Interlocking Squares

Oh my goodness! Talk about a cliffhanger. I started reading as soon as I got home from work. I wish I didn’t need to sleep. Book 3 is waiting.

Wowzer! The Hunger Games rocks.

No change on the design wall. I’ve got the crud that’s going around. Just spent the day rotating between the recliner and the bed. Always good to have options.

Added this week: 3.375 yds
Used this week: 7 yds
Added this year: 36.625 yds
Used this year: 10 yds
Stashbusted this year: -26.625 yds

I finished the stitch in the ditch on the Jovial tree skirt. I kind of wish now that I had did meandering instead. It was kind of a pain wrestling with the quilt to keep it in the ditch. I think because it is circular in shape. I’ve got the binding sewn together and ready to put on the skirt so I’m calling this project busted.

I did get the sweet charm packs. I couldn’t resist. I’m sure my Grandson needs them.

I finished sewing all of the batik sections together this morning. I need to add the inner and outer border. Then it is ready to layer.

Needed a nice easy going day in the sewing room. A crib blanket made out of charm squares seemed like a good change of pace. I had two charm packs of Lily and Will. I took out the pink squares. The blanket came together quick. Yea! I needed a one day finish. LOL

Talked to my daughter today and she received the Mod Tod crib pad yesterday in the mail. She said my grandson loved it. He is 10 1/2 months old. She said he wouldn’t go to sleep until she covered him up with it. When she went in to check on him first thing this morning, she said he was sitting up in his crib checking out the designs on the blanket. I tell you – it makes this Grammy fill good.

Made good progress on the quilt top this week. The left rows are sewn together and I’m working on the right side. Hope to get that finished tomorrow.

Maki

Today as I was looking around the sewing room, I saw 2 quilts with the binding attached. All they needed was the binding sewn down on the other side. I didn’t feel like hand stitching. The last couple of times I tried stitching it down by machine, it looked terrible and for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why. Sew, turn, pin, sew. That sounds simple enough but half the time I wouldn’t catch the binding with the stitching. So half was sewn on and half was sewn off.

I wanted to see if I could figure out how to do this by machine. The first binding looked so-so. I tried using a straight stitch. I was using black thread on a black border and black binding. I thought if it doesn’t turn out, nobody will see it. Moving on.

I started searching the internet for different ideas on how to accomplish this task. I found two videos that I liked and thought I could combine a couple of ideas from each of them. The first was Leah Day and the second was from Missouri Star Quilt Co. I had sewn on the binding to the front of the quilt with the idea that I would flip and tack down on the back of the quilt by hand. That is actually the opposite of how to do it when stitching by machine. But after watching the videos, I decided to give a try anyway. It isn’t the best binding but I’m actually pleased with how it turned out. I thought the dotted zigzag adds to the whimsical look of the quilt. It is hard to see in the picture. With some practice, I can make this work on a regular basis.

Good progress on Sunday. The upper left row is finished and half of the lower left row. Hoping to continue the trend tomorrow. I know it has only been a few weeks but I feel like I’ve been working on this for awhile.

Added this week: 33.25 yds
Used this week: 3 yds
Added this year: 0 yds
Used this year: 3 yds
Stashbusted this year: -30.25 yds

I had a planned purchased of 3.5 yards of the Fa La La La La french words on stone fabric. I saw a tutorial on Sew We Quilt for a scarf made out of this fabric. I like it so much that I have plans to make scarfs for my girls, myself and a few others.

Fabric.com had the Modern Workshop fabrics on-sale. You got an additional discount based on your purchase amount. With the scarf fabric, that pushed me into the 20% off and free shipping. Was a great deal.

I had to purchase an additional 1/2 yard of the black fabric for the Striptastic quilt. I didn’t have enough on hand to complete the inner border.

The unplanned purchased – Fat Quarter Shop posts a great deal usually on Wednesday for the week. I just happened to look on Facebook and they were offering 50% off with a coupon code for the Power Pop fabrics. I’ve had my eyes on these beauties since I saw the photos from quilt market.

Today, I pinned the jovial Christmas tree skirt layers together. Ready to start the machine quilting so I’m going to wait until next weekend to count this as fabric used. By then I should have the binding cut and sewn on the quilt. I haven’t quite decided what design to use for machine quilting. I may play it safe and do stitch in the ditch. This is my first project with a circular shape. Other than that, I am working my way through the piles of laundry alternating that with the sewing of the pieces for the striptastic quilt. It is an exciting life that I do lead.

I decided I needed to get out of the house today since it was nicer. I did manage to get the pieces for the 3rd row cut and on the design wall. This is a large quilt. I can’t step back far enough in the room to get all of the quilt in the photo. My sewing cabinet sits directly across from the design wall.