blocks and got them all trimmed and neatly pressed (after the picture). My goal this week is to get the rest of the top (sashing, cornerstones and setting triangles) pieced. Wish me luck! 

It was on my list this week to assess the status of my Let it Snow project that I started 2 or three years ago. It’s a finish goal for this quarters 2018 Finish Along. Well, all the trees were made and the house was already cut. So, I sewed up the house and then sewed it and the trees into the four rows. This was the work of maybe a couple hours. And here is where that project now stands.

Yes, there are wonky trees and trunks, which I can assure you was NOT intentional. Apparently my sewing skills over the last three years have improved. At any rate, there will be some sort of colored border added. Then I can use the rest of my quilt basting spray to get this layered and ready for some swirly snowy quilting. I don’t plan to hang it until after Thanksgiving, so there is no great rush.

If I have any time after working on those projects, or if I find a time machine, I’ll begin stitching windmill blocks for All You Need is Love.

Today Cousin Kim and I are going to IKEA.  Earlier this week Bruce and I visited DD Stacy and family in their new home way out in Stansbury Park, a 40 minute drive from here in the valley. It’s a huge place, 6 bedrooms, and they’re still in the process of unpacking. Each of their kids will have their own bedroom, and they now have lots of space to fill up and furniture to buy. So, we’re just going to give them an IKEA gift card as a housewarming gift. Yeah, I could probably order it online and have it mailed, but why pass up a Girls Day Out when Kim and I could just go there, shop, have lunch, etc etc.....