Saturday, March 23, 2024

Spring is busting out

 Hi all! How are you doing today? Obviously something very big is up with me right now, as I haven't touched any fabric in weeks. Not taken one stitch. I don't want to talk about it right now, but I did want to pop in and say hello. So, hi! (waving wildly) Hope everything is going great with you!

Spring is busting out all over right now, and in addition to the pollen it has brought us some really pretty scenes. One of these is on the walk I take every day, and I just want to share it:



Forsythia, magnolia, dogwood! Don't they make a pretty picture? And do I need to mention that those would be some great quilt colors? The flowers and color are definitely raising my spirits. 

One other thing that's quite happy-- the daffodils on our hill are blooming, too:



Is there anything prettier than yellow flowers? Maybe pink, but there are no pink daffodils!

Hope everyone is enjoying spring, or whatever season you are entering. I am looking forward to warmer days, more sunshine, and longer days.

Take care, all! See you when I can.

Friday, March 8, 2024

Just a little late

Hi all! How are you doing? I have been very busy, and very tired. It's possible I'm overworked. This makes me no different from anyone else, but I am certainly feeling it right now. Also, I went to two-- two!-- big gatherings where I interacted with many people, and my introversion kicked in big time afterward. You know how you just want to curl up sometimes by yourself and read a nice book? Just me? Well, okay, then. . .
 
There has been sewing but not posting! Part of that tiredness thing, you know? I did finally finish my Stay at Home Round Robin quilt top, and I could not be happier with it. Here he is:
 

 
Yes, this quilt is a he, but isn't he handsome?  And, as usual, he turned out to be very different from what I expected. But I'm still very happy with how it turned out!
 
The Stay at Home Round Robin is a project run by Quilting Gail and friends, and you should definitely go look at the finished quilts at the linkup! Everyone gets the same prompts but they all turn out so different. I skipped the last prompt for this project, which was 'letters and numbers,' and opted for the border instead. It worked for me!



I messed up on the almost-last round with the pinwheels. The prompt was 'four,' and pinwheels have four parts, so that worked. What didn't work is that the Accuquilt die that I used was mismarked. The half-square triangles were supposed to be 1-1/2 inch finished, which would have made 3-inch finished pinwheels. Nope, they were 1-inch finished. Adjust, adjust! A little cutting and it worked out okay. Hey, maybe I can pretend those dots are really Os and then I will have gotten the last prompt, too!



This little quilt finished at just about 50 by 54 and will eventually be quilted and donated. It's just the right size for a kid quilt and I think the ships will be captivating for some young person. And do you see what else is that picture? Daffodils are coming!

I said that I went to two people-intensive gatherings, and one of them was Quiltcon. What a show! I went with Preeti and met some lovely people (Hi Emily! Hi Michelle!) and saw a mess of really great quilts that are far beyond my abilities. I have just two pictures from Quiltcon to show, and they're not of quilts! 



This was a double rainbow from our window at the hotel. I feel lucky to have seen it, and even luckier to get a photo!
 

 
And finally, a lovely camelia. Spring is on the way! 

A great big thanks to Gail and Wendy and everyone involved with the SAHRR. It was fun and a really nice quilt came out of it. And everyone have a great weekend! I'm off to finish grading some midterms, and then it's pizza for dinner. I love it when that happens!
 
Sharing at Finished or Not Friday, Brag About Your Beauties, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, and Quilting, Patchwork, Applique, and the final SAHRR linkup at Quilting Gail.