Chaos

Goodness!  Just when you think you have yourself on track, things go astray and in this case very astray!  I thought I was going to use this blog to keep myself on track with my quilting, but as I am sure like many of you out there, you have more than just one hobby.  And sometimes as much as you try to concentrate on one, the others start to scream for attention and then suddenly.....chaos!!!

Well, that's exactly what happened this week.  I was making progress on the quilting front and then suddenly, "wham" the cross stitch bug hits!  I blame it on all these bloggers out there, you know who you are!  Each site has more and more beautiful items and the itch just starts and before you know it you are searching through cabinets and drawers trying to find the things you need to "scratch" the itch and then this:

Everything's a mess again!  So I guess we know what I'll be doing this weekend....cleaning not stitching...  : (

What are you up to this weekend?

Progress...

Well, I've made some progress on my UFO's this weekend!  I managed to get two lap sized quilts quilted and bound!  The first one was a class I took at a local quilt shop called "The Jelly Roll Race".  It was a lot of fun and this is the final product:

The second one was a top that I did on my own (I think it was in a charm squares book).  I fell in love with the fabric and wasn't sure if I wanted to add more onto it or not, so its been sitting around over a year.  I finally decided to just leave it and this is the final result:

I still need to do the hand sewing on the binding on this one, but its done!  Yay Me!  These are the first two quilts I have not put a "typical" border on and I am really liking how they look!  What do you think?  Hope you all had a nice productive weekend as well!

Quiet

Sorry I've been a little quiet this week. Not much time to get anything done. I moved my new batch of baby chicks who are now 5 weeks old out to their temporary pen.

When they are big enough they will go in with the "big girls". I've spent a few days making sure they are getting along okay and they are greatly enjoying the extra space! Each night I had to go out and physically catch them and put them inside the coop for the night. By the third night they knew the routine and went in all by themselves - such smart little peeps!

 I did manage to get two more Jelly Roll Trip blocks done and am "big-stitch" quilting a small wall hanging I made out of a pack of Moda "Candies" I had lying around. In case you haven't heard of "Candies", they are a mini charm packs of 2 1/2 inch squares. You can check them out on Moda's BakeShop page. I'll post a pic later!

Progress and a Finish!

It is HOT, HOT, HOT out there! 102 last I looked. It was a great day to stay inside and quilt though! I managed to get this little 16 1/2 square beauty done:

I bought the fabric and pattern almost a year ago at a Quilt Retreat in Watkins Glen, NY. It was a really fun time and I started this project in September of last year, had all the pieces cut and there it sat. I finally got it all pieced, quilted and bound! 

I decided instead of topstitching all the pieces I just sewed through them and created a 3-D effect. You can probably see it better here:

I really like it! And that's one UFO off the list. Speaking of lists, maybe I should make a list of ALL my UFO's?

I was also able to make a little progress on the Trip around the Jelly roll and completed two blocks. I am hoping to get more done tonight and tomorrow as the heat wave is supposed to continue on!

What do you think so far?

In the beginning...

I've been wanting to start this blog for a long time, but I keep lurking around, reading other people's blogs, and procrastinating.  I think it's finally time I jumped in, so here goes!

I've been quilting for almost 12 years now and have grown quite a stash of fabric and quilting supplies, so my first goal with this blog is to try and have the folks out there I bogland help me stay accountable for the promises I make myself and try and get some of this fabric used up and UFO's finished once and for all.  I have noticed lots of others doing it and they seem quit successful, so lets give it a whirl!

I'll start with a current trend out there - the "Scrap Around the World" blocks.  Some of them are just stunning like Grace's version here.  However I actually got rid of my scraps in a fit of cleaning (I know, I know, you are all screaming "You Did What!??"), but in my defense my sewing room is overflowing with fabric - it's a long story that I'll tell you about one day, but right now lets get back to the "Trip" quilt.  So, I'm thinking how can I modify this method to get the most out of a jellyroll?

Doing a little math, I decided that I could use 8 strips to get 5 strip sets.  Based on that I would get 2 sixteen inch blocks from each strip set or 10 blocks!  Nine blocks would give me a top measuring 48 inches square with no borders.  Which might work.  So, lets give it a try!

I chose a roll of Aspen Frost and sorted them into 5 strip sets of 8 strips each:

Then I stitched them together into a tube as per instructions on this site here.  Then I cut my tube into sixteen 2 1/2 inch strips with a 2" strip leftover. Like so,

Then per Quiltville's instructions, you unstitching them to get this: