Sew Saturday ~ UFO for Michael

Michael is my youngest son.  I started this quilt for him in 2013.  I put it on the back burner to work on his older brother's quilt because I wanted to get it done before Tyler graduated in 2014.  After I finished his I focused on a few charity quilts.  Then it was my grandma's quilt, then a rush to finish my Aunt's quilt before she passed away.  In between I did a few blocks, but poor Michael got the short end.

After Aunt Cathy and grandma died, I pretty much closed up the sewing room.  Poor Mikey.  Thankfully the Sew Powerful Purse project got me back to sewing and Michael's quilt was top priority!  

The quilt consists of mostly x blocks.  I made the quilt in white, gray and black as Michael requested. 

One of my favorite quilting notions is the frixion pen.  It erases with heat.  I marked the center of each block, sewed on the line and when I pressed the seem, the pen mark disappeared.  Gotta love that!

The nice thing is that over 70% of the squares were cut before I put the quilt away. 

Sew Sunday ~ Grand Central Clue 3 part 1

Update on Clue 3 for the Grand Central Mystery QAL from Sew On The Go.  

This one was fun to start with.  In fact I almost got all 3 weeks done last weekend.  On Sunday before the Superbowl I pulled all the remaining fabrics from my assorted brights and was able to use all different ones from the ones I used for clue #1.  I'm not sure if it will make my finished quilt look more scrappy or too busy, but I love these colors & fabrics so much.  It's fun seeing them being cut down and sewn together again.  My first step was to make all the cut all the pieces into the sizes called for, including half square triangles, then I began sewing strip sets.

I was having a blast sewing strips together and sewing them together again just like I thought the picture showed, until I realized I read the instructions wrong.  If you read yesterday's post, you're not surprised are you?  My personal "learn from my mistakes...twice" lesson last week was certainly to pay more attention to instructions and information, especially for a mystery quilt without videos. <insert seem ripper>

Once that was done and I was headed on the right path, I began zipping through the sewing.  Everything was going at lightening speed and I was impressed with how quickly this step was coming together.

Michelle gives us fabulous tips on her blog as well as in the downloads she makes available.  I couldn't remember how to make the center seem twist open, but using her instructions made it so easy!  Thank you, Michelle!  Even if you aren't following along with this mystery, I encourage you to read her blog posts.  She gives such good information.  She is a good teacher with lots of pictures to help visual learners, like me, understand.

This is the point where I ran into a snag.  I thought I had the ruler I needed, but turns out, I don't.  I have the tucker trimmer and the wing clipper, but what I needed was the Tucker Trimmer and the Large Square Squared ruler from Studio 180 designs.  Ruby Street Quiltworks used to carry all the Studio 180 Designs rulers, but they are sadly out of business.  :(  So, it has been ordered and I will play catch-up when it gets here.  In the meantime, Michelle released clue 4 on Friday, so I have something to work on while I wait for USPS to bring my ruler to me.  If I run out of current projects to work on I can always clean up my sewing room or work on an UFO.  (I can't let that happen though.  LOL)

Sew Saturday ~ The Twist QAL

Last month I mentioned several Quilt A-longs (QAL) I was considering doing.  One of them was The Twist Scrap Dance Mystery from My Carolina Home.  I've been following Carole for years.  She is a cardmaker as well as quiltmaker among many other talents.  She has always been so good about commenting on my blog and responding when I comment on hers. If you are a quilter, cardmaker, homemaker, crafter, etc. I hope you will visit her blog and check out all she shares.

At first I wasn't sure I wanted to do 2 mystery quilts because I had never done one before, but I decided to join hers for a couple of reasons.

1.  I wanted to be a part of what Carole was doing and be able to share it here on my blog

2. It is pre-cut friendly and I could use up some charm packs that have been sitting on the shelf for years.

3. Doing 2 mysteries, put on by 2 different people would give me a better idea of whether or not I might ever want to do a mystery again.  

4. Step 1 is really easy and I was already 1/4 of the way there before I even started. (Technically I thought I was halfway there, but you'll soon find out it was only 1/4.)

Carole gives really good instructions, even though I am terrible at reading instructions.  I have to read every word of a book, but I tend to skim instructions.  The first step to this mystery is to pick your fabric (or just pull from your stash to make a scrappy quilt) and cut to size.  I wanted to make a quilt of valor from this mystery, but realized I don't have many charm packs that will work well for this type of quilt.   My next thought was to just go shopping and pick up some charm packs, but I really wanted to try to use up my stash, so I scrapped that idea.  Although, if I like how this one turns out, I am going to buy 2 more of the patriotic charm packs that were in my stocking this Christmas.  ;) 

What I landed on was from the first charm pack I ever bought.  Missouri Star Quilt company had this on sale a couple of times for around $4.  The first time I got 2, then they went down to (I think)  $2 a pack, so I got the maximum which I think was 4 at the time.  Later on it was included for free with purchase and I got more.  I ended up with 6-8 of these packs and made a hexagon quilt with them, even after making a hexagon quilt with a couple of the charm packs.

I also had a random charm pack of Bella Solids that coordinated perfectly as a background with some of the lightest blocks in this "Lovely" pack.  This must have been a free gift with purchase or a daily deal because I gravitate toward bright whites and it is an oatmeal/cream color.  That, or it looked white on the screen and was oatmeal when I opened the package.

One thing I have discovered since that first charm pack is that not all pre-cuts are created equal.  It is important to measure them for a pattern.  The Moda Bella Solids was a perfect 5".  The Lovely pack was crookidy and barely 5" on one side while being 5-5.25" on the other.  Every one of them had to be cut to the sizes in the pattern.  It will be worth it in the end, but it didn't make the process as easy as it would have been if it was a true 5".  Now I remembered why I never used up that "lovely" fabric by simply sewing the blocks together. 

*Hint- a spinning mat makes it MUCH easier to trim down the charm packs to the required sizes! 

Remember how I said I don't usually buy cream and ivory anymore?  I had planned on buying a couple more of those Moda packs to complete this, but I decided to look through my stash to see if I had anything that would work.  Wouldn't you know it, I had plenty to pull from?!  I ended up cutting out everything I needed with more left over.  I even found a pretty cream with tiny lavendar leaves/flowers that I had 3 yards of.  Plenty to use as a small border as well as in the main part of the quilt.  Now this quilt truly will be a stash buster.  There is something so gratifying in being able to pull fabric from what I already own.  I'm also super excited that it's not just one solid color for the background but a couple of solids and just as many tone on tone patterns in those colors.  I like that look in finished quilts, but have struggled to achieve it without having a personal "stash" built up.

To organize myself I stacked the cut squares into groups of ten, so I could easily count how many I had, then I placed them in ziploc bags labeled (with a sharpie) with the size of the cut.  Then I put all of these into a bag with clue 1. 

Unfortunately I'm terrible at reading instructions, as I said, and I kept looking for weekly??? updates with clues.  First I checked my spam folder to see if it went there, then I went to the blog to see if I missed one of her posts.  I skimmed the first clue post and then I finally went to her blog and carefully re-read her post.  (bangs head against wall that she missed the clearly stated time table 2 times!) 

Turns out clues are released the 3rd Friday of each month and won't end until late summer.  Wah!!!! I am ready to go and excited to find out what this quilt will turn into to.  By summertime I will want to be outside instead of sewing.  Oh well, I only have to wait a couple more weeks for clue 2.  In a couple of months life will get busy again and I will be glad the clues are spread far apart.  :)  Especially with 3 other QAL I am doing.  (squirrel!)

Carole has a download on her blog with these instructions.  I have a sticky note on it with sizes for Quilts of Valor.  Even though I decided not to do that for this first mystery quilt, I might just do a second one along with this one since I am ahead of the game right now.  ;)  Plus, that gives me an excuse to buy more charm packs.  (Like I need an excuse to buy fabric. wink-wink)

Thank you Carole, for this fun and (so far) easy mystery QAL.  After starting my first mystery QAL last month with another blogger I thought I might never attempt another one.  Yours has me excited to see what comes next.  <3  I also want to thank you for encouraging me to join you.  It is a big reason I kept thinking about it.   p.s.  I start singing "The Twist" every time I work on this project.  :) 

Sew Monday ~ Grand Central Mystery Clue 2

Yesterday I shared my results from clue #1 of the Grand Central Mystery Quilt from sewonthego.com Today I am sharing clue #2.  This one went fairly quickly.  It also called for half square triangles of my background fabric (I chose white on white), so I cut those first and set them aside in my trusty ziploc bag.  (Same pic below as from yesterday, but it was cut to a different size.)

