Another day in paradise (aka the sewing room)

What a difference having an organized sewing room makes!  I've been down there more this past month than the past year combined!!  Today, I worked on my February Block Lotto blocks, Snails Trails,

These 6" blocks had to use brown and a light or low volume print.  I hope to make 5 more before month's end. 

as well as a house block for the 2016 Neighborhood Block Party.

This is a 12.5" block, based on a photo of a house block I saw online.

And then, of course, I've been cutting and cutting and cutting my scraps.  I swear, it doesn't seem like the scrap pile is getting any smaller, even though my precut bins are filling up.  I've got 7 weeks to get my scraps under control and then whatever is left untamed must go!

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!

Are you joining the party?

The 2nd Annual Neighborhood Party over at Beth's LoveLaughQuilt blog, that is. There is still time to join!

I had a ball creating my block to send.  Nearly all the fabrics in my block have special meaning:

• Snake fabric - I live on Rattler Road.  There is a reason why my road is called Rattler Road, and it involves creatures with no legs.  Ugh!  But the view makes their presence worth it!
• Teacup fabric - I love, love, love drinking tea and coffee, hot when it is cold outside and iced when it is warm.  Yum!
• Basketball kids - Not only am I married to a basketball coach, but my boys both play basketball, not just in a league in the winter, but at camps during the summer.  Needless to say, I am the proud owner of a cushy stadium seat, and I get lots of hand sewing done in the stands.
• Bug fabric - I guess bugs are part and parcel of living in the country but, UGH!  I can't stand them, but they are everywhere.  In particular, we have lots of ladybugs (and to think I used to think they were CUTE!  Until they invaded my house by the thousands a couple years ago) and shield/stink bugs.  The stink bugs are now reigning supreme, as they apparently compete for resources with the ladybugs.  I'm not sure which I prefer...
• Tree from made fabric - I live in the country, in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia with 7 acres and deeded access to the George Washington National Forest.  Trees dominant my views, and I love them.

Besides the creepy crawly things, I LOVE where I live, I love my house, I love my life.  Won't you join in the Neighborhood party and share with us a bit about where YOU live?  Although, truth be told, I'm hoping to be one of the winners of a neighborhood of house blocks this year...

EXHAUSTED!!!

I have some quilt-y developments, but first, a peek into my work so you understand why I am so exhausted right now. I am the scholarship coordinator at the university where I work. We had 2327 applications for scholarships this year, and we had to narrow that number down to 200 finalists. Today was the day I had hoped to get the letters in the mail, and everyone in my office pulled together to make that happen. 207 signatures later...

I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Literally. Like the weight has been lifted but like the carrying of that weight for so long has left a permanent knot in my right shoulder blade. I'm headed to my room to lie down as soon as I finish this post. Or at least that's where I WISH I were headed. Instead, it is off to basketball practice for Jason, grocery shopping, and family movie night at the kids' school. When do I get to rest!?!

Anyway, if you are interested, you can read more about the process on our Admissions Blog. (which, by the way, was just named one of the Top 25 Admissions Blogs - who knew there was a ranking!?!) The posting the link will take you to is one I put up today titled, "Time to Stalk the Mailman!" (oh, man, looking at that now, I should have written "mail carrier". Drat! My sincere apologies to all the female mail carriers out there!)

So, understandably, my quilting time has been close to none. But I did manage to slip down to my sewing studio for an hour or so last night. I settled on my sashing strips and cornerstones and borders for the Cub Scout Quilt, all from my stash.

I had some pretty grandiose plans, but then reason took hold and I realized that with my quickly approaching deadline, it didn't have to be fancy. The colors are Blue and Gold because that is the name of the ceremony in February where this quilt will make its debut. I'm sure the colors signify something, but my mind is empty right now. I'll have to research that. Unless any of you know...Angela? Julie? Anyway, I've sewn together the rows of cornerstones and sashing that will go between the rows of blocks, but everything else is on hold until the kids color their blocks on Monday.

While digging out pre-cut scraps for the cornerstones, I found some pre-cut scraps of the fabric I needed to finish my first border around my little house from Beth, so I got a little stitching done on that, too.

