April's Focus - No Foolin' this time

I started late on the RSC this year and played catch up with some of the colors already assigned to January and February.  Though not unique as I've seen squared blocks all over blog land, its something I've been wanting to start... so I did.  

36 Patch Units:    6 so far.

2 for each month:  January through March  (Pink, Yellow, Green were the recommended colors).  I'm using my scraps but in a different lineup as I pulled from my solids the RSC color and am sewing my 2 -1/2" scraps onto that color. 

 Looks like Spring or Easter candy so far.   Depending on the colors coming later on, I may use that color for a different project as I'm truly loving the softness and Springtime feel of this so far.  AND I'm using some scraps, a WIN, WIN for sure.  Will ponder the size as it goes on.

OMG for April and am linking up with Elm Tree Quilts too with my plan for April being this Pilgrim Hat I previously showed here but failed to finish.  The quilting is next and the rulers to play around with it have just arrived.   That is one of my April's goals.  

Another April goal is to make a Frida Kahlo Tea Pot Cozy.  I may go traditional or perhaps push my limits but not as graphic perhaps as her art.   No picture of that unless you wanted to see my lil' red Le Crueset tea pot .  lol 

Am also continuing with those spool blocks.  Trying to come up with different Spool ends for each of those 99 colored spools.  Wish me luck as that project is lingering and I want to so more progress with it and all of my UFOs!  

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope your Easter is beautiful!  My Co-vid Vaccine #2 is Saturday and I hope my reaction to it is nonexistent.  The first vaccine  I had a temporal headache and was chilled to the bone, can you say Tylenol and two quilts to the rescue.   TTFN. 

February 2021 OMG

 It's too late to link up with Elm Street Quilts however, I plan to finish January's leftover Pilgrim  wall  hanging as well as the Sewing machine pincushion photo below, and get the Kim Diehl BOM finished from last year that needs layering quilting and finishing (photo will be shared later).  

Bernina 440 stitched embroidery with the  metallic thread, no problem except the wonkiness from the user artistic license placing that spool of thread on the top. 
Which will stay as it is and how when I was starting out (age  7) the spool on top would "dance" with me going as fast as I could bringing up fond memories.   LOL

Below are a few of the tools I use for tracking the needles.  

This first tool - the Needle Tracker lets me know which needle is in the machine as there used to be (esp. pre co-vid times) elongated times that I endured no machine sewing.   I keep this just beneath my sewing machine, handy but not in the way.  

The next is a needle wallet to store some unique needles I use.  Like Joan Shay's appli-bond, titanium and those chrome needles I just received from Schmetz.   I store this on top of my needle container shared in my last post.

This last tool is placed on the same needle storage box in the top drawer and is for lightly used needles that still have more life left in them.  It even has blank spaces that I can customize the type and write on or off for special notations.  I call this my needle parking garage.

Thought I'd share a glimpse of how I organize some of those parts of my hobby not yet shared.  

TTFN,

Jane

January 2021 Focus OMG

 Happy New Year!  

I am becoming more focused on my projects and plan to finish this Buttermilk Basin pilgrim Hat wall hanging completely for my One Monthly Goal for January.   Am linking up to Elm Street Quilts today for the OMG challenge just under the deadline.  

Haven't been posting again recently since my health had a minor speed bump that needed further studies.  But with seeing an Electrophysiologist in Cardiology today in VT,  I got the all clear to resume my health improvements with further tests down the road.     Thankfully.  

Also have been working on the Spools as my hump jumper project.  

TTFN

Jane

February 2019 OMG's proposed

Notice the OMG (S!) in the title?  Am hoping to accomplish several again this month.  They are:

This Community quilt quilted  and bound for my guild WFQG-

This PIG - A Prima Diva wallet that was all cut out at the Oct. 2018 retreat in A-bay-

This WIP - Bird song pillow that was started years ago with a Joan Ford class-

Get the January Applique parts caught up for my "Skitch A Day" .   It's a SAD (Skitch a Day) with Susan Claire of the Gourmet Quilter-

Plus there are a few other bits I'd like to get too 

but won't list them here as it would put me on overwhelm..., 

I'll just surprise you and me too as I go along this month.

