Blocks of the Month

I had a little bit of time for sewing and got three of the BOM’s done. 

Month 2:

Month 3: 

And, Month 5:

The edges are not as wonky as they look it the pictures—I didn’t have them laying quite flat. The month 5 block on the pattern was a nosegay block with templates and y-seams, and I decided to figure out something easier. 

I haven’t done much else except cut up and kit some fabrics for my cruise. I leave tomorrow, and I kind of let it sneak up on me! I spent yesterday cutting up two kits, going to the bank, drugstore, nail shop; all the pre-travel things. It is another quilting cruise where we work on our own projects, and I want to make sure I have plenty to keep me busy. 

I spent some time on my plants yesterday evening. I watered them and will need to water them again Saturday morning before I leave so they don’t dry out too badly. They are looking so good, and everything is blooming, and I would hate to lose them. This is interesting:

I’ve had sweet potato vines for a long time, and I didn’t know they bloomed! I even moved the foliage aside to make sure it wasn’t one of the petunias. I looked it up on my plant app, and it said it is member of the morning glory family. I didn’t know that either! I am interested to see if the green ones bloom and what color the blooms would be. I fertilized a couple of weeks ago, and we had a lot of rain last week, so that helps everything. The Pentas have nice blooms. 

And, of course, the shrimp plants do well no matter what. They are very hardy. 

The white and the yellow shrimp plants apparently didn’t survive the freeze which is unfortunate, but I’m trying not to replant anything that can’t handle the freezes and the heat. Which pretty much limits me to a few things. 

Midweek Progress

Good morning and happy hump day! I’m so excited that I got one of my May UFO goals done, and the month isn’t even halfway over. The pinwheel quilt is quilted and bound! 

This had been a long-term UFO, and now it’s completely done. I like it well enough that I’m thinking about entering it in the 2025 quilt show. Of course, that means I will have to add a hanging sleeve to the back which I detest doing, so we will see.

More good news—Julie picked up her tee shirt quilt, and she liked it a lot. That one took me a lot longer than it should have, but she was very nice about it. And now, the floor where I photograph the quilts is empty again. 

I cut out a few more of the APQ BOM’s, and I’ll take pictures when I get them sewn. I also added two more borders on the church raffle quilt, so that’s progress. 

I am open to suggestions on what other borders I can add that would look good without being too overwhelming. 

We raffled this one off Sunday for our Mothers Day raffle. 

We made $895 on ticket sales, which will be used for our WELCA projects, most likely shipping of quilts and school supplies. The money we made is worth the time we put into it. 

I hope all the moms had a good Mother’s Day on Sunday. All the moms were given a pink rose at church.

Other than that, it was not a good day. It’s okay; I survived. Whoever thought up this holiday was probably crazy. Just my opinion. 

What I've Been Working On

I took a break from customer quilts this week so I could work on some of my own projects. I have several that I had planned to do, but I never really made any traction on getting them done or at least a little bit of progress made. 

I was able to get the two table runners pieced from the charm pack I blogged about earlier in the week.  I was able to add some random charm squares and get two runners from one charm pack like I hoped.

These will be cute for Christmas once they are quilted and bound.

I was hoping to find some time to work on the church raffle quilt. It's not needed until 2026, but I know myself, and if I get too busy on other stuff, some things will fall through the cracks. I got the windmill border done.

I took a little time, but I feel like it was worth it. It really improves the look of the quilt. 

Another thing I have been wanting to start is a block of the month. 

This one is from American Patchwork and Quilting, and it was a quilt along in 2021. I was still working full time and couldn’t do it, but hey, it is never too late. I have all the instructions printed out, and I got the first one done.

I am using scraps, but I’m limiting the colors to orange, yellow, turquoise, and pink with light gray background and medium gray accent. This one was basically a pain because the pieces are so small, but I am going to try to power through and finish it. I hope to get another block cut out this weekend. 

Weekend Update

I hope everyone had a good weekend. Mine was pretty uneventful but busy. I finished quilting the two tablerunners I pieced last week and got the binding done on one of them. 

