Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Back home again

Hello all! (waving wildly)  How have you been?  I am doing great.  It's amazing what a couple of weeks away can do for your brain and your energy.  The fact that I spent some of that time with the world's cutest babies has nothing at all to do with it, I'm sure.  The conference went well, I saw a lot of friends, I learned some stuff, and didn't cook for a long time, which is always a win in my book.  Did I mention that my son is a chef? It was yummy and I didn't have to make anything!

So now I've cleaned up some of the sewing room (what was I doing, leaving it such a mess?) and cleaned the machine plus wound a bunch of bobbins and I'm ready to get going on the projects again.  Thank goodness, too, because it's way too hot to even think about going outside. 

The first thing I want to do is make up a fast quilt from 16-patches:


Doesn't that look fun and colorful?  It's really easy, too. One of my daughters gave me this package of strips from Island Batiks for Mother's Day:


We all know I'm not a big fan of precuts, but it was a lovely gift, wasn't it?  So now I want to use them as quickly as I can so they don't just sit on the shelf forever, because that's no way to treat a present.  Besides, the colors are happy and these blocks are really easy, so I'm making progress quickly, which we all know is very gratifying.  Since there are two strips of each fabric, I'm just matching up 4 strips in roughly the same order that they're in the package, then cutting 2-1/2 inch sections for 8-inch finished blocks.  From each set of 4 strips, I get 4 blocks.  This will give me 40 blocks, and I figure that I'll add a couple more strips so that I end up with 42 blocks, for a quilt set 6 by 7.  It won't be huge, but it will be festive.  And hopefully finished quickly.

The second project I started working on is putting together my Community Sampler quilt.  I've started adding the setting triangles and I've gotten this far:

Sun splotches are festive.  They don't ruin pictures at all!

I'm using up several half yards of light blues that I bought as possibilities for sky fabrics for various projects as the setting triangles.  They're close enough in color and value that I don't think it will look bad that they're different fabrics.  I still have to make the border pieces, but I should be able to get this together pretty quickly.

The last thing that I'm working on right now is gathering fabrics for a Harry Potter quilt. 


This was not on my list to make, but you can't say no when your child asks for one and even finds you the pattern they want *and* gets it for you, can you?  Okay, an adult child, but I'm a soft touch.  The pattern is really, really easy, but you can see that I need to add some fabrics.  I knew I would need to get some more grays (silver), but I also need some more dark greens and a couple of black pieces.  I thought the blacks I have would work, but now that I look at them in the picture the prints look too gray for what I want.  So I guess I'll have to shop, darn it.  I hate it when that happens!

That's the story from here!  Pretty happy to be home, though I miss those grandkids like nothing else, and I'm looking forward to some productivity in several areas.  Because of the very wet spring we had, our massive landscaping project has been delayed by an entire month, but I have some veggies growing in containers on the deck.  Look what greeted me when we got home:


Tomatoes!  They taste like fresh air and sunshine, and I'm eating them like candy. 

Hope you're having a great week! 

Sharing at Let's Bee Social.

9 comments:

Kate said...

Sounds like your time away was fun, relaxing and refreshing. It's always nice to get home and then get some stitching in. You've got some fun projects in the works. Happy stitching.

piecefulwendy said...

Welcome home! This whole post just makes me smile. Spending time with family (and cute babies), getting quilty gifts, quilt projects in the works, and fresh garden tomatoes! What could be better? It's good to have you back here, but so glad you enjoyed your break!

Vicki in MN said...

You are energized now and no stopping you! Well of course I love the IB fabrics!!! Looking forward to seeing all the finishes;)

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

You have to make stuff when requested. No matter what I say, I always wind up making stuff for others (seldom for myself). I get to see my grandbaby next week (haven't seen her since she was born in March).

Mari said...

Have a good day everyone!

canuckquilter said...

Time away from routine and a change of scenery never fails to recharge creativity. I'm glad you enjoyed your time with family. I look forward to seeing the Harry Potter quilt. I have two almost-grown kids who wouldn't turn up their noses at such a thing...

Louise said...

What a bright, happy post! Glad your vacation and some fresh new fabric has re-lit your fires, Mari :)

Jo said...

Glad you had some grandies cuddles. Great projects

Preeti said...

Firstly, welcome back. Sorry I am late to the welcome party. WHAT??? Your son is a chef? The things that you keep from me, Mari. Seriously, you have been so busy gushing over your grandbabies, I can understand. Hope there are a few tomatoes for me to sample when I visit. I am so excited about my trip. THis week is going to be tough. See you soon!!!