Moda Marbles - just sitting there...

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas together with family or friends. We had friends over for dinner on Christmas Eve, which was really nice. Sunday was quiet, slept in and did some sewing in the evening. 

We all (at least us quilters) know how important it is to always have the right colors in our stash, don't we?! ...and when we need that specific color, nothing matches! Right?! Since it is unlikely I'd use up those Moda Marbles any time soon, I've been pondering what to do with them. The first idea, as you can see here, is a scrappy granny square quilt. (No progress on that one). 

Then I discovered 'Dwellings' by Joanie Holton. Decision made! The pattern calls for approximately 9.75 yards (blocks, sashing and border) + 5.75 yards backing. Finished quilt measures 60.50 x 87 inches. Love those houses!

I've made some blocks, the same house in different colors. 

A few more blocks. Love that I can use up small bits and pieces. 

HAPPY QUILTING! 

What do you do when you lose your quilting mojo?

 Earlier this year, when I lost my sewing/quilting mojo, I did some counted cross-stitching. Does any of you follow Melisa's Blog? She often shares some of her most adorable cross-stitching designs (freebies). I have admired them for quite some time and knew I had to give it a try. I have always loved counted cross-stitching, not new to me. 

I love the 'Mason Jar' designs, and this is the first one I did

'Bunny Jar'. Stitched on 28 count evenweave.

OOH! I had so much fun stitching the cutest bunny so I decided to do these adorable sheep too; 'Sheep Jar'. Stitched on 28 count evenweave.

Don't you love this snowman and cardinals?!

'Winter Jar', stitched on 28 count evenweave. There are other 'Mason Jar' designs, which I'd love to do.

Who does not love Little House Needleworks' designs?! 

I've had this pattern and fabric; 'Through the Woods' for years. Looking at it now, I remember why I put it away; I was struggling with the French Knots for snowman eyes and buttons. UGH! I have to try again! Stitched on 28 Rue Green Cashel Linen from Zweigart.

LHN's 'Winter Wonderland' was also put away after I got my quilting mojo back. Left to stitch two snowflakes and the last row (same as the top).

Fabric: Zweigart's 28 count Natural Raw Linen

I'd love to hear about your second passion, what do you do when not quilting?

 

Back in Blogland!

 Hello! Do you remember me?! I can't believe my last post was dated April 18! Where did those days, weeks & months go?! I'm sure someone has stolen them!!! 

Where do I start? You may wonder why I fell off blogland - again!? No particular reason; except it became a bit overwhelming and I needed a break. I lost the quilting mojo but it picked up when I started making Christmas items for my shop. UFO's has been on hold. At least I haven't made any new! Haha! Kidding!!! Of course I have new UFO's! Out of 15 UFO's (counted end of 2021) only 2 are finished! That's too bad! When I lost the quilting mojo I enjoyed counted cross-stitching (show & tell in a future post). 

As much as I love making Christmas items, all Christmas fabrics are packed away for this season. A *gnome lap quilt was put aside when I had to give priority working on other items. I won't be able to finish it this year, hence one of my new UFO's. 'Dear Nina' (my Bernina sewing machine) has to go in for service, after 7 years of hard work! Long overdue, I know!!! 

Last week I finished a custom order; 50 Norwegian Flag Coasters. A fun project! They are going all the way to Michigan. Thank you M.! 

New round coasters (set of 6) for my shop

A new UFO: I'm using a panel from Lewis & Irene's *'Keep Believing' for these blocks. The idea is to make a lap or twin quilt, depending on the yardage of fabric I have. 

New UFO #2: What to do with all the Moda Marbles just sitting there, just in case (once in a while) I need a matching blender?! I got the bright idea - haha! - to make an approximately 68"x78" quilt. I need 42 granny square blocks, set on point. Still some to go...

HAPPY QUILTING! 

A finished UFO and What Came Out of the Rest

 It's early Easter Monday morning. I've had my breakfast and brewed coffee. I love early mornings; enjoying the first cuppa of the day, the quietness (hubby still sleeping) and the best of all; reading latest blog posts to see what dear quilters have been up to lately. You all are so creative and especially I love the RSC challenge many of you participate in. Lots of great projects!

What have I been up to the last weeks? Busy sewing, of course! The best of all, I have a FINISHED UFO; kitchen wall organizer! 

It became a UFO because I dreaded the inside out pockets. IMO; I never get the corners right. I spent quite some time trying to figure out if it could be done different. That failed too, so I decided to go for it! In the end, it didn't turn out that bad? I added Prairie Points to one side of each pockets and it has a sleeve for easy hanging. A fun project to make! Measures 16.50 x 32.50" / 42 x 82.50 cm. Pockets are 8.25" / 21 cm deep and 7.50" / 19 cm wide. For the back I used a floral white on cream.

Here's the second one

This is how I wanted to make the first one, but could not figure out how to add the pockets since they have different placements. It has the same pocket panels as the above one. Measures 12.75" x 34.25" / 32.50 x 87 cm. 

