May's One Monthly Goal

I did it!

Finished ALL my goals for May... including my One Monthly Goal, which was to finish construction of my Iris Quilt.  DONE!  WOOHOO!

From a quarter...

To a half...

Then double it and a quick try on the bed to see how it fits...

Then onto the very long To Be Quilted Pile.

Sigh!

Check out all the other OMG participants progress HERE

A somewhat midmonth check in

Well, it was around the 15th when I started composing this in my head, and now it seems to be closer to the end of the month... but I'm just going to ignore that for the purposes of the exercise.

I'm jolly chuffed that I have ticked off all but two items from my To Do list for May...
✔Happy Cloud sampler block 5 sewn (see previous blog post)
✔Quilting the second quarter of Theres a square in there

✔Timeless Traditions... getting two sections blanket stitched plus the last wreath block

✔The Proverbial Quilt... finish words

I don' t seem to have a picture of the last little bit but I assure you that the last M and B were added and I've started with the sashing strips... this rather joyous floral.

I even managed to add two new projects... of which I've completed one!

✔Log cabin baby quilt

Quilting complete and striped binding being added as we speak.

✔I have also finished the Iris Quilt, but this will get its own post.

❌Left on the list are Section 4A of the Line Dried quilt.

Why are there so many blocks?  And why isn't it called section 5?  Dealing with procrastination meant just getting stuck in and making one block.... which turned into another and another...

The big picture so far.

I found a new midtone print to add to the collection and I really like how it blends on this large star border.

So on the agenda this week is two little 3" stars to get this section finished, and one 12" block for the Summer Sampler.

The joy of a scrappy BOM

I often find that a simple BOM style of project is a good way to rip into my monthly goals.  The Cloudy Day Sampler by Happy Cloud Creations is 9 different pieced blocks with nine patch cornerstones... large and simple and I'm only committing to one block each month, even though I could easily sew the whole thing in one month if i set my mind to it.

I've made it slightly more challenging by making it a scrap challenge, and seem to have fallen into an alternating setting of orange/yellow blocks and blue/green blocks with black and white highlights.

Block 1

Block 2

Block 3

Block 4

With block 5 falling in the middle I decided it was my only chance to add some extra colour in there... So figured a purple block would be just the ticket.  I also took the opportunity to add a multicolour print to the centre as it helps to "make sense" of the other colours used throughout the blocks.

This black feature print is a leftover piece of Dylan's book bag fabric from when he was 5... he'll be 17 this year... so the moral of the story is to keep everything forever because it might just be perfect.

And how things are looking overall... the Irish chain pattern definitely looks stronger in the photo... it's a bit more vague in real life and I think this could change depending on what fabric I use for the background sashing.

And my other scrap challenge project is slowly growing... although still tiny.

Piecing... my default setting

In times of stress I always seem to revert to the simple joy of piecing... enough to keep my brain from spinning out of control, but also something where theres not too much thought required.

I've found this lockdown process has negatively affected my sleep patterns... resulting in some incredibly long days, caffeine filled afternoons and some stupid cutting and sewing mistakes.

Amidst it all I have been plugging away at my version of The Proverbial Quilt by Denyse Schmidt.  The pattern version gives specific letter templates although the QAL has promoted a more freeform improv approach.  I have totally ignored the improv style of letters and worked with a more pixelated font using 1.5" and 2" cut strips (I don't actually own the pattern so I'm kind of working on my own thing).

I chose some song lyrics from the Sonny and Cher song "I got you babe"... And jumped in with the first letters...

I created a simple rainbow layout of colours so red turned into orange...

Then yellow...

 And green.

Although I worked in EQ7 for the basic layout, it wasn't until I started piecing the letters that their final size revealed itself.  My lower case alphabet is 6" tall totally forgetting until I got up to the "your" that I needed some space for the letters with "tails".

Blue and indigo...

I am going to need to add a blank strip under the other rows to make them all the same width.  Using capital letters would have solved this issue... or alternatively a mix of capitals and small caps.  Something to think about if I ever do another one. 

I also changed "mountain" to "maunga"... the Maori translation... a person's maunga reflects almost a spiritual connection with the land... where they and their people are from... and I thought this represented a special relationship for my husband (and children)... this quilt is for us... and reflects our strong supportive partnership.

My first row used a Spotlight grey as the background, having to piece the last bit to stretch it to finish the row.  Then a white row, then a pale blue, back to the white, then a lighter Bella solid grey, then white for the final row.  Again, if I'd planned this  (and realised how much background fabric I was going to go through) I might have changed the layout to be a bit more symmetrical.

And I'm now up to the last word... climb... with both indigo and violet.

So close!

One Monthly Goal for May

After much thinking about what to choose for this months One Monthly Goal, I have chosen my Iris Quilt to work on, with the hope that all of the sashing strips will be added and the four sections sewn together.

Linking up HERE