Something Shiny.

and it's not the sun

Though it has been a beautiful, but chilly, sunny day.

Sunrise - January 9, 2019 

No, I was playing "squirrel" today.  Something about a new year just makes me want to start something new.  Yesterday at Devo & Sew I picked up this pattern on the free table and immediately thought it would be a good Rainbow Scrap Challenge project.

I apologize for the poor picture quality.  I tried to find an example on the internet that would show better.  The block has been called a number of things over the years -- Fox and Geese, Goose and Goslings, Crosses and Losses.  But the kissing HSTs on each side remind me of a jigger my dad had.

So I may call my quilt Double Shot!  Yes, it's already achieved "quilt" status.   I immediately dug into my red scrap bin and got to work on three blocks.

There will be 30 blocks that will finish at 8".  Set on point, with solid squares in between, it will be a nice size throw.  I've cut the setting squares and triangles and have decided I will just put the blocks into the quilt as each month's RSC color is announced.

So that's now five RSC projects in progress!  Any bets on how long I'll keep up?

Hand-Piecing Progress

Not Much!

Today was Devo and Sew day.  I had two objectives:  Prep and possibly finish my Tiny Tuesday assignment (an appliqued circle) and to make progress on Mystic Sunflowers that I wrote about here.  And being ever the optimist (or experienced pessimist), I took along my red scrap box planning to cut 5" squares out of the smaller chunks should I have extra time (NOT) or should I run into hurdles (more likely).

I was already 10 minutes away from the house when I remembered I had not packed the circle template I had carefully cut from a breakfast bar box this morning.

Figuring I could find another circular object at the church to make my circles I proceeded on my way.  Indeed, a coffee cup served the purpose, though it was a bit bigger than I had planned.

Since I didn't have the template to press the circle around I decided to work on this at home.  I did get a few more red 5" squares cut, but not many. 

To be honest, I hadn't seen these gals since the party at my house over a month ago, so a lot of time was spent visiting, catching up, comparing notes and, of course, eating!

I was able to get the large orange hexagons attached to each other on Mystic Sunflowers and to get my bearings on the next step.  This is English paper piecing so the pieces are already prepped; all I an doing now is whip-stitching them together.

Mystic Sunflower - Christine Porter design

The maroon squares will go in next, followed by the small purple side triangles, then the corner pieces.  Should be good TV stitching in the evenings.

Sunrise - Didn't see the sun till afternoon.

Wildlife - It's possible my otter sighting was really muskrats!  More research will be required.

Hand-Pieced Quilt-Along

As promised, this morning Patty/Elm Street Quilts and Kristen/Simple. Handmade. Everyday. revealed the project for their hand-pieced quilt-along.  Nine simple blocks, each developing a new skill or building on previously learned skills.  The first tutorial will be posted on January 21 so there is still time to jump on board, assemble some fabric, and dig out your tools.

One of my goals for 2019 is to use a dark background in a quilt so I decided this would be the project to try it on.  

The speckled brown will be my background.  I have tried to match the remaining fabrics to the speckles, keeping them on the light side for good contrast.  I've also tried to vary the value for those blocks that will need more than one color fabric.  The finished project will be less than a yard square so I think it is worth the risk. 

Sunrise -  Spectacular!  My photos can't do it justice.

Sunrise - Jan 7, 2019

Wildlife - Otters!  While photographing the sunrise I heard an unfamiliar sound coming from the lake.

Otter pair

Life is good!

A Conundrum

Grandson-1 recently proposed to his long-time girlfriend and a wedding date has been set for early October.  I hadn't factored a wedding quilt into my 2019 plan!  It will have to be throw size for sure.  They are a modern/minimalist young couple so I took a look at some available options this morning, one of them being a panel kit I purchased when I first got into my "modern" phase.

Here's the conundrum:  that panel is printed allover wonky.

I can't let them think this is the quality of my workmanship!  So I'm thinking about cutting the small panels into straight squares -- they'd finish at about 7" -- and then adding my own black sashing.  The kit included companion fabrics for a series of borders.

On the other hand, would this be copping out on my first grandson?  I think they deserve better.

And while you're thinking about that, enjoy this morning's sunrise.

First Sunrise of 2019

Well, the first I've seen ...

