Circling in on a Finish

I finished sewing down the last circle last night while watching Barefoot in the Park on Netflix.  After spending most of the day crawling around on hands and knees, Leap Year 366 is finally a flimsy!  It just needs an outer border which is already cut out and waiting.  Then I can get it layered and basted.  The plan is to hand quilt this one.
First though, I'd better go and hop through the shower.  These hurricane cancellations are starting to feel a lot like spring break.  Ms. Johnson is having a teacher pot luck get together tonight and I need to think of something interesting to bring.  Food at the grocery store is a little sparse so it will be more about what they have than what I would like to make.
Anna has been working on college applications today and Sydney fell off her bike and skinned her knee and elbow.  We all went to Goodwill this morning to do a bit of shopping for spirit week.   Anna had all the themes from the senior chat group.  School starts again on Monday.  Getting back to normal is going to feel good.    

Slowdown Sunday -- Time for a deep breath

May is here!  It is time for a deep breath and a fresh start.  The new color inspiration is an evergreen forest.  Think of a soft loden green tree with a dusty brown trunk.  Vicki Welsh designed this group of hand dyed fabrics to inspire us all this month.  Check back on Saturday for a giveaway of a different bundle of her fabric.  

 While working on the last of my orange blocks yesterday, I got sidetracked with my circles.  All the orange blocks were finished up on my trip last week to Disney.  Having a stack of precut circles ready to stitch during down moments was a nice way to be productive while waiting for the next round of competition.  Now I've got a good start on the preparation of the green blocks, so May is off to a good start.

Before I get too carried away with my own projects though, I have promised to have at least part of a t-shirt ready for graduation.  Through a process of negotiation, we agreed that I would sew the blocks together if she did the prep work. So earlier this week, she brought a stack of rough cut, stabilized shirts, ready to trim and sew.  She even included the fabric for sashing and backing, so the time will be much less than starting from scratch.  

Quilting Interrupted

Company is coming.  We thought that I was going to keep my machine set up instead of taking it up and down each time, but my in-laws can't manage the stairs, and so the machine has come apart again.  Kurt's parents will take our bed and his sister will sleep in the study/sewing room.  I'm not all the way done with putting things away, but it is a start.  It always goes well for a while and then I grab a big basket and hide the rest away until later.

 I got the first third of the OMG Churn Dashes sewn together yesterday.  It takes quite a while to match up all the seams.  I am loving the way it looks though, so I will keep sewing slowly but surely.

The other two thirds are ready to go.  Maybe next weekend when company has gone?  

Until then, I made sure to  keep out the Broken Dishes quilt for hand quilting.  

And the basket of circles is all prepped and ready to go.  Between those two, I should have plenty to keep me happy until the sewing room is mine again. 

Design Wall Monday January 11, 2016

My design wall is slowly turning blue.  The first two weeks of my Leap Year quilt are finished.  It isn't just blue, but that is the color I play with most days right now.  I found a string star that might turn into a potholder.  I sure could use some more of those.  Check out those crumb geese!  So many odd little bits all sewn together in there.  I used a GO die to cut out the triangles and it is such an easy way to put crumb fabric to great use.  I'm thinking about a crumb tumbler quilt for next year.  So many scraps!  

Sunday Puttering

 I have a little basket for handwork sitting next to my spot in the family room.  It is calling my name.  There are some little circles in there waiting to be appliquéd down.  When keeping up with a daily project, it seems to help to have everything in one place.

So far, I have not been able to resist the urge to applique the background fabric cutaway from behind the applique circles.  The original blocks are 4.5 inches.  The light squares are on a 3.5 inch background, and the little guys on the bottom are 2.5 inch squares.  That is where I will stop.  After that, the circles get really small!  

 I had asked Kurt quite while ago to make an extension table for my ironing board.  He got to that yesterday and then helped me to staple batting and a fabric cover over the top of the wood that he screwed onto the old ironing board.  It will be nice to have a big surface when ironing freshly washed yardage and finished quilt tops.  I think that I can also put a cutting mat on top as a larger cutting surface.

Then I took some time to update the quilt rack with some of my recent finishes.

Yesterday  I was at school all day with Science Olympiad.  Our big qualifying competition is next weekend and we are really not ready yet.  While they worked on their projects, I hot glued binding to the edges of these mini design boards.  They are made from leftover science fair boards that kids didn't want to take home in year's past.  I used a tutorial at Bee in my Bonnet to make them.  They should be handy for laying out block bits while I am sewing them together.
Today I am home all day!  I am hoping to work on some more circles, and then finish a triangle or two for Dear Jane.  Tonight during Downton Abbey, I am going to pull out my little blue Dear Jane and work on finishing up the border.  It really is SO close.  I think I am down to the last side now.

If you are in a mood for slow stitching on Sunday, be sure to head over to Kathy's Quilts for her weekly link up.  

