Orphan Explosion

Last weekend had themes.
Books was the first theme, and then we moved on to orphan projects.
The orphan projects just happened. I think the Universe was having a little fun with me.
It started with a guild friend that may not join again next year. She had some charity quilts at her house and wanted to make sure they got back to the guild. I told her I’d take them and make sure they got quilted. The bag also contained a ziploc of blocks and block pieces. Unexpected, but not a problem.
At the end of the meeting, I saw the fabric table still had a lot of stuff on it. My guild encourages members to “adopt a box” and store it until the next meeting. This saves the guild from renting more storage space.
I usually end up with a box of fabric. Most items weren’t boxed yet, so I grabbed an empty box and started throwing things in it. Another member came over to give me a hand. We filled the box and I took it with me. I didn’t much pay attention to what went in the box.
Once I get the box home, I empty it and resort the contents, folding the fabric neatly and grouping it by color. This box had almost no fabric and tons of project leftovers and orphan projects.
Uh oh.
I ended up sorting through it twice, once to see what I had and again to decide what should live with the other charity orphans in my sewing room. New friends are good, right?
The decisions aren’t final, but here’s what I pulled.

Pinwheels, because they are cute and I’ve never seen them done this way. Do they come out right?

This project because I felt sorry for it. It has been on the charity table for a long time. Given the complexity of the block and the horrid fabric, it scared everyone away.

And this project because it looked simple. Red squares are conspicuously absent from the bag though. I’m not sure what it will look like when laid out.
I’m not making fun of anyone here. I’ve had plenty of what-was-I-thinking-moments in quilting, and I’ve shared them over the years.
I get a kick out of these orphan projects because they are such a challenge. I may even have to add them as a category on The Short List.

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Sunday Stash 9/17/17

No fabric in or out this week. I’ll have usage coming up over the next few week on multiple projects. I’m looking forward to that.
My guild had its annual book sale yesterday. I only bought one book, and I bought it because I’m looking for good tips on matching points and sewing complicated blocks. Sometimes my points are good, sometimes not. Whether I care or not depends on the end use of the quilt. I like the idea of knowing I can make it nice when I want to.

Fabric In: 34.125 yards
Fabric out: 20.575 yards
Net Fabric Added: 13.55 yards
How did you do this week?

1. Melissa G
2. Julie in Ga
3. Chrisknitssews
4. Patricia
5. Meloney
6. Quilting Gail

Bunnies And Books

Life is still crazy, but I managed to lay out the blocks for the bunny quilt. The pieces are wonky and the lighting is bad (night time), but it works.

Maybe I’ll even get to start sewing it this weekend.

My smile of the day came when I stopped after work to return books to the library. I knew they had a book sale scheduled for tomorrow, which I will miss because of guild. What I didn’t know is that they decided to make the sale two days starting today. I wasn’t the only one that missed the memo. The sale wasn’t crowded at all and a joy to shop.

Tomorrow is my guild’s book sale. Books seem to be the theme this weekend.

Biding Time

Life is getting in the way of everything this week. I’ve only been in the sewing room to iron my work clothes. After a few more days of this nonsense, life should even out a bit and I will have more time to sew.
Meanwhile, I’ve done a little embroidery, but not enough to post a new picture. I’ve also been reading this book.

I’m fascinated by the way she thinks about design. I never gave much thought to how many pieces are in her quilts, but there are a lot. She truly doesn’t mind all those fussy little pieces either. That was a revelation.
When I don’t have the time or the energy to quilt, reading about it is the next best thing.

Sunday Stash Sept. 10, 2017

No fabric in or out this week.
I finished cutting all the pieces for the bunny quilt yesterday. I wish all that fabric was mine, but a lot of it came from the charity quilt table and my small group’s charity stash. It’s good to use that fabric up because it uses storage space in the sewing room. It just doesn’t help my numbers any.

At least the backs for these charity quilts use a fair amount of fabric.
Thoughts and prayers out to everyone in the path of hurricane Irma. Many people in Northwest Ohio have family and friends in Florida, myself included.
Fabric In: 34.125 yards
Fabric out: 20.575 yards
Net Fabric Added: 13.55 yards
How did you do this week?

1. Kate
2. Meloney
3. Julie in GA
4. Melanie
5. Susan in TN
 

Bunny Blocks

I cut a bunch of blocks from the bunny fabric last night. I can already tell there will be challenges with cropping off bunny body parts when I sew the seams.

I just don’t have it in me to cut anything tonight. I’ll hit it again tomorrow and hopefully come up with a plan to turn the rectangles into a quilt.

Sticking With What’s Out There

September is one of those really busy months. I happens that way most years. Once this month is over, things quiet down for the rest of the year except for a few spots here and there. I find myself thinking of the holiday season, brought on by the unseasonably cool weather. It feels later in the year than it is.
My small group meeting this weekend snuck up on me. I realized I didn’t have a project kitted up to sew . I started pulling and pressing fabrics last night in the hopes I can get enough pieces cut to make a go of it Saturday. It was tempting to dig through project boxes, but I decided last month I wouldn’t pull out any other projects until I finished some of the ones sitting out. That’s good news for the bunny fabric.

I’ve also been embroidering a lot. Here’s the pillowcase as of last Saturday.

Here it is today.

At this rate I might finish it sooner than I think. Or not.