More of the same

My creative life this week was much like last week - a couple more On Ringo Lake blocks completed, staying up-to-date with my temperature quilt, and a few more Flutterby blocks sewn up.  These Flutterby blocks are right up my alley - precut scraps and free rein when it comes to combining colors and fabrics!

About half the fabrics I put in my ETSY shop last week sold already, so I added more this week. 

Maybe, one day in the far off future, all my remaining fabric will actually fit in my sewing room. (Ha, who am I kidding?)

I'm getting ready to head to St. Louis for work for a few days, so I'm hoping to prep some hexagons as a handwork option for the flights and my hotel room at night.  If only I could find my Grandmother's Flower Garden hexagon quilt WIP...

This photo is from 2013 - and is probably the last time I worked on this.  It looks really washed out in the sun, and wrinkled because it had been tucked away in a bag, but I love the scrappiness.

...moving is so disruptive!  It's been six months and I still can't find things!

I'm linking up with Monday Making and Oh, Scrap!

Reluctantly letting go

The frustrating search for the remaining yarn for my sweater has made it crystal clear - I have TOO MUCH STUFF!  My fabric stash is not only in my sewing room, but also in our storage unit and on shelving in the garage.  It's more than I need, and more than I can probably ever use.  As a scrap quilter, I rarely reach for yardage when it is time to make a quilt (reaching instead for pre-cut squares and strips), and as one who never wants to piece a backing (reaching instead for a wide backing), my yardage just sits and sits, appreciated, but not utilized.

It's time to let more of it go.  I started with the floral drawer, and pulled out 10 one-to-three yard cuts  to put in my ETSY shop.  Within hours, it started selling.  Bye-bye, beloved fabric...

On a happier note, I found a few moments to sew during my whirlwind weekend.  I'm up to 20 completed On Ringo Lake blocks, I'm up to date with my Temperature Quilt blocks, and I love the way the Flutterby quilt is coming along.

Here's hoping I find even more time this busy work week for both de-stashing AND sewing.

I'm linking up with Oh, Scrap and Monday Making.

I blame Pinterest!

I set big goals for myself two weeks ago when I had a long weekend.  And I did a pretty darned good job of keeping them...

I finished my hat and have been wearing it non-stop.  It is made from Mega Merino, a soft, warm and squishy yarn that I used to sell in my shop.

I removed the offending neck from my sweater, knit on a new neck CORRECTLY, and am about halfway done with one sleeve.  The only problem is, I can't remember where I put the remaining skeins of yarn to finish the sweater.  Doh!

Sweater is based on an old cotton rolled edge sweater that I love to throw on for weekend lounging.

I finished reading Raven Threads, but am only now starting Unraveled.  It's very unlike me, but I didn't read anything for a week and a half.

I'm up to date on my Temperature Quilt, and I'm liking it.  It's going to be an odd quilt, for sure, but it'll be colorful, and sometimes that's all I need to make me happy.

I hate not having a design wall! This is most of the first two columns, but I can't put them together until February is over so I can add in the February average temperatures in the right place.  The yellows are the freakishly warm days we've had.  The darker the blue, the colder it was!

I didn't quite make my goal of 20 On Ringo Lake blocks completed, but I've got 18 and am slowly assembling the rest. 

The problem is this: I opened one of those darned emails from Pinterest with some Pins they think I'd like and they were right.  I saw this pin:

Image Credit: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/457819118351516579/

and had to start making one right away!  Scrappy...check!  Will use up some of my overflowing pre-cut scraps...check!  Will challenge me...since I am new to Half Rectangle Triangle Blocks, check!  I haven't gotten far, but I am having fun seeing these blocks come together. 

I'm using this as a Leaders & Enders project for my On Ringo Lake quilt...or is it the other way around?  Either way, I'm at my machine every chance I get, which, unfortunately, isn't as much as I'd like.

That's OK, I have a two-week break coming up in March.  I'm going to name my goals for that now - finish piecing On Ringo Lake and baste/start hand quilting my new niece/nephew's quilt before his/her arrival at the beginning of April.

In the meantime, I have a busy weekend ahead of me - running the clock at three different basketball games for three different teams, watching my husband's team compete in the conference quarterfinals (send winning thoughts our way on Saturday afternoon), and driving a vanload of kids to the movies to see Black Panther (we, as a school, rented out a theater and buses to take our students).  I hope I can find some time to sew and knit this weekend, too!

Oh, and I spent an entire day last weekend watching Alias Grace on Netflix.  It was darker and had less resolution and clarity at the end than I typically like, but oh the quilts!  Beautiful!!!

Long Winter Weekend

One perk of boarding school life is the vacations.  Today marks the start of Long Winter Weekend, a four and a half day weekend for us.  The timing is perfect - I'm starting to feel a bit under the weather, and I can use the rest.

But I'm determined to enjoy this time off.  In a perfect world, this time off would include:

• Knitting!  I want to complete this hat that I started earlier this week,

• and make some progress on this simple rolled cuff sweater I started several years ago.  I added the neck one night while watching a movie at the drive-in movies, and was dismayed to learn in the light of the following morning that I had picked up the stitches wrong, creating an unwanted ridge.  My plan this weekend is to take the neck off and put it back on correctly.

• Reading! I have many unread books waiting in the wings, but I've selected Unraveled by Maggie Sefton and Raven Threads by K.D. McCrite as quick and easy reads for the weekend.

• Quilting!  It's time to baste my next hand quilting project.  And my fabric order from Missouri Star Quilt Company arrived today (man, they are FAST!) so I plan to catch up on the blocks for my Temperature Quilt.  

• And more quilting! I'd like to get 20 of the 50 blocks done on my On Ringo Lake quilt; I currently have 5 done, so 15 to go.

In between times, I'll be going to a couple of my son's basketball games and hosting a Super Bowl viewing party.  I'll let you know on Monday how well I did achieving my weekend goals.