June UFO Challenge

 For me, 2022 is all about reducing the number of UFOs I have.  At the beginning of the year, a close friend wanted to join me so we made a little challenge.  So far I have completed every project that has been drawn.  But then came June...

June's project is to make another quilt from a box of neutral fabrics that are left over from this strata quilt.  I probably have enough fabric to make two quilts! (I didn't pull it all out of the box).

Normally this would not be counted as a UFO because no fabric has been cut.  But these fabrics don't fit well with my other stash so it is best to just keep them together.

Even though it is the last week of the month, I decided to get started on it.  I had an idea for a simple 12" block in my head.  I liked the first one....

This afternoon I finished the 6th block.  My goal is to make a total of 20 blocks (a 4 x 5 setting).  I know I am going to run out of the beige background soon so I hope to get 10 blocks completed.  I have another neutral piece that I think will get me through the final 10 blocks.

There is no way I will finish this quilt in June.  But I am sewing with my friend later this week (who by the way is way behind in this challenge) so maybe we will decide not to draw a project for July.  That will give me another month to catch up!

Wish me luck!

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Some cute fabric at a great price!

Oh Scrap! : Catching up with the Blues

 We have been having some very warm days so it has been a good time to stay in and sew.

It has been nice to get caught up on a few projects.

I have finished sewing together all of the Covered in Love blocks. That was my biggest accomplishment for the week. Now I just need to get them on the longarm and quilt them.

A few more blue Switchplate blocks were sewn.  These are made with five 1.5" x 3.5" strips.

I also finished up my blue Chaser blocks for June.

Looks like I need 14 more blocks and I can start sewing this one together. For sure I will be adding purple and maybe more green.

I finally have an empty design wall so I was able to put up my blocks for the Positivity QAL.  I have 12 blocks finished to date (I think we are supposed to link up our progress today.) 

 Time to get sewing on this - I am behind schedule!

...and don't forget the placemats.  I think I finished 3 more blue slabs.  Now they need quilting too. (Yes, I load my placemats onto my big machine. I am spoiled!)

Hope you have lots of scrappy projects to share!

*********************************************

It is now your turn to share what you are making with scraps.  Here are the details for linking up: 

• This linky party is for any scrappy project - It can be in-process or a finished piece.
• You can link up your blog post (not your homepage please) or Instagram photo from the past week that features your use of scraps.
• If you are linking to a blog post, I ask that you link back to my blog somewhere in your post. So if you are writing about scraps, just get into the habit of including a link as there will be a linky party available every week!
• If you are using Instagram, please use the hashtag #ohscrap.
• This is a party so remember to socialize and comment on the posts of others.
• Following my blog is not necessary but it sure would be great if you do! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

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Linking Up:

Love Laugh Quilt (Monday Making)

What a Hoot (BOM Mondays)

So Scrappy for RSC22 

Lots of great tools are on sale right now at Connecting Threads.  Don't miss out!

June Placemats

 I can't believe we are nearing the end of June already!

Time to share the placemats I finished this month. 

Unfortunately this month was mostly spent finishing up the green placemats I pulled all the scraps for in May.  Here are eight more ready for the "Done" pile.

I also finished up two more that were made from orphan blocks or spare parts that have been hanging around for eons.  It feels good to finally put these to good use.

I did finish one lone blue placemat.  I have a bunch more in the works but so far this is the only one that has made it past the "binding" stage.

I now have 110 placemats finished.  They will be donated to Meals on Wheels to be given out during one of the holiday meals.  Right now the stack is higher than my knee!

(Because I am always asked, I trim my placemats to 11 x 15".)

Everyone stay cool this weekend!

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Linking Up:

My Quilt Infatuation (Needle & Thread)

From Bolt to Beauty (Brag about your Beauties)
Alycia Quilts (Finished or not Friday)

The Joyful Quilter (Table Scraps)

So Scrappy for RSC22 

AccuQuilt will be raising prices on their Go! products beginning July !st.  Time to pick up those items you are needing before the price goes up.

Oh Scrap! : Finally Working on Blue Scraps

 This week I was finally able to get out my blue scrap bin and start sorting appropriate bits for my June RSC blocks. Soon I had some cut pieces sitting next to my machine so sew as I worked on other projects.

So that means I have some blue Switchplate blocks ready to share.  I had already cut the green centers in May

Here are the seventeen I finished.  I think I need a total of 33 of each color so I still have some cutting to do.

I haven't decided how I am going to lay these blocks out.  I have just been putting them on my design wall - dark to light.  I have a lot of the green blocks ready but I haven't had a chance to cut their yellow centers.

