Project QUILTING - Quarantine 2020 Limited Edition - Q.1

BIG


Six days ago, as my Monday morning rolled along, I finally got around to checking my email.  I had missed Kim's notice that there would be a Project QUILTING Quarantine 2020 Limited Edition.  After stating there would be no prizes and that we could decide how "perfectly we wanted to play by the rules, she also said:

"I mean, honestly, it’s just about

DOING SOMETHING PRODUCTIVE

so we don’t all go stir crazy, right?"

She's using the abbreviation PQQ2020.  The first prompt Q.1 was released yesterday.  You better BET that I'm going to participate!!  Those other QALs will have to wait, as my creative muse ALREADY has an idea for my quilt.  :o))

What are the guidelines, Joyful??

You can interpret that several ways: use large-scale prints in your fabrics, make a bigger project than usual, use a “big” theme, blow up a small subject much larger than life, or enlarge the grid-scale of your blocks to try a block 16″ or larger.


About those rules, Joyful...

Same as always:
No size requirement - make it as BIG or little as you would like.
Each piece has to be DONE to qualify.
We have ONE WEEK from INCEPTION to COMPLETION.

And, of course, LINK UP!!!

Let's see how it went...

The original design started out like this:

Then I spotted the stencils that I have been saving for 5 (?) years and traced them on paper and chose fabrics from a couple of gifted (Thank you, Cheryl K. and Francine!) scrap bags:

After cutting out the letters and numbers, I traced the characters on the back of each of them:

This is the ONE fabric that came from my own stash:

Next up, I firmed up my design... BIG letters, on a LITTLE quilt:

When it came for the applique, I opted for raw edge technique with glue, stabilizer, and batting, but decided on using that as the quilting through all three layers to call it done:

But...

The quilt wanted MORE thread:

And then...

There was the matter of that TINY Q to deal with:

Oh!  Binding, too.

Eventually, the little BIG quilt was done:

7.5" x 8"

The reason, Joyful, why did you make this quilt???

That's easy.... There was no reason NOT to make it!!  SEW, I did.

Here is my completed Q.1 Challenge quilt, pictured with my first heirloom iris of the season:

Thank you, Kim, for giving me something to do besides obsess of statistics about COVID-19 this week.  Even with all the extra time provided by our state's version of a shelter-in-place order in effect, I still only managed to complete the mini quilt for this challenge prompt with little more than an hour remaining before the deadline!  How does that happen?!?!  I'll just have to be satisfied that I did finish it.  (And used a few fabric scraps along the way.)

Sharing with Cynthia

for 

Oh Scrap!

and

Alycia
for
Finished (or Not) Friday

Until next time...
Go BIG and Stay at Home!!!

Sew Some Love Sunday - {CiL} Split 9-Patch Quilt Series

Welcome to another edition of Sew Some Love Sunday!!  This is a tale of two blocks.  You see...

Last fall, Kat @ Kat and Cat Quilts announced a new Block Drive for Covered in Love.  The method for making the required HSTs produced enough for TWO blocks.  (Clever, Kat!)  Here are the blocks I made:

Fast forward to a month or so ago...

Cynthia, a prolific quilt maker who blogs @ Quilting is more fun than Housework, recently teamed up with Kat to transform block donations into quilts made from those Split 9-Patches.

Transformation complete:

In her post, First Covered in Love Finish, Cynthia shared the first of SEVEN quilts to be made as a result of Kat's Sept/Oct 2019 Block Drive!!

Cynthia gave me permission to share here progress.  Stay with me, as I do just that...

Part Two  - Covered in Love Finish Two was made from a completely different layout:

Quilt number THREE in yet another awesome design:

And then there were FOUR:

FIVE can be found at this link and in the photo below:

Quilt number SIX joined the group near the end of the first month of the COVID-19 crisis in the US:

... Adding something beautiful to a bleak time in our history.

The final quilt followed...

The LAST quilt (number SEVEN) was finished this week:

It's too bad that Cynthia forgot to take a photo of it before she mailed it off to Kat @ Covered in Love!!  :o((

In all those quilts, I never did spot my blocks!!  That's OK.  I'm just happy that I was able to contribute to such a worthy cause.  :o))

YOU, too, can participate in making these wonderful block drives a success.  Covered in Love continues to comfort patients at East Texas Medical Center, thanks to Kat and contributions from quilters like you.

Check out the current CiL Block Drive HERE!!!  This is the sample block that Kat posted:

Until next time...
Sew Some Love!!!

ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC20 - Week 14

Welcome to Week 14 of the 2020 Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  It's transition week.  That time of the month where the RSC Quilters wind down working with one color and dig out the next.  As much as I love TEAL, I'm looking forward to seeing what April's color selection will be.

Read on and we'll find out together mid-week...

SUNDAY - When Kate @ Life in Pieces commented on last week's productivity, this was my response:

The gift of TIME with limited distractions has been INCREDIBLE for my productivity!!! I miss my friends. I miss going and doing, but seriously?!  With no work to be done (outside these four walls), my productivity is through the roof! I'm still jumping from one project to the next, but with SEW much time to quilt? Bit by bit, projects are moving forward.

With Mt. Washmore quietly being tackled on Thursday and Friday this past week, I can concentrated on sewing these TEAL and purple blocks together for a baby quilt:

I also released a new edition of Sew Some Love.

MONDAY - I only got as far as the row assembly yesterday:

Mail Call!!!  Here's a LINK to my latest post.

TUESDAY - Today's task is to cut and sew binding on the quilt that I trimmed up last night:

My Evening Quilt Bee didn't go virtual, so we entertained ourselves by posting pictures collected by the blog editor.  I shared my completed "Ella Quilt" for Mercyful Quilts:

WEDNESDAY - Angela @ So Scrappy announced the new Color of the Month.  During the month of April, the RSC Quilters will be working with:

Light/Bright BLUE!!

I am SEW excited!!  This fits right in with Bonnie Hunter's NEW Sew-in-Place UNITY Quilt Along.  :o))

Gayle @ Mangofeet and I recently had a discussion about what the new color might be.  We agreed that it HAD to be something cheerful.  My guess was purple, but (as evidenced above) I was wrong about that.  Oh well, this works, too!

Today on the blog, I released the results of the Winter 2020 (Ravelry) UFO Club.  The post includes the quilt shown above.

THURSDAY - Jennifer @ Life's Little Adventures is practicing "sewcial distancing".  Libby is doing Alphabetical I-Sew-Lation.

I'm quilting my way through the Quarantine Chronicles and if you follow the link, you'll see how Week 2 panned out.  Meanwhile, Cathy @ CRAZY BY DESIGN is feeling like the solitary confinement is getting to her!

Me??  Hours spent in my studio are hard to come by on a "normal" day.  I am knocking this Corona-cation thing out of the park!!  

FRIDAY - The weekend has arrived.  Those of you who are working from the comfort of your own home will know this.  (And you are probably pretty happy about that fact.)  Sorry!  I'm having a little bit of trouble relating to that right now.  You see, I can't even TELL you how many times (this week) I found myself asking...
"What day is it?!?!"

SATURDAY - It's LINK PARTY day over on Angela's So Scrappy blog.  Head over to see what the RSC Quilters have been up to.  I'll be there right after I get a picture of my Light BLUE scrap basket:

There!  This BIG basket of scraps is what I will hope to work through this month.  I have to say, I don't feel like I have been doing a very good job thus far.

My GOALS from the beginning of the year weren't that challenging, really.  A quilt top in the Color of the Month wasn't TOO much of a stretch (until I found out about Project QUILTING and forgot ALL about that monthly quilt top!!)

Looking at it now, it seems that I might need to alter the plan.  I'll think about it over the weekend and plan to make a statement sometime next week.

Until next time...
SCRAP healthy!!!

Spring 2020 (Ravelry) UFO Club - The List

Welcome back!!!

The Spring 2020 (Ravelry) UFO Club sign-ups are OPEN!! Participants MUST list (at least) FIVE projects. Photos should accompany the list.

Sign-ups end at midnight EDT on April 7, 2020.

NOTE: All qualifying finishes must be posted BEFORE midnight EST on June 30, 2020!!!

