I need variety!

 I've got a friend with a big surgery coming up in a couple of months, so I want to give them a quilt.  When considering my (considerable) UFOs, my plaid string quilt seemed like a good option for them, based on Julie's beautiful creation.

It's up on the design wall and I've completed a few more 9-patches and sashings, but man! Now I remember why I fizzled out with this quilt.  I'm excited about how it is going to look, but it is so boring for me to create.  Part of why I love scrap quilts is that there are so many different fabrics playing together.  With this one, it's just plaid.  I'm gonna do it, but I need something to spice up my sewing stints as well.

Today I finished my January Bee Blocks:

Finished sewing together all of the 2022 Stashbuster blocks that I had precut:

I'm going for a non-traditional holiday quilt look

And worked on this scrappy bear paw variation that I started over winter break:

I also did some purging, identifying some orphan blocks, some fabric and some thread that I plan to take to Swansons to swap out for some quilting scraps, and along the way I unearthed some of the quilts I started hand quilting but never finished.  I need to commit to getting back to them.  There's the one I made for my bed around 15 years ago but never finished:

And this scrap quilt where I was playing with big stitch quilting in a rainbow of colors - I completely forgot this quilt even existed:

There's this mini twister quilt made from salvaged pillowcases:

Completely forgot about this sailboat baby quilt:

And this self-portrait:

There were others, too.  I amaze myself sometimes with how much I DON'T finish!  Time to change that!

I've been busy (but not blogging)

I keep thinking I'm going to write a blog post, and never seem to get around to it. Instead, I read or knit or quilt. Which is good because those things all bring me joy, but it means that my record of my quilting progress is not up to date. Usually I go to my blog to figure out, "now when did I make THAT quilt?" but since I haven't posted in MONTHS, I'm at a bit of a loss. Let's see if I can piece together the last seven months or so - I've been productive! In June, I tried my hand at longarm quilting for the first time. The recipient was so surprised - I love it when the quilt is unexpected like that!

I finished a baby quilt for a baby born in late December, and went back to the longarm to quilt it while also quilting another scrap quilt that I made over a decade ago:

I chose to quilt this baby quilt for a baby due in February on my own domestic machine (I guess I never took a full completed quilt photo):

I finally finished hand quilting my niece's baby quilt - regular quilting in the white, big stitch quilting with embroidery floss in the colors (she's going to be 4 in April):

Throughout it all, I made a couple of bee blocks each month:

I've been working on my Scrappy Trips Around the World quilt, thinking it will go to a friend who will be having surgery in March,

but I've also been thinking I might want to make them a plaid and denim quilt instead like this one: This weekend, I'm headed back to the longarmer to quilt this one for my twin sister who has made noises about the fact that she'd like a snuggle quilt for the couch. I love this one so I'm happy to keep it in the family.

And that's about it for my quilting the last couple of months. Lots of knitting and reading, too, plus I moved to Indiana in June. Never a dull moment, I tell ya!

Mixing and matching

After shipping off a bunch of orphan blocks and making progress cutting up and stitching up my scraps, I feel like I'm on a roll!  I'm loving the way the Modified Rail Fence is looking (I need a name, maybe Barbed Wire Fence?)

And the making the little 4-patches in a square is eating through the 2" squares that I am cutting from my scraps.

And while clearing out some orphan blocks, I came across the extra border blocks I had from when I did Sew Many Strips.  I loved that border, and I've been cutting 1.5" strips, so I thought, "hey, maybe I can use this as a border for one of my current projects..."  I auditioned it with my 4-patches in a square, and I like it!

I mailed off the completed X-Pop quilt to the baby who was born just about a month ago.  Simple, straight-line quilting and a batik backing.  I'm sorry to see this one go...but I think I say that about all the baby quilts I make.  I hope the recipient family likes it and uses it.  

There are two more babies on the way this summer - what to make next???  Maybe something like these bright, fun, bear paw blocks I made for my April Bee Blocks?

Just five more days...

 Just five more days until spring break...I can make it!  I am tuckered out and in desperate need of a break!  I didn't sew nearly as much as I had hoped this week, but I did manage to finish my March Bee Blocks 

as I made some progress with the scrap pile.  Of course, the bag doesn't look any less full, but I've cut quite a few more block components for my various projects.  I think I'll pin pieces together so when I have a few minutes here and there this week I can get some blocks sewn up.  I'm the type who usually just cuts the pieces for one block, then sews them together, rinse, repeat, not the type to cut out a whole quilt and then sew it all together, so having a bunch of pieces cut already is novel to me.  If I sew up everything I have cut out already, that's quite a few more blocks to add.  We'll see!

In other crafting news, I belong to a Buy Nothing Facebook group, and look at what I scored this weekend!  I tied a quilt some years back with buttons, and have been itching to do that again, so I was keen to get more buttons, but some of these buttons really make me want to knit up a garment to feature them.

Some of my favorites:

I love big buttons on hand knits

I can see this holding a cape closed at the throat

I'm ready to knit up a cabled cardigan just to use these beauties!

Can you say baby sweater??

And who is this cute little critter?  Reminds me of a Sandra Boynton character...

So retro! I see another cardigan in my future.

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

Reveling!

There is so much to revel in this season!

Family - my twin sister and her husband and two kids came to spend Christmas with us.  My brother and his partner and her two kids also came over on Christmas day and spent the night.  There were presents and food, of course, but also lots of games, some exercise (ugh!  My sister drags me running with her every time we are together.  I HATE to run!  The only good part is the sense of accomplishment afterwards), and lots of laughter.  Plus, my gorgeous little niece wanted to do some sewing.  I was more than happy to oblige.  She made two denim bookmarks, one for her and one for her dad, plus two little 4-patch sachets filled with sweet pea scented rice.

She can barely see over my ironing board!

But she was meticulous about sewing, going a nice even slow speed and sewing a remarkably straight seam. 

Sewing - I was sad to say goodbye to family, but after they left, I realized I could get back down to my sewing room.  My kids were exhausted, and were happy to entertain themselves for a while while I worked on a Hurricane Sandy quilt today, plus made my December Let's Bee Together blocks

Quick and easy sewing - little 4.5" foundation pieced string blocks 

and 5 Block Lotto blocks for January.

Tall Shoo-fly blocks measuring 6" x 9" finished, with white, spring or lime green, true red and black - I like the look of these, and they were super easy to make

When I went to post them today, I realized it is still December - maybe I should make some more of December's blocks while I still have the time.

I also mailed out my ugly, lame-o house block for Beth's Neighborhood House Party over at Love, Laugh, Quilt.

I kept meaning to embellish it, but never found the time.  Sheesh!  I even forgot a window and a door!  Oh well. It probably won't get there in time anyway.

Generosity - people continue to give to the Hurricane Sandy quilt relief project.  An anonymous box of orphan/sampler blocks came

12 B&W sampler blocks

12 fall colored/themed sampler blocks

and a whole passel of HST blocks

plus a quilt that is already sandwiched and ready for quilting.

Some of the shamrocks are already appliqued on, others are just pinned in place. See that round roll of matching binding?  This will be an easy one to finish.  Thanks, Marcia!

Our project is getting some recognition, too.  There was an article in the Republican-Herald newspaper out of Pottsville, PA on the Monday before Christmas and a reporter from the Roanoke Times out of Roanoke, VA called me yesterday and is sending a photographer to my house on Monday to get photos of the blocks and quilts.

Can you guess what I'll be doing this weekend?  Yup!  Cleaning up the sewing room!