Busy May

April was busy and May will be busier.  I've been working outside tending the wildflowers.  The flowers and grasses are continuing to sprout in the savanah we burned a month ago The first flowers to bloom after the burn are the wood anemones and violets.  They are scattered all over the place.

 They aren't very showy, but hardly show up at all if you don't burn cause they are lost in the leaf litter otherwise. Right in the center of this bitty patch is a shooting star sending up it's flower stalk. I sure hope the dear don't devour them this year like they did last year. The state flower of Wisconsin is the violets and we have a bunch. 5 different colors actually. I tried to get a picture of them, but it's pretty blurry. I'll try again. We have white, red-violet, blue-violet and another shade of blue-violet and even yellow. Too bad they are so small; even smaller than the anemones.

I've done a bit of sewing, mostly in preparation for Quilt Market. I quilted another top and have another on the frame now. Two bindings also were done with one to go. That's the one on the frame now. Market has been on my mind lots and my sewing room looks like it. Some of the quilts are heaped in a pile on the floor. You will notice they aren't folded. I try to avoid folding cause I really don't like those permanent creases that can develop on the fold lines.

Things have also been busy at Studio 3. Five new gals have joined the rest of us. Only one of them is a real novice. The others just want to "Learn the right way". They are all real nice and I am looking forward to getting to know them and teaching them things like how to turn the rotary cutter on and off. If I don't write again this month you will know what I am doing.

More aimless sewing

It seems that sewing both at home and at Studio 3 is making it difficult to focus on a project.

When I first started sewing at Studio 3 on my own time I brought over a box of Civil War scraps and thought it might be fun to just plug away at using those scraps. I have them pretty well organized now and use them while I am there. So I have been piecing blocks  without a real plan. Sounds like me. These are the latest blocks I've made while there. I love 'em.

While I sorted the box of scraps I came across lots of 1 3/4" strips suitable for a log cabin. That pattern would be a good choice to work on with friends around cause it would take little concentration. First I need to decide what I want to use for the center square. I already did this one with black in the center, so maybe red next.





My Crazy 8's quilt is still waiting for assembly. I am feeling better now and hope to tackle it this afternoon.  Here's a preview of the plan.

Crazy Eights Revisited

I've got 56 Crazy Eights blocks done and ready to assemble into a quilt top. This time I made them scrappy. If you don't know me by now, this is not how I will use them in the quilt. Hopefully I can show that in a few days.

Typically I don't procrastinate when it comes to piecing, but I have been putting off assembling the top for a few days now. This will be bed size and that always makes it a bit cumbersome and when I don't feel real well I just do easy stuff.  I'm not sick, just suffering side effects to an antacid I'm taking. Started those the other day after an awful night that nearly sent me to the ER.


Years ago I wrote a magazine article for Chitra Publications. They ran a regular design challenge column called "What If". A block was presented with guidlines for construction (usually by Sharyn Craig) and inspiring quilts were shown using the block in different fabrics and settings. I did about 6 of those articles, Crazy 8's being one of them. If I could locate the article I'd show you , but at the moment all I can find is this photo of one of the quilts featured in that article.

I'm trying out another new camera. I didn't like using the one on my phone and the last one quit. This time it was an easier transition than usual.
Tuesday at church we nearly finished 5 quilt as you go comfort quilts. We used Kaye Wood's 6 hour quilt pattern. Next we will adapt the pattern using 6 1/2" squares. It will be a great way to use up our batting scraps. 
I did a one-trunk show of quilts from my new book at the Ben Franklin quilt club. They have 3 separate meetings to accommodate all the gals. It was good to go since I haven't been in over a year. That was Tuesday and Wednesday.
We're not quilting at Studio 3 on Thursdays again till after the holidays. But Friday we got together and I showed them another way to make the Square-in-a-Square quilt like this one I made last year.

Lately every quilt top I pull out of the closet I wish I had quilted. So I put one on the frame downstairs and will go to work on it after I join the link party at Judy's. And tomorrow I will link up to the new linky party at www.shecanquilt.ca. Please join us.