Design Floor Monday 021918

I have working on re-configuring these blocks left from an old mystery.  Sundays on the drive to church I worked at un-sewing all the white triangles in each unit.  Then I replaced them with pink as leaders & enders.  I think there were 80 units in all.  Quite an undertaking, but doing it slowly it didn't seem overwhelming.

Ready to sew into blocks.

There was no deadline for this, so I just worked away at it slowly.  Until one day they were all ready to join together in blocks that looked like their 25 sister blocks.

Hoping for no repeats within a block.

Then came the dilemma.  There were already 25 blcoks like this.  I added 20 more.  45 is not a very good number for a nicely proportioned quilt.  Remove 3 for a 6x7 layout?  Or add 3 for a 6x8 layout?  Since I had enough leftover pieces and I didn't want any leftover blocks I went with add 3. 

So now there are 48 blocks ready to go.  I did all my math for sashings and picked out turquoise squares from the precut scrap drawer for setting stones.  But for now it is back in the drawer as a UFO.

I have to find something else to work on on the way to church.

Linking up to small quilts and doll quilts to show what we are working on.

H2H Finished at Last

I am very pleased with this finish.  The progress stretched out over a LOOONNNGG period of time but that's just the way life is sometimes.

The quilting was very intentionally done before we drove to Georgia for R's college graduation.  Seven hours on the road was more than enough to get all the thread tails sewn in which was the plan.  

I really wanted to get it completed so I can start quilting the Meet in the Middle wedding quilt, which has a fast approaching deadline.  But I also needed to clean up the giant mess in the sewing/project room that had accumulated as life went on in other rooms.  It's not a big room to start with, but when there is no room to stand something has to give.   

I physically could not move around enough to get the quilt squared and a binding prepared so that delayed the finish even more. Last weekend I was determined and I am super pleased with my cleaning progress and my finish.  Now I can move on in good conscience.  I wish I had taken a before picture of the room.

The backing was from my mother's stash.  Hate is a pretty strong word, but I just did not like this fabric.  But when I started looking for backing for this quilt it was perfect.  Pink, black, roses, extra wide, long enough.  Perfect.  I used it for the binding as well and I really, really like the way it came out.

Glad I took the H2H challenge.  Glad I used the UFO units.  Glad to find a home for a big chunk of fabric. Glad to now have a positive memory for this piece of my mother's stash.  Glad this quilt will cover someone in LOVE!!


Linking to Confessions of a Fabric Addict to show off not just any finish but that my H2H quilt is finished and ready to mail out to Quilty Hugs for Happy Chemo!!!

Catching up on showing off a finish over at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Stash Report 052216

After weeks and weeks of commitments that kept me from sewing I was finally able to clear the mess and get something  done. Happy to report that my quilt for Hands 2 Help is done.  It came together in a round about way! You can read its story here.

In addition to feeling an accomplishment at last, I can also report fabric out for backing and binding. Woohoo!

Fabric Used/Out This Week: 2.35 yards
Fabric Used/Out in 2016: 30.5 yards

Fabric In This Week:  0 yards

Fabric In 2016: 24.75 yards
 
Net Used 2016:  5.75 yards

Staying accountable with Judy over at Patchwork Times!

Grand Illusion Part 5

This was an easy clue. Perfect for a busy week.  Can't wait to see how they all fit together.

I am so thankful to be caught up. When school starts again and I go back to work my time will no longer be my own. 

Head on over to Quiltville  to see other people's progress.

Grand Illusion Part 4

Friday I woke up long before the alarm - as usual - but I got up to check on the clue rather than try to get back to sleep. Since everyone else was asleep I worked on cutting first.  Got almost all the blue/neutral HST ready to sew before the alarm went off and it was back to reality.

As soon as I was able I was back at it. Had to finish the last 23 blocks for Part 3 before I could let myself start Part 4!!  Half of the 4x1 strips were already done so I was too close to put it off.  Good motivation. 

Made the test block. first.  Everything was fine so I went into a sewing frenzy to plow through them. I was super careful to always keep looking at the test block to keep things from getting mixed up. There were a few things I had to do but cooking dinner was not one of them so I actually managed to get all of Clue 4 done by evening!!  

Not sure which is which, but 40 of each!!

I know my family was relieved that on Saturday I got some housework done, got the room ready for College R's visit and even put up the Christmas tree!  

Head on over to Quiltville   to see how others are doing on the Mystery Quilt.

Grand Illusion Part III

This step took me longer than the previous steps since I already had a full weekend and week.   Very glad it was a bit easier.  

The first 40!  Thursday evening things start to slow down. Hope to finish up before Friday morning.

Update:  I stayed upstairs and sewed rather than get on the computer to finish this post.  I got up to 65 before this post actually got published on Wednesday night.  There are lots of 4x1s ready to go, so I think I can get it done by Friday am for sure now.  Fingers crossed!!

Linking up to Quiltville  to show progress.

Grand Illusion Part II

I had a regular Friday off for the first time in ages and that helped a lot. I could hardly wait to get everyone delivered to the bus and school and get back home to sew.  I did the test block as recommended and adjusted my diamond before I cut all 200.   

I had fewer scraps to work with this week so I cut strips from yardage and the cutting went more quickly than last week.  Also, I did all the cutting first after my test blocks.  Last week I cut and sewed and cut and sewed.  I think this week was faster but more tedious. 

I can't wait to see how this is all going to come together. 

My goal was to get Part II done this weekend. I wasn't sure I could but I sacrificed a few things - housecleaning, Christmas decorating, prep for school - and got it done at the last minute.  Somehow it is easier to find an excuse to sew on the weekend than a work day!!

103 Part II units ready to go!!

It all still fits in the shoebox.

 Head over to  Quiltville to see how the others are doing.

Good Start to Grand Illusion

I have stood on the sidelines for the previous mysteries since life just didn't let me play along.  This year I am going to play too! I was working and working on cleaning my work space and getting things in order.  I think subconsciously I felt guilty starting something new if I did not even have a clean work surface.  Work area is ready to go and I got lots of fabric and stuff out unexpectedly (you can see how that happened right here)  so I felt like I earned a new project.

Since I was cleaning I did not pull fabrics ahead of time so when the clue came out I was busy choosing colors right away.  I had read the introduction enough times that I knew what to look for.  I was very thankful that I had quite a few 2.5" strips to get started with.  When those were used up I moved on to cutting from the larger stash.

80 HST set aside

Started cutting, sewed a bit, make a sample and moved along.  I wasn't sure about the constant yellow, but ended up having enough to have a constant yellow for this part at least.  Good enough.  I also decided that I am not going to agonize over my color choices.  I am going to work with what I have and that is good enough.

Sewing the last seams

It is unusual to have this much free time to work on sewing, so I was able to complete Part 1 in two days.  Not sure what will happen next week.  But that's okay too.  I will do what I can.

Ready to iron

Looking good!

Done until next Friday

Probably won't fit in this box for long!

Head over to Quiltville   to see how the others are doing.