I've Been Dognapped!

 Last weekend I had two of my grandsons and two of my granddogs for the weekend. I knew I wouldn't get any sewing done, and I was perfectly OK with that. As it turns out, I have the dogs much longer than I anticipated. DD#2 had forgotten to mention to me that their backyard was being overhauled this week, and would I keep the dogs longer? I don't mind keeping her dogs, even though I am developing a dog allergy. I love dogs so it's worth taking some allergy meds to have dogs around. 

Her corgi has stayed with me enough times, that she doesn't care if I sew or am pottering around in my sewing room downstairs. The puppy, however, is not used to me sewing in the basement. The puppy is much better behaved now, but when she's lonely she barks and barks, which doesn't work with DH working remotely. I still don't trust the puppy in my sewing room, nor do I want fur all over my sewing room with my new dog allergy, so I've been stuck on the main floor of the house. I have a sewing machine set up in the living room, so I can do some sewing, but I only want to work on small stuff to limit the amount of dog fur getting on my project.

I'm making two Attic Window quilts for Christmas, and I don't mind making the blocks in the living room. There are a lot of ways to make the Attic Window block, but my favorite method had become this one. Once you decide on you block size and sashing size, figuring out the rest is easy. I cut my novelty squares 6.5". I wanted the window part to be made from 2.5" strips. First you sew the 2.5 x 6.5" medium color onto the left side of the block. Then you cut a 2.5 x 8.5" light rectangle, and make one sew and flip corner using a medium 2.5" square. You want your sew and flip corner to be on the upper left side of the light rectangle, so it lines up with the medium strip already sewn on. I cut sashing strips and cornerstones from a dark fabric at 1.5" wide. Once the blocks are all sewn together with sashing between the blocks, the 3D effect will kick in. Made this way, Attic Windows is really a beginner friendly block, so if the traditional Y seam method scares you try this way with only one extra seam. Once the quilt is sewn together, you won't notice the extra seam in the medium fabric.

I just finished all the blocks for the blue colorway, and I'll be starting the green colorway after I blog.

Another project I've been working on while limited to the main floor is prep work for a couple hundred scooter luggage tags. I haven't seen any new scooter fabrics lately, so I'm opting to do the applique scooters instead. It's a lot more work, but a LOT cheaper since I can use any fabrics to make them.

One of the fun things about cutting scooters out of random fabrics, is that sometimes I can place the template in a way that gives the scooter some definition with the pattern on the fabric. Sometimes it's just completely random, but sometimes I can define a wheel, or a headlight, or the seat. I wish I had a die to cut these scooter shapes, but I don't, so after I press a square of fusible web onto the fabric, I'm tracing my homemade template, then cutting every scooter out by hand. I'm figuring I need at least 200 luggage tags for next summer's Scooter Zine events, so any prep work I get done this year is a win! 

I'll have four different grandkids starting on Sunday, so next week is a wash as far as sewing goes too. I should be able to continue working on the applique scooters though, even with grandkids here. Working on anything Christmas won't happen next week. 

I'm pretty good at finding stuff I can do in little snippets of time, so I'll be working on something, just not my first choice. I am really glad to have the four grandkids next week though, they are the ones that are moving away, so this is my last chance to spend time with them for a while. 

Finish #23

 I took the time to baste three smaller quilts, and I just now finished binding the first of those. 

The HST's that make up the stars are bonus HST's from another quilt (that's still not quilted). I decided to frame the stars for a couple reasons. First of all, the quilt was going to be too small if I didn't, and second of all, sewing the blocks together was much easier without the bulk of putting the blocks directly against each other. I have made quilts with this block set block to block, but not with these tiny units. Each HST finishes at 1.25" so those stars have a lot of seams really close together. 

I finished the Murder Mystery blocks for August. I really enjoyed making these, and I was happy to have an easy month. So far I've been happy with my color choices in each month's blocks. Whether I'll still be satisfied with my choices when the quilt top comes together remains to be seen, but that's the risk you take in a quilt mystery. 

I did get quite a bit of cutting for Christmas gifts done this week, at least as far as stuff for the grandkids goes. I'm hoping to finish cutting a couple more projects by tomorrow afternoon, when I get the round one of grandkids for a busy time of sleepovers. I've got a couple projects planned for this weekend with the grands, but we also have a day trip with them planned too, so I'm not sure we'll have time to do the projects. No worries if we don't, these aren't the grands that are moving away, so I can do the projects next time I have them for the weekend if we don't get to them this weekend. I'm betting their parents won't mind if I tell them I need the kids for another weekend soon ;-)

Finish #22 for 2024

I just finished sewing the binding on this quilt a few minutes ago. If it looks familiar, there's a good reason for that. I made so many yellow/orange blocks while scrap busting that this is the second throw sized quilt I made from them, and I made a baby quilt with some of them. I believe this is the last quilt to be finished from them. I know I already gave away the baby quilt, and I have the other finished throw, so unless I made four quilt tops from them, this should be the end of them. I know orange is not a popular color, but I really like it, and combined with yellow it makes a super happy quilt.  

I needed some color in my life, because my design wall is not very colorful.

DH was a sweetheart and layed this quilt out for me. I like abstract quilts, but I tend to overthink block placement and get stuck. His brain works much better with this style of quilt. This actually isn't the entire quilt. The top five rows are already off the design wall and this is rows 6-13. It's going to be king sized when finished. The pattern name is Modern Technology, but I've strayed from the pattern. The pattern has you make six different blocks, then "arrange them in a pleasing manner". I actually have more than six different style blocks because I was trying to use every bit of fabric I had for the project, and towards the end I had to make a few blocks up to use the remaining units.

During a lot of the next month+, I'll have grandkids staying here, so Christmas sewing won't be happening. I do have about ten days without grands before the chaos starts so I'm deep into cutting things out for Christmas. I figure if I can get most of my Christmas projects cut out, it might work out OK that I'm getting such a late start sewing them. With DD#1 and family moving, now most of my grandkids will live far away, so I have to figure in mailing time as well. I've already decided I'll work on local kids stuff last. 

DH is going to be away for a bit coming up too, and Christmas projects aside, I am way overdue for a basting spree. I'll have a few days without DH or grandkids, so my plan is to set up my two eight foot tables in the living room, and baste quilts until I'm out of pins. I bought some risers for the tables so hopefully my back won't complain too much. I have a lot of basting pins, so a well timed basting spree could potentially keep me FMQ for the rest of this year. 

Those are my plans, but my plans have a way of getting hijacked, so we'll see what actually happens!

I Love Making Lists...

 ...except when I don't.

In normal life, I am a list maker. I make grocery lists, Christmas lists, to do lists for household chores, I have multiple Amazon wishlists, I list all my finished quilts by year. When I work by lists so much, why don't I use lists more often in my quilting life?

I've actually figured out the answer to that. In 2018 and 2019 I joined a UFO challenge. I had to list all my UFO's. I don't have my 2018 list, but I still have my list from 2019. At the time I had 50 UFO's. To date I've finished 30 of those, but 20 are still unfinished. Some of those 20 I've made progress on, and others I haven't touched. Most of the 30 that I did finish, were not finished in 2019, because seeing all my UFOs listed out took away every bit of motivation I had to finish them. I realized that year that listing my UFOs did not motivate me, in fact, it more caused a mental block. 

Now, if I work by list on a regular basis, why did I react that way to a UFO list? That I haven't figured out. But, knowing how much that list backfired on me has kept me from making any more lists in my quilt life, aside from listing finished quilts. 

Life is really busy right now, I've been dogsitting, grandkid sitting, we're throwing a birthday party on Sunday, and I've got multiple interruptions for the next month or so. Multi-day interruptions really throw me off in the quilt studio. I've got lots of grandkid stuff coming up, which means I can't be working on Christmas presents right now. I've got other things to finish on my mental quilting list, but trying to stay organized when I'm only sewing once in a while is tough for me. I often end up working on things that don't matter, instead of what I actually need to finish. 

Right before I started dog-sitting last week, I decided to try making a list of some things that need to be done, that possibly could be done in between interruptions. Here is my list, and how I've done on it.

1) Cut out and make 45 more gray blocks for Modern Technology quilt.

    I had a twin sized quilt kit, but by using the EZ angle ruler, I got enough blocks made to make a queen sized quilt. Those blocks were made two years ago. Now I want to make it a king sized quilt, but I'm out of fabric. Thankfully, the quilt is just different shades of gray solids, so I found some solids in stash and cut out as many pieces as I could from the extra fabrics. Do I have enough for cut for the 45 blocks I need? I don't know. I'm currently sewing up the units I need and I'll make as many blocks as I can. If I can't make 45 blocks, I'll go through my stash again, but I'm hoping I cut enough.

2) Trim three quilts ☑️

3) Bind three quilts ☑️ They are on my last post.

4) Make June block for murder mystery ☑️

5) make July block for murder mystery ☑️

6) Cut setting triangles and borders for half log cabin quilt ☑️

7) Sew quilt on design wall into rows ☑️

8) Press two quilt centers and rows

9) Add borders to quilt centers

10) Baste one quilt

So I had a list of ten items. Six of those are done. Number one is partially done, numbers eight and nine I haven't touched, and on number ten I chose a quilt top, sorted a backing for it, then realized I needed to press that top before I could lay it out for basting. It's been very hot, and while I was dog sitting, I didn't really have a chance to wrestle with pressing quilts. Once I get the pressing done, I'll be able to make some progress. 

I did get some things done that weren't on the list. 

I had made these units to use in a Christmas present for one of my granddaughters, her favorite color was yellow. I was just informed her favorite color is now turquoise blue. I cut all new flying geese units with a turquoise blue background, and I sewed up the now unloved yellow units into 30 8" blocks. I'll make a donation quilt with the rejected units. I did get the new units finished as well, but haven't sewn the new flying geese into panels yet. 

You know how I said I needed to cut all new flying geese units? Well, I'm getting two projects from each jelly roll by using the companion angle ruler to cut the geese sections. 

