Net Used Going Up!

 

After several weeks of adding fabric, I completed a top this week.  I'm glad to see my net used going up.  I am a little surprised, though, to see that I've added about as much fabric this year as I've used.  I'm glad I started keeping track of my fabric this way, or I'd never know why I haven't made a dent in my stash.  Here's  of my completed top in case anyone missed my last post.

 

 

 

Used this week: 5 yards

Used Year to Date: 69.75 yards

Added this week: 0  yards

Added year to date: 34.25 yards

Net Used: 35.5 yards

 

To see more stash reports:

 

http://www.patchworktimes.com/2012/09/30/stash-report-week-39-2012/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PatchworkTimes+%28Patchwork+Times+by+Judy+Laquidara%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

One Block Wonder Top Complete

I finished my one block wonder quilt last night! It is getting mixed reviews from my family, but I really like it. I had a hard time getting a good picture of the whole quilt because I have no place to hang it up.  This is what it looks like on my bedroom floor.  I took some close ups, so you can see the swirls. 

 

 

Learning how to make a one block wonder quilt was one of my goals for this year.  If you have been thinking about trying this technique, I encourage you to go for it.  It isn't as hard as it looks, and there are no y-seams since it is constructed in rows, not rounds. After it is quilted, I'm planning to bind it in the dark purple (kona hibiscus). It is 77 x 84 inches.

 

 

Digging Daylilies

I spent about 5 hours digging up daylilies this weekend.  It has probably been about 8 years since I split them, and they really needed it.  They didn't bloom very well this year, partially because they were so crowded and partially because they need more sun.

 

I hope my neighbors can find a place for some of them in their yards.  It will kill me if I have to compost them!

 

Goldenrod

My neighbors have well-behaved goldenrod that is less than 3 ft. high.  I have out-of control goldenrod, which reseeds all over the place and grows to about 5 ft.  Someone suggested I move mine into the shade to help control it.  There are very few flowers that bloom in my yard in the fall, so I don't want to get rid of all of it. 

 

 

The sedum is starting to turn pink. Sedum is not my favorite plant because it often gets tall and floppy, but again, not much is going on in my yard in the fall, so I appreciate anything that blooms.

 

 

Last year I had hordes of volunteer marigolds.  This year only a few came up.  I planted the original seeds about 6 years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stash Confessions

Why do I feel like I'm confessing some sort of sin when I admit I bought fabric this week?  Maybe because it has been a while since I've had any increases in the 'fabric used' category. I bought 3 yellow fat quarters for cubes and 2 yards of purple for the border on my one block wonder quilt. I should have a top finished soon.

Used this week: 0 yards

Used Year to Date: 64.75 yards

Added this week: 2.75  yards

Added year to date: 34.25 yards

Net Used: 30.5  yards

 

I have made progress on this quilt, but part of it is on the sewing machine, part on the ironing board and part wrapped up in quilt batting on my son's bed.  Instead a a quilt pic this week, here's a cross stitch piece I completed a few weeks ago.  This is Drawn Thread's Welcome Spot.  My friend Jodi started it back in 2005.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One Block Wonder with Cubes

 

I worked this weekend on my One Block Wonder,  sewing the triangles into rows.  The actual blocks are hexagons, but if you sew them together in rows, you don't get any Y-seams.  I don't have a design wall, so I use a big piece of batting which I put on my bed. At night I have to roll the whole thing up.

This is a learning  piece for me.  I wasn't sure I'd like the cubes in it, but they really pop off the quilt in the picture even though the rows aren't sewn yet. My teenagers think this is a cool effect.

Here's the link to more design walls:

http://www.patchworktimes.com/2012/09/10/design-wall-monday-september-10-2012/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PatchworkTimes+%28Patchwork+Times+by+Judy+Laquidara%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Losing Focus

I've been much better this year than I usually am about getting UFOs and not starting new projects.  Each quarter, I've been setting goals and meeting them.  But I can already tell that this won't be a good quarter for me.  I have 2 quilt tops left to complete and a never-ending cross stitch project to finish before the end of September. 

Here's the selvage project that I worked on last weekend.

 

 

 

I only have 4 blocks.  If I sew them together and call it done, the quilt will be approximately 48 x48 inches.  Good size for a baby quilt, but the selvages are stiff, and I don't think it would make a good baby quilt.  A wall hanging, maybe?  But I have no wall space, and don't really like it well enough to hang it up.  So it needs to be bigger, and I don't feel like string piecing. I'm putting it away for now.

 

I added six fat quarters to my stash this week, so I can make cubes to put in my one block wonder quilt.  I'd like to do that this afternoon, but I'll be cleaning instead because we're having friends over for dinner.

 

Used this week: 0 yards

Used Year to Date: 64.75 yards

Added this week: 1.5  yards

Added year to date: 31.5 yards

Net Used: 33.25  yards

One Block Wonder Color Flow

In class this week, we worked on the color flow of our blocks.  We sorted them  into color families and tried to arrange them on the design wall so that each block somehow related to the blocks next to it.  That is hard to do when you have six- sided blocks:  each block needs to somehow relate to the six blocks next to it.  The teacher asked us to take pictures so that we could tell if there were any blocks that didn't fit into the quilt. 

Arranging  blocks is not something I do much of.  I make mostly scrap quilts and don't usually worry too much about color flow.  I know there are quilters who put blocks up on their design walls and rearrange them until they get the perfect quilt.  That's not me.  I get them sewed together, see where I could have made better choices and move on.

I don't have any wall space for a design wall, so I usually use my floor.  Thursday night, though, I decided to use my son's bed.  He is off to college, and will never know.  I put down batting first so that when I get the perfect arrangement, I can roll up the whole thing and move it into my bedroom/sewing room.

 

 

I am mostly satisfied with the layout.  I like the top green corner fading into pink/purple and down into the green corner.  I am less satisfied with the right side of the quilt, but I think that may be as good as it gets.  I've spent several hours moving blocks around.  Enough!  Time to get the cube blocks made.