SAHRR Round #6

So the last round is “Quilter’s Choice”. Let me just say that clue is easy and hard at the same time. I knew after Round 5, my top needed something more. 

I felt like another narrow border of the blue would help enclose the lighter yellow and white colors, so that was an easy choice.

Yes, that definitely helps. A quilting friend suggested I add another purple border, and I have enough purple to do that. I was thinking of something like a picket fence-type border. I made 10 or 12 of the purple blocks, and started doubting myself. 

This is where I started thinking about what I was doing. Everything was looking a little too matchy-matchy for me. I am primarily a scrap quilter. I started with a scrappy center, and I think I need to get back to that. 

I am planning to continue with the picket fence blocks, but make them in more colors. I have started pulling out more of the orange, yellow, and blue. I can still use the purple ones I have made. It will take a little more time, but I think it will be worth it. I’m not sure what the final dimensions will be. I may just keep going until I decide it’s “enough”.

I’m linking this post to Anja Quilts.

Weekend Update

I’m including Friday in my update since Friday, Saturday, and Sunday all kind of blended together. I had grandma duty, but he stayed with my mom on Friday night since I had to be at church early Saturday morning. I picked him up at 11:30 and took him to his soccer game. He is playing goalie again. 

They won 8 to 2. The other team only scored one point while Roger was the goal keeper. About 10 minutes before the game ended, they rotated in some other players, and the opposing team scored another point. 

I really didn’t think about how hot it was going to be since I had left the house early, and I didn’t have sunscreen or an umbrella or anything. I’m a little sunburned, but it will be okay. I am a big fan of youth sports, so it’s well worth a sunburn! 

Needless to say, not much sewing was done, but I do have two of the poppy quilt blocks sewn into tops. 

There is another one on the sewing machine right now, but it’s not finished so no pictures. I hope to get it done today. I brought seven home with me, and I will have another four to do once I get finished with the one that’s currently on the machine. Connie has started adding the white squares as alternate blocks to make the poppy blocks go farther. That actually makes it easier for the person assembling the tops. 

More Green Scrappy Blocks

I’m afraid I let the days get away from me a little bit, and I forgot to make a RSC post yesterday. I have made some more blocks with my green scraps, but not as many as I had anticipated. Maybe I can blame it on February being a short month. Anyway, I got my green blocks out last night and took some pictures, and it’s not too late to write a quick post.

I did another green star to add to the other two I did earlier in February. 

And another one of the nine patches.

It’s really a nine patch variation, or maybe a framed nine patch. I don’t know what to call it. I would have liked to have gotten a few more green ones made, but maybe later. I think I did four of the blue ones in this pattern.

I also got a few more of the little 6” blocks made.

Four more, to be exact, so that gives me a total of six of these in green. I think I have more green strips cut, so this is another one that I may make a few more of before I move to the next color.

Here’s a collage of the green blocks I did in February:

It’s not a lot, but some months are busier than others. The March color is red—my favorite color, so that will be fun! I’m linking to SoScrappy.

Midweek Madness

I can’t believe it’s only Wednesday. I think I packed about four days of activities into two days. When I got home yesterday, I laid down and slept for an hour. I very rarely sleep during the day, but I was pooped. I went by one of the local quilt shops—the one that is making quilts for the central Texas flood victims—to drop off some poppy blocks I made. I forgot to photograph them, butI’ve posted pictures of the poppy blocks before. 

They are still trying to make and distribute more quilts for the affected people. They have quite a system going. I ended up picking up seven sets of completed blocks to sew into tops. 

Connie asked me to cut them all down to 12” since there is so much variability in the sizes they are receiving. I used to do a lot of block swaps, and I know firsthand you get all kinds of sizes. I have been doing the trimming, and I will take the trimmed sets to Thursday’s quilt guild meeting in case others want to help put together tops. 

