Monday, June 24, 2019

My June Goal Finish

This was my original backing choice for Cobblestones. It's yardage, so it would have to be pieced, which is okay, but in the end I decided it was a bit too "fancy" for the quilt. 

Then I decided to use this wide back. After I pre-washed it (because wide backs are notorious for lots of shrinkage) I realized it was a huge piece of fabric that would have a lot of waste for such a small quilt. It would make sense to save it for a larger project. 

In the end, I had to face what I knew I needed to do all along--use up all the leftovers from the front of the quilt so I didn't have to file them into my stash. I randomly sewed bits, bobs and strips into a block long enough for the backing and pieced that into a split piece of dotted yardage. 

So this is Cobblestones, my One Monthly Goal for June,  finished.
It's 60" square quilted with an orange peel design. Although the front looks like it's pretty random too, the quilt is put together with three repeating rows. I was lucky I could work on it at quilt camp where I could lay out the rows--it made it a lot easier! 

Maybe I should have spent a little time planning my "random" backing.
At least I don't have to wonder what to do with all the left over fabric.

I just had to cut the check on the bias for the binding--love how it looks! 
See more One Monthly Goal finishes HERE
June Finish OMG link-up is open!

Saturday, June 15, 2019

Not a lot of June progress.....

There's no progress at all on my June goal. I have been dithering on the backing for my Cobblestones top. I just can't decide what fabric to use and I've changed my mind twice already--even after pre-washing one of my choices. 
In the meantime, I was forced to do some "Marie Kondo-ing" when my California Closet literally fell off the wall. So embarrassing. So....I was forced to sort through years decades of clothing (I didn't think I was a hoarder, but....????). 

The worst part was hauling thirty-some bags of clothing downstairs and packing it into my car. What a relief to have it all donated and out of the house! Mr. Moosebay had vowed to sort through his closet if I did mine, but I'm not seeing any progress on that. He did re-install my California Closet and I'm pretty sure it's going to stay in place from now on--fingers crossed--lol!

I have managed to get lots of applique done in the evenings though. The Pineapple block (lower left) is the latest for the Hospital Sketches and it will go beneath the center wreath in the finished quilt. 

Along with the weekly Temecula Wishing Rings blocks, I got part four of Cheddarback pieced. I took the easy route with all the blocks--flippy corners for the bow tie, flying geese for the star, and printed out a paper foundation for the pinwheel sort of block using my EQ8 program. 

 
The last two parts of Stonefields were loaded with circles! My Karen Kay Buckley Perfect Circles really got a workout. I was tempted to buy another set since there are only three or four of each size in the set. 

The final nine blocks. Now I need to motivate myself to sew everything together! Everywhere there is blue in both groups of blocks was to be pink if I used the kit fabrics. I raided my stashes of French General, Jo Morton and finally used some of my Judie Rothermel Dressing Gowns fabrics. I think there is still plenty of pink in these blocks and even more in the previously finished blocks. 

I haven't done any wool applique for ages, so in desperation to find some kind of hand work to do in the evenings, I dug out a tote of Primitive Gatherings pin cushion kits. Some of these go back years! There are a few Black Friday freebies and some from Lisa Bongean's  book Summer Gatherings. Apparently I bought the kits when I purchased to book? Who knows! The stitching on the three designs to the left is finished. I had forgotten how enjoyable it is to stitch on wool. I have several more projects in the tote, so it should keep my nights busy until I finally get Cobblestones finished and need to stitch on the binding! 

Saturday, June 1, 2019

June Goal

After prepping all the rest of the Stonefield's blocks, I started sorting out the left over fabrics. This is just some of the pinks that weren't used. I guess I don't have to do any shopping to add pink to my stash!  

This is what's under all that pink: Cobblestones, my One Monthly Goal for June.
I worked on this quilt while at camp and finished the embroidery at home.

 The words were embroidered before putting the quilt together, but the crosses and running stitches were added later. 

It was hard to not keep adding more of the random stitching, but I had to stop somewhere--lol!

See more June goals HERE