I Like Thursdays 2018, Week #3

Linking up to Not Afraid of Color.

I like crabs. I made this quilt last weekend for a challenge. In terms of eating crabs, I much prefer the Gulf coast recipes. Around here, EVERYTHING is tainted with Old Bay Seasoning. 

I like little extras :)

My middle kid saw a bag at the alpaca festival, but it was too rich for his blood. I told him I'd make him one, since I was pretty sure I could find the fabric -and I did. It's the exploding Tardis.

 SO, he now has a new dice bag.

I like our sycamore. The top branches are full of seed pods that TMOTH keeps waiting on to fall, so he can cast them in to pen blanks.

I like beer! Last weekend, I went to a "Learn to Knit" event at a local brewery, and had a great time!
Casting on:

 Getting started:

Knitting and purling practice:

 I ripped out the practice piece and started a pattern- and soon learned howto frog. Frogging knitting is WAY more complicated than frogging crochet.

Sunday Stash Report January 14, 2018

Linking up  to quiltpaintcreate for the Sunday stash report.

Used this week:           0.7 yards

Used year to date:       5.85 yards

Added this week:         6 yards

Added year to date:     6 yards

______________________________

Balance:                     0.15 yards ADDED

Spent this week:       $65.79

The Project Quilting challenge finish and a dice bag for my middle kid accounted for the usage.

I spent big bucks at JoAnn's this week- LOTS and LOTS of thread, a quilt batt, and 3 yards of backing (That I converted to 6 regular yards).

Project Quilting- Hometown Proud

My entry for Season 9, Challenge 1 of  Project Quilting hosted by Persimon Dreams is done!

The theme this week was "Hometown Proud" - and I was inspired both by my current home (Maryland) and my future home (possibly Orange Beach, AL - but definitely the Gulf shore of either Alabama or Florida). One thing they both have in common is the blue crab.  The only problem with the Maryland version of crab is Old Bay seasoning - I despise it!! I much prefer the Alabama dish of blue crab claws, which doesn't seem to be a "thing" here.

Piece is 10 x 12, fusible applique batik crab on sand-colored Kona cotton. The crab is hand-quilted, the waves are machine-quilted.

(I don't actually have a home "town" where we live- I'm in an unincorporated part of the county, so I could potentially claim about four or five different named cities!)

I Like Thursdays - 2018 Week #2

Linking up to Not Afraid of Color.

I like temperatures above freezing, hallelulah!!
I made this window quilt over the weekend because it had been SO cold for SO long.

This is totally a utility quilt - I used this tiny 80s floral for quite a  bit of it - I used the good parts and threw away the rest. Not clear if damage is mice or water or both.

I like french onion soup. Toffee is waiting and hoping.

I like beer! This weekend, a local-ish brewery is hosting a "Learn to Knit" event. I'm really excited; learning to knit has been on my New Year resolutions list for a couple of years now. (We will ignore, for the moment, the fact that the ball of yarn has two crochet hooks stuck in it.) I fully expect the beer to be awesome as well.

Sunday Stash Report January 7, 2018

Linking up  to quiltpaintcreate for the Sunday stash report.

Used this week:           5.15 yards

Used year to date:       5.15 yards

Added this week:         0 yards

Added year to date:     0 yards

______________________________

Balance:                     5.15 yards USED

I get to start the year with negative numbers :) I finished a cowl for my youngest kid and a window quilt- more will be made to see if they help with the cold. The house is old and drafty- I figure it can't hurt.

I'm just making a wild-ass guess for the cowl- I used scraps, and I can't get it off the boy to measure it! I'm thinking a quarter of a yard is fairly close, though.

The quilt is 42 x 57. It's a dogs dinner for sure- there's a piece of gingham on the back I *think* came from my mother-in-law's stash, and a lot of it is some 80s calico (in two different colorways, no less!!)  My calculation is 3.9 yards. And a frankenbatt in the middle.

I also threw away at least a yard's worth of fabric over the past week. I'm counting that as "used" because it's out of the stash. It truly was awful stuff, and not suitable for donation even.

I Like Thursday - 2018 week #1

Edit to link to Not Afraid of Color, our fearless host. Go there to see all of the other like posts!

I like the movies of Hiyao Miyazaki, of Studio Ghibli. "My Neighbor Totoro" is probably my favorite.


I recently found a pattern for the Catbus from Totoro- it's paper pieced.  AARGH. This is one of the few things that will make me do paper piecing!

