February 2021 PHD Update

Hi Quilting Friends,

February is such a short (and sweet!) month. Here’s an update of my progress toward my “PHD in 2021” goals:

Project #1: Make the “Southwest Critters” Quilt

I’ve finished the 13 animal applique blocks! Here’s a picture of my three favorite animals in this set, although I change my mind each time I look at them:

Next up- begin piecing the rest of the blocks. I need 12 pieced blocks to place between the animals. (These critters don’t always get along in the wild, so I don’t want to take any risks on my quilt, LOL.)

Project #4: Quilt “Scrappy Christmas Quilt #3”, pieced in 2020

I’ve prepared the backing for the quilt in the center of the photo, using two pretty fabrics from my stash, and the quilt is layered and pin basted. I’ve even prepared the binding! Now I’m thinking about how I want to quilt it. My “One Monthly Goal” for March is to quilt and bind this lovely.

Project #12: Colorful fabric baskets from scraps

Ta-da! I’ve finished making my PURPLE scrappy basket, which was my February “One Monthly Goal” project! I enjoyed a couple of pleasant sewing days with this project; sorting, pressing, cutting and choosing. I even used some PURPLE orphan block parts, and added a leftover PURPLE flower applique for fun .

I brought the entire set of nine rainbow-colored baskets out of the closet, where they reside in near darkness, for a photo shoot on the stairway. Aren’t they lovely!

I am contemplating construction of a couple of neutral baskets as well; one for earth tones and one for black/ gray tones. I’ve been itching to start a scrappy quilt project (well, actually, several scrappy quilt projects are calling my name, but I’m MOSTLY exercising self-control) with my newly-organized scraps, so keep reading to see what I’ve made so far.

Project #13: Mariner’s Star table runner and place mats

I found the additional background fabric that I needed! Yay!! I need to sketch up the rest of the design for a pretty table runner and a set of four place mats, and then get them finished. I’m still mulling around a few ideas for this project. There’s a blog hop coming in April, so maybe I can get motivated to get this project wrapped up in time.

New Projects

Patriotic Hot Pads

I love blog hops! This project was made for the “Show Your Stripes” blog hop:

Scrappy Trips Quilt

Now that I’ve organized my colorful scraps, I have started a new happy scrappy project to use up some of my 2″ scraps:

I went a little crazy during the week-long winter storm in Texas, and stitched all 36 blocks for this “Scrappy Trips” quilt top. The block pattern is from Bonnie Hunter, re-sized to use 2″ rather than 2.5″ strips. We lost power for a couple of days, internet service for nearly a week, and it was pretty chilly in the house for most of the week. (Thank goodness that I have a LOT of quilts around.) When the lights came on again, I kept my sewing machine running. Such fun!!

I decided to use a specific sequence of color for my scrappy blocks, because I had SO many strips available and because I like a predictable outcome. Why not? The blocks went together quickly, and it was fun to just sew, sew, sew, cut, cut, cut, and then sew a little more.

I added a solid navy inner border (from my stash), and then a narrow scrappy pieced border followed by the solid navy outer border. The solid navy binding is prepped and bundled with the quilt top, but I haven’t decided upon backing or how to quilt it yet. This will be on my quilting “To Do” list during spring break or perhaps the summer months, since it isn’t likely that we’ll have another week of “Houston, on Ice” for quite a long time.

One would think that, after making a 63″ square quilt top, I’d be able to notice a decline in the scrap population, but not really. I still have a huge pile of lovely 2″ wide scraps, waiting in the wings. (I also have other widths, but I’ve decided to focus on using the 2″ wide scraps this year.) Inspiration abounds, but time is always limited. Stay tuned for my next endeavor!

RSC 2021, YELLOW, for February:

I made two YELLOW “Sawtooth Star” blocks for the February Rainbow Scrap Challenge, one with white background and another with gray:

I also stitched up eight YELLOW string blocks. I was surprised at how many 1.5″ strips of YELLOW that I found in my (now almost empty) YELLOW scrap bin! Oh, and I made one more PINK string block (not pictured) to supplement the three PINK string blocks that I made in January, because I decided that multiples of four blocks in each color would make the layout go together more easily.

Here’s my task list spreadsheet for 2021:

And my updated 2021 UFO tally, with slower progress this month:

Happy quilting,

Sharon

Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal March Link-up

PHD in 2021 February Link-Up