I got back to work on quilting today – before traveling in June I’d quilted and bound 10 … #11 is now done. This was a kit from Craftsy (or BluPrint) … I can’t remember how long I had it.
Pantograph is Filigree which came with my machine.
My goal for this June/July quilting marathon started at 12 … and then I decided on 16 … but Stephanie says she’s going for 8 in July so I’m going to aim for that too but I’ll be traveling again so if I only get 16 I’ll be OK with that too.
Tomorrow’s quilt is already loaded on the longarm but I think it will be late when I get it quilted because Keith is taking some time off and we’ve got some plans to be out and about tomorrow afternoon.
As I mentioned, Stephanie pulled strings out of the hat for our July Challenge so I’ve been working on these HeartStrings blocks and the top is now done.
Tomorrow I’ll get back to quilting – I want to get an additional 6+ tops quilted before the end of July but I’ll also be working on some more string blocks this month.
We’re having a quiet holiday weekend. My brother had planned to come visit before Mom and I were exposed to COVID but we decided we’d reschedule for another time so it’s just me and Keith with no real plans. I’ve been working on the string blocks and should get that top finished tomorrow or Monday depending on how much I end up sewing.
I’m still masking inside and sleeping downstairs until tomorrow night … but we have been getting outside some. We had lunch by the lake yesterday and then I got a walk in and today we walked around the meadows. The deer were out and about and were too busy eating to be bothered to run away from us as we passed by.
The Tour de France started yesterday so of course we’re watching that and there’s some knitting going on too.
I ordered a 16 cubby shelf and it arrived yesterday afternoon. Keith borrowed a dolly from the neighbor and brought it down today – it’s heavy! I’ll get it assembled sometime this coming week but I want to finish the string top first.
…but I love using these leftover bits and pieces. When I was sorting I realized I had a number of longer pieces that were trimmed off backings or were leftover bindings so I decided I’d frame each 4 block section with one fabric … if that makes sense? This one will have 48 blocks and I made a good start today.
I decided to go ahead an order a 16 cubby unit – I’ll start out using 8 of the cubbies for scraps sorted by color and put a few things on the other shelves … maybe some of my grab and go projects I kitted up.
So today I moved around some of the bins to make room for it which lead to me grabbing two of the bright “string” bins. Our challenge block for July is strings. Only when I opened one of the bins I found all kinds of chunks stuck in there too. Some I remember putting in there when I was making our HeartStrings Rainbow blocks but others I think I just filled the empty space in the bins when I was packing for the move.
I kept pulling things out of the first bin without any idea how to make use of it all.
I’m not one to “precut” my scraps into different sizes because I never know what I’ll want to make from them so I went and looked at quilt inspiration file on my iPad looking for help … there were a couple bright scrappy quilts I can see myself making so I pulled out those chunks and set them aside to put together in one bin. It will be easy to grab that bin and start cutting.
I grabbed handfuls of bright strings and put them in another bin ready to sew … and grabbed a bunch of the narrower backing trimmings and put those in a bin to cut down into strings. Typically the widest string I use is about 2.5 inches. I’ll get those trimmed down and tossed in the larger bin with the strings and They’ll be ready to use too.
Of course, there’s still a bunch of scraps and strings in the two bigger bins that need to be sorted but at least I’ve made a start. I cut foundations and am almost ready to piece some blocks.
Part of the problem with my scraps is that I’ve moved so many times … I’ll get things fairly organized and then I have to toss everything into bins to move and the new house always requires a different storage/organizational system.
Some of you said that you give away your scraps but I’ve made lots of quilts over the years from my scraps, leftovers, and strings and I want to keep AND use them! I’ve been quilting now for 22 years so you know I’ve got a lot of them too.
I’m getting email complaints from people about an ad that’s connected to a link or an email to my Carpenter Star pattern.
Problem is I don’t have ads either on my website or the blog here and I don’t send out emails about my patterns on the website so someone else is using my pattern/link and I have NO control over that.
I’m assuming most of the angry emails are coming from people who don’t read the blog but it’s always best to go to my website directly rather than clicking on links on other sites.
OK, I’ve just figured it out … I went to my web stats to look at referrals. There’s a referral link that takes you to my Carpenter Star page … but look at the web address … and there’s an ad. It’s a made up web address.
Now look at MY link … you see the web address is MaryQuilts.com and there’s no ad. Not sure I can do anything about this but again it’s always best to go directly to my website rather than clicking on an external link found on another site! (Unless it’s found here of course)!
It always feels good to be back in the sewing room after being gone. I’m not going to show you what I worked on today because I’m having to make an alternate gift for our family exchange next month.
I’d found a cute pattern for a crocheted market tote and finished it before my trip.
It doesn’t look too bad … but I made an error along the way and handles didn’t line up like they were supposed to.
It’s still useable but I decided I’d keep it and use it for my knitting or crochet projects and make another gift for the exchange.
While I was sitting at the machine, I had a visitor outside my window. We’ve had tons of deer in the yard the last several weeks and I love seeing them!
I have moved many times and sometimes my fabric storage and organization work great and sometimes it doesn’t. It is definitely not working here. We started out part time here at Big Canoe and the few shelves and bins worked fine for the fabric and projects I left here. We moved here full time a year ago and everything came from Tampa.
Because it’s a lower level in the woods, I thought it would be better to keep things in bins. But it’s a mess and I’m constantly moving bins around and trying different size bins … none of it is working. It’s a complete mess.
Another problem is that I have multiple bins with scraps making it harder to use them. In Minneapolis and Tampa I had good access to my scraps that were sorted by color and in open bins that fit into cubbies.
Stephanie pulled Strings out of the hat for July and I know I need to feed my main string bin with some strips from scraps because they’ve been very picked over … I decided I was going to grab a bin or two today and do a little sorting. I didn’t get far. I came across a “leftover” bin.
There’s a reason leftover quilts should be made right after the first quilt!! I pulled some fabrics that will go back in stash, some little bits got tossed in with the strings … and I came across a baggie with leftover tumblers from Mom. I have no idea how long ago she made her quilt but it’s been YEARS!
I laid out the tumblers …
And sewed them together into a little doll quilt
Eventually I’ll figure out something that works for my fabric storage … I always do!
