2020 Part 2-April

 Lots happened in April.

Some great, some not so great.

Elliot was finally gifted a new quilt.

He loves it. But he doesn't use it because it is special.

So I explained that I can make him more and go ahead and use it. 

Ugh, Pandemic forces the use of masks so I got busy and made lots and lots of masks.

I truly do hate making masks but Cousin Julie needed them for the nursing home she worked at.

Frolic became a finish and not a UFO,

which was quite exciting for me.

Because pandemic was not enough to deal with, our old house was rotting away in the corner.

The water heater was leaking and and almost fell through the floor, taking the chest freezer with it.

So my wonderful husband had a huge project.

Ordering lumber online for pickup was a new challenge.

Not only did we need a new water heater, we needed to replace our kitchen range and the washer!

Home Depot to the rescue! Order online, sight unseen, no touchy feely. And they delivered.

I tell you, that man is amazing. 

There is not much he can't figure out how to do. 

I offered to help but there was not much I could do,

 so I stayed out of the way and came running when needed.

I'll share the finished room next post.

Stitching often saved my sanity during this time.

I missed my family so darn much.

Didn't we all!

We are a huggy huggy bunch and not being able to do that was a bit rough.

We were all learning our new way of life. 

I'm going to keep this post short. 

I'll be back soon.

Until next time. 

2020 Part 1

2020 came in with all of the best intentions. My plan was to quilt 20 UFO tops in 2020. It was a great plan. I would squeeze in cross stitch as often as I could but I really wanted to finish quilts.

This is a cute Lizzie Kate design called 6 Snow Belles.

I planned to stitch all 6 on piece of fabric and it would be a Christmas present for one of my daughters.

(Spoiler alert--it did and it's so darn cute!!)

I love a good BOM.

This is from Kathleen Tracy.

I think this is both January and February.

I had a box of Thimbleberry scraps from a friend so used mostly those fabrics.

These were my choices for the Moda Blockheads 3 BOW.

I love the mix of the fabrics.

January was a baby shower for Granddaughter Taylor.

I had to make Dwight the Deer for her and her son.

I used recycled shirts on the back.

It is so snuggly soft.

March 10, 2020

Welcome to the family Bentley Waylon.

We adore you.

💓😍😍😍😍

I joined an ornament of the month club.

I picked this cutie from a magazine.

We didn't get much snow.

Just a day once in a while.

This sampler was my oldest UFO.

It was fun to just quilt the blocks and then join them.

Frolic was the 2019/20 Quiltville mystery.

I love that I used mostly stash  on this one. 

It was fun to just get it done before it turned into a UFO.

Smith Mountain Morning was gifted to Grandson Elliot.

Another Quiltville design.

This log cabin was gifted to daughter Crystal.

Moda Be My Neighbor was gifted to Daughter Dee.

I love knitting socks and I love using up all the scrap yarn.

Sadly these are still in the on the road knitting bag but are close to being finished.

There is still scrap yarn to be used up.

My friend Julie taught me about basting party.

Baste until you run out of pins.

So I get myself all set up and get busy.

Under the table fort are 3 dogs.

The roll of batting goes on the recliner and the table is pushed over to it.

See all those quilts over by the tv. I think they are all waiting their turn. 

I also think they are all finished quilts. 

I honestly don't know if these were before or at the beginning of Covid lockdown.

But that's a story for another post. 

Until then.....thanks for your sweet comments on my return.

National Sewing Month Recap

My goal for National Sewing Month was to sew every day. 

I did it! 

I am celebrating.

Seriously, I cannot believe how much I accomplished.

Most days I was able to sit in front of the sewing machine.

Some days were spent with a little time, threaded needle and Circle of Jewels in my lap.

What did I work on?

In the collage you can see red/white/blue blocks for retreat lotto drawing, under that is the Quilt Retreat bag, next to that is Shirley checking out Tell It To The Stars, Batik Boxes (UFO blocks) top was put together, Wishes BOM was caught up, 2 minis, more Pineapple Crazy blocks made. Retreat fun happened. Smith Mountain Morning top was completed, Batik Hexies quilted. Circle of Jewels added to and a butterfly bag  (the black and white bag was made by Cheryl).  

Each day sewing time was found.

I'd love to keep that up for October.

For no other reason than

.

Sewing Soothes My Soul.

National Sewing Month-Days 12 & 13

I have wanted to make Smith Mountain Morning since I first saw it on Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville blog I don't even know how long ago. The top was finished Friday and I am thrilled with it.  I had hoped to take the class from her when she was in Portland in June but couldn't get in. So we cut our fabrics while our other friend was in class. I'm quite happy that both Cathedral Stars-the class I took and Smith Mountain Morning are ready for quilting.

This afternoon I started putting together this year's mystery from Patchwork Times, Tell It To The Stars. All the blocks are laid out in their rows waiting for sewing machine time.