I have the binding made for the gray and yellow one, but I ran out of time and didn’t get it put on. I did find an old charm pack that I want to use to make two more from this pattern.

Judging from the price, I’ve had it for a few years. Each table runner takes 24 charm squares, but I have three boxes of five-inch squares, so I’m sure I can come up with six more coordinating squares and get two runners from this charm pack. I dug through my stash and found some fabrics that will work for the backgrounds.

I’ll see what I can come up with and hopefully get two runners pieced this week. 

The best news is that I finished the quilting on the tee shirt quilt I’ve been working on forever. At least, it seems like forever. The lady brought me 60 tee shirts to put into one quilt. I ended up using three of the backs so I could do nine rows of seven shirts. 

It’s really big, and I was so happy to get to the last row of quilting. This week, I will trim it and get it bound and back to its owner. 

The other good news is that I’m still hitting my walking goals. 

I’m taking the dogs when I walk, and I’m tiring them out too, which is another bonus. 

The more tired they are, the less they get into. 

I had a fun night out with friends Friday evening at Aerocrafters. They had a derby dash with inflatable hobby horses, and there was live music, which I always enjoy.

Sherry

Cricket and Kim

And, me.

Hopefully, all the walking makes up for the two beers I drank and the fried pickles I ate!

May Goals

The number for May is 

I have four lists: Tops to Finish Piecing, New Projects to Try, Quilts to be Quilted, and New Quilts to Start. 

I haven’t been 100% successful with these UFO’s and goals. I did finish piecing the Logging On quilt last month

and, I got the twister tote done (I think that was a February goal). I haven’t been able to get anything of mine on the quilting frame as there has been a steady stream of customer quilts to work on. I need to find a way to get caught up on customer work and try to get some of my own stuff done. I am currently working on a huge tee-shirt quilt, but I am nearing the finish line……I hope. 

Another goal was to get more steps in each day. My goal is 5K, which for me is about 6500 steps. I started Wednesday.

Thursday:

And, Friday:

I’m not hitting 6500 every time I walk, but it’s pretty close. On Friday, I walked with Ruthie, and she likes to stop and sniff a lot. She also tires out quicker than the other two. The weather is getting warmer, and I am ready for a shower each time I get back to the house. 

Another Table Runner

I am hooked on the Ice Jam table runner pattern. I made another one from a Corey Yoder charm pack called Buttercup and Slate. 

It was after dark when I took the picture, so there was no natural light from the sky lights or the windows. It’s hard to capture the color in artificial lighting. Sometimes a closeup picture shows it better. 

I need to take a little time and get my recent runners quilted and bound. The quilting machine has been busy with customer quilts all week. I got this one done for Marian.

And, a graduation quilt finished for Candace.

I think I will soon be caught up on customer stuff, and then I can work on some of my quilts. I also need to finish at least one or two for the church auction. I have until October to get that done, but time tends to sneak up on me, so sooner is better than later. 

We hosted Bunco at church Monday night, and that was a lot of fun.

I think we had about 60 people, so it was a good turn out. Other than that, I haven’t been doing too much. I was thinking about the 5K a day in May challenge which I did in 2020 or 2021. Maybe I should challenge myself to get moving this May. I know I have had no energy since I had Covid last year. I can’t seem to overcome the lethargy. 

A New Runner

I stayed up a little later than usual on Saturday night and got the table runner kit sewn. This one

I really like the way it turned out, and I do enjoy sewing with batiks. I like the crisp feel of them. 

I think the colors are nice and spring-y. Anyway, I am happy with it. Binding fabric was included in the kit. I need to get it quilted and bound before I misplace the binding fabric. 

I wasn’t able to sew yesterday. I spent the afternoon purging some paperwork, and I made another pass through my closet culling what I no longer wear. The donation pile on the guest room bed is growing. There are so many things that need to be done, and I feel like I don’t have the energy to get it all done. My son-in-law replaced the chain on my bike, and I was able to go for a nice long ride around the neighborhood. I feel like getting out and getting some exercise every day is the most important thing I can do to take care of myself. But, it is easier said than done. I also need to increase my step count. I have been slacking off on a lot of things.