video recommendation...

yesterday morning getting ready to sew, popped in this video i found on the bookmobile...only an hour long but it was jam-packed with inspiration, ideas and enjoyment.  can heartily recommend it to see...five minutes in and my fingers were itching, my brain was whirring and the old viking and i were in sync...

reminded me of that oldie but goodie "quilts in womens' lives", another video well worth watching.  i  was block sewing of course, but the video gave me a sense of freedom and serendipity that took my "in the box" blocks to a new level.   first up was the next christmas block. this high contrast block was exactly what was needed.  have decided to replace the 2 blocks to the left....the polka dots are nice but too distracting from the focus fabric.  the lime with red/white print is a washout....the fabrics are nice but it takes more than good fabric to make a quilt work.   magazines show us quilts all the time that are ho-hum just to feature a fabric line, which defeats the purpose.   the 2 duds will go in the orphan block pile...anxious now to see the changes and a project with a bit more va-voom, if you know what i mean....

at day's end, my creative muse had been satisfied and 5 more blocks for 365 got finished as well....today's agenda includes some farmer's wife blocks along with 365....or maybe a quilt to be tied?   now into the shower to get this day started!

show and share...

today linking up with cynthia's orphan adoption day....two littles looking for a new home....first is a small set of churn dash blocks made with jo morton's red variety line...i've made a couple of wallhangings with these fabrics that i love and maybe you will too.    next is another small project, some precut plaid hearts gifted to me.   again, made 2 wallhangings with these and hate to see them relegated to the back burner.  these are FREE to a good home only, and will even pay first class postage to your US destination.   but they MUST be loved and FINISHED; would love to see a photo from you when they are....any takers?

now hop on over to see what else is available to adopt!

eleventh hour post....

had a busy day and after arriving home, had a teensy weensy nap and then a bit of caffeine, so got a second wind.....wanted to show my latest blocks.   now into september with these; skipped over the sept 1st 12" corner block as another will be posted in a couple of weeks, so will do them both at once.

figured would continue with these since the pile of dark fabrics are at hand and no room for a different pile on the table.   ***  at the senior center today, our little group spent time going thru fabrics on hand and lots of donations that had accumulated over the years.  some had to be eliminated as not appropriate for quilts or other projects, but it was heart wrenching to see.  mostly others did the weeding out and i tried not to look....my frugal dna was in overdrive, even though i knew they were doing the right thing.  my sufficient stash at home helped keep the fabric rescuer in me at bay.  ***  an empty schedule tomorrow means a full day of sewing....aaahhhhh!

scraps dwindling???

on my ironing station is a pile of dark scraps i've been using for my 365 blocks....and what the hey?? they are actually disappearing....albeit slowly, but disappearing nonetheless.   will have to go shopping in the stash and pull a few more as there are more tiny dark blocks in my future.   here is today's batch.   one more little block and i'll be in september.   the september 1st block is the first large corner block (12") of the final border, so the end is in sight.  

one little block a day didn't sound like much in january, but mostly doing them in batches and--no surprise--it has been more time consuming than it sounded.  ***  as for farmer's wife, i'm 22 blocks from being done and not sure the sew-along will be done by then, but hoping i can wrap mine up by the end of the year.  before september ends, have another donation quilt to tie and bind, and before october ends, another donation quilt has to be completed.  ***  and don't forget, UFO adoption starts friday over here !  might have a few small projects than need new homes.....

slow progress but progress...

another little block done for MMC  (modern magical christmas) because of an uber-busy week with lots of time spent at various meetings and some mundane tasks.   the digital camera has grayed out this green background fabric, which is much brighter in person but looks oh-so washed out here.  guessing the flash wasn't enough with window blinds closed.   i'll keep it in, just not close by the one above.  loving this color palette....21 blocks more so it'll be pretty colorful when all together!

quick show 'n tell...

got few more blocks done, farmer's wife and another magic of christmas, which i'm calling magical modern christmas....blistering hot rest of week so no doubt will get more 365 blocks done and MMC #4....have a good day and stay cooool!

monday design wall

just like that, was 16 blocks behind in the 365, 2 behind with farmer's wife, a westering women and magic of christmas block to do also, so fired up the old viking and got to it....results?

westering women block 8 and magic of christmas 2 done  (3 was posted today!!!)....and the afternoon was dedicated to 365, knocking off  another 5 challenging blocks

leaving me 11 behind, one which is a light 12" corner block, plus 2 farmer's wife and 1 magic of christmas....the sun has set and the old viking is ready for cooling off and another lint cleanout....one caveat:  don't set your pincushion on the directions....otherwise pretty happy with every one. *** still looking for part-time work but keeping busy nonetheless.  and september already?  but this is maryland, not maine, and summer is far from over, although a few days without a/c has been heavenly.   now, off to start the week!

all things aurifil

trekked to columbia, maryland, last night to spring water designs, a cute little quilt shop, to see alex veronelli talk about aurifil thread. 

even though i have been a sewist for nearly 60 years, had very little clue about how thread was manufactured.  and even though aurifil is thought to be a pricey item, now i think perhaps it is under priced....no door prize unfortunately, but a nice little goodie bag with 6 spools of white--one in each thread weight.  he said they will be coming out with an 80 wt next year...wow, that is superfine! sitting next to me was an editor for 'machine quilter' magazine and she gifted me a free issue...one thing he said was that in the recent past he has had difficulty finding workers as they consider the work too boring, and from his video that is apparent.  most tasks are repetitive and performed standing or walking.  have seen facebook posts of other presentations, and he said he travels to the US every month for a week or so.  the presentation certainly raised my consciousness about such a mundane item!   **** and friday was pantry stocking day, so no sewing at all....and the immediate future holds serious veg cooking after receiving this bounty...

just add eggplant, onion and tomatoes and it's ratatouille!  a couple of summer squash casseroles and also ina garten's delish roasted veg and orzo salad....how good is that!

365 rolls on...

with august closing today, heading into home stretch with this project and yes, once again behind about 11 blocks.  few other deadline projects are the cause; plenty of time to catch up once more.

am thinking netflix is my lucky charm with this project.   it seems whenever engrossed in watching, my blocks tend to come out darn near perfect.   even though i often groan when looking at the patterns, once they are done have a great feeling of satisfaction.  while the hawaiian improved my applique skills, this is doing wonders for my machine piecing abilities...proving once again the road to perfection is (almost) always practice i guess.   come to think of it, that's how my typing speed (eons ago) got to 90 and beyond as well.   ***   up early this AM to open windows and breathe in cool, fresh air meaning 63....yowza!   i am loving it!    and this weekend the daytime temps are predicted at 80 and 79...how good is that!!!   standing in line at the farmer's market is definitely going to be more enjoyable.  oh, i do love autumn.....visions of pumpkins and cider and foliage are dancing in my head.....bring 'em on!

finishes....

by mid-afternoon sunday, had racked up a few more finishes, all completely from stash. first, 2 lap robes for guild donation made from some scrappy blocks on hand and backed with soft, warm flannel, using up 3 yards each...not bad...

and these got finished as well; these, plus the pink virginia reel busted a total of 1.25 yards.

so total 7.25 yards busted, a decent amount...however, this arrived in the mail along with 2 yards of solid black, which is needed for a future project, giving me a net used of 1/4 yard total.   it's jo morton's new line with a total of 40 bolts as cyndi says.   the budget will not stretch far enough to get some of each, but the charm pack will help me narrow it down.   the question is how?  and hop on over to "oh scrap" to see some exciting news about an orphan adoption opportunity!