Memorial weekend

Holiday and warm weather.   Hooray!

So good things to do on the weekend:

Quilting:   I have been behind on my Blockheads 3  Finally completed a few of them.
These are 6 inch blocks.

Gardening,   grilling,    cleaning,    relaxing,

Kayaking:   I think they would do this every warm day. And although I like being on the water/ I don't like the hastle of loading, transporting, busing, and all the rig a ma role.  Get me to a lake.  I will go in, paddle a while, come back and take out. Done.  This i my daughter and husband.

Covid continues

I know I have been remiss in blogging. Sometimes, life just gets in the way of good things.

That is not to say that there is anything amiss. I have just been busy. Spring cleaning, a little cooking, a Saturday Farmer's Market, and work.

Have you ever wanted to sew, but were uninterested in what you projects were in process?
The other night, I went searching in my boxes of projects and decided on completing this block.
It was created a couple years ago using crayon coloring with layers of color. I had begun accenting with embroidery

And this is how it looks like done. I do think it added a great deal and have decided to make it into a small project: just frame it and quilt it. Another project almost done.

b

I do have a large stack of half pieced hexies for my flower quilt.  Only one more set of 5 fat quarters to cut and sew.  YEAH.  They go fairly quickly as the large triangles are about 6 inches and each hexie has 6 of them. Easy enough.

This is what a portion of it will look like:

These are all the sections that are completed. 

And then I have embroidering this bouquet for my daughter for a long time The project has always been in my take along bag. The background is a crossweave. The design is Jacquelynne Steves. She has free designs every now and again. 

And I did complete the binding on my Wild and goosey blues.  Yes a finish for sure. but I have already shown the photos.

The school year is cranking up before the final push. 3 full weeks to go.  June 5 is my last day. Graduation and prom scheduled for July, tentatively. And although this is the most unusual spring ever.+We still have the typical kids tired of school and wanting to quit. It just seems more so with the added pressure of kids having to learn from home.

But Good News! I did talk with administration about retiring from full time work. This is it for the 5 day week. I think I will sub a little and keep my hands on my National Honor Society club where I am co-advisor.  I need to pay for my health insurance for a while and try to compensate for the economy a bit.  I also feel I need to be able to structure some time in order to make the best use of my time off. ( and not go crazy at home with my spouse).

Back to school

Well, not back at school.  Just back to teaching from my couch.  This week went better than I had hoped. I can really see an apathy in the kids, though. They found out we are in it for the long hall and not being able to return to the building for the remainder of the school year. And the darn weather is crappy and I mean temperature in the  30s and 40s and cloudy with snow sprinkles here and there.  UGH!

Little time doing anything: no sewing, a little cooking, but not much to show since last weekend.

So I HAD to do something to spark my enjoyment in life. And that meant a new project. I have had the materials for 2 months. Just sitting.


Here is the fat quarter bundle I had plus a few Kaffe Fassett fabrics and the accent orange.

This is the pattern I chose to make for my daughter from the bright happy fabrics.

The orange will replace the navy blue in the pattern.

And although I didn't buy the Hex ruler created by the pattern designer, 

I did have this ruler sitting around in my stash.

I marked the cutting edges with tape.

It worked out just fine.

And this is what I have so far: 8 fat quarters completed, and 28 to go

Sunshine usually helps. Sorry, it is still cloudy here.

End of the "Spring" break

 Some bigger things accomplished this week:

First I attached my 2 borders: the 1 inch light blue and 3 inch white.
Then I quilted it myself using my new walking foot. New to me, 35 year old machine. Attachment seems like new. Worked wonderfully.

I just stitched in the ditch for each of the one inch sashings. I think I will just extend it into the border.

Anyone else have a better idea?

The blocks ( 4 in each white block are 3 1/2 paper pieced. I found it on Pinterest.

I believe it is an old Bonnie Hunter from a magazine called Wild and Goosey.

And I assembled all my Frolic blocks together.  I have the edge stay stitched to prevent stretching.  And I have the  first row of borders cut and ready to go. My sizing is  a little off for the pieced border which is to go on next.  ( I should have used the small binding as a coping strip to compensate.)

Distance learning resumes tomorrow. And we were informed by the governor that it will continue through the end of the school year here in Wisconsin

Bummed, bummed, bummed. 