I like noon taekwondo classes- Wednesday's class was me and one other "mature" woman. It's GREAT to have more attention to proper form when learning new things.

I like being able to telework on snow days. The roads this morning were abysmal, from all reports, and I was able to boot the computer up and start right in to work!

I like crazy time-consuming projects. This is a full/queen wholecloth quilt I bought at my guild's annual "yard sale" over a year ago. It's next on my list to prep for hand quilting, but I need to get a backing for it.

One Monthly Goal - January

Yet another challenge :)

I'm linking up to Elm Street Quilts for One Monthly Goal.

My goal this month is to sew this stack into blocks:

This was from a layer cake that I received as a guild gift from Pineapple Quilts- vaguely Christmas-themed. Holly, red and green colors.

The squares started out at 10", and I didn't want to either do the math for exact thirds OR trim them first, so it will be an uneven 9-patch. I cut the squares in pairs to mix-and-match.

52 Week Sewing Challenge

I joined the 52 Week Sewing Challenge on Facebook. I certainly won't make every week, but hopefully this will jump-start some projects.

Last week, the Small Man brought me a scrap of the metallic fabric and asked if I could make home "something" from it. Blurry photo, but you can see how it shines. 

The first week's challenge was "soft and warm" - neither of which really apply to the metallic. BUT- combined with fleece...He picked out a coral-orange fleece for the lining for a cowl, which I sewed starting with a tube.

 Turned, one end tucked into the other end and top-stitched.

He likes it, and we need something warm to wear this week!

Scrap Attack 2018

Why not join another challenge? This one is hosted by the Confessions of a Fabric Addict blog.  As many scraps as I have, there should be no problem coming up with something every month.

1. Scrappy journal covers
2. Scrappy fabric baskets
3. Scrappy zipper bags
4. crumb blocks
5. black dot x-blocks
6. pull together blue scraps for Irish chain with stars
7. Travel tissue holders
8. Potholders
9. Christmas scraps- tree wallhanging I've been meaning to do for a few years
10. mini churn dash
11. mini double wedding ring (work in progress already)
12. fabric chain for Christmas tree

January UFO

The first UFO number from Patchwork Times is #10.

Le sigh.  #10 is a wholecloth quilt that I haven't even found yet! I do have the batting and backing for it, so that's a bonus :)

I like Thursday- looking forward to 2018

Ack! I forgot Thursday was coming up, and didn't have a post in prep! Linking up with Not Afraid of Color with a short post :)

I like the promise of a new year. New habits, new mindsets, the opportunity to think about what worked over the past year and what didn't. This year, I bought the "52 Lists Project" book and will use that to focus, I hope. We'll see how far I get!

I like taking time off over the holidays. I teleworked yesterday, just to be sure I was staying on top of things, but having big chunks of time to quilt, to organize/declutter, and to do things with family (Star Wars this afternoon!!) is precious. My former boss and really influential mentor passed away unexpectedly just before Christmas- I think about all of his plans for retirement and how he never got to do most of those things. NOW is the time to do all the things; retirement will just be a bonus.

I like baking- this is monkey bread I made for Christmas morning. It was DELICIOUS, and I think once a year is about the right time to make it!

edited to add the link to the recipe:   -I used "only" a stick of butter instead of 10 Tbsp, and a less-than-tightly packed cup of brown sugar.


I like how silly my family is. TMOTH got the Karate Kid soba noodles for Christmas.

I like this book series. This was my Secret Santa gift this year- my SS noticed that I talked about how excited I was this was coming out - MONTHS ago - and got it for me for Christmas.

I like finishing UFOs. These four blocks were the start of the Solstice quilt by Pat Sloan, but I got distracted after the first four. They make a nice baby quilt, I think. Now to get cracking on a "big boy" quilt for the baby's brother.

 I like vintage craft supplies. I'm in the process of winding floss onto bobbins. A lot of the vintage skeins have names as well as numbers - this is "Nectarine."

2018 UFO CHALLENGE

Every year, Judy Laquidara hosts a UFO challenge on her blog. You list 12 UFOs you'd like to finish, and each month she posts a number - and you work on that number project in that month. So...here are mine.

1. Crumb blocks. These are set with a kitty playing with yarn fabric. Needs more blocks made and put together.

2. Blue and yellow sampler. The ladies at my evening mini-group helped me past a mental block I had for the sashing, and all I really need to do is set the blocks together and quilt it.

