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!

Rekindling the fire

 After wrestling my last quilt through my domestic machine, binding it, and giving it away, I kinda lost my mojo. 

Bonnie Hunter's 2018 Leader & Ender "Jewel Box Stars" with sashing and cornerstones

The quilting is pretty minimal - just in the ditch around all the sashing and

 diagonally through the stars - but I couldn't handle anything more on my machine.

I haven't turned on my sewing machine in three weeks!  But then Facebook notified me about an event that might interest me (I find the algorithms and the tracking of my information unsettling, but this time it was helpful) - a Free Materials Swap sponsored by a fiber-lovers group in a nearby town.  

Free fiber???  And a chance to clean out some of the things I have that I probably will never use??  Yesterday I packed two large tote bags with novelty fabric and some flannels and some yarn that was languishing in my stash, took the top off my Jeep, and set off for parts unknown under a bright blue late spring sky.

What a lovely way to spend the afternoon!  I brought back one tote bag full of goodies with NO GUILT since I had given away twice that much AND I didn't spend a dime!

First, I got some fabric.  My goal was to seek out neutrals in particular, scraps that caught my eye in general (yes, my scrap bin is still full, but I feel like I've seen and used all of those fabrics recently).  Check out my haul!

Then, I snatched up some yarn: a sweater quantity of this rich purple bulky yarn (mystery fiber content, but definitely wool, possibly with some mohair mixed in):

700 grams!!

And a couple singletons that I just couldn't pass up:

Madeleine Tosh Lace!!

Not sure what this is, but it is so soft and orange is my favorite color.  If I had to guess, I'd say it is llama.

Can you tell that I'm an autumn?  These are my colors all wrapped up together!!

I'm proud of myself for my restraint because there was SO MUCH great stuff there.  One of the organizers kept saying, "Err on the side of GREED, we don't want leftovers!"😂

On top of that, going through my stash for things to get rid of also prompted me to add more destash fabric and yarn to my ETSY shop.

Something about reorganizing puts me in the mood to CREATE, so I plan to sew tonight once my meetings are over.

Oh, and the cherry on top - one of the organizers owns a studio nearby where they rent longarm time.  I've been looking for an opportunity to try quilting my own quilts on a longarm since I have SO MANY TOPS that need quilting and I much prefer hand quilting over my feeble efforts to machine quilt on my domestic machine.  I'm going to start with this 70" square Star Sampler quilt top that I made as a class sample years ago.  A friend is getting married this summer, and I am hoping to give this to her as a snuggle quilt.

Kinda looks dingy in this lighting, but the background is a soft gray Kona solid

I am linking up with Oh Scrap and Monday Making.

Mixing and matching

After shipping off a bunch of orphan blocks and making progress cutting up and stitching up my scraps, I feel like I'm on a roll!  I'm loving the way the Modified Rail Fence is looking (I need a name, maybe Barbed Wire Fence?)

And the making the little 4-patches in a square is eating through the 2" squares that I am cutting from my scraps.

And while clearing out some orphan blocks, I came across the extra border blocks I had from when I did Sew Many Strips.  I loved that border, and I've been cutting 1.5" strips, so I thought, "hey, maybe I can use this as a border for one of my current projects..."  I auditioned it with my 4-patches in a square, and I like it!

I mailed off the completed X-Pop quilt to the baby who was born just about a month ago.  Simple, straight-line quilting and a batik backing.  I'm sorry to see this one go...but I think I say that about all the baby quilts I make.  I hope the recipient family likes it and uses it.  

There are two more babies on the way this summer - what to make next???  Maybe something like these bright, fun, bear paw blocks I made for my April Bee Blocks?

My quilty guilt - quilt blocks for charity quilts

 OK, I have to get something off of my chest.  Back in November 2012, I was inspired to make quilts for those impacted by Hurricane Sandy.  I asked if folks who read my blog wanted to help, and boy oh boy, what a response! Hundreds and hundreds of quilt blocks poured in from around the globe for months and we ended up donating more than 50 quilts.  And then I ran out of steam.  I eventually forgave myself for giving up - we all have our limits - but the problem was that I still had donated quilt blocks left.  What to do with those?  People donated them with the understanding that they would be made into quilts to give to those in need.  I tucked them away while I pondered what to do with them...

And then I came across them again while looking for the Block Lotto blocks that I gave away in the Quilty Orphan Adoption event last week.  I feel so guilty that they never became quilts to comfort those who were going through rough times.

But then I thought of all of you who threw your name in the hat for the Block Lotto blocks and all the charity sewing you do, and thought, hey, maybe I should offer the blocks to some of you doing charity work so that YOU can sew them into quilts to give to those in need.  That way, they'll be used in the spirit in which they were given.  Are you game?  

If you want a set or two (or three, or more) of blocks to make quilts for charity in the US, let me know below.  I'm trying to do some clearing out this week before school starts back again on Monday, so let me know in a comment 1) which set(s) of blocks you are interested in - don't be shy, if you are interested in all of them, just say so, I want them to go to someone! and 2) which charity you would be sewing for.  (if you are a no-reply blogger, please include an email address so I can contact you).  If more than one person is interested in a set, I'll let Random Number Generator decide who gets each set on Friday morning with the goal of all sets hopefully being mailed out by Saturday at the latest.  I am happy to mail multiple sets to each interested person.  Maybe then I can absolve myself of the lingering guilt over these unused blocks!

(Please know that with very few exceptions, I did not make these blocks so I cannot attest to their workmanship or fiber content.  I can tell you that they have been in a smoke-free, dog-friendly home these past nine years.  Please also know that I am not going to press the blocks before mailing - that is A LOT of pressing!  And I'm only willing to mail to the US as this will add up to quite a bit of postage as it is.)

Set A: Eighteen 12.5" solid sampler blocks

Set B: Thirteen 12.5" Black and White Sampler Blocks

Set C: Ten 12.5" Autumn Sampler Blocks

Set D: Thirteen 10" x 11.5" Pastel Stack & Whack Style Star Blocks

Set E: Six 13" Scrappy Orange, Blue and White Blocks (actually found these in a box of scraps I received this year)

Set F: Six 12.5" Green & White (& Pink) Star Sampler Blocks (not donated, but made by me as I was playing with ideas for a class I taught at my shop years ago)

Set G: Eight 12.5" Sampler Blocks that all include the same multicolor leafy print (not donated, but blocks I won as part of a challenge my guild had many years ago)

Set H: Nineteen 6.5" x 8" Green, Yellow & Beige Delectable Mountains Blocks

Set I: Sixteen Identical 8" Two-Fabric 16-Patch Blocks

Set J: Ten 9.5" Scrappy Nine-Patches

Set K: Forty 4.5" Scrappy Blocks (22 of the Green & Cream, 18 of the ones with black corners)

Set L: Fourteen 12.5" Scrappy Nine-Patches

Set M: The Motherlode!!  One Hundred & Two 12.5" Disappearing Nine-Patches (NOT all the same size or cut the same - this was the block I chose for the Hurricane Sandy Quilts I made and these are the leftover blocks after making dozens of quilts from these blocks)

Let's cover some folks with some quilty love, shall we?