Tiny Strips are Good for Consuming Stash

I pulled out every suitable fabric from the scrap basket to make 1x4" strips...

to put together Pick Up Sticks for the Jo's Little Women class:

Being delighted with these little 3" squares, I decided to use them for the setting for the set of 17 Jo's Little Women Club swap blocks:

and I may add more of the same for a scalloped border:

This is quite the stash busting project. Only now I'm three blocks behind on Dear Jane :-).

Block a Block

Have been making blocks for Stars Across the Garden #1 and #2 and Dear Jane:






on my Stars Across the Garden #1:

Son, home from school: "(doubtfully) Daring, Mom" [and he's color-blind].
Me: "(happy) Wonderfully Pennsylvania."

on my Lori Smith:

Son: "Isn't it kind of plain?"
Me: "(blissfully) Totally eighteenth-century."

B6

View from the kitchen sink, where I should oftener be.

This is an advanced level Dear Jane block; definitely a challenge. After sewing and unsewing, got it done only to realize at last that there wasn't much contrast. Did this one and like it much better. So I'll have quite a nice block in my Orphan Block collection.

Hey, have you all seen the Flickr album for group photos of Paducah?
http://www.flickr.com/groups/paducahquilts/
I have been trying to locate the online streaming site that is filmed at the Paducah show...can anybody send me the link? I've googled every possible combination I can think of and no luck. You'd think there would be a link on the AQS website but if it's there, it is eluding me.

Embrace Each Day

Oh, I like it so far. Better stick a flower on it quick and get 'er quilted. Thank you to Marcie and Dawn and Judy for inspiration.

Sweet Little Logs

My House Party in bright Woodstocks so far. Ran out of fabric and waiting for reinforcements...


Uh oh somebody has been quilting 24/7 to the exclusion of everything else. Finally got it mowed, though. My son, who used to be good for a laugh or two, has been under pressure trying to wind up his first year at college and has been basically invisible and silent. There was a rare sighting on Sunday, however, and he promised to mow the lawn for me all this summer. Thank goodness.

I love my Indian Hawthorne...

and now the poor irises can bloom since I finally got the dratted tree taken down over them...

Oh, and the lilac bush. Such a comfort to a homesick Northerner.

And am making Cheri Saffiote's Embrace Each Day. What fun to make these log cabin blocks.

Friday

So hard to get a cute picture of this cat o'mine. But he is a darling. When he isn't scary.


The next two Dear Jane blocks, love 'em, love 'em. Did the second one the lazy way just by piecing.

Don't the pattern pieces from it look just like little dancing feet??

And am working on a new project using brights using my House Party pattern.

Blocks and Punchin'

Well, the marathon quilting week-end for me took the form of catching up with the Dear Jane group; how I love doing these blocks. There are now an even dozen:

I've been putting tiny bits of the fabrics used on paper and will see how long I can go without repeating a fabric from stash.

Also worked on two more needlepunch designs:

Block Sets; One Helps with Stash Reduction

Everybody in the Little Quilts' Jo's Little Women night class (there are three sessions now) was simply astounded as we began to look through our packet of swap blocks last night. Each and every one is so gorgeous and delectable. Just look at these. I can't think how I will assemble them. I do like the very dark Jo "little faces" fabric with them. But I just don't know. My photo was taken in haste and does not show how pretty they are; enlarge it, though, that helps.

Having Anina's Dear Jane tutorials to work along with was just too good an opportunity to pass up, so I finally began Dear Jane blocks after thinking about it for years. I am armed with my Dear Jane ruler set and Dear Jane software. These are so much fun to make I can't believe it. This will be such a good stash reduction measure ("tall oaks from little acorns grow"), because I will get every piece from stash.

The Shakers Help Out

[an old photo taken at the Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill back in the 70s]

I heard a few chirps of disappointment from fellow swapees that the basket design had been changed for the Jo Morton swap, so I girded my quilting loins...

...and made the original baskets, while listening for inspiration to one of my favorite shows, PBS' "The Shakers", about ten times over. As Mother Ann Lee said, "do all your work as though you had a thousand years to live and as you would if you knew you must die tomorrow". And they're done!

Punch

The punched finger has been preventing much precision sewing, and time has run out, so the swap block design has become the above, the same basket with a simple handle top. However, things have gone backwards since I only have the one above finished, since simple handle tops have their complexities.

I discovered that the fat band-aid on the pierced finger (whose hand does nothing but rest underneath the hoop) is a perfect cushion for needlepunch, however, so I made Cat on Chenille and in fact have the pattern available: