Rainbow Scrap Challenge

 

Block 1 of the Shoo Fly blocks for OMIGISH. And yes. It really needs to be all caps when you identify this. This block will finish at 4 1/2 inches. Its like doing Dear Jane all over again but I get to do the same block each time like 110 times. In different colours of course. For RSC. 

I found lots of shirting fabrics. But may have to hunt up more to get it more scrappy looking. I am using only stash fabrics these days.  

I did find an oops in the pattern. It has us cutting the squares for the 4-patch unit bigger than it needs to be. So, I started cutting them smaller and it works nicely and lots less waste. 

This is an awful lot of bits and pieces to keep track of and this is only the first month. This is my Chookshed Challenge for January. Start a new quilt.

I am still trying to figure out the rythym of doing this. It was easy to sew up a lot of HST but each Shoo Fly block needs 4 of the 4-Patch units and those have to be framed with triangles and pressed and trimmed. Doing that 110 times. This is going to be fun she says.  

I wonder what the Chookshed Callenge number will be tomorrow? 

Blessings, Chris

linking with: quiltingpatch.link-party 

quiltinglearningcombo.

alyciaquilts.finished-or-not-friday

Handstitching and Some Progress on Stonefileds

I recently pulled out TOMDO and have been putting in a few hand stitches. I had put the whole thing on the small design wall so I could look at it. Then it occured to me that I could add a few stitches on this block. This was the first inlaid or reverse applique I had ever tried. It wasn't "perfect" so I set it aside to work on something else. 

This was early 2010. In 2013 I started CCCQ and in 2014 BTCT. I cannot believe how much hand applique I've done since then!  

But in reality, I have a writing deadline next week and I am distracted and procrastinating in true Chris fashion. 

This is the potential for Stonefields for now (designed by Susan Smith). I oopsed and cut out all 4 outer borders 10 in wide. It is supposed to be 13 inches. So now I need to decide if I will be okay with only 2 rows of hexie flowers instead of 3. I have lots of the fabric but do I want to do that? Too many decisions. I have more than enough hexie flowers made. A decision for another day. I have put this away for now. I will not be meeting my OMG goal this month. 

I did cut more blue strips for Omigosh since it is awkward doing scrappy with only 5 prints. I have decided that, for now, doing this as a leader ender is not going to work. I will just blitz it once in a while for the RSC.

In the meantime, I did something to my back the other day and mobility is limited. The hot tub sure feels good on a mid wintery day.

Blessings, Chris

linking with: Fredrique at quiltingpatch.

alyciaquilts.finished-or-not-friday. 

ninamariesayre.off-wall-friday. 

kathy's  slow-sunday-stitching

melvalovesscraps-sew-tell

smallquiltsanddollquilts.  design-wall-monday  

Bit of Work on Some UFOs

 

Beyond the Cherry Trees is one of the Sentimental Stitches BOM. This was free monthly back in 2010-2011. I bought the full pattern on an insane sale spring 2014. Then I bought Kona Snow for the background. The background had to all be from the same bolt. Turns out that I often bought enough Kona solids for backgrounds. Still have a few waiting their turn.  

I hand appliqued each of the 25 blocks and 4 borders  using needle-turned applique. How I loved working on this quilt. I stitched on 5 different continents. I completed the top in 2020, then it sat while I tried to figure out what to do next. I checked out some custom machine quilting options but finally had a Mennonite woman hand quilt it for me last winter for half the price of custom machine quilting. I just could not justify machine quilting this after all that handwork. Now it is my turn to do the binding. This thing is really heavy. It is about 100 inches square. She used a bamboo batting. So I trimmed it. 

That is enough work for now. But I have both big tables out so have room to do that. The next thing is to decide of I am going to put on a double bias binding or a single bias binding. Yes it will be bias because the corners will be curved. That is a decision for another day.

Another UFO is Churn Dash. This was a Chookshed SAL from 2022. I have all the blocks made and am sewing them together. My hands do not like using all those wonder clips so progress is a bit slower than I thought. ( got the flimsy done just need to decide if it will hve a border or not)

I have to make a quilt for David. It ought to have soccer balls on it.  He turned 10 this week. Double digits. The boys will be opening bank accounts to save their money. I pulled out yet another old UFO from a kit I bought and started in 1998. 