3. Ex-swastika quilt. It's now a zig-zag. Top is together, needs to be quilted.

4. Colonial ladies. Still waffling about sashing on this one - I may take it to the mini-group for inspiration :)

5. Black and white with red 9-patches and snowballs. This one needs more blocks.

6. Olivia panel. Needs to have blocks to be a real quilt.

7.  Teeny tiny HSTs. These are bonus triangles that want to be a mini-quilt.

8. Blood donation t-shirt quilt. I've started cutting up the t-shirts for this one.

9. Frances' mom's blocks. These were a gift; I need to figure out how to finish them.

10. Wholecloth quilt. I count this only as a UFO because it sits in a bag taunting me. This would force me to actually start it.

11. Split 9-patch. I've started setting the blocks together.

12. Orange kid quilt. Some cutting done; fabric is all together in a bag.


And...there are more than 12. These won't be monthly - unless I finish one of the others early and swap them out - and at least one needs to be finished fairly soon!
13. Wedding gift for step-nephew and bride-to-be.
14. Toddler quilt for grand-nephew.
15. Mini-quilt from bonus triangles.
16. GFG. Started in the 80s.
17. Two fall leaf blocks destined for potholders.

18. Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt
19. Snowballs
20. Flannel pinwheels
21. Antique plaid blocks
22. Memaw's  birds in the air
23. Triple Irish chain with stars
24. Snowbirds mini
25. WOTB for Hannah
26. Batik HST quilt
27. Grey with pink stars
28. Mini Double Wedding Ring
29. Christmas quilt from Pineapple Fabrics layer cake
30. Stephen's summer quilt

I may find others and add them- but this is a fair start.

I Like Thursday- looking forward to Christmas

Linking up with Not Afraid of Color for I Like Thursday!

I like Christmas. (Not as much as Thanksgiving, but it's still a nice holiday.)
Cookie likes Christmas as well; he just doesn't like having his picture taken.

















I like having stretched my boundaries. I don't like the actual step of stretching my boundaries, and there's a HUGE exertion to do so, but the reward is great. I submitted this quilt to a local fiber art show the past weekend- I find out Friday if it was accepted.

I like new shoes. I found these on the clearance rack at my local DSW.

I like this bank. I bought him as a Christmas gift, then started second-guessing myself, so I kept him. Because he's cute!

 I like emptying thread spools. It feels so productive. Even when it's from filling a bobbin.

I Like Thursday- mid-December 2017

I like new starts. I wind up with a bunch of UFOs, but that's OK.
The newest start is a scrappy snowball sew-a-long. 4.5" squares with 1.5" corners, only a few each week. I've fussy cut at least one square; I have a LOT of novelty fabric I can use in this.

I like my birdfeeder. (I don't like the snow, but that's not a topic for this post).
We've had it for a long time now, and the combination of the baffle and the weight bar really does help keep the squirrels out. The deer tip it over now and again, though.

I love cardinals. They always remind me of my mom- in her later years she was quite a birdwatcher. In legends, cardinals are the visiting spirit of a loved one; I think my mom loves my birdfeeder!

I like Christmas lists - this one is from the 12-year-old.

Progress On Ringo Lake

Mystery quilt from Bonnie Hunter-

Clue #3 is a slanty block pieced in pairs:

 I have about 10% of that clue done.  I have about half of the flying geese done now.

And I'm sewing the extra seam for the bonus HSTs!!

I Like Thursday

Happy Thursday, everybody!! Joining up with Not Afraid of Color for I Like Thursday- #66 for LeeAnna, but I'm a new convert.

I like flying geese. I don't particularly like the process of making them, but I *do* like the finished product.

I like cross-stitch- and surprisingly, I like gridding. I've never done it before, but here's a start on a stitch-a-long that I haven't  quite started yet.

This boy. I don't know why he's peeved at me- probably just because I'm taking the photo.

 I like milk glass. They're nice for holding crochet hooks, and the knitting needles I'm collecting so I can eventually learn to knit.

I like this blue pen! It seems to be starting to run dry already, though, so I'll try other brands. But marking my mini-quilt was SO easy!

On Ringo Lake Mystery Week 2

Week 2 of Bonnie Hunter's new mystery quilt is a little more ... involved ... than last week.

200 flying geese.

200.

Oy.

I have 20 done so far, and will hopefully get a few more done this week.

And of course I'm saving the tiny HSTs that result from sewing an extra seam...