SCORE!!!

Not too much sewing has been taking place with the start of school.  In a boarding school environment, it is possible to literally be on duty from 7:45 AM until 11:30 PM, particularly during the first few weeks of school.  I AM EXHAUSTED!

But I did squeeze in some time for myself on Saturday.  I went to the 27th Annual Home Sewing Exchange as a vendor, bringing with me some 1 yard cuts of fabric, some skeins of yarn, and some notions that I was willing to part with.  My goal, beyond clearing out some of my stash, was to earn back my $20 registration fee and make enough money to pick up some neutral fabrics from the other vendors, since I blow through neutrals like nobody's business.  I thought my goal was lofty, since I was selling the fabric for $2/yard and selling the leftover yarn from my yarn shop for $1, $2, $3 and $5/skein, but I was thrilled at the end of the day when, not only had I earned back my registration fee, but I cleared $125.00 over that! 

I allotted myself $10 to go shopping.  I went over by $1.50, but look how much I got!!!

First, I shopped the table of the woman next to me because she was great to talk with and she bought quite a bit from me - scissors, rulers and the like for her eight-year-old granddaughter whom she is teaching to sew.  She didn't have much in the way of neutrals, but she had some others that caught my eye.

As I went around, I found some big chunks of neutrals, mostly between 3/4 yard and 1 yard cuts.

And then I hit paydirt - 15 fat quarters for $5!!

The neutral that the fat quarters are laid out on is 2.5 yards!

All told, I got about 15 yards of fabric for $11.50.  Woo hoo!  Now if I can just find time to sew it up!

Proud of my perseverance

I almost don't want to blog because I've been working on the same project for so long that I almost bore myself.  Except there's nothing boring about making scrappy blocks!  Each one is an adventure!  I bit the bullet and started the 28 extra blocks I need to make my Flutterby quilt queen sized.

I've started joining the 6.5" blocks into 12.5" blocks

And I finally found and put up a design wall (which, for me, means a flannel backed tablecloth - the least expensive and most sturdy design wall I've ever used!  When I lived in Virginia, I used the same $2 tablecloth as my design wall for 13 years!).  I'm so happy to be off the floor!

The other thing that has been taking up my time is an upcoming event, The Home Sewing Exchange, at which I have signed up to be a vendor.  It's the 27th year this local church has hosted this, and folks bring fabric and yarn and notions from their own stash that they want to unload for cheap.  Since I used to own a yarn and fabric store, and since I no longer have lots of space, I have been collecting things to take, many of which are already in my ETSY shop.  So the collecting, as well as the expanding of my Clearance section and slashing of prices in the shop, has kept me busy as well. 

I'm proud of my restraint in not starting another project until I finish this Flutterby.  It is so unlike me, but I do have a deadline if it is going to make it to the silent auction fundraiser for a battered women's shelter in November.

Today was also my first day back to work.  I was dreading it, which was silly because I love my job and the people on my team.  We had a great day!  I'm just sorry to see summer end.

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

Time to go BIGGER

I finally finished all my Flutterby blocks, but I think I need to go bigger.  As it now stands, all sewn together the quilt would measure 72" x 96" (once the final scrappy white border is included, which I haven't yet laid out below). 

Note to self - make it a priority to put up a design wall; this designing on the floor is for the birds!

If I add two more columns of blocks (28 blocks), it would measure 84" x 96", which is a much more usable size, don't ya think?  I'm donating the quilt to a silent auction fundraiser this fall, but to be honest, I think I'm going to bid on it.  I just love its scrappy loveliness!  And at the larger size, it would work perfectly on my bed!

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

I finally got a chance to SEW!

WOW!  This summer has been an adventure!  I didn't plan any big trips, but I've spent time with family and friends in New Hampshire, enjoyed a long weekend on Martha's Vineyard, caught up with my college roommates and their kiddos in Vermont, hosted some Virginia friends here in my home - and to top it all off, I moved!  It's no wonder that it has been WEEKS since I have sewn!  But I've been feeling the itch, so today, I squirreled myself away in my new office/sewing room and SEWED!

