Yesterday I didn’t spend much time sewing/quilting. I did bake bread, clean house, grocery shop and start to organize my fabric a little bit.
Last week Doreen from Treadlemusic posted a wonderful sounding bread recipe that I just had to try. I put my loaves in bread pans whereas she had made round loaves – but the end result is the same – wonderful home baked bread! The bread was at this post – Wildrice/Craisin Sourdough Artisian Bread. Go to her post for the recipe. Her loaves look prettier than mine the way she formed such nice circles, but as you can see shortly after it came out of the oven half of a loaf was gone – it was just that good! (I used cranberries as that was what I had and also I thought I picked up a bag of wild rice but it was actually a mixture of wild rice and 4 other rice’s – it still turned out good but it was probably a little different that Doreen’s recipe.
I am wrapping some of my fabric around the comic book cardboard’s that I got from Amazon. The fabric I am doing this with is mainly between 1/2 yard cuts to about 2 or 3 yards. I haven’t gotten very far but it is a start. I also want to go through all the fat quarters and arrange in stacks by color. I need to stop by Hobby Lobby and see if I can get some more of the empty bolt cardboard’s that they sometimes have available for the larger pieces – I was going to do that last week and didn’t get around to it. I will arrange these by color when I get done wrapping onto the cardboard’s.
And then of course there are all the small pieces stacked up in the wire baskets – they might be fat quarter size and they might be smaller or bigger – they are such a mess and not organized any longer so many things have been taken in and out of them. I would like to go through them as well.
The fat quarter stacks are almost to the point of tipping over – I have a lot of dark colors here don’t I. I would really like to organize in color groups so I can see more easily what I have.
Then there is always the never ending scrap basket that has not gotten cut up into useable scraps yet – I keep intending to do that and occasionally I do a little bit – but it never gets done – well it ever? It is packed to the gills. If I ever get it all cut I do believe I will need more of my boxes to keep the pre-cut pieces in. I already have 11 boxes on the top shelf – only 2 or 3 of them though are completely full – still room in most of them and that is after making 2 string pillows in January, and the two charity quilts earlier in the month – I really do think I can make 2 or 3 queen size patchwork quilts and still not use them all!
I was going to take a before and after shot yesterday of the fabric that I was going to roll up on bolts but forgot until after it was on my table to I kind of just stuck them back up there so you could get an idea of what it had looked like and then another photo after it was neat 
Not quite the arrangement it was in but close.
Now nice and neat and brushing the top of the slanted ceiling in this room. Now I know what I have. My bright white fabric came today from Fat Quarter Shop – that is the bolt on the top – with what was still on the bolt (4 yds) and what I received it is now a nice big fat bolt again.
I think I will stop by Hobby Lobby this coming week and see if they have some more empty bolts I can use and put some of the larger folds that I have in this area on them also to neaten it up somewhat. Of course that means I will need to rearrange these shelves a little bit but that is ok, they need it. I might even cut some pieces of cardboard that I have to fit some of the 1 yard pieces and wrap them on that to have it neatly stacked.
In between my hand piecing and hand quilting I will try to get to the shelves and refold things – it does tend to get a little messy after awhile and I really don’t need to start another new quilt immediately – I have plenty that I am working on. One day I really need to start cutting more of the scraps up and get them in the boxes also – so many waiting to be taken care of. Some of these stacks look like they could topple over at any moment!
Have a great weekend everyone.
The Joseph’s Coat is moving so quickly now, I can’t believe this project is almost to the end of being pieced. I am looking forward to having this hand piecing project done and start a new one. Yes another hand pieced. If you have never tried hand piecing you should do a small table topper or doll quilt – something just to try it and see if it really is all wrong for you. Some quilters who do every thing by machine do not realize it is relaxing and that they might enjoy it – try a small project and realize how much they enjoy it. My new hand piecing project is in a book that is being sent to me today – I will certainly share it with you all – and of course a good lot of you will think I am nuts once again!
Head on over to Lee at Freshly Pieced and see what others are working on today.
Here is the newest row for Joseph’s Coat attached to body of the quilt. After I got the row on I noticed at the lower end I had mixed up two of the greens in the wrong place – I picked them out last night and will put them in their proper place today and get the black circles on also. Luckily they are on the outside edges so easy to do. I already have them pinned in place.
I haven’t showed my scrap boxes in awhile now – these are the 1 1/2 inch squares, I can’t believe how many of these little babies I have and it just grows and grows. I think this box will be full by time I am done with the laundry basket full of scraps still! I have one little stack of bars in here too as I do not have an empty box at this moment. They are 2 1/2 x 5 inches.
The 2 inch square box is getting pretty full also and will be filled soon.
And this is the second box of strings that I have = this one will get full before any of the others I bet. I had no idea I had so many strings hanging around.
I won’t bother to show the other boxes right now. They don’t have near as many as these boxes that I showed you have.
I will be picking up some more of these boxes today – they cost under $4 and are decorative and just the right size for these things. The new box today though is for the new hand piecing project. I will be cutting out a lot of pieces soon and the box is the perfect size to carry them in to work on at group and in the car or where ever! Can you tell I am excited to start a new project!
First off before I get to what I am working on I want to apologize for sending people over to Amy’s Creative Side yesterday for voting on all the quilts that were nominated – she never got it posted! It must have been overwhelming all that work of complying all the nominations into some order! over 600 quilts had been entered into that festival I wonder how many were nominated to the categories she had shown. Maybe it will be ready for voting today – I haven’t seen the new blog post to the nominations this morning? Winners are to be announced on Friday from what her schedule had said.
Head on over to Judy at Patchwork Times and see what everyone else is working on today and most likely throughout the week.
I said I wasn’t going to show any more photos of Joseph’s Coat until I was finished with it – but I will – there is so little left to do and I just don’t have much else to show LOL. I laid that last row down so well for the photo it almost looks like it is already sewed in place – it isn’t. I will sew this row down today and work on the circles - only 7 circles needed for this row – I remember when it seemed like it was over 20 for a row! The rest of the pieces are cut out and ready for me to get started on them. I will be working on little else until this one is done – I’m always like that when I get to an end – I just want to finish.
I did do a little more though than work on JC this weekend – I got some more scraps cut! one day I will be finished (in a year perhaps?) I will try to cut a few scraps every day!
The basket! – barely a dent made in it – yet I have been working every week at it even if only an hour or two a week.
And yes, I even made a little more progress on Pineapple Square this weekend – today I want to finish this row in between working on JC. I have one square left on this row and then the border – someone said they thought I was quilting this very fast – keep in mind these blocks are only six inches! I think the whole wall hanging is only 36 x 36 if I remember right.
When I get done with Joseph’s Coat and Pineapple Square I will be getting out the Red and Green Applique quilt and get busy on the applique border. It has been so long since I worked on that one. Joseph’s Coat will be going on the quilting frame and I will be working on those two projects – but I really want to start another as well and I have a book ordered and it should be coming by the end of the week I think. I will share that when I get it and show it to you then. That will be a hand piecing project that I will be working on off and on for a year most likely in between other projects. I have not forgotten the other quilts I listed a couple weeks ago – “Common Bride” , “Sedona Star” ect. I will get to them too – next year 
that’s the plan anyhow.
What are you working on today and maybe for the week?
While thinking of what color scheme I wanted when I eventually make the Sedona Star quilt I decided on a white background and bright colors. The white will be where that light and medium blue background fabric is – way too much of that color in there for me – the white might take the place of that purple also. Aren’t these colors in this bundle wonderful! I am waiting until all the instructions and the patterns are in at the end of the year before starting this quilt – but in the meantime when I saw this fabric I couldn’t pass it up – I got more than the one bundle shown – I made sure I got enough to do the whole quilt! This fabric is Andover Dimples (jewels).
Check out Ladyfingers Sewing Studio – wonderful fabrics and some of them are lower in price than others I have seen. Judy over at Patchwork Times sent me to her.
Star Crazy moving along - when this stretch is done I can give another couple rolls on the crank and will be on the final stretch – I don’t know if I will be able to reach the whole thing – it is 10” deep, might have to work on 5 inches in depth and give it a crank down and then work on the final 5.
A little more work was done on the scraps – more stacking upon the table, progress is slow going – maybe it will be done by the end of the year LOL
This evening is being devoted to Joseph’s Coat – I have 3 hours of tv tonight – the season final of NCIS and the final of NCIS Los Angeles which is a 2 hour show tonight – maybe I can get a good amount of work done while watching/listening to these shows?
What am I doing today? Hopefully working on all three projects!! Head on over to Judy at Patchwork Times and see what everyone else is working on too.
First off work must continue on Star Crazy – final border – lets see how much of this quilt gets done this week – the end is near and I want to get it finished!
Joseph’s Coat – the row is sewed on – let the work on the circles begin!
A little more work on the scraps was done yesterday – I intend to add to this pile during the week.
Did you all have a good mothers day? We had a nice fairly lazy day at home. I helped Mike with a few things outside and worked on my quilts a little bit. In the evening we lite a fire in the fire pit outside and enjoyed a glass of wine while watching a couple hummingbirds come to the feeder.
Don’t you just love these tiny little birds – love those beaks – reminds me of a needle.
The sun going down – looking out through the trees.
If we don’t get rain pretty soon we won’t be able to use our fire pit – it is very dry – we – in my little spot of Arkansas that is have had very little rain since the beginning of April. It seems to be missing us – we barely had enough the other day to get the porch wet, I have been having to water my plants already! I hope a burn ban doesn’t come into affect soon. We have dry patches of grass – the hollyhocks were so dry this morning – I had forgotten them – the stalks of buds were drooping – I watered them and they perked back up but I shouldn’t have to water plants so much at this time of May. No rain in the forecast for this week – please tell me we are not heading towards a drought.