A large table runner

This is approximately 3/4 of the runner - LOL. I was too lazy to empty the sewing table (which is big enough) to take a proper photo. You get the idea; it's the same pattern at both ends. Measures 18.25" x 52.25" / 46.50 x 133 cm

In my previous post I had prepped for some place mats, which is done

Four round place mats, 13.75" / 35 cm diameter

Set of two square place mats, 13.50" / 34.50 cm

...and another set, 13.50" / 34.50 cm

Thank you for your suggestions to turn the small tomato piece into a trivet

I listened, and here it is, 10.75" / 27 cm square

As I've mentioned earlier, one of my goals this year is to use up fabrics from my stash. After finishing the above items, I had some bits and pieces left. A bit too big to be cut into squares and strips, so I made...

...four round trivets / pot holders, 7.25" / 18 cm diameter. As you can see, there's not four, but three. How come? 'Of course' I ran out of bobbin thread on the last one! More on the way, should get it by next week. 

Two square trivets / pot holders, 9.50" / 24 cm

I need the same bobbin thread (green) to finish this rectangle trivet (plus the round one).

Do you keep records (invoices) of fabrics/notions you buy? I do, and just for fun I had a look in the files to see when I purchased these fabrics. Surprise! Purchased February 2012! My goodness! I didn't realize it's that long ago! Well, you know, some fabrics are too beautiful to be cut or I didn't know what to make.

Fabric purchased; 2 yards of the text fabric and 1 yard each of the others. 

   I didn't use all. There's about 7/8 yards left of the cream, used it only for the table runner. 1/4 yard left of the green, one 2.25" strip will be used for binding the rectangle trivet and there's about 0.15 yards left of the red. The green as well as the cream for backing are from my stash too. 

Small bits and pieces are cut into 1.5", 2", 2.5", 3" squares and a few 1.5" strips. 

I forgot to take a photo of the strips. Nothing to show really; a couple of strips from the text fabric, the vegetable/fruit one and the green fabric. 

Now to wait patiently for the thread to arrive to finish the last two items. 

What's up next? I'm not sure... I have some non-quilting related projects coming up, but not sure when I'll get to it. It needs some planning! I've finished a cross stitch project and currently doing a small cross stitched Easter bunny, but that will be for another post. 

HAPPY QUILTING!

 

Sunday, Torrential Rain and Progess on a UFO

 It's the end of the rainy- and cyclone season, or 'summer' as the locals call it. We have had a couple of cyclones that came pretty close (the eye). Fortunate not much damage to our property, except some banana trees that went down and a huge branch off a tree in our garden. Lots of rain which is very good for the water reservoirs. At the second half of March we got some sunny days and we were able to spend four days doing some long overdue yard work, before it started raining again! Since Thursday we've had heavy / torrential rain, which has caused floods and roads closed in some areas. One place recorded 241.8 mm / 9.5 inches in 24 hours. Not so much where we live, but still a lot. Right now (Sunday morning) it looks like it's going to clear up a bit, but heavy showers are still expected. Just read we've got one months rain in two days. 

In such weather, what else to do than hunker down in the sewing area (dining room) working on a UFO, other items and my ODG (one-day-goal). I don't remember if I mentioned it earlier; one of my goals this year is to make one 36-patches quilt block (2.5" squares) each day. 

So far, so good; I have accomplished January 31 blocks, February 28 blocks and March 31 blocks. From earlier I have December 2021 31 blocks. I've already done 4 blocks for April. Did you do the math?? 125 blocks x 36 = 4500 squares pieced together! It HAS made a dent in the boxes; reduced from 5 to 3 and soon there will be 2 boxes only. I have also made two twin quilts using 2.5" squares. I'm beginning to run out of red squares - as if I don't have more uncut! LOL   

Here they are, Dec 2021, Jan, Febr & March 2022.

I drafted the above paragraphs yesterday (already Monday morning). Now I'm going to tell you what I did yesterday; I worked on bindings! Not my favorite thing to do, but it has to be done. The one to the left is the UFO; vegetable wall organizer.

Binding is tread basted to the table runner and the two kitchen organizers. The backing is from my stash.

I love using up fabric (these from the same fabric line), which resulted in eight place mats! 

There will be four round place mats. Isn't this fabric yummy? 

..and four square place mats

How come there's one orphan tomato panel left?!

 

What can I turn it into? I think I know; a small wall hanging? Any other suggestions appreciated.  

Attacking Another UFO

 To those of you set on 'noreply commet'; thank you for your comments on my previous post!

So, I hope I'm on the right track with my UFO's. After finishing the Advent Calendar, I pulled out another UFO. This is #1 on my UFO list; Vegetables Wall Organizer

It was also on my UFO list 2021, but since I was struggling to make it my way and not what the pattern said, it was put aside. 

Bright and colorful fabric I bought.... when? Can't even remember! lol

After almost breaking my brain to figure out how to add pockets (my way!) to a kitchen wall organizer (#1), I gave up and that is why it remained a UFO. 

Working on it again, after more brain work, I gave up and followed the pattern instruction; make the pockets and turn them inside out. Now they have to be quilted before I stitch them to the background.

