I have a plan!

Really, I do! Fabric arrived at my house yesterday. I did not just buy 

fabric to buy it, I do have a plan. 

My son has been sending me ideas 

for a new quilt for him. 

These are photos of quilts seen on Pinterest and Facebook. I have the panels featured in the two at the bottom. We both like the middle one, the one with the two men holding it, the best. I like all parts of that one and we both like parts in all the quilts. The hoof prints in the border in the top quilt - I'm thinking those on a light brown border between two darker shades of brown (like the middle quilt border). He wants them on white camo print. I don't think they will show up well on that but told him I would try it and see. 

In this pile of fabric that arrived yesterday are the panel that I had at the bottom, dark brown blender, tan blender, gold blender, green blender, white camo, all over camo, stones print, stones with leaves print, camo with deer print. I'm not sure about the dark brown. I'm also not sure I will use the green, but I think it will go well with the other prints. I like both the stone prints but will only use one of them. I want this quilt to be big enough to at least cover the top of his new bed which is queen-sized, although I don't think it really matters much to him as he won't be using it as the main cover for his bed. I mentioned I have that other panel as well. I am trying to decide if I should use it to make a two-sided quilt. Well, all quilts are two-sided! but that would make it so either side could be shown. Or should I make two quilts? Hmmm... what to do?

I also received these two pieces.

The football print will be used in a quilt I have planned. The John Deere fabric may end up as masks if there is a request for them, and there may be. If not used for masks it will get used for something else.

My stand up sewing has been for piecing A Sparkling Sampler.

I have the bottom section and the middle section pieced. They are both sideways in these photos. Don't ask me why I started at the bottom and am working up, I don't know! I work on this when Son calls. I put him on speaker and sew away. It doesn't require too much concentration and I need to be doing something as these conversations have been a bit stressful the last few weeks. I realized as I was piecing this that I wouldn't have enough of the solid tan to make the small inside border. I don't remember if it is Kona or another brand. I don't remember where I got it. I do have a Kona Color Card, but I have had it for years. None of the swatches was an exact match. I ordered something that would definitely be a different color so it wouldn't look I was trying to match and got it wrong but still go well with the rest of the fabrics. I knew that the image on the computer monitor might not show the correct color, but I am pleased with it.

My photos are NOT color correct, they should be more goldish. Trust me, it looks good. 

Also, this happened. 

And, you know what that means! Well, if you are a paper foundation piecer you know what that means. It means the papers are coming off. It's kind of fun to tear those off, and exciting because the next part is sewing all those units together.

But it is messy.

So I got the units pinned up on the wall in quadrants like that pattern says to do.

Then, I stitched a quadrant.

So exciting! But, then I set it aside. My niece sent me a message over the weekend. Her favorite little fingertip micro pot holders and been placed too close to the stove burner and got scorched. Badly. They can't be saved. She was sad because she uses them all the time. She thought I had made them for her which made her even sadder. I didn't make them. But I told her I could make her some more to go with the bowl buddies I had made her a couple of years ago.

That made her happy! So I have been working on a set of heart-shaped potholders.

Green painter's tape works great for getting those quilting lines spaced evenly! One is finished, one more almost finished. I am using a layer of cotton batting and a layer of Insulbrite. It is very thick and my machine is struggling to go through all the layers, especially where the binding and hanging loop are, but I am almost finished. I don't think I will make these again. I am not enjoying it...at all.

Since the first of the year, most of my days have been cold, cloudy, snowy, icy.

If you click to enlarge this photo of the barn you can see the snow.

Today the sun is finally shining. There are still patches of snow, but once the sun moves that will melt.

Stay safe and well.

Design Wall Monday

 To see what other quilters are working on go to Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

I am making progress on Crimson Poppy.

I have made the blocks for the second week of the Stash Buster Challenge 2021.

There are bonus HST being generated - 8 per block. I am immediately sewing them together. I have no plans for them yet, but I am sure there will be enough to make something.

And, I have started working on piecing together the last exchange project -  A Sparkling Sampler.

I still need to make 50 HST units which I am doing between piecing the blocks and other units together.

Stay safe and well.

Stand Up Sewing

I am giving it a try. At my annual medical appointment in October, I was told everything looked good, except for my blood pressure. It was high. I was told to monitor it daily, lose weight, exercise. If it doesn't come down I will need medication. My blood pressure fluctuates but it usually in the acceptable range. My clothes don't seem to fit any differently so I don't think I have lost weight. If I have it isn't enough to notice, I have stopped using salt, have a cup of coffee with breakfast every morning, then water the rest of the day, cut out snacking, am eating more fruits and veggies. I have a hard time getting exercise. It's cold, snow, icy here and the wind blows most of the time. I do not enjoy any of that for outside exercise. I am trying to go up and down my stairs but my knees don't like that. I tend to sit for hours at the sewing machine. I have everything I need right there.

TV in front of me, cutting and ironing stations to the right. I don't need to get up for much - bathroom breaks and to refill my water glass.

I need to move more. I have been standing up to sew for a little bit every day for the last few days.

I sew a seam, take a couple steps to the iron or turn and take a couple steps to trim or cut. It seems to be working well. I know it really doesn't qualify as exercise, but at least I am moving a little and NOT sitting.

So what am I sewing? I got two blocks made for the Stash Buster Challenge 2021. I cut more this morning.

I made one butterfly block using the RSC color of the month - pink.

I am determined to clear out some of the 'stuff' in my stash this year. I have a lot of small amounts of yarn left from other projects. None of it is really enough to make anything big, like a sweater or afghan. I decided to make hats to donate.

Now I just need to find somewhere to donate them. I used my Hall canister for a model! It worked perfectly.

The weather has not been nice here all year. We got ice, snow, freezing temps, freezing fog, dense fog. It has looked much like this since January 1st. 

It did begin to melt some yesterday but was still foggy, hazy, gloomy.

The sun did come out for a bit today causing the ice on the trees to start to melt and fall.

You can't see it in the photos but it was raining ice chunks for a while! It sounded like drums on the ramp.

Stay safe and well.

First Design Wall Monday of 2021

 To see what other quilters are up to go to Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

I am trying something new - stand up sewing.

I have been thinking about this for a while. I am spending way too much time sitting. I am fortunate enough to have more than one sewing machine and a husband who appreciates that I enjoy my hobby so much. This machine is the one I take to sew days and retreats. Since we haven't been able to have those for almost a year now this machine was not getting used. I set it up at the end of my big ironing board. The iron is to my right and a cutting space is just behind me.

I have started some new projects - like I need new projects, but these are one block a week or one a month.

The first one is Stash Buster Challenge 2021 from Border Creek Station Pattern Company. 

The challenge is to make one (or more) blocks a week. I am using solid white for the background and a mix of teal/turquoise/aqua blues from my stash.

Next is the Rainbow Scrap Challenge from soscrappy. 

This challenge is to use a different color, from stash each month. This month the color is pink. I am making butterfly blocks. I plan to make one a month and see if any more will be needed at the end. 

I will continue to work on Crimson Poppy on my other machine. It is set up in the corner of the living room. 

I rearranged it a little so I can see the TV easier. I have cutting and ironing areas just to the right. I could sit there ALL day. And, I do sit there for several hours which is why I decided I needed a standing option as well.

Stay safe and well.