There's still been some family drama going on - I'm still one of my father's "care-givers", and, now that my MIL is gone, we've sort of added her 91 year old sister to the list of people that we care for. Some days are uneventful, and we just breeze through them - and then there are the days that dad has fallen, or has a fever and increased confusion - or auntie needs to go to the hospital. Then add that I have a VERY part-time job occasionally in the summer - and don't forget the garden! And the grandsons! All of those things are far more important than finishing a quilt.
But, quilt-y progress has gone on!
I've been working on a quilt for a very special person in my life - unfortunately, I can't show it to you yet, because it isn't quite done - and it has to be delivered before I can show the pics - but it should be soon!
I've also fallen hard for scrap quilting and the concept of leaders and enders (having fabric pieces near to the sewing machine that can be stitched up when you get to the end of your "real" project). My problem is that I get so excited about the leaders and enders, and I spend an hour working on them - and no progress gets made with the project at hand!
In the past, I hesitated to share those process photos, but they may be the only things that I can show, so you're going to be treated to them. First up is a quick quilt top that I whipped up one afternoon. A few years ago, I decided to cut a 2.5" - 3.5" strip off every piece of yardage that I bought. I tucked them into a box, and then forgot about them. I found the box a few weeks ago, and I decided that I might never use them if I didn't use them now, so I did a variation of the popular "Jelly Roll Race" quilts - I sewed the fabric strips into one VERY long strip, then put the right and left ends on top of each other, and sewed them into a long strip (half as long as the first one); repeat sewing the ever-shorter strips to each other, until finally, I had a roughly twin-sized quilt top!
I've also spent a LOT of time cutting up my stash leftovers too - if it's much smaller than a fat quarter, I've started cutting the fabric into either 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles or 2.5" squares. I've got a lot of patterns that use either or both of those sizes, and having them cut and ready to go has helped immensely.
These blocks use both of those sizes - and will make Bonnie Hunter's "Carolina Chain" quilt (it's available for free on her Quiltville website). I've got quite the stack of these blocks sewn up.
This is another set of blocks using just the rectangles. I have no idea what the block or quilt is called, but I've seen it around. The blocks are made of 4 rectangles of 2 different fabrics - it ends up being a square block, so you can change the orientation of the blocks individually or row by row. I'm going to sew them together as shown - and I have a stack of these blocks, so it shouldn't take long to finish another quilt.
I've also cut the fabrics for another quilt for a teen boy at the local Children's Hospital PCCU - I hope to get sewing it together soon. So, I haven't been sitting idly by - and I'm making a resolution to share in-progress pics more often!
Thanks for sticking with me!
