Author: Teresa

Quilts, good books and dogs. Plus a cup of tea. Life is good.

Wintry mix forecasted

January 10, 2025

Snow, ice, freezing rain, or just plain old rain? Local weather forecasters keep revising the forecast. We started with 3-6″ of snow. The latest forecast shows us receiving less than 1″ of snow on Friday, changing over to freezing rain the remainder of Friday into Saturday. Expected ice accumulation is about 1/4″, which should be cleared up by lunchtime on Sunday.

My plan is to hunker down until Sunday afternoon. A little bit of snow isn’t the issue – it’s the ice you can’t see when driving on the hilly, shaded streets around my home. Said ice on the power lines could potentially cause power outages (not fun). From experience, I know the house temps will settle in the mid-50’s if there’s no heat and outside temps are in the single digits. We’re forecasted to be at least 20 degrees warmer than that this weekend. The front of our house faces the sun, so the front bedroom is the best place to bundle up and hunker down while it’s cold with no heat. A hot meal can be had if I fire up the Big Green Egg.

I’m ready for whatever happens: a stack of books, handwork projects, my journal, a deck of cards and Sadie to play 9,000 iterations of the in/out game.

Projects made from my fabric stash

January 4, 2025
Stitchin’ Heaven New Year’s Day QAL Blocks 1 & 2 made from fabrics in my patriotic bin
Curvy, lined zipper pouch for class sample. Pattern drafted by me using Boxed Bag template by Carolina Moore.
Placemats using Mini Yellow Brick Road pattern (basting outside at the library during Sew Day)

What do you do with leftovers from previous quilt projects?
How about using them in new projects? It doesn’t have to be an entire quilt.
1. Make mug rugs, pot holders, placemats, table runners, journal covers, pillow covers or zipper pouches.
2. Use the larger leftover bits make quilt sandwiches for FMQ practice.
3. Use some of the smaller leftover bits to make a practice blocks to try out new patterns before cutting into your project fabric.

How to store your scrap and leftover fabrics?
Your system can be as decorative and elaborate as you wish. Personally, I prefer simple. I keep small bits and partial strips in a pretty basket. Random 5″ and 10″ squares are kept with my charm packs and layer cakes. Cut strips that are WOF are stored with my jelly rolls. Larger chunks are stored by color with FQs and yardage. Novelty, dog and patriotic theme fabrics are kept separately.

Periodically, I will go through my scrap bin and cut the leftover jagged pieces into 2-1/2″, 3-1/2″ and 4-1/2″ squares. The smallest size kept is 1-1/2″ strips and I’ll cut 1-1/2″ squares from them as needed because they tend to get lost in the scrap bin.

With the current Bonnie Hunter Winter Mystery quilt, I’ve made good use of random charm squares, forgotten FQs, white/cream hunks leftover from previous quilt tops, and turning all the leftover triangles from trimming stitch & flip units into 1-3/4″ HSTs.

The key to managing your fabric scraps is to organize them, then actually use them.

Quilty Plans for 2025

January 1, 2025

Can you believe it’s 2025 already?

Do you map out an entire year of quilting projects or do you just go with the flow? Last year, I attempted to plan out my year of projects similar to Kimberly Jolly at Fat Quarter Shop. It was nice to have one binder with everything in it, but the reality is I only made about 1/3 of the projects I’d written in there. Why? Because several other projects called my name louder than the projects listed on a page in my binder. That’s okay.

This year, my focus is going to be finishing what I started.

  • Continued detashing of fabric, supplies and books.
  • Rehome all kid craft materials leftover from teaching.
  • Finish assembling all partially done quilt tops.
  • Select 3 tops I want to submit for entry into an upcoming juried quilt show and get them completed, including the label, by year end. I will do the quilting myself.
  • Get current on BOM and QAL blocks.
  • Complete EQ online classes 2 & 3.

My main priorities right now are to complete the Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt, finish up the 5 or so quilt tops in various stages of assembly and clear out the kid craft materials leftover from teaching Monday enrichment classes.

Sew with friend days and retreats will be perfect for getting/staying current on BOM and QAL blocks. For now, community service efforts will be limited to making placemats and pillowcases for my guild since our partners indicated they have enough quilts on hand. I’ll continue to practice my FMQ on existing tops and use those quilts for Sadie’s therapy dog visits. My home also needs one new bed quilt, refreshed kitchen table linens and accessories. Fat Quarter Shop is sponsoring a QAL featuring Lori Holt’s Vintage Christmas quilt. This particular quilt has been on my “to-make” list for some time and is the only “brand new” project I plan to undertake in 2025.

A fun, personal challenge is going to be to see how long I can go without spending any personal money on quilting supplies. Santa brought me a 6 month Sew Sampler Box subscription and family members gave me gift cards to some of my favorite places to get sewing/quilting goodies. I’m certainly up to the challenge!

May your needle always stay threaded and your dates with Jack few in 2025.

Photo by Jill Wellington on Pexels.com