More projects than time

 Hi all! Hope you're all doing well so far this week. I'm settling in to the semester, which is good because we're now in the third week. How did that happen? No idea. I've been too busy in another stupid meeting to notice. But the good news is that we have not had any Covid cases so far. Yay us! Fingers crossed that we stay this healthy as the colder temps set in.

I've been working on several things in the sewing room lately, and this is just a short update so I don't forget what I'm doing. Hey, it happens. First, I've finished off the blocks for the old and new quilt, and they are awesome, of course, and I've started a layout. Here's what I've decided:

I chose a layout of staggered columns, which I think will really showcase the blocks. The hard part is getting the colors balanced, and then deciding what to use to offset the columns. Do I just use a big rectangle as a filler? Or maybe a flying goose? Or a half block? I think a half block would be most interesting, but I'd need to choose a block or two that would still be interesting cut in half. Any suggestions?

One more quilt that is nearing completion is the Snail's Trail quilt, which is at a good stage. 

I made twenty blocks, then decided that that wasn't enough, so I cut ten more, which should make the quilt a good size. I have to put the last round on the last ten blocks, then I can finish this off. Not sure about any kind of a border, though. I have tons of blue scraps left over, so maybe I can think of a way to use more of them for a border.

Finally, I've also started putting the Laundry Basket Quilts mystery together! I'm stitching it together in quadrants so that it's easy to manage, and it's going well enough so far. I'm really excited to get this off the wall and figure out some borders for it as well. It's going to look really great once it's all done.

Lots going on! Enough to keep me busy, anyway. The heat continues here, though the days suddenly seem to be getting shorter. It's a bit darker in the morning. Ah, well. At least the flowers are still alive!

 

I'll close with those pretties, and the note that this is my 600th post, for anyone who's keeping track. Thanks for hanging around and keeping me company this long. Enjoy the rest of the week!

Sharing at Midweek Makers.

Making blocky progress

Hi all! How is your week going? We are still hot and sticky, and expecting more rain. The more things change, the more they stay the same. As you read this, I'm probably in yet another meeting getting ready for the upcoming school year. I really like teaching, but I could really do without the meetings. Apparently, Zooming meetings was too productive, so we can't do it any more. But sitting in meetings does make for fun quilt idea sketching time!

In between meetings, I've made some progress on the two quilts that I'm currently working on, the Snail's Trail and the old and new quilt. First up, here are the last of the modern blocks for the old and new quilt:

Yay! Aren't they cute? As I said, these are the last of the "modern" blocks for this quilt. I have only eight of the more traditional blocks left to piece, and they are the ones I need to paper piece. I've printed the patterns and chosen the fabrics, so I'm looking forward to finishing these blocks really soon.  And many, many thanks to Preeti and Wendy, who sent me some of the fabric I was missing. It really makes a difference in the quilt!

So, there's the update on that quilt. The other quilt I'm working on is a scrap Snail's Trail quilt, trying to use up some of the many blues and beiges that I have. I've made about a dozen blocks:

Once you cut all the pieces, these blocks go together really easily. It's fairly mindless and soothing. My only issue in putting them together is variety-- I don't want to repeat the same fabrics in the same block. Sometimes it happens in spite of my best efforts. Really, though, that's the only problem with these. Well, that and the fact that they haven't used nearly as many scraps as you would think. I still have tons!

Last time I posted about these, I asked if anyone knew the math to make the blocks a bit bigger, since the original blocks would have finished at 8 inches. A very helpful reader named Ila emailed me a super-cool and very mathy diagram, and it worked! You can see the difference in block sizes above. The bigger blocks finish at a weird size, about 11-1/3 inches, but it doesn't matter because they are all connected to each other. Thanks so much, Ila!

So, two quilts, moving right along! Perhaps during the next meeting, I'll try to sketch out a layout for the old and new quilt. I haven't decided on one yet, and it would be a good thing to think about. And if anyone needs some fabric, be sure to check out Bernie's retirement sale right HERE. There are still many fun bargains left! 

