Stash Buster Mini Series SAL updates

I've missed a few months of updating. I've not stopped working. I finished the #miniseriessal by #guicyguice and #alisonglass. This was a learning experience but I don't think I will do that again. I made a small table topper with all the blocks.

I finished the stash diving mystery and participated in a few more. I did not get a final photo of two of the tops but I will have them up at a later date. I did also finish Jaybird Quilts Gravity quilt pattern. I've been calling it the Galaxy quilt. That one has been sent off to the quilter to be quilted. It's roughly queen plus and I do not have the ability to quilt it myself. I don't mind paying someone with a long arm machine to do it for me. I can't wait to have the finished quilt back.

When the shop that sold the Elmwood teas opened back up I went back to get some teas. I picked up this Bourbon black tea. It's an interesting rich tea. It's good to drink straight up or in cocktails.

Mini Series Stitch Along.

We are about to enter week 4 of the Alison Glass and Guicy Guice mini-series stitch along. Week 1 was the log cabin block. Week 2 was the courthouse steps, and week 3 was the pineapple block. The patterns are so tiny but they are getting easier to stitch on such a scale. It's hard to tell from the photos, but I'm doing 4 1/2 inch blocks.

Last week I saw on Instagram where someone had done a spiral pattern with the pineapple block. I decided that was what I wanted. It took two days of work to make the block. The first day was mostly planning on where what went. I'm ready for the next block. I have the patterns for all the blocks and I can just start one, but I like seeing what everyone else is doing before I completely decide on mine. Plus I'm not 100% sure what's next.

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.

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.