New directions

I'm almost embarrassed by how many of my posts are about new starts versus finishes.  There's always a reason for a new start...but I have no good reason for not finishing things.

So, I was focusing on my Jewel Box Stars quilt when I realized I needed some more variety in my neutrals.  While seeking out more neutrals, I got to thinking about a quilt pattern on ETSY that I had pinned on my Pinterest page as something to make one day.  If I'm pulling neutrals for one quilt, I might as well pull for another quilt at the same time, right?  Well, one thing led to another.  I had to try a block out...

And then I had to make a couple more...

So, yeah, my Jewel Box Stars is back to being a Leaders and Enders quilt while I have fun with this one.  The good news is, I've unearthed lots more neutrals to use in my Jewel Box Stars...

It has rained a lot lately, which we needed.  The garden is starting to produce - yummy lettuce and snap peas and flowers so far.  When it isn't raining, I spend much of my time outside, in the shade, either in the hammock or on a quilt in the yard, reading or listening to an audiobook while I knit.  (I love summer!)

Much like with my quilting, I try to knit and crochet using up my stash rather than buying new.  So when one of my four-year-old crocheted dishcloths came out of the dryer miserably distorted and with three holes in it, I dug through my stash to find cotton to make another.

Pattern for Diagonal Dishcloth

And I had started a knit project last September that I wasn't feeling anymore, so I frogged it and started something new.

Pattern for Dressy Poncho

All in all, it has been a wonderfully crafty week for me, even if there aren't any finishes (except the dishcloth).

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

The trifecta of quilting bliss!

Today was my last day at home alone for this Thanksgiving break.  Tomorrow, I'll collect the kids from school and head north to spend Thanksgiving with my family.  I'm really looking forward to it, but in the meantime, I've been doing my best to take advantage of these hours alone at home.

I spent my day enjoying the three parts of quilting that I love most - hand quilting, piecing and pulling fabrics.

First, I pulled out my niece's quilt.  She's turning two in a month, and I still haven't given it to her!  I'm determined to have it under the tree for her this year, along with a handmade stuffed animal, a sample from my shop.  Hand quilting takes me FOREVER, but I'm doing simple straight lines, so it shouldn't take too long.  I hate marking quilts, so I use painter's tape - anyone else do that?

My niece's quilt top

How I love sitting under a quilt while I hand quilt it!

I helped make this giraffe sample when I owned my shop.  Now that I no longer own the shop, samples make great gifts!

Then I went back to the Christmas quilt.  What does it say about me that I am already a bit bored with that project?  But just you wait - by the time this break is over, I'll have a completed top. 

On the couch back, since I don't have a design wall.  And terrible lighting - it sure does get dark early here in Massachusetts

Then, so I'm ready to jump into the fray when I return from my mom's house in New Hampshire, I pulled my fabrics for Bonnie Hunter's new mystery, On Ringo Lake.  The first clue goes live on Friday.

Chocolate browns, aquas to turquoise, coral to melon ,and neutrals

I won't be back on here until after Thanksgiving, so have a great one, everyone!

Not enough time

There just isn't enough time to do all that I want to do!  My sister and nephew are visiting for a few days before they drive my mom back up to New Hampshire.  I want to spend time with them.

The next session of the SEW Cool Afterschool Program starts soon, and I need to make class samples for all the projects.  The theme is "Picnic in the Park", and we'll be making a water bottle carrier, a sun hat, a placemat roll with cutlery pockets, and a picnic quilt.  Since the sun finally made an appearance, I made the sun hat sample first.  It's reversible - denim on one side, quilting cotton on the other.

I want to finish the Ohio Star challenge for our quilt guild.  We have to make a small (114" in circumference or less) quilt that incorporates the Ohio Star block.  I've been wanting to play with selvages, and my idea was to spell out OHIO using Ohio Star blocks as the two Os.  I don't think it really works - maybe if I remove the brown borders from the H and the I.

Plus, I have so much knitting I want to get done - I'm not sure it was such a good idea learning to knit and crochet; I feel like I am pulled in so many creative directions now!  I spent an entire morning last week making a bunch of citrus blossoms and leaves to decorate a bar branch that I put in my shop window.

My mom did find time to finish her first quilt while here, an 80" x 80" denim and flannel rag quilt.  Isn't it lovely?  She did the whole thing, start to finish, in just 6 days!!!