Slow Spurts

I have been taking a little break from being at the machine for long periods of time.  I do set a timer so I am sure to get up and move around, but after the quilting marathon I just needed to slow down.  Clearing out, rearranging, house work, time with the furkids was mixed with some little spurts of stitching.

I pulled another tote from the stack by the machine and this was in there.  My these were started a long time ago; ribbon blocks with flip corners.  I think I just fell out of love with this because I really had to force myself to finish up these blocks.

This is one of Howard Marcus 'Collection for a Cause' lines - MillBrook.  42 ribbon blocks and 84 hour glass blocks (not trimmed) from the corner snips.  I think I will take these to my next guild meeting and see if someone would like to finish these into a quilt.

Most nights I could be still putting the pedal to the metal, but I have used that time instead to work on my cross stitch piece.  Just a little more backstitching and this one is ready for a wash, blocking, and then framing.

My guild is doing a BOM using various blocks that are to help you improve your skills.  The patterns are charted for 4", 6", 8", 10", and 12" sizes with just cutting instructions so you really have to know your unit/block making to put some of these together.  A few of us hunt the internet for tutorials and instruction to assist some of the others as well as we make them ahead of time to catch errors and suggest tips to help making these.

My SIL gave me a few blue FQs as a thank you for doing a quilt for her and I have a huge tote of blues.  This is the year of blue & white quilts, so it made sense to go with it.

My guild had a program last meeting on a couple of new techniques - Trapunto and Candlewicking.    Kathy did a lot of work prepping for this and had a sample/kit for each member.  I have my little bird stuffed and his echo stitching corded, now I need to add the candlewicking.  

I'm playing with a few ladies in a 'stone soup' project spearheaded by Dawn at SewYouQuilt2.  We are sharing 'ingredients' with the other members for them to make what ever project that inspires them from the packages received.  Some ask for specific blocks, or color, or orphan blocks, etc...  I said " send me your uglies"!    These are a few things I have gotten so far and waiting on a couple packages before I decide where this is going. 

Today will be a slow day with some housework, need to grocery shop (and I don't want to go out in the cold), and get those last few backstitches done on the cross stitch.

Sewingly Yours,
Sharon