ScrapHappy Saturday - Wrapping up Blue

 I am so ready to be done with blue!  I finished 31 tiny blue blocks along with some crumb stars and pluses.  I didn't get very far with the hexies, but I cut bricks for a someday quilt.  I am going to start with a tiny pink block for February today and round up the blue scraps which have taken over my sewing space.  There is a quilt on the frame as well, though the stitch regulator is being difficult.  We have tickets to see Evita tonight which I am looking forward to. Kurt agreed to get a series of tickets shows with a local theater company and his choice was Avenue Q.  I think that one isn't until April though. We are trying to do more things out of the house now that we are empty nesters.  

 It was a busy week at work.  I was at a college visit for two days.  That also happened to be the time frame when my new desk was being delivered and I got to miss all the chaos.  We ordered it in June, but supply chain issue continue.  When I came back to work, all I had to do was move my computer and monitors back in and start putting things away.  

How are your blues coming along? Share your end of the month wrap up with us and start to think about pink.

ScrapHappy Saturday - Weekend of Calm

 

There was way too much going on this week, so having absolutely nothing to do on the weekend will be completely enjoyable.  The morning sun is shining on the design wall, inviting me to add more blocks.   The plus and star blocks have been leaders and enders as the bulk on my sewing has been focused on Mini blocks and binding.   There should be another finished quilt to celebrate before the end of the day and I have a few more little block ideas to add to the growing collection.

The house is in a bit of shambles with Kurt being sick all week and the dog quickly declining.   I will be traveling for work next week hopefully while a new desk is delivered and set up in my office.  It has been on order since June, but delays have piled up at every step.   Kurt's office had new furniture delivered last week as well, while he was home with the flu.  

For now though, I have seen a couple of antique tile blocks.  One was by Angie at Quilting on the Crescent, and the other was a mini version I saw on Instagram.  

What are your plans for the weekend? Please use misterlinky below to share with us all.

Happy Holiday

Three day weekends are such a great invention!   I was able to finish the hand sewing on the binding for another quilt today.  Like Streak of Lightning, this one isn't so much a block as a setting that could be used with any block.   If you look closely, it is just alternating columns of crumb blocks framed out in either white or black.  The columns are staggered, and then an extra strip on contrasting fabric separates each block to visually link the rows together.   

I also loaded a quilt onto the frame and made another tiny blue block.  Number 19 is called paper pinwheel and it is traditionally pieced.   Unless there are crazy angles, I am using regular piecing for anything that is a 4, 9 or 16 patch. I think I will start a page to keep track of the block names.  
 

Sunday Feels like Saturday

I am moving everything downstairs and figuring out where it goes in the new sewing room.  Lizzie is keeping me company of course.   I thought about making bigger scrap bins to fit into the cube shelf, but now that I put the scrap bins in, I think it might be nice to store yardage next to bins.  The green is a little bit out of hand, as is the pink.   At some point I still need to make bins for black and brown and lights.  

Everything is still a bit of a mess.   I have an Ikea storage rack that used to live in Sydney's closet.   It is empty now, but It does a nice job of holding the Go! Cutter.   All of the unfinished flimsies are hanging on the storage rack.  I will load one up as soon as I get things cleared up a bit.  Sydney ditched the closet door at some point.  I will have to add that to the project list.  There is a nice outlet right in the middle of the wall, but it doesn't seem to work.  The list continues!

I peeked out onto the balcony just long enough to see the sun come up, but is a chilly again today.   There were some surfers out enjoying the waves.  I think they must be a little bit crazy!

Speaking of crazy, I have made 18 of the tiny blocks.  3 inches is just such an adorable size!  I cut a nice stack of plus blocks form 2 inch strips to use as leaders and enders. The blue crumb blocks are 4.5 inches.  They will be the centers for stars.  Still need to cut some 2.5 inch HST units, that can be my project for the afternoon.   First though, I think I will head over to Oh Scrap! And see what other scrappy fun people are up to today.  I have three new rainbow projects for 23.  You just never know when inspiration will strike for just one more to add to the list.  

 

ScrapHappy Saturday - Week 2

 Its a long weekend!  DH has been gone all week and he is finally back so there is lots to do.   I think that we will be able to finish the bathroom and officially clear out all the construction paraphernalia.  

I had a marathon hand sewing session and finished the blue binding on Streak of Lightning.   Kurt was nice enough to hold it up outside this morning even though it is quite chilly for Florida.   Notice lizzie peeking out from behind.   

Then the extras from that got used for the background of another tiny block.   I ordered Electric Quilter Block base and had a grand time printing a big stack of patterns.  They are 3.5 unfinished and will end up at 3 inches in the finished quilt.  I haven't committed to a number yet, I will just make as many blocks as I have scraps and time each month.  Mostly paper piecing, but a few rotary cut for blocks that work that way.   How are your blues coming along?  Misterlinky is below.  Please let us know about your sewing progress this week.

