Lots of stitching going on!

I had hoped to get lots of creating in during my winter break from school...and I did!  It started with a mad dash to make a memory quilt for a friend who lost her beloved dog.  I had six pages of printer fabric sheets, so I found some photos of her pup online and made a quick quilt for her.  She is TALL and I wanted her to be able to cuddle in it, so it is pretty large, about 65"x 98".  I can't make a quick quilt that big using my usual little pieces, so the blocks are huge, each finishing at 31.5" square.  What a departure for me!  Probably not something I'll do again, but she really appreciated it so mission accomplished.

Preparing to baste for quilting...

After that, my desire to sew was gone, so I spent a lot of time knitting:

RBG Ornaments

Christmas crowns for my nieces

Socks for my sister-in-law

A Shoulder Cozy for my mom

More progress on my Excavation Blanket

Using up more sock yarn scraps in my Coziest Memory Blanket

And then, just like that, I wanted to sew again!  I joined a Block Exchange and have already completed and mailed January's blocks:

Mother Hen Block

I made two blue Bear Paw blocks  - this is the year I am determined to finish this quilt and give it to my stepfather.

I've been working on this since October 2019 - what's taking me so long???

I've been chipping away at my scraps.  With this bag of scraps and this tin of HSTs,

I am making this modified Rail Fence.

Hmmm...might reverse the HSTs on half of the blocks to see if that makes them all seem continuous...

And making blocks based on the 2020 Scrap Buster Challenge from Border Creek Station.

Haven't decided on a layout yet, just playing around as I add blocks

I'm sad that vacation is over but I'm glad I had so much time to create, create, create!  Now it is back to work, work, work.

Happy New Year, everyone!  I'm linking up with Oh Scrap and Monday Making.

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.

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.

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.

Growth

How boring my blog must be to readers.  Nothing happening in my life other than work, reading and quilting, and I've been working on the same quilt for weeks now.  It is growing slowly, and bringing me great joy, a true scrap quilt that has me digging into piles and drawers looking for smaller scraps to use up and combine in fun ways.

Of course, I imagine most everyone's life is like that these days, one day looking much like the day before.  Thank goodness for books to give me some excitement, whether I am reading in the hammock like I did this weekend, or listening to an audiobook while I stitch.

I'm linking with Oh Scrap and Monday Making.

Revisiting Mill Girls

My family has cabin fever, but I swear, I was made for social distancing!  As long as the food doesn't run out, I could stay home and read and sew and knit indefinitely!  It's scary out there with so many people getting sick; I am happy to keep my own company for a while, and creating keeps my mind off worrying about the future.

Actually, this time has me revisiting lots of UFOs from my past.  One of my favorites is Mill Girls, which I started in February 2016.  When I realized I was out of background material, I kinda stalled out.  Today, I pulled it out and realized I had enough for two more blocks using the background material from the original blocks so I sewed them up.

I now have 9 blocks, enough to make a baby quilt, if I want.

But honestly, I love this pattern so much, I want something bigger that I can use!  I have these other WOW fabrics - are they similar enough to mix them up in there and make more blocks?

I don't know.  Maybe it works since it is a scrap quilt, but maybe I should keep the background constant since there are so many different scraps in there.  What would you do?

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

This is a first!

These past couple of weeks, I've been sewing up a storm!  Every spare moment, I've been at the machine or the ironing board or cutting table.  For the first time in the three years I've been doing Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilts, I'm completely caught up!  Maybe I'll actually finish one!

Clues 1-7 DONE for Frolic!

Or maybe not - I still haven't finished On Ringo Lake or Good Fortune, but I haven't given up hope yet.

Good Fortune still needs three more borders added - I love the look of pieced borders, but I hate adding them!

On Ringo Lake just needs to be assembled, but I don't love the colors so my motivation is low.

I've been finishing lots of other things lately, though.  I've read half a dozen books in the last couple of weeks, and I finished several knitting projects for gifts this year.

Matching hats for my little boy neighbors who love everything I wear in rainbow colors.

Socks for my mom (at the bottom of her bed is a quilt I made her about 12 years ago - another Bonnie Hunter pattern - and on the bed is a flannel & denim rag quilt I helped her make for herself).

I hope this creative finishing streak continues - I have LOTS of works in progress that I would love to see come to completion!

November

Oh, how I love November!  No, not for the cooler temperatures, not even for Thanksgiving (which is my favorite holiday).  I love November because it means the soul-crushing grind of October is over!

So far this month,

I have napped...aaahhhh!

I have read multiple books...cozy mystery lover that I am, I read Thread & Gone by Lea Wait - A Mainely Needlepoint Mystery, Close Knit Killer by Maggie Sefton - A Knitting Mystery, and am currently reading Murder, Handcrafted by Isabella Alan - An Amish Quilt Shop Mystery.

And I finished piecing this quilt top.

All basted and ready to quilt!

I originally thought to give it to a friend who is adopting a toddler, but at 41 x 36, it feels like a baby quilt, not a toddler quilt, so I am giving it to my good friend's daughter instead as she expects her first baby.  For the toddler and her older sister, both of whom will be adopted together - yay! - I'm going to make something bigger, maybe quilts with their names on them.  We'll see.

And now that I'm not spending every evening reading essays and writing recommendation letters, I think I'm going to knit and watch an episode of something on Netflix.  Aaahhh, November!

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

New Life

There's a new baby soon to arrive in the life of one of my friends, so we all know what that means?  Time to make a baby quilt!  But time is scarce these days - in the world of college advising, we generally call October Suck-tober because it is such a grind of writing recommendation letters, proofreading essays, and generally just hand-holding our seniors through a stressful time.  So instead of starting from scratch, I went digging through my UFOs.

When I came across the color words made from 1.5" squares that I started back in August 2010 (how embarrassing to have a UFO that old!), I decided that one more color word, Purple,

would round out a rainbow of words.  Since some words are shorter than others, I'm making some wonky stars with four-patch centers to fill space. 

This should go together rather quickly, I think. 

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

Better late than never

My heart quilt is done - I finished the binding while sitting outside in the autumn sunshine this afternoon. 

Tomorrow, I goes to its new home with my dear friend to provide comfort in her final days.  So much love went into this quilt.  So many tears.  So many memories revisited.  So much love.

Par for the course

It seems I can't sew a quilt together without making a mistake these days.  On my last finish, it was sewing a border on upside down.  On my heart quilt, I forgot a whole row altogether!  Remember my sketch?

I was so excited to finish on Saturday, an August finish as planned.

Do you see how I forgot to piece the row that includes the bottom tip of the heart?  I pinned a spare neutral 9-patch on to see if it made much of a difference...

Yup, it makes a significant difference to me.  Back to piecing 9-patches.  Out with the seam ripper to take off those bottom 4 rows.  An easy fix, but I'm annoyed with myself. 

The goal is to machine quilt it and bind it by the middle of the month, doable, but the kids start coming back to school today, so my time is no longer my own to use as I wish.  Gonna make this a priority.

I'm linking with Oh Scrap and Monday Making.