My temperature quilt is up to date through the end of July.

This is actually only through July 22, but I have July 23-July 31 completed as well.

I hope to get caught up through present day tomorrow.  My other most pressing goal is to complete my Flutterby top before school starts in a couple weeks, as I need to get it to the long arm quilter so it can be quilted and then donated for a fundraiser. (I know, I LOVE that quilt top, but I can always make another, right?)

One thing I have been able to do throughout all this summer activity is knit.  I have finished my second Little Big Wrap (LBW), and now it just needs blocking.

This is actually a photo of the first one I made but gave away.  The one I just finished is EXACTLY the same, just not blocked yet.  Can't wait to wear it when the weather cools.

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

I love a mystery!

My kids make fun of me for reading cozy mysteries.  Since I am forever protesting about violence and graphic words or scenes in modern media, they think it is ironic that I read books with "murder" in the title.  What they don't seem to understand is that cozy mysteries aren't about the murder - in fact, rarely does the reader "witness" the crime.  Cozies are all about following clues to figure out "whodunit," usually while following along with an amateur sleuth working outside the law.  This wonderful week of summer included THREE cozies for me: Boiled Over, the second Maine Clambake Mystery by Barbara Ross (I'm from Maine); Gone But Knot Forgotten, the third Quilting Mystery by Mary Marks (I LOVE this series!);

and Deadly Nightshade, the first Martha's Vineyard Mystery by Cynthia Riggs (because we spent three days at Martha's Vineyard this week). Next up on my bedside table is Taken In, the ninth Southern Sewing Circle mystery and my current audiobook is The Cranefly Orchard Murders, the second Martha's Vineyard Mystery by Cynthia Riggs.

But it isn't just in my reading that I like mysteries.  I love the idea of a mystery quilt, although, in truth, I've never actually finished one.  I'm still working on my first, On Ringo Lake by Bonnie Hunter, but the truth is, once the big reveal happens, I usually lose interest.  I haven't worked on that quilt in months!

My 2018 Temperature Quilt is a bit of a mystery quilt since the daily weather dictates what it will ultimately look like.  I think the not knowing is part of what keeps me motivated to make new blocks for that quilt every day (well, that and how easy the block I chose to make is).  Here it is from January 1 through June 11 - I have all the blocks done through June 30, but the next row includes the block with the average temperatures for July, so I can't add any more rows until July is over.

Blocks signify high and low temps for each day of the year (through June 11 so far)

As I mentioned, we spent a few days at Martha's Vineyard this week.  Beforehand, I took my dog up to NH to stay with my sister.  Visiting my sister means time with my nieces and nephew,

One of my nieces - the only thing cuter than a two year old is a two year old wearing a sweater you knit for her!

but it also means getting to see my handiwork all over their house, from sweaters and hats and socks that I have knit for them to quilts that I have made on their walls and on their beds.  They are THE BEST recipients of handmade stuff - they actually USE it!!

My mom was out of town, so I slept in her bed under one of the first bed sized quilts I ever made, a Scrappy Mountain Majesties from Bonnie Hunter's pattern

Once at the Vineyard, I stayed busy with knitting, at the beach

and on the ferry.  Sock knitting is such a perfect travel/vacation project!

And while on vacation, I stumbled upon the Friendship Album, 1933 podcast by Frances O'Roark Dowell, author of Birds in the Air (which I own and have read) and Margaret Goes Modern (which I don't yet own).  I've finished listening to the first four episodes and I am anxiously awaiting future installments of this story.  I've said it so many times, but when I'm not quilting, I love being able to read about quilts, whether in fiction or on blogs or even just scanning photos on Instagram and Pinterest.  What on earth did I do with my time before I started quilting?

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

A Flimsy Finish!

I spent nearly the whole weekend sewing.  Remember that box of scraps I got in the mail?  I raided it for strips to make more 9-patches for the centers of my Sister's Choice blocks.

