Color My World Progress

 

Not much sewing getting done this month but-

This past week I made these houses to complete the inner circle of houses for the pattern.

Then joined the 32 houses into pairs in  preparation for next month's download.

 

Progress so far - I got ahead of myself and had to make another house #4.

I sewed two sets wrong so I may change them if I feel it will make a difference when doing the next step.

Have been enjoying playing AZUL, a game that I got for Christmas.

Different and unusual and you can finish the game in under an hour.

I was foggy here today until about 2PM.  

It is amazing how quickly these Camilia plants blossomed out.

I can enjoy both of them from the kitchen window.

Happy Spring.

Working on New Projects

Well I caught up with my first two months of the Color My World BOM.  Just in time to download this month's pattern - 16 more houses - hurrah.

I have been making these 7 inch little crosses on and off.   I have at least 70,  

I plan to sort them into at least two groups and then add to them for a child's quilt and an adult donation quilt eventually.  

And this Exquisite star block is one of my favorite blocks to make.  I have so many 3.5" squares so it is easy just to make a few when I have some spare time. Trying to make this one with no reds - will see how that goes.

Lots of greens and blues.  

Still trying to reorganize my sewing room after moving my Bernina to a spare bedroom and my Janome from the dining room where it has been since Christmas.

 

Two Tops Finished and Tree Butter

Finished adding the borders to my Everyday Mosaic II that I started at the beginning of the pandemic. It needs a good pressing as it has been folded so long.

That's better - the colors look a lot more vivid here.

I made the back from all the blue/grey florals that were left over.  It was a little like making a quilt.

It is 102 by 102".

Ready for a trip to the my little house for quilting.  Plan on quilting this one myself.

Sewed this little Chunky Crosses top together - mostly just to get it out of the way.

It is 54 by 54".  Not sure what I will use for the backing.

Have three more "use up my scraps tops" started to sew on when I just want to sew for fun.

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Recently I saw a simple recipe for Tree Butter and I thought what in the world is that.

Nothing but a pound of lard, a jar (16 oz.) of peanut butter and a 2 pound bag of plain cornmeal.

Warm the lard and peanut butter and stir in the cornmeal. When it solidifies, mash it into the cracks of the tree bark for the birds to eat. 

We are expecting much colder weather this weekend so I made a batch and voila!

Happy Valentines Day to my fine feathered friends too!

 

Fabrics Arrive - No Excuses - New Project

Can't remember the date that I ordered these fabrics for my version of "Color My World". 

 I think this is 22 of the 27 colors they recommend on the pattern, certainly enough to start with.  I will try to get the other 5 colors locally or just use fabrics I already have.  Now I can sew the January and February portions.

I ordered these from Hancock's of Paducah and their website says to allow about 8 days for the order to be filled. I called them at 10 days and they said I was still 2 days out.  They did fill my order on Jan. 29th. I got it Feb. 5th.  Along with another fabric order from Old South Fabrics in TN. which I ordered on Jan 31st.

I have a standard sized mailbox and the mail carrier stuffed, no crammed, them both in my box.  It was difficult to get them out but it was fabric after all.

I ordered this floral  to use as a border on the  the China Mosaic top I started making at the start of the pandemic last March.  I think this is the third border fabric I have ordered for it.  But I am definitely using this one.  The good news is I can use the other pieces as part of the backing. The whites and aqua were just extras.  This is my second order from Old South Fabrics - I really like their service and they are very helpful on the phone.

This is a backing fabric that I ordered from an email ad from Whittle's  Fabrics. They have great prices on the fabrics they sell. It was a quick turnaround on that order.

So yesterday I used it along with 32 extra Friendship Stars to make a backing for the Friendship Circles quilt.  

Next I will see when I can get an appointment with Carole to have it quilted.

This is the last of the  recent fabric orders was from The Fabric Patch in Washington State ( also very helpful on the phone).   I just love these little fabrics on the top.  They will go in my little boy stash for projects for Logan. And I love grunge fabrics - thinking about making a pillow.

Here's a little donation project I have been sewing on now and then.  Made blocks in two sizes 9" and 7.5".   I love the chunky looks of these blocks  - I have 35 made.  I think I will make one more and sew it as a 54" square.  I rarely use 4" squares so I had to cut all these  when I was supposed to be decluttering. BTW the decluttering, while a very good idea, didn't work so well for me.  

We have been having so many dreary or cold days - Cinnamon Bread makes my world seem more cozy !

Made some fresh loaves today.

So good with a cup of hot tea!

 

Friendship Stars Top Finished

Last night - pretty late - I sewed the last of the border sections on 3 more blocks. 

And sewed them all together

It is 88 by 98" and too big to fit on the floor in the den.

I definitely need to do a little more pressing today.

I have a couple of fabrics that  fabric that I hope will work for the back.  Actually they are big enough. 

 I just need to feel that I like them enough.  

Since I ordered mucho fabrics for the Color My World Quilt,

I feel I've treated myself to plenty of goodies this month.  Still waiting for the second order to ship.

I made some samples of this months patterns.

Good thing I did as I put the top of house one on house two and vice versa.

This is the fabric I think I will use for the background - I would like something with a little more white - Still looking around.

Journal Covers and Decluttering

A friend suggested that I do the Declutter Challenge with her on " Just Get It Done Quilts"

Found a bunch of leftover batik blocks and a small stack of journal notebooks that I had bought the last time I made journal covers (2011 - or there about).

So I spent a couple of days and and made 6 journal covers. Gave one as a door prize at Woman's Club Meeting.

Then I found several practice quilting pieces that I had made at classes and at home over the years.

I used a couple of them on top of the washer and dryer to prevent scratching etc.  They are about 2ft. square.

And sorting  through some of my misc. art supply bins I came across the fabric paints that I hadn't used in years so.......................... why not.

 

Normally I would paint on fabric and quilt it after but what's to lose.

 

Then I set them out on the porch to dry while I went for my covid vaccine. 

Came home and trimmed  them down into journal size pieces - but wait now I'll have to buy more journals.  It is truly a vicious circle for me. Need to clean up the sewing space again -

Not getting much decluttering done but having a good time anyway.

And last year's Amaryllis has decided to awaken.

Hurrah!

Friendship Star Circles

Finished all the blocks that I had made into kits sometime back - I had twenty-one. 

They are 18' blocks so when I sew them together,  top will be 72 by 90".

I have been thinking about a border as I finished the last of the blocks.

I had in mind a border of very light stars - rather like ghost stars so I made quite a few of them as I was sewing on the blocks.  

I was thinking of the different circles of friends we have at times in our lives and how we lose touch with some for various reasons.  

But they are still with us in our memories.

However - that was so blah!

I drew up a few ideas and voila.

Much better!

I have 3 more border units to make then on to the next project.  Of course the backing and all but the hard part is done.  It should be about 88 by 98 when finished as I am only bordering three sides. 

Stay tuned for that. 

I have decided to do the Wendy Williams  - Color My World Quilt - from the Quilt Show.

I'm a little late starting and still gathering (read that as shopping for)my fabrics together.

S and I met her when we were in England and her quilt was shown at the Quilt International Show in Birmingham.  This is her Round the Garden quilt.