I forgot to take pictures, but I used Michelle's instructions and the Wedge Star ruler to cut the triangles below as well as get the angle started for the diamond cuts. 

After sewing them together I trimmed off the "dog ears".  This stage went so quickly, and I only knicked the diamond once.  (oops)

After trimming them up I sewed the 2nd set of triangles to the other side.

The final step was to trim it down to size.  I LOVE blocks like this that give you wiggle room to trim down.  The ruler really made it easy to get is centered and cut perfectly.  

Clue #3 is in progress for me.  I'll share that soon.  This is still a difficult challenge for me, but I am loving how each clue is turning out.  

Sew Sunday ~ Grand Central Mystery Quilt Clue 1

A couple of weeks ago I shared some of the quilting challenges and QAL (Quit A-Long) I am taking part in.  One of them was/is the Grand Central Mystery QAL from Michelle Hiatt at Sew On The Go.  Friday started week 3, but I'll be honest.  On Friday I had not even done clue 1, but I am happy to say that I am now over halfway through clue 3.  I'm taking a break to watch the SuperBowl.

Before the challenge began, Michelle, gave us tips on choosing our fabrics.  I'll be honest here, it isn't easy for me to do this without knowing the pattern.  This is my first mystery quilt and I admit, I like more control than this gives me.  LOL.  One thing about it though, I love the colors. 

This isn't my final fabric pull, but it is where I started.  I also took this picture in black & white so I could check out my color values.   I'm not sure it matters much for this quilt pattern, but I wanted to be sure I had some variation.

Michelle gives instructions each Friday and then a download PDF that is only available for one week.  It's free, but if you miss a clue there is a small fee to get past ones.  Totally worth it, if you want to do this QAL.  She put so much work into it and the instructions are really well written.  I'm learning a lot about pulling colors and different ways to piece my quilts.  That alone is worth giving up my control of design.  (sort-of)  LOL

For clue one, we sew together strip sets.  I sewed the first 2 together and then auditioned the 3rd ones.  I'm trying to be a little more free with my fabric placement.  This is something I struggle with.  Anytime you see a "scrappy" style quilt from me I have re-arranged the pieces to make sure it looked just right.  (in a scrappy way)  Did I mention control issues?

I really liked the way these colors looked together in their strips of 3, but decided to change the pic to B&W to see if the color value placement was ok.  Again, I'm not sure it matters in the final quilt, but it was worth editing the picture on my phone.

Looks pretty good, if I do say so myself.  I did switch around the 4th strip set.  It looks like 3 darks to me, so I took a medium value from one of the other sets and switched it out.  

Not a big change, and possibly not noticeable.  If I were being super structured I would make all 3 strips have different values, I would rip out seems so I could better arrange the pieces, but in the end that is not the point of this quilt.

From there I used the triangle wedge star ruler to cut my strips into triangles following the directions in the download for Clue #1

Here is how it looks when I put the strips from one of the sets together.

   

And this is one of each.  hmmm... Who knows what it will become.  The directions also had us cutting a set of half square triangles.  For now I am keeping each of the finished clue pieces in Gallon ZipLoc bags.  I'm sure there is a better way, but it keeps them safe and together for now.

Clue 1 is done.  I'll share my clue 2 results tomorrow.  Now back to the SuperBowl and my Uncle Wayne's family favorite Crab Dip. 

Sew Sunday - Scrap Snap QAL January Blocks

Monday I shared with you several of the QAL (Quilt-A-Long) I am taking part in.  The first one I dove into was the Scrap Snap QAL, mostly because it is a way to tame my growing collection of scraps.  I decided to start with aqua color family because I seem to have "collected" more of this color than any other.  Probably because it is my current favorite. 

