February Wrap-Up

I've missed a lot of posting this past week because I was having trouble loading pictures here on the blog. I don't know who is doing something different, but I have done things the exact same way for ages, yet the photos just would not load. I ended up doing an "end-around" by iPhone to load pictures to a draft, then coming to the laptop to write and organize the pictures. Whew, so much bother.

I'd not yet posted my February collage, so even though I am more than a week into March, I will go ahead and share, just to have the record and to remind myself of all the Florida fun.

TOP ROW: We actually had hail one afternoon in early February, so to be sure such a rare event was recorded, we snapped a picture of hailstones in DH's hand. The next two photos are from our fun outing to a remote area along the gulf. We went to Ozello, a small fishing town, and found a quaint little restaurant, Peck's, for a mid-afternoon cocktail and appetizer. It was a perfect Florida day.

MIDDLE ROW: For sewing updates, we need only look to my efforts in scrap control. I brought all my 1.5- inch squares and strips for some focused efforts at making 4-patch blocks and 9-patch blocks. I did that until I had no more! (Well, nearly no more; I admit to leaving a few odd bits unused.) Because I found an Instagram sew-along called #tinyninepatchchallenge hosted by Taryn @reproquiltlover, I made as many 9-patches as I could (402!) and tried a super-small 9-patch made with 1-inch squares. Only one, thank you very much. *wink*

BOTTOM ROW: The lake by Moonrise Resort is called Tsala Apopka; DH and I went out with cousin Dave for an early morning fishing excursion. Oh, what a beautiful lake! So peaceful, and so pretty! No fish were caught, but I sure do love the gentle rocking of a pontoon on the lake! More sewing - making slipcovers for 2 "cubes" that slide nicely under our kitchen bar, and a cushion re-covering for my cousin Sandy; this matches her kitchen valances and table runner.

With a new month, I have turned my attention to the tub of 2.5-inch squares and strips. I piled a few of the 9-patches alongside some of the new blocks, and the size difference seems massive. I feel like I am working with giant-sized squares after 2 months of those little 1.5-inch pieces. It is a refreshing change, that's for sure.

So far, all I've done with the 2.5-inch squares is to make 4-patches. At some point, I might switch over to 9-patches, but I am content to continue these for awhile longer. Since I don't really know what will be next for these blocks, I can just keep producing them in the hopes that some amazing quilt will present itself. I get ideas eventually. Just trust the process, right?

Wish me luck at future posting. I swear these photo-loading issues are about enough to cause me to just quit blogging altogether. I hope whatever needs to be done becomes clear to me at some point.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

It's March!

 Good golly! March is here already! Yay! Spring is on the way!

If you've been around here for any amount of time, you know I love to begin a new month for the opportunity it affords to make a mini plan for the month as well as to take stock of the previous one.

My plan for this month? Off the top of my head, I can think of these items:

1. Quilt the baby Henry quilt.

2. Finish the diamond quilt.

3. Return to working on a tree quilt; I've had new ideas on this; stay tuned.

4. Work at the long arm machine - quilt 4 quilts plus that baby quilt, for a total of 5.

5. Finish hand quilting Fall Foliage.

6. Work on Lake Effect. (That's for my bloggy-friend and encourager, Gretchen.)

Now, how about we take a look at the February collage, to see what sort of highlights we can cover.

TOP ROW: Early in February, while we were at the vacation rental in Florida, I made this quick and easy baby quilt. It is the one to be quilted (#1) that I mentioned above. Next, I worked rather diligently on hexie flowers when we had a few quiet evenings to watch movies or reruns of  Great British Baking Show. The diamonds in the next picture were my focus for the remainder of the month, and I sewed quite a few of them together into long strips and then made good progress on a flimsy.

MIDDLE ROW: That flimsy was looking pretty sweet by the time we came home. Happily, progress has continued this last week. In the middle, you see the Withlacoochee Nature Trail that we walked on quite a bit while in Florida. It was lovely, and a very popular trail not just for walkers, but joggers, cyclists, and more. The trail winds past several lakes in the area, and that is what you see in the third picture. I don't know which lake this is.

BOTTOM ROW: Once back home, we made a quick trip to Columbus to see our darling girl, Cate. She is an absolute sweetheart! The next pic is that surprise purchase we made in Florida - our little vacation spot. And finally, two of the 4 deer we have seen repeatedly around our house and yard back here in Ohio. They must have made themselves right at home in our month-long absence.

Now I look forward to smashing all those goals for this month! Optimism abounds as we "march" in to March, which has come in like a lamb this morning - the sun is shining bright, and temperatures are supposed to get into the low 70s. Nice.

Have a great day, and a great month!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

February Wrap-Up

 I have some old business to bring to the table today, readers, and I don't want it to get any more stale than it already is. I need to put a wrap on February, a month short on days, long on snow and gray, and - for me, at least - long on productivity.

I am so glad to see that I was working through those long, gray days with frequent snow and sub-normal temperatures. In fact, when I sorted through all the pictures from the month for the top nine to use in my collage, I had a really hard time paring down my options. That rarely happens on a long month!

Top Row

Sharon and I agreed to begin the new year making a pattern called Lucy. I did most of my construction in January, and finished the flimsy in early February, so that is the quilt you see first. Next, I felt it necessary to document the snow we had for nearly the entire month, so you see a part of our back yard in the middle pic. On the end, a quickie made from scraps, a little zipper bag. 