It is a guy looking quilt if I leave off the flowers. Actually, I was having trouble figuring out the applique flowers on flannel that slowed me down for so many years. 

This is as far as I got. We went for a birthday celebrtation to Eastside Marios, bacause they have all you can eat soup and salad so we did. I took one of the squares and handed it to him and he carefully unfolded it thinking there might be somenting hiding inside, but that was in the card Grampa gave him. He is a touch-feely kind of guy and texture matters. He liked the feel of the soft fabric so I think we have a winner. Now to finish sewing it all up. I even have 6 yd of flannel for the backing. I will get it long arm quilted as soon as I can get it done. Now I have just talked myself into a potential completion. And it was not even on my list of goals. Whatever is happening? 

blessings, 

Chris

TOMDO Slow Stitching

 

This block just kept showing up so I started to put in a few stitches. And you know what? I could do it! Not too many, but some. So, I have been putting in a few every day. The last time I had worked on it was back at the end of January 2023 on a Chookshed zoom call. I was working my way through putting stitches into 23 different ufos for my 2023 Challenge. 

So, what did I do? I pulled out the project boxes for Think of Me Dear One or TOMDO for short. That was not enough. I put the mostly completed 10 setting triangles up on the small design wall and now I have something to look at.  And dream.

As if I needed any more things to dream about. This was never on my goals list. At least not in the past 3 years. But I am working on it. And my hands are not complaining too much. But I know to just stitch for no more than 15 minutes at a time. This is what it looks like right now. I put up the few partially made blocks. I started this in 2010. This is where I started to learn how to do needle turn hand applique. Only 21 more blocks and a swag border to go. Joining Kathy at Slow Sunday Stitching. 

Blessings,

Chris

linking with design-wall-monday- 

New Quilt Start

The Chookshed Challenge number for January is 3 and I started a new quilt. That was a harder decision than I had expected. I have a list of 12 kits ready to go. Six were purchased somewhere along the past 20 years. Six I had gathered all the fabrics and put them into labled project boxes over the past few years. Thinking about starting is quite different than actually starting. When I was cutting the fabrics for Stonefields last summer, I took time to slice one inch strips of each of the fabrics in preparation to one day start Omigosh.  Only 443 more 4-patch blocks and 549 nine-patch to go. This is my 2026 Rainbow Scrap Challenge project. This is the first time I have seen a Tracking Sheet. Going to need it for this one.

In November my Sweetie and I went on a Cross Atlantic Cruise. We flew out to Italy with our daughter and her family to board the MSC Grandiosa which was our home for 16 days. With 10 days at sea, I had lots of time to sit and glue baste pieces for Lucy and Stonefields. I could only work on them for short bits of time. We stopped in Marsaille, Barcelona, Las Palmas, St Maarten and Peurto Rico before disembarking in Miami. It was colder in Southern Europe than we expected and a lot warmer on the balcony on the cruiseship than we thought it would be. 

This was my third cruise of the year. A few things I have learned about cruising. They say its all about eating and sleeping. Yup. We ate and we slept. But you have to circle the buffet a few times each meal to find just what you want to eat. So lots of walking. And then can go back for seconds. No cooking. No dishes. No grocery shopping. Someone makes up the bed every day and brings fresh towels. 

We do not drink or gamble but there were lots of sporting activities to keep the guys busy. There was a different show every night. One of the highlights for me was the excursion to the rainforest on the mountain in Peurto Rico. I got to see Monsteras in there natural habitat and it gave me ideas for mine here in the SonRoom. 

No phones. No internet. No TV.  I got lots of writing and journaling done. And we learned how to play Uno Flip. What a crazy card game. We really enjoyed spending time with our daughter and the boys. They were very helpful to this slow moving Gramma. David decided that when he gets married, he will marry a disabled wife because we get all the special perks when traveling. 

Blessings,

Chris

linking with: melvalovesscraps.

quiltingpatch-qal-link-party-

Lucy and Stonefields

Lucy is showing signs of progress. I will make 5 more cross blocks. I have to prep a few more pieces to complete them. Then, I need to figure out how I want to do the outside edges. I have lots of sashing units prepped. I sewed them together by machine. I do want to get this completed soon. 

I plan to put a border print around the outside to grow it. Now to locate that. I had it in my hands a month ago. Shouldn't be too far away. This will be machine quilted. Will I do it myself?  I guess it depends on how big it will be when done. 

