One Monthly Goal for July

It has been tough to decide what goal to set for myself for July.  There are so many options.  That's because I have so many UFOs.
Or, I could start a completely new project.  I really LOVE starting a completely new project.

Somehow, I came to my senses.  I didn't "wake up and smell the coffee" like Dear Abby or Ann Landers or somebody used to say back in the day (I don't drink coffee), but it was kind of like that.  Maybe something in what's left of my brain decided I need to Get Real.

Here's the project that leaped to the front of the line.

I need to finish this rail fence quilt top, which I started back before Christmas.  The rectangles were cut by the charity committee at my guild, and I've been doing the piecing.  I got as far as making all the blocks, and was putting them into rows.  Most of the rows are together, but it took me a long time to put the rows back in order for this photo.

I've been using these pins to keep track of the rows.  You probably can't see from this photo, but the pins have alphabet letters on them. 
The problem is, I've been shunting these rows aside while cutting and sewing and pressing other things, and the pins were falling out.
I think I've got everything back in order, but the only way to keep it that way is to just sew it together.

So this is my goal:  Finish this quilt top by the end of July.  That means sewing the rest of the blocks into rows, the rows together, and adding a border if I think it needs one.

This didn't seem like much of a goal to me at first.  Then I started thinking about all the stuff I have to do in July.  My oldest grandson is in at least two plays, which means transportation to and from rehearsals.  We're taking a vacation for a whole week.  And then there's the regular errands and chores, and taking time out to go to the park with Little Buddy.  Plus, it's already July 7th!  A modest goal is probably the way to go.

The OMG is such a great motivator.  So far, I've met all six goals I've set this year, which is just amazing for me.
Maybe this will make seven!

Good luck to all of us, and smooth stitching.
Cheers,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with Elm Street Quilts
for the July OMG

OMG, I'm coming in under the wire

It's the very last evening of the very last day of June.  It's hard to believe (especially for me!), but I actually DID make my One Monthly Goal for June.

This is the actual goal, and I quote:
So here's my one monthly goal for June.  I'm going to make a twin-sized dinosaur quilt for Little Buddy, my youngest grandson.  The quilt will be designed, cut, and pieced before the end of June.

And here's the quilt!

The colors are a little off here.  I had to take the photos inside because of a thunder storm.  What looks black is actually dark blue, and the colors are bright prints, not pastels.

This is not actually a quilt top, per se.  I quilted the center panel and the first two borders as though it was a baby quilt.  Then I added the borders (for the top) and wide strips for the backing.  Once that was done, I laid the batting strips in and spray basted them.
So it's actually a partially finished quilt.  Only the last 3 rows remain to be quilted.

All four corners have one of these squares from the panel.  This one is Little Buddy's favorite.  It's a very stylized T. Rex.

I've got my work cut out for me this week, to finish the quilting, bind the quilt, and make a label.
But--my OMG for June is complete.
If it wasn't for the last minute, I'd never get anything done.

Cheers for reading, and thanks to Patty for the OMG.
Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal--June Finish Link Up

June OMG--Dinosaurs, Of Course

Around here, we love dinosaurs.   (Can you tell?)

My Little Buddy, who comes to me every day for childcare, is an absolute fanatic.  Whatever we are doing seems better to him if dinosaurs are involved.  

This week we played with play dough a lot.  And what did he want to play?  He wanted me to make dinosaurs.  Which is not easy, at least for me.  The misshapen things kept falling over.  And then we got his toy dinos and made footprints in the play dough.  And tail prints.  And then he pretended the dinosaurs got stuck in the clay, and his toy wrecker had to pull them out.

Little Buddy is 3 years old now, and is outgrowing the Pack N Play for taking naps.  Soon he'll move to the twin bed.  Right now I've got some of my 1930s style quilts on that bed, but I don't think that will do for him.  He needs a dinosaur quilt.

 

So here's my one monthly goal for June.  I'm going to make a twin-sized dinosaur quilt for Little Buddy, my youngest grandson.  The quilt will be designed, cut, and pieced before the end of June.

So far, all I've done is choose/buy some fabric.

I'm starting with this panel.  The large center rectangle will be center of the quilt if all goes well.

These side squares will be in the quilt somewhere.  I have to include this one--T. Rex is his favorite.

This is the stack of dino fabric I have to start with.  I also plan to include other colorful fabrics that are not necessarily prehistoric.

I think the process will be fun, if I can make the math turn out right.

Sometimes, I wonder why Little Buddy likes these scary creatures so much.

But really, I'm just glad he's not into Barney.

Good luck this month, everyone!
Cheers,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with Patty at Elm Street Quilts for the June One Monthly Goal

Fly Away Home

OMG, the top is done!  My twin-sized Fly Away Home blocks are all sewn together.  This was my goal for May.  The blocks were made as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge in 2018.

Here it is, laid out on the floor.  I just couldn't seem to keep the cat and dog away from it this morning.

Both of them had to get into the act!
By the way, the pattern is by Kate Henderson, and is from her book Strip Savvy.  I made more blocks so it would fit on a twin bed, or just be a good cover for a child. 

The original quilt in Kate's book doesn't have a border, just a binding, and that's what I'm going to do as well.  I'll want a color that will stand out and define the quilt edge.  Maybe dark blue or red or purple.
I also need to figure out how I'm going to quilt it.

In other news, we went to a big flea market last Sunday.  This one marks the beginning of flea market season around here, and although rain was predicted, we decided to go for it.  Our luck was in, and it didn't rain at all.

I bought this bundle of fabric for $5.  Want to see what's inside?

Everything!  Bright stuff, old stuff, vintage stuff, even cut up old clothes.  Some will go to Goodwill, some to a friend, but most to my bins.

The same vendor had this bundle for $8.  With Kaffe Fassett fabric right on top!  So of course I bought it too.

There were some big pieces of good cottons here, plus vintage scraps, flannel, etc. 
Both of these bundles had fabrics dating from the 1880s to today.
How could I pass them up?

I didn't buy any quilts, but I did take this picture of an old quilt, now relegated to use as packing material.  Can you see all the tiny triangles?  An amazing amount of work.

I bought our first fresh asparagus of the year from one of the vendors.  I got enough for eight meals for the two of us.  Seven are blanched and in the freezer, and one was a lovely treat for dinner.

In other news, the garden is coming along.  Little Buddy helped me plant potatoes in the larger pots, and we got basil and tomatoes from the garden store.

It looks like a good year ahead for the raspberries, both red and black.  I can hardly wait.

Every time we go outside, Little Buddy wants to check on the rhubarb.  We'll probably cut it on Tuesday, when he's here next.  Rhubarb pies (and cakes) are on the way!

I've got lots of goals for this long weekend--setting up a raised garden bed, sorting through my antique quilts, cleaning out the linen closet, etc.  Actually reaching a goal, like this quilt top, gives me more energy for attacking other chores.  So thanks again, Patty at Elm Street Quilts, for the OMG!

This week, I'm wishing all Americans a Happy Memorial Day.   Remembering those who sacrificed for us is appropriate every day of the year, for everyone.

This is my great-great-great grandfather, Lewis Beck.  He fought for the Union in the Civil War.
Thank you, Grandpa Beck!
And thanks to all who served and serve.

Cheers,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with
Patty at Elm Street Quilts for the OMG
Angela at So Scrappy
Myra at Busy Hands Quilts
Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

It's April, No Fooling

Happy April, everyone!  My little buddy is helping model my April goal for the OMG.  He actually asked to have his picture taken, which is rare with him.

The quilt is called Marmalade Cake, and comes from this book:  Dessert Roll Quilts, by Pam and Nicky Lintott.  Their version is the quilt on the cover.

All but 4 of the blocks are just like this one.  Now that all the blocks are done, my goal for April is to sew them into a top.   It will be 80 in. square, but the blocks are big, so probably doable.  Right?  Well, we'll see what kind of time I have this month.  It's been a fun quilt to piece so far.

In other news, the color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is aqua.  So far, all I've done is pull some fabrics.

There is quite a wide range of colors here.  I'm not sure if all of them will end up in the zigzag rows I'm making.  It will be fun picking and choosing.

Speaking of fun, I spent a weekend recently with these characters, more of my fabulous grandchildren.  We went to the Natural History Museum in Chicago on the Saturday, and I stayed with them for two nights while their parents were away.

Look, my granddaughter painted my fingernails!  Pretty good for a second grader.  The purple was fantastic.  I haven't had painted nails in at least 20 years.

Even more fun!  On my little trip away from home, I stopped at Serenity Quilt Shop in Kenosha, Wisconsin.  It was a little hard to find--not visible from the street, back in an office complex, but worth the search.  Above is the loot I got there.

The shop had lots of these Moda Scrap Bags.  Have you seen these?  I haven't noticed them in other quilt shops near me, so I took a chance and bought one.

Here's what was inside--a roll of gorgeous colorful strips, all of them over 2.5 in. wide.  I could not roll them up tight enough to get them back in the little bag! 

I laid them out on the floor at my daughter's house.  They are not full strips (scraps, remember).  I absolutely love the colors and patterns.

I can definitely use more light scraps too.

I also got a dinosaur panel...

and a yard of dino fabric to go with it.  Check out these pins--they have alphabet letters!  I'm planning to use them to mark the rows when sewing tops together (like the Marmalade Cake top for my April OMG.)  I'm not sure if I'll ever need 26 rows of blocks, but you never know.  And they're just so darn cute.

While I did the wash on Monday, my little buddy was busy with his buttons.  I've pulled out a few unusual ones from my button jars, and he loves lining them up and naming the colors.  He's never been one to put things in his mouth, but you can bet I keep a sharp eye on him just in case.
We have several sets of "real" things around for him to play with--rocks, and shells, and a bag of yarn and fabric scraps.  He also collects pine cones and sticks outside.

Today we were able to be out on the porch without our coats!  I'm beginning to believe in Spring.

I'm wishing sunshine and quilting time for you this week.
Cheers for reading,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with
Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict (Can I Get A Whoop Whoop)
Patty at One Monthly Goal April Goal Setting (Elm Street Quilts)
Myra at Busy Hands Quilts
Angela at So Scrappy (Home of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge)
Cynthia at Oh Scrap

March Forth!

My March OMG (One Monthly Goal) dates back to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge of 2017.  Every month, I made these little houses from all sorts of bright novelty fabrics.

I LOVED doing this!  Just sorting through the scraps was so much fun!  Every house is different.  While I was having all this fun piecing, I barely thought about what I was going to do with the blocks when they were finished.  I didn't even really keep track of how many I had made.

Today, I sorted them by color and laid them out on the floor, and finally counted.  I have 77 blocks!  OMG indeed.
They are only 6 in. finished, but that's still a lot of blocks.
I love them too much to just keep them in a bin.
So, here's my goal.

Before the end of March, I will have a definite plan for ALL of these blocks.  They may make 2 quilts, I don't know.  But they are NOT going back in the bin.
 I may be quilting them by the block instead of as a finished top, and that might not be done by March 31.  But, every single one of these blocks will have an assigned home by the end of March, including a plan for the quilting.
We used to have a sign in the library where I worked, right where the usually procrastinating junior high kids could see it.  It said:
If you are failing to plan, you are planning to fail.

I should put one up for me.  It would say:

Dithering is Hereby Banished!  March Forth and Quilt!

Click on the link below to see what everyone is planning to do this month.

Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal March Link-up.

OMG I made it!

Woot!  My fingers may be sore, but my redwork quilt is QUILTED!!!  This was my OMG, one monthly goal, for February.

