Design Wall Monday--UFO #5 again

The last DWM of March is here already.  On my design floor is the same thing all month--my UFO Challenge pick #5, Metro Twist.  All the block piecing was completed a couple of days ago, and today I sewed all the rows together.  There was a lot of seam matching and curved edges to pair up.  It is not perfect, but looks just fine.  I then set about adding more of the Kona Silver to make the Twist blocks float and ran into this:

Dye lot difference that was too noticeable to remain--naturally I didn't notice until after I'd added two sides (cough).  Luckily I found the remainder of yardage from the lighter batch in the Solids bin.  

Much better!  My goal was to make the top about 45" square, a nice size baby quilt.  Next, a back was cobbled together out of a bunch of leftovers and some additions from the fat quarter dresser. 

I feel like I sewed all day to get to this point--which I practically did--but wanted to have the top and back all ready to spray baste after work tomorrow.  I'm thinking simple channel quilting in gray thread. I'll use more of the Kona Silver for the binding to keep the front minimal and modern looking.  See more Design Walls on Judy's Patchwork Times. 

My week is pretty light except for a Chinese ballet show outing with my mom, sister, daughter and niece one night, and a funeral on Friday.  It is sad when your parents' friends of 40-50 years begin to go.  We just attended another funeral last Friday for a dear family friend.  Meanwhile, my 98 year old mother in law is getting some hospice assistance, which should give her more attention and hopefully prevent any more ER visits from falls.  She's still quite mobile and talkative, but things do happen to old people in Memory Care. 

Design Wall Monday--UFO #5 Progress

On my design floor is the #5 pick of the month for the UFO 2017 Challenge.  After struggling with MATH when I found there was not enough background material to do what I wanted, I pressed on with my new layout design and got many more Metro Twist pieces made (Pattern from Sew Kind of Wonderful, with the Quick Curve Ruler). 

Additional prints were added to the mix in the same colors.  For my 3x3 layout, I had just barely enough of the orange solid background.  After completely confusing myself with one go at laying out all the completed and half-done parts, I pulled them all back up and started over, separating the rows.  Finally I was able to work out what additional prints and parts were necessary and get them all cut and pieced.

I used Kona Silver for the outer edge and am considering insetting the whole thing into a larger Silver background negative space.  It would be appropriate, since this whole project started with my modern quilt guild's challenge to use a neon color.  There are only 12 days left of the month and I aimed for a completed quilt for this project pick. While this project is not large, the blocks are about 11" when completely sewn--I have that yet to do! Sketching and MATH are in my future.  See more design walls on Judy's Patchwork Times. 

Slow Sunday Stitching

Keeping needle and thread handy at the dining room table means I took a few stitches multiple days during my lunch break.  Today I completed the "stamp" edge outline during some Slow Sunday Stitching.  This Lizzie Kate cross-stitch's details are filling in--now there are birdie feet and a tree branch added today too. 

This week's lunch stitching should complete this little project as the leaf and birdie details won't take long, and after I add the month name in the bottom the fill-in will be fairly mindless.  I'll try not to jump ahead in thinking of What To Stitch Next, though I have in mind to make a black-work monogram initial for my younger grandson's Hunter's room. His older brother Cove has this Fox that I stitched for his room when he was born:

Hunter, who turned one several weeks ago, is now taking a few steps.  I visited those precious boys on Friday and Hunter took a bunch of steps to get to me--his Mama said it was the best he had walked yet!  Loved that.  Then we all played in the backyard for awhile and I chased Cove around, and hefted Hunter on the slide and swing.  My arms sure were sore later.  Here's Hunter ready for the beach on a recent warm day.

Linking up with Kathy's Quilts Slow Sunday Stitching.

March UFO Update 'n Stuff

The month is half over and I've not gotten very far with my project #5 from Judy's UFO challenge over at Patchwork Times. There was some MATH that needed to be figured out since I don't have any more of the background fabric but wanted to maximize all I had.  My poor brain was all twisted, like the Metro Twist blocks I'm making.  I sketched and erased, added and subtracted, counted and recounted.  Finally I resorted to laying out all the pieces I've sewn so far. 

Well someone's big fluffy duff is covering up a lot of the layout!

That's better!  The plan for this small wall quilt is a 3x3 setting of the Metro Twist Blocks.  I have enough orange background to complete the remaining 20+ sections I have sketched out.  For the left and right edges I will add a different background, probably a solid light gray, but that's to be decided once I have all the orange sections done.  I've got many more prints to throw into this color mix, and a bit of green because it's my favorite color.  Green and white have been under my needle a lot lately making the some of the Modern Quilt Guild's December Block of the Month, the ModZ Block. 

The pattern downloads are only available to MQG members.  I liked this one a lot because of the oversized simple to piece shapes--it makes a 12.5" block.

When pressing the Tri-Recs blocks, I found myself saying a mnemonic to help me with neatly pressing to one side: Toward on Top.  I lay the block I'm pressing with the side that I will pressing TOWARD on TOP.  In this case I wanted to press toward the white triangle so it is on top.  (Sometimes I don't listen and have to do it over :)

 It's a fun block to move around into different layouts.

I couldn't bring myself to donate them to our Guild philanthropy table this month but am sure I'll be making more of the MQG blocks.

Meanwhile, cross-stitching is also progressing on the Lizzie Kate May Stamp project.

I have been adding some stitches during my lunch hour and am really enjoying that.  I've nearly completed the outline and can't wait to stitch the cute birdies next to the birdhouse.  There are a whole series of Lizzie Kate month stamps and I may just have to order a few...

