Rainbow Scrap Challenge Week 1

My goal this week was to make one Snowball Blossom, one True Lovers Knot, and one Pond Lily.

If you think that the Snowball Blossom looks like the Snowball Flower blocks I made in last year's RSC, you are exactly right.  I just got tired of the name and thought I'd change it for 2019. lol  I found the pattern on Lisa Boyer's blog Dorky Homemade Quilts but there is nothing dorky about the quilt she made. Her corners all lined up perfectly too. Mine did not, so maybe I should have called mine dorky blossoms. She named her block and quilt The Puakenikeni Baby Quilt, but I am not even going to try to pronounce or spell that again, and since it looks like a flower made from snowball blocks, I named mine Snowball Flower in January 2018. Like she suggested, my large squares are 4-1/2 inches but the white and yellow squares used to make the triangles are 2 inches instead. I made them the suggested size at first and then thought they needed to be larger. I got so tired of making that block and trying to match those triangle seams, that eventually I just set it aside. When I decided to revive it for 2019, I thought it needed a fresh name too so renamed it Snowball Blossom. Maybe I'll finish it this year before I get tired of this name too.

 The Pond Lily was and is a struggle. Seems the hand-drawn pattern printed in the Denver Post isn't drawn quite right and I'm having a do-over today. I've only completed one corner of one block. And it's not really red, more of a hot pink because I couldn't find any red batik that suited me.

Other things have been going on this week and I haven't gotten much sewing done, but I hope to finish the other three corners of the pond lily today.

Linking to:
Scraphappy Saturday at soscrappy

Sewing Reports and Design Board

I had a great sewing week. Finishing two UFOs this month made me feel great, and having positive numbers in both reports made it even better. On Friday, I started working on the green RSC blocks for March. After I made the first one, I thought it looked kind of like a clover, so I took a detour to make a miniture shamrock block.

So cute and fun to make except for those dog ear corners on the snowballs. Since I started having double vision, sewing on a thin pencil line has become very difficult. When I made the blue blocks in January, I forgot to put the dogears on the corners opposite the yellow corner on one block. I corrected that, but now I wish I had done all the blocks that way. That would be four less lines to see on each block. I don't think I hit the line on a single block yet. I have had to give up perfectionism. Maybe that's a good thing though. I used to redo things that were perfectly acceptable at work and home, and now, well, I've just had to tell myself that it's good enough. But if I ever make another quilt with this block, I'm making the snowballs without the dog ears on the far corners.  What do you think?  Could that look like a flower?

In the evenings, I'm working on the EPP Ferris wheels.  It's slow going and seems like I am using the same fabrics over and over.  I need to go dig through my bins for more variety.

I've also continued to make string blocks and have them in several sizes now thanks to another unpacked box. Among all the blocks in it, there were some pastel four inch string blocks. I have no idea what project I had in mind for blocks that size. Maybe as I continue to unpack, I'll find some instructions packed with the silverware or tucked inside a jar. Every box is a surprise.



And even some string blocks in single colors.  I think I'm going to continue making these in the RSC colors for this year.  Making just three snowball blocks each month isn't very challenging.

And of course, the UFO of the month, Jacob's Ladder, is still on the board.

Now on to the reports.  I never know how to record a week that is split between two months, so I basically do a double report. I spent time every day sewing. A good forecast for the coming week may be my downfall though. I really need to get outside and build some raised beds if it isn't too muddy. Digging in wet clay is almost impossible. It sticks to the shovel, shoes, and everything it touches. But for now, my report shows 100% for the month of February, for the week, and so far, for March.

Even the stash report is good. For the first time this year, I am showing more fabric used than added. Not only did I not buy any fabric this week, I didn't unpack any either. I've had a box sitting on my cutting table all week though. But it can just sit there, because a negative in that column sure looks good for a change.

Linking to:
Rainbow Scrap Challenge at soscrappy
Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun than Housework
Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts
15 Minutes to Stitch at Life in Pieces
Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate
Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
BOMs Away at Katie Mae Quilts
Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt
Main Crush Monday at Cooking up Quilts
Tuesday Archives at Val's Quilting Studio

Sewing Report Sunday

I've been having fun with my scrappy flower blocks for the RSC Challenge. I've determined that I need two and a half blocks for each of the ten months. And since that isn't going to work, I think I'm going to make three one month and two the next. That will work well with similar colors like medium blue and dark blue, but I'm not sure about some of the other colors. I'll have to play it by ear.

Friday night, I dug out my travel kit and worked on a Ferris Wheel block (English Paper Piecing). In an effort to spend more time in the evenings with Hubby, I'm going to start working on these in the evenings instead of spending time by myself at the sewing machine.

