What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

No fabric in this week, and more fabric out from the declutter. I still have fabric to sort through.

The heart block went into time out. I tried Plan A for the motif under the hearts and didn’t like it. Ripped it out and went to Plan B, and didn’t like that either. Came up with a different approach and didn’t have the patience to deal with it. I wrote some notes and put them with the project. I’ll revisit it another time.

The afghan got the most attention this week because it requires no thought ...

First, thanks to everyone who links up and comments. I’m a bit behind on replying, but I’ll catch up.

I’ve been working on a little of everything. All my projects are large and progress isn’t that noticeable. I decided not to make a heart block each month right now. I will finish the February block, or not, and set that project aside again.

I don’t have a sewing project going right now. I thought something would call to me during the declutter, but I’ve been through all the books, patterns, magazines and kits. Only ...

In spite of what shows up in the Stash Report, I do have other projects.

Work has turned into something I try not to think about when I’m not there. I’m tired when I come home, and blog posts haven’t happened. That won’t change anytime soon. Posting will just take a little more planning and effort.

When my sister passed in 2023, one of the items in her crochet bag my nephew sent me was an afghan kit. It’s a C2C pattern, which means you start in the corner and crochet outward in a triangle ...

Ah, Shelly is such a task-master.

Task Two: Clean up the floor in your studio.

Calling it a “studio” is optimistic. I share the space with the laundry room and, used to be, the spare bedroom. But, if “I can leave my machine set up and ready to go” makes it a studio, then I have one.

The floors got a bit of a cleaning while I worked on task one, so I decided to go farther afield: curtains! I don’t know that I have ever washed them. I pulled everything out from under the cutting table and cleaned ...

Each year (for 16 years) Shelly of Prairie Moon Quilts has helped us all get off to a good start with the Final Countdown, a series of tasks designed to help organize and inspire.

Task ONE is: Clean up the area around your sewing machine.

I am a mostly tidy person, but there are always things…like LINT! A good wipe down dusting is a great place to start.

I cleaned and oiled my machine. Changed the needle. These new tools (Nook and Cranny Cleaning Tools by Gypsy Quilter) I got for Christmas were a great help.

An area I ...

No fabric in this week.

I found another box of scraps in the sewing room, hiding in plain sight. Another yard+ out from going through that. I also started pulling some fabric to donate, pieces I didn’t end up using for specific projects.

Another piece from the fabric sale is going into the donate bag too. I originally thought it would make a cool back, but it was a lot smaller cut than I thought.

I still have a small pile from the fabric sale that may or may not turn into a table runner. Some of the colors ...

No fabric in this week, but another yard out from the declutter. I’ve sorted all the fabric I plan to sort. I have a few other things to tidy up, and then I move to a different room. I have to actually use fabric now to improve my numbers.

Yesterday I took a break from the usual and framed Gather and Give Thanks.

The frame must be hardwood because I destroyed glazing points trying to insert them. I opted to do without and used masking tape to keep the backing in place. It won’t last forever or win ...

It’s been a crazy busy week. I didn’t get much sewing time, but I did get another 1/2 yard out from the never ending sewing room declutter. I may be decluttering that room for the rest of my life because there is So. Much. Stuff.

My Guild had their annual fabric sale yesterday. I didn’t enter the sale area until a lot of people were finished shopping. I didn’t really want to buy fabric, but I did want to support the Guild. First I looked at panels, but there weren’t many left. Then I ...

No fabric in, another half yard out through the declutter. I hope to wrap up the declutter this month.

The only finish this week was the stitching on Gardener’s Angel of Spring.

I love the result, but I didn’t enjoy stitching this as much as I thought I would. Backstitch doesn’t bother me, although I know some people hate it. I can’t seem to put my finger on what I didn’t care for.

This was my first venture into the world of variegated overdyed floss. The pattern called for Weeks Dye Works, and that’s ...

No fabric in, but more out as part of the sewing room declutter.

My art quilt group met this week and decided to stop passing the challenge quilts through summer. With time to work on whatever I want, I pulled out Gather and Give Thanks to decide how to finish it.

When I stitched it, I saw it finishing as a pillow. Just for fun I auditioned it with a couple frames and found one I really liked. I’ll save the pillow idea for another project.

I also resumed quilting Remember Me, but that will take a while to ...

No fabric in this week.