Tuesday's Orts--March version

Tuesday's Orts--bits and pieces of thoughts and events that land here occasionally.

• Our family recently wrapped up four straight weeks of birthdays for five people.  Oh, and our wedding anniversary was in there too. Whew, that was a lot of eating!
• In our medical office my least favorite patient is a WALK IN.  Especially when they ask for five or six things other than the "emergency" reason they thought couldn't wait for an appointment.  Grrrr!
• Does this happen to anyone else?  All my shoes seem to have worn out at once. And I can't find new ones I like.
• Traffic Rant:  I approached a four way stop in a neighborhood recently only to sit there dumbfounded when a large pickup truck's driver blew through it at a high rate of speed from the opposite direction,  not even looking at all.  Scary!  
• Perusing the Help Wanted ads in the newspaper today, I came across the job title "Open Area Technician" for the Parks and Recreation department.  I can't decide if that means picking up trash or policing picnickers.  
• I love the Reader View for websites, don't you?  I can barely wait for the web page to load enough so I can hit that option.
• Saint Patrick's Day is almost here and I dressed up my living room for the occasion--actually I did it last week when I hosted Bunco.  

Well, they have bunnies in Ireland, surely?  I couldn't resist this adorably alert carrot-packing guy at Michael's.  He was ridiculously overpriced but I had a coupon.  He'll hang around through Easter.

Here's a more traditional display on the lawyer's bookcase.  The Oxalis stand-in for shamrocks was also overpriced but I wanted something live.  Not that my black thumb will mean it lasts very long.  I pieced the shamrock mini quilt some years ago and still love it.

A closer look at a very old family picture.  This is my paternal great-grandfather Logan, on the left, and his fraternal twin brother Grant, in their Irish tartans and sporrans.  My dad has a fraternal twin too and there is a photo of them as infants being held by their twin grandfather and great uncle that I want to get a copy of and enlarge, so special.  The twins and their three brothers were all named after  Civil War Union Generals--I had an Uncle Sherman too!

Slow Sunday Stitching

Since fin-al-ly completing the Poinsettias and Pomegranates, I've been without a cross-stitch project.  I remembered a small pamphlet by Lizzie Kate that I had intended to stitch up for a long time...

If you notice the date on the price tag, it has been waiting patiently for 12 years .   I know I bought this May Stamp Flip It on a trip to Missouri in April 2005 but not the shop name--it was somewhere out in the country, possibly in Illinois.  I wasn't blogging in those days so can't check back :)   The project sample is made in a hand dye, I believe, but I am using DMC.  I substituted for a couple of the colors I don't have; one was the birdhouse roof; I chose a brighter blue closer to the cover.  

As Kathy recommended, I did some stitching while stretched out on the bed with lovely sunshine streaming in, recovering from losing an hour of sleep.  Linking up with Slow Sunday Stitching.

Design Wall Monday--March 6, 2017

On my Design surface is the Patchwork Times UFO pick of the month.  Yes, I know I previously posted a different pick and a possible switch, but true to form, that was a mixup caused from looking at written list versus the website post, wherein I had switched the entries inadvertently.  So, going from the actual posted list on Patchwork Times, #5 is the Metro Twist project, using the original  Quick Curve Ruler. Happily it contains a lot of piecing, which is what I am in the mood for so I'll forge ahead.

Since this photo I've sewn and trimmed all the cut print pieces to the orange solid.  Using a solid means I don't have to cut two different orientations of the background.  Each twist block is made up of 8 of the curved rectangle units.  I now have to do MATH and figure out how many more pieces I can make with the orange fabric I have left (not much!).  Goal is to aim for a 3x3 block layout and if I don't have enough orange, use a different background for the just the very center block.   I have lots of fun prints to mix into the purple, gray, and yellow piles, plus a few others.   See more Design Walls on Judy's Patchwork Times. 

We spent a few hours on Saturday with this 1 year old charmer and his equally charming 3 year old big brother. Their Mama sent this photo stating this is Hunter's new favorite hangout.  So cute.  He hung out with me while brother Cove had fun playing "sick" and needing a blanket, medicine, and cuddles from his Papa---in between bouts of using a plastic golf club to shoot bad guys. They joined us at a local restaurant Sunday night to celebrate their Auntie's birthday and were as entertaining as ever. 

The Valentine's Day decor came down on Saturday too.  I bought this sweet mini at the local guild's quilt show last fall.  The hearts are stiffened and then sewn on the prequilted background.  Love it.  Bunco is at my house this month so all the St. Patrick's Day decor is up.  Hoping the Luck of the Irish is with me this week!

UFO Challenge 2017 #9 Update and next pick

I took the final stitches this morning in the #9 pick in Judy's UFO Challenge 2017, which on my list was the Baby Flying Geese quilt. 

 I'm pleased with the finished quilt and like the way my quilting turned out--I used only my walking foot's edge for the spacing.  The few diagonal lines I marked with my Hera tool.

 

I think the quilting looks good on the back too!

The binding is attached completely by machine.  No label yet, but a family friend is expecting a grandchild and perhaps this will be suitable as a gift. 

Judy's draw for March is #5, which on my list is the Greenpiece BOM quilt.
 

 Much of the work is wool applique on that project and I am considering switching it out for #11, which is cutting for four Projects in Boxes, as I'm itching to do more piecing, my first love!  I could still work on the applique at the same time, as I have no current cross-stitch project.

Linking to Judy's Patchwork Times.