House Blocks are Finished

We dodged the worst of the weather that hit our state last week and ended up with much less icing in our immediate area than had been feared.  Now we are on a warming trend and temps should be in the 80s by this weekend.  Dare I hope we’ve had our last freeze of the season?  There are a lot of trees already budding out here.

It should have been perfect sewing weather, but life has a way of interrupting plans and world events made focusing difficult.  I managed to add to my collection of house blocks, though.

 

And here is the whole neighborhood. 

 

Next up will be the sashing and borders after I decide how they should be arranged.

 

 

Acceptance -- My 2022 Word

 

Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery. —J.K. Rowling

 

Journal Cover

I had a remnant of Texas A&M fabric taking up oxygen in my stash and decided to use it as a journal cover.  The fabric was leftover from the quilt I made for our grandson who is a freshman at A&M and the cover was made according to Wanda’s tutorial. 

I also added these to my collection of double four-patches and house blocks.  I’ve decided to continue making double-four patches until my supply of the white fabric runs out.

We are in a warming trend with highs expected in the 80s for the next few days, and then mid-week another cool-down arrives.  Spring will not be far off, though.  The dogs are loving the milder weather and are usually reluctant to come back in when we want to lock the hatch to the pet door. 

 

 

 

Acceptance -- My 2022 Word

 

Humility means accepting reality with no attempt to outsmart it. –David Richo

 

More Potholders and Double Four-Patches

I ran out of day before I got a blog post drafted and published yesterday.  So, here is my almost weekly update.  My collection of house blocks and double four-patches continues to grow. 

 

I also managed to finish the potholders I had prepped for the guild’s 2023 boutique.  That was a real relief.  This project made me a believer in glue basting and marking pens that disappear with heat.

 

Acceptance -- My 2022 Word

 

Resilience is accepting your new reality, even if it’s less good than the one you had before.  You can fight it, you can do nothing but scream about what you’ve lost, or you can accept that and try to put together something that’s good.—Elizabeth Edwards

 

Mostly Prepping So I Can Stitch

Most of the past week was spent prepping projects rather than actual stitching, so there is very little to record. 

 

 

I decided to use up the remaining fabric I had on hand for potholders, and get it out of the stash.  I also have a little heat resistant interfacing left so I will probably make a few more of a different design later this year.

 

 

Part of my pepping was for the paper-pieced house blocks I started week before last.  I managed to get two stitched up.  I’m gradually getting faster at cutting the units, so hopefully the pace will pick up on these.

 

We had quite a cool down last week.  It involved two icy days and the town we live in basically shut down.  Fortunately, the Texas power grid held up much better than it did in the big freeze of February 2021.

 

I continue to struggle with keeping a tidy desk.  So, in the interest of accountability, here are the most current before and after photos including a photo bomb by Maddie.  I need to turn the Rumba loose to vacuum the carpet.

  

Acceptance -- My 2022 Word 

Acceptance looks like a passive state, but in reality, it brings something entirely new into this world.  That peace, a subtle energy vibration, is consciousness. –Eckhart Tolle

 

Just Relaxing Stitching

My collection of double four patches, the product of mindless and therapeutic stitching, continues to grow.  I will be cutting more of both the white and four patch units this week.  I haven’t decided how large I want this project to be or how I will handle the borders.  I may use a solid row of four patches that were rejected because of too-little contrast for the borders.  We’ll see.

 

I used this orphan block to try out a new stencil for the background quilting using some washout markers that had been recommended.  The stencil is one of Cindy Needham’s twisted grid designs and I like it enough to use it on a larger wall hanging, but the search continues for markers.  Perhaps it was the background fabric, but I never managed to get all the marks to wash out and the quilting does not show up in the photograph.

 

And finally, I used some scraps to test a paper pieced school house block.  I think this will become my next project.

 

As I type this, we are experiencing a nice moist day.  So far, one-third inch has been recorded, and that’s very good news since we have returned to drought status.  Cold weather is expected to move in about Thursday.

 

Acceptance -- My 2022 Word

 

The pain will not go away by getting angry or bitter, it will go away when you learn to accept life’s challenges with grace and ease. –Unknown

 

Covid Blues is Bound-Labeled-Done

“Covid Blues,” is bound-labeled-done.  I began work on it in May, 2020, as my pandemic project and finished piecing the top in June, 2021.  Since then, it’s been hanging in the to-be-quilted closet and I was ready to be done with it.  The final stitch went into the binding last Tuesday night. It is quilted with a meander that I tried to make a little looser than my usual.  I used a light blue variegated King Tut thread I had in my stash.   Everything except the backing fabric came from my stash.  It is so big and heavy that it took both of us to pin it to the design wall.

Meanwhile, I continue working on double four-patch blocks for those times I crave mindless machine piecing.  The nice thing about working with scraps is I don't need to stress if I don't like the way a particular block is turning out.

 

We had a visitor outside our fence yesterday.  We’re a little concerned about him because he looks very thin and pretty much ignored us and the dogs.  Also Arnie, the armadillo, is again visiting our yard but I never have my camera when I see him and it’s usually after dark, anyway.

 

Moving Forward

After handing over my guild officer papers to my replacement (bless her) this week, I was hit by a spurt of quilting energy. 

 

This little paper pieced wall hanging has been on my design wall, mocking me for months.  I added the borders yesterday and now I’m trying to decide how to finish it. 

 

Meanwhile, I’ve been wrestling with this one as I attached its binding.  I don’t recall its exact dimensions, but I had to order a queen size batting for it.  That makes it the largest project I’ve done in quite a while. I hope to finish it in the next few days if my hand doesn’t give out.  I would love to have something for Show and Share at next week’s guild meeting. 

I only had one 2022 resolution:  start the year with a tidier desk.  I intentionally did not say maintain a tidy desk since I’ve never been able to do so in the past.  Sure enough, it was on its way to disasters-ville today. 

 

But it’s better now.  Maybe occasionally posting a picture on this blog will help hold me accountable.

 

Yesterday’s weather was perfect:  light breezes, sunshine and a high in the mid-70s.  Today it’s still beautiful, if looking out a window, but red flag wind warnings make outdoors activities a challenge.  The neighborhood pond has white caps.  Surprisingly, I’ve seen a few golfers brave the course.  It’s in the high 40s now.  The cold temperatures arrive tonight.  Time to cover up the plants I’m trying to save.

 

Acceptance -- My 2022 Word

 

My happiness grows in direct proportion to my acceptance, and in inverse proportion to my expectations. —Michael J. Fox