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I confess to always being a bit anxious on December 31st.  For as long as I can remember in my adult years it has always meant fiscal year end deadlines and making sure all those journal entries and the final bank deposit for the year are done and posted before the GL does its thing and empties out all the net income to retained earnings.  For all those non-accounting friends, welcome to the inside of my compartmentalized brain.

I've always been a better performer if there is a deadline looming.  In fact, when I was doing my BCom degree ...

The first half of the year was all about new starts.  Two of the three 2023 projects have made it to the finished quilt top stage.  So for the last half of the year I'm prioritizing moving some quilts to the finished quilt stage.  The first big hurdle in that plan was getting Unity prepped to go out for quilting.  Unity was started in April of 2020 when Bonnie Hunter offered the Sew-In-Place quilt along to help all of us cope with the Covid pandemic. I made the last stitch to the binding on Tuesday, September 19th.  

Unity is ...

All of the spool blocks are restitched, and, I am ready to officially begin the assembly of the quilt. This is an exciting part of quilting. Making an on point quilt one row at a time, is very satisfying....until the center haha. There is seam matching every three inches.

Rectangle wrangle is finished. I brought it out of the ufo closet in May 2023. I made progress through out the year. I started assembly in July. It was a top in August. I love how it looks and feels. Shirt fabrics are very forgiving, and, so fun to use. Only a few of hubby's old shirts are in this one. The rest are recycled form thrift stores. I see more light than I was expecting while I was making this. I guess that is the magic of using shirt fabrics.

90 x 102 = 27 yards

I am just making bits and bobbles while I work on my spools quilt.

9 patch on point - top monkey wrench - bottom

lil beauty baskets - top 4 patches for strip tease - bottom

2 weeks ago, I opened the spoolin around leader/ ender ufo from 2013. I discovered that some of the blocks were not pieced right.

first, I took the halves apart, so, I could just switch the direction of the spools, but, then, I realized, that the individual spools needed work too. I took them all apart down to individual spools again. I made these 10 years ago, and, my skills were not as good as they are now. I knew I could do better, and, I did.

I ...

Hand me down is finished. This is an older UFo from 2018. I found this pattern in the first Bonnie Hunter book scraps and shirttails. I brought this out of the UFO closet in March of this year, and, it was a top in April. I love this quilt. It is more colorful than it appears on camera. It is made with recycled shirts and a blue from my stash. It was part of my 5 quilts project, but, was late making it to the longarm.

90 x 90 - 21 yards

I cut and sewed a little bit of yellow this week for the rainbow scrap challenge at so scrappy. I made 9 patches for diffusion which is done in fall colors. I might add a few brown later this year, and, then, count, and recalculate what I need.

diffusion - quilted twins

spoolin around was the second quiltville leader/ ender challenge in 2013. I was excited when I opened the ufo box, to see I had all the spool blocks (648) in blocks of 4, ready to assemble. But, oh wait, many of them were put together wrong. It matters if the blocks are all arranged the same LOL. I can't move on with this project unless, I take them all apart. I am having fun revisiting all these scraps from a few years ago. I did put together a few of the short rows with the correct blocks. I think ...

Yellow is officially my favorite color. I find it a difficult color to like in fabric. Pops of it are fun in any scrappy quilt, but, finding a consistent dependable yellow seems difficult. I will keep trying. I made hollow nine blocks and fish school blocks for the rainbow scrap challenge at so scrappy.

hollow nine

I finished one of my 5 quilts a little bit ago, but, couldn't get it on the longarm. I think it is time to dig it out again, and, finish it for August's one monthly goal.

hand me down blocks

hand me down border

oh scrap

one monthly goal

I had a chance to assemble more of my rectangle wrangle quilt. It seems magical, as I add each row, and, see how the pattern emerges. There are a lot of seams that need matching, so, it is slower than my patience, sometimes. It is a big quilt, probably queen size, and very heavy. But I love it so far.

more ohio stars for the border

I am linking to:

TGIFF

TGIFF different   

please consider ...

I am so excited. I have all the blocks done for rectangle wrangle, and, I have started to assemble the top. I think it is going to be a fun quilt to make. Other than playing with the blocks to see how they will look together, I am just sewing twosies.

My One monthly goal for July was to have all 84 blocks finished And, I have met the goal. yipee

I have also played with making the ohio star blocks for the border. I think I have made 4. They are small, and, I need 56 of them. I ...

 I have these drawers of hsts 2 1/2 inch- finish at 2 inch. Some times, I cut more than I need, or make more than I need. These drawers have been collecting for a long time. I really liked a recent Bonnie Hunter pattern called sugar grove, and, I thought that would be a great pattern to use these little treasures. I had fun digging through the hsts and making plans. 

I am finally working on the downhill blocks for rectangle wrangle. All of the uphill blocks are finished. I think the remaining strips are a little ho hum, but, I will use them. Apparently, I have pulled out all my favorites.  In such a busy quilt, they will fit just fine.

I want to finish all 42 downhill blocks for my July one monthly goal at elm street quilts.
I didn't finish my june monthly goal but, I did add three ufo finishes for june and the PHD report

I am linking:

design wall monday 

oh scrap

I started the red month of the rainbow scrap challenge, by cutting and making fish school blocks. I have over 200 for the Bonnie Hunter quilt called kismet. I really like making them. Making these, I find interesting 2 1/2 inch squares that are alone and unwanted in my 2 1/2 inch square box. poor babies. I have a place yo use them.

I have made progress on my rectangle wrangle quilt. I try to make 2 blocks every day. There are 84 blocks, so slow and steady wins the race. I tried to take it with me for a portable project, but, made too many mistakes. It has to stay home. poor baby

oh scrap

When Bonnie Hunter was doing quiltcams, she introduced this quilt, as she was working on it. I really liked it, and, started making a few blocks along with her in 2012. It languished in the ufo closet for awhile and then I managed to complete the top in 2017. Then it languished in the "to be quilted" closet until It had a turn as one of my 5 quilts project. I had an empty longarm for a moment, and, now, I have a wonky wishes finish.

It was fun to revisit it, and, all the scrappy fabrics, I used to ...

I have been working on rectangle wrangle. I try to make 2 blocks every day. I cut over 400 shirt strips in 2018. After, I sew the strip sets, and, make the tube, I can play with each block. I love shirt fabric, the feel, the colors, the plaids. And, I know the best part will be seeing a whole quilt come together. I think they are always striking. And, any combo of colors will work. I've had this quilt on my list for a long time. Slow and steady, I will work each day. The blocks are divided ...

 I'm still wrangling these blocks for my 5 quilts project. I try to make at least 2 blocks every morning. I need 42 'uphill' blocks. Each one is different, and a fun surprise. I left the tags on some of shirts. I don't know if I will like it or not.

oops I see one that is not right .. sigh

I have a working cart next to my machine that holds all the cut pieces and 'in process' pieces for making the blocks. 

I am linking:

design wall monday 

oh scrap

sew and tell

daysfilledwithjoy

monday musings

to ...