Hello February!

We are deep in the middle of winter according to the calendar, but actually our weather lately has been rather mild. I don't doubt that we will have more deep-freeze conditions and measurable snow, but these few sunny days in the 40s are quite tolerable. I'll gladly take them.

I begin this month with the task of completing those Snowball Blocks for the Snow Shoo quilt I am making. These are the easier of the two blocks in this quilt, so I intend to try to make quick work of them. I currently have 30 completed. I will need 105; still a ways to go.

In true queen-of-procrastination style, I found something else more fun to do. I cut into that new fabric I bought on Tuesday, and made this block last night. I am calling it Modern Star because of the more modern-style fabrics. I typically don't buy the fresh, graphic fabrics of the new designers coming on the scene. I have always gravitated more to traditional fabrics. My "outside the box" preference is Kaffe Fassett, and he's been around for awhile now. The new generation of designers mostly stymies me. While I follow a lot of them on Pinterest and Instagram, and I love many of their quilts, I have felt that using their fabrics is best left to the under-40 crowd.

However, a niggling desire to see what this "older gal" could do with fabrics totally outside her comfort zone. I succumbed to the uncontrollable urge to dive in late yesterday, and this block is what I have to show for my efforts.

Not too bad, I think. It was a pretty easy block to make, but I think the next thing I will make with these fabrics is something less busy. It seems to me that a cleaner, less fussy block might have a more striking effect.

Well, enough play for awhile. Now to focus on finishing those Snow Ball blocks. I have my two OU-C classes today, but the evening is free, so maybe I can whittle down that task.

I am linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday. Hope you have a chance to go have a look-see!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

January Round-Up

Yesterday, I indulged in a bit of retail therapy at one of our local quilt shops. You know, when there's a Christmas gift certificate burning a hole in your pocket, you simply must act on it eventually. I think I exercised great restraint for over a whole month, you know?

So, after my classes yesterday, I popped in to Old Town Fabric Shop. Earlier in the month I had scoped out some likely candidates for my stash additions; I had plenty of options, but here's what came home with me. Just 2.5 yards total, and I am a happy, happy gal.

These are half-yard cuts of four Art Gallery fabrics and one Cotton + Steel fabric (the pink). The Art Gallery fabrics are part of a line called Millie Fleur by Bari J. Those blues have appeared in some quilts on my Instagram feed, and I have been totally smitten by them. The pink is from a 2014 line called XOXO from Cotton + Steel Basics designer Rashida Coleman Hale. (I hope I have that all correct!) I do not have a firm idea of what these will be used for, but I am leaning toward a pretty table topper. Stars? Triangles? Churn Dashes? Still considering possibilities...

Now for my January collage. I felt busy all month, but I really don't have a lot to show for my efforts.

So tomorrow, we begin February! I hope I can show more finishes next month!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Family Room Curtains

In keeping with my tendencies to drag out easy tasks forever and ever, I can at last share with you all our family room curtains. These have been up for about a week and a half, and I am just now getting around to sharing. *smh*

This addition changes the feel of the room quite dramatically. I have to say, I am glad of it, too. The wall was empty and needed both the curtains and the wall art to be hung. It feels much more welcoming in this room now.

We couldn't hang the art until the curtains were in place. Isn't that always the way with jobs around the house - they either bring on additional jobs or can't be accomplished until something else is done first.

Anyway, let's have a look at that wall art, for it is very special. Back in June of 1979, we received this counted cross-stitch sampler as a wedding gift from my Aunt Margaret - Maggie, as she was also known. With her untimely passing a year ago, it has gained importance in our home, so I definitely wanted it to be displayed. She was a very special aunt, no doubt about it. I will always treasure this gift from her.

One more job around the house complete, with these curtains hung. So what's next? I would love to replace the furniture in this room, and DH says he is willing to paint that television armoire - I'm thinking shabby chic white?

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Slow Stitching on Lake Effect

A week ago I was in a bit of a quandary about the reds I was planning to use in Lake Effect. My concern was that mine were too intense for the quilt, as it is supposed to have (to me) a very calming waterfall-like feel. I posed the question here on the blog and received some very interesting and much-appreciated responses and suggestions.

One comment was that I hadn't shown a really clear picture of my reds; see below for that. I like that leafy one because I can see leaves floating on a pond or a lake. The other just, well, because.

A different commenter suggested that I take a look at them interspersed with the rest to see how it would look. The picture below does this, and I don't mind it too much, honestly. I will have to use that darker red very, very sparingly, but it will be okay in small doses. I do not think I will be displeased after the fact, and wish I'd used something else.

I have an additional solution, though. After thinking I would add another icy blue to my mix of hexies, and use far fewer of my reds, I remembered that I had a Snowfall Charm Pack - only one - and what on earth else would I do with just one charm pack?!!? (Laurie Simpson used her Snowfall line to make the original quilt.)

Below, I have laid out my reds on top of the Snowfall fabrics, and while the one of mine is pink-red, I still think in very limited use it will be fine in this quilt. I am going to use the Snowfall charm pack to make some more hexies which I will blend into my current collection. Hopefully, it will result in a happy little merge.

