Like an Inch Worm

 

I've been inching along.... I don't think I'm even half way finished with the blocks.

 

I've been working on these Confetti Star quilt blocks diligently all month
(I started these blocks TEN YEARS AGO!!) with the hope that I'd at least have all the blocks completed before the end of the month...but...

It has come to my attention that that is not going to happen, so I changed the plan.....

New Plan:  Work on these blocks through today and then do something else....I need a break, and I have a couple other projects that need attention.

Confetti Star Progress: All set up for chain piecing... Bonnie Hunter* would be proud.

Twenty-Two blocks...I am starting to like it....

The purpose of joining a UFO club is to make progress...that is what I'm doing. 😁

AND, so far I have not purchased any new fabric...using up bits and pieces of what I already have.

Good On Me!!

 

* Bonnie Hunter's Leaders and Enders HERE

Instant Everything!

There's Instant Pots, Instagram, Instant Coffee (ick...)  Now we have Instant Quilts !!!

A nice byproduct of Karen Brown's De-Clutter Challenge is uncovering buried treasures.
And while I don't have a Mount Scrapmore,* I do have scraps...and I'm determined to use them!

Fellow quilter, Susan Jones, Suggested the Potato Chip Quilt. (Our FB exchange.)

It looked so familiar....Hold The Phone! Think back....wasn't I working on something like this?
Why, Yes, Yes I was!  May, 2017!  That was SEVEN years and a life time ago!!!  Bonnie Hunter's Crayon Box! 
And I know EXACTLY where it is in my studio!

 I can use these as Leaders and Enders, or just some easy, mindless sewing.

Instant Quilt !!!

*     Mount Scrapmore - Karen Brown's label for all the mounds of fabric scraps you feel compelled to keep.
**   There are a lot of  Bonnie Hunter Videos on YouTube using Leaders and Enders.
*** I check MSQC's Daily Deal quite often...one day this beautiful, 108" wide fabric popped up...and, it IS beautiful.  A thoroughly nice piece of fabric.  I bought the maximum yardage allowed per customer (3 yards) for $10 a yard. I had a different project in mind at the time (it wasn't a mindless purchase) but I think it's just been re-allocated.

Every Garden Needs Weeding

 

 

Weeding out the Unwelcome, the Unwanted, etc...
The Push to the Finish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 15: UFOs and all things started but never finished. Karen "counts" a UFO differently than I do...it's a UFO if "fabric has been cut."   If it's a project that has a pattern and fabric but the fabric is NOT cut...it's a "Kit."  Kits are tomorrow. 
Because I just did this, end of 2023...HERE  it's a FREE day for me!

Day 16: Kits:  Different from UFOs in that no fabric has met a rotary blade yet.  Therefore there is no commitment for that fabric.  This is decision time...keep the "kit plan" or return the fabric to the stash and consider it no more.  Yes, I do have a few of those (remember Spooky and Witchy HERE and Barbie  HERE?) 

But again, I've thought through this process (see note above) I'm calling it "good."  YIPPEE!  Another FREE day!

Day 17: Conquering Mount Scrapmore*.  The first "rule" my Quilting Auntie Nyla gave me when I started quilting was
"don't throw anything away (referring to scraps) no matter how small !  Someday you may need it." 
I'm nothing if not obedient, so for years I heeded that rule. Truth be told, (whispering) sometimes I do throw scraps away.

All My Scraps

Truly, I don't think my Mount Scrapmore is all that mountainous...more like a Butte than a Mountain. 
Still the two bins on the floor have not been opened in a few years.  Maybe time to scrap some scraps?  

I feel a Leaders-and-Enders** project coming on....or some crumb quilting? *** 

 

 A little while later....  I did it!  I went through the scraps; did some combining and set aside two plastic shoe boxes-full for the "Pass 'em on" pile.

Reduced Mount Scrapmore to a hill.

The two "Micky" tubs are 2.5" strip scraps.  I've been meaning to make a Jelly Roll Race quilt.  HERE 
I'll give it one more year, then it's "Bye Bye Birdie."

 

 

 

Day 18: Another easy day for me!  Batting and batting scraps. 
I don't keep much in the way of batting and certainly minimal scraps.

This is it!

 

Day 19:  What I thought would be a super easy day for me because of my low inventory, may not be the case....Today is Yardage and Backing day. B-I-G pieces of fabric.  

 

I did not think I had any "yardage"...certainly no "bolts" of fabric, nor do I have any large backing pieces.  But I do have some "large-ish" pieces. 