I used a solid lavender for the background color on my second project. I made 20 10" blocks from the "extra units" I had available after making the new turquoise units. 

Now that I've got those blocks done, I can add cut sashing for those two quilts onto my list. 

I learned a lot about myself the past week. I can use lists in quilting, just make them short and specific. Yes, I worked on things that weren't on my list, but today when I had the whole day to sew, I looked at my list and was all about those gray blocks. 

I have found something that DOES work for me on the UFO front! No more UFO lists for me. For the last two years, I've been trying to use only UFO's or cut projects as my leader/enders. I often assemble two quilts at once, and if I'm working on a deadline quilt, I assemble a UFO as leader/enders at the same time. Those purple blocks above were already cut out, so I assembled those blocks while making the new flying geese units. I've been trying to team up new projects with UFO's. If I have to cut borders for a deadline quilt, I'll cut borders for a UFO the same day. Need sashing for a deadline quilt? Cut sashing for a UFO, same with setting triangles. I have stacks and stacks of quilt blocks waiting for assembly. A lot of the time the hold up is not having sashing cut, or alternate blocks cut. If I can buddy up a UFO with current project, I make progress on both. I've got a lot of quilt tops ready to quilt, and I can only FMQ an hour per day, so those may pile up. BUT, I'd much rather have quilt tops pile up than units everywhere or stacks of quilt blocks. I've got a long way to go, but I am "catching up" at least a bit. 

Oh, just an FYI, if it's hot where you are too, I'll tell you my trick to pressing in the heat. If I'm only pressing units or blocks, I use my travel iron. The smaller surface doesn't heat up the room as much as a full sized iron. I normally try to avoid assembling quilts during the summer, but I've got some that need to be done, so for those, I'll be pressing in my fabric room with my full sized iron, then leaving that room to cool off while I work elsewhere in the house. It's not a perfect solution, but it helps.

Finishes 19, 20 and 21!

 I did indeed get the three quilts I had been quilting on finished. Two were made from my fabric birthday cake my sister gave me a while back.

This pattern is Carolina Chain. I re-sized the blocks and straight set it, but the blocks are the same.

This quilt was made with Bonnie Hunter's Triple Treat pattern.

Again, I re-sized the blocks, but the inspiration pattern is Twirling at the Disco.

All of those patterns are free, and they make good use of scraps. 

I fell behind on my Greek Murder Mystery, mostly because I was stuck on June. I wasn't in love with the block we were supposed to make, and it was a paper pieced pattern. I know how to paper piece, but don't enjoy it so I kept putting off doing it. When I hit the last week of July and I hadn't done either June or July's blocks, I knew I had to deal with it, or I would fall further and further behind. 

Celtic Pieced Illusions by Karen Combs is one of my very favorite quilt books, and I've made several quilts in it. I like that it teaches a bit about design, so you can also design your own quilts using her piecing techniques. Rather than do the paper pieced block I wasn't excited about, I decided to make a replacement block in the same size. 

This is the block I made instead, and I'm quite happy with it. It also got me "un-stuck" and I finished July's blocks as well.

The July blocks aren't quite the way they are supposed to be. My templates printed out at the wrong size, and rather than wasting more paper and ink, I decided to use the Accuquilt Drunkard's Path die I already had. The die made units 1/2" too large, but I just went ahead and trimmed them down. There's still too much background because the proportions were way off compared to what I was supposed to make, but I'm saying it's good enough. Now I'm caught up and the August blocks don't come out until the 14th, so I'll be caught up on that for a couple weeks. 

I'm dog sitting for about a week, and this dog is super smart and can find his way into so much trouble. Just like I did for DD#2's puppy, I blocked off most of the house, and am limiting the dog to the living room and kitchen. To keep an extra close eye on him, I'm sewing in the living room this week.

I've got a couple projects already cut out and ready to sew, and another I am cutting because I don't have enough blocks made. If you've been following my blog for a while, you may just think I moved my Bernina 440 upstairs. I've done that before, it makes sense. BUT, this is actually a new-to-me Bernina 440. 

My old Bernina is doing just fine, but it's very high mileage. I've often thought about what I would do when/if my Bernina dies and can't be repaired, and I really just wanted another one of the same machines. Bernina accessories are not cheap, and by getting another of the same model, I knew all the accessories I have would work on another 440. The only problem was they don't make this model anymore. In fact, I got my original 440 for half price because it was already discontinued when I got it. 

I decided to start looking for used 440's online. I lucked out and found one with only 26 hours of work time. Mine has about 800 hours of actual working time. By work hours I mean the time the needle is actually going up and down. These models break down the time the machine is on, the standby time, and the time the machine is actually running. It also has embroidery hours but I've never owned the embroidery module and I still don't so that is 0 hours. This machine has very little use, and it had just been serviced prior to sale. It's sewing great, as all of these models should. This one didn't come with as many accessories I already had, but with most things I don't need duplicates. Since I always have multiple projects going, multiple machines makes sense for me. I am very happy with the purchase, and I got a great deal on it. Berninas hold their value very well, but I got this one for less than half of what I paid for my first one. If you really love a particular machine, finding a used one may be a decent solution for you too!