January 5 - Sunrise over Lake Dartmoor

Not sure how I missed it on January 1, but my attention was focused on party preparations.  Days 2-4 I've both slept past sunrise and it's been overcast and rainy.  So this morning I made a point of greeting the Dawn.  My plan is to document the sunrise (and at the same time the changing landscape) over the seasons, though I won't bore you with the more mundane days, like today.  It was just beautiful to finally SEE the sun!

We had a beautifully sunny day to drive to Nashville for a funeral/celebration of life for the mother of my older son's best friend and best man at his wedding.  Had hoped I would see some classmates and friends, but if they were there, I didn't recognize them (they probably wouldn't have recognized me, either!).

Needless to say, there was no time spent in the sewing room.  I did locate the Mariner's compass block which I'll show tomorrow.  In the meantime I'll show you some of my favorite tools for hand piecing, in no particular order.

I have forgotten what my favorite needle was, so I'll spend some time getting reacquainted with them.  I do know that a good pair of scissors, close at hand, is critical.

These are on a retractable fob that I can attach to a pocket or shirt collar.

My favorite pins for intersections were these double-pointed pins by Clover.  And I found a silicon thread conditioner more effective than beeswax, but I have some of both.

Thumb pin cushion

In the past I really enjoyed having the pin cushion on my thumb.  As I recall, it did not interfere with holding the pieces I was stitching.  But it has been quite a few years; my opinions may have changed. 

Stay tuned as I progress into this next stage (or re-run) of my quilting journey!

What Goes Around ...

... comes around

When I first started quilting in 2000 I was mostly hand quilting, primarily to support a living history preoccupation (I still had a real job!).  A lady in my first guild befriended me and invited me to a hand-piecing bee that met at her house a couple times a month and the Tree of Life blocks I showed here in October were the major outcome of that relationship.

Summer-Fall-Winter-Spring

Those, and some flowers in a cone (whatever they are called) that are working their way slowly into a pair of twin quilt tops.  (Photos to come as soon as I figure out which box they are packed in.)

I will be participating in several hand-piecing quilt-alongs this year so I went in search of my favorite tools.  In the process I came across several -- dare I say UFO's? (I think I'll start a new category.)

This EPP project was started in a class with Christine Porter on a quilt cruise.

What I like about it is the pieces are not teeny-tiny hexagons!  The finished project should look like this and will be a nice (and very bright) table topper:

This Castle Wall project was started in a class with Micky Depre around 2014.

I have several blocks prepped and would really like to finish this one.

Then there's the Lucy Boston (a/k/a POTC) that everyone was working on a couple of years ago.

I local shop (no longer in business) made acrylic stamps for the pieces which made it a lot easier to fussy cut the motifs.

Now, if I could just remember where I packed the stamps and ink pads ...

And somewhere in the sewing room I know there is a Mariner's Compass I pieced in a class with Cindy Blackberg around 2006-7`

Like I said, what goes around, comes around.  And I am excited about returning to hand piecing this year.

3 - A Great Day!

Well, not weatherwise ...

Sunrise - I again slept till 7:30 and missed the sunrise.  Again it's been overcast and even rainy at times today so I didn't miss anything.

Wildlife - Look at what's happening all over the garden ...

We've had a relatively mild winter so far and these bulbs can't figure it out.  Seeing this photo reminds me I never cut back the peonies; I hope that doesn't adversely affect them.  I want to get some supports set up for them this year so that they don't droop onto the ground.

Kitchen - I concentrated on putting party stuff away.  Didn't feel like cooking the pork butt for BBQ and had no backup planned so 2 hours before dinner I pulled out a can of Dinty Moore Beef Stew

and resurrected an old Pillsbury contest recipe I used frequently when the kids were young.

I substitute 1 cup of Bisquick with 1 cup of milk since the can is no longer 1.5 pounds.  It's smelling delicious; I hope it tastes as good!

Quilting - It was a VERY productive day in the sewing room!  I decided I like the 3.5" center square better in my Rainbow Scrap Challenge chandelier blocks so I started over and made my monthly goal of eight!

Even though I tried to enhance my lighting, the darkest reds look black in the photo.  I pulled some fun reds out of the scrap box.

Christmas packages!

More beads on a string!

While I had the red scrap box out, I made two of Angela's Tiny Tuesday string blocks.

And since I was on a roll, I added a block of my choice to the Squared Away RSC sampler from 2018.

I hope your day was equally bountiful!

Hop over to soscrappy to see other Rainbow Scrap Challenge ideas.