Now, what to do with these pieces? 

Took several ideas posted on the De-Clutter FB page HERE, and came up with:

 

Using Dollar Tree cutting sheets from the kitchen section, hexie EPP papers and big safety pins, I labeled each piece with the amount, IF it was at least 2 yards.  Otherwise the piece stayed with the fabrics.

 

 

 

 

 

Day 20 and 21:  Dealing with the rest of the fabric...I do not have a "stash", per se...I have "left overs."

I have bits and pieces and small portions. Time to reorganize (mostly by color) and then thin the flock.

Bonus Day:  Do-dads.  This probably should have been included with Day 13, Notions.  But, better late than never.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have all these "cups" sitting around the studio, (sewing area, cutting table, ironing board, etc.) holding
various tools.  

Let's sort and organize and see what we have.
(I found more scissors...)

 

 

 

 The "Pass 'em along" pile is beginning to look like a landfill.  I think that's a good thing...???

 

WHEW!!  As they say in the movies, that's a Wrap for the De-Clutter Challenge 2024! 

Thank you, Karen Brown, for making me think through what I need and what I do not need.   
I'll admit I found this de-cluttering fun and energizing.  Every morning, even before I got out of bed,  I'd reach for the iPad and see what was on the menu that day!  I'll most definitely be participating in 2025.

Now for the garage!  (I'll wait for it to warm up a bit.)

*     Mount Scrapmore - Karen Brown's label for all the mounds of fabric scraps you feel compelled to keep.
**   Bonnie Hunter and Addicted to Scraps; Leaders and Enders
*** Jenny Doan has a YouTube video on Crumb Quilting HERE.
**** You can still do the De-Clutter challenge.  Karen Brown's videos will be available until November, 2024  HERE

On The Road Again

With my dad in convalescent care, my sister and I have been taking turns sitting with him, tending to his needs (competent help in care facilities is scarce, to say the least.)  There is no time for anything but sitting with dad, and work.  Every other past time has been put on the back burner for now. No Quilting, No Ukulele and No Gardening.

 

But, I did get a little reprieve this week with the annual software forum in Lincoln, NE.....YEAH
(sorry, sister, adding to your responsibilities.)

I decided if I did not live in KY, NE would be a nice place to live.

While there, of course, I spent some time with my college roommate, bestie, Cori.  We always have a few good laughs and a couple of good meals.  This visit was no exception. 

And I even managed to work in a visit a very nice quilt shop.  

Country Sampler - Click Here
Follow the link and visit their website.
It's a nice experience, even on line.

What a NICE shop!  Nice fabrics, nice displays and really nice people!  This would easily be my favorite place to hang out if
I lived in Omaha!  And, even though quilting is on hold for a time (because of dad) I still managed to spend almost $200. 
Oy, Vey....

I am not a Halloween fan, but I really like Halloween fabrics.  So, I could not resist buying fabrics to make this throw quilt.

Not Halloween fabrics, per se, but Halloween colors.

This will be for my nephew's daughter, JayCee.  Since their visit this past summer, I've been watching for a quilt pattern
I thought she might like...she is 13.

Front Row (L to R):  JayCee, Abby, Jason
Back row:  Sister Joy, B-I-L Mike, and me.
Our family tradition, breakfast at Cracker Barrel on the last day of the visit.

 Other fun displays in the shop.

Vintage Sewing Machines!

If you are passing through Omaha, I highly recommend a side-trip to the Country Sampler!

After a few days in Nebraska, it was off to California and some R & R with my babes... and a visit to In-N-Out Burger.**

The burger is almost bigger than Catalina!

(L to R:  West, Catalina, Gabrielle, Cash, Presley)

Good food for the tummy, and good company for the soul. 
Soon enough it will be back to the every-day responsibilities of real life.

**This burger chain is very popular....long lines to order food.  And, I've heard it is a great place to work.

The New Math

Have you seen the crazy way they teach math these days?  Not only does it NOT make sense, but it takes soooo loooonng to get the answer.  (Thanks to the pandemic and g-ma school, my g-sons know the right way!)  

Quilters come up with new ways of doing things all the time, i.e.,

Joining the ends of your quilt binding

No-waste flying geese

Make 12 half-square triangles at once, perfectly

Paperless foundation paper piecing (it's true)

Sometimes it's an improvement....sometimes not.

