WIP- Unfinished ideas

Building on the free heart pattern that Jaybird posted on her Instagram last week I decided to build on it a little. I was using a sample pack that I got from a local quilt shop so I don't have a ton of fabric to use but I did play a little more. I have this roll of flying geese papers from Triangles on a Roll. I keep meaning to try it out and I figured what better time than now. I had to pull up a video to show me how to use it first and then set out to make a couple of strips of flying geese. I think they came out beautifully.

The next was to work on the Mini-Series stitch along. This week was the log cabin block. It's done through paper piecing and since I don't have a printer I've made do with tracing paper. Tiny piecing like this is so much harder then it looks. I'm sure the next block will be a bit easier to handle.

Actual tea this time, I have this Elmwood Inn teas. Now to be fair I didn't get any at the time, but I did like their little blurb about not using nylon tea sachets. All the fancy tea blends that are bagged usually come in nylon sachets. I've always questioned throwing those away, but haven't figured out what to do with them. I like the idea of using a plant-based sachet more. It's definitely safer for the environment.

Quarantine Blues

At the beginning of the week, the county I work in issued a shelter in place order. Because of that, I can't go to work. My boss has been working on a way for us to work from home but for now, I'm off work. I have been filling this time with getting things done and planning out new projects. I think everyone has been doing this.

First I got around to making a wall hanging/baby quilt with the panel I got from the last fiber review at my local quilt shop. I was not happy with the first photo I posted on my Instagram but I did manage to get outside and take a better photo. There are a few issues with it, but I think it came out cute. The pattern I found a quilt on Pinterest and figured out the math for the pieced blocks I needed. I was proud of myself that I got it right the first time.

The second thing I finished was the temperature quilt. To be fair I had only a few rows left to sew together. I'm very happy with the way it came together. It is 14 squares across and 26 squares vertically. I added the brown squares to show where it changed months. I need to get batting before I can go further with this project so I've put it aside for now.

The next project I've started and completed was Moda Love wall hanging. I got this idea from Jordan Quilts. I've watched this video several times now. I had watched it last week, and since it was an easy use of a charm pack I thought, why not!. I used a charm pack I got from Quiltfest. It was Zelie Ann by Eleanor Burns from Benartex. The pattern used 34 charm squares and was super easy. I did substitute background squares for some of the lighter charm squares. I just noticed an error in my layout but I'm not going back to change it. If you want to download the free pattern you can get it from Jordan Fabrics.

Benartix also has a free pattern of a pretty log cabin style table runner using this collection.

Tea today is an unusual thing we found cleaning out a cabinet. From an old tea tin, we found some instant tea by Sweet N Low. I don't know how old this is or any history about it, I've not been brave enough to try it yet. It's an older logo and I can't even remember when they made this. I'm going to get brave one day and try it.

Work in progress

I like many are staying at home as much as possible. I am lucky that right now work has not sent us home. I'm still working my regular hours, but my normal social schedule is on hold. You would think this means I can be twice as productive. I don't feel I am but I've got a bit of a progress report.

I finished the International Mystery Quilt top and made a backing for my snowball pattern. I pieced the borders out of scrap I was provided and that took forever. A lot of time was added because of being exhausted from stress. The backing I used a cute snail fabric I had gotten from a short bolt sale and some scraps. The backings always go together so fast. I started to pin it up but realized I didn't have enough pins left. I need to quilt something else before I can start on this. That pile is a bit tall.

The next was did some work on dad's temperature quilt. I'm trimming the squares as I sew them into strips so this is time-consuming. I also feel I have the attention span of a magpie and keep getting distracted by lots of other things going on around me.

I've been on Instagram constantly lately. I decided to join the Alison Glass and Guicy Giuce  Mini-Series Sew-along. #MiniSeriesSAL. I have picked some recent Tula Pink fabrics I've picked up and I'm adding a few fat quarters I got from my row by row win last year. I need to buy the patterns but I'm waiting until payday. The sew-along is for 10 weeks and starts this week. If you go to their Instagrams or Alison Glass' page you'll find all the info and sign up for it.

