The Websterville Playground quilt

Many of the blocks in this quilt were from a navy blue background block swap I joined last fall.  Everyone made sets of five blocks, and because there weren't many participating, I ended up making a few more and getting some duplicates.  I made the center medallion to show my applique class, and I tried making some tiny 3" nine patch blocks which ended up as a border.  I decided not to make any more of those tiny nine patches for a whole quilt - they require a degree of precision that I don't feel up to these days. 

This quilt will be raffled off this spring in support of renovations at a playground in town.  The town Recreation Board that I'm on has been planning the renovations for some time, and our first piece of equipment has been ordered and will be installed later this spring.  Some women in the village have been holding fund raisers to supplement the town funds, and they are planning a flea market in late April.  I hope the snow is gone by then!

I have a few blocks left from the swap which I will put together... eventually... for another Parkinsons Comfort Quilt.

On the wall

The Around the World swap blocks are coming in, and I know that with 6" blocks, it will take quite a few to make even a throw.  There are fewer than 20 coming.  So I have been making a few extra blocks here and there, and while in the process, considering all the possible settings for the blocks.  Sashing?  Dull, been there, done that.  On point?  What do I put in between?  Strippy?  No real focus fabric comes to mind.  Alternating with a pieced block?  Hmmm... 

Although I could change my mind after all the blocks are here, I made a bunch of hourglass blocks today.  Here's how it looks so far.

More blocks!

Today I made some blocks with my Around the World fabrics, but I'm not ready to show them yet.  There are a few more to come - maybe six - before I'm ready to settle on a final setting.  On point seems like the way to go with 20 or so 6" blocks.  But what should go between them?  That's the question.

While the cleaning brigade was here (my first - an indulgence, but oh, so nice!), I made two Loyal Union Sampler blocks.  Combination Star is the block of the week, and the other is a variation.  My collection is coming along really nicely.   I have solid gray for the sashing but there are still quite a few blocks left to make.

Nothing to show!

But I've been very busy.  There was a possibility of having an overnight guest last Tuesday night, so I cleaned up the guest/sewing room to a farethewell.  She decided to drive on home, so I had a pristine room to mess up - and I did!  I got out all my works-in-progress to see what needed to be done.  I piled them on the guest bed - so now the room is back to "normal" - organized chaos.

I have been quilting my red and cream round robin throw for a week and needed a break.  I had a couple of blocks set aside for a table runner, so I finished that yesterday.  Then I made the last blocks for the Around the World swap - they are ready to mail once I get some stamps.  I haven't received all of mine yet, but they aren't due until August.  In the meantime, I hope to make a few more to make a fairly substantial quilt.  I also made two 2" sawtoothed star blocks to applique to the guild challenge wallhanging.  They turned out pretty good, thanks to my prior training with Dear Jane's Papa's Star block. 

I finished making 19 red and white 9" nine patches for another swap.  Since I'm the hostess, they will sit and wait until the end of April when I hope all the other packages arrive.  I am planning to set them very simply with a red and white print in between the blocks, so I cut those blocks out and set them aside.

Today I got back to quilting after a quick trip to the LQS for thread.  I have two small quilts in the closet along with 3 table runners and 8 placemats to quilt.  The latter will go fast, so I'm hoping I can get to them in the coming week.  Did I mention that it has snowed every day this week??  No real sign of spring, so I might as well quilt.  :-)

More blocks

I've been quilting a round robin quilt, and it's taking some time.  In between, I do a little piecing and a little handwork.  Today I finished handsewing a binding and then I sewed another binding down on the machine.  I figured if I didn't do it that way, it just wouldn't get done.  And it looks fine.  It's not for show, just for use which is fine.

Then I made a few Loyal Union Sampler blocks.  Couldn't decide which fabrics to use for Happy Home, so I made two to make up for the Nearly Insane blocks I haven't made.  I'll get back to those eventually.

I was going to do some grocery shopping but the roads were icy most of the day. In the words of Scarlett O'Hara,  tomorrow is another day!  I need to stock up on some vegetables because I promised to make vegetable platters for quilt guild Tuesday night.  

Catching up (again)

Seems I've been running behind a bit all year.  Lots of travel for sad occasions.  Wed. and Thurs. we had a mega-snow storm, so I cleaned house first and then did some sewing.  I must say, our house really needed a good scrub.  Even the microwave was disgusting.  I felt better quilting when I could smell the Lysol emanating from the bathroom.

Along with finishing a sampler (just have to sew a bit on the binding), I made a couple of little Loyal Union Sampler blocks, including the appliqued "Tea Leaves" for this week:

 

 

I'll take a photo of the Navy quilt, to be raffled off in support of renovations to the Upper Websterville Playground this spring, soon.  I'm now quilting on a round robin that is gorgeous - hope to have it done next week sometime.

Around the World blocks

So far, I have received seven blocks from Australia, London, and the U.S. in this year's Around the World swap.  They are awfully cute!  Here are five, plus my own:

I was thinking of putting them on point with white blocks in between, or perhaps arranging them in strips on point with zigzag sashing.  But now I'm really not sure how to arrange them.  Guess I'll just have to see how all "play" together when they're here.  I want to make a few more out of fabric I have here, and people have until August to get them to their owners.  I have plenty of time to decide.

This afternoon I worked to catch up on the Loyal Union Sampler block of the week and the Threads of Memory block of the month.  This week's LUS block is appliqued, so it will take a little time to finish.  I haven't made any Nearly Insane blocks in a while, either.  After 10 days away from my sewing machine, it sure felt good to be "home."

Sad time

We returned from a week in Colorado on Thursday, but it wasn't a fun trip and we are still exhausted.  After an 18 year battle with Parkinson's Disease, my dad is in his final days.  He has always tried to rise above the disease, and although his body has almost shut down, his mind is strong.  The frustrating thing for him and for us is that he can't communicate well.  We left suddenly and weren't sure how long we'd be gone.  We took the week to say goodbye, and we will return for the Memorial Service, whenever that happens.

We did a few fun things in between helping Mom - toured the Coors Brewery and went to the movies.  "American Hustle" was a fun look at the late 1970's, complete with disco clothes, and "The Monuments Men" was an exciting story about saving Europe's art during WWII.  Neither was Best Picture for the Oscars, in our opinion, and we are hoping to get to "12 Years a Slave" soon.  We loved "Captain Phillips," but the fact that he lives in Vermont may color our view.

I didn't prepare much, sewing- and reading-wise.  Brought some nine patches to stitch by hand (very tedious!) for a swap,

and had to go to Barnes & Noble for a book to read on the plane home.  We took the red-eye, leaving Denver at 1:00 am, arriving in Burlington at 10:30 am.  Napping a lot since we got home!