Illusions at County Clare

County Clare is a finished top! 

I can't remember ever making something with this many seemingly unrelated parts "making it up as I go along" so I am rather pleased with the finished product!  All four corners worked and it looks pretty close to what I imagined.

What a relief when the 4th corner matched up!

The final border took a lot more thought that I imagined.  I had a few ideas, but none of them really worked and by then I was committed to the 2" blue, since it was from a shirt that had been cut up and I could not uncut it.  I think larger than 2" would have been better, but I don't know if there would have been enough fabric that way and I really liked this color so this is it.

Illusions at County Clare 67" x 83"

15 Minute Report

15 minute days/week = 7/7

15 minute day/March = 28/29

15 minute days/2025 = 79/88

Success Rate = 90%

Bringing County Clare to a finished top was a huge accomplishment.  So many little pieces.  If this was not already committed to somewhere else, or I didn't already have more quilts than I know what to do with, this would be a keeper!

2025 Stash Totals

Used last week:  6.3 yards for County Clare

Used year to date: 23.5 yards

Acquired last Week: 0 yards

Acquired year to date: 7 yards

Net used in 2025: 16.5 more yards used

Linking up to Life in Pieces to share progress.

Linking up to quiltpaintcreate to show stash movement.

Many Hands Make Light Work

Spring Break was very conducive to sewing.  Little S was home from college and helped turned these ...

into these.

Lots and lots of green & white.

She got all the black corners unsewn and I was able to get white corners sewn on in no time at all.  I had thought the unsewing would take all week and the replacement corners another week, but not at all.  Days uninterrupted by work and "Many hands make light work" resulted in good productivity.

While she was unsewing, I got the County Clare blocks sashed and joined and into the center of what I am imagining.

Big blocks ready to join.

Next up are the green & white borders.  The first short one went on as planned and fit perfectly.  I did catch myself before I sewed on the other short end.  I have to make the colors in the corners line up, so I have to work my way around the quilt.  That part I did not plan, so we will see how it goes.  I should be able to get three out of four though.  I have the second side clipped in place and will continue working on that this week.  

I'm really liking the look!

Saturday we took Little S back to school and stayed the night to see Grown Up E preach in church on Sunday.  I took hand-sewing for the trip, but didn't get to it on Saturday. Family time is more important!  Now that we are back, I'm sure I will get in 15 minutes today after I get my lesson plans ready for back to school tomorrow.

15 Minute Report

15 minute days/week = 6/7

15 minute day/March = 21/22

15 minute days/2025 = 72/81

Success Rate = 89%

I am so close to getting this top finished.  For sure next week I will have numbers to report.  I did go thrifting with my sister and even though there was cute fabric - including one that brought back a LOT of memories from decades ago - I did not buy anything.

2025 Stash Totals

Used last week:  0 yards

Used year to date: 17.2 yards

Acquired last Week: 0 yards

Acquired year to date: 7 yards

Net used in 2025: 10.2 more yards used

Linking up to Life in Pieces to share progress.

Linking up to quiltpaintcreate to show stash movement.

Slow and Steady

That's what I tell my students all the time, but this week it applied to me as well.  Last weekend I decided to unsew and fix the County Clare units that needed resizing so that the 12" finished block layout I planned would actually be 12".  It worked out well since this was the last week before Spring Break and there was a lot going on a school to finish out the quarter.  Remaking one or two units each evening was great for decompressing.  Coincidentally, the book I am listening to referred to County Clare today!

The vision in my head is definitely not showing up on the wall!

Now I am starting the sashing.  I have two ideas and fortunately I can try one without waste if I decide to go with the other.  Largest possible finished quilt is the determining factor.  I think I have it mathed out properly to allow me to use the units that were found in the orphan block bin for a border.

Block #2 Ready for Sashing

Little S is on her way home from college for Spring Break.  I am so thankful that our Spring Breaks coincide. This will be a true test to see if I can still work in 15 minutes of stitching each day, while I have something more interesting to do than school.  She is a cross-stitcher, so maybe we can stitch together.  Or ..... she likes to unsew, so maybe I can get her to unsew the black corners on the border units!!!

15 Minute Report

15 minute days/week = 7/7

15 minute day/March = 15/15

15 minute days/2025 = 66/74

Success Rate = 89%

Remaking blocks did not cause any change in the stash numbers.  Maybe next week if I get them sashed during Spring Break.

2025 Stash Totals

Used last week:  0 yards

Used year to date: 17.2 yards

Acquired last Week: 0 yards

Acquired year to date: 7 yards

Net used in 2025: 10.2 more yards used

Linking up to Life in Pieces to share progress.

Linking up to quiltpaintcreate to show stash movement.

County Clare Has Been Promoted

March started with a good cleaning of the sewing room work space.  I really missed out on a good before and after photo!

After rediscovering the table top, I decided to promote the Leader & Ender project "County Clare" to focus project.  I had originally thought I'd just make 9 blocks and turn it into a baby/kid quilt since that is what I most often need, but I have good stash of those now.  The new possibility of making quilts for North Carolina has me very excited.  But I want these quilts to be larger.

The last few County Clare units.