I've been working like crazy on the hand quilting this week.  Yesterday, with the quilting done, I was finally taking out the basting stitches.

Biddy the cat was helping me, as usual.  He's mostly moral support.

I still have a few thread ends to trim.

The back is off-white solid fabric from my vintage bin.

All that's left is the binding, which I'll do this weekend.  Thank goodness I didn't make that part of the goal!  I managed to find enough of the original red fabric to bind with, which is almost a miracle.  This project has been hanging fire for more than 3 years!
If it wasn't for the OMG, I wouldn't have gotten this done.  Many, many thanks to Patty at Elm Street Quilts, where I'm linking up today.
Happy dancing all day long today!

OMG--Buckeye Beauty Finish

Hello from the deep freeze!  It was -7 degrees Fahrenheit this morning, which is the first time we've been this cold this winter.  Since it's our last red day for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, I'm posting this cheerful picture of my geranium blooming on the window sill just before Christmas.  The blooms are gone now, but the cheerfulness remains.

Here's more cheer--a finished Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilt!  This is my Buckeye Beauty.  In 2017, I pieced the blocks for this quilt, one color at a time, as a Rainbow Scrap quilt.  It was so much fun, scrounging around in my scraps for feedsacks or 1930s reproductions in the right colors.  The block was really easy to make, too, which doesn't hurt.

In January of 2018, I completed the top.  I arranged the blocks like this to get a secondary design, and added a feedsack border.  Luckily, I had two feedsacks in the same print.


Once I finished the top, I set it aside to work on other things.  It waited for a whole year, stuck in the closet with all the other "ladies in waiting".
This year, I'm leaving dithering behind.  I'm making decisions, setting goals, and finishing quilts.  At least, that's the idea.

So I got started quilting, and finished the center.  When it was time to quilt the border, dithering started to happen again.  How should I quilt it?  Fancy quilting would be lost in the print.  But I needed fairly dense quilting to match the rest of the quilt and fit the vintage look.

That's when the OMG helped.  OMG=One Monthly Goal.  It's a program run by Patty of Elm Street Quilts.  I made it my goal for January to decide on a design, quilt the border, and bind the quilt.  It worked!  I quilted double diagonal lines, evenly spaced to match the divisions in the quilt blocks.

And I was right, you really can't see the quilting in the border unless you get up close, but that's okay, I know it's there.
Want to see the back?

This is the back of the Buckeye Beauty quilt.  It is (mostly) 6 feedsacks sewn together.  I bought it in an antique shop years ago, as a duvet cover.  I had to mend it and add a strip or two of another feedsack to make it big enough.

One of my favorite prints is this one--blue raspberries!  I don't think such a thing occurs in nature, but it's fun to have it on the backing.

So that's one OMG done.  And that's about how my New Year's resolutions usually go.  I might do well in January, but it's more of a challenge to keep going after that.  I can't even tell you how many journals/diaries I have that only have entries for the first 4 weeks of the year.  (It's very sad.)  I have to hope this time it will be different, if only for the sake of all the UFOs stuck in the closet.

In other news, new potholders!  Most of my potholders are not fit to be seen--holes, stains, etc.  Plus I forget to throw them in the laundry half the time, so who knows what awful spills are on them.  These orphan blocks are really outclassing the rest of the potholders in the drawer.  I took a picture so I'll know what they looked like before they got to work in my messy kitchen.

I have some time off from babysitting this week.  Little Buddy and his family are at a wedding, so I'll have extra time to sew (oh, and maybe clean a little?).  He posed for me earlier this week with a panel I got for free from a nice quilter at quilt group.  We have a panel challenge for next month, and I'm thinking about using this one.
I don't know though, I'm feeling kind of dither-y about it.
Stay warm, and keep quilting!
Cheers,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:
Patty at Elm Street Quilts for January's OMG
Sarah at Can I Get A Whoop Whoop 
Angela at Soscrappy
Cynthia at Oh Scrap
Myra at Busy Hands Quilts