WOOFA & PHD September Report

I looked back on last month's WOOFA & PHD post to see what I planned on working on in September. I pointed out how close I was to finishing the applique blocks for Afternoon Delight and that I wanted to work on the Twisted 2020 quilt. Checking my progress on each of these I've discovered that I never touched the applique! I was shocked! This is how I left it last month and this is how it still looks this month.

I think it was because September's handwork was my knitting project! I am happy to say that I finished these mittens. They are ready to be gifted. They were really fun to make but a bit intense. (Sadly this pattern is no longer available on Ravelry.)

Front Sides

Back Sides

So what did I sew during September besides my Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks? I worked on getting the pieces sewn on Twisted 2020 and assembling the Falling Star blocks. Ta! Da! (As you can probably see, there are three blocks not 100% sewn together but I laid them out anyway. Wouldn't this make a stunning Quilts of Valor?)

During September I also prepped for Halloween by making an apron and finishing up BOO! (Pattern available at Sewing With Susan.)

Actually finished this at the end of August but never shared it.

What will I work on this month? Here's my list:

• As you can probably guess, I'll be working on actually getting the last of the Afternoon Delight applique blocks done.
• I'll also be working on the 2020 and the 2021 Twisted quilts.
• Did you happen to notice the new button on my sidebar for the 2021 Autumn Jubilee? I'll be working on all sorts of Autumnal projects there too. You should check it out and see if you would like to join in with Carole & friends!
• I've started another pair of socks with JojiKnits Fall knit-a-long. The socks are called Caramel Sauce.

I'll bet I find other fun stuff to work on too but I'll end my "official" list right there. What have you been working on? Are you ready for the Fall Season?

WOOFA & PHD Reports

As we're getting ready to wrap up August, it's time to look back and see what we had hoped to accomplish and what we actually managed. I have really been pushing myself to finish the applique blocks for Afternoon Delight. This is a Sue Garman pattern that I downloaded from The Quilt Show. Membership was required. Anyway, this is how I started out August.

I got the block 100% finished! It's a beauty!

Then I went on to get a few more done.

I am currently working on #39 of 40 applique blocks.

So close to done with these. Next step on this quilt? There are 64 OMG blocks to piece!! Yes, that is 64 9-patches-in-a-9-patch. I plan on using up my scraps from the applique blocks and then some probably! These will definitely be getting worked on behind the scenes since Afternoon Delight is on my PHD (Projects Half Done) list for this year.

Of course, that is not enough to work on. This month I will also be concentrating on Twisted 2020. I have been doing a lot of work on it also behind the scenes. It is on both my PHD list and is the bonus project on the UFO Challenge list. This will be my WOOFA for September as well.

Looks like another busy month! I hope everyone, whatever your hobby may be, picks out a project to focus on and then makes the time to work on it. Good luck!

Last RSC & WOOFA

This being the last Saturday of July, I'm sure Angela, our fearless RSC leader, will be announcing our color for August. According to my fellow RSC bloggers, it will either be orange or turquoise. I'm good with either of those colors and will be happy with either choice!

Just did a check on the Lotus blocks. Oops! Didn't make a dark blue version so the design floor looks this for the time being.

The Irish Courthouse Steps still need one more dark blue block. Guess I'll do that one at the same time as the  Lotus Flower block. I think these are looking pretty good so far.

As for the July WOOFA (Working On Or Finishing A ....), I was going to really get a move on the Mini Wool Christmas project. It needed to be quilted & bound & labeled. I managed to get it pin basted and quilted. The binding has been chosen and is being prepared. Here's the project as it stands right now.

Wasn't that the perfect backing fabric? This was a really fun project from two years ago, I believe. At that time, my friend Katie & I decided to (sort of) make it together. We would push each other to the finish. I think she still has the borders to embroider and then piece the whole thing together. We decided it wasn't a race but we each wanted to be done by this December. Mine was on my 2021 UFO Challenge List with my LQS. It's due August 10th for show 'n' tell. I've got this!

