Monday

I'm glad you guys agree with my choice of the word 'focus'! In terms of craft, I felt pretty confident that I nailed it this past week.

With one project exception, I was able to finish a few smaller things, but mostly worked to get the shoo-fly do.Good Stitches project quilted. It will be bound this week, and the first quilty finish of the year will be done!

I'm using a Dear Stella dot for the binding. It's against my beliefs to stick to such a limited palette, but it's good to challenge yourself, yes? I really wanted to throw in some yellow, or green, but I resisted!

I finished my next Wonky Bee assignment, some gradient strips (with pops of accent) for Melissa's project. I owe you guys a full post on round three of the wonky bee.

I also knocked out eleven more X & + blocks, thanks to a full afternoon of cutting scraps. It really is fun to sort through a stack all at once, and then sew them at my leisure.

A couple of wonky stars in the happiest of colors was also on my to-do list. Not a chore at all, no sirree.

I got to give the scrappy trip around the world block a run, for Sharon, as part of BaMS.

I also worked on a new baby quilt project, for my (?) step-sister (?), I guess you would call her? Whatever. She's family, and she's having a kid. This is actually a finished quilt top now. Picture to come!

So, whew. That's a lot, but like I said, it was a very productive week.We won't talk about the project that stumped me thrice, and still isn't finished. Because I will get it finished, and like it.
Ha.

Wishing you a very productive and fun week!

Trying to get it right

After the HMQG retreat, I stumbled upon a sewing machine foot I didn't know I owned. A guild member mentioned her 1/4" foot, and said it came with the quilting foot she'd purchased for her Janome. Since I had a Janome and a quilting foot, I realized I most likely had the same foot.
Eureka! I found it, and immediately thought about how much easier it would make my life.
I attached it and went to town on sewing my second block for BaMS.

I finished, and put it with my first block to mail, when I realized that the new block was most definitely smaller than the first.

How could this be? The 1/4" foot should have made me more precise, and I was stumped.

Then I remembered that the needle position should have been adjusted to 4.0 (vs. the default 3.5) before proceeding.

OOPS.

This week, I made a third postage stamp block, and now I can send Aylin her blocks.

And now I'll remember to adjust the needle each time I turn on the machine.

The too small block will go in my scrap bin. I'm sure I'll find a fun use for it!

I started a Wiksten tank this weekend, and almost finished. I'll share it soon!

Precision and improvisation

At the HMQG retreat this weekend, I split my time between precise and freeform projects. Although, a good deal of time was also spent joking and having fun.

As usual, overpacking occurred, at least in terms of projects. I brought a laundry basket, which was essentially full of fabric and notions.

My goal was to focus on May bee blocks and my improv quilt top.
I also brought, but barely touched, a pajama set for Oliver. Oh, well. They'll get made someday.

But the positives! Yes, let's talk about what got done.

First up, I happily crossed off my do.Good Stitches May blocks, for Deb. These are patchwork wheel blocks, using Don't call me Betsy's tutorial. I always enjoy digging through the scrap bin, and I made sure to pack lots of fun fabrics for these blocks.

Next month is my first month to plan a do.Good Stitches quilt. I hope I can come with something just as fun!

One block got finished for Bee a Modern Swapper. Nilya asked for 2.5" unfinished postage stamps. I also managed to cut out the squares for my second block. That should be finished in the next few days.

It felt good to finish so many pieced blocks, and as a treat, I started assembling my improv quilt top Saturday night.

And I finished! There was a little bit of small piecing left, and then I just worked on assembling.

It feels so good to make serious progress on a large project like this. I've been mainly making minis, doing wedding stuff, and making bee blocks, so this was quite an accomplishment.
Want proof?

Just look at my face!

P.S. Thanks to my friend Safieh for the two quilt pictures!

Weekend Progress

After a seriously busy weekend, I am feeling pretty accomplished. Although, at the same time, I feel totally behind. There's a lot of changes going on, and I can barely catch my breath.
But let's not focus on that. As an eternal optimist, I'll just show you the happy progress I've made.

First off, wedding invitations are in the mail! I ordered these from Ruby Press on etsy. Her shop is closed for updates right now, but I highly recommend her shop. Ruby was responsive and helpful during the proof process, and worked with us to get the invitations just right.

In other wedding news, I (and now my mom is helping!) am making napkins for each guest. This is the first batch. I'm really happy with how they're turning out, and I'm excited to be using some stashed fabrics.

I also finished two of my March bee blocks. These blocks are my first for the Bee a Modern Swapper group. We used a Freshly Pieced tutorial for Mosaic Blocks. This color combination is definitely popular right now. My group for do.Good Stitches is using a similar palette this month.

The Houston Modern Quilt Guild is making charity quilts this month using (mostly) fabric donations. I finished quilting this over the weekend, and just need to apply binding. We expect to finish at least twenty quilts before April.

Sometime around Christmas, Rachel and I were chatting about dishcloths, and she was shocked when I said I'd never knitted a dishcloth. I guess I skipped that step when I was learning to knit. So I ought some Knit Picks Dishie, and got down to business.

I'm using the tried and true Mason-Dixon Ballband pattern. Just a few rows here and there, mostly at night when I'm winding down, but I'll have a finished washcloth soon!

Linking up with Megan!