Crazy Quilt Stitching

On Ringo Lake continues to make progress. It is a great procrastination tool.  Want to work on something else? Do something with Ringo Lake first.  It makes me more productive, since I am getting twice as much stuff done as I would have otherwise.

I didn't want to bring down another project that had lots of supplies, but quilting doesn't mix well with piecing, since the machine needs different settings for both.  I decided to keep doing hand work since I enjoyed doing that so much with the fabric book. This is my first ever crazy quilt block.

This quilt was started in 2009 or maybe before and it got stalled because I was trying to follow the rules, without even knowing what they were. Must piece the rest of the blocks before embellishing any. Must not add beads or other bulky things until after blocks have been joined together.  I had six of the nine blocks pieced and just a little bit of embellishment. This picture above shows how I found the block before I started working on it. The library book is for inspiration.

Since then, I have been collecting beads and trim to add to the quilt. Seriously, anytime there was any bead or ribbon sale, I bought something to add to this quilt. If it was orange or shiny, it went in this box. And if it isn't orange or shiny, it is still needed for contrast. The box was brimming over with embellishment supplies.  I have enough to make many quilts. These blocks are only 8 inches!

I decided it was time to work on this quilt so I could use some of these supplies, and be able to do handwork without guilt. I feel virtuous being able to work on such an old WIP!

This is my favorite section. I'm not done with the block yet. The bottom left side and the top right need a little something. In future blocks, I will be more careful with adding beads so close to the edge. This block might require some hand piecing to avoid crushing the beads.

Please give me ideas about what else to stitch.  This is only block one of nine and I already feel like I am stretching.

15 Minutes to Stitch

Here is my progress on the 15 Minutes to Stitch .

I did not stitch on Monday, because I didn't want people to be jealous of my perfection. But because I stitched so much the rest of the week, I had to go back and retroactively take credit for it anyway.

I have been really happy with keeping up with stitching (almost) every day. Reporting it makes me more accountable.  I have been working hard at making sure I stitch every day because I know that when the busy season comes, I won't be able to stitch at all, so I need to keep the current stats high to balance.  My guess is that last year, I probably would have been at 50% and hopefully this year, I will end above 60%. I am going to aim for above 70% though. Aim high!

Linked to:
15 Minutes to Stitch 
Slow Sunday Stitching 
Let's Bee Social 
Off The Wall Friday

Valentine Art Quilt Swap

I joined an art quilt swap on Stitching Fabrics, Papers and More Facebook group, and this is the gorgeous quilt I received. I will show you the quilt I sent later when I know she has received it.

One of the advantages of swapping is to find new techniques and ways of making things I had not known was possible. As I have been watching people make their journals and other art, the different layers people use constantly amaze me, and this quilt has an extraordinary number of layers.

It starts off with a paper base.  I'm not sure if it is two sided paper or if it has been painted. It may be two layers because there is stitching around the edges, but if it is two pieces of paper, they were glued well together.

The next layer is this beautiful brown burlap. And over the burlap is a red piece of fabric. This has also been stitched down.

There are so many embellishments added, and they work so well together. The flower petals have been layered with the bead center and the beautiful white pieces that make the flower, the little butterfly.  Underneath them are pretty hearts made out of rose paper.

Below the flower is corrugated paper, lace, gears, and more hearts made out of rose paper.

 On the right side are more embellishments with the fibers and the flowers and bead trim.
Larger bead trim is used to hang the quilt.

And as if that wasn't enough, look at the pretty buttons used to pretty up the back!

I am really happy to get this gorgeous art quilt. Thank you Debby!

On Ringo Lake Progress

It is time to link up to Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville's final link up for the On Ringo Lake mystery. I've been busy making parts and pieces to make this quilt in its designed size. This picture probably doesn't look like a lot of progress, especially when compared to so many finished quilt tops, or even finished quilts.  I put all my neat stacks (who am I kidding?  piles) of blocks and parts and pieces into one pile so you could see the progress.

• There are four blocks that are finished with the corners attached. My quilt, it has four corners.
• All of the nine patch blocks are done and they are all attached to two sets of two flying geese.
• The nine patch rows also have one other row sewed on them. (There are a few blocks that have two rows and therefore are completed blocks, but not very many)
• I am working on making the blocks for the other rows to finish that last row. That chaos on top of the stack is today's flying hearts that will soon become flying geese.
• I am also working on making the sashing blocks.

Even though I am not finished, I am happy with my progress, because while I have been making this quilt, I've made good progress on a bunch of other projects too.

Thank you for visiting. While you are here, feel free to stick around and scroll down or click to see my French Mints Mini Fabric Book, the Adinkra quilt finish with African fabrics, my very first snippet ribbon, and my progress on my very unique circle a day quilt. I've had a lot of fun playing with fabric this winter.

Linked to:
Quiltville Quips and Snips Final On Ringo Lake Link-Up!

Reveal: French Mints Mini Fabric Book and 15 Minute Challenge Update

I have finished the French Mints Mini Fabric Book, so I thought I would show you the rest of the pages. I've still been able to sew every day this year. The handwork makes it easier to meet the challenge.

This is a swan, which is more serene than a duck, but if you think it is a duck, I'm okay with that.

Since it is close to Valentine's Day, I decided to go ahead with the love and romance theme to go with the picture on the tin.

I left the back cover plain. I also left the tin pretty plain too, besides the lace wrapped around the side. I am only showing you the individual pages I hadn't shown you before, to save your bandwidth. I did show you all the two page spreads though, since they changed a little bit as I joined the pages together.

I am still on track for sewing every day this year. I decided to show January as the monthly instead of February so January could be completely documented. Next week, I will use February in the monthly column.

Linked to:
15 Minutes to Stitch Week 5 
Sew Stitch Snap

French Mints Mini Fabric Book

I've been wanting to make a fabric book for a long time.  I thought I would be able to get away from making one with the circle quilt. After all, any time I wanted to do embroidery, I could just make a circle block and that should satisfy my craving.

But no, I want a real fabric book. I decided to make a small one with just a few pages to see how that goes. I'm not done with it, but I wanted to share my progress so far.

I bought this little mint tin at the airport, when I could expense a snack.  You aren't supposed to bite them, so they last a long time.  These have a mild anise flavor. These cute little tins are crazy expensive on Amazon.

 

I added some motifs that fit words like calm, serene, tranquil. I cut up an index card to put between the cover and first page to give it some body.

The words fabric scrap came from Silly Mama Quilts. I wouldnt't put "love" in the tranquil category, but it fits the tin cover. Not that love can't be tranquil; it just isn't a word that I would instantly think of when thinking of calm words.

Except for the stitching that holds the pages together, it is completely hand stitched. This one has a scrap of the cover fabric, and I made a mandala around it. A lot of it has the same floss and the same fabric because I was stitching during the State of the Union address and rebuttal and I didn't want to go get more supplies. No, I wouldn't think of politics as tranquil.

For the last page, I used some upholstery fabric. The first strand of thread worked great for the stem and a couple of flowers. The second strand was hard to get through the needle and fell apart. I am not sure whether I will leave it like this or redo the work I did with the second strand.  That ribbon strand is just there for color.

I've obviously worked on this book since the address.  I have a few pages left to go which I will show you later.

Linked to:
ScrapHappy Saturday

January One Monthly Goal Check-In

At the beginning of the year, I made a list of goals for the January and for the first quarter. I said I would:

1. Finish quilt top for On Ringo Lake by the end of the quarter.
2. Trim and bind Adinkra by the end of January.
3. Make 90 circles for Quilty Circle 365 by the end of the quarter.
4. Border, quilt, and bind Life of Plenty by the end of the quarter.
5. Quilt and bind another UFO top by the end of the quarter.

As you know, I finished the Adinkra quilt this week (except for the label) so I have satisfied my One Monthly Goal. Yay!

As for the quarterly goals,

1. I sewed more rows on On Ringo Lake but still need to make the remaining blocks to finish the project, since I decided to make the full size quilt.  I have enough nine patches, so onto to part two of the mystery! The goal is to make this a top by the end of the quarter, so I am on track.

2. Adinkra - done! (except for label)

3. In order to make 90 circles for the quarter, I wanted to make sure I made 31 circles for January. I've made 21 circles so far. Just when I think I am caught up on this project, I am behind again. I did sew my blocks together into rows this month so additional progress was made on this quilt besides the making of the circles.

4. I haven't touched Life of Plenty, but it is a quarterly goal and not a monthly one. Maybe now that Adinkra is done, I will find time to work on this one.

5. Quilt another UFO quilt. I didn't work on any other UFOs.  I did instead work on other projects - I worked on a couple of art quilts for a swap, did some art journaling and started a tiny stitching book. I will show you the art quilts after I send it to the recipient and the stitching book when it is done. The picture shows a better picture of the  snippet ribbon I made this month.

All in all, I think it is a good showing.

Linked to:
Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal February Goal Setting  - Oops, I think this means I have to set a goal for February!  I will set the goal to make enough circles to catch up to the one circle a day for this year.

When I Was Normal

Back when I was normal, I didn't have any trouble throwing away fabric trash. Anything that was less than three quarters of an inch was not worth saving, since all the fabric would be hidden in the seam allowance and you wouldn't be able to see it. It would just result in a bulky seam and no benefit. Selvedges are bad for quilts so they get thrown away. Those crooked little pieces you get when straightening out the fabric for the first cut. Clearly that is all trash.

 But then I started the circle quilt and needed a tiny scrap to make a circle, and decided it was better to use one that was from a cutting of a project I was already working on.  I started saving these in this tiny bowl that is smaller than a cereal bowl so I wouldn't have to dig through the trash for these cuttings. Once that bowl gets full, it is time to use it or lose it.

Since I have been working on cleaning the sewing room, I have noticed how many fabric scrap boxes I have (4! Definitely time to start a truly scrap project!).  I convinced myself that it was time to throw away the cuttings since there was plenty of other perfectly good, reasonable, fabric available in the house.

I decided to throw away my cuttings from my bowl.   But first I settled down to sew down the rest of the binding of the Adinkra quilt. And watch some YouTube videos. These came up on their own. I swear I didn't choose them.



So this one says to take the cuttings and make a ribbon out of snippets. In this video, she takes a base and sews some snippets on it. I've sen others that add a lot more stuff, and others who sew snippets together to make the fabric instead of adding to a base. This one was my favorite since it was simple.

People have made and traded snippet rolls, and many of them are chock full of laces and embellishments.  These newly made ribbons can be used for wrapping presents, embellishing art quilts or art journals or just hang for decoration.  You can also take them apart and use parts you like into other projects.

There are some patterns for a snippet quilt online too. Some of them call for sewing in snippets while others call for raw edge applique.



And this one says you can use your snippets to make a binding. Who knew!?

So yesterday I made a snippet ribbon. I tea dyed the base fabric and added some snippets, blues and greens mostly to keep it coherent. I also added some other embellishments like ribbons so it doesn't look trashy.  I think I need to sew down some of the dimensional pieces and add more stamping. It is hard to show since it is long and the lighting is bad, but it was fun to make. I think I can throw away the contents of my trash bowl and start again with new trash.