Just a quick post

Three things to be happy about:
(1) Mott's apple sauce in a cup
(2) a week off
(3) pictures on a calendar

Lately I've been switching between so many projects, I can't decide if I'm a butterfly, a bunny or a toady frog! 

I ran across a pattern for a Fourth of July flag quilt that I liked, so I thought I'd give it a try because it looks quick and easy.  I'm on the email list for FaveQuilts, and this pattern comes from Sew Sweetness; she says to cut the strips 1-2/3" wide, but because I wanted to use my GO cutter I decided to cut them at 1-1/2...

I've sewn the first two strips together, but just looking at the layout I can tell they're too narrow!  I should have used my 2" die and made the star block larger, shucks.

I used almost all of the red and I don't want to recut all the strips, so as a quick fix I'll piece everything except that last red strip, then I'll cut another one as wide as it needs to be.  It'll fly proud!

Meanwhile, I've made more of the red-and-scrappy half square triangles, and I have enough to considering another layout:

So it'll be a toss-up between that one, and the one below:

looks like seahorses!  We'll see...

That's it for now, enjoy the sunshine on this Thursday, but use some sunblock!  Sew forth and sew on til later...

Two more blocks done

Three things to be happy about:
(1) straw hats for summer
(2) sweet, fresh milk (I drink soy milk)
(3) the silky texture of tofu

I made the March and April blocks for the Quilt Doodle BOM - still sticking with the black-and-white color scheme:

March - rail fence



April - ball game



I paper-pieced the "ballgame" block, it just seemed easier than fiddling with eighth-inch measurements.  The center is a reject from January's block - it jusssssst fit the space!  That little heart might drive me nutty though (it's kilted just a bit too much), so I'll probably applique something else on top of it. 

This will make a cute little wall hanging when it's done, I think black and white is such a classic, can't miss combination.

I just finished listening (again) to two very good Connie Willis novels from her "Oxford Time Travel" series - Blackout and All Clear. 

If you're not familier with the series, it's about a group of historians from the future (I think its the year 2060?) who travel back in time to signficant historical events to observe and record certain aspects of the event.  In this case, three historians have travelled back to WWII London during the blitz, something goes wrong and they're trapped in 1949.  Enemy planes are dropping bombs all over the place; they know where the bombs will fall and they can avoid those areas - but only up to a certain date, which is coming up fast!

I don't want to say any more but if you like a good great book that keeps you on the edge of your seat, check these two out - you'll be glad you did! 

That's all for now, have a great Wednesday, so forth and sew on...

Playing catch-up

Three things to be happy about:
(1) stacks of new magazines
(2) a leisurely pace
(3) someone with your last name winning the lottery, and realizing you're her favorite long-lost niece

Oh well, one could wish!

I decided to do the Hello Moon BOM but I never really got started, so I yesterday I played catch up and made the first three blocks.  The pretty background fabric is from Robert Kaufman:


Full Moon



Moon and star

 This is actually the first one I did, then I realized some of the grey I used is too dark.  The moon actually has a grin but you can't see it -  I need to be aware of how I place the pieces.


Moon and earth

What's up with the earth's crooked grin, looks like it has a toothache!  I'm making the faces with my sewing machine rather than hand embroidering them. 

The blocks are 6-1/2" square, they'll make a cute wall hanging when they're all done! 

I'm seeing 16-patch blocks everywhere, so I made a few using African fabrics:

I think this will be a very small piece, I've made about a dozen blocks and I'm convinced a better approach would be to limit my fabric choices.  Some of the combinations, although they contrast nicely, make a too-dark block when viewed from a distance.  Sometimes those large-patterned African fabrics can be a bit tricky to work with!

Well that's all for now, enjoy your Monday, sew forth and sew on!

Silent Sunday (almost)

Ahhh Sunday ... a nice day for relaxing after Church! 

These relaxing seats were snapped outside the Cracker Barrel in Hampton, Virginia:

Thanks everybody for your kind concerns about my absence - they are appreciated!

Sew forth and sew on

Linda

Out and about

Hi everybody, it's been a loooooooong time!  When I said I wouldn't be posting while my sister was here, I didn't know it would be a whole month later [ducking my head in shame].  I had several people asking "what's up with the blog??" - I apologize, it didn't occur to me people would think something was wrong, just a case of the lazies; time flies, doesn't it?? 

Meanwhile I went to the Quilters Unlimited show in Virginia last Friday with Felicia and Pat, here are some pics:

Of course the first thing that caught my eye was this Beemer parked right at the door to the exhibit center:

we know what she does, don't we!

There were a lot of red and white quilts displayed, but this one was my all-time fav:

I hope you can see the closeup of the quilting, it's fantastic!

A few pictorials...

The door on the shed actually opens up - clever!

I didn't take too many pictures, .sometimes at quilt shows it's as though you're in a time loop... as if  you've seen "this" or "that" quilt before, maybe in a different color combination or by a different quilter.  Not to take anything away from the show, the quilts all came together to make a great show but... do you know what I mean?

I bought absolutely NO fabric this time, wasn't even tempted!  But I did buy 3 patterns and a book, along with a ruler called The Learning Curve.  It's sort of like a drunkard's path but it makes "perfect" circles.  Your seams will match every time - yeah right, we'll see won't we!

We watched a demo of a fantastic tool called The Wacker - you have to read Felicia's review of this tool, when he finished we snuck around the corner and laughed our heads off!

After the show I dropped by Sandy's house for an impromptu chopping and skewering get-together.  We skewered...

and skewered...

and cooked...

then we ate!

it was delicious!

That's all for now, it's such a gloomy day today I don't want to go out - I want to catch up on the blogs that I haven't read in a long time, then gotta put the nose to the needle!  Sew forth and sew on til later  :o)