Let's go dancing!

Friends, I could weep.

Seriously, I feel the tears forming.

Dancing Nines is now a finished quilt top! Take a look:

The sun came out just as I was taking this!

I love it!  And really, I could weep. These pieces sat in a drawer for more than 16 years. (Original post is HERE.) I packed them and moved them to a new house. I considered finishing the quilt several times. I lost some of the fabric. The instructions became outdated and incomprehensible. I finally pulled the pieces out a couple of months ago, during the red month of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I found one of Bonnie Hunter's free patterns and finally went for it. And now it's done!

The finished size of this baby is about 58 by 68. I have only a small handful of random pieces left. (Happy dance!) I like the way the checkerboard border turned out, but I'm not eager to do another one any time soon. So many seams! Stretchy! And I wasn't sure about the green, but now I like it a lot. Gives it just a little zing. I might even use it for the binding.

I learned a couple of things while making this. First, I am MUCH better at sewing now than I was 16 years ago. I guess I learned a few things in between. Some of those 9-patches are a little off, but I left them anyway. Would you have ripped every one of them apart to fix them? Yeah, me neither. Another thing I learned is that the fabric has definitely gotten better too. The red fabric in this quilt was first quality fabric, purchased at the shop where I took the class, and it is quite thin and very ravelly (if that's a word). Ripping some of those smaller pieces to make the checkerboard pieces was difficult because the fabric would actually tear. Today I would reject it as poor quality. So I guess we're getting some good value for our $12 a yard.

And look what I got out of the leftover green border-- a bright green Odd Fellow!

He looks happy. (Oops. I see a star point cut off. I'll fix that right away.) And here's the second red Odd Fellow's, which I also finally finished this week.

Do you know what this means? For the next 48 hours, I am completely caught up with RSC14! I plan to enjoy it while it lasts.

 It's Labor Day weekend, so everyone enjoy the last weekend of summer. Hope you're inspired to pull something old out of the closet or the drawer and give it a new life!

Linking to Confessions of a Fabric Addict, crazy mom quilts, and the awesome Angela! Visit sometime this weekend for some more fun projects.

Very short update

A very short post today. I'm still not into the "new" routine, and I have at least 4 hours of paperwork/ other desk work to finish today. We were supposed to become a paperless society by now, but all that means really is that the "paper" has moved to the computer. And here I thought we were actually being promised less work. Silly me.

Here is what I plan to finish this week--the Dancing Nines top! Here is the center:

Yes! All those 9-patches are sewn up! The top is thrown over the fence, so it's actually a little bigger. And they do look like they're dancing!

I have to dig through my fabric and find a stop border, then I can put on the pieced 4-patch border, which has been making me crazy. I finally figured out that I didn't actually have to make 4-patches, just piece together the string of red and white cuts to make the finished measurement. D'oh! (Insert Homer Simpson voice here!)

Anyway, hope everyone is having a really productive week. Here's wishing for less paperwork for everyone!

Linking to WIP Wednesday and Let's Bee Social. Stop on over if you have a minute!

Projects in progress

Hello all!

A LOT has been happening in my sewing room so far this week. There are three projects that are racing toward the finish line very fast. Wonder which one will get there first?

First up is the aqua and orange quilt. I finished the center and then decided to put some orange flying geese as a border.

Wow, is that ever bad.  I really, really don't like it. The scale is all wrong, and the seams hit funny. As soon as I realized from the picture how very bad it looked, I took it off. Time to try something else. I think a thin border and then some smaller flying geese that won't have to match up to the existing seams. And a different orange. Definitely a different orange.

Then I have the red and white Dancing Nines quilt, which is coming along nicely.

Look, I'm making 4 patches from the leftover pieces! It may not make an exciting picture, but I am seriously excited about this. I started with 68 and need a bunch more. The extra pieces have to be taken apart to make them the right size, so there are threads everywhere. And I may need to buy a new seam ripper, one that will actually cut thread. How much ripping do you have to do to dull a seam ripper?

And, believe it or not, the third project is this one:

Okay, weird size picture, but this is two rows of the much-postponed Celtic Solstice project. I am FINALLY putting it together. I don't know if it feels good yet or not; mostly I just feel relieved. I have had to bargain with myself to work on it, as in "you can't sew on the Dancing Nines until you sew two CS blocks together." Hey, whatever works, right? The next hurdle is figuring out a border, but I can see the end of the tunnel. And I'm pretty sure that it's not an oncoming train.

That's it for now, except for this:

That's a basket of small scraps to be cut into 1 1/2 and 2 inch squares. It'll be relaxing, right?

Hope your sewing is also going well! Linking to Linky Tuesday, WIP Wednesday, and Let's Bee Social. Come on over and join us!

Project updates

Hello all! How is your week going? I really meant it last week when I said it was crunch time. Seems like I have more to do than I have had all summer! Somehow it always gets done, but I have no idea how that happens. Must be magic.

Last week I offered the leftover triangles from the fields and furrows finish to a reader who would use them. Several people were interested, and I pulled Joanne's name out of the box. Thanks for taking those off my hands! They are on their way to you.

Now that the fields and furrows quilt is done and all those HSTs are out of here, I am left with finishing the aqua triangles and Dancing Nines quilts.  (And Celtic Solstice--I know, I know. . . that's another post.) I am still putting the sashing on the aqua triangles. It is tedious, but I like how it's turning out.  Forgot pictures, but I promise some when it's together.

