I can't believe I am writing this post from the start of August - this year seems to be going by awfully quickly, doesn't it? My kids are back to school already and I know the school year will fly by with my oldest as a senior. But before we get into that, let me share what I did in July. It was a great month, as I had the first full week off for a company shut-down. This is a new benefit we've only had for a few years and I really like it - a full week off during the 4th of July week. It is so much nicer to be on vacation when everyone else is, rather than coming back from a great week off to a mountain of email and activities.
I am happy to say that I spent quite a bit of time working on my quilting and stitching during my week off and through the whole month. Back in June, I set myself a challenge of making some good progress on quilt UFOs - I wanted to finish three and make progress on two more. I shared my progress in June in my June recap post. At that point, I'd quilted two UFOs. I am happy to share that I not only met my goal, but exceeded it and I am so glad to have four finishes to share and one with good progress. Here they are.
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| Pumpkin Stack, a wall hanging that started as a mug rug - I made the smallest pumpkin and it was so small, I decided to see what would happen if I doubled it, and then did that again. I think this is such a cute quilt and can't wait to hang it in October. It is quilted with Signature Poly thread in a variegated orange. I did a hand-guided stippling for this quilt. |
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| Mini Lotus by Jaybird quilts was my second finish. I quilted this one with "petals" in each of the "flowers" with a Superior King Tut variegated thread. This one is on the table in my living room and I love seeing it each day. |
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| My fourth one was a "found UFO" that I unearthed when I was looking for something else. It wasn't even on my UFO list - whoops! This is a row by row pattern from several years ago. I bought this one in North Carolina while on our way to the Outer Banks. I made it into a table runner with some fabric I picked at a local shop. I quilted it with a light blue Omni thread in loops and think it is a really fun summer piece. |
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My last UFO finish is actually the first one I started on - I quilted this in June and it was the last one I bound. I asked my daughter and one of my Scouts which color binding it should have and they selected the yellow - I think it really makes that border pop. This quilt is called Sunrise Over the Mountain by Deb Karasik and is a paper pieced quilt. I quilted it with several threads to match the fabrics behind them and it is custom quilted (that means custom designs for each section rather than a design that goes over the whole quilt). This one is also a wall hanging and it is the last in a set of three that I've made. I can't wait to hang these three together.
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My three Deb Karasik quilts together.
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| My fifth UFO - Which Way's North by Judy Niemeyer - this is the one that I made progress on - what you see in the bag in front of the quilt is all the paper removed from the paper piecing. I thought this would be a quick way to make progress, but it took a lot longer than I expected. The good news is that it's all off now so I can shift my focus to finding a good quilt back for this one. I'd like to have this finished by October when we go to our fall quilt retreat so I can take it for show and tell. |
It really was fun for the last month and a half to put some focus on finish up a few quilts that had been waiting for way too long. I think I may need to do something similar with my stitching. Speaking of stitching, I had one finish and one fully-finish in July.
My finish is Be Kind, Be Happy, Be Well, a Lizzie Kate freebie that was designed early in the pandemic. I stitched mine on a light purple linen with all kinds of color changes. I had a recipient in mind as I stitched this and they are much more of a bold and bright person, so I thought these colors would fit them. The B and the top and bottom words are in a lovely purple that doesn't show up well on camera, but looks really nice in person.
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| Lizzie Kate Pandemic Freebie |
My FFO is called Animal Friends and is by Tiny Modernist. It was part of a monthly series but I don't plan to stitch the series. August is my birthday month and I thought this was a super cute August pattern. I mounted this on mat board and then attached it to a wooden block from Michael's. I spent way too long trying to tie a reasonable bow ;) and I think in the end it worked out okay. This one will sit on my mantel in August. It was stitched on a very light blue aida.
As I said, it really was a great month for my hobbies. I am glad to have had a little spurt of energy to get these all done and hope I can hang onto that for the next few months.
Here are my monthly reports on stash usage and crafting time:
Fabric added this month: 3/4 yard
Fabric used this month: 1 3/4 yards
Fabric added year to date: 4 1/4 yards
Fabric used year to date: 21 7/8 yards
Net fabric used: 17 5/8 yards
26 days with at least 15 minutes of quilting or stitching time - 84% success rate in July
Hope your July was a nice one too and see you again soon!
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