Falling Behind (so what else is new)

Ok, so I'm supposed to have 12 blocks finished for the Layer Cake Quilt Along.  I have just 8 finished.

However, I do have all the rest of the HSTs cut and sewn. Some are even trimmed nice and neat.  It will take me very little time to put the block together. I'll hopefully get them done tomorrow night after work.
 I'm using a layer cake of Ruby.  The only colors will be green, pink, red, gray and turquoise. The background is Kona Snow.   I'm liking it so far.  My favorite block is the green and red one in the middle of the top row.
I haven't been completely slacking.  I did finish a baby quilt.  I'll post a picture next time.
This is the quilt has been taking up most of my time.

I finished piecing the top at retreat.  It's all sandwiched and is in the process of being quilted.  I used a fat quarter pack of Simply Color.  I didn't want to buy any yardage (and not because I went on a royal fabric binge 3 times in the last 6 weeks) so I decided to use some of the leftovers pieces and unused fat quarters.

This is what the back looked like while I was playing with the fabric.  It took me all day yesterday to measure and piece, but it came together rather nicely if I do say so myself.  Photos later. 

Joyful stitching,
jane

Layer Cake Sampler Quilt Along

Like a needed another project...

There's a great Layer Cake quilt along hosted by Amanda at Material Girl Quilts.
It gives me a great excuse to use up a layer cake that has been languishing in my stash for much too long.

The goal is to make 2 blocks each week.  Each block consists only of half-square triangles. I'm using a Ruby layer cake and am happy with the results so far.
Amanda has a great tutorial for cutting the HSTs.  We're on blocks 3 and 4.  I've actually constructed the HST units for most of the blocks, so assembly will take no time. This is a really easy project.
Here's what I have so far...

 Block 1

 Block 2

 Block 3

 Block 4

So far so good.

Joyful stitching,
jane

February Finishes - Put Your Scraps to Work

Time to link up to Put Your Scraps to Work.

February was almost a no-sew month for me.  It took me almost two weeks to get these two table runners finished.  The good thing is that they came from my stash and my pile of leftover jellyroll strips.
The bad thing is that I went on a fabric binge in February, but that's for another time.

I needed one for the buffet and another for the table.  The one for the table is slightly wider.

They were really easy and a bit mindless, actually. 

The quilting is just straight lines and not necessarily spaced evenly. Easy peasy.
A great way to use leftovers.  I still have plans to make some placemats.  Hopefully, they won't take a month to finish.

Joyful stitching,
jane

I put my scraps to work

Last month I decided to follow along with Sarah @ FairyFace Designs and her Put Your Scraps to Work 2014 project.  This was perfect for me with my "make it do" mindset (also known as my 2014 Austerity Quilt Tour). 

My January finish is this cute baby quilt using the leftover pieces from this other cute baby quilt.  No additional purchases necessary.

I'd wanted to make a triangle quilt for a while and this fabric was just right.  It's a Riley Blake line called Life in the Jungle.  It was very easy to do once I got the hang of lining up the individual triangles.  I quilted using just straight lines along the seams.  This quilt measures approx. 31"x36".

The back is made up of the rest of the yardage and a few pieces of the fat quarters.  I still have a few scraps of this left and will try to work it in with other scraps for a different project. 

I had just enough orange to bind it.

 Not sure what I'll do for February's scrap project, although now that I think of it, I do need some new potholders and a cover for my mixer.  

Joyful Stitching,
jane

Linking up to

WIP Wednesday

I've been tossing around some ideas for the Riley Blake challenge.  One of them involved some type of dresden block.  I decided to make a practice block and grabbed some Kaffe Fassett fabric that's been hanging around for much too long. 
I wanted to make one that would finish into a 16" block.  So I used the 7" measurement on my ruler figuring that each half circle combined would be 14".  My pea brain totally missed that there's a 3" opening in the middle.  So what did it do?  I made more.

I have no idea what I'm going to do with these. They'll get put away and maybe added to my 2nd quarter Finish Along list.  Making these dresdens was not in vain.  I now know that I definitely don't want to do a dresden block for the Riley Blake challenge.

I also finished another block for my Hexie Garden quilt.  So far, so good.

Linking up to Freshly Pieced.


Joyful stitching,
jane

WIP Wednesday

I've been working on some economy blocks that I started last week. I like making these.  There's a bit of trimming involved which (sounds weird, I know) has almost a Zen-like effect on me.   A new blade in my cutter and something trashy on Netflix and I am very happy.

I've finished 27 blocks. I'm not sure how many I'll need, but I'm just taking my time with this.

I finished a 2nd block for my Hexie Garden.

This one took a bit longer than the first one.  I had to keep laying out the hexies every time I sewed a seam to make sure that they were positioned correctly.  I wanted the design in the fabric to run in the same direction for all pieces.
These are a little tricky to piece because of the angles, but I think they're coming out nice.

I had planned on spending the afternoon playing around with designs for the Riley Blake challenge, but we had a little visitor.

A much nicer way to spend my time.  (12 weeks old already!)




Joyful stitching,
jane

2014 Finish Along Q1

I accomplished quite a bit last year in the 2013 Finish Along so I decided to do it again.  This year it is hosted by Katy at The Littlest Thistle. 

The following represent my hopes and dreams...

First on the list is the Hexie Garden.  One block is done and the rest is all cut out and ready to sew.  This may actually get done since it will probably be coming on my guild's retreat in March.

Next is the Honey Cowl.  I made two of these last year so I'm pretty confident this will be finished before the end of the quarter. (Awful picture.  The yarn is actually blue.)

The next contestant is the result of my poor performance with last year's Lucky Stars BOM.  I am a wicked slow paper piecer.  I'm not holding out much hope but since I'm supposed to be more positive in 2014, here she is.
And bringing up the rear,

it's the Local quilt by Carolyn Friedlander.  This is also a paper pieced project, but the blocks don't appear to be very difficult.  Love the fabric for this.

Joyful stitching,
jane