Happy Valentine's Day!

Are you a sappy, sentimental Valentine? Or an "I'd rather not bother" sort of person? Over the years, I've run mostly at a comfortable middle of the road celebrant of Valentine's Day. I do not require roses, chocolates or cards (fortunately, since DH is likely not gonna' change his habits this late in the game!), nor do I require wining and dining. 

 I've been thinking about blocks I've made over the years that are Valentine related and I cannot come up with many. The block above is from 2020, and likely was part of a sew-along that I never completed. Heck, I never even completed the block - it must be buried in some orphan bin in the sewing room.

This heart block is also from 2020, and I am pretty certain that the earlier block was from this Blockheads Sew-Along. I really like this heart - the colors are quite appealing. All this time later, I still have a tub of partially finished BH3 blocks and fabrics - I wonder if I will ever force myself back to it?

However you plan to spend your Valentine's Day, I hope you make some time for sewing or quilting! The big sewing activity around here still involves scrappy 9-patches, and I am still enjoying them!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Slow Stitching; Still Lake Effect

I tried calculating the length of time I have been working on this quilt. It was on my radar in April of 2017 because I bought the fabrics for it in Jackson while we were on our Canter's Cave Retreat.  So I am coming up on a 4-year anniversary for Lake Effect, a project that I call a 10-year project in jest, knowing that it will be one of those long-haul quilts. I am trying to stay reasonably well-focused on it.

 Here's a picture of my pattern with some additional marks indicating the areas I have been working on since early autumn. Not overly zealous with my efforts, but I do return to it periodically.

Today I hope to finish this last bit of stitching on the vine for this panel. The black basting stitching indicates the remaining applique needing done. I am almost ready to begin on the leaves and berries! 

Here's a larger view of the area I have been working on this past week. I am slow; I don't pick it up every day, and will sometimes go for several days before getting back to it. 

 I had quite a few of those deep concave curves in this last section and I do believe I am getting better at them. I am not as fearful and reluctant when encountering them, which proves the point we all know - practice makes perfect; well, I am not anywhere near perfect, but improving.

I will link up with the fine friends in the Slow Sunday Stitching party over at Kathy's Quilts. She is celebrating Valentine's Day by sharing many of the little quilts she's made over the years to celebrate the day. I will add a celebration of my own; I found that Fat Quarter Shop offers several free patterns for Valentine's Day. I found one that I liked and you might, too.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Blockheads 3 totally rocked the Valentine's Day option for me with this week's block. I felt compelled to make the block in the 12" size, and use typical red/white-ish colors; here's what I ended up with.

It has been years since I last did foundation paper-piecing, so I did this as a refresher for the process. I admit to ripping out a few bits. It may become a pillow, or perhaps a mini quilt. I just don't rightly know what to do with it, but it was fun to make, and now I am ready to make the 6" block in the fabrics I'm using in the sew-along.

My sweetie and I are going for Mexican tonight (no surprise; we do that every Friday!), but we are bringing along our friends John and Dorothy. That will be fun. And we will play cards afterwards.

Hope all you Valentines have a great day!