Sewing days with Country School Quilter are always fun and always productive. I think it helps that I don't have any computer access while I'm there. It's also nice just to have some people to talk to. I make packing easier by having a project dedicated to working on only there. It only takes me 5 minutes to pull it all together and be out the door. This QOV has been my project for a few months.

When I started on Friday I had these blocks together. By the end of Friday I had the sashing and borders cut and had the rows together. I finished top Wednesday. This one is about 62 x 80 and I have a ton of fabric left. I think I can probably get another QOV and maybe a veteran's quilt done with the leftovers. I'll start working on those next month.

The pattern is from the book Stack a New Deck by Karla Alexander. I enjoyed making this quilt and another by the same pattern last year. But these blocks require a lot of concentration to keep up with the pieces. The next quilt will be something simpler.

Aside from my sewing time this weekend I was totally heads down at the computer working on the new site. I mostly love the new platform but there are a few "features" in the shop that I'm having to work around. So far I've created 148 pages on the web site and loaded 132 products. I still have lots of products to go but I think I'll be ready to share it soon!

 My quilt club has sew-in days once each month on a Friday and Saturday. Not only is it nice to have people to sew with but we can leave everything there overnight so there's plenty of time to get into an involved project. I tend to have a project that I keep to work on only on these days. It's never a project with a deadline so I can work on it at whatever pace. It makes packing up easier. I've missed this the past couple of months so it was really nice to be back.

My current project is a Quilt of Valor. I bought this collection of patriotic fabrics last year when Mom and I were in Lancaster. These wonky blocks are the same pattern that I used for the Shaken, Not Stirred quilt. This one is going to be made the same but is going to be a bit smaller. I demonstrated these blocks for a program one month and many of the members took kits to make blocks. The last time I had this out I finished out the set of blocks. 

Now I'm on to sashing. I got the sashing and borders cut and all of the rows assembled yesterday. Today I'm working on the rows and might even get the border done. It's a simple slab border. I have enough fabric left for one more quilt top but I won't do in this pattern. I'm kind of over these blocks. They are not easy or mindless. They require way too much concentration. After I get this top done I'll come up with an idea for the rest of the fabric. I might take a clue from Betsy.

Here are 2 cute quilts that Betsy finished yesterday. She loves repro fabrics and sewed a bunch of scraps into 9-patch blocks. She made these quilts for twin grand-nieces.

So cute!

The quilting shows up so well on the Minkie backing. I think the girls will love these quilts!

I expected to get a lot of web work done yesterday but I only got a few hours in. Instead I went out the The Longarm Network to talk about some possible classes. I love visiting with them too and always hang out longer than I expect. This time I got to help unload 110 rolls of batting...and then I bought one.

I did get back to the website this afternoon and then rewarded myself with a bit of sewing. Here are my pillow cover fronts. This 2 year UFO could be done by Tuesday!

No pillow sewing today though. It's Sewing Friday and Saturday with Country School Quilters! I have a QOV quilt that I'm working on there and I think I might get the top done this weekend.

I am spending most of my time working on the new website and it's taking longer than I expected. I'm OK with that It's totally worth the effort because I want it to be well organized and clean when you get to visit it. But that means that there are only crickets in the sewing room and basement studios. By Monday I was starting to get a little fatigued at the computer so I've decided to spend at least an hour each day doing something creative. The UFO post inspired me to pull out a couple of my quick and easy projects and try to get them finished up this month while I finish the web site. I just don't have the mental capacity to work on one of my bigger projects right now.

2 1/2 YEARS ago Chris and I built this bed and I made the quilt and matching headboard using the Red Sunset palette.

I even dyed a bunch of denim to match with the intention of making pillows. The pillows have been on the UFO list ever since.

I mean, REALLY, how long could it take to make 2 pillow covers?

​Ridiculous.

Yesterday I ironed the fabrics and got started. Surely I can have these done by the weekend even if I only work on them an hour each day.

​I started by sketching a design idea and then drew it full size on craft paper so I would have a pattern.
​I've designed a 2" flange around the pillow.

To make sure I had perfect quarter circles I used one of my favorite tools - Renae's Mini Rays - to draw the circles. Once I cut the pattern apart I needed to add seam allowance and I use the Rays to do that too.

​I use this tool on my wall a lot too.

Here are the fronts cut out.

Here are the backs cut out. I will put a zipper in them so I'll be able to remove the covers easily for washing. For stuffing I'm using 2 old bed pillows.

​The point of these is to hide the bed pillows.

While cutting out the big pillows I realized that the reds matched my den rug perfectly so I used the leftovers to cut a pillow cover for this pillow that I use a lot in the recliner.

