Hitting the reset button

This winter, life has been crazy hectic!  I've been squeezing some sewing time in while running full speed at work and parenting my teenage boys (who are relentlessly creative about finding ways to get into trouble). But then, a week ago, it all came grinding to a halt.  My heart goes out to all whose health and/or livelihood is affected by this current crisis.  Luckily (knock on wood), my family is healthy and we are on vacation from school anyway, so our lives haven't been that disrupted.  My kids may be bored, but honestly, apart from this being a scary pandemic, this time at home has been a dream come true for me!

I read the entire book club book BEFORE the book club meeting for next month!  That right there is a sign that these are crazy times!  While I read A LOT (I've read or listened to 17 books since January 1), I somehow never seem to find time to read the book club selection!

I've also been sewing up a storm while listening to audiobook after audiobook.

I've pulled out my Grandmother's Flower Garden UFO and have done some hand sewing.

I've pulled out my Carpenter's Wheel UFO and made two more blocks.

Can you see that a couple of my muslin pieces are a different, lighter muslin?  Oh well!

I finished my 2018 Temperature Quilt and now just need to figure out borders.

A pretty mild year!  I have LOTS of blue left over (blue was for cold!)

I made a couple more blocks for my String Shadows UFO.

I sewed a baby quilt top, and am currently contemplating...is it done?  Does it need borders?

I pulled out my leftover border blocks from my Sew Many Strips quilt and made two of the corner blocks so I can use this border treatment for another quilt - who knows what I'll put inside?

I've made a total of 11 Jewel Box Stars blocks so far as Leaders & Enders.

There is so much scrappy goodness that I can hardly choose what to work on at any given time.

In the meantime, I'm keeping calm, sleeping in, talking long, slow walks with the dog, and appreciating this time to hit the reset button.

String Shadows

Even though today was a day off work, it was a day full of "adult-ing".  Some of it was frustrating (meeting with my son and guidance counselor at school about him not working to potential).  Some of it was tedious (bill paying, bookkeeping, completing a micro loan application).  Some of it was easy but time consuming (post office, buying county decals for our cars, shopping for supplies).  Some of it was downright scary (learning that a good friend has cancer).  When I finally made it home at the end of the day, all I wanted to do was sew.  I queued up an audiobook and dumped out a new bag of scraps from a guild friend and set out to make my own version of that string shadow quilt I found last week.

The blocks aren't sewn together into rows yet and are just sitting on some background fabric, but what fun I am having!  I need to focus on actually QUILTING some quilts, but I'll be darned if I don't just want to piece tops these days.  My goal is a 6 x 8 quilt plus borders, I think.  We'll see.

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