General

I finally got started on some pink scraps this week! I don’t remember which of our RSC friends put me onto this Strippy Slab Star last year, but thanks-you know who you are. I was able to use some small pieces from my pink crumb bag to make the center & strips from the pink strip bin for the points. I’m planning one in each color this year.

I made a Patchwork Hearts by Quilty Love last year as an RSC2024 project & it’s just back from the quilter. I love it so much that I decided to make another this year. I rarely repeat patterns but this is a great rainbow project & looks good for a wedding or graduation quilt. Plus they are relaxing blocks to make, so why not? I kept picking up LV FQ’s whenever I was at the store last year to add to my selection & I’m overrun, so this year I’m going to use the stash! I really dug around & found unused charm packs & layer cakes that are not going to be saved for “the perfect project”, but pulled apart & used for this year’s projects.

And since one of my goals for this year is to get projects finished up, I pulled out this donation quilt that had all the blocks done. I had sewed together 2 rows, then needed the design wall for something else & took it all down & put it in the box. Over a year later, it’s ready for quilting & I have an empty box to fill with one of this year’s RSC projects! Win-win! This Chandelier quilt was made with 2 charm packs & a large hunk of clearance gray pin-dot that have lived in the stash for a really long time.

In quilt group this week, we got the centers made for the C & D blocks, which include the half-blocks for the sides. We think this Wholehearted quilt by A Bright Corner may not take us a year to make, which is our usual length of time for projects due to interruptions. My partners have different colorways that are really looking great: red, white, blue for one and navy & teal for the other. I’ve made several patterns by this local designer & they are all really cute.

I’ve debated about Bev’s Calendar of Crime challenge every year & decided this is the year to jump in. Twelve books, one representing each month, are required for a complete challenge. To claim a book, it must fit one of the categories for the month you wish to fulfill. Unless otherwise specified, the category is fulfilled within the actual story. So I’ll be looking through my mysteries to find monthly mystery fun.

I used to do the Color Coded challenge every year & find that when I read a “colorful” title, I’m wanting to mark it down. So it seems my mind wants to do this challenge again!

The color may be named in the title, in the author’s name, or it may appear as the dominant color for the cover of the book. For “implies color” the image implying color should dominate the cover–for instance a large rainbow, a field of flowers, or the image of a painter.
Read nine books in the following categories with the color in the title/author name/on the cover:

1. Blue
2. Red
3. Yellow
4. Green
5. Brown
6. Black
7. White
8. Any other color (Purple, Orange, Silver, Pink, etc).
9. A word/image that implies color (Rainbow, Polka-dot, Plaid, Shadow, Paint, Ink, etc).

I sewed together RSC2024 project #5 of 8, which is the Lori Holt wonky FPP hearts. I used most of two layer cakes to make a lap-size quilt & am super happy with the rainbow goodness. Also that I got to use my hoarded Tula Pink Fairy Dust background. It’s so awesome! With everything that’s happened in 2024, I’m pretty impressed that I’ve gotten this much done on my RSC projects this year. I may even get them all finished next month!

I had fun doing Bonnie Hunter’s winter mystery last year, although it’s quilted & still needs binding, but hey, I sewed it up by the spring! Then life happened. Anyway, I’m in for another year, so I got Part 1 all cut out, which is a challenge with the healing hand. Cutting is hard for my broken left hand to hold templates.

Then I got them all sewed up, a third of them trimmed, & strips sewn for Pt. 2. So it’s coming along but sub-cutting is next & I have to take the cutting slowly. And there is some Christmas gift sewing in my future.

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving if you celebrate it in the US, & have a great wintery sewing week!

With that in mind, I made two center blocks for the large log cabins in the QAL from Riley Blake called From Our House. I cut out all the logs before I fell & made one block, so I can turn these into cabins now. I’m behind in the QAL, but no stress. I’m downloading the patterns as they drop each week & will finish at some point.

It was hard to wrangle this big project, but I got the sashings attached & made the flimsy for my Split 9-patches. They were laid out on my design wall when I fell, so I’ve had plenty of time to mull over sashing options. I went with the offset to give it a little movement & some keystones. This is the fourth finish of my eight RSC2024 projects, so I’m really not too far off track!

I needed my design wall, so I sewed together Patchwork Hearts & that’s my first RSC2024 flimsy! I’m still loving the cuteness, but it may be a while before it’s quilted & all done, so it’s in the closet.

I made brown & gray large Scrappy Hearts but need more, so maybe a catch-up before the end of the year.

A black & a gray set of split 9-patches, leaves only brown now. I laid them all out & am going with this layout with a strip between to offset them in columns. I’m leaving them on the wall & will slowly sew together the four blocks into a 4-patch.

Four black rail fence blocks with 2.5″ squares. I also got a bunch of County Clare Leader & Ender Challenge blocks done this week, but haven’t sashed them yet. Maybe next week I’ll get them together & see my progress, but next week’s focus needs to be the Breast Cancer Awareness quilt I started.

My vestibular physical therapist is giving me outings to work my balance & get better at navigating different spaces since the surgery. He wanted me to go to a garden & I said I’d been talking myself out of going to Garden of Quilts because of the uneven terrain, but if he thought I could do it, then I wanted to try. Hubby went with me & it was so great! I haven’t been since the first year & have wanted to go again. So many lovely quilts & although I got dizzy a few times, I recovered quickly & we saw the whole thing, including a Q&A with the Doan girls!