The other thing I saw on Instagram was Jay Bird quilts did a heart block tutorial. Under #jaybirdcares, you'll find a free step by step tutorial using her sidekick and hex and more rulers. I did a couple. They're so easy I'm thinking of doing more.

Tea is a blend of bags. I make a pitcher of ice tea usually once a week. I usually use 6 small tea bags and since they're flavored teas I play mix and match, I have 1 bag of Sugar Cookie, 2 bags of Honey Green Tea and a large bag of Jasmine. The other two overwhelm the subtle jasmine flavor and make it taste like a sugar cookie more than anything. I won't try this mix again.

Mystery Quilts!

I've been working on two mystery quilts. One is a block of the month quilt Murder Mystery. I've already posted a small blurb about this one in my 2020 Projects post. It's been interesting to go blind into this quilting process. We were given a color list to start so we can choose our fabrics and have no clue what we're doing. This month's block used a skill I can say I don't like but can do with medium success. Curve piecing. The name of the block is Desert Flower and we make three of the blocks. The last two we made only one of that block and of course the one thing I am not fond of I have to make multiple. All complaining aside, the practice is good for me in skill-building and I think the block looks pretty.

The other was an international mystery quilt series by Fiberology Lab. This place is truly my home shop. Sometimes I feel like I'm there as much as at home. She's doing this like a quilt club that you can choose to participate by buying the kit.

Each meeting she goes over techniques and ideas for this month's quilt pattern. The kits are all precut, and you're given some scraps to go with it for extra bits. She also included recipes with the pattern.We talk about what was done from last month if you came or if you just had something to share. The quilts are small throw or baby quilt sizes and make great gifts.

I participated in February and got a kit for Italy in pinks and purples. It's a snowball block that represents meatballs. I'm hungry thinking about spaghetti and meatballs now. I have most of the blocks done and sewin into strips. No photo of that, but I will be done soon.

Tea for today a shot of the table at a ladies tea event I went to. My co-worker sponsors a table at her church's even. It's usually a fun social event combined with the church's fund-raiser. Last year was her first year and didn't know she could bring fancy cups. I loaned her some of mine for the table and I think she did a great job decorating. Snow had hit that morning and half the people couldn't come. The guest speaker included, but we still had a good time. She had picked up several different flavors. She found a Moringa Tea and I tried it. I can't say I'm a fan. It had a bit of a grassy flavor. I don't plan on getting any more, but I'm glad I experienced something new.

2020 Mountain Quiltfest

I wanted to go to Quiltcon this year but it just wasn't in the cards. There is always next year. I did get to go to Mountain Quiltfest in Pigeon Forge. It's in my own backyard so it doesn't make sense to not go. Unfortunately, I only got to go the last day. I was unable to make it to any of the special events or classes but I did enjoy seeing the show.

Mom and I got there a little after 1. That meant we had 4 hours and we had missed all the antique quilt bed turnings. We did get recognized by some of the ladies from our area shops that we visit. I am on a budget this year because I'm planning a trip to Florida in May, so I have a small haul. I got three mystery charm packs from Missouri Star and three fat quarters from Mountian Creek Quilt Shop.

One of the fun things was a lady brought her pet monkey. It was cute as can be. She said he was a baby and could not be left alone. I didn't try to pet him because he was very agitated by the crowds. Of course, the quilts are a major highlight. It's always fun to see what people have done. One year I'm going to submit one of my quilts. I just need to get the guts to do it.

I have more photos available to see on my google photos album. I took over 50 photos, so there is no way to include them all here.

