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!

I miss blogging!

 Working at a boarding school during a pandemic is no joke.  I thought I was busy the last three years here - ha!  I barely have time to eat or use the restroom this year!  But the first round of college applications have been submitted, so I am finally feeling like I can stop and breathe.  The students leave for an extended break on Friday, at which point I hope to spend more time reading and knitting and quilting.

I have gotten a few things done in the last few months, though, by making sure I make time for me, even if it is just 15 minutes of sewing or knitting every day.

Just today, I finished piecing a top for a friend's daughter whom she will be adopting into her family in just a few weeks.

Jewel Box Stars - 2018 Leaders & Enders Challenge by Bonnie Hunter (69.5"x69.5")

A few weeks ago I finished this baby quilt and gave it to a co-worker's new baby.

Inspired by a photo I saw on the internet (32.5" x 40.5")

I've made dozens of masks - I think this one is my son's favorite.

I love this pattern!

I knit crowns for three friends for their birthdays during long Zoom meetings.

I whipped up a couple more mini Christmas stockings for my ETSY shop.

And I am just ten LONG rows away from being finished with my Campfire Cozy Shawl.

It's too big to get a real picture until it is off the needles.  Hopefully by Thanksgiving.  I plan to curl up in this all winter long!  Here, I was knitting during Dining Hall Duty.

Looking at all of this, I'm pretty impressed with how much I got done this fall!  What's on/under your needle?  Another thing I hope to get back to during break is reading everyone else's blogs!

I am linking to Oh Scrap and Monday Making.

Things are looking up!

First off, my sister-in-law is COVID-free and home from the hospital!!  Her recovery is far from over, but we are so thankful that she is out of the woods!!

I've been trying to discipline myself to finish things up rather than start more new things.  I got the pineapple baby quilt top pieced together and basted, now just contemplating how to quilt it.

Not sure yet how I will quilt it...but it is basted and ready to go!

I put a skinny border on my cross-patch quilt, and am trying to decide if that is it.  I think so...but I'm going to let it sit for a while.

I don't think I want to add more borders, but I'm not sure.  Gonna revisit this in a little bit.

I pulled out my 2018 temperature quilt top.  I've been trying to figure out what to do for borders. 

I have SO MUCH Kona solid left after making this project!

At first I thought I'd do a border that had all 32 of my Kona fabrics that I bought for this quilt around the outside, but I got two sides done and didn't like it, so instead I pulled the two fabrics that represent the yearly average high and low temperatures, and used those as borders.  DONE!  Now to baste and quilt.

I also finished knitting a rainbow shawlette...

Still needs to be blocked...hopefully it won't look so lopsided then!

and have been making progress on my Earthy Excavation scrap blanket.

I love, Love, LOVE this project!  So simple and interesting and I'm using up all the little bits and bobs of leftover yarn!

Can you tell I've also been spending a lot of time outdoors?  Lots of reading going on, too!  According to my Goodreads account, I've read and/or listened to 55 books so far this year.  My goal of 24 books in 2020 was obviously too modest.  Maybe I can read 100?

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

Quilting to keep my fears at bay

I know I'm not alone - in my fear, my anxiety, my heartsickness.  But seeing what is happening in the US this week while social distancing is particularly trying.  How many times have I said, "thank goodness for quilting?"  It helps to calm my mind and my nerves.  And this week, my efforts have been towards creating yet another baby quilt for a little one who is due at the end of August.

I ran across the Giant Pineapple Quilt by the Stash Bandit, and decided to go with another pineapple quilt (remember the ones I made a little over a year ago?).  I started with 7" squares, so my finished block size will be 5.5", so I guess that will make a quilt that is approximately 33" x 44".

For those who read last week, my sister-in-law is out of the ICU, but still hospitalized.  Progress.

And I braved my fear of crowds and COVID19 today to take my boys to a Black Lives Matter vigil (masked up and keeping 6 ft distance from others as much as possible).

These are my sons, ages 17 and 14

What breaks my heart is that this isn't the first vigil my boys have attended.  Protesting murders has been a mainstay in their lives since we first took them to Washington DC in July 2013 to protest the murder of Trayvon Martin.  What kind of world is this that my kids have been protesting the murder of black people by the police and white citizens who take it upon themselves to "police" us for fully half of their lives?

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