OMG April ends

I was determined to work on my April OMG. I moved it from one side of the sewing room to the other, all month long. I opened it up, flattened it out, ironed it, got the batting out and then..............I moved it off the table. Today is April 30th. I put on my big girl pants and sandwiched the Spool wall hanging. I quilted it. SID around the spools and Swirls on the blue boarder. Though I couldn't finish it today, at least I got over that hump. I will finish it this week and hang it on my quilt rack by the weekend.

I made this wall hanging with the leftovers from a Spool Quilt I made and gave to my granddaughter for Christmas 2016. I really like that quilt. It had a lot of memories. I started sewing those spool blocks while recovering from cervical spine surgery in 2014.

I’m linking up to Patty at Elm Street Quilts for the April OMG Finish. Check out all the wonderful finishes!  

I also worked on the January/February OMG UFO.
The Accordion Carpenters Wheel. It was such a long time between starting it and picking it up again that I forgot how to assemble it. All the parts had been cut out for months. Its not finished because it is bigger than I thought and I don't know where I will hang it. So have to figure out the boarders.

It was hard for me to get motivated this month. I decided to do mindless sewing and make some scrap blocks. These are X Marks the Block from Fabric Therapy I made thirty center coins strips. It took a few more days to start building the sides of the X.

I probably would do the X in Black or White as shown in Fabric Therapy but I still like it. One of the ladies at my Wednesday sew class kept saying..."Boy that's colorful"!  I don't think it was her taste. Ha Ha! It's okay not to like something.


Happy Sewing


Aileen in Florida

Sunday Stash April 29th and teeth

This was a very rough week for me. I had to drive down to Naples Florida to have a root canal and 2 other teeth worked on. This is my worst nightmare. I do not like anyone touching my teeth and will put it off indefinitely. I couldn't put it off any longer. I had an abscess that must have been there for a few years. After getting a 4th round of antibiotics in a 3 month period, it was time.

You may wonder why I waited so long since my brother is a dentist. Well
1 - I am a chicken when it comes to teeth. Very bad experiences as a kid and teen.
2 - He lives over 3 hours from me. AND it is a little weird to have your younger brother drilling in your mouth. He is a very kind man with a good sense of humor. So he did try to put me at ease. Even the Valium I took didn't calm me down. His staff was wonderful as well. They came in just for me. I was the only patient that day.

My husband drove me or I probably would have bailed.
My brother was very patient and gentle. I was shaking like a mini earthquake. The session was 4 hours due to calcification under the abscess that was thick and hard to drill out. That tooth needed a root canal. So since I was a captive audience, he did two other teeth. I have to go back for the crowns in a few weeks. There are 2 more teeth that need fillings replaced but that should not be as traumatic.

Since my anxiety was very high, and I was a bag of nerves all week, only 2 blocks were made. A bunch were ironed and ready to trim. Didn't want to cut my fingers from the shaky hand holding a rotary cutter so they will get trimmed today.

Stash Report   4/22-4/28  Week 17- 2018

Fabric used this week: 0 yard  + Scraps 

Fabric used to Date:     13 1/2 yard

Fabric Added this week: 0 yards

Fabric Added Year to Date: 52 yards

Net used for 2018: 13 1/2 yards      Net in the red -   40  yards
      GOAL for Year - 60 yards

350 Block Challenge 2018 at Prairie Moon Quilts
4/22 - 4/28
Blocks made 2
YTD made 222

15 Minute Challenge:  

4/22- 4/28         4 of 7 days

2018 Total          99 of 114

   days

Percentage of days sewn 87%

UFO finished for January - 0      :>[

UFO finished for February - 0  ugh!

UFO finished for March - 0  I am consistent!!! 

Link to Stitching report April 15, 2018

Link to Stash Report April 15, 2018

Link to Oh Scraps!

Link to 350 Block Challenge

Taxes and buffalo chips

I survived taxes. Now I can move on to some fun things.

