Small update, big blocks

 Hello all, and happy summer! I wrote today's post earlier and set it to post while the hubs and I took a bucket-list trip to Iceland, but it didn't post! And there I was in Iceland with only my phone and I'm too afraid to try posting using that. Ah, well. I hope your Memorial Day weekend was relaxing and meaningful. And please tell me that no one left the potato salad out in the sun!

 

As for me, well, we got everyone graduated and  I spent a few days getting stuff from the library to work on this summer, then I logged off, closed the door, and locked it. For some reason that felt amazing this year. And then I packed a bag and headed for Iceland, which felt even more amazing, if that's possible.

 

Of course I came right home after the library and caught up on my RSC blocks. Here are my pink and orange ones, although I've been thinking of them as raspberry and grapefruit. Am I hungry? Are you?

 

 

As you can see, I also planted some flowers in the planter box. We can see them from the living room and they are so cheerful! Heaven knows we need that around here. Now, someone tell me how to keep it from becoming a salad bar for the deer. I planted "deer-resistant" flowers, but somehow that never really means anything.

 

These blocks are huge and will finish at 16 inches, which means big pieces and easy sewing. This is the Fireworks pattern from Sew Preeti Quilts, and there are no templates, which helps my overwhelmed brain.

 

I pulled the other blocks out and took a "family picture" of sorts:

 

 

I plan on making 9 of the big blocks, so I am halfway finished! Hurray! I see that Angela has posted "pastels" for June's colors, which is great for June brides but not so much for my quilt. I don't think a pastel would look great with all those jewel tones. Maybe a yellow green that would look more like a peridot? Or a tourmaline kind of color? If you have a suggestion, let me know! 

 

Hope you all are enjoying the summer so far. I know for a lot of people it doesn't really start until the kids are out of school, and around here that's not for another two weeks. And because I mentioned our trip to Iceland, here is one of the astounding places we visited:

 

 

Bucket list indeed!  A little wet but worth it!

 

Sharing at Angela's for RSC26. 

Pink flowers and yellow blocks

 Hi everyone! I hope it's been a nice week where you are. We had a freeze a few days ago (!!) here in Maryland, but I have been too busy/ lazy to get any plants in yet so I was just cold, not traumatized. At least there was sunshine!

 

Continuing in my quest to keep on keeping on, I've made a few more things in the last couple of weeks. We're coming to the end of the semester, so 'just blocks' is okay with me right now. Take a look at the next step in the Angela Walters' Build a Quilt:

 

 

Check out those azaleas! Can you even see the block past those beauties? The bushes are really old and scraggly and every spring I think "I need to cut down those ugly bushes" and then they spite me by blooming really profusely. The deer have eaten them so only the tops bloom, so there are flowers kind of floating in mid-air on top of basically bare branches. Someday I will cut them down-- just before I move.

 

When I first showed the Build a Quilt blocks a couple of weeks ago one of my friends got a hold of me and told me she had gotten the Build a Quilt from last year, but she didn't like the fabric she chose so she never made it. Have you ever done this? Of course, you can't cancel, so she sent me the kits for all 10 blocks from last year. (Thanks El!)  I made the first three so far:

 

 

A little washed out in the sun, and not my favorite colors, but they look okay! I can at least get a charity quilt or something out of it. This is a better representation of the colors:

 

Not my favorite, but not bad! Like I said, probably a nice charity quilt. 

 

Just to end on something really pretty, I was out walking and took some pictures of the cool spring blooms and look what happened:

 

 

Serendipity! Truly one of the best pictures I've ever taken (except of my favorite people.) I never planned to get such a great picture, but sometimes things come together. These are apple blossoms on a tree down the street and I'm pretty sure I've never seen apples on it.

 

Everyone have a great week and a great weekend! I'm going to write a final exam today. Can you feel the excitement?

 

Starting blocks

Hi everyone, and happy weekend! First, thank you all for your kind messages from my last post. I really appreciate all the warm thoughts and encouragement. It was nice to read all of that and really do appreciate all your kindness.

 

So, I signed up for a block of the month from Angela Walters at Quilting is My Therapy, mainly because I liked the fabric. And sometimes when your brain is overloaded it's nice to have someone tell you what to do. I've finished two blocks, just in time for block three to get here:

Hey, look, our friendly garden turtle wanted to be in the picture too! He's waiting for flowers but it's not quite time for those yet. The blocks were easy enough and turned out nicely, and the right size, but when I opened the envelope, here's what I saw:

 

 

Usually, a BOM will have pieces of fabric with it, but this is the first time I've seen it as a panel with just enough fabric for you to make the block.  And I do mean just enough. There were some techniques in there that I don't use, but with this you must use those techniques or you won't have enough fabric. There's a lot of 'make it bigger and trim it down,' which I don't usually do, but not enough for me to make hsts the way I usually do. Block two was the same way. Is it weird, or is it me?

 

Oh well, it's only one block a month and they do turn out well.  I think I can take it.

 

We did have a few flowers just starting in the garden. Last year I transplanted a bunch of daffodils from the side of the property and one of them is now blooming:

 

 

Along with a very tiny bleeding heart:

 

 

They'll both get bigger, right? 

 

With that, have a very happy Easter if you celebrate, and a great weekend all the way around. Our daughter and granddaughter will be here and I might cook something, but I do have pizza in the freezer!

Hello again

 Hello all! Long time no see, as they say. It's been a while and there have been a lot of changes around here--some work related, some family-related, some health-related (see the note at the bottom of this post about that last one.) Too much to go into, really. But I thought I would give this another go. I've missed blogging, though I've been reading yours the whole time. You're all way more creative than me!

 

To get things started again, how about some Rainbow Scrap Challenge? This year I decided to make the Fireworks quilt from Preeti's shop, but with nine blocks instead of twelve. Here is my red block:

 

 

And just to catch everyone up, here are my first two, in blue and (kind of) green:

 

 

This is the right project for me right now because it is super-easy, requires no precision measuring, and is very forgiving. No templates, and the only matching is in the yellow centers. 

 

That's where that project is for now. I have a few more things I'm working on, mainly just blocks. I have a couple of BOMs I'm working on, because that's all I can really handle right now. I do have a couple of quilt tops that I'll show at some point. There is a LOT going on and I've got to stay within my bandwidth, if you know what I mean. And now for that note:

 

My husband has cancer, a bad kind that doesn't go into remission, and that means there is only one endgame. We're not at the end yet, but it's a heavy lift. So, yeah, not a lot of bandwidth. But I'm told I should do things that make me happy, and this is one of them, so I'm glad to be back!

 

What a downer! Just letting you know why I probably won't answer any comments, but I do appreciate them and I hope everyone has a good weekend. Here is a deer photo from off our patio a couple of weeks ago to cheer you up:

 

Sharing at Angela's for RSC 26.