​I'll start sewing these today but tomorrow and Saturday I'm going to spend the days sewing with my friends from Country School Quilters. I have a QOV to work on there.

There's still a lot of denim left over and I'll think about making some throw pillows another time. They aren't in the scope of this particular UFO.

It's not very often that I feel cool but when I received this photo in my email from a customer I admit that I felt pretty cool.

I'm going to be in a parade in New York City! Well, my fabric is going to be in a parade at the head of the Up-Helly-aa Viking Jarl squad from Scotland. 29 of them are coming over to NYC this weekend to take part in the Tartan day parade down 6th avenue on Saturday. They used the Navajo Gradient to make their banners. It looks like they have a fantastic time. Given that they are Scots I think we can be pretty assured that they know how to have fun.
​

In shop news I've restocked 3 very popular gradients. My knee resting and lots of custom dyeing have slowed down the shop stocking a bit but I'm back in action now. Here are the 3 that are back in stock.

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I'm getting pretty burned out with website building so I had to take a break yesterday and the wall was calling my attention the loudest. I had one section left to do before I can grout this side of the wall. I wanted some more yellow in this area and I immediately thought of a sunflower. I had found plates in the 3 shades of gold when I was thrifting in Newport News in February and they were perfect for this. The "seeds" are glass florist beads. Becky gave me bags of them and they really come in handy. I paint the back of them the color I need and I have custom elements for the wall. The touch of pink in the background was perfect to finish it off.

​Now I just need for this little spell of cold weather to pass so I can open the windows and grout. The grout contains VOCs and I'm highly sensitive to them so I have to wear a respirator and need really good ventilation to clear the air. It will probably take me 5 3-hour sessions to do all the grouting so it will take several days. I'm trying to decide if I want to risk loading a quilt and having it exposed while I'm grouting. I cover the machine with sheets when I grout but I'm still kind of messy and prone to large spills.

​Maybe some sewing in the sewing room is in order instead.

Uh, well, I missed the first Friday! Thanks to Krista for bringing me out of website building to catch up on the blog! We are pretending that today is the first Friday.
For new people, we have designated 2016 as the year to clear out some UFO projects. You are welcome to join in at any time. Each month we check in here with our progress and there are prizes too!
To report your progress and be entered for the drawing post a comment below with either:
- a link to your blog update
- a comment with your counts for the month in the format that I’m using below
There were 11 entries in the March post and the winner of the prize is Sharon in IN! Prizes are going to be surprises this year. Each month I'm going to try to tailor a prize to each winner.

My big news for March was finishing Black Swan. I’m not so sure how April is going to look because I am deep into building the new website and I’m excited to get it finished to show you. I think I might pick a small project, like placemats, off my UFO list to work on so I can get SOMETHING done. I can’t work on anything big while the website is under construction.
I’m not complaining. I have wanted to do the new website for over a year but didn’t want to spend the time doing it. Having to rest my knee gave me the perfect opportunity to work on the website. My knee is much better but I still need to be careful for a few weeks and the computer work is a good way to spend the rest time.
Here are my counts for March. I added a goal column but you don’t have to do anything like that.

Starting UFO 23
Finished YTD 2 (Goal 14)
Started YTD 0 (Planned 6)
Ending UFO 21 (Goal 15)
Veterans YTD 20 (Goal 40)
​Time for your update. For this month please leave your comments on the "old" blog.

​I was MIA from the blog yesterday because I was reorganizing a sewing room. Not mine. Mine is perfect. It's not pretty but it's perfect for me.
I was at my friend's house helping to organize her new sewing room.
Anne and Dale's house was built in 1905. It was remodeled once in the 40's and again in the 80's. It was time for another one and they really did it right. The house is amazing and they have been slowly getting everything back in order. Yesterday it was time to do the sewing room.
​This room will also serve as a guest bedroom so she had lots of cabinetry built. This one holds a Murphy bed. The back of the bed door folds down into a cool cutting table. She will have a cutting mat cut to fit the top of this table. The big cabinet to the right has a cool clothes rack that folds out.

​Opposite the bed is another set of floor to ceiling cabinets. We put all the stuff she rarely (never) uses in the top. I especially love the machine garage.

​The cabinet looks like it has 3 sets of drawers but there are really only 2 sets because one set is double wide. That's because the 2 bottom drawers hold her fold out sewing tables. The cabinet maker build ledges in the drawers for the tables to rest on so there's still lots of storage space under the tables. Very clever!

​Here are the sewing tables and a huge TV so she can watch football and sew. Nice!

​To the right of that cabinet we found the perfect spot under the window for her letterpress workstation.
She's ready to sew!