Well, I have to say my new way of assembling on-point rows was NOT a winner! 
I guess I can't charge $27 to take my class to learn this new technique, darn.

 

After reading my post from May 4, 2021, the tens-and-tens of people reading my blog probably figured out, way before I did, "ahhhhhhh....sounds good Charlotte, if you like A LOT of partial seams!"  

 

Needless to say, like the New Math, it didn't work out so well. Ho Hum!

 

Sometimes the good-ol-fashion way is the best way.

 

.... nothing ventured,
no tedious partial seams,
no frustration,
no cussing thus no wine drinking!

So this little adventure was good for something.

Cheers.

 

But, perseverance has paid off and it's done.  I've learned from my mistake and from now on I'll stick to the tried-and-true.

Carolina Chain - 55" X 67"

I've decided to keep this lap quilt.  Every fabric in this quilt has a story, going all the way back to when my 14-year-old g-son was just a baby....his name is Cash. Can you spy with your little eye a fabric I used in Carolina Chain that
I also used in Cash's I Spy quilt?

I Spy - 2007

Leaders and Enders, Take Two

 

What a difference placement and fabric choice make! (And, it helps if the assembler pays attention.)

(See the post from April 7 for the before picture. )

This is Carolina Chain by Bonnie Hunter.

This is most likely not the final block placement, just pinning to the design wall as I go.  

The blocks are on point.  While studying the picture it came to me in a vision just how I'll sew the blocks together. 

Start with a 4-patch.

Then  sew the 4 patches together.

That way I don't have to match the seams of so many long, long rows of smallish blocks.

Carolina Chain is from Bonnie Hunter's book, Addicted to Scraps. 
It IS addicting, that is for sure!  I call it the Accidental Quilt because it is what you get using Leaders and Enders while piecing other quilts.  

This will be another Birthday quilt for either August, 2021* or January 2022, I haven't decided. It is so fun and easy, relatively speaking, I just might make two! AND, it certainly does reduce Mt. Scrapmore!**

*For those of you paying attention, yes, I did add another B-day quilt.  My sister, Renee.
**Mt Scrapmore is a term used by Karen of Just Get It Done Quilts,

Inspiration Comes in Spurts

It is two weeks into a new year and all of a sudden I feel energized!  Maybe it is is because I have finished Storm At Sea
(it goes to the LAQ today.) Or, maybe because I'm getting used to being home ALONE, ALL THE TIME.  Who knows....

Lately I've been motivated to sew, but instead of sewing I am searching the internet for free quilt patterns
(like I don't have enough patterns!)  Even so, I thought I'd share some of my finds with you.

With an eye on what I already have and what to use up
A few years ago I was given a Jelly Roll as a gift.  Beautiful fabrics (nothing like the picture below.)
I was saving it for a special quilt.  But, as with so many other pieces of beautiful fabric, it was put in a cupboard and forgotten.

With the new year comes the annual cleaning-out-of-all-the-Studio cupboards. Lost treasures are found!

 

 

 

Yesterday I watched this video and LOVED her idea.

Tea Time by Jordan Fabrics.  The pattern is free and she makes it look soooooo easy!  Click HERE.

Not long ago my baby sister whined "Everyone has a quilt but me. (sad face here)"  Her birthday is in April (happy face here).

Next on the docket
(any clue what I've been watching to on YouTube while I sew?)

 

 

Tilda Friends.  I saw this quilt posted on FB just this morning.  I really like bright, white backgrounds; I really like scrappy; and I really like using up all my scraps with a free pattern.  Enter Duck Quilt. WIN, Win, win!!! 

If you like a country flavor, this is the site for you.  There are some adorable, free, patterns on this site and not everything is a quilt.

Someone is selling a quilt made from this pattern on Etsy. 
Very cute!  And, I like her choice of background fabric. 

 

 

 

 Just plain fun

 

 

I saw this wall hanging on the FB page Scrappy Girls Club. 
I do not think there is a pattern, but if you're in the mood to just sit down and sew, wouldn't this be fun?

 

 

 

 

  

 

Finally for the advanced in the group
Dancing Ribbons by Cindy Round Richards.

Get the free pattern HERE on the American Quilting Society (AQS) site and don't forget the coloring chart.

Read the How To at My Patchworld.

I love this but I don't think I'm up for the challenge....

 

 

 

The last Word 
Just to mention some sites for free patterns.  These are in no particular order and there are many more.

