June OMG and Stashbusting

Did you notice I'm not posting on the last day of the month?  That is usually what happens for OMG.  But yesterday I finished the last of two quilts that were part of my One Monthly Goal. My goal part 1 was: 

I will finish, quilt, and bind the butterflies top.

And here it is finished.  Many thanks to Beth for giving me the wonderful swirly blue fabric I used for the border and binding. I ended up using a different backing fabric as I didn't have enough of what I originally planned to use. 

And the back.

I used So Fine (a navy blue thread) and an edge to edge pattern called Hawthorn from My Creative Designs.  No doubt you can see my issue with the design -- both the front and the back of the quilt was too busy so the beautiful quilting did not show up much.  This design had a lot of stitches to it and it took nearly 30 minutes to quilt each row. This quilt is only about 36" wide.  Probably not the best design choice on my part.  

My next goal was 

I'm also going to quilt and bind the parrot quilt.

I purchased 1.5 yards of backing for this quilt.  I'm not sure what I was thinking because it used just about every inch of that 54".  I should have bought 1.75 yards.  I had to sew a strip of fabric on the top just so I'd have enough room to attach the quilt to my leaders. This pattern is Ginger Snap by Apricot Moon.  It is one of my very favorite designs and I've used it over and over again.  I used an orange So Fine thread.  

And the back...

These pictures were taken of the quilts hanging over the railing of our walk out basement.  I always use a towel to clean the railings off and to protect the quilt from the railing.  The purple is one of our towels.    

Before June is history I did want to share my stashbusting statistics for May with you. 

2019	Fabric In Month	Fabric In Year	Fabric Out Month	Fabric Out Year	Total In or Out Year
May	10.00	31.080	8.00	36.375	5.295

This is the second month in a row where I've brought in 10 yards of fabric.  Not a great way to use more fabric than I buy.  Hopefully June will see more fabric used than acquired.  Heck, I finished 3 or 4 quilts this month.  

I was very pleased with my strategy for retreat sewing. I brought 5 projects to retreat in March.  Most were simple quilts (both of these were worked on there.) 3 projects were either finished quilts or centers that only needed borders at the end of the retreat.  This month I focused on getting those three tops totally finished.  One project I've been working on for a while but only when I sew away from home.  And, one I didn't even look at.  

That is all said to say I've finally gotten a great retreat plan going for me.  Pick fairly easy quilts.  Precut all the blocks.  Sew like a fiend.  And, then finish up at home so the quilts do not go on the UFO list.  It's time to start planning and cutting the quilts for the October retreat.  It's about 90 days away. 

I'm linking up at Elm Street Quilts June OMG Finish linky party,  Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday, and Can I Get a Whoop! Whoop.  You know the drill.  Spend some time checking out what folks are working on across the Internet.  

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie