First up is my Build A Quilt block. After making it, I kinda wished I had used the marigold on these smaller squares, but it will stay as is.
Next up is my Monthly Color Challenge block. March’s color is Red Orange for Yams. This fabric combo brings to mind candied yams.
These first two X Plus blocks are 10.5″. It’s an okay size but I wanted to make a block that uses a lot of 3.5″ squares.
I don’t like quilty math but I actually did it and came up with these 15.5″ blocks. I plan to make my daughter a queen size quilt out of these scrappy blocks and if I use this size, I’ll only need 36 of them! I’m not super thrilled w/either of these blocks but I think when I mix them up w/some really gorgeous ones, I won’t dislike them so much. I felt the same way about some of my Scrappy Trips blocks but when they were all put together, it was total WOW factor!
And last but not least, the 9.5″ Criss Cross Stars blocks. This is a Lori Holt pattern/tutorial. This block is a my 2nd favorite to make after Scrappy Trips.
So that’s all the quilty sew & tell I have for you today. Until next time, God bless and Happy Stitchin’!
A Thread for Life
As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation. 2Cor.6:1-2NIV
Last year, in an effort to be more productive, minimize the number of WIPs I had going, or end up w/a bunch of UFOs, I created a Quilty Project Lineup. I vowed to work on one project at a time from start to finish. And for the most part I did just that. I had a mental deadline to complete the lineup and I accomplished it! As I was considering drafting another lineup I started pondering a different idea altogether. Something w/o deadlines but that would take the stress out of which project to start next and keep the momentum going.
Before I tell you about it, I have a question for you. How do you decide what your next quilty project is going to be? Especially when you want to make ALL the quilts?!?! Like I said, I’ve been thinking on this since June and I’m excited to finally share my idea w/you. My Quilty Bucket system! It’s along the same lines as a Date Night Jar or Family Fun Activity Jar, but for quilty projects. And of course there are some rules to go with it. But the rules are designed to foster productivity and keep the projects “fresh”.
The basic idea is to fill a bucket (or jar) with quilty projects you want to make and whatever project you pull, you work on until completion, without starting any other projects. My Quilty Bucket system will require quite a bit of discipline AND self-control.
Obviously, it would be ridiculous to put all 23,202 quilts I want to make in my bucket. (I just made that number up but if you are anything like me, which I think most of y’all are, that number is a pretty good representation for all the quilts we want to make, am I right? LOL.) Anyway, the first step is deciding how many projects to put in the bucket. Remember, there are no deadlines in my system, but if one starts with a ton of projects it may take forever to get to a quilt you REALLY want to make (or that one you’ve been wanting to make for 8 years now), which means you might start cheating the system and then what was the point of even trying to have a system in the first place? And what if you see the most awesome quilt on Instagram and want to make it? Do you add it to your bucket and hope to pull it next?
These questions helped me come up with a “perk” for My Quilty Bucket system. And the perk is…Wildcards! A predetermined number of Wildcards go into the bucket and whenever one is pulled, I can make anything that isn’t already in the bucket (like my latest quilt obsession on IG), OR pull from the bucket again! (If I pull another Wildcard, it should go back in the bucket and I will continue to pull until I get a project.)
So, how many projects and wildcards are going into My Quilty Bucket? This first round I’m putting in 20 projects and 4 wildcards. Most of my projects are quilts but I also have totes, zippered pouches, and paper-pieced blocks to make into a table topper or wall hanging. Some are UFOs, WIPs, and cut-offs from previous projects; also patterns from books and downloads. I already have fabric in mind for a lot of my projects but a few of them I’ll be starting w/a blank slate.
My Quilty Bucket – Round 1
Bad Girl-pattern Big X-IG Black and Beyond-book Bricks & Squares-ufo Chevron Quilt Endless Mountains-book Ray-fpp Hot Cross Buns-pattern HRTs-ufo Kokeshi Blocks(3-4)-fpp The Ties that Bind-book Moonlight & Roses-book Scrap Happy-book Scrappy Snowball Trick or Treat totes (4) Urban Bow Tie Wander Thru Woods-pattern Wonky Rail Fence-book QAYG Zippered Pouches (6) Patchwork Pouf – home-dec fabric
Stay tuned for progress posts here on the blog and IG. I do plan on continuing the BOMs I’ve already committed to this year, (you can read about those here), and I’m reserving the month of July for Christmas projects, but other than that I plan to stick to My Quilty Bucket system.
If you already have a system of your own, or decide to use My Quilty Bucket system, I’d love to hear about it!
Until next time, happy stitchin’ and God bless!