In the meantime, Stonefields has not been neglected.  In preparation for our cruise back in Nov/Dec, I cut out lots more hexies for the Stonefields border. Over New Years, the Chookshed Stitchers got together for 2 days of hanging out and stitching. I spent part of the time machine zig zagging hexie flowers together. I sewed the flying geese borders together. Then I got the fabric ready for the outer border.

I am so looking forward to seeing how this is going to look. My OMG goal will be to have the 4 hexie borders all prepped and possibly some machine appliqued down. 

Blessings,

Chris

Linking with: inquiringquilter.wednesday-wait-loss-466

ninamariesayre.off-wall-friday

alyciaquilts-finish-and-finished-or-not.

Plans, Goals & Dreams for 2026

Andree at Quilting and Learning - What a Combo! is hosting a linky party. I like parties. I have posted lists over the years outlining plans and goals and dreams. And yet, so often  my plans and goals change as the year progresses. Not my dreams. Sometimes they haunt me with their intensity and persistance. I even updated the lists on the side bar. 

Quilting: 

My Chookshed Challenge list has me starting 5 new quilts. It will be a challenge to keep it to only 5. I have quite a few kits I have purchased over the years and even more project boxes loaded and ready to start. So which 5 will it be? Each time I read over the list I change my mind. Also, I want to work on my machine quilting skills. I say this every year then forget to do anything. Maybe this year I will remember.

Finishes: 

I finished and gifted 2 quilts in 2025. They were both long arm quilted but I did the binding myself. Never again will I ever make a 1/4 inch binding. Half inch is the way to go. I have 5 tops so close to the finish line. 

Travel:

I have 5 major trips planned for the coming year. I have discovered the joy of cruising. Possibly 2 cruises.  Researching ideas for Alaska in August with my youngest 2 granddaughters. Just haven't told them about it yet. My sister in England turns 80 in Sept so I plan to visit her to help her celebrate. There is a local quiltshop taking a group to Paris in Sept. The final day of that trip is my sister's birthday. Do I dare? And India is calling again. Planning a women's conference for Oct. 

Blogging:

I have blogged so few times in the past couple of years. And I like writing. I really do. So blogging more frequently is a must. Will it always be about quilting? No. There are other things in my life that might be interesting to write about. I plan to participate in the monthly One Monthly Goal. Also, one of my new quilt starts will be for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. These all entail planning ahead. So I have plans and lists. There are also Design Wall Mondays, Finished or Not Fridays, Midweek Makers as well as Off the Wall fridays with Nina and Melva Loves Scraps as well as Frederique in Patchwork and Quilts, Put Your Foot Down with Denise, Gone Stitchin' with fnwf and 15 Minute Stitching with Kate.  So lots of options to link up and connect. Maybe that can be my word of the year "connect". 

Health:

I was sidelined this past year with complications after surgery. As result, I had to stay out of the hot tub and I did very little of anything but whine and complain. I did go on no less than 3 cruises. And read. I read more than 150 books. Some I read more than once since they were so good. I even made a list each month. I found a new massage therapist and chiropractor who have me moving again. I want to get moving more and trim off at least another 26 lbs. That seems a good number for the year. 

Leading:

I have been leading a Writing Group for the past year. I plan to go deeper into writing our stories as we continue to meet monthly for an all day writing retreat day. I have plans. Lots of plans. The idea is to actually write not just talk about writing. I can hardly wait! 

Writing:

I have been working on several book projects over the years. They are begging for completion. So publishing 5 books. These will be self published short books. It seems that the more I write, the further I am from completing any of them. I plan to continue writing morning pages and journaling. Learning how to write stories that stick is my current learning curve. That and writing memoirs. 

Gardening:

Flowers. I must have flowers. Lots of flowers. With the improvements in movability, I can bend over and  pull weeds again. That is necessary to having beautiful flower beds. I am only over-wintering half the geraniums this year and plan to start fresh in the spring. I finally planted my spring tulips Christmas Eve with a day of mild temperatures. Keeping my SonRoom tropicals thriving not just surviving is also on my list. We visited the tropical rainforest on the mountain in Peurto Rico on our cruise and I got ideas about my Monsteras and other plants. 

So what is everyone else planning and dreaming about doing in the coming year?

blessings,

Chris