A Good Place to Start

Anyone who reads my blog with any regularity knows I am big on leaving things at a good place to start. I am getting ready to take a trip next week to see my parents, whom I haven't seen in six years. I have SOOOO many projects going, that leaving them at a good place to start when I get back is essential.

With a good starting place in mind, here's what I've been busy with this week.

DS the Elders quilt- top finished, backing pieced, pin-basted.
Mr. Z's quilt- top finished, backing pieced, pin-basted
Mr. J's quilt- top finished, backing pieced
Mr. L's quilt- top finished, backing pieced
grandniece quilt- top finished, backing pieced, matched with batting
another baby quilt- top finished, backing ready, matched with batting
secret project- top started, top completed, pin-basted

^Here is the quilt top I made today. It's for DD#1's baby-on-the-way. She wanted yellow/gray elephant themed. I'm opting for no border, and I'll use gray binding. The backing is a yellow flannel with elephants.

The cabinet I hang quilt tops in is getting pretty crowded! Several of these I'll quilt up in the next two months. A few of these have been in here since last year, they still need borders, and I have no imminent plans to finish them. That's OK too, they can wait until I have more free time.

 

 

I finished making up as many of these blocks from Granny's blocks as I could. I ended up with 65 blocks, so Granny had made more blocks since she wrote her note of 205 finished. with four of her blocks in one of mine, 65 x 4 = 260. See the block in the upper left corner, that was the only block I had that had a mauve background. All the other blocks has the same muslin background. I did find several blocks where all the colored pieces in the block were the same color family, all blues, all purples, etc...

 

 

As I was sewing up Granny's blocks as leaders/enders, I recognized her favorite colors. She had a cobalt blue glass collection, and blue fabrics were there in force. She loved jewel tones, and that accounts for much of her scraps. There were a couple colors noticeably absent. There were a few  very light tans, more ecru, but NO browns. There were also NO yellows. There were peaches and corals, but no true oranges. I can't remember her wearing brown, yellow, or orange, so perhaps these colors were not to her liking. I can't say with any certainty though. I know in my stash, I have the most blue by far, even though I hate blue. I mostly give my quilts away though, and a lot of my family loves blue, so I've made a lot of blue quilts.

 

 

I pretty much have my main projects where I want them to be before I leave. This weekend I will be working on misc. sewing projects, and see if I can mark a few non-quilty things off my sewing list. I've had more sewing time available than usual, and I've been trying to make the most of it. I think I've gotten a lot done, so I'm pretty happy!

 

 

Oh, that batting I pieced last weekend? Five of the eight battings I pieced are already spoken for, being used in the projects mentioned above. I'm glad I took the time to piece the batting, and my sewing room is looking much better as I finish a few projects up :-)