WIP Wednesday / Sew Every Day 16

 It's amazing how much you can get done when you decide to sew every day! Thank you, Pat Sloan, for issuing the challenge.

Actively in Progress: 

Star Crazy Plan B is almost done. It needs a batik border to make it a decent lap quilt size. I will shop for that soon.

 

Ninnie Niner is a completed top. Most of the 9-patches were collected in the Ninigret Quilters' 9-patch swap. The layout is Thimble Blossoms' Niner quilt. I need to find a backing for this one.

Sew Every Day 16: I got the rest of the fabric cut for Pete's album quilt while he was volunteering at Cub Scout camp. (There are stacks of white background pieces, too.)

I only managed to sew together one block. Now that all the fabric is cut, whenever I have a few minutes, I can piece a block. I have 13 of 40 blocks needed for this quilt. Ten of them were made by my friends in the Modern Stash Bee.

Coming soon: My nephew and his wife announced last night (at a Reveal Party!) that they are expecting a baby girl in November! This will be the fifth great granddaughter for my mother- no boys! I started a Baby Quilts Pinterest board last night, with fabric and pattern ideas. What is your go-to baby quilt pattern?

Back burner:
Tops to be quilted:
   Vintage Modern- needs backing
   Chevron & On- needs backing
   Magenta Crayon Challenge- ready to baste
   Swap Soup- ready to baste
   3X3 Swap- quilt by check after furlough
   Bears in the Farmhouse- needs a border and backing
Blocks to Assemble: 4X5 Modern Bee

Have fun visiting other WIP Wednesday posts!

Sew Every Day 15

I've made it half-way through Pat Sloan's challenge to sew every day in July. 15 for 15!

Day 15: Stitched together the top of the nine patch swap quilt. The layout was inspired by Camille Roskelley's Niner pattern. It currently measures about 50 x 75".  I might just add a 2" border of the white print to square it up. I'm planning to use up all my saved binding scraps.

I hope you are staying cool and comfortable in the midst of another heat wave. If you need me, I'll be in my air-conditioned bedroom.

Sew Every Day 13 & 14

 My "cottage" garden is bursting with perennials and scary looking iridescent blue bees.

 Sew Every Day 13: I stitched exactly 4 seams. I did a quick paper piecing demo at the RI Modern Guild meeting. Going to the meeting and shopping for fabric has to count, too!

Day 14:  I needed 10 more 9-patches to add to the swapped blocks for the layout I chose.

By dinner time, the large units were all pieced. It shouldn't take long on Monday to get the top finished.

Julia finished piecing the top she's been working on.

 

 She's really happy! The goal is to get it quilted and bound next weekend.

 When Bill was in his basement office last night, he heard something scratching the window screen. A turtle was trying to climb out of the window well! This morning, he found this baby snapping turtle dug into the mud in the bottom to keep cool. 

I won't be digging a hole in the mud for myself tomorrow, but I think I will need to move my machine back to my air-conditioned bedroom. It's going to be another steamy week.

Sew Every Day 12

 I finished piecing together this much of Star Crazy Plan B last night. It currently measures 36 x 52". It will need borders to make it useful. I only have enough of the background left to add a small border. Since I chopped up my entire batik stash during my arrowhead obsession, I'll need to purchase something special for the outer border. The LQS in my town has the best selection of batiks, so I'll be headed there soon.

The stained glass effect always looks cool.

 

Ninigret Quilters completed our 3-month nine patch swap this week. Here are the 48 blocks I collected. I think I've decided on Camille's Niner pattern for the layout.

 

Let's zoom out for a reality check. The design board is leaning up against the fireplace. I'm in no hurry to take down the garland I made for Pete's party. I don't mind finding the ukulele left lying around, but do I really need a machete and a tomahawk on the hearth? I suppose the hearth is a better place than the couch!

 

Have a happy, quilty weekend!

Sew Every Day 11

 Day 11: More stars. I finished piecing the remaining small stars and pieced together the center section. After I sew together the rows of small stars and measure, I'll calculate how wide the sashing needs to be around the center to make the rows fit. I don't think I've mentioned that the small stars finish at 6" and the squares in the Irish Chains finish at 1".

I have a few blocks left over that will either go on the back or become their own little quilt. I'm considering giving away the main quilt as a wedding gift, so the little quilt would be for me to keep. Someone Bill has worked with for over 20 years is getting married in August. I have no idea what colors they like, so I don't know how they'd feel about orange!

 

I've got a couple of appointments today and Bill has the day off (his first furlough day, thank you Congress. NOT!), so it will be tricky to carve out sewing time. But I'm determined to do it!

Sew Every Day 10

 And now for something completely different. Imagine my surprise when I found a binder on my bookshelf with all these blocks and a baggie full of HSTs! In January 2010, I started working on the Star Crazy block of the month at the Quilt Channel. After the first three months, I forgot all about it!

Day 10 sewing: 1 full Irish Chain block, 8 half IC blocks,

 

and six more small stars made from the bag of HSTs. The portable design wall is leaning up against the back of the couch.

I have enough HSTs left to make 4 extra blocks, so I can move the colors around a bit. Here is my set up on the tiny design board next to my machine. It really does come in handy.

 

Looking forward to Day 11 after breakfast with a friend.

WIP Wednesday / Sew Every Day 9

It's WIP Wednesday, and thanks to Pat Sloan's Sew Every Day challenge, I have two finishes to share!

Finished:

Mod Bento is done, but she needs a cute name. What about Summer Picnic? Read more about it in this post.

Improv was a fun one day project! If you have not done any improvisational piecing, I recommend the Jackie Gehring class on Craftsy. It's on sale right now!

In Progress:

Sew Every Day 9: Ninnie Nines (guild 9-patch swap), 16 blocks for the third and final round of the swap. I might start playing with all 48 blocks later today!

Star Crazy BOM: When I was rummaging through my book shelf last weekend, I found my Star Crazy binder from early 2010. A hidden WIP! Three months worth of instructions and completed blocks (more than shown below) were neatly tucked into the binder. I quickly drafted a new design to use what I already have. I just have to make a few blocks to complete the design. This project is back on the list!

Pete's Album quilt: I won't get back to this one until next week, when he heads to Cub Scout camp as a volunteer. The following week, he will be at Boy Scout camp with his troop. This quilt will be my focus for those two weeks.

Also on the WIP list, maybe for Sew Every Day in August?

Magenta Dahlias- backing and batting ready for basting.

Swap Soup- backing and batting ready to go.

4X5 swap- just a pile of awesome blocks.

It's time to head back to the machine for day 10. But first, a link up and visit to: