The first month of the new year has come to an end. Are you the type to make new year’s resolutions? Or do you do like me and just kind of wing it? While my goal-making skills are “loose” at best, I do keep track of what I do in life so I can make sure I’m spending my time on things that are important to me. Like quilting!
I spent time quilting or working on quilting-related projects all but two days this month. That’s pretty awesome! Since I do keep track of my quilt life, I thought I would share a recap of this month’s projects.
This Month’s Projects
Scrappy Scrap Buckets
I’m slowly starting to organize my scraps so I can actually use them. What a better start than with scrappy scrap buckets. The pattern is from Sunday Morning Quilts by Amanda Jean Nyberg and Cheryl Arkison. Amanda Jean is the scrap guru behind Crazy Mom Quilts, so I knew her pattern would be perfect! Three down, and who knows how many to go.
King’s Puzzle Quilt
I wrote about finishing this quilt earlier this week. It was a bear to get through, but it’s a finish. I’ll take it!
Blocks for My Ombré Log Cabin Quilt
When I saw a log cabin quilt on Moda Bake Shop that used ombré fabrics, I immediately grabbed my stash of ombré fabrics that I had been hoarding for a few years and got to cutting. This is as far as I got this month, but I can’t wait to see how it turns out. All of the colored pieces are cut from one strip of fabric! I’m way more excited about this than I should be.
Towel-backed bath mats for a friend’s housewarming
A few years ago I started making quilted bath mats backed by towels. They sew up quickly, are durable because of the towel (I don’t include batting), and make great housewarming presents.
Clementine Quilt Along Block 1 – Watermelon Wheel
I started quilting along with the Fat Quarter Shop to support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. I’m using Tula Pink fat quarters and found a couple ways to really save time on cutting for this block. I wrote about it last week.
My QU name tag!
After living in northern Virginia for nearly eight years, I finally joined a local, in-person quilt guild. So far everyone is amazing! The club has a shared pattern for name tags, so I got busy making mine and embellishing it with some of my favorite acrylic pins.
Mama Bear & Baby Bear from my daughter!
This might be my favorite finish of the month. For Christmas, my daughter made me a mama bear/baby bear quilt block. She is an awesome custom sewer of clothes and novelty items, but I’ve never been able to make her a quilter. So I was so happy to get the block from her as a gift. I backed it with a fat quarter from my stash and finished the quilting and binding last night. Now I just need to decide where to hang it. I want to see it wherever I am!
Fabric & WIP Tracking
For whatever reason, I decided to take an inventory of all the fabric I have at then end of last year. What was I thinking?! I really, really didn’t want to know that number! I had 585.4 yards of fabric. That’s nearly six football fields if you laid it all out end to end. But please don’t; I wouldn’t want to have to refold and organize it all!
So I’m dedicating this year to working from the stash: I’m calling it Twenty-Stash-Teen. I’m not allowed to buy new fabric all year. Unless it’s an emergency. Or really pretty. I did, however, win four yards of fabric at the guild’s Quilt-O meeting. I got the idea to track fabric from Jeni Baker of In Color Order. She has several methods for quickly figuring out what you have on hand. I used a combination of measuring for my yardage fabric and weighing fat quarters and scraps. So here’s where I stand with fabric:
- Beginning Fabric: 585.4 yards
- Brought In: 4 yards
- Used Up: 8 yards
- Fabric On Hand: 581.4 yards
Quilters are also notorious for huge piles of unfinished objects (UFOs), works in projects (WIPs), and projects half done (PHDs). Whatever you call them, I’m sure you’re trying to get a handle on where you stand with these projects. Here’s how January went for me:
- Beginning Project List: 12
- Projects Started: 6
- Projects Finished: 5
- Ending Project List: 13
So that list is going in the “wrong” direction, but I’m pretty excited about knowing what’s on the list and having a plan to tackle it.
Studio Assistant
To add to the internet of clichés, here is my cutie pie of a a studio assistant. I feel like I’m being watched. Maybe I’m just paranoid.
The Supervisor