Too much to do!

 I have felt very busy the last week trying to get lots of things finished and off my plate. That plus lots of meetings for this and that. 

But I have managed to be at the sewing machine: 

So happy to have finished my 12 inch block for Valentine's Day. I pieced and appliqued it last year.  And now I have it quilted and the binding on. I found the pattern on Pinterest.

And I have made 3 more blocks for my sampler quilt; they are fun and easy to accomplish in a small amount of time. 

And I just played around with pink scraps to make valentines.

The first group is stitch along edge and fold over.

The second group are just scraps with all over quilting.

I need to add some buttons and/or ribbons.

Little projects

 Each night, I like to relax in front of the TV with my hubby.   (He sits at the other end of the couch so as not to be hit with my needle and thread when pulling it up. ) But we enjoy sharing the shows together and I get a lot of hand work done. 

Current evening project has been the Valentine Quaker by Primrose Cottage. 

My progress over many days: 

And for other quilting progress: 

I finished my Stash Bee block for February. It turned into several blocks as it was so easy and all my solids were in the bag together. .

I also tinkered with some quilted hearts, but I will show those later.

I finished going through all my old teaching materials: 21 boxes worth.  I donated 12 boxes of children's books and kept only 2 boxes for kids and grandkids.

A winter trip to Detroit!

 I finished the rainbow knitted scarf for my daughter's birthday and it went very well with her khaki green jacket. She loved it; I forgot to take photos of the finished piece, fringe and all. 

But we traveled all the way across Michigan to Detroit by car. Highway 94 is not exactly flat, but rather bumpy and there is always Chicago to drive around. This makes for a long drive.

Getting to be with her and her beaux was definitely worth it.  We had Detroit style pizza, so yummy that went with a local beer I liked. Yummm.

Saturday we went to their Eastern Market, the biggest farmer's market that is open all year.  There are many buildings (sheds) with walkways in between lined with produce and products.  I am looking forward to trying a chicken casserole kit  and bean soup with a ham hock as well as the cranberry walnut bread I purchased there. Plus we had some crepes with apples and cinnamon, so good.

Afterwards we went to Belle Island to see their aquarium and a conservatory with incredible plants ( already having daffodils and hyacinths ready for spring). Lots of interesting water creatures as well as cactuses and rainforest flora in the 2 buildings. Belle Island is a smallish island in Lake St Clair between Lake Erie and Lake Huron.

Our guys in the bottom :)

And last but certainly not least we went to Cliff Bells for an incredible 5 piece jazz band. What a great old décor with mahogany ceilings and old booths. And the musicians were just amazing. 

Oh, if only they lived closer. 

On the quilting front:   I have finished piecing the small half square triangles for my center block:

Each half square triangle is 1 and 1/4 inches.  when put together this should be a 20 inch block. 

Fabrics are Kansas Trouble fabrics from my hoard.  I have an entire bag of jelly roll strips , layer cakes and lots of fat quarters and half yard leftovers, most of which have been cut into  ( several donated from friends. )

I have made several quilts from these. 

As I emptied it out I found some blocks that I had started from guild, and no other pieced patterns were given. So I have determined to use my stash and make blocks: 

Here is what I have so far:  These are 8 inch blocks.  

Keep on quilting

 Well, I am not "quilting" my tops,    YET!  Still on my to do list.

But I am continuing to work on my Blockheads 1.  I like seeing the progress and working a little more over several days.  And now I have the top and bottom rows pieced together along with the side portions. All that is left is to make the center medallion.

And I have really been knitting. The scarf needs to be done in by the weekend . But as I have been sitting on the couch, watching a favorite football team lose, or trying warm up on the couch.   ( OH, the weather outside is frightful. )  But it is not in the chill factor frigid, yet.  Addendum to that: all the schools are cancelled and it is well below 0. 

Any way, the pattern is getting more automatic and I make fewer errors. And I am getting better at undoing a row of stitches. All signs of improving my knitting. This shows the coloration better.  It is about 4 or 5 feet long.  Mostly done!

I took a trip to Indianapolis to visit the family again.

Here are some pictures.

Mom (93) and I 

Friday she was very talkative and was able to answer lots of questions.

Saturday, she was not quite as good. So goes the life with dementia.

My sister, Diane and I

It was a good trip. I even got to play with my grand niece and nephew.  So darn cute. 

Guild challenge

 Since last spring, our guild has been doing a round robin challenge with small groups of people who were willing to do it.  Each group had 6 people in it and tonight it is FINAL reveal. You provide a 12 inch center block of your own creation, a variety of fabrics, a journal if you please, and turn it over to the next person on the list. Every 2 months you return the border you created on the original and pass it on again. Completion has 5 rounds on the center. 

Here was this month's block  ( don't you just love sock pictures?)

And after my addition: 

My inspiration came from this book with some modifications.