I had a bit of time to sew at Terry's on Friday; rather than tote my machine, I just worked on some more hexies. I added some beeswax to my sewing kit (thanks, Terry!) and hopefully this will cut down on the tangling and knotting I was experiencing. That gets to be a drag (pun intended) after the umpteenth time.

Hope you are having a great Sunday! I am linking up with Slow Sunday Stitching!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Finally...My 2018 Goals

Gracious! This month is nearly over (already!), and I have yet to post the sewing and quilting goals I want to accomplish this year. Talk about being remiss. I am reminded of that old phrase "the hurrier I go, the behinder I get." That suits me better than I care to admit.

Early blocks made for Snow Shoo - Item #1 on the list.

A block for item #12 on my list.

A couple of weeks ago, I did sit down to formalize the goals I want to work toward this calendar year. Having a defined list always seems to help me stay on track; I could get so distracted by all the pretty patterns and all the pretty fabrics and all the pretty sew-alongs and all the...well, you get the idea - I am too easily distracted. The list is definitely necessary to help  me maintain my focus.

My current focus is Snow Shoo (shown at the top) - item #1 on the list - and I have not done too much on it this week. Not enough hours in a day, I suppose. With the new semester of school now in full swing, and a book to read for book club, I had distractions that I could not ignore. My little stacks of Shoo Flies and Snowballs are waiting ever so patiently over on the cutting table. I hope to sew on Monday with Sharon, so they won't be ignored too much longer.

Thimbleberries/Retreat Quilt - Item #9

My list contains no UFOs; 2017 had enough of those, so I am backing way, way off. One might think that item #9 is a UFO (cover of book above), but I prefer to reference it as a WIP (work in progress); this is a fine distinction, I know, but it makes sense in my brain. *grin*

Item #10 is also a WIP - I never have 'fessed up about the idiotic mistakes made trying to finish that jelly roll quilt back in September. It's embarrassing...just wait; it's on the list, so it will get done, and I will tell all.

Above is a sample Great Granny Square (item #13) block that I made several years ago. I had come to possess a small amount of vintage feedsack fabrics, and decided this is how I wanted to use them. I have collected a few more vintage pieces and I now have enough to get a quilt top finished. The solids are taken from the collection in my grandmother's items, which seems fitting since we are talking vintage and granny squares (although she detested being referred to as Granny!).

I am gradually getting back on track with things around here! Slow and steady, right?

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Year of Colour

I spelled that word "colour" because the company which created this nifty tool is English. I began seeing some really cool color groupings last weekend on Instagram, so I investigated and found Makelight, "a learning community for makers and doers." After jumping through a few hoops (mostly because I am a bit technology-challenged), I managed to get my year of colour. 

I am somewhat surprised by this composite of the colors I have used on Instagram - more by what I don't see rather than by what I do see. I expected more blue and green to be present, as I think I post frequent outdoor nature pics along with plenty of blue quilts. Apparently not enough to outshine those reds and pinks and browns, huh?

The Year of Colour tool allowed you to play around with the colors by giving you options to select one color as a focus. Here's what I came up with.

I think this looks quite pretty. I like seeing all the pastels around the edge. I am somewhat surprised that I had that many pastels in my colors, to be honest.

I don't know how to interpret my color results. I think I will try to be more deliberate about using blue and green, and using less brown. Then in another year, I will do this again and compare my 2018 colors to this group from 2017.

I am off today to sew at Terry's. It has been a busy week, so I am just going to sit with Lake Effect hexies in my lap. Stitching a few of those will be calming.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Shoo Fly Update

These Shoo Fly blocks have gotten really boring lately, and I find myself turning to other endeavors to avoid having to finish them. For example, I have cleaned a particularly cluttered corner of my sewing room, and nearly have all the fall-out from that put away in appropriate places. I stitched a quick mini-quilt top (which I will share later this week), using blocks that were already made and only needing the setting blocks cut. I finished and hung the curtains for that downstairs window (also saving for a future post.) This is how one procrastinates finishing a dull job. (I have perfected this to an artform!)

So, about those Shoo Fly blocks...I need 105, if my calculations are correct. At present I have 85. The remaining 20 are very much in the early prep stages, as I have been doing assembly-line piecing to make quicker work of these little buggers. I hope to finish the last 20 off today.

 The picture above shows my growing stack of Shoo Flies. I'm using the little clippies to separate into groups of 10 so I don't have to keep counting to see how many more.

Yesterday I had the last of my birthday celebrations as all three kids met us at Panera Bread in Chillicothe. Emma and Geoffrey come from Athens; Erin and Jeff come from Columbus; Adam joins us as we come from Greenfield making Chillicothe a nice meeting place. It was such a pleasant visit that I just didn't want it to be over.

Since I am determined to finish those Shoo Flies, I will link this post to Monday Making - this will give me incentive to get 'em done.

Happy Quilting, Friends!