Saturday of Scrappy Sewing

RSC15  January's Blocks

I had gotten a late start working on these blocks. Part of the reason was I was away for part of the month but the main reason is I couldn't decide which pattern(s) I wanted to do. 

Yeah I know, I have a list of UFO's a mile long and what am I thinking about by even starting another quilt,

 let alone 5.

Yes I said 5. Call me crazy but I can reason it out in my mind with the fact I have tubs of scraps that are needing to be used.

And even after making all these blocks I believe the tub has gotten bigger.

Before I started

Afterwards

    See what I mean.

     I believe I have 

          created a 

           monster.

So here are my blocks

The pattern is Red Letter Day by Camille Roskelley for 

Thimble Blossom

available here for purchase

This is a free pattern here on 

wedding dress blue

This one I am using Creative Grids Curvy Log Cabin Trim Tool.

I am going to make color balls. Putting 4 blocks together. Just hadn't finished the other 3 as I write this. I'll get to it tomorrow.

This one I had seen at a guild meeting years ago.

When I have a few more made I'll show what it will look like, a very simple blocks.

A simple nine patch using this method here. 

Making them my enders.

So there it is, a glimpse of my insanity.

I just wish I could show a dent in my scrap piles. 

Linking up at So Scrappy

Yarn Along

It's been awhile since I have shared any of my knitting or crocheting projects.  

I finally finish the crochet slippers I made for "the little dudes"

Thomas the Train

I had to remake them cause the first set were too small. Seeing how they live over 1200 miles away I couldn't try them on before I got too far. 

I could not get a good picture of the boys wearing them. You know how hard it is to try to get them to stay still. 

They really like their slippers.

What I'm reading right now is Little Farm In the Foothill. I can so relate to the author. It's a fun read.

and listening to 

I made a goal for myself to read at least 25 books this year. I would like to have around 10 of them to be ones I've read and not listen to. I can listen to a book a lot faster than I can read. But I do enjoy reading.

To keep track of my progress I'm making a list of the ones I read and listen to this year. If interested your'll find it here

What's Up, Finish #2

Yeah, I have now 2 finished tops.

This was one of my  RSC14, 1/4 Log Cabin 

I was so in a hurry to get into my sewing room and sew after getting back from California, I quickly lay out  the blocks and sew it together.
I'm really sure if the layout is the best one I could of done. There's something about I not completely happy with after I have it completed.

But I will leave it as it is. 

The pattern is just one I have seen on Pinterest, in magazines and such. I do not know of it being copyrighted as pattern so I have not one to credit. 
The blocks finish 12" and there are 24 of them.


Now that I have this RSC done I'm ready to start this years RSC's.
In addition of making this years I decided that I am going to try to get my scraps organized.

I have tubs and I mean tubs of scraps that I have saved for decades.
Some of my scraps I have divided by colors, then I have tubs that still need to be separated and cut into usable pieces.

Here is a little tidbit for you and a big surprise.

Maybe you know this but for those who don't. 

One pound of fabric is approximately (give or take) three yards of fabric.

This tub in the picture has 15 lbs of scraps, which figure out to be around 45 yards. Say at $8.00 a yard, that about $360.00

That is quite a bit of both fabric and money that could of been thrown away.

And I have at least 3 more like this one.

  

 

New Learned BOM

I get P3 Designs newsletter but apparently I haven't read it. It just happened that I was reading others blogs and checking new ones out when I came across someone mentioning P3 Designs and thought I need to go to the website and see if anything new is out and sure enough she has a new BOM that is free for a  month, then it will cost.

Here is the layout.

And these are the months blocks.

If you are interested in this, hurry and go to the website, then to shopping/downloadable patterns and add the pattern to your cart. It's free but you still have to go through all that to get it.

But its worth it if you ask me.

Also I have my right sidebar all the other BOM's I have found so far. 

Over at Estheraliu she has a new one she started and I am drooling over cause its all in blue 

Oma's Blue

That's a must see.

If you know of any others, I would love it if you could share it with me and others by please leaving the info in the comments.

Whats Up, when I Left That Is

Up on my design wall was one of last years RSC. It is the 1/4 Log Cabin blocks.

I love how it is looking so far but I'm going to need to make two more blocks of my own color choice. Over at So Scrappy she did not pick a color for Dec. and my pattern needs the extra blocks.

Decided on a lavender color.

When I get back this weekend I can get busy on this one. I am going to try to finish it before the next week.  

You see I haven't decided on what to make for this years RSC.  I have a few patterns picked out, I'll share what I have picked out but just let the pattern speak for itself. Then when I decide I'll go into more about the patterns and my thoughts. Otherwise this could get be pretty wordy post.

Simple alternating nine-patch 

Decisions, Decisions.

My Slow Sunday

My Sunday was a nice one with my grandsons and doing a little stitching and crocheting.

The "Little Dudes are obsessed with Thomas the Train 

I decided to make slippers for the boys and had them made before I came but they were too small. Now I'm doing a redo.

They will look something like this.
Pattern is here at ravelry 

And when not crocheting I am working on the Pea Ridge Lily blocks. I'm getting there, half way done.

Update on Winter Pantry Challenge

The challenge has been going on for not quite 2 weeks but I have to take a furlough from it for a week, seeing how I'm not home.

But I think I did pretty well for the 10 days of working on eating just what we had in the pantry and freezer.

Example of some of the meals I made, first meal I took a roast our of the freezer to use in a stew. Seeing how I didn't have any stew meat left, I would just cut up a roast. I used only half of it with some potatoes, onions I grew and some carrots and celery I had in the frig. That lasted us 2 nights. The leftover roast I cooked in my Instant Pot, which I love by the way. 

It does so much more than a average pressure cooker.

Used the meat in Taco's one night, added some to Spaghetti Sauce I had canned and use one of the Spaghetti squashes I had grown. I had a very good year for Spaghetti squash last year.

From one roast had 5 meals.

Made a batch of Butternut soup, Lentil soup and Taco soup which I had most of the ingredients on hand. 

I did have to go to the store and get some fresh veggies and fruits for my smoothies and salads. I spent less than $100 for those days. 

Seeing how it included stuff to use for dishes my daughter and I made for her. She comes over once a month and we have a 
cook-a-thon. 
Here is a summary of how I did.

1. Beef and Veggie Stew (2 dinners)
2. Beef Tacos
3. Spaghetti with Spaghetti Squash 
4. Baked Ham, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole
5. Vegan Chile (2 dinners)
6. Butternut Soup
7. Lentil Soup
8. Egg, potato, onion, red pepper garbage

The First Finish of the Year

I am so pleased to say I have a finish top for this new year.

I'm going to take that as a good sign.

 

I can cross of my first UFO, #31.

It is a Lori Smith pattern called Lily's Garden.

It is made using 30's reproduction fabric. I did machine appliqueing, using Ricky Tim's applique paper.

The quilt is a wall hanging or crib size, 45" x 45".

Used Kona Cotton in Snow for the background.

I haven't yet decided if I will attempt to machine quilt myself or have a pro quilt it. 

One of my goals is to be good enough at quilting on my domestic machine. I have tried it on a couple of small projects but I really do need to get quite a few more hours under my belt to feel comfortable at it. Right now I feel like hands don't know which way to go half the time or to have my feet to go in sync with my hands.

Practice, Practice, Practice.

Isn't that what it takes!

It's now time for the Happy Dance.