Making headway

Yesterday, I got the hang of machine piecing the curved blocks for The Avenue and really started sewing more quickly.  It took a while!  The templates came and are easy to cut as long as I remember to cut the "C" part of the Drunkard's Path a little larger and then trim when sewn to the "D."  The rest is easy.

I still need to get some more black and white background fabrics, but have been judiciously cutting what I have in the meantime.  I was in a quandary about colors when I first started, but the more scrappy trees I make, the more they blend in nicely together.  The stems are hand appliqued, which is nice in the afternoons when I can sit and watch TV or sit on the porch.

My other UFO is still in the "looking at it and wondering what to do" stage.  A friend of my Mom's, Julie, a Colorado quilter, gave me a little batik some years ago.  I shuffled it around and forgot about it until I did a little cleaning in the sewing room.  It's time to make something.  It feels like there's rayon in it, so I'll use some fusible interfacing and keep it small - wallhanging size.  I'll use the tie dyed fabric for a small border or just the binding.  All suggestions welcome!  It is crying out for some hand quilting, too, which will be nice.

I have been knitting about 4 rows a day on my light brown wool sweater, and it's not photogenic, but I am making good progress.  Because it's knit in the round on #4 needles, each row is quite long, and I think I'm on the 4th ball of yarn.  Maybe I'll finish in time for fall.

Today I'm facilitating the genealogy club meeting via Zoom.  It's our first attempt.  We usually meet on Thursday mornings at the library which has been closed for over two months.  We normally take the summers off, but if this works, we may just try to get together once or twice.  Everything (theater, Heritage Festival, library programs, etc.) is cancelled this summer, so it will be nice to see folks again.  I haven't done a lot of data collecting recently, but I have been going through a lot of family photos and writing some family stories which have been really fun.