I also wanted to give a good push to the applique blocks left on Afternoon Delight. There are a total of 40 blocks I think and I was getting down to the last 10 or so, maybe 12? I actually did make good progress this month. This block went from this ...

to this!

I then went on to finish these.

I'm currently working on this one.

And I finished my socks last night!

What a good month I've had. Now if only I had BOTH my machines to sew on. The one I named Roger is still in the shop. Sure hope I hear some good news next week!

Linking up for Rainbow Scrap Challenge with Angela HERE and with Cheryll and my fellow WOOFA quilters HERE!

WOOFA & PHD

This blog title sounds governmental, doesn't it, with all the acronyms? They're actually kind of one in the same. WOOFA means "Working On Or Finishing A ..." project, UFO, whatever. PHD stands for Projects Half Done. Either way, they both provide encouragement towards finishing a project. What a great idea! *Squirrel* Hahaha!

Last month I was determined to finish the cross-stitch project that I'd started a long while ago and I worked on it, and worked on it, and worked on it. I can say that it is done now! That one definitely falls into the WOOFA category.

I think this was a Lori Holt pattern. I know it was offered freely as a SAL through Fat Quarter Shop. It will fit nicely into an 8"x10" frame. Just need to find the right frame.

Last month I also finished a quilting project that was on my PHD2021 list. Sew Spooky top is finished. It will more than likely be quilted next year. Doubt I'll have time this year.

I have to include this picture also. I took it from a different angle and the sky was so pretty!

This checks off one of my PHD2021 projects. You'll notice I did just that on the right-hand sidebar.

What will I try to bring forward in July? First thing will be the little Wool Christmas SAL. It has to be done by August 10th so, if I can give it a really good push this month, I won't have to hurry it along in August. This picture is incomplete. All the borders and the "Merry Christmas" have been added. I'll get a better picture later. This wall hanging is listed on my PHD2021 list to be quilted and bound.

The other project I hope to focus on this month is Afternoon Delight. It was the QAL last year from The Quilt Show. The pattern was from Sue Garmen. This week I finished my 29th block (out of 40!).

I started this one. It's going to take a while since there's so many edges to needle-turn applique! I hope to get several of the Afternoon Delight blocks done this month ... maybe 5???

So those are my WOOFA and PHD projects for July. Wish me luck!

Linking up my WOOFA with Cheryll at Gone Stitchin'.

WOOFA(P) & PHD

The first of March means it's time to look back to see what was accomplished in February. Short month. Some progress but nothing monumental. I will be linking up with Quilting Gail for the PHD (Projects Half Done) and with Cheryll at Gone Stitchin' for WOOFA(P) (Work On Or Finishing A ... UFO (Project, Pattern, Problem, etc.). Both are designed to get us quilters on the right path to a completed project!

So what did I work on? I finished the wool mat project Reindeer Dance, which had been started in January. It hit a standstill when I ran out of the embroidery thread and had a little difficulty finding the same thread. You can read all about this project HERE.

While I was waiting to locate  more  of the needed thread for Reindeer Dance, I started another wool applique pillow titled Peace Love Joy. It, like Reindeer Dance, was purchased some time ago from Primitive Gatherings. The top is now completed. Just needs the zipper sewn in and backed. Of course then it will need a pillow form stuffed inside. I'll get it all done this week! For now, here's a picture of the finished front.

The Joyful Quilter presented a challenge to us for 2021 called Table Scraps. Each month, using the designated color of the month from the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, we are to make a table runner, table mat, mug rug, etc. February's color was yellow so I made a 17" square table mat using a new-to-me ruler. I think it turned out adorable and I love it! The back of it is a yellow print with little bees! You can read about the progress of this mat HERE.

For both WOOFA(P) and PHD, these count as starts & finishes. However, none of these were on my official PHD list. I don't have anything finished for that list but I did make progress on two of the projects. I worked on Awesome Land. It was nothing but a pile of blocks from RSC2020. I've started sewing on scrappy background sashing pieces.

I also worked on the 2020 Twisted Mystery quilt. I made 48 total of these units.

I started 52 of these. I think I have 18 of the 52 sewn but still need to be trimmed up.

