Progress on Old Project

In December I got out a very old project, started years ago while teaching at a quilt shop and rescuing fabric scraps from the waste basket for scrap quilts. This Joseph's Coat began with the templates from an Oxmoor House series publication which included the plastic templates with the instructions. I used these scraps for the ovals, and began on the journey to hand-piece a quilt top. When I got my pieces out I found I had about 3 circles pieced together, and a pile of cut out shapes.

I cut many more pieces in December and January, and then began to make units of 3 ovals with a center, mixing all of the old pieces I had cut in with the new ones so they could be scattered throughout the quilt top. It's interesting how fabric styles and colors change and how ones collection of scrap fabric differs through the years.

This week I was finally able to finish one row of the quilt (of seven) and got it pressed. Through the years I have learned much more about seam allowance and how to get my points more sharp. I was amazed that the row lies quite flat (so far) and that I just might be able to make a success of this quilt.
I have it flat so far, and for the most part the colors are working together. I have more work to do in getting sharp points, and I will gain plenty of practice as the quilt progresses. I'm very slow at the stitching, but only one can be taken at a time, so stitch by stitch, I'll continue on.

St. Pats Day

I called my family in NH tonight to check on healing from surgery on my Son. My little Sofia told me that I had forgotten to mail them something. I asked what, and she replied I had forgotten their pillowcases. Mom. Joanna, said that nothing had been said to her. I'm glad that the children are looking forward to my pillowcase gifts, and that is the good news. My injury prevented me from stitching out the designs I had created, and that is the bad news. However, there will be a St. Pat's day next year, and that, too, is good news! Meanwhle, another holiday is coming, and I purchased the "perfect" fabric for new sets of pillowcases. They'll be welcome when mailed to NH a coming spring day!

March-ing Along

My granny square odyssey is continuing, and I completed my 6th afghan last week. With a huge plastic storage tote full of completed squares, I have plenty to keep my busy as I stitch afghans together. I have purchased all the black yarn in one JoAnn Fabrics and two WalMart stores now, and it's almost time to make the rounds again.

Winter is slowly changing to spring, but we can never tell what season it is. Just as I have been getting anxious to start digging in the dirt again I had a fall (not that unusual), but pain has kept me confined. I've been happy to have those squares near by to work on.

A quilt celebration project has been my main focus for the last few months, and I have five new quilt tops ready to be basted and quilted. I designed a sampler with large scale blocks to feature novelty prints. A day-long public invited sew-in was successful and pictures can be seen at www.newfriendsquilters.blogspot.com.

The fabrics shown in the corner will soon be used to create similar quilts. The baby to lap-size quilts are all to be donated along with others made by our quilt group.

A quilt group associate commented that she likes my idea of "cookies and milk" and is starting to cut multiples of blocks while she has the fabrics out. She has decided that two blocks made alike at the same time makes for more quilts much more quickly. She's adopting my "use it up" theory, and in the pictures (link above) she has a stack of her quilts made with sampler blocks to show the results of her work.

I look forward to warmer weather and the ability to sit at the machine again. There are quilts waiting for me!