Progress

 

As soon as Sydney loaded up her clean laundry to head back to UF, I started moving sewing things back into the studio.  It should be permanent this time!  Rather than cutting the design walls down 6 inches in height, I hung them horizontally for now.   I would like to build some bookshelves into that back wall eventually.   There is a staircase on the other side with lots of dead space which could be put to good use.   One thing at time though.  

Kurt is making good progress on the bathroom.  Every so often I help him hold something, but other than that, he has been chipping away at it slowly.  I will need to work on some major wall prep which is my fault as I didn't want more tile than was necessary.   We sent with a seamless penny tile floor instead of the big step up triangle shower pan that was there before.   I tried to find the most minimal round shower enclosure that I could. I guess there just aren't that many choices in round glass showers.     

In honor of blue for January, I sewed a blue binding on Streak of Lightning and started the hand sewing process.   There is a nice comfy chair downstairs where I can sit and sew while I keep the dog company.  She is in her last days now, and can't do the stairs anymore.   When she is downstairs we can keep the door open and she loves to wander in and out.   Do you have any slow stitching going on today?  You should head over to Kathy's Quilts where she celebrates the patient art of hand sewing.   

Back to Normal

 We had a two day week at school.  Such a nice way to ease everyone back in, but there is still that feeling that more needs to be done.   There is testing next week, so lots of time will be spent not doing anything.   I have been trying to get my steps in on those days.  It is pretty easy to get in lots of walking in circles while the kids are busy bubbling in multiple choice responses.   

Here is this morning's sunrise.  Sydney will be headed back to school early this morning.  The minute she is out the door I will be moving back into my sewing space again and getting it set up in a semi-permanent configuration.  Tennis was cancelled for Kurt, so I think he might be able to get the bathroom mostly finished.   I will need to get it painted after that, but hopefully the major construction phase will be finished soon.   

    

In addition to lots of hand quilting, I've been working on these tiny blocks.   I have used a combination of traditional and paper piecing so far.  The blocks are so small that they go together in under half an hour from start to finish.   

What are your sewing plans for blue?   I put a blue binding onto one of my almost finished quilts from last year.  The extra  bits of blue made it into that tiny Economy block in the lower right hand corner of the photo.   I think collecting together all of my blue from all the nooks and crannies will be at the top of the to do list.   Use misterlinky below to let us know how your blues are starting out this year.   

Last Day of Vacation

 

It is back to work in the morning!  Fortunately it will be a very short week, which will let the kids all ease in a bit.  I am sure they all spent the last few weeks up all night and sleeping until noon.  

I got my new fabric acquisitions ironed and folded.  The top three are already cut into binding.   

With the leftover blue binding bits, I went ahead and whipped up another tiny block.  Economy block is paper pieced.  

Kurt is just back from driving Ryan back to school.  He had a plan to play Dungeons and Dragons tonight.  Sydney won’t head back until Friday.  She finally got into the lab that she needed for Chemistry!  She spent most of the break checking her number on the waiting list.   

It has been fun having them home again, but I am looking forward to reassembling the house again.  Having everyone gone again led to lots more mess and clutter everywhere.   

New Year -- New Tracking Sheets

 RSC23 Tracking Sheet PDF

RSC23 Tracking Sheet Pages

RSC23 Tracking Sheet Word

Stephanie has been kind enough to make tracking sheets in a variety of formats for us again this year. I posted the links on the RSC23 page as well so feel free to print or save a copy for your own use as you work on projects for the new year. 

I started working on some tiny blocks.  These little babies will finish at 3 inches.   With seam allowances they are and adorable 3.5.   The math works out pretty easily for nine patches, but I will start to play with other subunits as well.   

I felt better about starting a new project after I webbed the bullseye blocks together.   After surveying ongoing projects, I decided to make a trip out for backing and binding fabrics today.   That should help with crossing some ongoing projects off of the list.   I can't show a photo though as everything is in the wash.   

Hand Quilting in the New Year

With a long car trip to enjoy today, I had plenty of time for hand quilting.   This block a day quilt called Leap Year is overdue for a finish.  I got the purple blocks done yesterday and made quite a dent in the blues today.  We are home again after a few days in the mountains.  My new car handled the icy roads beautifully.   We had our driveway resurfaced before winter hit, but there is a nasty section of rough road to make it through before our property starts.  By Friday though it had all warmed up nicely and we were able to putter around outside.  I gathered fallen branches for firewood and hauled stones to make boarders.   The washer wasn’t working though due to a frozen pipe, so tomorrow will be laundry day for sure.