I’m still working on the Sylvia’s Bridal Sampler Swap block top.  I really wanted to finish it this weekend, but I also wanted to go to a quilt show.  And there was the trip to the mall and Jo-Ann’s for inspiration and fabrics for the Eeyore quilt.

Having said that, I am on the home stretch.  There was one block in the mix which was 1/2″ bigger than it was supposed to be and too many points around the edge, so simply trimming wasn’t going to work.  Remaking the block really wasn’t the answer.  Making a new block had its own set of issues.  I finally decided on a solution I can live with.

I’ll take pictures of what I did and then after I get the top done, I’ll post how I ‘fixed’ the issue.

Meanwhile, check out other design walls by following the links over at Patchwork Times.

Last week I bought some of the fabric for the Eeyore quilt — then changed my mine and bought some different fabric for the Eeyore quilt.  The good news is I think I have everything except for border and backing — and maybe one other element, but hopefully that will come from my stash.

The only sewing I did was assembling the SBS Swap Blocks, so no fabric was used there.  Hopefully I’ll use some of the new fabric this week.

Fabric Added Last Week: 8.75 yards
Fabric Added to Date:  46.213 yards

Fabric Used Last Week: 0 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 32.562 yards

Net Used for the year -13.651 yards

Hop over to Patchwork Times to see if more people bought fabric this week or used it.

I’ve been enhancing my stash.  I needed fabric in cello, Piglet & Eeyore colors.  Cello was easy.  We have a few stringed instruments in the house that I could use for reference.  I thought I’d be smart and buy a plush Eeyore and Piglet.  They won’t be lonely — I have at least 3 Tiggers, one which always goes to sewing retreats to stand in for Seven and provide “cat approval”.

Anyway, I bought the Eeyore (apparently Baby Eeyore) and matching fabric Friday night. DH thought he was too blue.  I couldn’t find a Piglet.  So, this evening off to the Disney Store we went.   DH thinks this Eeyore is too gray.   I think we saw three different shades of Eeyore.  But I’m going to go with the grey as I’m using the lavender fabric as a background.

Now to figure out how much fabric I bought for tomorrow’s Stash Report and more importantly to figure out the pattern!

May has sprung, along with the end of year concert and graduation season.  Throw in a quilt show and a couple of quilt classes and an unexpected quilt and the month is filled up before it ever begins.

I now have the top half of the SBS Swap quilt stitched together.  Last night I pinned the left and right section together along with the blocks for the next two rows on the next section with the hope of finding a few minutes to stitch them together.  I got up early this morning and used my extra time to do just that.  Since concert #1 is tonight and then I’ve got help clear the stage of the chairs and stands afterwards.  It’s going to be a long day.

I’ve got the next section pinned and ready to sew whenever I find another few minutes.  Perhaps tomorrow morning.

My plan of using a block or two from my Christmas BOM is not working well for me.  Last month I only got one of the two blocks done — the stitching around the fused applique still needs to be done.  This month the # was 10 which was the Holly Wreath.  The leaves were cut out by April 3rd — but getting them fused to the background…well, lets just say I had to hurry up and get it done this evening to show progress.  I still need to cut out the berries and bow. Not to mention stitch the whole thing down.

I did get two Sylvia’s Bridal Sampler blocks made in April.  This brings my total to 77.

The Double Wedding Ring is still sitting in the basket with no progress since February.

So, what’s up for May?  UFO # 2 – the Mistletoe block.

Apparently I haven’t had enough applique over the last 3 months. 🙂

Also up this month is finishing the Bells and the Holly Wreath, two SBS blocks, and getting caught up on my JT2 blocks.  If I’m not careful that quilt will become a UFO.  I’m already behind by 3 sets of blocks and another set comes out today!

Hop over to Patchwork Times to check out how others did on their UFOs.

Two pictures today.  First, up on my actual design wall is my Sylvia’s Bridal Sampler swap block quilt.  I’m not quite halfway done with piecing it together.  I ran out of steam and decided some thing absolutely had to be done in my sewing room.

Normally (and I really would like to have a new normal) there are two milk crates, two file boxes and a basket sitting on the hearth which only allows me to use a bit over half of my design wall.  So, when I put this up, everything got shifted on to the floor.  Then I wanted a picture, so I had to unstack everything, so it was wall to wall boxes.

Then, I wanted to take a picture of the quilt top Boxy Stars.  This is a group project using Bonnie Hunter’s pattern.

