February UFO: Complete!

My fingers are tingly because I've been stitching for hours tonight to finish my table topper for February's UFO project but it's finally done. Here it is!

Front:

And the back:

I was really pleased to find this lemon and lime back in my stash that was just large enough, and some leftover orange binding. I even pieced batting from other projects so i wouldn't have to buy any. Unfortunately i am running out of batting pieces and won't be able to do that for much longer for larger pieces.

I truly think this will be one table topper where I will use both sides.

But the best news is that I have two whole days without a UFO to worry about. I can focus on hand-piecing alone. I have one block in progress, and then 5 more to be caught up with the classes. I will not be caught up before we meet again, but I'd like to be closer. My plan for the next two days is to finish the block in progress and cut out the templates and fabric for the next blocks.

And of course the fabric folding is still ongoing. I completed all my fabric that was sorted by color in bins. I had started folding fat quarters around the boards, but I'm rethinking that decision and have stopped. I'm also brainstorming my "system" and once I land on it I'll post about it. I'm trying to not get stuck in strip-land. The other roadblock I ran into were the scraps. I have a ton of scraps in strange shapes. How small is too small? I'm still trying to figure that out for my stash. I hate throwing away fabric but this could become a problem. Pondering this daily...

 

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Table Topper is Coming Along!

Tonight I went to Quilt Block Party with determination that I would quilt my table topper for February's UFO and get the binding sewn on front. I did it!

I was able to find a back in my stash that goes well with my theme, left-over binding from a previous project that coordinated, and I pieced together some batting pieces from other projects instead of buying more batting. I am so excited when I get to use from my stash and save money.

When I came home tonight I folded my yellow and brown fabrics (I don't have tons of those colors) and then started turning the binding on the table topper. Tomorrow I want to really make progress on the binding and maybe finish my folding of the separated colors. I bought more comic book covers also last night so I'm ready to tackle the next big containers of fabric.

On the organization front, I've been thinking about how to organize my strips once I start cutting them. I have a couple of plastic 3-drawer systems that might work, but I would have to clean them out first. My sewing room is in DIRE need of a clean-up and I might need to spend my 15 minutes there a couple of days this next week.

Although February is not over yet, I'm already thinking about March's project. I have a project on my list that I'm thinking of changing because I think I'm setting myself up for failure. I could scale it back slightly to make sure that it is do-able, but I think I'll wait until the number is called to decide. A lot will depend on if it's pulled before or after the hand-piecing class is finished.

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More Folding and A Plan

Tonight I tackled my neutral bucket for folding. I found lots of odd pieces in this bucket like I did with the green. Blues not so much so I must really like greens.

The other thing I did tonight was research some stash methods. I really like Bonnie's method of strips, but I don't just want to do strips and bricks. I do see how you can maximize your stash that way though. I want to leave room for charm squares and layer cakes out of the non-selvage-to-selvage scraps I have.

One thing that I did like on her post about getting started was finding a scrap project and using that as a cutting guide. Again, a lightbulb went off because I've been saving this scrap project from Fons and Porter called Scrap Happy for almost two years. I even bought the large yardage fabric for it and have been waiting for the right time to cut my scraps into strips.

After I finish folding the larger fabrics from all my colors, I will take whatever could not be folded and cut my strips for my scrap quilt from those. I need 3.5" and 2" strips, which will eat up a lot of what I have left. And then I will have fabric for my next project already cut! Only downside is that the strips are medium and dark only.

Still not any further on the February UFO. I think I might need to plan for Wednesday night to work on that one. I bet I could throw together a cute sushi background out of layer cake squares...

 

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Mission: Organization!

This weekend I had intended to work on my February UFO project, but went a different direction.

I did go get my table topper though and tried out the fabric that I originally thought of for a back, but I don't have enough of it. So I will need to piece a back for the topper. I'm actually ok with this because I have a lot of fabric that is food oriented and I can make something cute. This week I must have that back ready to quilt at Quilt Block Party on Saturday.

But I digress...today while we were out an about we happened upon Vintage Stock looking for a game controller. While looking around I happened to see comic book boards and I suddenly remembered that u had planned to buy some to organize my fabric and make mini bolts. After a quick price comparison to Amazon, I bought two 100 packs and brought them home.

Tonight I have been making mini bolts from my green and blue fabrics. Here are the results!

Awesome right!?!?!?

I'm so excited about how nice this is working for me and how fast it's been going. I will have to purchase more boards though, as this is a fraction of the fabric in my house.

The only downside to this is that it will force me to determine a scrap system. I can put everything down to a fat quarter on a board, but I have lots of weird pieces that are not small enough to throw out and not large enough to get their own board. Right now they are in large Ziplocks and fabric bins. I must do some Internet research to find a good method.

In the end, I'm hoping this will help both with storage and display options. Our house is actually in a very organized state except for my sewing and scrap booking supplies. This is a good first step to making organization a reality for that space.

 

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A Long Time Away!

I actually had to look at old posts tonight to figure out where I left off!

Basically, for the last two-ish weeks, I've not being doing my 15 minutes a day. More on why in a sec.

Tonight though I got back into it by working on hand-piecing again. Tonight I was working on the 6th block of the hand-piecing class called Follow the Leader. It was the simple block of the partial seam class. I need to go back and make sure I have pictures of all of them. Another task for another night.

The other thing I did was create a design for a friend who has asked for a baby quilt for her not-yet-so grandchildren. She's just ready to be prepared and it's good for me because there is no deadline. Here's the design I came up with:

These are actually the fabrics she brought for me. They are some of the same fabrics that she used to make clothes for her kids, so it's a special link. I think I have enough for at least two, maybe three. It's a simple pattern but is so very bright and cheery. She likes the design and I'll get started on the construction soon.

The last thing on my radar for February is of course, my Connie's Game entry. I have not made any progress on that table topper other than to look at it and say to myself, "You need to start that." I think I might have backing already for it but in case I don't, I have plenty of food fabric to make a back.

So why haven't I been working? I've been so tired for the past two weeks, and one week I had a lingering headache that would not go away. I could not figure out why I just didn't feel great. Then I got a call last Friday from my endocrinologist who's been playing with my medication dosage after I went a little hyper-thyroid, saying that the last dosage change made my thyroid go crazy into the hypo-thyroid range. This of curse makes tons of sense after the fact. So we're back to being slightly hyper-thyroid because it's the better option. Hopefully the new dose will start to kick in soon and I'll be back to my regular self.

Another Table Topper for Connie's Game!

Today Connie pulled #6 for February, which is my Fruit and Veggie Table Topper that needs to be quilted and bound. This started as a Zakka class last year and I completed the top at the quilt retreat in September using some fabric found during our shopping along the way (love how that works out!). I think I will need to buy some backing for it or locate/make something work.

I have to say, I was quite nervous about the number pool. My #1 and #7 projects are quite large, and I can already tell that I will need a "project plan" to finish them within the month. I am glad that this is a smaller project to finish so that I can continue to focus on my hand piecing, which I am really enjoying right now.