I'm going to do a double tea today. Normally just one tea spotlight a day but since I didn't post much I've got a few extra photos. I have a holiday tea to share. It's the Harney & Sons 2020 Lunar New Year Tea. It's got a toasted rice and coconut flavor to it. I would say it's not something I want all the time but it was a nice specialty tea. I did buy it and the Birthday Party tea because they had a special of two for $15 going on. I also recently found a vintage storage jar at a thrift shop. I reorganized my tea area upstairs so that I would have more space and store things better.

First Saturday Fiber Review

I went to the normal first Saturday fiber review at Fiberology Labs. It's been fun to go to this. She handles it like a club meeting. She talks about all the new stuff coming in and gives us a project for the month. We then have a show and tell of what we did last month and if we finished the project last month. There's also a schedule of what is going to happen for the month with special events and classes. Since she sells both fabric and yarn she does a different session for yarn a couple of weeks into the month. It's gotten so popular she's got to have two sessions for each.

For this month I had the heart coster I made from last month's project. I also had 6 months done on my temperature quilt and almost all my Homely Houseplants done. I have one left and it's ready to frame. We were given a panel fabric as our free fabric sample and a pattern. There were three different patterns of a drawstring bag, apron or placemats. I got the placemats. I'm thinking of using different fabric for the placemats and make a baby quilt out of the panels. I don't know if I will give it to my cousin who is about to have a baby or give it to Project Linus. I need to do it before I decide that.

For tea today I've got one from January. I had taken several photos of different places and teas and I haven't gotten to use them because of not posting enough. There is a new boba tea place near work. It's Tealicious and I love the place. I can get as much sweetener or as little as you like. Also, you can get as much ice as you like. The menu has a lot of choices. They have a few small snacks but mostly focus on the tea.

Sit n Stitch and Homely Houseplants Stitch Along

I've been working on a stitch along by Stitchonomy called Homely Houseplants. It ended a few days ago and I'm almost done. I've just got two more plants to go. I missed the sign up for the free patterns on her page by a day because I didn't get the Facebook notification till the next day. I decided to join her patreon to get into this one and I'm really happy I did.

She had some very pretty and easy designs. I say easy because she doesn't do half stitches or put in the backstitching. So if you don't like either of those then your good to go. I will sometimes add it in depending on if I want to emphasize or smooth out details. She's also supportive of using different colors.

Her next one is colorful critters and the colors in the kits look exciting. I'm not ordering a kit because I have such an enormous selection of floss I'm going to see what I have first. These projects have become my sit and stitch projects. On Tuesdays, I meet a group at the local quilt shop for sit and stitch. A lot of them knit or crochet, but a few of us are doing other types of hand projects.

Sit and stitch inspired me to put an unusual drink as my spotlight. It uses tea to make it, but it's not tea. One of the ladies grew up in the Seattle area and has family in Victoria, British Colombia. She often visited family there and has had the tea blend that the Empress Hotel created. She was talking about one of the shops there she would buy tea from. That reminded me of a recommendation for a fantastic Gin I got at the beginning of February. It was the Empress 1908 Gin. This was also crafted at the hotel. The gin is made with botanicals that include rose petals, Grapefruit peel, purple pea blossoms, and the Empress Hotel's tea blend. I can not tell you how much of love this gin and it's my favorite color in the world, purple. The flowers give it such a vibrant color that even making a gin and tonic does not dull it very much. I hope to one day try the tea.

Antique Quilts

I wanted to share a few antique quilts I found. As I said in my previous post I had visited a vintage shop with a friend of mine in Chattanooga. I had to take photos of a few of the finds from the shop. I thought about adding this to my previous post but it was already a long post. So first is a beautiful collage quilt I found that is clearly not antique but probably only a few years old. It's still a fun quilt for a great price.

Next was a great scrap use idea. The pumpkin was either made of repurposed damaged quilts or made new and as aged several years now. While near this one I found some beautiful vintage cross stitch pieces and notions I didn't photograph.