For Dancing Nines, I have 20 blocks together! Yay me! However, I decided to go ahead and make some more. I have these blocks:

This isn't stitched together, but it was supposed to be one of the centers of the Burgoyne Surrounded blocks. I figure that I can cut down the pieces, stitch them together, and have enough 9 patches for 4 more dancing nines blocks. Then I have these pieces:

These are leftover strips that the 9 patches were originally made from. They're already stitched together, so why not make a few more blocks? They certainly aren't going to do anyone any good if they're left over again! So we'll see how many more I can get out of them and how I can configure the quilt center. I am exciting about this quilt, so I'm happy to be working on it.

Another project going on here is baby quilts for my neighbor's kids, who are each expecting babies this fall. I let her choose a couple tops to be quilted up for them, and this is one:

I made the blocks a few years ago as part of a block of the month. As usual, I didn't like the final layout, so I used the other 8 blocks in a different layout and had these left over. They've been in the orphanage for a while, but we pulled them out this weekend and they look great! I didn't have any of the original fabric left, but I was able to find a couple scraps for the corners and the center block, and I think the teddy bear border works well. The colors aren't exactly the same, but they are close--and very cheerful!

My neighbor also chose the kick blocks quilt, if you remember that one from earlier this summer. Here's a reminder:

So, I need to quilt up those two and get them ready for baby showers in September. They're not my grandchildren, but I'm very excited about their arrival!

So, that's my agenda for this week. I want to get those quilt centers done really soon so I can finish both of those quilts in the next couple of weeks. Time is of the essence here. Someone also asked me whether the Fiesta Pinwheels top was quilted yet. In case you're also wondering, it's not done yet. My quilter's mother passed away, so there has been a very understandable delay that I am absolutely okay with. Never fear, though, the quilt is in the queue and will be done soon enough.

We are having another great summer day today. Hope you are too!

Linking to Linky Tuesday, WIP Wednesday, and Let's Bee Social. Buzz on over and check them out!

Summer Friday

How is your summer going? We are having the weirdest possible season ever. It was rainy for a long time, then it was hot very briefly, and now we are having fall-like weather with lows in the 50s. It's been beautiful, which is my official explanation for being behind on everything that I was planning to do this summer (including actual work that I MUST finish). You can't waste weather like this when you have winters like ours!

I have been getting a few things done. First up is one of the red Odd Fellow's blocks:

I think this is my favorite one so far. It's really striking up close. I wish I had more of that fabric, but I used up every scrap of it in this block.

I've also made a bunch of the Dancing Nines blocks, and I'm so impatient to see it done that I started putting them together!

Looks wonky, but really just needs pressing!

See why they're called "dancing" nines? I think it looks great so far. The best part of this pattern is that while there are a lot of seams, very few of them have to be matched! It's a very, very easy pattern. (Available HERE, free!) I also found some fabric with larger cherries for an outer border when I'm ready for one. First I have to figure out what to do with all those 4-patches for an inner border. Actually, the first thing I have to do is finish the center, but that's going very quickly. I'm optimistic.

In a huge fit of productivity, I also quilted up the triangle mini that I made earlier this month:

I straight-line quilted this following the diagonals of the triangles. Sometimes a walking foot can be your best friend because this went really quickly.

 I even put the binding on it! It's completely done by machine, which I don't do very often, but it's just not exactly an heirloom, so I'm okay with it.

 Finally, check out these nifty quilt labels my friend Leanne made for me:

Obviously untrimmed.

How great are those? She has a personal embroidery business, The Sewcial Life, and I'll bet she'd make some for you too, for a very reasonable price. There's a link right here, and she's on Facebook too, so go visit and drop her an email if you want to chat about some labels. (Just giving kudos to a friend here! I get no kickbacks! But I am very, very happy with these.)

Hope you are also having great weather where you are. Get outside this weekend and enjoy it!

Linking to Confessions of a Fabric Addict, crazy mom quilts, and SoScrappy. Check them out for more quilty goodness!

Red blocks

It has been a disappointing week for finishes here, folks. Probably because I keep sitting on the sofa watching movies and eating Lemon Oreos instead of actually working on anything.

Ha,ha! Of course I'm kidding. I'm really cleaning the basement and garage. Fun times.

I did manage to finish a couple of things. First, there were these babies:

These are the triangle blocks for my RSC14 quilt. Red and white always look so happy together, don't you think? I also did the cutting for the Odd Fellow's blocks, but haven't assembled them yet. I'm not sure I'll keep the polka dotted block on the left. Looks a little too "Raggedy Ann" to me.

I also made up one test block for the Dancing Nines quilt:

This block is much straighter than it looks in pictures!

I think I like it. I chose the more open cherry fabric as the sashing. The more packed cherry fabric is very nice, but I like the look of this better. Not to worry! I'm sure the rejected fabric will get used somewhere. I was worried about the width of the sashing because my blocks are smaller than those in the pattern, and I ultimately cut the sashing 1 1/4 rather than 1 1/2 inches. It's a little bit, but it made a big difference to me. I have enough 9 patches for 20 of these blocks, and plenty of leftover cuts if I decide to make more for a few more blocks.

Finally, our cool and wet summer has had some good side effects:

This astilbe hasn't bloomed in years (literally), but has tons of flowers right now. I forgot how pretty the blooms are! I think I even forgot what color it was supposed to be, but I'm loving it right now.

I want to take just a second here at the end of the post to say how much I appreciate all the comments people have been leaving on this little blog. It's very gratifying! I try to answer every one (sometimes a couple of days later because life gets in the way).  If you are a no-reply blogger, please know that I appreciate your comments too, but sometimes can't find you online to reply.

Thanks for stopping by, and everyone enjoy your summer weekend!

Linking to Sarah, Amanda Jean, and Angela -- stop by their link-ups for lots of happy inspiration! (Or some fun time-wasting. Either way!)