I'm excited about a couple of new starts and my progress on a couple of other projects. I had very little sewing time in April/early May with my Mom here so I'm making up for it now. My Mom has gone back to live with my brother for a while. I'll sew as much as I can until she comes back here. I've found that even though she is easy to care for it definitely changes my routine and takes a lot of time. I'm sure a lot of you are nodding your head. Here's my update from the beginning of the month and some of the things I'll be working on in June.
1. I finished binding Lupine & Laughter. It looks just like the last photo I took in my previous post and it's my display quilt on my upcoming YouTube video. I LOVE IT! I added two extra borders to Bonnie's layout so it finishes at 96 x 96 and contains 2381 pieces.
2. I've made more string blocks. I'm up to 20, enough for a twin size quilt measuring 64 x 80 without borders. I might stop there temporarily, make the twin quilt, and then come back to making more later. They are 16" finished. I don't have a current picture of them all on the design wall but they are making a nice size pile in the pizza box.
3. My Disappearing Hour Glass quilt top is done. I ordered fabric for the backing because I didn't want a pieced backing for this one. I thought about several options but none of them appealed to me. There were 2 bolts that had enough for a backing but the rest of them would mean extra piecing. I wanted something more dramatic for this top. It's a long story.
4. Succulent Garden has been waiting it's turn to get back on the design wall....
5. Making Bowl Covers, also not yet. Maybe this weekend?? Now that's a great goal!
6. Now for NEW STARTS! I started 3 new projects, two of them are for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge which I'm linking to. I realized I wanted to have another couple of ways to cut and use my scraps. I've been inspired by all the quilters posting their projects so if it was you I have copied THANK YOU! Please tell me in the comments if it was you because I lost track of who/where I saw it.
First, I started making Nine Patches in color order. The squares are cut 2.5". The nine patches always have a white square in the center. I'm not sure if I will use them all in one quilt or if I might get enough of one color range to make a quilt in just blues/greens as my friend did. Here are my 28 blocks. So far, I've made at least one in almost all the colors. There is one orange block in there but I started with January's color of blue, then moved on to green and red and pink. Then I had to make a couple of purple and yellow also. If they all go in one quilt set straight I'll need 99 blocks for a throw size.
Here is the quilt a friend of mine made which I quilted for her: This is a possible layout with 30 blocks. And, look at that gorgeous border! I'm not sure I will get to making the border as she did but I love it. It really makes the quilt pop doesn't it:
I also started making 16" Double Star blocks. I'm really excited about these blocks because they are so scrappy. I love the variety of background and prints. Since my orange scrap bag also has yellow in it I ended up making one of each. These were a test to see if I liked making them and I do. However, since I was aiming for so much variety I ended up having quite a few leftover pieces. I might need to make 2 at a time to use up all the pieces I cut. I'm also thinking of using the extras in an ocean waves block.
And just last night I started a log cabin project. I wanted to make a test block to check my measurements and write them down so I used old fabrics from my 2.5" strip drawer. It turns out I really like it! I made the first one with a green center then changed my mind, took out the green and replaced it with solid brown (Northcott Colorworks in Chocolate). I thought my brown phase was over but I am excited to have a place for these older fabrics and I think it will look cozy come fall. Here is my inspiration quilt, circa 2004, a Thimbleberries pattern. I've wanted to duplicate this one for a long time.
I like the larger center which I cut at 3.5" with all the strips cut at 2.5" width. Lengths are: 3.5", 5.5", 7.5", 9.5", 11.5", 13.5", 15.5", 17.5" and last one at 19.5". Cut one each of 3.5 and 19.5, two each of the rest.
Here's what my design wall looks like now:
And that's what I've been working on the past few weeks! I think June will be a fun month in the sewing room.
If you want to see more about my projects I have a YouTube channel @everydaysewist. I'm just starting to put a couple of tutorials out which I'm very excited about in addition to monthly episodes about my projects.
Everyday Sewist on YouTube
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Happy sewing!
Stephanie