I look forward to getting mine back, as well.  I really love the challenge of design using what has been provided. Pinterest give lots of visuals to aide the creative process. 

This is mine!!!!!

The reveals were all amazing, one as fantastic as another. We all were just gobsmacked at the incredible work of all the rounds together. 

Grooving into the New Year!

 I don't quite know what is different, but I have been quite productive since I returned home.  Part of it is getting warmer weather and being outside. Part of it is getting done with all the Christmas presents, food, and family. I love Christmas and do enjoy the traditions, the music and the joyous celebration of Jesus's birth. But now, I feel relieved of the pressure and hub bub and am back to my routine!

And I have started my new calendar journal making lots of lists.  ( I am truly not very consistent over time.)  But the new year brings new starts and new goals.  So I have been more organized... so far. And I have dropped the afternoon nap, although I don't know if I can keep it up.  

Lots of you have stated how much we have accumulated.  And as a 60 something lady, I am in that same category.  So I am attacking the boxes.  I am using Karen Brown's method ( from Just Get it Done Quilts) of doing a little each day.  And so far have cleared out 6 boxes. ( leaving 1 from the reorganization).  My first big push is clearing my teaching things. I retired 4 years ago and although I do tutor a little, I don't need all the books and manuals and such.  I am donating the books to a school. And am throwing out the tried and utilized methods away.  My local school district just adopts new curriculum every couple of years after the powers that be determine what is best.  ( not the teachers) So giving the materials to them is worthless, hence the garbage dump. 

But I have also been working away at some projects:

1) January's BOM for my guild this week:  a spool block

2) All the sashing strips are pieced for my Blockheads: 

3) I restarted a scarf for my daughter.  I had wanted to do it for Christmas, but really struggled with the pattern. And then I felt it was too narrow, so I ditched it.

Now it is wider and all that practice has made the knitting easier and even. 

And I will give it to her later this month for her birthday.  WIN WIN

HOME!

 My spouse and I arrived back at home January 2 after a week with the grandkids (and parents). It feels so good to be back home drinking my coffee, sleeping in my own bed, and so on.  Love, love, love them all to death. But I am getting older and like my own things. They also have a lot of pets. 

But we had fun playing games together, hanging out on the couch with them while they played video games. and going outside with them. We also cooked with them. I am so happy to see the boys helping out around the house. 

And the younger boy had his 9th birthday. ( New Year's Eve) We did tacos and Sonic theme.  He is such a cutie and a sincere kid who cares about people.  He is still as skinny as a rail, but so much bigger than the 3 pound premie.

Stash Bee Hive 5

Great pattern where you sewed around the middle square and then cut it into fourths and realigned.

Sewing started for Stash Bee and My Corrine et Cecile Celebration SAL

Celebration SAL

So I am excited to get started on my list of projects. Happy New Year to you all!   Hope your goals are exciting and fun for you. 

Starting the new year!

 In my last post, I commented over not completing or even starting my 3 new quilts from a year ago.  2 of them are still on my sometime to do list.

So a big goal I have is to continue finishing projects.  And the top of the list is to finish these projects:

1) Blockheads 1  (Started in 2017)  At this point I have the layout planned with 2 major steps of piecing to complete before getting it quilted.  I need to finish all the sashing strips and only need 24 left to do. The second is the large pieced block of the center.  

Photo is of the completed side sections of the center.

2) New York Beauty with pattern from Karen K Stone's book. All the blocks are made; I only need to lay it out and sew it together before quilting. I have 36 of these blocks completed and 24 side blocks.
I want to enter this is our guild show in March.

3) Stash Bee: I was queen bee for November.  I have yet to receive a couple blocks due to Canada's postal strike. But it will be a great summer quilt in red, white and blue:

4) Tilda quilt in the pattern: Everlasting by Corey Yoder. I only need 20 of these blocks and sashing.

It was a new start after my birthday in November. I am just completing one block at a time with no specific deadline. ( I do need to buy more Tilda fabrics for it, though.)

5)   A miniature quilt:  5 blocks completed 7 more to go.

6) Lastly I have a Rainbow Scrap quilt started 4 years ago. I made huge progress in the setting this last year , but needs final arrangement and borders:  ( Maybe 1 more block to make it 75 or so inches squared. )

I will be starting a mystery quilt in late January. 

And I am participating in the blue squares exchange with a scrap pattern in plan.

And I do have 6 small quilt tops needing finishing. (Plus one which has been at the quilter for a while. )

I am still debating the Corrine et Cecil quilt along: the theme is birthday and I have found a row by row that looks tempting.  HMMMM.

Plus a few other squirrels along the way, not that I don't have enough patterns and stash to use. 

How about all of  YOU!  Inspiration is always welcome. 

Happy New Year to each of you! May your quilty dreams come to fruition!