This week I was gifted with fabric. A friend was thinning her stash and asked if I wanted some fabric. Well, yeah! Thinking it was odds and ends of less than desirable colors, I told her that my quilt group could always use fabric for our donation quilts. This was way better than odds and ends.

A kit with all the fabric needed plus the pattern. A really cute pattern, I might add.

A magazine with a pattern bookmarked and all the fabric to make it.

Another pattern with all the fabric to make it.

Some fabrics she had marked for various things, like "border" and "backing" but no pattern with it.

And 36 fat quaters.

After looking at the three patterns, I could tell they are not the kind my group likes to make, so I'll keep those and make them sometime.  The other fabrics will make some great wheel chair lap quilts.

Score!!!!

Unfortunately, now I have to record this in my stash report.  My supposed stash reduction report. Thursday, I thought I was doing great because I had used more than I had bought.  Then, this gift.  And to compound my loss of control, I ran across a sale Friday that I couldn't pass up.  A local quilt store had a shelf of 75% off fabrics and a few bolts of fabric for 50 cents a yard.  I didn't buy any of those 50 cent fabrics though.  I didn't think I could cut them into small enough pieces to hide the ugly.  But I got several of the 75% off.  So they too will add to the report.  Now my report is a runaway train headed in the wrong direction.

I also unpacked a box of fabric.  A big box, and it was nearly all fabric. QuiltPaintCreate said she gets a laugh out of these boxes of fabric I keep finding.  When we were packing up to sell our house, everything was going into a unit at a storage facility with pretty poor security.  Anything of value, I marked with code words like "Large canning jars" (or something else not worth stealing) meaning something of value and another code word to describe the item, or "Small canning jars" meaning something with little value.  Sounded like a good idea at the time, but I also had real canning jars or gladware, or whatever the code word was, and over time, I forgot what the other code words meant.  So nearly all our boxes are labeled "Canning Jars", "Gladware", "Books", "Paint clothes," etc.  Most fabric was used as packing for lamps and other odd-shaped breakables, but there are some boxes marked "Sewing fabric".   It's an adventure to open boxes; we never know what to expect.

I'm happy to say that I am still headed in the right direction in my 15 Minutes of Sewing Report. That will change in a month or so, so I'm going to claim this victory while I can.

If you saw yesterday's post, you know I finished the Glory Box Wallhanging. I spent some time one day quilting the Double Irish Chain but it was a battle. I think I can get it done but it's really bigger than I would like to quilt on my machine. After a few hours, my shoulder was killing me. I decided to give my shoulder a rest and then work on it in much smaller time slots until I get it done. I think it will also be a wall hanging because I still haven't mastered the ruler foot. Even when the top looks good, there are places on the back that look like the tension is off. But then the next section looks fine. I'm not sure what the problem is, but I'm pretty sure it is the user, not the machine.

I also spent time this week with the ripper, and finding that some blocks I made several years ago didn't have quarter inch seams. More about that another time unless I decide it's not worth the effort.

I have sewed every day this week and for the month so far. I'm at 100% for those, but at 88% for the year. That shows what one bad week can do. I can just imagine how low it will be in July and August.

Linking to:
Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun than Housework
15 Minutes of Sewing at Life in Pieces
Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate

Shivering Through the Weekend and Quilting

Mother-in-Law is still miserable with shingles and a UTI. My brother-in-law came down for a few hours Friday to fetch and carry for her and reported that she didn't feel like eating the whole time he was there. She called after he left to say she was throwing up and wanted Hubby to take her to the emergency room. He asked her if she ate anything when she took her medicine. No. Well, eat something and call back. She called back about twenty minutes later to say that she ate and now she felt better. The last time I talked to her she said she wished she had been admitted to the hospital Thursday. Hubby and I both think the last place she needs to be in the middle of flu season is at the hospital. She just wants someone to take care of her and keep her company.

At 4:30 a.m. Saturday morning, the phone rang. She was dizzy and bleeding and wanted to go to the hospital. Poor Hubby got dressed and went to check on her. Her shingles blisters had burst and there was a little blood, but nothing serious. He ended up staying most of the day. She hadn't been drinking water either, so Hubby made her eat an egg and drink some water with her morning pills. She felt better after that, but said she really had to make herself eat the egg and wouldn't eat anything after that. Hubby said she was a little confused, probably from the medication. She kept thinking it was time to take more medicine and he kept telling her it wasn't time yet. She slept a lot and Hubby went to the store and bought some heat and eat foods and other things she needed. Then, after her mid-afternoon pills, he came home and let her sleep.

