Snow Days

 
The first week of the month is usually slow for me.  My one scheduled obligation on Tuesday was cancelled due to the weather so I have had a whole week to catch up in the sewing room!

We had more snow on Thursday, wet and heavy making it hard to know how much accumulation.  This was the view from my "office" (really a guest bedroom) yesterday morning.

It was snowing so much we couldn't see across the lake!  And it snowed off and on all day.  

This is the view this morning:

The cardinals and finches have been taking turns on the Droll Yankee feeder DH gave me for Christmas.

It's one of those "squirrel proof" feeders that will spin a squirrel off if it puts any pressure on the perch.  I can't wait to see that happen!

Earlier in the week I had knocked out my Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks; yesterday I took care of the latest clue in the Meadow Mist Designs mystery.  I made 60 "doublets" out of the flying geese from previous clues ...

... and put flip corners on 54 HSTs from a previous clue ...

Today I put the first frame on the Overhand Knots and I've been auditioning fabrics for chandelier blocks to expand the runner to throw size.

The first one I made will finish at 6" and I think it is a little chunky.  I'm going to try 5" and see if I like it any better.  The inner red square in the knots finishes at 4.5" and I'm thinking I might need to go down to that size for balance.

Monday, Again

Where did  the week go?

Last Monday I cleaned house (and, boy girl folks, did it need it!)  

Tuesday I entertained the neighborhood book club.  My book was Everything Beautiful in Its Time by Jenna Bush Hagar. -- a memoir of a daughter/grand-daughter of presidents.  Other hostesses have tied their refreshments to the theme of their book, so I served Texas caviar, Maine cranberry chutney with baked brie, and beaten biscuits to honor Tennessee's presidents. (You may need to read the book to get the gist ...)

Wednesday we attended a retirement luncheon for our pastor.  Alex is on the search committee for a replacement.  We have a couple of interesting candidates; we hope the search won't take too long.

Thursday I ventured to Knoxville while the skies were still blue-ish to finish my Christmas shopping.  I still have a few gaps but I had hoped to get the stocking stuffers off in the mail by Saturday.  Not so; definitely today ...

So Friday I played catch-up.  Cards are in the mail, what little decorating has been done, stockings -- really brown paper bags -- have been stuffed. I took advantage of Hubby's absence to wrap his gifts.

I spent much of Saturday just puttering, waiting for some old church friends to "drop by."  Well, they finally dropped around 4, totally throwing my dinner plans out of whack, but it was delightful to see them.  We ate the steaks Sunday night, instead.

After posting the stocking stuffers this morning I made it down to the sewing room.  Obligated is a flimsy!

It is 48 x 56 and I'm going to finish it as-is without a border. I have selected fun fabrics for the back and binding. 

Next up is stitching the rows of my RSC stars.  

I am in love with both of these quilts.  They will go to my favorite LAQ for finishing soon.

I did a little more organizing and planning in the sewing room before I called it a day.  With no place to go and nothing to do, I hope it will be a productive week.  

Retreat Wrap-up - Part 2

 There is a lot to show and tell so I split my retreat wrap-up into two parts, the second being what others accomplished.  Part 1 is here.

I always come away from a S'mores retreat inspired by what my talented friends are working on.  Most of them spent their time working on a single project, whereas I worked on a lot of little finishes.

Becky, the Teal Lady, learned to use the serger she purchased in 2017 with help from some experienced sergers.  She used it to bind several quilts including this one with Minky on the back.

Sena-1 put binding on this quilt that Kim had quilted, then she worked on finishing her Patricia Kaleidoscope shown in the background.

Meanwhile, Sena-2 spent all of her time on this absolutely gorgeous Kaffe Fassett design.

Mandy assembled two tops that she will probably sell in the gift shop of her B&B. 

Susan worked on an assortment of little projects, including the hand-pieced tumbling blocks.

Donna spent much of her time working on Bonnie Hunter's Unity quilt.  She had trouble with one of the rounds being almost an inch too big and is wondering if others who made this quilt had a similar problem.

Ruth used her time to assemble these blocks and add borders.

Meanwhile, Shirley finished the center of this quilt (only partial shown here) by the same designer as Ruth's whose name I can't remember right now ...  She will add borders at home.

Nancy assembled this striking Wink and a Smile (also known as Shooting Stars) but didn't have enough fabric for the borders.  It is amazing how reverse value placement in the center 9-patch changes the whole look of the block!

All-in-all it was a very productive retreat for everyone.  My apologies to those whose quilts I failed to photograph.

BHUFO Challenge - Update

Cathedral Stars report:  MY BLOCKS ARE FINISHED!!  This is a happy quilt!

I have: 

1.  sewn three rows of one easy corner.
2.  laid out the very middle section (believe me, there's method in my madness).
3.  cut my setting triangles (today at guild).
4.  decided on borders (still subject to change after I audition them with the finished center).

I've also worked on the Tall Tree this week -- that deadline is more critical. 

With the holiday next week and family coming and going, it's highly unlikely that the flimsy will be finished before the first Celtic Solstice clue comes out.  I had only set my goal at finishing the blocks, anyway.  But thanks, Jo (Country Junction) for issuing the challenge.  I would not have even gotten this far without it.

Check others' progress at Country Junction.

A blessed Thanksgiving to everyone.

Jo's BHUFO Challenge

I have accepted Jo's (Country Junction) challenge to finish a Bonnie Hunter UFO before the first clue of the new mystery later this month.  I started Cathedral Stars in a class with Bonnie in March 2011.  I finished all 25 of the HST blocks (actually 30) right away but hit a snag with the Tri-Recs star points and only finished a handful of blocks before setting it aside.

Last week when I inventoried what I had already accomplished I found I was only 2 blocks short of a quilt!  All I need to do is assemble the remaining 25 star blocks.  This is what I was facing at the beginning of this week.  The lower right pile is the two sets of star points and 4-patches.

Before I left home on Friday morning, this is what I had accomplished -- 15 blocks, 10 to go!!:

 

If I can find a large enough design wall I might be able to get the center portion finished.  I haven't really put any thought into borders; maybe I'll use a combination of the gold and purple in my HST blocks.  Most likely I will have to be satisfied with getting the blocks finished and take it to retreat in December to get it all together.