I am excited about playing with these blocks once I have more colors completed.  Then I will probably go back and cut whatever other color shades I need.

Today I hope to get the rest of my blue scraps cut. 

 I really would love to get caught up on my RSC quilts!

*********************************************

It is now your turn to share what you are making with scraps.  Here are the details for linking up: 

• This linky party is for any scrappy project - It can be in-process or a finished piece.
• You can link up your blog post (not your homepage please) or Instagram photo from the past week that features your use of scraps.
• If you are linking to a blog post, I ask that you link back to my blog somewhere in your post. So if you are writing about scraps, just get into the habit of including a link as there will be a linky party available every week!
• If you are using Instagram, please use the hashtag #ohscrap.
• This is a party so remember to socialize and comment on the posts of others.
• Following my blog is not necessary but it sure would be great if you do! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Follow Me on Bloglovin'                 Follow Me on Feedly

Linking Up:

Love Laugh Quilt (Monday Making)

What a Hoot (BOM Mondays)

So Scrappy for RSC22 

A Vintage Finish - A Long Term Project

 For about the last month, I have been feeling like I haven't made much progress on any of my projects.  Today I get to share what has been eating up all of my time.

For pretty much all of May, I spent at least two hours a day hand quilting this vintage hand pieced top.

I am happy to report I finally finished it.

My mom gave me this family quilt top about 15 years ago. (I guess she thought I was finally old enough to take care of it.) It is all hand pieced so I decided I would hand quilt it.

I loaded it onto my Ulmer floor frame and worked on it occasionally for a couple years. I finally put it all away even though I was only about halfway done with the quilt.

For over ten years, it all sat in the closet.

Well, the first of May, this project was picked for the month's UFO challenge.  So I got it back out and put it in my big oval frame.  I worked on it almost every night.

I really enjoyed looking at all the prints.  I am guessing most came from the 40's.  I think there were a lot of clothing scraps used in this.  There are a number of hexagons that have seams in them (the orange piece in the center).  Some are hand pieced but many are machine pieced.

On the back, I put a really nice muslin.  I think it shows the stitching so nicely. (although my imperfect stitches are not much to write home about!) I also  used the muslin as the binding.   I just couldn't settle on a single color or print.  And I have to say I really like the light binding on this - it takes nothing away from the quilt.

The quilt is fairly large (it is about 65 x 75) and not squared up real nicely.  But it has so much charm!  It will hold a place of honor in my 1940's livingroom.

Now that this project is done, I should finally have some time to work on some other things.

So far on my UFO challenge I am 5 for 5.  June's project is a box of leftover fabric that needs to be turned into a quilt.  This finish might be tough but I will give it a go!

I do have one other vintage quilt top to "rework".  It is fabrics from the 60's and 70's but my Grandmother used an old wool army blanket for the batting.  It has disintegrated so I need to take it apart and re-tie it using a better batting (but will still keep the pink yarn ties).  I am a little afraid of the mess it is going to make.

But the quilt is a HOOT!  

I want it for a picnic quilt so maybe this summer is the year I will finally tackle it..

Hope you enjoy your weekend!

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Linking Up:

My Quilt Infatuation (Needle & Thread)

From Bolt to Beauty (Brag about your Beauties)

Alycia Quilts (Finished or not Friday)

Oh my, Connecting Threads just came out with these new Faux Tweed Tonals.  I have quite a few of the colors already sitting in my cart. :)

The colors are amazing!

Oh Scrap! : Bloom Blocks

 I have been in my sewing room a ton lately, but I don't really have much to share today.

Many hours have been spend sewing together Covered in Love Quilts...

Still working on a number of green and orphan block placemats for Meals on Wheels....

Scraps are getting cut for future blocks...

Every evening I have spent a couple hours hand quilting a vintage top...

I never did find my green squares that were misplaced so I recut more and finished the last four green blocks I needed for my May Bloom blocks.

I just need some orange blocks to finish this project.  Not sure I will get to them this month but hopefully in July!

I still have not looked at my blue scraps for June (RSC) and the month is almost halfway over.

Yikes...Thank goodness some projects are nearing completion.  

There is just too much going on right now!

I hope you have fun things to share...