In order to get this picture, I had to shove the ironing board out of the way and all of the boxes got shifted around again.  Needless to say I have a mess.

But all is not bad.  I’ve hauled a suitcase out of here (ok, it’s sitting by the basement door, as is an empty box which is too good to put out with the recycling); I’ve shifted the ironing board around to the far side of the sewing table (will be farther to walk by 5 steps – and every step counts); I’ve dug out all the stuff that fell off the end of the sewing table and can now put the huge suitcase w/my Hancock Star BOM there clearing up more floor space.

As much as I really wanted to finish the sampler, I think cleaning my having a clean sewing space will give me just as much pleasure.  Who knows, I might actually get something else finished.

Hop over to Patchwork Times to see what others have been up to lately.

It’s been a while since I bought fabric just to buy fabric.  What can I say.  I drove a bit to buy the iron and they had a FQ sale 10 for $15.  I don’t have many batiks which explains the pile on the left.  I have an idea for the tone on tones in the middle.  Later in the day I was at Savers and found a book of the Mountain Mist patterns.  Who can pass up a collection of patterns for $1.99?  Finally I bought the thread I’m going to use to quilt the purple Boxy Stars.

So, what did I use this week?  Not much.  It’s hard retreating for 4 days.  I counted a bit more fabric for the border of my SBS Swap Blocks and I have two rows sewn together.  I also finished the Boxy Star quilt last night, but since the border fabric was given to me expressly for this project I didn’t count it in or out.

So here are the numbers.

Fabric Added Last Week: 2.75 yards
Fabric Added to Date:  37.463 yards

Fabric Used Last Week: .593 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 32.562 yards

Net Used for the year -4.901 yards

I seem to be going the wrong way, but I have a few quilts ready to quilt, so that will use up fabric.  Don’t forget to hop over to Patchwork Times for other usage reports

It’s sunny outside and it’s still cool, so I took Ocean Waves outside to photograph it.  The color is still off.  I grabbed this swatch off the Northcott website.  It’s a more accurate color depiction.

If you click on the picture you can see a bit of the quilting.  The whole thing is covered in flowers.

I quilted it on a HQ18 Avante machine at Rocking Chair Quilts in Butler, Missouri.  I used nearly a 500 yards of King Tut #901 – Nefertiti thread in the top and just over two bobbins of Bottom Line #603 Red.  The batting is Warm and Natural.  That spool laying down was brand new when I started.  The other spool is was left over when I quilted No Blue Geese in my Tropical Garden.

Now that the quilt is washed it measures approximately 80 x 90.

I pieced the top using Bonnie Hunter’s instructions for the Ocean Wave quilt which she has posted on her blog.  I started this quilt with 320 HST squares left over from other projects on October 27, 2011.  I finished the top on March 23, 2012. Quilted it on April 7th and finally got it bound on April 18th.

Oh, there’s a pillow case too.

Finally some thoughts on the fabric in those HST units.  There are scraps from the first shirt I made my nieces’ oldest brother when he was born, scraps from the both quilts I made my mother, scraps from jackets I made my MIL, my blouses, probably every quilt I’ve made to date, including some I made before I really got bit by the quilting bug.  I have scraps from my friends stashes as they know to pass their scraps to me and not throw them out.  This is such a wonderful memory quilt for me, if I hadn’t promised it to my niece, I would be tempted to keep it myself.

I think I like this arrangement better than what I showed earlier today.

In the past, regardless of the number of projects I take to retreat, I usually work on most of them.  That’s not the case this year.

My primary focus was my Sylvia’s Bridal Sampler Swap setting blocks.  It takes a lot longer to sew together 1 1/2″ squares than it does 2 1/2″ squares.  Or perhaps it is more accurate to say it takes more 1 1/2″ squares to cover the same space.

For the most part, I worked on these blocks from after supper Thursday night, all day Friday, most of Saturday (we did a shop run which took about 5 hours) and Sunday until dinner.  After dinner a group of us took over a ping-pong table and worked on the block arrangement.

I think I’m going to stare at this one for a while until I decide the blocks are in the right order.  I still have a border to add to another quilt.  I had time Sunday night, but the math wasn’t working for me and I don’t have any extra fabric if I make a mistake.

As for the rest of the projects — they stayed in my bag.  Note to self — if it doesn’t fit in the sewing machine case or accessory bag, it can’t go.