Wrapping Up April

At one point this month, I was convinced that April was lost to me as far as accomplishing sewing and quilting goals were concerned. But by gosh, I have made a bit of a push here in final week and I don't feel quite so defeated as I once thought I'd be.

The month of April brings wildflowers - it's one of my favorite times of year! In the collage above, I have a picture of the pink dogwood in our front yard and a vast field of trilliums from a nearby nature preserve called Arc of Appalachia. Beautiful! Being out in the gorgeousness of spring takes one away from sewing, but what a great trade-off.

April brought, too, several family functions to attend. The twins needed a babysitter one evening, so DH and I volunteered for that. They are 9 now, and as inquisitive and precocious as ever. Then great-niece Evie came to visit her Great Grandpa Jim while we were there on Good Friday. And of course, we had a big family celebration at Easter, too, just no pics to share.

The quilting accomplishments, then, at times took a backseat. Still, I do feel as though I have salvaged the month - it wasn't a total bust, in other words.  The April UFO did make it to the finished stage, which was quite doubtful at one point. I also finished the chevron OSU baby quilt. Now to get both quilted - another month soon, I hope.

Of course, the highlight of the month was the 3-day retreat to Canter's Cave. What a lot of sewing I accomplished on my Thimbleberries Stars and Chain Quilt. I have not taken a single stitch on it since coming home, however, but will not let this languish for long.

I had the urge to start some English paper piecing, so rather than stick close to my April list, I deviated and began some projects. In the collage above is the little pink flower and the Patchwork of the Cross made from the remnants of the 9-Patch Strippy. Below are some others I played around with. At some point I will figure out what to do with them; for now, I will just play with this technique until I have a nice little stash accumulated. That will be the time for decisions.

Smack in the  middle of the collage is a stack of fabric purchased from Guhl's during retreat week - all purchased for $3.99/yard. (I know!! Yowza!) I want to make an EPP quilt to look like a waterfall, so those colors are supposed to evoke a feeling of water. Below, is a picture of some of the cutting I've done, It remains to be seen if this will be a successful venture or not. I sure hope it is. It will certainly be a long-term venture; maybe years?!?

I don't even know if I have ever mentioned on the blog that back in December I helped my older daughter make a t-shirt quilt for her sister-in-law. That was gifted at Christmas as a flimsy and it has been at Terry's for quilting this month. I put the binding on yesterday, and now it's ready to hand off to Erin, who will then hand it off, once again to her s-i-l. This wasn't on my list for April, but it will be a quickie to take credit for, anyway.

My one big regret for April is that I did not finish the final 3 Swoon blocks. I pulled out the fabrics but found myself unable to decide which to use and where to use it. So it lays, still, across my cutting table until I find the brain cells necessary to make such decisions.

I guess April turned out to be just fine as far as sewing and quilting accomplishments go. Add into all the fun summarized here, I finished out the spring semester at OUC with all those essays to grade, then finals, then submitting grades. It feels good to be done - I am off for summer semester and will return for fall.

Today, I am off to my mother's for a day of house arranging and rearranging. She has recently had some painting done; having a daughter or two to help return her house to (somewhat) normal will make the job easier.

I'm linking with Kathy"s weekly party, Slow Sunday Stitching. Maybe this evening after helping Mom, I will actually do some of that slow stitching. Happy Sunday, and...

Happy Quilting, Friends!