Quuilty 365

Where did April 2016 go?  I’m not sure what happened, but life certainly got in the way of making circle blocks…. only 15 in April bringing me to a total of 103. 

Most of these blocks use gifted fabrics including the five I received in the mail from Debbie and dumpster diving finds at the Club House.  It’s always so much fun using other people’s fabric choices and it adds happy memories to the piece.  

I begged this little fellow from a Tuesday friend who was making a pillowcase for a grandchild.

I’m linking up with others who are participating in Quilty 365 at Quilty Folk.

We woke up to a temperature of 47 degrees this morning, not quite the record low of 41 degrees. 

I’ll be heading out shortly to join my Tuesday sewing friends at the Club House.

Quilty 365 -- Blocks Completed in March

Here are the Quilty 365 circles completed in March for a total of 88 so far.  After mid-month I didn't find much in my stash to fussy cut, so I went back to crumb and strip piecing my circles.  At least I have a good supply of 5 inch squares to work from for backgrounds.

I'm linking up with the April linky party at  Quilty Folk.

A Little More Accomplished

Our rainy days helped me make progress on a couple of projects.

I managed to stitch up some more bow ties.

For the moment, I'm even a couple of days ahead of schedule for March's Quilty 365 blocks.

Sunshine has returned and yesterday we took a country drive.  

It was very windy, as you can see from the state of my hair.  We still have water running over low water crossings. 

This is the fullest Lake Buchanan has been in six years.  You can make out the tops of vegetation and trees in the water that were on dry ground a few months ago.  

It will take at least another week before the Bluebonnets come in strong, but they are already getting started. It should be a good year.

Today I'll be cutting more fabric blocks for the color transparency workshop Wednesday, and I need to pull out my Featherweight and give her some pampering so she's ready for the Illusions workshop on Thursday.  It's shaping up to be a very busy week.

A Catching Up Post

My usual routine has been out of kilter the last two weeks, hence a slowdown in posting activity.  So today I am having to do some catch up blogging. 

First, here are February’s Quilty 365 blocks.  I am gradually coming to grips with the imperfect nature of these circles and that is also liberating me to be more playful with this project.

Last week the two winter Texans, who have joined our Tuesday group for several years, again treated us to a farewell-until-next-year-party.  The theme this year was the 1940s and we were urged to wear patriotic attire.  The goody bags were loaded with items reminiscent of life during that era including a can of Spam and Hershey bars.

On Friday, a friend invited me to ride with her to the LaGrange Quilt show.  This guild has a show every year and they always do a fabulous job.

There were vendors, of course, a local quilt shop to visit, and a stop at the Quilt Museum.  It was a fun day.

Yesterday, I had a medical procedure which required sedation.  Everything is fine, but the aftercare instructions said no driving, signing important papers, making important decisions or operating dangerous equipment for 24 hours.  I made the assumption this would include use of rotary cutters, sewing machines and writing blog posts.  So, I spent the afternoon alternately napping and fondling my fabric. 

I am signed up later this month for a Guild sponsored workshop with Karen Combs and we are asked to bring lots of “non-busy” scraps.  I was surprised to see how much I had that qualified.

Later I tried to work on hexies while watching Quilt-Cam, but found I could not hold my eyes open, so I turned in early.  

Quilty 365 -- January

Here are the Quilty 365 circle blocks for January.  They are prepped for stitching and will need to be trimmed to 4 ½ inches once that is complete.  I’ve had a lot of fun digging through my scrap stash and orphan blocks, even though I did miss a few days.  I haven’t decided if I am going to machine or hand stitch these blocks.  I am leaning toward machine stitching, but my machine is currently set up for a straight stitching project.  I’m joining the linky party at  Quilty Folk where there is lots of proof that a simple circle block can be done many, many ways.

Circles, Hexagons, Granola and Book Journal

I worked on prepping more circle blocks today.  I knew there was a reason I held onto that old fusible interfacing even though I no longer sew garments!  My favorite cup serves as the template.

I continue working on more red hexagons.  By the time I finish, I may not have any red scraps left.

 I also made a batch of granola today.  This is sweetened with maple syrup and is loaded with nutmeg and cinnamon.  Oh, does the house ever smell good.

While working on these and other projects this week, I finished In Plain Sight by C. J. Box.  It was my first “listen” to this author and I enjoyed it enough to download another to my cell phone.  Sadly, my library does not have his complete collection (this was number 6 in a series) in their selection of audio books, so I am having to figure out the characters mid-stream.  Nonetheless, I am very grateful to be able to have access to a library with this free service.  

Do you journal?  This blog is my quilting journal.  I also maintain a small planner as well as a diary.  This little notebook was gifted to me at Christmas 2000 by a dear friend in Alabama.  It used to have a cute little fleece cover that she made, but it eventually became so stretched and distorted I could no longer use it. Ever since receiving it, I have used it as a log of books I either read or listen to during the year.  A spreadsheet would be more practical, because I could sort by date, author or title, but I am so fond of this little book that I don't intend to change.

Playing With Scraps

I tried to do some catch-up Sunday.  These bow ties were added to the mix and I started prepping some more Quilty 365 blocks.  I still need to do more work on the circle blocks, but I got an unexpected help with them. 

A retiring quilter donated her scrap stash to the Guild and we had a mountainous pile to delve into at our meeting last week.  My friends, aka the “enablers,” quickly started finding bits and pieces for me.  It was fun to play with someone else’s leftovers.

I'm Insane and I Know It

With all the unfinished projects I have going, starting not just one, but possibly two new ones is 100% insane.  But they just sounded like fun and are totally stash projects.  And, I decided to play by my rules, which translates to do them as long as I like with no pressure to keep up.

Project #1 – Quilty 365.  I like this one for its immediate gratification.  I’m a Mary-come-lately to the party and will make my first link-up to Audrey's blog when she has her next linky party February 1.  Essentially, participants make one little circle block a day.  Since I don’t need any more bed size quilts, if I miss some days, I don’t feel compelled to keep up.  I will probably stop before year end and decide what to do with the blocks.  These blocks are prepped, but not stitched down.  Once stitched, I will trim them to 4 1/2 inch blocks.  I may decide to change the way I prep because these circle edges look a little bumpy to me.

Project #2? – If I decide to really make the plunge, I’ll post about it later.  Maybe I’m only 50% insane.