The last one was a vintage quilt found in a different store. I almost bought this but didn't have it in my budget at the time. Its a fabulous star pattern with small yo-yo's at the edge. You can't see the yo-yo's in the photo but they used it to make scalloped edges.

It's not unusual to find hand made quilts in shops around here. They were usually handmade and passed to family members. If someone didn't have a family to give them to and no one wanted them after the artist passed then they end up in second-hand stores. If you find one under $100 it's a steal no matter how damaged it is.

New notions from old

sample found online

While browsing on Facebook someone had posted about a vintage dish they found and repurposed as a sewing aid. It was a milk glass candy dish that has a laced edge on its lip. The owner turned it into a pincushion and scissors holder. I immediately did some research and found lots of quilters had repurposed these dishes for this purpose. I immediately started looking for one. I found several online in the $30 price range. I wanted to look around and see if I could find one locally for a better price. I told several friends if they found one to let me know.

I put the thread in just for this photo

One of them came through with a larger size dish complete with a lid. He said he found it for $20. I didn't realize how much that was a bargain until after I've found 5 myself in various shops without lids and all much higher in price. Recently I found the smallest one without a lid for $2. I currently use the larger one to hold my sewing machine extras and small scissors. I'm going to make a pin cushion for my smaller one.

Both of my dishes!

2020 Projects!

It's already March and I've not posted anything on what I've been working on. I've been distracted and then at the end of January and the first of February I had a friend visit from out of town. I didn't get anything done while he was here.  So I've had several small projects I finished for February and January.

January I did the first Saturday fiber Review for Fiberology Labs. I didn't have much extra to show for it. I did have the Christmas Tree Table Runner I showed in my last post. I also finished my Winter 2019 cross stitch along with Stitchonomy. It came out so pretty. I'm going to leave it in the wooden frame to hang it. I have started another cross stitch along with her group. It's called Homely Houseplants. She ended that one recently I just have to finish the last few plants on mine. She has a free sign up for her next stitch along Colorful Critters. You have until April 15th to sign up for the free patterns.

February for the Fiber review we got a pattern for a heart coster. I've finished the coster but haven't taken a photo of it yet. It was a small fast project. I'm going to make more for presents later with different fabrics. It's pretty easy all you need is a few charm squares. I will have a photo of the finished one with March's fiber review meeting.

I started a temperature quilt for my father. One of the lady's that meet at our local quilt shop/yarn shop has been doing a temperature scarf as part of The National Park Tempestry Project. This got me researching different types of temperature blankets etc. I don't knit or crochet. I have attempted it in the past and it is just not one of my talents. I do, however, quilt a lot. So I thought I could do one as a present.

January and February temperature quilt for 1954 WIP

My father's birth year was chosen because I haven't done anything specifically for him yet. I thought he would like this type of quilt the most. I did research on the daily highs and lows for the entire year. I had taken the range and assigned fabric colors to equal the temperatures in 5-degree increments. The lower two ranges are in 10-degree increments because of not having data reflecting certain ranges. I cut brown squares to mark where the months change and made 365 half-square triangle blocks. I have been a bit slower on this project then I hoped I would be and only have 5 rows together giving us a snapshot of the first two months of the year.

January Block

February block

Another project I am working on has been a Murder Mystery Quilt along. They are dropping a block a month with a bit of a story. When you post a picture of your block you get a clue to help you figure out the mystery. I've enjoyed this one so far. Seeing everyone else's blocks posted on Instagram has been fun.

This month for tea I'm going to spotlight a tea room I went to in Chattanooga recently. One of the places my friend wanted to go to was Two Ten Jacks in Chattanooga for Ramen. Since it's almost a two-hour drive for us, we decided to do a day trip and hit a few places. We stopped at Chattanooga Mercantile and spent several hours wandering through the store. It was lots of fun. In the building, there is a tea room called Mammie Carlotta's tucked in the back. We stopped for a snack and some tea for a bit before wandering around the shop more.