Buffalo Chips. This is an expression I hear on a Youtube show called The Stitch TV Show. Pam refers to scraps as buffalo chips because the Native Americans use every piece of the buffalo. Nothing is ever wasted. I couldn't find the episode where Pam said this but all the episodes are great. These two ladies crack me up. I sometimes watch them while I sew. 

This week I got a few things done. I had to stop surfing the net. This is a time sucking habit. You look up and 4 hours have gone by, nothing has been done, and its time for a nap. I set an alarm on my phone to go off in 1 hour, then I put on a audio book and began to trash my sewing table. What fun!

Check out Fabric Therapy website. Her quilt Food Frenemies is hilarious!

A while back I found a tutorial called X Marks the Block at Fabric Therapy.  This past week I tried this block and found that it was a good way to use a lot of random scraps. X Marks the Block uses small  4"  long rectangles to form a ladder or strata. Next  you add the long side strips (mine are the dark green) making it look like Chinese coins or a ladder. Then you just add more strips until you get desired width. These are 9 1/2 inches square.  You can use progressively shorter side strips but I figured I could sew what I trim off  into strips blocks. A 2 for 1 idea.  I would like to use up whatever I touched to make the X Blocks and NOT put it back in the scraps.  The strips don't have to match up. The important part is what you use to create the X effect.

I sewed together two trimmed off strips. 2 of these I put a straight strip in the middle. Easier than dealing with the bias. These are 6 1/2 " . The little one is 5". Makes for interesting squares. I think I can use these as a border on something else.

Here are my PLUS blocks. Still cutting kits out for these.

Stash Report   4/15 -4/21  Week 16- 2018

Fabric used this week: 0 yard  + Scraps 

Fabric used to Date:     13 1/2 yard

Fabric Added this week: 0 yards

Fabric Added Year to Date: 52 yards

Net used for 2018: 13 1/2 yards      Net in the red -   40  yards
      GOAL for Year - 60 yards

350 Block Challenge 2018 at Prairie Moon Quilts
4/15 - 4/21
Blocks made 10
YTD made 220

15 Minute Challenge:  

4/15- 4/21         5 of 7 days

2018 Total          95 of 107

   days

Percentage of days sewn 88%

UFO finished for January - 0      :>[

UFO finished for February - 0  ugh!

UFO finished for March - 0  I am consistent!!! 

Link to Stitching report April 15, 2018

Link to Stash Report April 15, 2018

Link to Oh Scraps!

Link to 350 Block Challenge

Sunday Stash - April 15th

Friday the 13th was my youngest daughters birthday. I babysat for the 8 year old and the 2 year old. All was well until 11:30 pm. The little guy started crying. He didn't feel well. I rocked him until 1:30 am. He said he felt better and went back to his bed. Poor kid. He woke at 6 am with a mild fever. I rocked him until mommy came to get him at 9:30 am. My face shows that I am in a bit of pain. My back hurt on the left side. When I got up from my chair, I discovered I had a good size cement truck in the chair. What grandmas endure for the youngins!

I did sew everyday. Fondled fabric in between. I have four projects going at once.

I did manage to get the UFO "Accordion Carpenters Wheel" to flimsy stage. I am very sad. I had one spot that I didn't get a good point. I tried to fix it and put a tiny hole in it. I sewed the hole down. It really bugs me so I have not gone any further. If I try to change that piece I may end up with more than one hole. The thread is super thin (80wt) and very hard to see.  So I am in a holding pattern. Hummm Sigh.

Stash Report   4/08 -4/14  Week 15- 2018

Fabric used this week: 1 yard  + Scraps 

Fabric used to Date:     13 1/2 yard

Fabric Added this week: 0 yards

Fabric Added Year to Date: 52 yards

Net used for 2018: 13 1/2 yards      Net in the red -   40  yards
      GOAL for Year - 60 yards

350 Block Challenge 2018 at Prairie Moon Quilts
4/08 - 4/14
Blocks made 14
YTD made 210

15 Minute Challenge:  

4/8- 4/14         7 of 7 days

2018 Total          90 of 100

   days

Percentage of days sewn 90%

UFO finished for January - 0      :>[

UFO finished for February - 0  ugh!