How do I get in on the finishing fun, Joyful???

Again, for those of you who are interested in participating along with us,  go join Ravelry, (NOW!) then join the Quilters Knitting group, and look for the Spring 2020 UFO Club discussion thread.  Sign-ups will be open for the Spring 2020 (Ravelry) UFO Club through Tuesday, April 7, 2020.

Act FAST!!  You only have until Midnight (EDT) on April 7th.  If you miss the deadline, send me a PM and I'll make a note to contact you for the Summer 2020 session.

This is my list for the quarter...

1. Mel's Wedding Quilt (2019)

2. Cotton, Baby! (2020)

3. Rainbow Picnic (2017)

4. Tif's Magic Stars (2020)  DONE!!! (4/5/20)

5. Snowflake Blues (2019)

6. Quilted Laptop Cover (2020)

7. Sapphire Stars - A KTQ Mystery (2017)

8. Noah's Grad Quilt (2020)

9. The Birthday Quilt (2017)

10. Blooming 9-Patch (2018)

11. Grand Illusion (2014)

12. A-6 Mystery (2017)

My goal is ONE finish for the quarter.  More than that is a bonus!  I just like to have options.  This quarter, it's a Corona 12-Pack!  My way of coping with the COVID-19 Shelter-in-Place order.

Until next time...
Wish me luck!!!

Quarantine Chronicles - Corona Style - Week 2

Welcome to another edition of Quarantine Chronicles!!  This is my response to our current global health crisis.  Life is scarier than (science) fiction!  I keep hoping that this is a bad dream and I'll wake up soon.  Alas, it's the blog series that I really, really wish didn't exist.  Knowing that I couldn't cope with a daily post...

Corona-cation.  Week Two.

This series began on as Thursday, March 19th.  It's hard to believe that another week has gone by.  Still another is hot on its heels!  Stay with me and I will reveal how this week unfolded.

On Day EIGHT, Thursday, March 26th...

I was busy starting this week's post and was late for the ZoomBEE  meeting of my Weekly Quilt Group!!!  :o((

It was SEW great to see these smiling faces:

Reading the news is no longer a priority.  The pandemic has made it too much for me to deal with first thing in the morning.  I simply can't stomach the thought of additional cases of corona virus being reported each day.  :o((  

Confirmed cases of COVID -19 in the US has grown 10,000/day for the last 3 days.  The majority of those who have died are elderly and/or had pre-existing conditions.

Stitched up the next set of blocks for my niece's wedding quilt:

Moved forward with pressing this week's quilting project, but that's not an exciting photo.  Look what DH (without them being on the list!) brought home from the grocery store:

It appears that we got a defective box.  Only five doughnuts!

The BEST part of the grocery run...

He scored a loaf of our regular bread for the first time in 2 weeks:

A portion of the afternoon was spent sorting through my supply of fusible interfacing.  This stack will be donated to my Quilt Bee for their homemade face mask production which has been requested by nurses at our local hospital and other medical facilities:

This  evening, I spent some time taking care of paperwork and getting ready for the new Spring 2020 UFO Club on Ravelry.  Let me know if YOU would like to join our group (and please make sure you aren't a No Reply blogger because I can't contact you, if your email address isn't attached to your comment!!)

All in all, it was a good day!

Day NINE, Friday, March 27th...

Spent some time working on the blog post for yesterday's ZoomBEE meeting.  The pictures are up, but it still needs words.

Prepared batting...

... And loaded my "Ella" Quilt:

Today's headlines were quite disturbing:

US has surpassed China in number of cases of corona virus.
There are now 100,000 known cases and more than 1000 deaths across the nation, with half of those being in NY, which has had more than 500 deaths.

NC has jumped by another 100 for the fourth consecutive day.
The state now has more than 800 known cases and reported its 4th coronavirus-related death.
North Carolina's governor has issued a statewide stay-at-home order, which goes into effect Monday at 5 PM.  In advance of the state's pending order, our county's stay-at-home order went into effect at 6 PM this evening.

Day TEN, Saturday, March 28th...