I thought this one with the bees in the center was super cute:

We are cooking gumbo and rice at church tonight. I bought all the ingredients Monday, and last night I precooked the chicken and sausage. I bought 15 pounds of chicken and 5 pounds of andouille sausage. I’m praying it’s enough. I picked up two bags of red beans, and I guess I’ll go ahead and cook that this morning. I worry about not having enough food for everyone. We are expecting 50-60, but you never really know. 

Another Goal Acomplished

I don’t always remember my goals—maybe I need to write then down on a paper and hang it on my mirror or something! I sometimes go back to my January blog post and see what I want to work on, and that works, but you can’t beat having an actual piece of paper. 

I finished the first quilting goal—Trinity WELCA raffle quilt in January. Friday I finished the second goal which is a raffle quilt for Christ the Victor church. And, here it is:

The size is 92” x 92”, so nice and big. This top is a disappearing nine patch that was completed some time ago and never quilted. Now it is quilted and ready for a home!

  

I used a quilting design called Lyrical and Glide white thread on the front and back. The backing fabric is white on white. 

I would have liked to match the binding to the border, but that fabric is no longer available and the best match I had was a mottled navy/dark denim. 

I’m so glad to have this one done and checked off my list. The good thing about setting goals is the positive vibes you get when you check one off. We have quilt guild Thursday, and we meet at Christ the Victor church, so I will be taking this with me. 

SAHRR Round #5

Here’s my update on Round 5 of the Stay at Home Round Robin. The prompt was “two colors”. That’s an easy one……except I got confused. Not about the prompt, about my measurements. When I finished Round 3, I thought I was at 55” x65”. That’s what I wrote in the Round 3 blog post. The corners I did for Round 4 are 6”, so I needed to add coping strips to get numbers divisible by 6. I added 1/2” to the top and bottom, and 1” to each side. 

I pieced two-color checkerboards for the borders, and the side borders were 2” too big. My 65” measurement was actually 63”. I had to remove the coping strips from the top and bottom and add 1-1/2” strips. 

I really didn’t want too, but I didn’t have a choice. At least not a good choice. I maybe could have fudged it, but I decided to go ahead and make new strips. 

Anyway, the borders fit perfectly once I had the correct measurements.

I added the fan cornerstones. I was hoping to incorporate some white into this border, and I didn’t want a high contrast in colors, so I think the light yellow worked out with the white. 

I’m ready to see what the next round will bring. My top is now 69” x 78”, but I will definitely remeasure it before I start Round 6. I’m linking this to QuiltingGail.

Friday!

Another busy week—lots of meetings and typing up the minutes. I am the secretary for a couple of groups, and I need to stop letting myself get behind on transcribing my cryptic notes into meeting minutes. Of course, there are other things I would rather do besides sitting at the computer (like sitting at the sewing machine), so I put it off as long as I can. It would be so much better to do it when it’s fresh on my mind! 

I did manage to get the binding on Rhonda’s quilt. 

It’s pretty. Lots of different fabrics, but in the same color family. It’s what I would call controlled scrappy. She uses these colors a lot. I’ve been a little tardy about getting it done. Thank goodness she’s patient with me! 

Yesterday was Bunco day, so nice to have a break from the grind. I didn’t win anything, but I enjoyed it a lot. We have started meeting earlier in the day due to some of the ladies not wanting to drive after dark and are no longer doing a meal. Now it is just some appetizers/finger foods and desserts, and I like that better. 

Today, I am thinking about what I need to do for my round Robin quilt. The clue is “two colors” or something like that. I could go a lot of different directions with that, but I will need to come up with something so I can get it done this weekend. I am trying really hard to not go to the fabric store and just use what I have, but it is soooo tempting. I’m pretty sure I’ll need coping strips to get me measurements to work out, and I really hope I have enough of something that will work. I am also continuing on the RSC green blocks, and I hope to do a few more tonight. I’ll post some pictures once I have more done.

SAHRR Round #4

The Stay at Home Round Robin prompt for Round 4 was announced last week, and it was curves! Y’all, there is nothing about my top so far that makes me think it needs curves. 