UFO finished for March - 0  I am consistant!!! 

Link to Stitching report April 15, 2018

Link to Stash Report April 15, 2018

Link to 350 Block Challenge

Finished or not Friday April 13

Happy Friday the 13th

My youngest daughter turned 29 today! Time has just flown by. She lost 48 lbs in the last 3 months so we went under garment shopping! It shows she is getting old. If I tried to buy this for her birthday 10 years ago, she would have been disappointed. Yesterday when I offered she said "Yes Please"!  We had fun buying other things for the kids up and coming birthdays as well.

Today is Finished or not Friday. I keep missing it.
I finally got the January UFO top mostly done. So I want to post before I have another senior moment and forget yet again.

Accordion Carpenters Wheel

This is how you sew it then you cut it apart. Instead of getting 2 the same HST, each is different making assembly easier. There is still a learning curve.
For more info Click HERE to get the video links from EvaPaige Designs.

Happy Sewing

Aileen in Fl

Linking to Finished or Not Friday

Stitching and trimming

As you may have notice I change my page again. I did not like the gigantic pictures that came up when you went to my blog. So started changing things. Its a work in progress.

I have been interested in the Plus Blocks I have been seeing. I made these three. I put them on the design wall and noticed a zig zag design.
Humm. So I left it like this so I can study it some more.

Stash Report   4/01 -4/07  Week 14- 2018

Fabric used this week: 1/2 yards  +  1/2 yard Scraps 

Fabric used to Date:     12 1/2 yard

Fabric Added this week: 0 yards

Fabric Added Year to Date: 52 yards

Net used for 2018: 12 1/2 yards      Net in the red -   41  yards
      GOAL for Year - 60 yards

350 Block Challenge 2018 at Prairie Moon Quilts
4/01 - 4/07
Blocks made 7
YTD made 196

15 Minute Challenge:  

4/1- 4/7         7 of 7 days

2018 Total          83 of 93

   days

Percentage of days sewn 89%

UFO finished for January - 0      :>[

UFO finished for February - 0  ugh!

UFO finished for March - 0  I am consistant!!! 

Link to Stitching report April 8, 2018

Link to Stash Report April 8, 2018

Link to 350 Block Challenge

March is gone already??

March blew right past! I didn't get much done.

Sorted more fabric scraps and folded large yardage that is now on my shelves.

I made a 50 HST from the green scraps, a bunch of crumb blocks  and two blocks this week. I also made a gift sack for my granddaughters birthday present. All I had was boy wrapping paper- speed sewing!

This spool wallhanging has been hanging around for at least 2 years.
I am moving up to Aprils OMG

I added 5 yards of Flannel this week. Could not pass up 2.99 a yard. I make Pajama shorts for the son in-laws. At first they were confused as to why I made them pajama shorts. Now they are wearing out the seats from use. Ha Ha.

Stash Report   3/25 -3/31  Week 13- 2018

Fabric used this week: 1/2 yards  + Scraps 

Fabric used to Date:     11 1/2 yard

Fabric Added this week: 5 yards

Fabric Added Year to Date: 52 yards

Net used for 2018: 11 1/2 yards      Net in the red -   41 1/2 yards
      GOAL for Year - 60 yards

350 Block Challenge 2018 at Prairie Moon Quilts
3/25 - 3/31
Blocks made 8
YTD made 189

15 Minute Challenge:  

3/19- 3/24          6 of 7 days

2018 Total          76 of 86   days

Percentage of days sewn 88%

UFO finished for January - 0      :>[

UFO finished for February - 0  ugh!

UFO finished for March - 0  I am consistant!!! 

Link to Stitching report March 31, 2018

Link to Stash Report April 1, 2018

Link to 350 Block Challenge