Wednesday, February 1, 2023

Triple project updates

 Hi everyone, and happy February! Are you caught up in the ice storm that is sweeping the country right now? I hope not, and if you are, I hope you are safe. We are not in the path of the storm, but that didn't stop our furnace from giving up the ghost. We had a very shivery night because they needed a part so it couldn't be fixed right away, but it did finally get fixed. $1700 later, it should be good for another long while now.

Meanwhile, I'm working on a few different projects at the same time. As always. First, there is the Stay at Home Round Robin:
 

This is my finish of the first round, which was spool blocks. Not my favorite block! But it turned out all right and made a nice chain at the top and bottom to turn my center into a rectangle. This now measures about 32 by 24 and is ready for the second round, which is stars. I'm working on them! They're multicolored and very festive.

I also started finally doing the final assembly on this quilt, which I started last year for Hands2Help:



I don't know why I never finished this. I think there was just a lot going on right then and it just got pushed to the side. Sarah is starting up Hands2Help again this year, and I'm here to tell you that it's a lot of work, so give her as much support as you can. I'm hoping to have this one all finished in time to donate for H2H this year. The pattern for this quilt, such as it is, can be found right HERE.

The last thing I'm working on today is yet another repurposing of old blocks:



Not a great picture, but you get the idea! I made the strings a LONG time ago and used some of them in a different project (still unquilted--sadness!) but was left with a whole bunch of string half-blocks. There they sat (because I can't throw anything away) until I saw the Heading North pattern by Sandra at mmmquilts. I knew I would use this layout, so I purchased the pattern and here we are. My blocks are a little smaller than Sandra's but I love it already. I also have a cool idea for making it a bit bigger. We'll see how it works out.

And there we go! Everyone stay warm and safe. I'm leaving you with a picture of the ancient heater cover in my office. I think it would look great as a hand quilting pattern, don't you?



Sharing at the SAHRR and Midweek Makers.

11 comments:

ButterZ said...

Wonderful to pull out some blocks already made. Hope they don’t take long to finish

Quiltdivajulie said...

Yes, we are iced in with some snow to make things look wintery. Still have power (THANK YOU) and so life goes on here at home. LOVE that old heater cover - it is so elegant! Hooray for repurposing those half-string blocks (like where you are going with them). Sorry about the furnace bill - ouch.

Sara said...

Great use of the spool blocks! And those string blocks - so much fun happening there.

Karrin Hurd said...

Gorgeous quilt!

Julie in GA said...

I love all three of the projects you are making! You used your spool blocks for the SAHRR the same way I did, stringing them together in a row. The scrappy blocks will make a beautiful quilt for H2H, and your string blocks are fantastic!

The Joyful Quilter said...

Oh, ouch, on the heating system failure! Each of your projects is coming along well, Mari. Happy quilting!!

Kathleen said...

Sorry about the loss of heat - and we are in the path of the deep freeze...the next two days being our worst...but I live in Maine so it is to be expected. Love the spool border on your SAHRR...it is clever to use them that way. I am pretty sure I know why you didn't get the quilt done for H2H...it was huge taking over for Sarah and you probably had an end of the semester, then too!!! Good luck finishing it this year. Also, love those fishies!

Bernie Kringel said...

Well you have had some weird weather hassles this winter between the Christmas outage and now this. Jeez! Hope that is it for a while .

Love your bow tie block arrangement. We did the same thing!

I am working on my stars today and they are pretty cute, if I do say so myself. :-)

Kate said...

Never fun to be without heat when it's cold. At least it was only one night. Your SAHRR is looking good, I'm not a fan of spool blocks either. That's the challenge isn't it, to make something we like within the parameters of the prompts? Looking forward to seeing how you incorporate the stars. Your other two projects are looking good. I'm curious to see what you do with your string blocks, it's pretty cool looking now.

piecefulwendy said...

Your SAHRR quilt is coming along nicely, and I love the stripey blocks for Heading North! That is such a fun quilt to make! Quite the elaborate heater design!

Sandra Walker said...

Yay! Love seeing a pattern of mine adapted! You’ve set wheels in motion in my brain too-heaven knows I can never seem to empty or even really make a dent in the boxes of strings!