Cleaning the Longarm Room -- Mosaic Mystery Quilt Fabrics

When the teen was here learning to longarm her quilt for the county fair I managed just a bit of cleaning.  She was here about eight hours.  Some of that time was spent giving her instructions on how to start and stop a row and how to advance a quilt.  These are the before pics.

It's almost like a Where's Waldo book above.  Can you find the teen?  She kinda blends in with the ironing board in the top photo.  The bottom photo shows a close-up of the trampoline area.  That was my main focus since it didn't take long to put my tools on the long brown table away and haul my kid's Hot Wheels track and other miscellaneous toys to their storage place.

I will be quilting along at Meadow Mist Designs and the Mosaic Mystery Quilt.  I am linking up my fabric choices here.  I will be using light, medium, and dark blues.  NO FABRIC PURCHASE NECESSARY for this QA!  I will also be using random neutrals.  (They are in the two clear totes directly behind the trampoline.

I managed to get most of the blues sorted into three big totes.  Blues and greens seem to be the scraps that I have the most of.  Some day I will sort the greens.  I sorted the blues into bins of light, medium, and dark fabrics.  This will be helpful someday when I'm working my way through on one of Bonnie Hunter's books.  I plan on cutting my project list down a bit before starting more Bonnie Hunter patterns.  Someday...

Believe it or not, the above picture shows cleaning and organizing improvements.  I may need to re-think my bins sizes.  The left bin is light blues.  The center is medium blues.  The green bin front right still needs SORTED! The black bin behind the bin to be sorted is only half full of dark (navy) blues.  Let the sorting continue!  It's a good problem to have.  I have been blessed by friends that love to surprise me with a bag of goodies at the least thought of places... school, home, church... a baseball game, a picnic, a family gathering...  all fun!

Q3 Goal Setting -- WIP Wednesday

I have a long list of on-going projects again.  I am sharing in this post what I moved forward this week and things I hope to finish this quarter for the Q3 Finish Along.

I set my OMG goal for July as this "ugly fabric" quilt.  More rows need to be made.



This is my Go Four It quilt that needs finished.


I've been piddling with a bag that I won during the orphan adoption from Cathy who blogs at Cathy's CRAZY BY DESIGN.  It's the Dot Dot Dash Bag.   All the hard parts are already completed by Cathy.  The fabrics are gorgeous!  The bag was designed by Sara Lawson (of Sew Sweetness).   I pulled it out and tried to work on it during June, but our son came home unexpectedly from church camp and I had to put it away. :(

This is the Modern Blocks City Sampler quilt.  Blocks have been done and sitting in a lunch box for a while.



I haven't worked on my Garden Party quilt for a while...  It's a Bonnie Hunter pattern.



Our son would love it if I worked on his Mario quilt.  I may use this on the back of his Ohio quilt.



I haven't worked on my Ohio quilt for a while too.  That would be a really fun summer quilt to work on.  I'd love to have it done by the time we go on our RV vacation at the end of summer.  All of the embroidery on the cities are done.



Here's a string quilt.  The blocks are done but not placed in a setting yet.



Here's some Wings of Spring blocks that I won in the Block Lotto.  They could be made into a quilt.



These Scrappy Stars are another Block Lotto win.  They would make a cute crib quilt.



Good Fortune (a Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt) needs finished before Thanksgiving.



I haven't been working much on this EPP table topper.  I just have a bunch of rows put together.



This pillow case needs finished.



I have a Soul Searching quilt that is not finished.  I'll make a pink block this month for the RSC19.



I love this Fortune Teller project.  It just needs a few more easy blocks before it's a top!



I don't know when I'll get to this Kite girl quilt.  It is really cute.  Strings and stems are embroidered.



Catchin' Some Rays needs quilted.



I'm helping a student quilter longarm this bright cat quilt quilt.

This week I finished the longarm quilting on this quilt.  (I do not put customer quilts on my FAL lists because I do not finish them.  I just longarm them.  But I can check it off my list!)

 I'm linking this post to the 2019 QAL Q3 linky party here at She Can Quilt.

I'm also linking this list on Susan's blog, Quilt Fabrication, for Midweek Makers #183.

I made a lot of progress on sewing all of the 2.5" squares for Kevin the Quilter's SSSSQ. 

When I cut my scraps with Accuquilt 2.5" multi die... little pieces are left over.  There were enough pieces to run them through my 1.5" multi die and make 800 pieces for ANOTHER quilt!

For the quiltalong, check out all the details on Kevin the Quilter's Blog.

