Strings!

I noticed a few weeks ago that my basket of "strings" is overflowing.  Whenever I have a little strip of fabric left, I just throw it in the basket.  Last year I made a Bonnie Hunter pattern, Roll Roll Cotton Boll, which was actually our guild's mystery quilt for 2011-12.  We used our neutral strings to make the alternate blocks.  Well, since I finished that and kept saving strings, my basket looks like this:

Some of the 6" blocks I've been making are in front of the basket, and so far I've got 16.  I make four at a time, and it's a great project when you don't want to start a new project.  I use very thin paper that came from a piece of junk mail as a foundation and then use my 6" square to cut it to size after sewing the strips on.  I hate taking the paper out, and that's why I only do a few at a time.

I noticed there were quite a few long strings in browns and beiges, so I sewed those together and made a few house blocks, too.  I found a pattern in a book by Edyta Sitar, Friendship Strips & Scraps, that combines pieced blocks with appliqued ones.  She seems to favor fusible applique, but I prefer to hand applique, so I have five houses ready for windows and doors.  They are all set for taking along on vacation in a few weeks.  [Dare I point out that I just started another new project!?!]

Today I had to hem some new pants and then I started working on the last two Dresden Plate blocks I started ages ago.  I keep getting side-tracked, though, by a good book - Where'd You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple.  It's told in emails, letters, and the diary of a 15 year old whose agoraphobic mother disappears.  The odd characters and writing style make it incredibly fun and hard to put down.

Strippy pinwheels

Here's the little quilt I made over the weekend with 2.5" strips.

I need to figure out what will be on the back - maybe a piece of flannel.  I have the binding all cut and ready to go.  Guess this calls for a trip to JoAnn's...

It's raining, so I worked on a rather complicated block for a lottery for the state quilt guild meeting in May.  Anyone who wants is making Mystery Album,with the gray for the mystery that is Alzheimer's Disease and the spring colors for hope.  We will have a display of the little art quilts people are making for Ami Simms' Alzheimer's Quilt Initiative, too.

 

With all the pieces in this one, I sure hope I win the lottery.  I would hate to make any more!

It's been a while...

...since I blogged.  Just busy!  The weather has been gloomy, so I spent quite a bit of time quilting on Oma's Muu Muu this week.  I finished and am now sewing the binding down to the back.  Photo soon, I promise!  I also offered to sew a hanging sleeve onto a friend's quilt.  She thought she'd be back from Florida in time to do that so she could enter it into our quilt show.  But her mother (who I think is 99)  broke her leg, so my friend stayed longer to help.  That makes two hand-sewing projects for me.  Unfortunately, the gloom isn't all that conducive to hand work.  And there isn't enough snow for the little light we do have outside to reflect off of.  Never thought I'd wish for a little snow cover!  Tomorrow it's supposed to be a little more sunny, so I will probably work on those two projects.

Meanwhile, I also finished a log cabin throw and just hung it and its binding in a closet for quilting later.  I will do the same with a little table topper/baby quilt I finished today.  Both quilts are made with strips from the monthly "strip club" at A Quilter's Garden.  I've been receiving a bunch of 2.5" strips for $10 each month, and they are really fun to play with.  The most recent quilt is baby-sized and features lime, orange, turquoise, and purple pinwheels with light backgrounds.  I had just the right striped fabric for the binding, too.

Our Central Vermont Quilt Show is just under two weeks away, so there are a myriad little details for all of us to worry about.  We had a good meeting last week, and it seems everything's on track.  This week our guild meets, so we'll be signing more people up to volunteer and finalizing the demos.

Friday night we went out to dinner with the Greater Barre Democrats, and our speaker was the editor of the local daily paper.  People were a little skeptical about him as our speaker.  They usually want a politician.  But I talked them into it, and I'm glad I did.  He left us with a lot of food for thought about where and how we get our information.  Despite snow, sleet and freezing rain Friday, we had a good turnout.  Then last night, Paul and I went to see the play Biloxi Blues by Neil Simon at the Barre Opera House.  It was great!  Onward for another busy week.  Hope yours includes some stitching time.

