Quilting

Hello virtual quilty friends! In case you’ve been wondering why you haven’t seen any posts from me since July, it’s because my life has taken a detour. When last I posted, I had done my first carpal tunnel surgery, had tried sewing a couple days, then was having my second surgery in August. The day I was going to have those stitches removed, I had a catastrophic fall that fractured or sprained all four of my limbs! I was bedridden for months, couldn’t dress or feed myself, & definitely wasn’t sewing. So all my rainbow scrappy plans for 2022 are out the window! A week into my recovery, my husband decided we weren’t going to wait the 5 years until his retirement to move out of our multi-level home that has been getting more difficult for me to navigate with my arthritis. So he started packing us up, donating & throwing stuff out, & moving stuff to storage units. Yes, it’s been a journey. I’m finally back on my feet, walking with a cane, & doing some sewing. Yippee! Next week we are moving to a tiny one-bedroom apartment while we sell this house & buy a new home. I am taking my sewing machine to the apartment (of course), but with very little room, I’m not taking giant boxes of scraps to make scrappy rainbow quilts. I kept out 2 of my 2022 projects that had the pieces already cut and all the rest are kits that I can just cut & sew. So that will be my quilting journey until we move into a home & unpack my studio. I’ll follow along with you & post what I’m doing, but it might not be the same colors as you!

My current status for the six five RSC2022 projects:

• 4 red, aqua, & yellow, 5 pink, 6 green, 10 blue blocks from the Tula Pink 100 Modern Quilt Blocks (on hold)
• 1 red, aqua, yellow, pink, green, & blue twinkling friendship block inspired by Deb A. (on hold)
• 3 red, 2 blue, 2 pink, 2 green, & 2 purple Shine blocks from the free pattern by Melissa Corry (on hold)
• 14 red, 16 aqua, 4 yellow, 14 pink, 6 dark green, 14 blue, 12 purple, 16 orange blocks for Sweet Kisses by Gigi’s Thimble (need green)
• 7 red, aqua, yellow, pink, green & blue blocks, plus matching border string blocks for Catching Rainbows by Bonnie Hunter (on hold)

July has not been a great month for sewing, which is why I haven’t posted in a while. The first week was a bust because of family commitments, then the second week was trying to get some things done before my carpal tunnel surgery. That surgery has blown the rest of the month. During that second week I was able to make a little progress. I finished the pink pixellated heart & got it to the quilter as it’s a Christmas gift & the year is half over. I also got the Festival of Trees auction quilt theme & pattern finalized with my partners, so purchased all the fabric to be ready for when I can use a rotary cutter again.

My virtual quilt partner & I finished the Cookie Cutter tops & I need to piece the back & get it to the quilter. Our other partner is back from the humanitarian service mission she & her husband have been on for the last year, so we cut out a diamond quilt called Cascade before my surgery. I managed to do some chain piecing on the triangles & sides with them this week so we are going on that project. I’m using a fat quarter pack of fabric a friend brought back from Hawaii for my birthday several years ago. I’ve hoarded it for the perfect project & this is it!

My current status for the six five RSC2022 projects:

• 4 red, aqua, & yellow, 5 pink, 6 green, 10 blue blocks from the Tula Pink 100 Modern Quilt Blocks (need purple)
• 1 red, aqua, yellow, pink, green, & blue twinkling friendship block inspired by Deb A. (need purple)
• 3 red, 2 blue, 2 pink, 2 green, & 2 purple Shine blocks from the free pattern by Melissa Corry (on track)
• 14 red, 16 aqua, 4 yellow, 14 pink, 6 dark green, 14 blue, 12 purple blocks for Sweet Kisses by Gigi’s Thimble (on track)
• 7 red, aqua, yellow, pink, green & blue blocks, plus matching border string blocks for Catching Rainbows by Bonnie Hunter (need purple)

Because I work so many projects at once, there is a lot of sewing going on with projects in various stages. In the works: a monochrome gray called Ellipsis, Guiding Stars kit with Songbird fabric, chandelier blocks as LE project, September Sky by Bonnie Hunter, Rocky Road to Grayson by Bonnie Hunter, and a pink pixellated heart. I float back & forth on what I want to work on, then get to the point where I just want to finish something, then off I go to get ‘er done. Crazy, I know!