Bonnie Hunter especially if you like scrappy.  Also, she usually has an annual mystery, quilt-along.
For the person who likes modern quilts, Spruce Crafts.
I could spend some time on the Art Gallery Fabrics website...two thumbs up!
If you don't have anything better to do of an evening....start HERE....many, many sites for free patterns!! 

WARNING: looking for free patterns is like falling into a black hole, it goes on forever.  And it is addictive!

The Spirits Join Forces

My Creative Spirit
My Oregon Repurpose, Reuse, Recycle Spirit
My Dave Ramsey Save-Money Spirit...have all come together.....

The Storm At Sea, birthday quilt for my son is all pieced and put together.  Next Step....removing the foundation piecing paper from the backside...ick....that'll take a while.  (I'll make a reveal post when it is quilted and bound.)

In the meantime, I need a short break but I still have the need to be creative.  I've been watching YouTube videos. 
Lori Holt of Bee in My Bonnet and Laura Coia of Sew Very Easy are two of my favorites.  Their videos are not just quilting related but all manner of fun stuff.

While watching Lori Holt, I came across this video:  Making a Design Board.

Friendship Star Sashing
from a Baby Quilt I made in 2016

Some quilt designs are a bit tricky i.e., Friendship Star sashing and complicated boarders as in the one I used for my nephew's Motorcycle quilt a couple years ago, etc.  What I need to do is lay out the pieces so I can see them. 
 

Jason's Motorcycle Quilt Border, 2018

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Dilemma: laying out the pieces on my work surface without knocking them around, getting them out of order or even dropping them on the floor. 
 

The Solution:  Lori Holt's Design Board!  (FYI:  These are sold in Bee in My Bonnet Etsy shop if you are so inclined. 
Even so, very nice of Lori Holt to share her secret with us, don't you think?)

 

Step 1:  Grab left over batting from a tub of scraps kept on a high shelf.

 

 

 

 

I feel like the Romper Room Lady, looking
through her magic mirror;
I see strips from (many quilts in the past.)

Step 2:  Search through the strips bin to find something cute.
(These are not all the strips I have... I have four strip bins.)

 

 

 

 

Step 3: What to use as a base?  A yard sign I hung from my balcony announcing the Christmas Eve service at my church will work!

NOTE:  This sign is some kind of plastic.  While a hot glue gun was great for attaching the batting to the face of the board, it was no bueno for attaching the binding to the back (to flip forward). 
It would not stick.  I had to use Elmers glue and A LOT of clips...then wait, wait, wait for the glue to dry.

I was able to switch back to using the glue gun when I flipped the binding to the face of the board.  The batting is very porous, so that worked.

And, TA-DA!  While they're not perfect, I think they will do!  AND, no money was spent making this project. (And more importantly, no trips to the hobby store were made, since we are supposed to be safer-at-home.)

Two Rabbit Trails:

RT One.  Making the binding (this is not like a regular quilt binding as you may have noticed from Lori Holt's video).  I took this opportunity to try out a little gadget I purchased how many years ago????

 

Sashers by Pauline's Quilt World.  I purchased these at some quilt show and I cannot remember the year.  I'd like to say the process was so much easier than the long way, but I found them cumbersome.  The fabric kept twisting.

To be fair...I didn't stop and watch the how to video because this was a quick and dirty project and I frankly didn't want to spend that much time.  

But now that I've broken the seal on the package, I think I'll try to incorporate them into my binding-making and learn the proper way to use them.

RT Two-The pieces on my new Design Board: Some time back (again, I don't remember how many years back, but I was already living in my new state so not more than nine years) my friend, Miss Mary,  gave me these acrylic templates Scrap Crazy 6 by Karen Montgomery.  I started cutting scraps and arranging them in a storage box. The box was placed on the shelf and there it sat.  Looking for some pieces to act as models for my new Design Board
I spied with my little eye.....

 

Now that I've dusted off the top of the box, I think I'll use these as Leaders and Enders.  If you are not familiar with Leaders and Enders, check out Bonnie Hunter's website and blog, Quiltville.  I think she is the original Leaders and Enders lady. 
As an added bonus she has so many ideas and loads of free patterns, too!  

Using these pieces as Leaders and Enders will someday give me an Accidental Quilt!!

Picture plucked off Pinterest.  Cute idea!
I like the top stitching making it look like a Crazy Quilt.

UPDATE:  I do like these Design Boards.  But, I found an easier way.....

Use Elmers Spray Glue to stick the batting down and skip the cute borders.  I made two sizes.  Really useful!