After checking in with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, I went up to sew the next batch of Magic Stars.  Here are the completed blocks:

Another task was checked off my list when I chose thread for quilting the project on the frame.  Next up, winding bobbins!

Day ELEVEN, Sunday, March 29th...

Last night I got a message from my friend Lisa.  Her daughter's boyfriend's mother is in the hospital in New Jersey.

And so it begins to creep into the realm of knowing someone who knows someone...

Diagnosis?  COVID -19

Currently, she is in the ICU not on a ventilator, but has been placed on pressurized oxygen.  My heart goes out to the family.

With that advent, it feel wrong to go on this my regular reporting.  Alas, time and life (not necessarily as we knew it) marches on...

This afternoon, I wound (more than enough) bobbins:

Then made a good start on the quilting of my Mercyful Quilt:

That was AFTER...

... I met up with Candy to drop off my contribution for our Weekly Quilt Group's homemade face mask brigade:

Lest you think there are Joyful-sewn face masks in the envelope, I will assure you that would be incorrect!  My contribution was donating a supply of fusible interfacing for the next batch of masks.

I also took a side trip to Dee Dee's to pick up the pattern for my next charity quilt.  She kindly offered a copy of Sarah's pattern from the Donation Bee:

It was SEW good to see a couple of my quilting buddies live and in-person!!  Please notice that we practiced our social distancing during each of the visits.  We remained 6 ft. away from one another (except for during the hand-off of items.)

News to note:  This evening, it was reported that GRAMMY winning country music legend Joe Diffie passed away today from complications of coronavirus (COVID -19.)  He had more than 20 Top 10 hits and had released 13 albums during his career.

Day TWELVE, Monday, March 30th...

Today is the beginning of UNITY: The Quiltville Sew-in-Place QAL and I am toying with the idea of participating.  You see, most of the required fabrics are already on the sewing table...

... IF you consider PINK a substitute for RED and LIGHT BLUE a substitute for AQUA.  I'm not quite sure what happened to all of the red scraps that were previously in that line-up!

Here I go kicking Kevin to the curb, again!  Sorry, but if my Sapphire Stars haven't shown by now, I'm thinking I just MIGHT need to come up with another plan.  (Please don't be upset with me, KTQ!!)

In the news today, the FDA has given emergency authorization of anti-malarial drugs in the treatment of COVID-19, as it has been found to be helpful (without the assistance of standard clinical trials) to some patients in other countries.  If it curbs the death rate, I'm all for it!  Desperate times call for desperate measures.

As my morning rolled along, I finally got around to checking my email.  I had missed Kim's notice that there would be a Project QUILTING Quarantine 2020 Limited Edition.  The first prompt Q1 was released yesterday.  You better BET that I'm going to participate!!  Those other QALs will have to wait, as my creative muse has ALREADY sparked an idea for my quilt.  :o))

This afternoon, I finished the quilting on my current donation quilt.  I even managed to "square it up" after dinner.  There may actually be a finish in my near future:

DH called his mother to discuss an unrelated issue and the conversation turned to the global pandemic.

And so it begins to creep into the realm of...  OMG!!!

Mom asked if he had heard from his brother.

The reason...  Our nephew has been diagnosed with coronavirus.  Thankfully, he is currently recuperating at home, with no need for hospitalization.

The daily US death toll exceeded 500 for the first time today.  This was up from the previous high of 446 on Saturday.  On Sunday, the President said that federal guidance urging social distancing will remain in place through April 30th.

Day THIRTEEN, Tuesday, March 31st...

Today's COVID-19 report is that the death toll in the U.S. has surpassed 3,000.  That is more than the number of people who died in the initial Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

On the quilting front, I cut and prepared binding for my latest donation quilt...

... And assembled the rows of my Magic Stars quilt:

Throughout the day, I was busy collection photos from members of my Evening Quilt Bee.  We're going virtual!!!  :o))

Day FOURTEEN, Wednesday, April 1st...