Currently waiting for binding: On the Move, the dark gray plus quilt, woodland critters row quilt

Currently at the quilter: the Lone Star from plains&pines, and the Rockabilly Swing (snail trail) from Bonnie Hunter

My current status for the six five RSC2022 projects:

• 4 red, aqua, & yellow, 5 pink, 6 green, 10 blue blocks from the Tula Pink 100 Modern Quilt Blocks (on track)
• 1 red, aqua, yellow, pink, green, & blue twinkling friendship block inspired by Deb A. (on track)
• 3 red, 2 blue, 2 pink, 2 green Shine blocks from the free pattern by Melissa Corry (on track)
• 14 red, 16 aqua, 4 yellow, 14 pink, 6 dark green, 14 blue blocks for Sweet Kisses by Gigi’s Thimble (on track)
• 7 red, aqua, yellow, pink, green & blue blocks, plus matching border string blocks for Catching Rainbows by Bonnie Hunter (on track)

In late 2016, this quilt began the long journey that finally ended this week. What???? My two quilting partners & I attended a class at our local quilt shop (long out of business now) to learn the hand-applique techniques involved in making this Sue Daley quilt called “Fun at the Fair”. We went for several classes to learn all the techniques, then were on our own to finish. I
fell in love with the handwork & was the first to finish all the blocks, by a long shot. But I hate doing sashing & I had trouble with the keystones. They are supposed to be appliqued circles over each intersection, but I didn’t have large enough pieces left from my charm packs to make the circles. So in frustration, I set it aside to try & figure out what to do instead. In the meantime, one friend finally finished her blocks & got it together, quilted & done. Then eventually the other did the same. I was left with finished blocks, all the fabric needed for backing & binding, but no finished quilt. I still hadn’t solved the keystone problem & didn’t want to deal with it. During COVID lockdown in 2020, I got out several old projects to finish up & this was one. I realized I had enough charm pack pieces left to cut small keystones, re-size the sashing pieces, & get it done. Honestly, it was not
hard! Then it waited for awhile because I had to get so many gift quilts to the quilters. End of 2021 it got quilted, beginning of 2022 it got binding, & this week it got finished!

My current status for the six five RSC2022 projects:

• 4 red, aqua, & yellow, plus 5 pink blocks from the Tula Pink 100 Modern Quilt Blocks (need green)
• 1 red, aqua, yellow, pink & green twinkling friendship block inspired by Deb A. (on track)
• 3 red, 2 blue, 2 pink, 2 green Shine blocks from the free pattern by Melissa Corry (on track)
• 14 red, 16 aqua, 4 yellow, 14 pink, 6 dark green blocks for Sweet Kisses by Gigi’s Thimble (on track)
• 7 red, aqua, yellow, & pink blocks, plus matching border string blocks for Catching Rainbows by Bonnie Hunter (need green; cut & started)

My current status for the six five RSC2022 projects:

• 4 red, aqua, & yellow, plus 5 pink blocks from the Tula Pink 100 Modern Quilt Blocks (on track)
• 1 red, aqua, yellow, & pink twinkling friendship block inspired by Deb A. (on track)
• 3 red, 2 blue, 2 pink Shine blocks from the free pattern by Melissa Corry (on track)
• 14 red, 16 aqua, 4 yellow, & 14 pink blocks for Sweet Kisses by Gigi’s Thimble (on track)
• 7 red, aqua, yellow, & pink blocks, plus matching border string blocks for Catching Rainbows by Bonnie Hunter (on track)