Hugs 'n' Kisses

My mom gave me some lovely pink fat quarters for Christmas, and they were just screaming to be used with chocolate.  So I bought a Bali Pop and used the darkest strips for this quilt, just finished today and now appearing on my etsy shop, Cobble Hill Quilts:

I'm particularly pleased with the quilting, which includes quite a bit of free motion, in a "coffee bean" motif.

A busy week

I am looking forward to the weekend and next week when my life won't be as busy as it's been (I hope).  Tuesday night, I went to quilt guild which was quite fun, with four different workshops going on in the corners of the room.  I also showed off my Cornucopia of Thanks.

Wednesday night was the Greater Barre Democrats meeting, followed by a public forum on the Decriminalization of Marijuana.  This was the second of three informational forums with speakers who offer pros and cons of issues before the legislature, followed by questions and answers from the audience.  We have not taken positions on the issues (the others are Death with Dignity/Physician-assisted Suicide and Health Care reform) but feel it's important to inform ourselves and the public.  I happened to be the moderator Wednesday night which worked out pretty well.  We had 18 people attend, and several were people I didn't know.  Guess our publicity is working.

Thursday afternoon, the Central Vermont Quilt Show committee met at the Old Labor Hall to get a feel for the space since it has been renovated slightly since our last show in 2011.  Our show is scheduled for April 26 and 27, so that is soon.  We have a lot to do, especially encouraging more entries.  Tuesday night we got a few, but we can use more.  I entered a second quilt, my recently completed Licorice and Lime (warning - the photo is lousy).

I still need to sew a sleeve on it, and today I offered to sew a sleeve on a friend's quilt since she is in Florida tending an ill 99 year old mother and doesn't know if she'll make it home before the show.   After our meeting, we all went out to dinner at the restaurant in the old firehouse which was fun.  There was live music, an extra bonus - not too loud, folk/rock oldies - just our style.

Today, after my stint at the Vermont Historical Society, I went to the hospital for my annual mammogram and then visited Joann Fabrics for a few things.  I treated myself to an afternoon on the couch finishing up a good book, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.  It was on all the "must-read" lists last year and, while the characters were not at all likeable, it was a page-turner.  Happy Easter, everyone!

Coupla blocks

I've been procrastinating today.  I have more binding to stitch down on a giant lime/licorice quilt, so I  worked on a few blocks today.  One is for Mary as part of the Around the World Swap.  I love her bright orange floral and have been dying to use a nice bright orange from my stash.  What I like about this swap is the ability to shop the stash.

 

Next, I made another green and blue block to add to the ones I've been making as part of my guild's block of the month.  Micheline had wondered how to make this Pam Bono block, so Jen drafted it and put the instructions up on Facebook.  It turned out OK although I wish I had used a different medium fabric.  Just another Sunday in Wildersburg!  Guess now I'll put a few more stitches into that binding!

Snow = productivity

It was a beautiful morning although clouds are rolling in now.  They make me nervous since we already had 8-10" of snow over the last 36 hours.  Still, it was nice to get up to a clean, fluffy world.  This is the view from our back porch.  You can see that Max the dog really enjoys snow.  It never stays pristine for long.

Yesterday, after finishing the batik quilt top, I enjoyed reading two new books, one by quilter Edita Sitar, and another by mystery writer Erin Hart.  The mystery involves a body found in an Irish peat bog.  Before I encountered Erin Hart, I never knew bodies could be preserved for centuries in bogs.  The characters are really good in her books, as is the suspense.

This morning, I finished what will be the center of a round robin that I'm joining in with an online group.  I get nervous using red with strangers but will add a note asking people to wash anything they add.  The center is 15" finished and each of the next five rounds will be 5" finished.  Should be fun!