Monday - T-Shirt Quilt Progress

 It is back to school today, but I have a few projects still from the break. 

The t-shirt quilt top is ready to go. I got backing fabric and restocked my batting supply, so all that it needs is a few hours of time. 

Sheets came up in the task list. I got these nifty organizers, but there were a lot of extra bits that needed to go away. I had an entire basket full of old pillowcases that were sadly the worse for wear. 

So now all that is left is complete sets, two for here and two to go to live at the cabin. The last one is for the fold out sofa in the study. Those can go away now. It isn't exactly a makeover, but bit by bit things are getting tidy. How is your Monday? Massive snowstorms seem to be the big story of the day. Kurt was supposed to be flying to DC this morning, but he left yesterday to get ahead of the snow. Hopefully he will be patient enough to sit tight until the roads clear. Patient is not his strength.  

Slow Stitching Sunday - A Finish!

 

I took the last stitches in the Leap Year quilt last night and ran it through the wash. I use Crayola washables to mark the quilting lines. Those are all gone now and all the wear and tear from being carted around for years and years is gone now.  I started this quilt in 2016, appliquéing a circle in each block to represent whatever was going on in the sewing room on that day. For the most part it represents the Rainbow Scrap Challenge colors of each month. 

The quilting was done with perle cotton in a rainbow of colors. Diagonal lines form crosses through each block and then a scalloped half circle form the border. I love the way the quilting crinkles up after the wash. Even if it does take me years to finish a hand quilted project, it looks great when it is done.  I am going to link up with Slow Stitching Sunday at Kathy's Quilts today, so be sure to head over and see the lovely hand sewing projects that are in the works

I started an organization project for the new year. I brainstormed a list of all the projects that need to be done in house - areas of chaos, backlogged clutter, messes galore. Rather than trying to tackle them all at once, I wrote each on a piece of paper. The idea is that I will pick a random task when the urge strikes and then do that thing. Yesterday, the job was the downstairs bathroom. It is connected to my sewing room and doesn't get used very often. We redid it a couple of years ago, but never fully finished it off. So first I cleared out all the randomness before giving everything a good scrub. 

I found some bathmats that used to live in a different bathroom and made a plan for towel holders and a tile backsplash. 

Kurt is going to do the backsplash for me and hang the towel bars, but it all looks a lot better and should be more useable now that it isn't a dumping ground. I also added two more jobs for me to the stack, the door needs to be painted and the walls need a second coat of paint. Today's project is sheets. That is another dumping ground that needs a good clear out. Wish me luck! 

ScrapHappy Saturday - Starting Fresh

A new year is always such a great chance to think about finishing off old things and starting something new. This will not be a big year of new starts for me as I focus instead on paring down the list on long ongoing projects. First up is Leap Year. This is a block a day quilt that has been hand quilted over a very long period of time. Hand quilting is a long and slow process and it feels good to finally be stitching the binding on to this one. It is ready for a trip through a washing machine after that as it has seen a lot of love while being carted around from place to place. You can see the ongoing t-shirt quilt in the background, that will be next on the list of projects to move along today. 

I am up bright and early this morning thanks to the renourishment machinery that is beeping up and down the beach. We are usually up early, even on weekends, but I do feel badly for the people that came for a nice relaxing beach vacation only to be greeted by giant piles of sand on a closed beach. 

Here is my one new project for now, a set of two blocks to be done as leaders and enders. The plus blocks are sashed 2.5 inch squares while the dot blocks are framed 2 inch four patches. Together they make a nice and easy background project while I find the next thing to cross off my list. A bit of organization is sure to reveal a fun ongoing project in need of a little bit of attention.

What new schemes and plans are in the works for your new year? Pink is the color for January and I hope that you have some scraps to play with this month. Whether you are new this year, returning or ongoing, it is always great to see what beautiful projects and plans come from the simple idea of using up scraps, one color at a time.