I have decided that I'm not thrilled with the temperature QA.  I made it into part of April, and didn't like how it looked.  I'm going to see what I need to make a little table topper and change that project direction (design decision...)  It remains on the list.

I currently have 68 on-going projects.

Pieces Still Need to be Cut & Sewn

1.  Cheddar Jack cat pattern from Mama Spark's World 

2.  Digging up Bones (Owen's dinosaur quilt)

3.  Rock Island Campfire Quilt

4.  Picadilly Circle

5.  ...And Sew On BOM at Quiet Play (one block to go)

6.  Go Four It! -- Scrappy 4-patches started as leader/ender June 2017

7.  Patriotic Folk Animals (from Americana Quilts Book) -- hand work for school

8.   Soul Searching -- need 1 PINK block!
9.   Leah Day Building Blocks QA
10.  Love Laugh Quilt Christmas Improv QA
11.  Classic Meets Modern BOM
12.  Mod Mod QA (turning this one into a baby quilt) (from block Lotto, mostly circles w/lines)

13.  Owl's Well That Ends Well (RSC19 project started 1.26.19)

14.  Linen and Threads - Mystery Sampler SAL Sew-to-go bag project started 1.21.19

15.  Temperature QA (2019 block-a-day according to high and low temps--changed to table topper.)

16.  Kite Girl (RSC14)

17.  Amish Country BOM (from Lynn, Johnna's mom)

18.  Cabins at the Lake (from Fons & Porter Magazine) (only one house block complete.)

19.   2.5" Scraps from Dani making "cracker" blocks

20.  EPP mini table topper (grey, maroon, blue, cream...)

21.  Little Houses (3.5" blocks)

22.  Pumpkins & the Beanstalk (a second quilt.)

23.  Set of note cards and envelopes

24.  Wings of Spring -- Block Lotto win 3.31.19

25.  Slabs with White Rectangle (RSC14 started -- need blocks each month)

26.  Bonnie Hunter Box Kite class from March, 2017 (Will make baby quilt.)

27.  Super Mario QA

28.  2015 Orange, pink, grey kite blocks (from Accuquilt die, RSC17)

29.  Maroon Sampler Quilt

30.  Gypsy Wife QA (started again with Angie at Gnome Angel, August 2017) (2019 QA)

31.  Kathleen Tracy’s 2019 Mystery Quilt -- Facebook QA started in March, 2019. 

32.  2016 Plus Blocks (from left over pieces of Soul Searching blocks)

33.  RSC16 Folk Art Birds

34.  Kevin the Quilter's Sapphire Stars Mystery (started Summer 2017) 

35.  Secret O - H - I - O quilt.  Shhhh.  Can't show this one--but it's cool!

36.  Jelly Roll Rug

37.  Sand Castles -- Bonnie Hunter string quilt started January, 2019 -- an RSC project

38.  Parallelogram Strings -- 2019 String Along at Humble Quilts, started 1.31.19

39.  Simply Summer Sensational QA with Kevin the Quilter (started 6.27.19)

  

Blocks Still Need to be Made

1.  Bluepatch Mystery Quilt

2.  Scrap Crystals (working on blue pieces for RSC15)

3.  We Can Do It Skill Builder Sampler

4.  Amanda Murphy Designs (ugly fabric quilt)

5.  Finding Nemo Scrappy Trip quilt (my seams don't match Julianne's seams...)
6.  Drunkard's Path Variation baby quilt

7.  Kim Diehl's Table Topper from her book Simple Charm (Started August, 2017 for to-go bag.)

Blocks are made but need to be sewn together (and/or some sashing)
1.  Block Swap Adventure Orange/Yellow Sampler (2011-2012)
2.  Cruise blocks won from Libby
3.  Orange/Blue Fish Blocks (that I won)
4.  Split Stars (blocks won from Block Lotto; October, 2012)
5.  African Violet baby quilt (Block Lotto inspired)
6.  Tall Fly 

7.  Fortune Teller (RSC14 started)

8.  Sonja's Windows string quilt 

9.   Block Swap Adventure (2013) Churn Dash Blocks 

10.  Tula Pink's City Sampler 100 Modern Quilt Blocks (New QA starting 5/7/17 Gnome Angel)

11.  Flower Baskets (blue and white with some applique) Block Lotto win 10/1/18

12.  Pre-printed cross stitch pillow sham (May, 2018 sew-to-go bag)

13.  Bonnie Hunter Garden Party (started 3.18.17.)

14.   Cathy's CRAZY BY DESIGN.  It's the Dot Dot Dash Bag. (new to the list April, 2018)

15.  Block Lotto December Scrappy Stars (blue/purple) -- I won the star blocks December, 2018.

Quilts back needs to be made (tops are done) 

1. Card Trick (pink and blue) HUGE charity quilt for local quilt guild
2. Hunter green large (bubbly -- will be a challenge to longarm) charity quilt for the local guild
3. Bubble Gum pink and navy charity quilt for local quilt guild
4. Good Fortune -- A Bonnie Hunter Quiltville Mystery started Thanksgiving weekend, 2018.

