Think Spring

Here's a few more comfort kits I got together for church quilting. I think they have enough for almost a year now. Notice the block to use the half-square triangles I worked on last week.

I've also been doing a little quilting. By little I mean I got this 4-block sampler quilted. Another top is loaded and waiting.

One of the first signs of spring to me is when the birds start coming back. Mark saw the cranes already. Yesterday the geese were honking/complaining maybe? about all the snow.The red-wing blackbird will be here in a week or two also. I always hear them before I see them. And on my walk just now I thought I spotted a small flock of robins, always back this week.
It's a cheery thought and I start singing the "Red Red Robin". I learned it from dad singing it when I was little. I always loved it when he sang. Imagine my surprise when I learned that his hunting and fishing buddies got to hear it from him every morning at camp. I tried that once and got shot down. What a way to totally ruin the start of what could be a perfectly delightful day. So maybe I won't go to quilt camp anymore, but instead stay home and sing and quilt all I want.

I'm pulling fabric for 2 more quilts. I want to tweak the designs, then I'll post what my plans are.  Glad there is no end in sight.

Loren's Legacy

My Bali Sea Star top is complete. I decided to border it simply so as not to detract from the blocks in the unique setting. Thanks again to Nann for the suggestion. I love it. I will enjoy it on my flannel wall for a while now.

We haven't had much snow this winter but that doesn't mean I don't shovel snow. I shovel whether I should or not. I can't seem to resist. I don't actually need to, but I really like to shovel.  But then when I shovel,  I pay for it for DAYS afterward. That means I've hurt toooo much from shoveling to quilt or rotary cut very much.  Oh well, so I have been doing a bit of piecing instead.

After meeting at church last Tuesday and  working with their fabric here with Lucrecia the day before I decided it was time to organize again. We left several piles for kits that weren't ready to take on Tuesday.  Several of the ladies mentioned they didn't like a kit unless it told them what to cut and make with it. Some of our kits are just bags of coordinating fabric. Other ladies prefer that. But that means the piles I have here could use patterns chosen to go along with them. Okay, no problem. Spent a while choosing patterns and tweaking the kits.

One of the bags of scraps I came across was all the triangles I'd been collecting. At least anything that would finish  3" or larger.  I knew some of the triangles were the exact size and I paired them with triangles that were over-sized and sewed them together. Now they just need to be trimmed and pressed and they are ready to go into a quilt.  I'd prefer to trim first with scissors.

If they are pressed first then a rotary cutter and ruler would be needed to square them to size. I'm trying to cut back on unnecessary cutting. I guess I could just trim the tips and leave a 1/2" or more for a seam allowance - depending on how they are sewn together. Better yet I will make a kit with 3 1/2" squares and let someone else deal with them.

Wake up Laughing

I've kept busy all week doing very little quilting. One of the things I'm doing is working on my quilt scrapbook. It's one way I document the quilts I make. It sure  comes in handy to refresh my memory for all sorts of things. I made pages where I can show 1, 2 or 3 quilts. Included are pattern name, the source of the pattern, size, when pieced and quilted Also if it sold or was donated or gifted and blank lines I can fill in with names or other info like if it was in a show or magazine. I wish I thought of indicating what batting I used. I'll  include it when I reprint the forms. I put them in page protectors back to back so I can keep together extra photos and any extra notes I want. These pages go back a few years.  I have two years worth of quilts and tops to record.  Glad I can check  back on the blog for details.

Lucrecia came over today. She brought show and tell of a top she made while she was in Panama and the top from the blocks she made from the block exchange with the church ladies. Very nice.  She then helped me with some kits so I have another big tote full to take tomorrow. We're supposed to get a little rain and snow tonight and tomorrow. That usually keeps me home cause then there's ice to drive in.Wish us luck. We are  planning on making string blocks together.

I've also had some distraction from my people. Distraction as in I'm not happy with them. When this happens I find myself writing letters. I write lots of letters especially when I am upset. Sometimes I send them. One I burned, one I left for Mark to read and most are all in my head. I've written many to the same people and I've rewritten the same letter many times. Again - all in my head. Then I feel better.

My fella friend makes me laugh too though. He's always telling jokes. Some I have probably heard over 30 times. But he has good ones too and he talks as much as he can. The other night I had a dream about him that woke me up laughing. All I remember is that he died and we had him cremated. And he still kept talking! I know this cause his voice came right out of the urn with his ashes sitting on the mantle. And we had a conversation!

Considering a Suggestion

I took it as a suggestion anyways when Nann at With Strings Attached  said that she was imagining these blocks offset. So I had to try it and while I was at it, I thought I'd throw some fabric up on the wall of something that might work for a border.

Nann's wasn't the only comment I considered. Annie at Annie' Quilt Orts commented that she didn't have many batiks in her stash to make this. I'd say that's a good excuse to go buy some more. But then, I hardly used any batiks myself. Not everyone loves them. Sew, use what you like. But her comment did suggest to me to dig into my batiks and find a few more to use. It also reminded me that for over a year now I have been wanting to mix my batiks in with the rest of the stash so I won't forget them again. Now those blocks are cut out and almost all sewed up. I will keep the border fabric up on the wall with the blocks to see how I like it tomorrow in daylight. I rarely choose a border in the evening. IS tonight the night that I move those batiks???
Thank you Ladies.

Design Wall Monday at Judy's

It's Monday in the middle of February. Perfect weather for getting some quilting done. I've been dabbling in getting ready for some classes, the next book and a bit of piecing. This is where I am at on my Bali Sea Star quilt.

I really thought I chose more greens and reds than appear here, so I will with the remaining  blocks.  I really like this design. It is rare for me to make someone else's  block like this, but Kim Brackett has some good ones. I am not following her plans to the letter, but I don't think she'd mind. With a little luck I will have this done by the end of the week.

Piecing is the Plan

In the mood for some piecing, I dug into the boxes of PHD's and came across this Bali Sea
Star I started a while back. Enough was cut that I could do some sewing without straining my sore hand. This brings the block count for this quilt up to 10. I have 5 more cut. The pattern in Kim Brackett's book calls for 20 with a piano key border. I will not finish it like that and I don't know how many blocks I will make. That might depend on how far my background fabric will go. For the border, I may go random strip lengths or not. After the next 5 blocks I will put them all up on the wall and see what other colors I want to use. The others use red and green.

 I set aside the Delectable Mountains. I am undecided about the border. This is what I had planned, but now I think I'd prefer the darker tone-on-tone blue of which I ran out. So tell me, would the blue floral be "too much"?  I'm not keen on  searching out the local quilt shops for a suitable blue. Unless I plan a shop hop with some friends.

We're getting some snow today so it's a good day to sew or bake or quilt or clean. Hmm. I think I will go finish those 5 blocks.