3 for 3 with January's 2019 OMG

Just finished the beaded edging on this scissor fob, another pledged OMG that can be checked off!
Not to brag but I'm on a roll with getting three for three done this month. 

I am happy.

Hanging off one of the handles in my working basket for now.  Will have to locate an appropriate pair of scissors for this Shepherd's Bush "Glad Tidings" scissor Fob.  Started this after Christmas and finished in the nick of time for OMG 1/2019.  Stitched with 1 over two with all the called for threads that were kitted.  No substitutions.

Will have to figure out which UFOs I want to process for February.

Valentine's Wallhanging for January's OMG - a second one!

This simple panel wall hanging was sewn in 2016 and then... it sat.


Finally cleaning off my  sewing table and putting things away I ran across this older WIP  and since I now have room to work on it, it became my OMG (One Monthly Goal) to finish up for my January 2019!
Deciding to let the print motif create the quilting designs and then filling in backgrounds with simple meander stitching. 
First quilted perimeter

• Second did a circle design on the vase as if it was a hobnail vase.
• The flowers needed some detail quilting to show petals in a soft outline
• Hearts were edge stitched and then a soft scallop sewn around them imitating a lace edging
• The brown first border was edge stitched on both sides..
• Then the red border.....,   I was stumped.... and then I saw a panto graph that eluded to a heart sew by two rotations around with echoing, so I did my rendition of it.  One side the hearts are upside down. : /

 I'll show the back side illustrating the quilting details:

I LOVE IT and love that it's quilted!  Next the label, binding and hanging sleeve.....

Split hanging sleeve to accommodate two different modalities of display.

Just in time!

Is it perfect, heck no,

but Done is better than perfect and it will hang in the kitchen for February.

TTFN

Jane

OMG for May

Yep!!  Time to declare that St. Patrick's Day Patchabilities will be my May OMG project for May!
I'm linking up with Heidi over at Red Letter Quilts with this goal setting page.

This is at it's current stage......

Can you tell that last night I was productive...  Finally.  (Now here another song comes to mind  8- /  )
Got the interfacing on, rainbow motif drawn then started stitching the embroidery starting with the red stripe of the rainbow going from the pot towards the hat.
Should get this monkey off my back this month.  At Last!   (another song inserted in my brain now-funny how pertinent they all seem!)  Uh  Ohh, those acronyms spell out FAL  [aka: finish along] synchronicity again.  LOL

If you want some company finishing or challenging yourself to finish up some of your PIGs, UFOs or PHDs, then head over to Heidi's blog  by the 7th to link up with other like minded creators.  The link closes shortly so be quick about it!

Jane
This happens to also be #17 on my Q2-2016 list - hitching my gains up on that accountability scale too - a huge self indulgent plus for me.

Music themed community quilt top finished

Got this cut out and sewn while away at a quilt retreat in April.  Even the binding is all set for whomever picks it up to do the next stages at the Wings Fall Quilters Guild in Glens Falls.

My commitment to this is done.  This was number 1 on my -2 2016 list.

Yippee!
One down, many more to go......



The pattern was one that called for 3- 1 yard pieces of fabric.
Choosing the swirly darker music themed fabric as the focal point and my plan of making it into those bar blocks to further endorse the music theme worked out perfectly.  

Now if I were finishing this puppy, I'd even use those bits of leftover gold I'm including in this package to do a piped trim before the darker printed binding that's all set to finish it off.  But that is now somebody else's monkey and somebody else's circus.  lol

It came to my attention that I wasn't naming and doing the OMG projects and linking them up correctly. That a project needs to be stated, shared and linked in at the beginning of the month and then by the end of the month, it needs to be totally and completely finished.  I only listed what I hoped to get done... be it make a quilt top or the next larger step within whichever projects.  Am so glad that they let me know as nicely as they did.  How embarrassing that it seemed like I was cheating,  I wasn't and it wasn't my intention,  but truly it's my Bad for not following the rules!
So this won't be getting shared with the April OMG even though in my book it's another success for my YTD tally as my part is totally done!

OMG Tally for me is 3 out of 4 YTD.

TTFN,
Jane