Our county is currently reporting 37 cases of COVID-19.  The World Health Organization is predicting that global infection will eclipse 1 million cases and 50,000 deaths within a few days.  We knew almost nothing about this virus three months ago and now it reached almost every country, territory, and area on the planet.  As of this afternoon, the coronavirus has infected more than 885,000 and has killed at least 44,000 people around the world, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

The big push for yesterday sewing efforts was finishing the donation quilt for Mercyful Quilts.  I finished it just before dinner.  Gathered the quilt (along with my quilt holder) and got photos of the completed and bound project as the raindrops began falling from the sky:

Most of today has been spent on the computer.  I have several events colliding and each of them require their own blog post.  However, I did trace out my quilt plan for the PQQ2020 BIG Challenge.  It's due this coming Sunday.  I better get busy!

I finished out the week with an hour-long phone call from DS1.  We haven't seen each other in a week and he had much to say over working from home. From what I gather, he is NOT a fan!

SEW...

There you have it.  Contrary to popular belief, I survived another week without appointments, shopping, or other galivanting.  I know some of my readers wonder if I'm pulling my hair out by now (Deb @ Happy to be Scrappy, I'm looking at you.)  Honestly, I'm still finding self-isolation to be a boon to my quilting progress.  The alarm clock's buzz missing from my mornings hasn't been missed AT ALL!

Instead of worrying about the threat from COVID-19, I'm trying to keep busy being thankful for the productivity these extra hours in the studio have allowed.  I am ROCKING self-isolation!

Until next time...
That's it for Week TWO!!

Winter 2020 (Ravelry) UFO Club - The Results

The Winter 2020 UFO Club is now CLOSED!! Participants MUST have listed (at least) FIVE projects. Photos should have accompanied the list. Sign-ups ended at midnight EDT on January 7, 2020.

NOTE: All qualifying finishes must be posted BEFORE midnight EST on March 31, 2020!!!

Membership (29):

SEND (6):

doris7264
arthbach: 1 completed project
katyknitsnyc: 2 completed projects
Ufomism20
tjsayers: 1 completed project
EmmeSpins: 1 completed project

NO SEND (23):

basketcase9702: 1 completed project
monicarose51
laceyspinner
siberspinner
emaleena: 1 completed project
amalberti: 3 completed projects
dzirin: 2 completed projects
needleb: 1 completed project
spyndragon
Picotine
peregrineknit
mairG: 2 completed projects
jrnylst
gathersnomoss: 3 completed projects
MorganLaFey - 1 completed project
sheepless
GBKDalton
fairfaxknitter: 4 completed projects
aerieiris
spyndragon
graylagran: 1 completed project
bowie: 1 completed project
PatsKnitting: 2 completed project
Circes

Session Totals: 16 quilters completed 27 projects!!!

Congrats to EmmeSpins on her 1st and PatsKnitting on her 2nd UFO finish of the quarter AND to Basketcase9702 on finishing her 1st project of the session with only a 7 hours remaining!! That finish earned her the title of Queen of the Last Minute, as no one came along to steal her crown before the Midnight deadline. Congrats to also go out to Fairfaxknitter for being this quarter's Rock Star by finishing FOUR (4) projects during the quarter!

Congratulations to all finishers and a BIG thank you to each and every participant in the Winter 2020 (Ravelry) UFO Club.  Without YOU, I would be wading through my unfinished projects all alone.  :o((

Did YOU contribute to this quarter's total, Joyful???

Yes.  Yes, I did!  I am pleased to report that my Ella Quilt was part of that total.  The quilt was begun at a special Bee Sew Day.  Ella provided stacks of fabric from which to make donation quilts.  I only just got around to finishing mine:

It's pretty remarkable because just TWO DAYS ago, it looked like this:

AND...

... With just 7 hours before the midnight deadline, here it is complete:

I decided to use the extra time provided by
the Stay-at-Home order currently in place
due to COVID-19!!

Do YOU have 5 (or more) quilting UFOs???

Join Ravelry (and the Quilters Knitting group.) Quick! We would love for you to join in the finishing fun, if you would like to participate in the
Spring 2020 UFO Club.  Sign-ups end on April 7th at Midnight (EDT)!!

One final note:

Thank you for the encouragement you gave through the entire process.  I appreciate all of your kind comments along the way.

Sharing this with Sarah

@

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Until next time...
UFO, GO!!!