3.5" 9-patches - I LOVE small piecing!

It turns out I got carried away and made one Sister's Choice block too many - oh well, it'll find a home in an orphan block quilt one day.  But all the others ended up here, in my completed Sister's Choice flimsy! 

5" blocks, so it measures 55.5" square

I used all but a few crumbs of the neutral I used in the alternate blocks and pieced border blocks.  I have about half a yard left of the navy.  At first I thought I'd use it for a border, but it would make such a skinny border that I decided against it.  Instead, I'll use it for binding.

I'm so tickled with the way this turned out - scrappy just makes me smile!

I'm also pleased with myself for sticking with this one project to its completion.  (Of course, I'm still making my daily blocks for my temperature quilt, but that's different.)  I now give myself permission to get back to my Flutterby quilt.  I may have to rethink that one and make it bigger than I first intended because I love it so much I think I want it on my bed!

6" blocks - I have a long way to go before this will cover my queen bed

These quilts would be quicker if the blocks were bigger, but I love the look of lots of little blocks.

And while I am tempted to fire up the machine and get sewing on those Flutterby blocks, I signed myself up for guitar lessons this summer, so I'm off for my first lesson.  Woo hoo!  I love summer as an educator!  I can't remember the last time I had so much time however I want to fill it!

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

The Start of Summer

The end of the school year for an educator is an absolute whirlwind; the couple of minutes a day that I carved out to sew a seam or knit a few stitches literally kept me sane.  But when school let out on June 1, things didn't slow down for me.  Instead, a boarded a plane with one other adult and eleven students and headed down to the Dominican Republic to build a house with a local organization there called Cambiando Vidas.  In just 5 days, we helped the new homeowners and their community members take their house from simply a foundation to ready-to-move-in.  What a fantastically gratifying experience!

In the evening before the key ceremony

The new homeowners, Andreas (c), and his sons Leidy (l) and Francis (r)

During my seven days in the Dominican Republic, I brushed up on my Spanish speaking skills, including giving a short speech in Spanish to the entire community during the key ceremony on the last night, but also worked on knitting a sock - the perfect travel project.  This is the first of my Cambiando Vidas Socks, adapted from a recipe by my friend Catherine.

Once I returned home, I had one day of rest before heading off to Yale for a two-day office retreat.  I know it is almost blasphemous for a Harvard grad to admit this, but I love Yale's campus.  I've been there several times, usually to present at conferences, but each time I am more and more impressed.  (Longtime readers, do you remember the year I had a bit of extra time after checking out of my hotel and before my flight so I walked to the New Haven airport?  That still cracks me up!)

Therefore, this is day three of my summer vacation.  I have plenty of work to keep me busy over the summer, but I am planning to pace myself, working no more than 2 hours a day, and ideally walking over to the office to get the work done, keeping work and vacation as separate as possible.  (Of course, I already blew those plans, spending nearly 3 hours in the office yesterday.  Sigh.)

My current vacation plans have included reading (most recently The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, Clammed Up by Barbara Ross, and currently Murder in Merino by Sally Goldenbaum and The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead), knitting (see Cambiando Vidas Socks above), and sewing.

I'm up to date on my 2018 Temperature Quilt,

The blocks on right are awaiting a June Average Temps block before they can be sewn together and added to the quilt.

and am trying to finish up this small Sister's Choice quilt, as its size is dictated by the amount of blue and neutral material I have for the alternate blocks and borders.

I received another box of scraps from one of my quilter friends in Virginia, so I'm itching to add blocks to my Flutterby quilt, but I'm trying to be disciplined and finish the Sister's Choice top first.  We'll see how that goes...

One goal for the summer is to get some tops machine quilted, but I'm hitting a brick wall.  I've reached out to several local quilters, but they've not gotten back to me.  I may have to send them out.  I'm not looking for anything fancy, no custom work, just pantographs.  Any suggestions for some affordable and quality longarm services out there that will accept my humble quilts?

I'm linking up with Oh Scrap!