 

I'll leave you with a photo from one of the flower pots. The heat and rain have been really great for the flowers and grass. Enjoy the rest of the week!

 

 

Sharing at Midweek Makers.

A very pink week

 Hi all! How's it going? We are hot and humid, but, you know, it's July. Have to expect that, right?  Break out the popsicles and ice cream, because hot food is out of the question right now.

I've been working on a couple of things this week, and it turns out there's kind of a pink theme happening right now. First up are the latest of the "old and new" blocks:

 

 

I didn't set out to make three coral blocks, but that's how it worked out. Sometimes it's like that, right? I love these blocks, and now I understand why the modern blocks are so popular. They are so much faster to make than the traditional blocks. I think the traditional blocks are worth it, though, especially when they turn out so pretty.  The block on the left is actually a block from a Civil War sampler, if you can believe it. So much prettier in coral and green than gray and blue!

 

While I'm thinking of it, if you happen to know the fabric line or designer of the fabric above, could you please let me know?  I messed up and used that fabric for a different quilt, and now I only have a few scraps and I need some more of it. I know it's a long shot, but maybe one of you will recognize it. 

In other pink news. . .Lynne over at Patchery Menagerie has been making herself a luscious pink quilt, and that inspired me to pull out these leftover magenta pieces:

 

These are left over from a Bonnie Hunter quilt that I finished in a different way from the pattern. If I use four of these per block, I have enough already assembled for 16 blocks, and enough pieces cut for a total of 24 blocks. My real dilemma is how to put them together. As I see it, there are two options:

 

I like them both, which makes it difficult to choose. The four patches are also leftovers, so I thought I might go ahead and use them here, too. It feels like there are hundreds of them, and they have to get used somewhere! For the stars, I'm leaning to the ones on the right, if only because they'll fit better with some kind of alternate block. I haven't chosen that yet, but I feel like I have to figure the stars out first. One thing at a time! (Which doesn't seem to happen around here, actually. . .)

So, it's been a very pink week so far! I love pink, so that makes me plenty happy. Plus, here is a sneak peek of a non-pink project that I'm trying to finish up:

 

 

Yikes! There is embroidery involved with this one, and it's a bit too warm to hold on my lap, so it's going slowly. But it's thrilling to have it at this stage!

Hope you're all having a good week, with lots of air conditioning. Try not to melt, and pass those popsicles!

Sharing at Midweek Makers.

Blocks and flowers

Hello from the very warm East coast! I know it's July, and I know it's warmer in other places, but holy cow it's been warm here. I've been getting some things done in the house in order to stay out of the heat, like cleaning the kitchen cabinets, and ordering wallpaper for the hallway, and hanging up some more photos. Oh, and I did some sewing, too. A lot of it was boring stuff, like hemming pants and taking in a dress, but I did manage to move a couple of projects along. It always feels good to do that, doesn't it?

The main thing I've stitched away on was the old and new quilt. Here are some more blocks:

 

 

Sorry, I just love the flowers and had to get them into the picture! I do love samplers. Every block is a new challenge, and it's hard to get really bored because they're all different. These blocks will finish at six inches square, and are a mixture of modern blocks and traditional blocks from the many block books that I own. Eventually there will be at least 48 blocks, half modern and half traditional, and I'm nearly finished with the modern ones, as you can see:

 

 

I love these colors all together and I think it's going to be a really cool quilt. I have no idea what the layout will be, but it will be interesting to figure out! 

Other than the clothes I altered, which no one wants to see (really), I also made myself a small treat:

 

I think the context with my messy desk there tells you that this is a bulletin board! I spared you most of the mess by cropping out the teetering pile of paper on the side there, but this is my new "home office." I taught classes from this bedroom for a year, and now I've decided to keep it as a home workspace, though I sincerely pray that I'll never have to teach from here again. If I'm going to work here, it might as well be nice, right? I covered a piece of foam board with quilt batting, then covered that with a pretty but non-distracting piece of fabric. This is a piece of Spring Brook by Corey Yoder. I also got some of the yellows, but why use them on the wall?

 

I hope all of you are doing well and not melting or anything else in the weather extremes. I have a binding to put on a finished quilt, but I just can't bring myself to do it! Before I finish up, you all know that my friend Bernie is retiring and closing up her online fabric shop. She's now marked things down even more, so hop over and see if there isn't a treasure there that you can't live without. I'll bet you can!

 

 

Sharing at Midweek Makers. 

Block building

 Hello all! How is your life going this week? We went on a small trip last weekend, which was fantastic, and we came back just in time for some thunderstorms that brought a lot of cooler weather with them. It feels so great outside! Plus, the cicadas are almost all gone. They left quite some mess behind, but at least they aren't dive-bombing me any more.

With all of that, I did make some progress on projects so far this week. A little while ago I pulled out an old project that I called "old and new" and I've started working on it again. Here are some of the blocks I made over the last few days:

 

 

I'm not so sure about the colors for that block on the left, but it's staying. These blocks all finish at 6 inches, so yep, those hsts are only one inch square.  They took some time, but they really were fun to work on. I always think, "oh, that won't take long," and it takes forever to make. You would think a mini block would be quick, but no. Obviously these are all traditional blocks, just in a small size. I love the middle one, which is called Broken Windows.

 

Here are all the blocks for the project so far:

 

I really like it and think it's going to be lovely when finished. I have one problem, though-- I need more fabric. I don't know about you, but somehow I went through a *lot* of fabric over the last few months. My stash is looking really pathetic right now. I do like that it's small, but not this small. I guess I'll have to go shopping or something, don't you think?

I also made the next step for the Laundry Basket "mystery" quilt that I've been working on:

 

 

It happens that I overbought flowers, and now I need to find a place for those yellow ones. I wonder if deer eat them? The blue blocks are really pretty, though, aren't they? I didn't get a progress picture, but I only have three steps left to go on the mystery before I decide what to do about borders.

 

Also waiting for me when we got home was my gift from Sarah for the Hands to Help challenge:

 

 

This is great-- another block book! Thanks so much! More things to drool over and dream about.

 

Finally for today-- I've added a widget to the sidebar for you to sign up to get posts by email. >>>>> Just about everyone knows by now that the one we've been using for emailing posts is going away, and a lot of people have already stopped getting emails. I was shocked and humbled to find that there were almost 1500 people signed up through that service to get emails from this blog! Thanks! I didn't feel comfortable importing your email addresses into a new service, so please take a moment and do that yourselves.

The new widget is follow.it, and Sarah has a whole post about it HERE. I'll just second everything she said. The ads are not my fault. I did sign up for a couple of different services to test them out (because I got posts by email, too) and the one I liked best was Bloglovin'. I found follow.it somewhat difficult to figure out, long on flashy graphics and short on details. Feedly I didn't really like at all, mainly because I would like to filter my own content, thank you very much. I don't want artificial intelligence doing it for me. Bloglovin' was much "quieter," though it does have ads, and I signed up to get everything in just one email a day, so sometimes I will not see a post until the next day if it posts later. So, I've deleted everything else and kept Bloglovin' and it's actually turning out pretty well.

Probably more than you wanted to know! I actually could have written a whole post about this, but try them out yourselves and choose what works for you. And thanks for following along on my misadventures, too!

Sharing at Midweek Makers.

Fresh block piecing

Hi everyone, and happy summer! How are things going for you?  Our housing saga continues. We thought we had found a house but it did not work out.  The search goes on.  We're coming up to a deadline, though, and it's a hard deadline, because we have to move before school starts, so we will find something else this week.  Somehow it seems harder to move now than it did to move across the country.  And real estate, which is weird to begin with, is really weird here. Lots of odd rules to get used to.

In spite of the drama around here, this past week I actually managed to sew some blocks! It's been an experience with my stitching stuff stashed everywhere and needing to be put away the second I'm done with it, but I finally figured out that I could fit in a few minutes of cutting without too much mess, and then stitch up what I had cut when I had a few minutes longer.  It worked!  Here are the blocks I made the past few days:

Oh, gosh, those make my heart happy! These are 6-inch blocks for my old and new sampler quilt.  It happens that these are all blocks from Tula Pink's sampler book.  I decided to work through those before I tackle the more traditional blocks.  If you recall, for this sampler I'm making 48 blocks that each finish at 6 inches.  Half are the more modern blocks from Tula Pink, and the other half are traditional blocks, many with lots of pieces.  The Tula blocks have fewer pieces and are much simpler to put together, which certainly suits my life right now.

I cut these blocks in some quick moments and stored them in sandwich bags until I could stitch them.  Here's a tip-- be sure to label your sandwich bags! I spent way too much time trying to remember which cut pieces went with each block.  By the way, don't those flowers look great?  They are a spot of sunshine for me.  I only planted pots this year so I could take them with me when we leave.  ~Sigh~ I really do love flowers.

Anyway, I now have 17 of the 48 blocks finished:

I love them all!  It's kind of funny to see how alike they are, and yet so different.  When the whole thing is together I don't know if it will be really apparent which blocks are Tula blocks and which are more traditional. Or maybe it will be super easy-- we'll see! Stay tuned!

Hope you all are having a good week.  Last week, in addition to house drama, I had a part of the orientation for my new job and got the keys to my new office.  This week I'll be moving books and such into the new place and trying to get things set up.  This is very exciting! I really can't wait to get to work in the new place.  Not really looking forward to moving all those boxes, but it kind of goes with the territory.  Keep your fingers crossed that it goes well!

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Block updates

Hi everyone!  First, thanks so much to everyone who had kind words about my brother's house fire.  They are all fine and we are all grateful that things have gone as well as they can in the aftermath.  I really appreciate your thoughts, your kind words, and your prayers. And yes, I did make my own video, and I also put a smoke alarm in my attic.  Can't be too careful!

This week is spring break, and I have three quilts basted and ready to quilt up! Yay me! But you know I couldn't leave the piecing aside, right?  So I've also been making some random blocks to add to projects that are already in progress, just whatever I feel like making at the moment.  The first ones to show today are these:

These are all the blocks I currently have for the old and new sampler I'm making. I just love sampler quilts, don't you?  Making copy after copy of the same block can get dull, but samplers give you something different to make every time.  Since I have no schedule for this, I only have nine blocks so far:

These are 6-inch blocks, and most of the ones I've made so far are the Tula Pink blocks. These ones have been really fast, but some of the others I've chosen have more pieces and will take more time.

I also made the first green block for the Tiny Tuesday sampler at soscrappy:

This block is called Multiply and was designed by Jo.  You can find the block instructions HERE.

I also did a few more of the Sunny Lanes blocks:

I've cut a bunch of green and white squares to make the hsts when I feel like it, and I've got a small tub full of hsts now, so whenever I finish enough 4 patches I can make up a block.  I'm thinking of putting them all together into a top as I go, too.  Is there a downside to this? It's all scrappy, so it's not like the colors would have to be balanced or anything.

I've also caught up on my temperature quilt:

As you can see, it's been pretty chilly! The blues are 20s and 30s, and the purples and grays are below that.  I'm really looking forward to adding in some more yellows and greens very soon!

Finally, I pulled out this panel this week and hung it up to think hard about it.

I know it's not really blocks, but if I cut it apart and added in some alternate blocks, I bet it would make a nice comfort quilt for Hands to Help.  What would you do with it?  Here's a closeup of the design:

I'll look at it and think about it while I'm quilting up these quilts.  Maybe I'll get to open the windows while I'm quilting? I can dream!

Hope you're all having a good week.  As of today, spring is officially only seven days away!

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