Progress on Shark Bite was made. I picked out the fabric for the backing! Isn't it gorgeous? To get Shark Bite to the finish line is the goal for the 2021UFO Challenge, due in April. Just getting it layered up and basted will be a job inself! Ugh! Here's the backing I'm planning on using.

So let's see. I started a project in January and finished it in February. Started a project in February and finished it in February. Started a second project in February and it's basically done. Maybe 97%? I also made some headway on two of my official PHD projects and got the backing picked out for a third. Really not too bad for such a short month.

See you in a month with hopefully some finishes!

Tiny Tuesday, Table Scraps Challenge, WOOFA, and the End of Pinks

I hope I got your attention with that long title! I think I'll start from the end. You don't mind, do you? Ha!

First up are two more Irish Courthouse Steps. These are for RSC2021 using pink!

Next I frantically finished up my Table Scraps Challenge with Joyful Quilts. I was planning on doing a different project but I got bogged down with life. Then I saw a Valentine's Day pattern by one of my designer friends "Sewing With Susan" so I ordered up her pattern "2 Hearts as One". I got the PDF and you can find it here. I love QAYG patterns and I got to use more of my pink scraps! This is one place of 3 I plan on making. This is the completed one. The others are very close ....

(Just a little background: Susan is the one that got me hooked on playing with Dresden Plate patterns! All of her patterns are very detailed and I doubt anyone could go wrong making any of her patterns!)

Now for my Ta-Da! Tiny Tuesday is 100% finished FINALLY! If you recall, I started it in January 2019 with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge family. It was my first year joining and Angela said she was going to be posting directions for tiny blocks every Tuesday in January through October (?). Then it was up to us finish it or quit at any time for smaller quilts or just do whatever pleases us. She's still got the links for this one on her SoScrappy blog HERE.

Anyway, I got my blocks done but didn't know how I wanted to finish it. The individual blocks finish at 4" and then, after laying them on point or straight, they became 7" finished blocks. At the time I had a stack of 44 blocks which would make a weird-sized quilt. I ended up making 4 more blocks for a 6x8 layout. I decided 42" x 56" wasn't large enough for me so I grouped four blocks together with a tiny sashing and 4-patch unit. Then I grouped the groups into a 3x4 layout with wider sashing and 9-patch units and added a border. Tiny Tuesday now measures 52" x 76" which is good to me!

UPDATE: This was also my WOOFA project. I had my nose to the grindstone for just about all of January working on getting this one done. Happy to say I managed!

If you want to stop reading right here, that's fine by me. It's going to get picture-heavy as I show off the  blocks and then some of my impressive (HA!) quilting next. It you don't quilt, you may not be too interested but I'll leave it up to you.

So let's get started. Here are all of my blocks, four at a time:

Aren't they so pretty? We learned all kinds of techniques: simple piecing, complex piecing, applique, reverse applique, paper piecing, pretty much everything!

Now for some pictures of some of the quilting. I quilted each block differently using thread to match the main color. The frames of the blocks on point have a triple-petals design and the straight blocks have a loopy design in their frames. I used the 3-4-5 quilting motif in the borders. It goes like this: Bernina Stitch #4 which automatically (on my machine anyway) sets the width to 5 and I manually change the length to 3. It's a bit organic yet holds the seams nicely and if you stray a little it just blends right in! For now enjoy a few of my favorite quilted blocks from the back.

Hearts & Squiggles with a lacy edge treatment

Definitely organic circles quilted as I ditch-stitched! Lol!

Wonky Star in a Star

Block Name: Multiply Block
Quilting Name: Big fish eating smaller fish eating smallest fish!

So glad I quilted in his chest feathers!

Butterfly and Organic (yes, again with the organic!) Spiral

If you stayed with me this long, congratulations! I enjoyed this entire quilt journey. Tiny Tuesday will always be a favorite of mine for so many reasons. Thank you, Angela, for the idea, the patterns, and of course all the colors!

Linking with SoScrappy and the RSC2021 quilters, TheJoyfulQuilter and the Table Scraps Challengers, and with QuiltingGail and the PHD2021 quilters!