I finished the April Challenge quilt, named Freeze Frame, for .75 yards out and more went out from the declutter progress.

The next task on the quilt list is labelling a quilt I entered in a show. I believe a label is required, although I did write the quilt info on the back in permanent marker.

Once that’s done, it’s back to quilting Remember Me.

Fabric In: .33 yards

Fabric out: 13.125 yards

Net Fabric Used: 12.795 yards

How did you do this week?

No fabric in this week and a half yard out from the declutter challenge. I’m still working through my scrap containers. I finished green and yellow/brown/orange and started on red/pink.

I’m also working on quilting the challenge piece. I haven’t come up with a name yet, but I will finish the quilting soon.

Once I finish this quilt, it’s back to quilting Remember Me.

Fabric In: .33 yards

Fabric out: 11.875 yards

Net Fabric Used: 11.545 yards

How did you do this week?

No fabric in this week. Another half yard out as part of the declutter challenge.

I’m on the last declutter category, scraps. I have some other categories I tacked on the end to cover things unique to my sewing room. I’ll work on those after scraps.

Both my quilting and embroidery projects are moving forward, but nothing looks significantly different from Friday’s post.

Fabric In: .33 yards

Fabric out: 11.375 yards

Net Fabric Used: 11.045 yards

How did you do this week?

No fabric in this week.

Some fabric out as part of the ongoing sewing room declutter. I haven’t finished going through my fabric, and I still have to go through my scraps. I expect more will go before I’m done.

I’m working on the next challenge quilt. I wanted a background of either aqua or aqua green, but had neither in my stash. Hard to believe any color is missing, but there it is. Instead of shopping to find something, I decided to paint white fabric.

I layered turquoise paint over green airbrush ink because I didn ...

No fabric in this week.

I used a little fabric making padded liners for glass jewelry boxes for a co-worker. She inherited some small china pieces from a friend and wanted to display them. I forgot to take pictures.

I worked on every project I have going this week, at least a little. I started tracing the Spring Angel, with a goal of prepping it before I finish the candle mat. I love Crab-apple Hill Designs, but the tracing takes some time. It’s been overcast and rainy here, which didn’t help.

The sewing room declutter continues. I’m ...

I had a productive week in the sewing room.

I finished Trinidad for almost three yards out.

I learned a lot making this quilt. I’ve never done a landscape quilt from a photo before. If I do it again I will do things differently and save myself some time and grief. Thanks to Laura for giving me permission to use her picture.

In the sewing room declutter, I sorted through all my UFO and orphan projects. I found a lot of fabric in the UFO bins that didn’t go with the projects. I re-stashed some and other pieces ...

No change in the numbers.

The same projects are still in process. I sewed down everything on Trinidad I plan to sew. Next I need to clean up the top before I baste it.

The sewing room declutter continues. I believe I’ve found all the patterns and hope to finish sorting them this week. My recycling bin overfloweth. I expect the next few categories to take less time, but I thought that about patterns.

Fabric In: 0 yards

Fabric out: 1 yard

Net Fabric Used: 1 yard

How did you do this week?

No change in the numbers.

Work continues on Trinidad, sewing down all the tree bits. I won’t post another picture until I start quilting. The stitching doesn’t show, and the top looks the same.

Work also continues on the sewing room declutter. I found more magazines and sorted through those. Now I’m working on patterns. I thought I’d get through them quickly because I rarely buy them. But I am gifted patterns, have printed patterns and picked several up from the free table at Guild. Like the magazines, they were everywhere.

This is the current working ...

No fabric in this week.

I made a pillowcase for a yard out. It will go to a local charity.

The sewing room declutter continues. I went through all my shelved magazines, although I’m certain I have some tucked away in other places. I didn’t keep an accurate count, but I think I got rid of more than 50. Scary, given how many I have left. I’m moving on but can see eliminating more next year.

Fabric In: 0 yards

Fabric out: 1 yard

Net Fabric Used: 1 yard

How did you do this week?

This week has been a lot of creative odds and ends.

I signed up for a year of Craftsy for $0.75. No, that’s not a typo. I’ve had memberships before, maybe three or more years ago. The promotion came through a YouTube ad but doesn’t come up on the website. I don’t know when the offer expires.

I also finished one of those quick stash using projects.

I started the 21-day Sewing Room Declutter Challenge run by Karen Brown at Just Get It Done Quilts. Since I only have weekends to work on it, it ...