So I prepped enough pieces to make 3 more large blocks and working on those was my project all week.  When I joined the 4 smaller blocks to make the 12" block, I noticed that the blocks that I had sewed as true leader & enders were not as well made as when I sewed just them this week.  A few adaptations came to mind, but in the end I just started unsewing and adjusting seam allowances on the ones that needed it.  That will take another day or two, but I think will give the best finished product in the end.  It was a good reminder to check sizes more often as I work, especially with such small pieces.

The beginning of an idea.

My idea is a 3x4 layout with sashing and blue setting stones.  In my cleaning I rediscovered these units from Grand Illusion that I'd like to work in as a border.   I think the math will work.  I'm not sure about the black corners and may switch them for white or just go with it.   So many of my blues in County Clare are dark, it might work.  We'll see when I get to that step.

Can I use up this pile in the process?!?!

15 Minute Report

15 minute days/week = 7/7

15 minute day/March = 8/8

15 minute days/2025 = 59/67

Success Rate = 88%

Mindless sewing was really what I needed this week, but not enough got done to move the numbers.

2025 Stash Totals

Used last week:  0 yards

Used year to date: 17.2 yards

Acquired last Week: 0 yards

Acquired year to date: 7 yards

Net used in 2025: 10.2 more yards used

Linking to Kate's Life in Pieces to share progress.

Linking to quiltpaintcreate to show stash movement.

February PhD Report

Here I am at the end of February with two finishes.  Having a plan makes a huge difference.   

The Carnival Quilt had not been on the list for long and had a due date, so it got finished quickly.  I make an auction quilt with my class each year, and I think this is one of my favorites.

2025 Auction Quilt

After that I decided to work on my least favorite on the PhD list - the red, green, and fruit squares. Once I started getting the borders on, I began to really like it.  

Red, green, & fruits!

All in all, this turned into a nice quilt.  Definitely no longer my least favorite!  This is as far as I'm going on this one.  I will pass it off to get finished and sent on to someone in need in Helene ravaged North Carolina.

As tired as I was on Friday after school, I made myself finish the backing so that I could call this one done in February.  Having goals really helps move things along!

Now to decide what to work on next.  The bar has been set pretty high to get another finish next month as well!

Linking up to Ms. P Designs USA to give a PhD Update for February. 

Another Finish

This week I kept working on on the red, green, and fruit squares.  Once I started getting the borders on, I began to really like it.  

68" x 78"

It turned out that with the extra inner border, I did not have enough backing fabric.  I pieced some of the red dots into the truck fabric and brought it up to large enough.  All in all, this turned into a nice quilt.  Definitely no longer my least favorite!  

Not quite what I envisioned, but it will work.

This is as far as I'm going on this one.  I will pass it off to get finished and sent on to someone in need in Helene-ravaged North Carolina.

15 Minute Report

15 minute days/week = 6/7

15 minute day/March = 1/1

15 minute day/Feb = 24/28

15 minute days/2025 = 52/60
Success Rate = 87%

The red, green, and fruit quilt top and backing are finished!

2025 Stash Totals

Used last week:  6.89 yards

Used year to date: 17.2 yards

Acquired last Week: 0 yards

Acquired year to date: 7 yards

Net used in 2025: 10.2 more yards used

Linking up to Life in Pieces to share progress.

Linking up to quiltpaintcreate to show stash movement.

Week of February 16

It was a strange week, and I worked on a mix of projects.  One day I didn't feel good so came home from school quickly and after a 3 hour nap I looked at old magazines to find inspiration.  I ended up finding a good project for my next leader & ender project.  So the next few days I cut out pieces to get me started.  

Seems like a simple but cute project for leaders & enders!

Over winter break I had seen this cute hexagon hot pad pattern and thought it would be fun to make for the girls.  I still had extra hexagons from the baby quilts I had made a while back and they turned out to be the right size.  On the first one I made the mistake of trying to do it in a QAYG fashion over the batting, and that did not work.  I made it work, but I won't do that again.  The pieces were just too small to manage easily.  

Halfway done!

This morning I made myself finish the first one since I had all the parts ready to go.  I was nervous about binding the angles, but it came out fine.  Next time I will make sure the binding ends meet farther away from the loop.  I have the next top ready.  These are definitely not on the front burner and once I finish the 3 of them, I pretty sure I'm done.  Super cute, not hard, but just not my thing.    

I also worked on this quilt that was made from donated squares and then set aside several years ago since I didn't really like it and didn't have anything that remotely coordinated to add borders or finish or anything.  Well, when I went to use up my Joann's gift card I found the red polka dot that I thought was close enough for a border.  

Top is intended backing, black is for another project, red is the borders and maybe binding.

When I washed the fabric I got that day, a black for another project was next to the fabrics for this quilt and it looked good together.  So I added a narrow black inner border with a black grunge from my stash.  I think it makes a huge difference.  I actually almost like this now.  I will work on the red borders this week.

15 Minute Report

15 minute days/week = 6/7

15 minute day/Feb = 19/22

15 minute days/2025 = 46/53
Success Rate = 87%

Not enough movement this week to affect the stash, but hopefully next week I'll have some finishes.

2025 Stash Totals

Used last week:  0 yards

Used year to date: 10.31 yards

Acquired last Week: 0 yards

Acquired year to date: 7 yards

Net used in 2025: 3.31 more yards used

Linking to Life in Pieces to share progress.

Linking to quiltpaintcreate to share stash movement.