*********************************************

It is now your turn to share what you are making with scraps.  Here are the details for linking up: 

• This linky party is for any scrappy project - It can be in-process or a finished piece.
• You can link up your blog post (not your homepage please) or Instagram photo from the past week that features your use of scraps.
• If you are linking to a blog post, I ask that you link back to my blog somewhere in your post. So if you are writing about scraps, just get into the habit of including a link as there will be a linky party available every week!
• If you are using Instagram, please use the hashtag #ohscrap.
• This is a party so remember to socialize and comment on the posts of others.
• Following my blog is not necessary but it sure would be great if you do! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Follow Me on Bloglovin'                 Follow Me on Feedly

Linking Up:

Love Laugh Quilt (Monday Making)

What a Hoot (BOM Mondays)

So Scrappy for RSC22 

CIL Quilt Finish #3

 The Covered in Love Finishes keep on coming!

I am ready to share the third finish today.  It is another Tall Nine in Autumn colors.

So many beautiful fall fabrics hidden away in people's stashes!

I laid these blocks out all going the same direction again.  I really like this look.

When I sewed the blocks together, I didn't worry too much if the same fabrics touched in the small rectangles.  But I did try and space out the colors in the bigger rectangles.

On the back is a lovely floral piece with a gold.  Doesn't the swirl quilting look lovely on the back?

Here is one more up-close photo.  I know some of you look for your blocks.  I used a pretty regal looking purple and gold fabric for the binding.

TaDa! 

 I have one more Tall Nine to finish but I am itching to get moving on the red, white and blue star blocks.  Not sure which quilt will be shared next!

Hope everyone has a great weekend.  

We are getting rain so that means a sewing weekend for me!

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Linking Up:

My Quilt Infatuation (Needle & Thread)

From Bolt to Beauty (Brag about your Beauties)
Alycia Quilts (Finished or not Friday)

Hey all you Batik lovers.  

Connecting Threads has their lovely batiks on sale right now.  

The sale includes yardage, precuts and Kits!

Making your Positivity Blocks Scrappy

 When I shared my first Positivity Blocks last Sunday, I said I would share how I make my blocks look scrappy.  It is really easy to do.

You can go to the Sew Preeti Blog to get the cut sizes and the block assembly instructions.  

You can find that tutorial here.

I am only making my background scrappy (but you could make all of it scrappy if you want -I was a bit worried it would chaotic.)

When you cut the light parts for your two blocks, make each piece a different low volume print (including the center square of the dark block).

Once you cut them and reassemble per Preeti's instructions, you can see that they create a really fun background for your "twist".

Here are a few blocks all together so you can see the effect.

Easy Peasy!!

(If you want to learn more about the Positivity QAL, you can follow this link.) 

I hope you join in - it is for a great cause!

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Oh Scrap! : Finally some Progress

 I finally found some time to get caught up on a few of my scrap projects. 

 In fact, I even started a new one!

I finished my last green letter B for my booth banner.  This was the RSC color for May.  Now I have THREE to make in Blue for June.  Yikes!!

(One lonely switchplate block was sewn this week too.  I need to cut some yellow centers for all the green strips I cut so I will just finish them this month.)

I finally got to my little pile of previously cut squares for my Bloom Mixology blocks.  (I still adore this little "basket" block.)  Here are the four all completed.  The other needed four are a little bit different hue and do you think I can find the pieces?  I have looked everywhere - I know I cut them.  In fact, when I just recut all the pieces, many of the prints looked familiar.  

Sigh...I know they will show up any day now.

Here is that project up on the wall.  It is almost finished!

Here is my newest scrap project.  While I had my green scrap bin out, I started cutting for my Positivity quilt.  Sewing up these 8 blocks took no time at all.  You can find the pattern here on Sew Pretti's blog. The only change I made is I want my background to be scrappy.  I will try and share how I do that in a future post.  It is really simple to do!

Today I will be trimming all my Bloom HSTs so I should finish up those blocks soon.  Then I can get cutting some blue scraps for some future blocks!

*********************************************

It is now your turn to share what you are making with scraps.  Here are the details for linking up: 

• This linky party is for any scrappy project - It can be in-process or a finished piece.
• You can link up your blog post (not your homepage please) or Instagram photo from the past week that features your use of scraps.
• If you are linking to a blog post, I ask that you link back to my blog somewhere in your post. So if you are writing about scraps, just get into the habit of including a link as there will be a linky party available every week!
• If you are using Instagram, please use the hashtag #ohscrap.
• This is a party so remember to socialize and comment on the posts of others.
• Following my blog is not necessary but it sure would be great if you do! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Follow Me on Bloglovin'                   Follow Me on Feedly

Linking Up:

Love Laugh Quilt (Monday Making)

What a Hoot (BOM Mondays)

So Scrappy for RSC22 

Right now AccuQuilt has some great sales on both the Studio and Go! cutting machines and dies.  If you have been thinking about purchasing, now is the time.