Middle Row

On an absolute whim, I grabbed two Layer Cakes of older French General fabrics to make an easy quilt called Stargazer. The pattern is one of the free ones offered on the Moda website. In the middle, and hard to see really well, cardinals waiting near our bird feeders. We have so many that frequent our feeders, and it is not unusual to count over a dozen males at a time. Watching them provides much entertainment. The T-Shirt quilt is a commission I worked on for a local gal. Her son will graduate from MHS in May. I am planning to quilt it soon.

Bottom Row

Spring Dreams, the sew along quilt. I love how this looks, and it was so incredibly fun, simple, and easy to make. A long-overdue baby quilt finally found its way on and off the long arm and is now ready to give to the 1-year-old's family. The final day of February saw me loading Meadow Lily onto the long-arm frame. It should be coming off before week's end.

So far, 2021 has been productive. I am feeling all sorts of energy to make quilts. Yesterday, I dug out the red quilt project box and got back to making stars like this. 

Hope you all are having a great week! Have you checked out the sew along my friends and I are doing together? The super-simple quilt I mentioned above in the collage is my effort in that regard. Now, I am working on one that is more scrappy, and I may begin one in patriotic prints. I find that this quilt lends itself to using up scraps, and that is a major bonus, in my opinion. Click here to read more about the sew along.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

Goodbye, February

You've been a mixed-up month, February, and I don't mind saying goodbye. While the temperatures you have offered up have been mostly spring-like, the extensive gray, rainy days have far outstayed their welcome. We had a couple of good little snows, they didn't inconvenience me in any way, and you were kind in affording me plenty of sewing time.

I did have a rather productive sewing and quilting month, which pleases me immensely. I listened to a few good books, too, and enjoyed some quality family time.

Early in the month I finished off two baby quilts, one of which has been delivered. I met for breakfast with my 4 siblings, our mom, and two nieces. Next month, I will insist we sit in such a way as to get all 5 of us in one picture - and maybe try to get Mom in, too! I made a diaper bag to match one of the baby quilts. That was a fun, creative venture.

Evidence of the two or three snow events is there to start the middle row. All snow days were short-lived, as temperatures quickly rebounded back to the mid-40s. My big flimsy finish for the month is in the center - Summer Nights came together quite nicely, and I need to add it to the quilts I hope to put on the long arm this year. The final picture in the middle row shows the blocks I am making in our Frankfort Girls' sew-along.

The bottom row features my one big quilted quilt, Sweet Sixteen. I have yet to finish the binding; maybe I will make that this evening's task so that it can be a true February finish. A totally unplanned finish is the toile table topper that I excavated from the depths of the sewing room stacks. It currently adorns our kitchen table. And last, continued stitching on that 10-year-project, Lake Effect. Yes, I am still plugging away on it, and take it every time the Frankfort Girls meet.

I feel like I did get a lot done, and I attribute that to listening to several good books. In the queue this month were: Foreign Agent by Brad Thor, The Last Patriot by Brad Thor, Takedown by Brad Thor,  Raven Black by Anne Cleeves, The Pioneers by David McCullough, and my current book, A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier. Brad Thor books are fast-paced, require very little concentration, and keep me glued to my sewing. The Cleeves book is part of a mystery series all set in the same town, and the second I have read. In both I completely missed the clues leading to the uncovering of the culprit. The McCullough book was so good that DH is now listening to it, and I find myself all wrapped up in it again. The Chevalier book started out promising, but as I near the end, I find that I am growing impatient with it.

As I look toward March, I wonder what I will accomplish? Plans are swirling in my mind all the time. I still have a couple of baby quilts to finish and I'd like to get a wedding quilt checked off my to-do list, as well. The couple has already been married over 4 - or could it be 5? - months!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

February Wrap-Up

It has been a wet and gray month here, and I am glad to see March on the horizon! But those miserable weather day did allow for a good bit of sewing and quilting, so it's not all bah-humbug, right?!

My wrap-up for this month includes - what else? - 9-patch blocks! I  have really been on a roll with those for two months. There were some other fun things, too, so let's have a look.

I started the embroidery project that my sewing buddy and long-time friend Sharon gave me. I am stumped with making something called a "colonial knot" - once I figure that out I will have a finish. The first 9-patch is awaiting completion when I get the blocks from the Frankfort Girls' 9-patch exchange. The picture of the clean table in the foreground shows the aforementioned Sharon hard at work on her Chock Full O' Charm quilt (which I just now realize, I have yet to share). I need to get on that. We had a nice long day of sewing in the middle of the month, which prompted my clearing off the table and her finishing her quilt top.

I have already shared the great book I listened to - twice - on Overdrive. It was just as good the second time around. DH is shown with his margarita on National Margarita Day, last Friday. And the last pic in the middle row is from the balcony of the gorgeous Ohio Theater, where we went last Saturday to hear the Columbus Symphony.

The bottom row shows off my two double 9-patch quilts that came from the tub of one UFO. That has been a gratifying finish, for sure. Then I have a picture of the sweet FQpack from Temecula Quilt Company, and last, my Frienzies - around Pam's dining room table on Monday. She fixed a wonderful dinner; what fun we always have.

I am exhausted from a day spent grading, and grocery shopping, and a quick trip to Columbus to exchange cars with DDEmma. We'd lent ours to her while she shops for a new one. Busy, busy.

Happy Quilting, Friends!