These are the first pockets I made (wall organizer #2). This is how I wanted to make #1, but with two pockets to the left and one to the right, I couldn't figure out how to do it without messing up the text on the fabric. Perhaps I'm silly?! lol

In addition to the two wall organizers, I made a table runner too. 

Another goal for 2022 is to use up fabric from my stash and only buy fabric I need to finish items. I have more left from this fabric line and I want to use up as much as I can. Not sure what I'm going to make, but I'm leaning towards 2-4 place mats.

The last week has been so hot and humid, hopefully the last scorching days before it gets cooler. Can't wait! Feeling drained just to go grocery shopping down the road and back. We took advantaged of a couple of sunny mornings (no rain during the nights) and did some long overdue yard work. It's way too hot working outside after 11:00 a.m. More needs to be done, but it has to wait, we need to 'recover' a few days. 

Oh, and we have two helpers in the garden; two feral kitties, who are not so feral anymore!

This is Tikk-Tikk

... and here is Tokk-Tokk

Cat mama moved them (they were four) from somewhere to our garden, under some tin sheets (Dec last year). I didn't have the heart not to feed them. Cat mama moved the other two from our garden and I don't know what has happened to them, they may be gone. These curious ones have already explored the kitchen and the lower ground floor! Tokk-Tokk allows me to pet him, while Tikk-Tikk is more shy. We lost our beloved old cat last year and I love having cats again, even if they are outdoor cats. 
   

The Travel Adventure of a Fully Tracked Parcel and a Finished UFO

At the end of last year (Dec 27, 2021) I ordered some needed fabric (to finish an Advent Calendar) from an online shop in the US. I knew it would take longer time than usual due to the pandemic, but little did I know it would take 11 weeks due to the fact USPS at O'Hare Chicago missent the parcel to Dublin (Ireland) as many as 3 times! Yep! 3 times!!! It was processed by a US carrier January 5, arrived at Chicago the next day. Next stop IDC Jamaica NY, Newark NJ, first time Dublin, which returned it to Chicago! After ping-ponging between these airports 3 times, I contacted the online shop and asked them if they could contact USPS. So they did (super customer service!). I also informed them usually parcels from the US to Mauritius transit through either London, Paris or Dubai. Finally, March 5 the parcel left Chicago for Dubai and it arrived in Mauritius March 7. It was sitting some days at the Customs and I finally got it March 18! What baffles me is why no one at O'Hare Chicago noticed the 3 times missending to Ireland?!  

...and I have the first FU (Finished UFO) 2022! 

Woodland Christmas Advent Calendar

Last year, when I made this calendar, I ran out of the fabric I used for backing, sleeve and binding. I had only enough for backing and the sleeve. I could have used another fabric for the binding, but you know.... I had to have it the same! 

I pulled it out from the shelf last night and added three rows of pockets. Today I did the remaining two rows, the sleeve, the binding and hand stitched the latter. 

It feels good to tick off one item from the UFO list!  Not sure which one I'm going to work on next. 

UFO list 2022

 Hello everyone! Have you missed me? I have missed you! 

We are already at the other half of March 2022! How did that happen?!

I fell off from blog-land last July, after our beloved Birre-Liten (the cat) had to be put down, 16-1/2 years old. I never got back to blogging, not even reading your lovely and interesting blog posts. 

Back in January, I started counting UFO's to prepare for a blog post. I did a draft but never published. The beginning of the year; the heat and humidity of summer in the tropics make many of us not feel for doing anything, except what we have to do. Slow motion, I've not been an exception! I have been sewing, just not felt for working on big quilts (UFO's). 

You don't have any, you said? How is that possible?! LOL Last year I finished 6 out of 15 UFO's. Better than nothing, but my goal was to finish at least one each month. That didn't happen!

OK, so I'm joining APQ's UFO CHALLENGE 2022! Anyone else? The number for January is #12, February #7 and March #3. This year I have decided I will not work on the monthly chosen numbers, because I know myself well enough there will always be that one, or two I will not work on that specific month! When that happens, I can pick another one of course, but this year I'll work on the UFO I feel for and the goal is to finish the 15 UFO's I have listed. There may be a few more hidden somewhere, who knows?! lol

Here we go! 

1) Vegetable wall hanging

2) Scrappy Basket Quilt

3) No name, 4 inch squares

4) Pineapple Quilt

5) Crumb Quilt

6) Irish Chain Blue & White

7) Got the Blues

8) Poppies wall hanging

9) Flannel PSQ

10) New York Beauty

11) Scrappy PSQ 2.5 inch

12) Wedding Ring

13) Scrappy Christmas Stars

14) Advent Calendar

15) Christmas card holder

As you can see, many of them are lap / bed quilts which takes time to finish. I'm currently working on a table runner, table topper and place mats. When they are done, I'll see which UFO to attack! 

Do you have any other goals, except working on UFO's, this year? My other goal is to use fabric I already have and buy only what I need for finishing items. So far so good - until I saw some Coffee fabrics I just had to have, even if I don't need them! lol