Ready to longarm
1.  Customer quilt with special block in the center (CM)

2.  Catchin' Some Rays needle turn applique crib quilt started March, 2018 (adding EPP hexies!)
3.  Customer green patchwork quilt (CM)
4.  Danni's cat quilt

Recently finished

Teaching a Teen to Longarm

I am blown away by this teen's focus on learning to longarm quilt.  This is Danni.  She just turned 17.  She is entering this quilt in the county fair this year.  Her mom and I have been great friends for years.  Danni will be a high school senior this fall.  I love that the love of quilting continues with this generation.

Danni selected her cat fabrics after she selected her border fabrics.  She selected a aqua/greenish dot backing after she finished the quilt top.  She quilted it using my Circle Lord giant template board called Loopys.  It was a great choice for a beginner.  She caught on how to keep the stylist in the groove very quickly.  Her loops look lovely!

She hardly ever broke a thread.  She had the luck of the bobbins with her.  The bobbin ran out at the end of the quilt EVERY time except for ONE!  Lucky!  It only took her close to eight hours from start to finish.  I'm very excited to see what she does next.

She caught on quickly how to start and stop the thread!  She also caught on quickly when to work from which side of the machine.  She never complained about anything -- not once!

She didn't comment on any of my quilt mess.  I did have some time to sort fabrics while she quilted.  I stayed close, but tried not to micromanage.  Here she is selecting a design board from the treadmill.

See the orange shoe box on the table by the iPhone?  That is where Danni keeps ALL of her fabric!

I did manage to clean off the table and put away my tools.  I organized blue fabrics into three different bins -- light, medium, and dark.  That will help in the future.  I managed to pull out all of the unsorted fabric bags that people gave me and put them all on the table for future sorting.  I hope to take an updated picture this week.  I also put Owen's toys in HIS room (which is arranged similar to this one -- ugh!)  I'm happy to have three tables that I can now utilize.

Moving it Forward Monday -- Customer Patchwork Quilt on the Frame

I continue to work on customer quilts this summer.  I drop one or two off and she gives me another one or too.  It's a great little gig for me this summer. :)
This patchwork quilt has a lot of half square triangles (HST).  It also has some squares blocks that make a special center.  It's set up somewhat like a medallion quilt.  It also reminds me of a pattern called Boston Commons.

The lady that made this quilt has fourteen grandchildren.  She is making each one of them a quilt out of her stash and scraps.  She is "using it up".

I am longarm quilting it with the aid of my Circle Lord giant template board called Loopys.  You can barely see the quilting pattern on it in the picture.  A neighbor quilter calls this quilting "wishbone".

I'm linking up at Em's Scrap Bag for Moving It Forward Monday.

Slow Sunday Stitching

I haven't linked up to Slow Sunday Stitching for a couple of weeks.  My sew-to-go bag was accidentally picked up by my sister-in-law after our son's birthday celebration.  It has finally found its way home.  I'm working on the clue for May in the mystery stitch along at Linen & Threads.  This is a full-year (or more if you're me...) project with clues that get released the first of each month.

I'm linking up at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

RSC19 -- Pink Sand Castle Blocks

This week I made a few Sand Castle blocks in pink.  This was fun!  I love it when I see pink and brown scraps together.  It reminds me of Neapolitan ice cream.  Below shows nine blocks.  This is a Bonnie Hunter pattern.  It can be found in her latest book, String Frenzy.  It was a SUPER productive sewing week!

I also worked on my SSSSQ -- a mystery quiltalong with Kevin the quilter.  

For the quiltalong, check out all the details on Kevin the Quilter's Blog.

I'm linking up with Angela at SoScrappy for the RSC19.

Two More Customer Quilts

This week I took on two more customer quilts.  I need to prepare the backs as they are not long enough.  I have to sew extra fabric to them so that I can load them into my longarm frame.

The backs of the quilts this customer gives me are typically sheets -- which is fine.  They aren't long enough for me to make all off the necessary finishing row when I use my giant template boards from Circle Lord (which is what she prefers on the quilt design.)  I give her a discount when the backs are big enough.  These will be full price this time.