I'm liking it, but not quite sure where I'll be going from here. I do like the golden fields that remind me so much of where I live in the fall and winter, so I'm sure that fabric will figure somewhere in my plans.

Bonus - while stitching those two small things together, I finished two more scrappy log cabin blocks. I'd love to finish making all those blocks this weekend so I can get it off my design wall and make room for my Bonnie Hunter style Virginia Bound quilt,

but we'll see. I need some rest this weekend, and I refuse to over-commit myself.

I do, however, commit myself to spending some time reading! All those books I ordered came in, and while I had already read 4 of them, I have 4 other new-to-me quilt fiction books stacked up next to my bed. I decided to start with The Fortune Quilt.

I'll let you know how it is!

Construction zone

I didn't sew at all on Monday. Nothing, nada, zip, zilch. I was determined to make up for it on Tuesday. And when I got to my mailbox and received my teeny, tiny house fabric from Beth, I knew just what I was going to work on!




I couldn't just put this little piece of fabric away for another day; it is too small - it would be lost. But what to do with it? I had 9 little 1.5" HST units that I found when straightening up on Sunday, maybe I could start by surrounding it with those.

Duh, Erin, you need 16 to go all the way around, not 9! OK, maybe just on 2 sides? Nah. Sides and bottom and then a sky with a fussy cut sun and moon up top and flowers in the lower corners?

Nah, I like the flowers in the corners, but I want those HST units on all sides. And then maybe I can set it in a golden field like this one that reminds me of the golden hills outside my window beyond my immediate yard. Perhaps with a little border first.

But I'm out of energy to go digging through all my scraps looking for more of those two particular fabrics used in those HST however many years ago when I cut them off as bonus triangles from another project. That's a project for another day.

Meanwhile, my scrappy log cabin continues to grow.


And BONUS! While looking for scraps to use with my teeny tiny house, I found more of the yellow that I used for the centers of my log cabins. I was afraid that I didn't have any more and thought my log cabin quilt would be limited in size because of it, but now, I have enough of that yellow to make it as big as I want. Big enough for a twin bed, at least, is what I'm thinking now. I just love feeling like I am using up my scraps, although you wouldn't notice when looking at my scrap bags.

And I want to get back to my color words at some point. And figure out what I'm going to do next with the chicks and coffee. And finish piecing my Virginia Bound quilt before Bonnie Hunter gets here next month. Why, oh why, couldn't we have had a snow day like most of the rest of the country (at least that's how it seems!).

By the way, we did have a 2-hour delay this morning, which makes me happy because I get to sleep in until it is light out AND take my time eating breakfast, but they make both of my children sad. When I told them, Donald slumped over and moaned, "We still have to go to school!?!" Jason slumped over and said, "We have to miss part of the school day!?!" Why did I think having one kid prepared me for having two? They are as different as crocodiles and porcupines!

Life is getting back to normal

First of all, there is SUN! The kids are out playing on the swings - there's nothing better than looking out your window and seeing your kids outside having fun!

Jason and I spent some time earlier this week making valentines for his class (I know we were late, but they didn't have school for two and a half weeks because of snow!). He didn't want to make cards, so we made 1" square valentine cubes out of construction paper and tape, each with a Hershey's kiss inside. That was fun, and a geometry lesson to boot.



Today, I finally got some patches sewn onto Jason's and my karate uniforms. As much as I like to sew quilts, I abhor sewing on patches. Wouldn't you know that our two main activities, karate and cub scouts, have tons of patches!


And while I've made some progress on my Strips and Scrap-plique quilt, I'm not ready for photos. I'm trying a new technique that will require laundering before I know if it works or not. Hopefully it will, and I can take a photo later this weekend.

I did find the time to make a House Block for Bumble Beans's project. It took me forever because I am lousy at following directions and spent quite a bit of time unsewing. I finally tweaked the pattern a bit - I hope you don't mind, V.

And look, I put myself in the block!



Now I'm off to visit an old quilting friend who moved away and then to watch my hunband's team kick some Eastern Mennonite University butt! Enjoy your day!