End of the year recap

 Bad news first:  I did not start ANY of my beginning of the year goals for 2024. I have 2 boxes kitted up to still start: Fat Cat Designs of A Southern Gentleman  with some gorgeous blues, aquas, and purple. and Crinkly Quilts pattern for Dynamite Rings with a brilliant blue background and bright grunge scraps. I still want to do them, really.

But the Good News is that I proceeded with finishing up quilts and followed through all the way to the fall before starting any major projects.  ( I am not counting the small wall hangings done for my Mom's door at the nursing home.)

So here is the parade of  large finishes:

Huge quilt with blocks from Sewcialites 2, currently on my bed.

100 inches square made of 9 inch blocks

Currently on my wall;  Bunny Hill quilt with wool snowmen

One of my all time favorites: 9 patch wonderful 

Won 1st place at my guild's quilt show

queen sized

Sewcialites fall blocks from last year:

Throw size 60 inches square

Not the finished picture. Over the River by Crabapple Hill

 I still don't like the quilting in the borders and it sits.

Wall quilt   7 year project

Nice flannel quilt from Primitive Gatherings panel and fabrics.

Throw size wall quilt

Chandelier quilt of leftover 1/4 square triangles.

 Twin size

NEW start and finish:

Hey Boo by Lella Boutique 

throw size

That is a total of 8 large quilts

And I finished 13 other small projects.

Additionally, I completed at least 2 blocks for Stash Bee each month, a Round Robin for guild 5 months. and various other starts. 

All in all, I feel good for being lucky enough to have time and fabric to complete these. Quilting is definitely a part of my life. I thank all the bloggers who follow me and comment. Their ever amazing inspiration of their own projects is incredible.      Hallelujah!

Getting ready for Christmas!

 I have been slow to the season. Usually I have a stack of presents already hiding in the closet, but I didn't collect too many thus far this year.  It is easy to buy online, but I miss the selection of looking around a shop for the best ideas. Today, I stopped at a little shop after being at the post office. It was so darn cute. 

I am getting ready to see the grandkids after Christmas; the biggest presents already arrived there.  And we will fly the day after Christmas to see them.  They are in the midst of semester end as well as testing.  The little one made the largest leap in math.  I am oh, so proud. I will miss the program at school but hope to get pictures and maybe a video tomorrow. 

They are preparing to move to New Orleans: a much greater populated area with tons of things to do for them all. So I am excited for their opportunity. We will help organize and pack some when we are down there.

In the meantime, my daughter has come for the week.  She is lucky to be able to work from anywhere. But she has unfortunately caught a bug. We hope to see a blues concert tomorrow. And then to bake Christmas cookies Thursday. I baked and she supervised but only for one batch.

But we did see Big Bad Voodoo Daddy which is a New Orleans style group:  so fun!

My biggest progress has been my Tilda blocks:  I am up to 4 large blocks completed. 

And I keep working on the sashing  for my Blockheads 1: 7 pieces per sash. 

Hope all is well with you and your family!  Enjoy the season.

P.S. Today is my Mom's 93rd birthday ! Here she is with my sister at her holiday family dinner.

2017 Blockheads

 I had the pleasure of another weekend quilt retreat. I debated a lot about which older WIP to take and get moving along. And I decided for my old Blockheads which was the very first Moda quilt along. Here is my post from the first block I completed: Blockheads and this was block 1. Here is Lynn Hagmeier's post of block one:https://my.modafabrics.com/2017/03/blockheads-block-1  The blocks are all of 6 inches big.

As I laid them out, I realized I had 50 blocks because I made all the blocks both the applique ones as well as all the alternates I had pieced. I already had a collection of Kansas Troubles fabrics and that was the color pallet I chose. I had even selected my setting and purchased the fabrics as well as making a set from one width of fabric.  It was good to have extra blocks for balancing out the colors, mostly the background ones. 

While designing the setting and working out all the math, I changed how I wanted to arrange the blocks. And that requires me to make a center focus block and I have already selected the pattern.  It will be a challenge with 1 inch half square blocks everywhere. 

So all weekend I sewed and sewed making a headway on sashing "blocks" and getting 2 smaller sections together. I feel like I hardly made a dent, but I am so pleased to get this UFO off the stack of projects to complete. And it motivates me to complete it! 

Taking part in this quilt along really helped to improve my piecing skills as the 5 designers ( Jan Patek, Lisa Bongean, Lynn Hagmeier, Betsy Chutchian, and Carrie Nelson) posted blocks with tips and tricks all along the way.  And I participated in successive quilt alongs only one of which is completed finished and that is the latest one of which I only made the 9 blocks of part 1. 

I encourage you to try any quilt along whether Blockheads, Fat Quarter's, or Sherri McConnell of A Quilting Life.  Pat Sloan also has many going on. I am sure there are oodles more. 

Happy Sewing!