Before the cold front moved in last night, Hubby called her to tell her to take her last pill and she said she felt ok. He told her there was a cold front moving in with sleet and freezing rain and she assured him she would be ok. Well, she called this morning, and she had fallen. She tripped over her oxygen hose and hit her head on the corner of the dresser. Off Hubby went again. He called when he got there to tell me he made it okay. She just had a tiny bump on her head, not the gigantic purple lump she had the last time she fell. So no trip to the hospital needed this time. He said other than that, she felt pretty good today, just wanted company.

Before he left, we discussed getting someone to come in several times a week to clean, cook a decent meal, and just be with her. She is adament about not going to a nursing home, but I think she doesn't need to be living alone any longer. He was going to discuss that with her today. The last time he mentioned it, she said she didn't want help. I hope she agrees this time. Tomorrow is my day to check on her, so I'll see what she says after she's had time to think about it.

In the meantime, I've been staying inside. I did brave the cold of the attic to open a few boxes and sew a few blocks. I'm much happier with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks now that I've made each section from a different fabric. I was going to make a queen size quilt and so needed nine of each color. But I just realized that I don't have any baby quilts set back so now this will be a baby quilt. I need to refigure my design to see how many I need to make now. I need to decide on a backing fabric soon too so I can start quilting the blocks. I'm doing this as a QAYG.

Hubby complains that his right hand gets cold when he is on the computer when it's cold. I've noticed my hands get really cold when I'm sewing very long. Now I'm huddled next to the heater listening to sheets of ice slide off the roof and hope they don't dent the porch covers. There's a pot of steaming tea on the stove and I'm about to warm my fingers around a cup of tea and watch a little tv before starting my next block.

Linking to:
RSC Challenge at soscrappy

One Step Forward and Two Steps Back, and for What?

The upside is that today was gorgeous! It started out cold but warmed to about 60 and no wind for a change. Tomorrow is supposed to get up to 70, but it will be breezy. We've decided that breezy is a meterologist code word for a stiff wind, and windy is code for anything between a stiff wind and tornado.

The downside is that my mother-in-law has shingles and a UTI and is feeling pretty miserable. Hubby took her to the doctor yesterday and spent the rest of the afternoon getting her prescriptions and other things she needs. Evidently, she is a grumpy, needy patient. Hubby told me it was my turn to listen to her today. I had shingles a few years ago, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone, so I think I'm a little more understanding than Hubby. Shingles are (or is that shingles is) miserable. If you are over 60 and haven't gotten your shingles vaccine, go get it as soon as the flu epidemic is over.

Speaking of flu, our little town is in the middle of the outbreak. Schools have been closed, and now there is a sign on the library asking people who have a cold, cough, or any flu symptoms to please just drop off their books in the overnight box. At the grocery store, when I handed my cloth bags to the cashier, she picked up the corner of one bag with her fingertips like it was crawling with germs. I told her I wash them but it didn't seem to make any difference to her. Of course, the first thing I did when I got to the car was to slather my hands with sanitizer. I don't remember the flu ever being this bad.

I've been spinning my wheels in the sewing room. I did get the backing made for the Double Irish Chain quilt, but most of my time has been on scrappy blocks. I should be finishing a UFO, but instead, I have been piddling with blocks for the RSC Challenge. Originally, I was going to continue working on Twinkle Star blocks since I didn't get very far on them before. But I can't find the blocks I made before, or the pattern I used on them. Since I need to make them the same size, I decided not to do those after all and make some blocks that are quick and easy. I decided to make Puakenikeni Flower Blocks except make the flowers in the color of the month. I made the blocks like Lisa suggested, but the more I looked at the blocks, the more I thought they didn't look right.

Yeah, I didn't put all the white pieces on the corners, I was in a hurry to see what it would look like. I think the yellow in the center needs to be larger, and I wanted it to have more of a scrappy look. Plus, I don't have enough scraps to make any more blocks this size. So I changed the white squares on the corners from 1-1/2 inch to 2 inches, and made each of the four blocks in a different fabric and I think I like it better. I just turned down the outside corners to see what it will look like, and I like it. Now I have to rip apart all the blocks I have made so far. I also had to buy some fabric because I don't have any purple or lavender, which is the February color, and I didn't have much medium blue either. I don't think I have any aqua or turquoise either, but I'll worry about that next month.

That's it for me. Tomorrow I'm leveling dirt if the wind is under 20mph.

Linking to:
My Quilt Infatuation
Can I get a Whoop Whoop