Last night I was supposed to work on the outer borders of the Black and Bright Swap block quilt.  The hard part is done — making those 4 corner blocks.  So what did I do instead?  Played in the Kansas Troubles fabrics.

My goal is to make the new quilt completely from stash.  Originally I pulled all the tone on tone tans to make the star points, but I decided that the rest of the fabrics I pulled were too close in color and I needed to pull the tan prints.   If I remember correctly, I need 187 of the almost flying geese.  Obviously I need to cut a few more rectangles and squares before I’ll have enough.

I think I’ve gotten excited about this quilt which is why I’ve let the Black and Bright slide.  If I don’t get on the ball, it will fall back into a non-worked on UFO.

Earlier this month I wondered if I had started a new quilt. The muslin I found in my stash does not match the geese I made, so since I really didn’t need to start or necessarily want to start a new quilt, the geese were declared orphan blocks.

I still don’t NEED to start a new quilt, but with the new fabric which I’ve accumulated this month, I WANT to start a new quilt.

Those half geese (or are they?) on the wall are the start of Sew Scrappy a quilt from 40 Fabulous Quick-Cut Quilts by Evelyn Sloppy. I’m still cutting squares and rectangles which is why there is only one red triangle on each rectangle.

The Progress part of the title?  I finally finished the outer corner blocks for the black and bright quilt.  Tomorrow I’ll clear off the cutting board to cut the rest of the fabric for the borders.  I really want to finish the top this week.

March 28, 2013

April 15, 2013

April 18, 2013

April 20, 2013

April 23, 2013

I’ve been working on my Black and Bright Swap blocks from May 2007.  I still need to finish the last border, but I’ve got to get the corner blocks built.  That last lime piece is in the wrong place so that’s what I’ll be working on tonight.

To see what others got done on their UFOs follow the links over at Patchwork Times.

Don’t these blocks look so cute?  To bad that green strip is sewn to the wrong edge.  I finally sat down to piece a bit after 10 last night. Before I got this far sewing my corner blocks together I ripped out at least 3 or 4 seams  + plus the one seam which was right!

I think it’s time to stop sewing for the evening.  Perhaps I’ll get these finished tomorrow night.

Last month several of my friends when to a quilt retreat while I stayed home to work. One of the quilt shops they stopped at had scrap bags – small pieces and large pieces – for comparably next to nothing.  If this sounds familiar, it’s because this is part #2.

This weekend, one of the gals asked me when I was going to come over to go through the fabric.  I told her I thought I was given it at dinner a few weeks ago. She said “No, I have some bags for you.”

So last night I stopped by and this is what she gave me.  Tons of Thimbleberries and Kansas Troubles with a bit of other stuff mixed in.  The pile on the left is WOF anywhere from 4 1/2″ to 18″ with most pieces around 9″ – 12″.  The two piles in the middle are about 3″ high.  I found 3 FQs in the mix and over 50 pieces of Thimbleberries fabrics measuring 4 x 14.

I can’t wait to play with all of this new fabric and make something great from it.

Thank you S.

Today it’s “What’s On The Floor”.  Saturday, I attended about 9 hours of a scheduled 14 hour UFO retreat and got this far on my Black and Bright Swap blocks.  I had a prior commitment which required me to leave early, but to tell the truth, I was exhausted by 5.

It still needs a narrow lime green border around the edges and then I’ll add the final border which will match the black, lime and green in the center.  But first I have to finish assembling the corner blocks!

Oh, my prior commitment?  My husband and I had tickets to see The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain.  I hear you thinking.  She skipped quilting and paid to go see/listen to people play ukuleles?  I had a blast!  Grinned, giggled, laughed all night long.   Check out their YouTube page and you’ll understand why.

Of course don’t forget to check out the quilts at the links over at Patchwork Times.

I had big plans to finish the top of my Black and Bright quilt yesterday during the UFO retreat.  Only I forgot an important fact – group quilting, for me, is slower than individual quilting.  You run around and see what everyone else is working on. You stop sewing on your own project to give assistance to others.  The quilters, laughter,  food. It’s a wonderful day no matter how much quilting you get done.

Here are my numbers for the week.

Fabric Added Since Last Report: 0 .319 yards
Fabric Added to Date: 80.43 yards

Fabric Used Since Last Report: 0.143 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 23.284  yards

Net Used for the year -57.146 yards

To see how others are doing check out the links over at Patchwork Times.

A lot of fabric cutting today, so not as much stitching.  These are the blocks which will go on either side of the center medallion.  There will be a strip of green between the blocks and the center.

The remaining sashing is cut and pinned to the rest of the blocks.  The green strips around the outer edge of the blocks have been cut.  I’ve got the cornerstones cut and ready to piece.  I haven’t cut the turquoise and green for the outer border, but the black fabric is cut.

But it’s late and I’ve got to gather my stuff tomorrow evening, so I’ve boxed everything up. As I look at my list, it’s hard to believe I’m only retreating for one day.  But then again when I pack for a 3 day retreat, it looks like I’m planning on being gone for a minimum of a week.

Does anyone end up without enough to work on when they go to a quilting retreat?

I finished the center section of the Black and Bright Swap Block quilt.  But only after running out of bobbin about 2″ from the end.

Here’s the center.

The next step is to sash the other blocks for the next round.  At this rate, I may need to find another project to take to the UFO work day.

D is for Double Friendship Star – the third block of Dorothy Young’s alphabet block-of-the-month. If you wish to quilt along, join the group by clicking on the “Join Now!” button.

Click to join apocketfullofmysteries.