I put this one off for a while trying to figure out what would work for my top. I saw some great examples with appliquéd circles and beaded chains, but I didn’t feel like that was the direction I wanted to go. 

I finally decided I would take the obvious choice and make some drunkards path squares, but I couldn’t find my 5” drunkards path ruler. I took everything out of the ruler drawer, and it’s not there. I did, however, find a couple of Dresden rulers. It’s been a while since I made a Dresden plate. I made four quarter squares thinking they can be corner blocks. 

 

I was hoping to incorporate more white, so I put them on a white background. I think they will work, depending what the next round is.

 

The orange and yellow is so pretty on the white background! It looks like sunshine. I’ve got some ideas about the next round, but I’ll wait for the prompt. 

No Sewing

No sewing yesterday! It was my daughter’s birthday and we all got together after church for lunch at the Pump House. 

Here’s a picture of all of us:

Roger Sr. on the left (my daughter’s fil), Roger III (my grandson), Roger Jr. (my sil), Julia, me, Kathryn (my granddaughter), Donna (my daughter’s mil). Kathryn drove down from Fort Worth for the weekend and had to leave right after lunch. My mom is missing from the picture because she was still in Rockport. I saw a video on Facebook of her at a Mardi Gras parade catching beads people were throwing. She is apparently down there for some Mardi Gras celebration. She is living her best life since she recovered from the heart surgery, and I am happy she is.

I got my steps entered for the Walk Across Texas Challenge, and so far I am keeping up. 

I have until April 3rd to log 104 steps, and I am currently at 31.83. I am still trying to figure out why I don’t lose weight. Oh well. 

I hope to get reacquainted with the sewing machine today!

Scrappy Saturday

I managed to get a couple of scrappy RSC blocks made this week in spite of running here and running there every day. 

I don’t have tons of green like I do blue, but there’s enough to have a few choices. The dark green I used on the second star is the same one I used on my February BOM. 

Here’s what is left: 

One piece about 7” x 15”. Should I cut it up for another RSC block or add it to the BOM box? Uugghh. Decisions. I ended up putting it in the BOM box since I have limited fabrics that work with the border print.

If I don’t use it for a future BOM block, I can always cut it up later for something else. Stashbusting is hard work! 

Today I plan to add the borders to the quilt I’m piecing for my daughter and if there’s time, I would like to figure out a border for my SAHRR quilt. There’s always plenty to do. I am going to try and make it to the gym at 9 for water aerobics. The three exercise classes I do each week aren’t really enough, and water aerobics seems to fit pretty well into my schedule. It’s hard to squeeze in another activity, but I need to prioritize my health as much as I can. 

I just saw a picture of my mom on Facebook. 

She is apparently in Rockport this weekend with some friends. She cracks me up! 

Block(s) of the Month

 What a week! I have been running from one activity to another every day. I’m still managing to get some steps in each day for the Walk Across Texas challenge. I try to get at least a two mile walk in every day. The dogs are loving it! 

And the weather has been cooperating for the most part. We may get some rain tomorrow, and if we do, I will not be walking!

I was all off kilter yesterday because I woke up at 3am and couldn’t go back to sleep. I finally did get sleepy around 6 and went back to bed. When I woke up three hours later, I remembered I had a board meeting at 10 and had to hurry up and jump in the shower and start getting myself dressed. That pretty much set the tone for the rest of the day. I got home around 8pm after yet another meeting. 

Not much time to sew, but I managed to get the BOM done from A Quilting Life. 

I don’t love it, but at least it’s done. 

I started a BOM last year and never got finished with it…..I found these three completed blocks a few weeks ago. 

There is another one somewhere, but I haven’t found it yet. I’m hoping it turns up. went ahead and made block 5 and plan to cut out block 6 this weekend. 

If block 1 doesn’t turn up soon, I will remake it. 