It Never Ends

The last day of "vacation" was so busy!  Technically it was a teacher workday, we were allowed to work off campus though, so I started the day with a trip to the 114 acres to check on the gopher tortoise burrows.  I met Ryan there from the Costa Rica trip and we marked about a third of the burrows.  Almost done with the GPS tags!  So that was 6,000 steps all before 9:30.  My car wouldn't start, so I had to get a jump and switch cars before heading down to school to set up my 28 new chrome books!  Our school got a grant and I was one of the lucky teachers chosen to get a cart full of computers for my classroom.  Well that took SO long.  Unpacking, inventory, paperwork, stickers, chords, Kurt came in to help and it was still 4 hours worth of work.
I thought about coming home and collapsing, but managed to remain upright long enough to go into the sewing room to get a tiny bit of work done.  We had an early dinner so that Ryan could go to robotics, which was cancelled.  Bummer.  But now Kurt and I are settled in to watch Star Wars Episode II with a little hand work.

It started simply enough with the goal of an applique circle for day 4.  Then I wondered what it would look like to applique the background fabric removed from the back of the block.  Then there was one more circle from behind that circle.  I think that will be the smallest circle that I do.  I'm not promising anything though.  Maybe I'll do enough of the smaller circles for a border?  Maybe not.  Tomorrow is back to school again.  I guess lesson plans would be a good thing.  And so it never ends.  

Slowdown on Sunday

First, the important news:  I've finished all of the applique orange peels which was my hand sewing project from last year!  I was motivated you see, because I wanted to start a new applique project.  Quilty Folk has a Quilty 365 Challenge which asks you to applique a single circle each day.  She started back in November, but I was quite determined to finish one project before starting another.  January 1st seemed to me like the best date to start a calendar quilt, and so I waited patiently.  It has been fun to see how other people are interpreting the challenge, and because I have enjoyed watching so many different methods being used, I though I'd share mine.  

 I have some Karen Kay Buckley Perfect Circles.  I chose this 3 inch version, because it fits nicely on a 3.5 inch strip, and I've been trying to put bigger strips to work lately.  I use the template as a guide, and rough cut the circle, leaving a seam allowance around the outside.  Using a double piece of thread for strength, I do a small running stitch about an eighth of an inch from the edge.

 That gets all gathered up around the plastic template.

 Because the template plastic is heat proof (kind of), I can iron the fabric around the template.  I use a quick spritz of sizing spray to help the edges stay crisp.  I read somewhere that sizing is supposed to be better than spray starch because it doesn't attract bugs.  Also, I dropped the spray starch on the hardwood floor and cracked off the nozzle.  I am quite talented when it comes to dropping things you see.

 A quick press from corner to corner both ways on the 4.5 inch backgrounds square helps give some guidelines for centering the square.  I have a big stack of 4.5 inch squares ready to go, lots of tone on tones and light neutrals.

 After using glue basting for the orange peels last year, I decided to try pins this time.  4 small pins on each crease seems to be plenty.  Though the pins are a little less "perfect" than glue basting, I am just in the stage of removing the background fabric from behind my orange peels and regretting the glue a bit.  I am also regretting not removing all the background fabric as I went, so that is another thing I can do better this year.

 The applique is actually pretty quick after all of the prep work is done.

 I am making sure to remove the background fabric as I go this year.  I am so tempted to start appliquéing the small circles of background fabric onto a smaller square of dark fabric, but I have resisted so far.

The plan is to sew the blocks into rows of 7 days each week.  I should be able to assemble a big block at the end of each month, making the final quilt come together much more quickly in December.  I did the math, and a 3 by 4 setting of the months should make a reasonably sized quilt.  This year started on a Friday.  You can see that the Friday, Saturday and Sunday blocks are all finished and ready to go.  I felt it was important to have Saturday and Sunday together at the end rather than split on each side.  Monday through Thursday were not part of this month, so sadly, they just get empty squares.  I'm not committed to making all of the blocks blue for January, but so far, it just happens to be what is out and ion hand.
Do you have an urge to slow down with some handwork on Sunday?  Head over to Kathy's Quilts to see what everyone is up to.  It is always nice to take some time to slow down and just breath every so often.
I did used a random number generator to choose a winner for the blue hand dyed fabric from Vicki Welsh.  Carol S. was the lucky winner.   She doesn't have a blog, but is hoping to work on some Dresden Plates this year.  She says applique is her nemesis.  I used to feel the same way, but look at me now, seeking out new applique projects voluntarily!  Sadly, Vicki sold out of the rainbow palette packs completely, fortunately got one to use for the sampler.  She has lots of other beautiful fabrics though.  It has been wonderful to have her participation in the challenge for the last three years.
Kathy is sharing statistics this morning, so I thought I'd ponder numbers.  I finished 11 quilts this year!  They are listed on the My Quilts tab at the top of the page.  The most I have finished in a year was 17 in 2011, I think that was while I was still working part time.   The least was 5 in 2013, work was pretty busy that year.  

Quilty Circles 365 - Day 1

I've been looking forward to starting the Quilty 365 Quilt along with daily circles since it started.  I was good though, and finished off my orange peels first.  I wanted to start on January 1 in any case to make it a true calendar quilt.  Since today is Friday, I picked out some background squares to fill in Monday through Thursday for this week.  I think that I will try to assemble the weeks as I go.  The blue circle is from one extra 3.5 inch square that I had left when I finished piecing the Twinkle Star blocks for my column-along quilt today.  I have a feeling that I lot of my days will be inspired by the colors of the month.
I sat and appliquéd the circle while watching the Rose Bowl football game with Kurt, but the Hawkeyes are not having a such great day.  Maybe it would be best to slip back into the sewing room and get a bit more sewing done instead?