This morning was spent watching 3 different soccer games-so much fun but a little too warm. Then we went out to lunch and ran a few errands before coming home. Hubby napped, I sewed. I am so lucky to have an air conditioned sewing room.

This evening I am going to cut blocks for the Wishes Quilt Along. I am way behind on that one and hope to catch up during retreat next week.

National Sewing Month-Days 10 & 11

Wednesday was Day 10 of my mission to sew every day in September. So far, so good. At Binding Friends group, I worked on 2 of the final flowers. I think I have 2 remaining and a few more jewels to stitch.  I never made it into the sewing room but I worked on this more in the evening.

Thursday, the 11th was power sewing Smith Mountain Morning. The center is complete, the inner border is ready to attach as is the pieced border. Will that happen Friday?  I don't know. Maybe, check back later to find out.

Design Wall Monday

I had such a good plan last week. My first project was to finish the blue stars for Smith Mountain Morning so I could put it away and get to quilting the hexi quilt.  I used the cornerstones for the courthouse steps block as my leaders and enders. That lead to sewing a few more of those blocks which lead to what the heck, may as well finish those up and be done with them.  So that's what I did. Smith Mountain Morning is ready to be laid out.

Then I took a coffee break and read some blogs. I read Katy's blog where she showed her 9 patch wall hanging.  Afterwards, I went back in the sewing room with intentions of putting SMM away but instead...

I started making 9 patches from the remaining 1 1/2" strips. Just a few, and a few more, and a few more. Next thing I knew I was laying out my 9 patches and sewing them together into 2 wall hangings.

One is finished, this one will be finished soon.  Pitiful isn't it! I am such a follower. But they are so cute and one will make a nice gift. I didn't have to store those strips. I used up 2 small pieces of fabric-one for the borders and bindings and one for the back and those scraps of batting I don't have to store. A method to my madness.  LOL

I can't sew without leaders and enders so I worked on more 9 patches. These started out as 4 patches but that plan changed to needing 9 patches.  See those extra blue and brown squares?  I cut the shortie/short strips into squares instead of putting them back in the strip bin.

I am making another plan for my week.  Let's see how I do...

• Finish the 2nd wall hanging.
• The Hexi Quilt--baste, quilt, bind.
• Take SMM to Wednesday group and decide on a layout.
• Sew some Pineapple Crazy blocks. 

See fabulous design walls today at Patchwork Times. Be careful, you could be starting something new!!

Design Wall Monday

I've had a pretty productive week in the sewing room considering

 I am still dealing with this hacky cough and cold. 

My list for last week:

Goals for this week:

• Finish last 2 months of Tell It To The Stars.  Done and excited for the September clue.
• Make back for hexagon quilt.  Done!!  Used lime green shirting that I'm sure my recipient is going to love
• Baste hexagon quilt.  Nope. 
• Re-arrange sewing table.  I worked on this for quite a while.  Scraps that were out of control are now in control.  I still need to move machines around the way I want them.
• Do a UFO Parade blog post--want to join in and make your own list?    Done (it's here) and printed off, pinned so I can see it while at the machine.  :)

I refilled my Circle of Jewels box after working several more jewel sections. Now I'm working on 3 more flowers before going back to the jewels again. This one is finished and the 2nd started.

While working on Tell It To The Stars, I used these 3 blue star blocks for Smith Mountain Morning as leaders and enders.  Then I was on such a roll that I sewed 7 more using the border pieces as their leaders and enders.  Yes, Bonnie and Judy L playing together again this week.  

After seeing someone's Pineapple Crazy picture on Facebook, I had the urge to work on mine. So I pulled out the box and made these border blocks.  Now I really want to work on this again. (See how easily I get sidetracked.)

Right now my design wall is empty but others are not. See them here at Patchwork Times.

Goals for August 25 through August 31:

• Baste Hexi quilt.
• Quilt Hexi quilt.
• Bind and finish Hexi quilt.
• Finish blue star blocks for Smith Mountain Morning.
• Sew 5 Pineapple Crazy blocks.

This will keep me busy enough.  Have a great week.

Working The List

In Monday's post, I made a short list of things I wanted to get finished this week.

I'm happy to say I've marked everything off my list and then some. 

This is the back for the lime green and brown quilt. 

Notice the pins?

The quilt is basted and ready to quilt.

Here are 6 blocks-3 months- for Tell It To The Stars.

I have 2 more months to do and I'll be caught up,

ready for September.

Can you believe that's only a few days away!

September!!! Already!

I got my brown stars sewn for Smith Mountain Morning.

Here are 11 blue stars laid out on my little design boards ready to be sewn together.

I used the brown blocks as leaders and enders for Tell It To The Stars.

Bonnie and Judy L working together. 

snicker, snicker

I'm going to a retreat next month so I made the lottery blocks.

These are Exploding Blocks from Missouri Quilt Company.

These were so fast and fun to make.

Now I want to wind bobbins, 

clean and oil my machine, 

insert a new needle

and start to play.