Monday Again

I hope everyone had a good weekend….I did until Sunday when I woke up congested and with a sore throat. I took a decongestant and laid on the couch for a few hours. I did miss church though. By late afternoon I felt well enough to walk one of the dogs two miles. 

Anyway, there was a shop hop last week, but I couldn’t really participate because of other commitments. Each shop, five in total, had a Villa Rosa kit that was custom designed for their shop. They were giving out goodie bags with their pattern it it. I did manage to go by the two Victoria shops on Friday morning and get these two patterns.

The patterns each take 10 fat quarters and a yard of contrast. I went ahead and bought one of the kits at Quilters Patch. They had it kitted in three color ways, but I liked this one: 

The fat quarters are Poppy Cotton. I bought extra of one of the fabrics so I can add a border and make it a little bigger. Without a border, it’s 50” x 62”, which is a little small for an adult. 

My plan is to make this for my daughter. She was telling me my son-in-law doesn’t like sleeping under a quilt because it’s too warm, and she is freezing at night. My husband and I had the same issue so I made twin to full size quilts for my side of the bed that covered me and not him. When I made the bed in the morning, I turned the quilt sideways across the foot of the bed. Of course, she asked for one! She likes these softer type florals, so I think she will be happy with it. She’s 5’10”, so I can’t see how a 62” quilt would be adequate. The border will help with that. 

I got all the blocks pieced and laid out yesterday.  

I’ll post an update when I get it all together and get the border on. 

SAHRR Round #3

Welcome to Round #3 of the Stay at Home Round Robin. Oh my, now that my quilt top is getting bigger, it’s taking more time to complete the prompts each week. Last week my top was 52” x 52”, and I was trying to decide if I wanted to stay with a square or make it rectangular. 

There’s really no right or wrong decision, and that is why I was having a hard time deciding. 

I had been thinking about flying geese, dark blue on a light aqua sky, and I was hoping for a prompt that would let me accomplish that. I was so pleased when I read Emily’s post, and it said “Animal Kingdom”! Ahh! Just what I hoped for! I already had my colors picked, so I only had to decide on a size and start cutting. I finished adding the borders last night.

You can see I decided to make it rectangular. I had to add some narrow strips to the right and left to make the math work out. I like it—in fact, I like it a lot. I think my goal for the next prompt will be to reintroduce some of the white. 

My size is currently 55” x 65”. I know we have more rounds to go, but I typically make large quilts, so I’m okay with the size. If it gets too big I don’t have to add every round. No rules.

Blue and Green and Everything in Between

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for February is green. I wasn’t quite ready to give up on the blues, so I made a couple more of these: 

I may do even more blues if more 2.5” blue strips appear. I also made a couple of greens. 

I have more greens cut out, but I ran out of motivation to work on them. Hopefully I’ll get some done next week. 

Other than RSC blocks, I worked on some more of my favorite improv scrap blocks. Here are eight more I finished. 

I don’t really have a purpose for these; they are just fun to do!

I signed up yesterday for Walk Across Texas.

There are 8 people per team, and we have until April 3rd to walk 100 miles each. Being that it’s 832 miles across Texas, each team is covering approximately that amount. I started the year doing well on my walking goal, but the cold weather last week derailed me, so I’m happy to have a motivation to do better. I looked at the sign-ups, and there are 44 teams signed up in Victoria. That’s pretty exciting when you think about South Texas being one of the most unhealthy places in the US. Another thing I’m excited about is that one of the ladies on my team is a marathon runner. She runs every day so we won’t have a problem hitting 832 miles even if the rest of us slack off completely.

I won’t be able to walk today (most likely) because we are hosting Equipping the Saints at my church. 

There are three sets of sessions during the day, and there are some great topics. Here are some of the session 1 topics:

Each session has 8-9 topics participants can choose from. I may need to help in the kitchen some, but the lunch is catered, so it will mainly be a matter of making coffee and helping serve desserts. Anyway, I think it will be an interesting day, and hopefully I will learn some new things.