  

This QAL has us cutting fabric into specific sizes.  I cut each of the sizes needed in the quantity needed, and cut the rest into similar sizes for future projects.  (Read Monday's post for more on that.)

From there I began assembling the blocks.  If you are following along with this challenge, you may be able to spot the blocks I switched up and mixed up.  I could take them apart, but decided to leave them in.  When all is said and done, you won't be able to tell block A was switched with block B in block 3.  They are all 6.5" so that makes it easy to move them around and make them work.

Before assembling my blocks I took a picture of them in black and white.  I wasn't too fussy about the placement of each piece, but I did move a few pieces around to give more variety in the color value.  Specifically the block on the top right.  There was too much dark together, so I switched those around with another block and began sewing away.

Here is how all 10 blocks turned out.  Some are flipped around and they are no longer in order, but that's ok.  I still haven't decided how I am going to design the final pattern.  Here are a few of my favorite ideas from Quilts for the Making blog. 

Photo credit: Kari V.

Photo credit: Kari V.

If you want to see more ideas on how to layout blocks, clicky for the original post from Kari V. at Quilts for the Making.

This project was so much fun and so quick to put the first row of blocks together, that I have already started on the purple row.  :) Even though I haven't figured out how I'll be arranging the colors, I know I'm going to LOVE it!!! I think it is because I am using my own scraps from fabric I already loved.  I never thought I liked scrappy quilts before, but I may have discovered a new way to love them... use colors and patterns I love in a monochromatic way. 

Sewing, Quilting and Challenges in 2020

I've been sewing and quilting again... A LOT!  My mojo has been sparked and it seems like I am stitching things together as fast as I can cut them.  I love times like this where the creative joy just flows.  While I have plenty of UFO's to keep me busy, I have also jumped on a few quilt alongs.  It's not too late to join in too.

TRAFFIC JAM
By: Pat Sloan
I Love to Make Quilts

SCRAP SNAP QAL

by Kari Vojtechovsky
Quilts for the Making
Scrap Snappers Facebook Group

GRAND CENTRAL MYSTERY QAL
by Michelle Renee Hiatt
Sew On The Go
Grand Central Facebook Group

Here are my fabric choices, so far.  I didn't have very many multi-colored fabrics in my stash.  I tend to like tone-on-tone or two-tone.  

and, the newest one I am considering....

SCRAP DANCE MYSTERY 2020 - THE TWIST

by: Carole
From My Carolina Home

This looks like it will be a great one for using charm packs.  (One of my personal favorite things to "collect".)

All of these are using up fabric in my "stash" (aka collection). 

Fabric Stash Management - Scraps

When I started quilting again back in 2010(ish) I didn't have much of a fabric collection.  I had some scraps left over from my first 3 quilts, but they were not high quality fabrics and fit into one of those plastic bins we kept in the garage.  I can still remember the day I walked into my first quilting store, Ruby Street Quiltworks, in Tumwater, WA and the awe I experienced at all the beautiful colors and wonderful smooth feel to their fabric. It was heavenly!  From that day a new world opened up for me and I have been collecting (and sometimes sewing) ever since.

It is funny (a little) to look back on those early classes and guild meetings when they would call for fabric from your stash.  I had none and had to go shopping even when what was called for was less than 5".   While my current "collection" is not huge, it is not that small either.  I've got a nice "little" stockpile of my favorite colors to choose from.

For the majority of 2019 and the better part of 2018 I did very little sewing, and my buying slowed considerable too.  (thankfully) That is until several local quilt stores when out of business.  The variety store in Elma had a HUGE going out of business clearance reduction and I came away with a garbage bag FULL of fabric.  Then my beloved Ruby Street went out of business too.  It was a sad sad day.  I bought some of my favorites, but it was unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for my checkbook) it was picked over pretty fast. 

