Getting warmer

Hi everyone, and happy May! I can't believe it's already one of the best months of the year.  I'm still here, still stressed, and still keeping on, just in case you were wondering why I kind of disappeared.  If you know any college students, make sure to tell them to study for their finals, because I've gotten a look at a few and whoo boy!-- they'll need that study time for sure.

I've been fighting to get some stitching time in this week and I've actually managed to put together a few things.  It calms my soul, you know? Here's one thing I've been catching up on:

Look at that sunshine!  Doesn't that make you happy in itself? It makes my heart sing, even though it bleaches out my colors somewhat. This work in progress is my temperature quilt, which is made up of blocks that record the high and low for each day of the year.  In another week I'll have enough to add another row, but for now these are the completed rows through April 18th.  As you can see, it was quite cold at the beginning of the year, but it has made the turn into some warmer weather in April. Good thing, too-- I was running out of that darker blue.  Completely ready for some greens and yellows now.

My blocks for this project are 3-1/2 inch squares, made using two 2 inch by 3-1/2 inch strips, one for the high and one for the low.  It's pretty simple, but it works, and I like the graphic quality of all the blocks running together. If I have to make a block every day, it better be simple! The special blocks, like the spinner and the heart, mark special days for our family, like our grandson's birthday.

Another project I've been working on are some Bridal Bouquet blocks: 

I love having outdoor pictures on the grass again! I've been working on these blocks for a while and they have been going very slowly because they've all been done by hand, but I'm at a point where I'm putting together a few of the blocks for the center.  I figure that I'll need 16 blocks, so I have a way to go. That's okay, though. I'm in no hurry.

I've left most of the papers in and I'm not sure at what point to take them out.  The ones that I've taken out so far have been so that I could add in other parts of the block.  Folding things easily, you know.  I think I'll leave them in and just get some more papers so I can finish the blocks.  That way I can be reasonably sure that nothing will fall apart before I get done.

Anyway, that's the short update from here! Hope everyone is having a good week. I'm hoping to have a finish later this week, so keep your fingers crossed!

Sharing at Let's Bee Social.

Finished moving!

Hello everyone!  Here's my big finish for this week--we are finished moving!  Can you say hallelujah?  We are finally into a rented condo and are starting to feel like real humans again.  Yesterday I even cooked.  It was a moving miracle.  And classes have started and along with them my new job, which I like very much so far.  I totally fail at moving, but things are starting to look up.

Now that we are finished with that, I am really ready to get back into a sewing routine again.  I did have another go at the breakfast room, but I've also been doing some handwork.  Take a look at these:

Hand applique!  Who would've guessed I had it in me? These were back-basted, which I've never done before, but I think they're turning out okay.  I just need to add leaves to all of them and then I can sew them into the rest of the pattern.  Don't worry, I'm sewing the rest of the quilt by machine!  I might also put the rest of the leaves on by machine, but we don't want the quilt police coming around, so don't tell anyone, okay?

There is also this piece, which I have been working on for literally years:

I honestly don't know where to go with this now.  I have some hexies basted for the corners and partial flowers for the end, but after that I think I'm finished with it.

Finally, before I left a friend gave me this bag of little bits:

The quilt shop sells these bags really cheap because they're the really little pieces left after they cut up strip packs and other pre-cuts.  I sorted them out and kept only the pieces that are bigger than 3/4 inch.  Yep, that's really tiny!

I think there are some string blocks in my future, don't you?  Seems like a good way to warm up the machine in its new home.

Everybody have a great weekend.  We are still unpacking and getting things set up, and some time very soon I need to go looking for a new quilt shop.  Anyone out there near Philadelphia, please let me know where to look!

Happy sewing! Sharing at Confessions of a Fabric Addict  and Finish it up Friday.

Hello again!

Hi folks!  I am insanely happy to see you all again! We have had a wild ride for the last couple of weeks, including a literal wild ride from Wisconsin to Pennsylvania that included a night in a hotel where they forgot to tell us (and a whole bunch of other folks, too) that they were shutting off the water at 5 am.  Just ponder all that that means for a while.  At least we weren't as bad off as the families with kids!

Here's the other part of the wild ride--we are STILL in a hotel and will likely be until Monday, which is the day classes start.  My first impression of PA has not been really welcoming, I'll tell you.  I've never been asked to prove I'm not a criminal so many times. And, yes, I know your horn works.

Anyway, in the middle of all this chaos I was missing my machine so much that I finally asked if it was okay for me to use the breakfast room at the hotel for a couple of hours.  No one cared, so I whipped up these:

These are friendship stars for the months-long swap I'm doing with friends.  These make me so happy! It felt so great to sit at the machine again. It's like I have my soul back or something.

In addition to these happy stars, I've been working on some hexies and some hand quilting.  I have no pictures, though, so I'll try to get some for next time. 


Just so we have some more pictures, here is a very good thing about Pennsylvania:

This campus has flowers everywhere.  I've been scouting out good quilt-picture-taking places, which is something I didn't have on my last campus.

And here's a gratuitous campus picture:

Very collegiate, no?  This is the view from my side of campus, and every time I see this I think "I'm Batman."  Clearly, I need to settle down and remind myself that I am a very serious scholar.

Anyway, I'm back, and it feels so good! I may have a little trouble posting on a regular schedule for a couple of weeks, because at some point we will move in to a rental, but at least I am working on something other than moving.

Oh, and here's another thing that happened while I was away--this post became the most popular one I've ever had, with more than 3,000 page views for that post alone!  Somebody want to clue me in to what happened there, or did Blogger have a glitch?  Inquiring minds want to know!

Everybody have a great sewing week.  I'm going to try to sneak in some more time in the breakfast room, and something really fun may come out of that. 

Linking to Let's Bee Social, and WIP Wednesday. and Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.