A Thread for Life
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. – Isaiah 40:28 NIV
Dare I call myself a blogger if I let two months pass between posts? And I was doing so good for awhile.
Anyway, hi! How have you been? Me, I have been busy w/work and life.
I’ve also been doing some sewing and quite a bit of quilting. I did really well the first part of the year, working on one project at a time for the most part. BUT, I haven’t really followed that rule as of late. And honestly I can’t tell if I’m more or less productive so I’ll let you be the judge of that.
Here are my makes since I last posted.
I was inspired by my favorite apron to make these, so I copied it a little and winged it a lot. The loops at teh waist are for hand towels.
A scrappy trips table topper. This is an awesome pic if I say so myself.
This little ghostie wall hanging was a kit I had for at least 4 years. It was so simple I felt silly for not making it sooner.
I made these 2 pumpkin wall hangings/table toppers. I realize they resemble apples but they are orange and one is made w/pumpkin fabric, so there! 😉 I combined a couple of patterns to make these. I got the measurement of the pumpkin and the stem from Patchwork Pumpkin Block by Farm Girl Vintage and the rest from Pumpkin Wall Hanging on Quilters Cache.
I finally finished the Build A Quilt quilt. I say finally because as I was quilting it, Esperanza locked up on me. Thankfully, w/my son’s help, we were able to get her off and back on the frame w/o taking the quilt completely off. Missouri Sewing Machine Company had her all fixed up in less than a week’s time.
My latest finish is this wee quilt, 30″ x 36″, made from cutoffs of my niece’s quilt. It reminds me of Origami Cranes.
I swore I wouldn’t make another mask…until I saw Svetlana’s video tutorial for 3d masks. This is the simplest mask I’ve made and the only style I’ll make from now on.
And these are my works in progress.
A patchwork runner for my dresser, designed by me. I stitched in the ditch and now I’m adding hand quilting. It’s the hand quilting that is keeping this in the WIP status. I’m making quicker progress than I thought I would though.
The next wip is from this book. I have several quilts in this book marked to make.
This one is called Fall Frolic and is primarily made w/Thimbleberries fabrics. It is also currently on the quilt frame.
And on deck, waiting to be quilted is Winter Quilt.
It is a free-form block project from this book. I adore this book and I have even more quilts marked to make in it!
Besides quilting, I did a couple of home improvements, but my absolute fave is the fireplace makeover. What do you think?
Another thing I’ve been doing a lot of lately is cooking! I started a low carb/keto lifestyle in mid August. I have since lost approximately 15 lbs. I’ve done more baking in the last few months than I have in my entire life. Most of the recipes I’ve made are from Wholesome Yum which I found on Pinterest. I had a completely keto Thanksgiving which consisted of roasted Cornish Hens, spinach balls, cauliflower mac & cheese, keto fathead dinner rolls, and sugarfree pumpkin cheesecake. But a couple of my fave go-to recipes are fathead pizza crust and chaffles.
And now I’m ready for Christmas!
And here’s a close up of my Starburst Tree Skirt.
If you made it all the way down here, good on you! Thanks for stopping by! Until next time, (hopefully it won’t be 2 mos from now), God bless you, Happy Stitchin’, and Happy Holidays!
A Thread for Life
Think on These Things Amos R. Wells
No Way to Christ
Once, during a revival, a minister was hailed by a young man who asked, “Can you tell me the way to Christ?” The minister’s reply was astonishing; “No, I cannot tell you the way to Christ.” “But I thought you were a minister,” the young man stammered; “I beg your pardon.” “I am a minister,” was the answer. “Well then,” the young man urged, “I don’t see why you cannot tell the way to Christ.” “Because,” the minister said earnestly, “there is no way to Christ. Christ Himself is the Way. Christ is here. All you have to do is to believe Him, and you have Him.”
There is a great truth in this story. Too often we go blundering around in our search for Christ, trying numerous paths, all of which prove to be blind alleys. We try the path of philosophy. We try the path of human counsellors. We try the path of good deeds. We try the path of our own will power. And none of these lead to Christ. Now why not cease from all these vain trials and try Christ Himself? Why not go to Him, and not to any substitute for Him? Why not simply say, “I am here, my Savior, and You are here. I yield myself to You. Lord, what will You have me to do?” No one ever came to Jesus in that spirit and failed to find Him.
Pray- Our blessed Redeemer, we know that You are seeking us more earnestly than any of us can be seeking You. Come to us, Lord Jesus, and make us Your own, today, tomorrow, the next day, and forever. Amen.
A Quilted Passion 