Ringing in the new year (late of course) with a small finish, a completed flimsy, and some possibilities. Let's just ignore last year's accomplishments since they were so few and far between. Nothing to see here!
Starting the new year, I pulled a stack of lovely flannels gifted by Lizzy (Gone to the Beach) from a few of her recently completed projects (thanks Lizzy!). The quilt ministry bins have been sadly lacking in completed quilts since last fall's auction and the local flooding that uprooted a number of folks in the hurricane (Bonnie?) that hit just before the Carolina disaster called Helene. My plan was to cut 6-1/2 inch squares of the plaid flannels and see how large a quilt could be made from them. Here is the first finish of this year, lap quilt size about 50 inches square, already designated for a chemo patient friend of one of our church members.
and the back
I fell in love with Jolene's (
Blue Elephant Stitches) Hollow Stars quilts, and for the past couple months have been making star blocks during our quilt ministry meetings. I began this flimsy with a small fat quarter bundle of 8 or 9 mostly blue/green (and one bright, bright orange) prints and expanded from there with enough to make this top, now pinned and ready for some quilting love. Haven't yet decided whether it will be hand quilted
One block with the last of my most favorite Paris fabric:
I can see more of these blocks in my future since they're a fun, easy make and each block takes only a bit of fabric. Noticing that my stash doesn't seem to dwindle as much as I'd like but there sure aren't many large pieces anymore!
I'm determined to empty at least one or two fabric bins this years, so next on the list for piecing at our meetings are these two brighter than bright tops in the making.
and this one
I'm thinking about adding a bit of applique in the black blocks of this second one before stitching the blocks together. More to come.
I know that Blogger has been messing with our ability to comment, and to have comments come to our emails for response, etc. Has anyone figured out the magic formula to change settings so that we can once again receive comments in our email? I've tried the old way of changing the email address, then resetting to my gmail account as before, but nothing seems to work. Any help greatly appreciated! Also it seems my comments to other blogs are being listed as 'no reply blogger'. Blogger seems to be going to great lengths to discourage us from using it, not caring that some of us are old and not computer savvy enough to move an entire blog to another format. Very discouraging.
I've been thinking about Bramble Blooms III but haven't yet begun the design sketching process. Hoping to begin tackling that soon.
The Polar Vortex is heading our way, but for now the temperature outside is nearing 40 degrees and beginning the January thaw. I don't expect the snow to completely disappear before the bitter cold descends on us tomorrow evening, we may find ourselves walking on top of the icy remainder before mid-week. Stay safe and warm, and enjoy this winter quilting time!