7 weeks left.

And Spring is a relative term. We have been in the 30s and 40s.  Of course, THIS week is to get to the 50s.   And although we had a week off school. There was nothing to do and nowhere to go. Social distancing.

sewing in Spring Break

Happy Easter!  

I very quiet meal was enjoyed on Easter Sunday with our daughter!

I made this cute little bunny ear bags! 

I think they are adorable, but are only 5x7 ish for the body.

We did get a picture of the three of us. 

It is so good to have her healthy after 3 weeks of the coronavirus. 

We miss the grandkids and were supposed to have flown south .

But in the interim, I am sewing some. I have not posted in over a week.

Here is the progress of Frolic. More than halfway pieced.

And I completed another cake mix box. 

This was had much smaller pieces and made 2  blocks.

Here is the back after completing the sewing. It is hard to see, but it made 1 larger unit and 16 small half square triangles. Best Press is my friend to make these come out evenly.

Final blocks

Then I finally finished m 12 heart blocks. 

And I was even able to have a curbside pick up for some more white fabric for borders and sashing.

Lastly, I pieced this top together on retreat in March.

I have been tinkering with hexies to add here and there. 

But I don't like the end products and so am just going to finish this as is.

The photo dulls the springy pinks and yellows and reds.

New projects to bolster quarantine.

Another week has gone by.  The good news: spring is starting to warm us up a little: more like up to high 40s and into 50s midday.  The sun, oh the sun. It does a body good. To see it, to feel it and soak up the rays even through the windows. 

And as I am sure you all are feeling the quarantine: so am I.  Ugh.  I have only gone to the grocery once this week. But I have gone for a couple of walks. It is hard to sit, and have to work on the computer. It drags on.  But  we are getting used to it. Dare I even say that when we have a month more.

I have done a little sewin

Last week I mad this heart out of a varigated swath of fabric. The pattern from guild was wanting 4 shades and I just couldn't get the middle shades to be very different. So I made a second block and then substituted a couple pieces to make them variances a little better.

Then I got hte bright idea to make other colors and prepare a snuggle lap quilt for an agency my husband works with: Healing Hearts. The name is perfect.

Before COVID 19, My DH would attend a dinner for families of relatives who have died or are incarcerated. Then they divide into smaller age groups for some sharing and activities. 

And I bought more colors to make:

Plus I am using this as my Hands to Help quilt for Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

So I have  few more colors to sew and some white to purchase to spread the blocks out.

I really like the blocks.  Making a total of 12 blocks from  colors.

My only other project I have actually worked on is this springy hexie quilt. 

Now, I have pieced the layers into fence, dots, hexie panel and a second go round.

It was a McCalls kit from a magazine.  I bought in online.

But I really wanted to make some additional hexie flowers to add in between.

Slowly, slowly. I am using solids to go with the panel.

Distance learning

Online school started this week. I sit on the couch answering "hangout" conversations with my students. This goes from 8 to at least 4 in the afternoon. And then in the evening I have been making calls to families to help the students get online. Or I have been answering emails and such.

They have been LONG days. Many of the students are trying. Some things go well; and other things not so well. Teachers adapt and we keep going. Oh, and did I say long and tiring.

So Thursday I finally sewed. I finished my Bonnie Hunter setting blocks.  Today I hope to make the corner blocks.
Then it is putting it together.

But just like many of you on your blogs, I feel like a need something NEW.   

Today we supposed to be our quilt show. And of course, it is canceled. We are having the raffle Sunday for he beautiful blue and white quilt from the Edyta Sitar book something about blues. We made it bigger than the one in the book. And a beautiful appliqued border was added: I had made all the bias stems.

GOOD news: Corners finished. It took several hours.  That is not because they are complicated, it is because I didn't have enough pink cut out. After a little specific cutting of the right shape and color, they are done.

Bottom line, DONE!  And assembly has started. Slow and steady!

And then I laid them out.  Toot, toot, to toooooooo.

Drum roll, please.

And then I found these extras.   Hmmm.  This goes to show: I am a VISUAL learner.

I look at the pictures of the directions, read it once, and relay on it for the duration.

Those 16 sets were not just for the setting triangles, silly.

Still, major progress.