Calendar Cascade :: It Begins

OK! It was time to really get going on this Seattle MQG BOM, Calendar Cascade. I had a couple of hours on Sunday, knowing it would be a busy (not much sewing) week, and dove in. 

One thing to know about this BOM is that the rows are not being created in calendar order. Not sure why, but that's the case, and I'm going with it. So even though I did the first few assigned rows on Sunday, they were actually rows 1, 4, 7, and 8. (Count how many shapes are in a specific row and that will tell you what month it's for - one for January, two for February, etc.)

I was able to get back and do the final (for now) assigned row, 5, and now I'm caught up. For May, we'll be assigned row 2, and I may do it then, or I may wait and batch create several assignments later. We'll see what else is going on. But for now, I'm caught up, I'm liking where it's headed, and am content with that.

Love

Here's another little Dropcloth sampler I finished up recently. You might guess it came out in February, and though I started it then, I set it aside every time other things to hand-stitch came along - like floral samplers and A Year if Doodles and hand-quilting and quilt bindings of course.

But eventually, I turned to focus on it, because it definitely deserved it. For this entire little sampler, I used just five different perle cotton #8 threads - two variegated and three solids. I kinda love the concentrated effect.

2025 Quilting Q1 Check In

Yvonne/Quilting JETgirl announced the #2025QuiltingQ1CheckIn a couple of weeks ago, so let's see how I'm coming along with my plans for the year.

Quilts

• Finish Merry Mix! Yay, this December quilt along project was my first quilt finish for the year.

• I'm also making great progress participating in the Effervescence Sew Along with Yvonne @quiltingjetgirl. Sewing three or four blocks every other week, I've been easily keeping up.

• The new 2025 Seattle MQG BOM, Calendar Cascade, is underway. I have fabric pulled, and a swatch card ready. Just need to start sewing. Hoping to do that yet this month.

• Mini mini quilts for art swap - Those are done and delivered!

• Small quilt with triangle blocks begun in Perfectly Pointless workshop with Maria Shell - Even after taking them to use in a class at QuiltCon, I didn't finish a thing with them. The pieces are tucked away with an as yet undecided purpose.
• Luminaries II - Begun in early December, I decided to put it away and bring it out this fall/winter. I want to finish it, just not now.

• Participate in the Pantone Quilt Challenge 2025. Yes! I'm doing that! It's a work in progress. Here's the first block.

Sewing

• Block Studies Collective was great fun, and I have three finished small quilts to show for it.

Arcs

Octad

Mesh

• Bee Sewcial - I'm caught up with responding to my bee mates' prompts. I'm up for May, so been thinking about that....

Lace

Bee Still My Heart

Kintsugi

Handwork

• Floral Stitches - I've definitely been enjoying these, and have only one more to go in the series!

• A Year of Doodles - I'm all caught up on the pre-printed calendar stitchery from Stitchdoodles, and working on April.

Community

• Still regularly blogging and publishing issues of The Scrap Basket. 
• Continuing participation with my local Seattle MQG.
• Open Jar @open____jar, hosted by Jen Broemel and Bob Bosscher. I've participated each month so far, and have created small quilts in response to each prompt.

LEAP | DOT

TEXT | UN(settled)

SPRING | Springtide

• QuiltCon! I went and it met all the expectations and then some. SO good to be there after several years not being able to attend.

So I think I've either met goals or am in the process of meeting them - Effervescence, the Seattle MQG BOM, and the Pantone Challenge are all a work in progress.... I hope to continue with Open Jar, and of course Bee Sewcial. Other than that, I don't have much actually planned! And I'm ok with that. I'm happy just seeing what the next few months hold.

Linking up with Quilting JETgirl's #2025QuiltingQ1CheckIn.

Floral Stitches XI

I know I posted a floral stitches sampler just a couple of weeks ago, but I've finished the next one in the series. And oh boy, was this a fun one! #11 of 12 small embroidery samplers in Dropcloth's Floral Stitches subscription series, I enjoyed every stitch. Something about the design, and the colors I chose, just made me happy as I stitched along.'

Surprisingly, I used no chain stitch in this one, usually one of my go-to stitches. But a lot of back stitch, some straight and brick stitches, quite a few French knots, and some couching to finish off the border.

A fun little sidenote - not even related to this particular flower - but Rebecca @dropcloth borrowed two of my floral samplers to photograph for some kits she's offering. See here and here for the florals that get to be in the limelight. Kinda fun. Meanwhile, just one more little sampler left in this series. Kinda makes me sad.

Effervescence Update

It feels monumental! Making 3 or 4 blocks every two weeks, we've arrived at the halfway point of the Effervescence quilt along!

Each row is sewn together, but at this point the rows are still separate. The blocks, for the most part, are easy to assemble and not very time-consuming. It's been a good pace! Meanwhile, what I'm loving most is the appearance of a new color. That blue in the bottom right corner was a delight to include this week.

March Fabric Use

None of the fabric that came in last month did I foresee coming. First, was a birthday gift from a friend - several yards of coordinating prints from Fantasticats by Laurel Burch. I've already used a good portion of it for a pair of pillowcases for my younger grandgirl.

Then, there was this warp & weft charm pack on the free table at our last guild meeting, and I just couldn't leave it behind. I just thought it would be fun to play with one of these days.

And finally, no photo, but there was a 5" x 7" piece of retroreflective fabric from Stephanie @spontaneousthreads for this month's Bee Sewcial bee blocks. Barely worth counting (and no photo) but I did.

So finally, I had a negative net usage this month, first time this year. But it wasn't enough to give me a negative net usage for the year yet, so I still need to conquer that. Today's a new day.


March Fabric Usage

Used up: 14.28 yards [11.1 projects + 3.18 recycled]
Brought in: 6.71 yards
Net: -7.57 yards