Now I am back to sewing again.  My big motivation has been on FINISHES.  I finished Michael's quilt, a small child quilt, 2 doll quilts, a table runner, my Christmas applique top, and a SSMQG charity top so far in Dec. '19 and Jan. '20.  I'm working on quilting those last 2 finishes and hope to have at least one of them done before the end of the month.  Now it is time to pace myself to 1-2 finishes from my UFO bins and break into some of that new fabric I bought when stores were going out of business and find a place to store them and choose new quilts to quilt.  More on that later.

My first step is to go through my scraps and get them back into something manageable.    I've been inspired by my dad and uncles recent assessment of my grandma's craft collections (aka "hoard" in their minds) to use up some of what I have before it becomes overwhelming.  (I'm honestly almost there in my scrap bins)  It has motivated me to cut my scraps in squares of different sizes for future quilts too.   My sizes are 5", 4.5", 4", 3.5", 3", 2.5", 2" and 1.5".  The majority of the fabric is going to be 2.5" since that is what is called for in the traffic jam and it is also used in the Scrap Snap QAL.  (More on these 2 things tomorrow)  The 1.5" is an experiment to see what I think of using them to make doll  quilts.  If I don't like it, I won't continue to cut down anything under 2".  Here is a 2" scrappy doll quilt I made for my niece with leftover scraps from her doll quilt for Christmas.  (mental note...need to post pictures of her doll quilts soon)

I LOVE how this one turned out. I need to take pictures of the finish for you.  Putting that on my to-do list.

In this process of cutting down my scrap bins I've also started a wonky, scrappy, sort-of log cabin, but not really, 6.5" squares.  Here is my "in progress" on these.  It's a place to sew together extra pieces and bits that don't make it into a quilt or when I get tired of cutting down odd shaped fabric scraps.  So far I am making the block mono-chromatic because that is pleasing to my eyes. 

I should have taken a before picture of my scrap bin.  You can see from the top what the rest sort-of looked like.  I started with the colors I wanted to use (possibly) for the Scrap Snap QAL (more on that tomorrow) and haven't yet tackled the neutral basket on top.

These bar strips were from a swap our guild did.  They are decidedly NOT my colors, but I am trying to turn them into something I can make that someone else will like.  These will 100% be dontated.  LOL  I'm not entirely sure how they ended up on top of my nuetrals scrap bin.  hmmm...

That's better (not!)  The top bin is for white, grey, black, and cream.  I don't really have any brown, but if I did/do it will likely go in the yellow/orange bin.   Obviously I also have some leftover dot strips that are hanging from this basket.  I think I used some of the strips from this jelly roll to complete Aunt Cathy's prayer quilt.  On top of that bin is a bin for tiny scraps or my current project.  Again I have things piled on top and overflowing.  When my creative space gets to this point it is time to MAKE TIME to clean it up, organize and purge. 

Here is a shot of the scrap bin storage.  As you can see I have pinks & purples in the top below my neutrals, greens & blues in the middle and yellow, orange and red in the bottom.  I went through each of these bins and pulled out small scraps to cut into squares for the quilt alongs I am taking part in.  It's a work in progress, but at least I am working on it.  Most everything in these bins are fat quarters or smaller.  When it gets down to 5" size (or smaller) I will be cutting it into the sizes I mentioned above.  

Dy 17 of 100 Days of Creativity ~ Sew Sunday

Technically these pieces weren't created during the 100 days, but I don't think I've shared them with you yet and I love these bright colors.  Not to mention, the fact that I learned how to create them.  I took a sewing class at our local Quality Sewing & Vac with my friend, Mandy. I decided to make 2 blocks instead of one.  In the class I made the white background pieces.  I wanted to see the contrast of a black background and a white background.

Paper piecing was confusing to me and I'm so glad I took this class.  Sometimes you need an instructor that can help you work through your struggles.  I didn't finish the block while at the class.  I did use my seem ripper lots!  haha In the end though, I'm so glad I figured it out because I LOVE the sharp angles and tiny pieces that line up perfectly!

Now that the blocks are done, I need to decide how to finish them.  I'm considering making them into 2 small wall hangings.  They would also make cute pillows.  I could combine them into one wall hanging, perhaps adding another block or two.