What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

 Hi everyone, and happy last weekend of January! Didn't we just start January? Holy cow, I just don't know where the time goes. All I know is that it is never long enough when I'm trying to sleep, or when I'm trying to work on something really important with a deadline. Maybe the deadlines are why I can't sleep. What do you think?

Every year, I look forward to Bonnie Hunter's Mystery quilt which begins the day after Thanksgiving here in the US. It is fun to quilt along with so many others from around the world.

I've completed Clues 1 and 2 of this year's mystery--Rhododendron Trail.

Rhododendron Trail (Clues 1 and 2)

I'm looking forward to seeing how this mystery comes together. 

If you would like to participate, it is easy! Simply visit Bonnie's blog and click on the Rhododendron Trail tab at the top. All the instructions will be posted there each Friday. There is ...

 Hi all! How's it going? We are hot and humid, but, you know, it's July. Have to expect that, right?  Break out the popsicles and ice cream, because hot food is out of the question right now.

 

 Hi everyone! I don't know about you, but we have started to get out and about some more, but not quite normal yet, and this week we traveled to our nephew's high school graduation. They held it in person! In a cicada-free area of the country, too. It was a bit like a family reunion, and most of us spent some time sobbing over lost time. It was so great to see my sister and niece and nephew, and my parents were there, and some siblings, too. And J. got safely graduated and is off to college soon ...

 Hi everyone! The wind is about to blow me off my chair today. How about you? Holy cow, the wind is really strong out there. On the upside, the temperature got over 80 degrees one day this week, but then it fell back to a more normal temperature. I can feel the summer coming on already, can't you?

Today I am showing off my new RSC project. I know what you're thinking-- do you really *need* a new project, Mari? Well, yes, yes I do! I have sooo many scraps. Sometimes they make me tense because they seem ...

 Every year, I enjoy creating a version of Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt. This year, her quilt was called Grassy Creek.

Grassy Creek [AKA October Picnic]  (98" x 98")

I used Bonnie's colors of red, orange, gold, and grey; however, I substituted blue for her green. I call this October Picnic because this was my color inspiration photo and the palette I created.

The quilt went together well, thanks to Bonnie's excellent writing of instructions. You can see some of the steps I took by clicking on the "Grassy Creek" label on the right pane of this blog ...

 Hi everyone! How are things down your way, as they say? (They do say that, don't they?) Things here are going well enough. It's been a bit chillier and more seasonal for January, which is fine because it hasn't snowed. Last Wednesday I binge-watched the inauguration and all the events, so that was a fun day. I did not get my steps in that day. In the sewing room, I'm working on something I've started calling "the thousand hour project." It's darned cute, but it's taking forever!

Today I just have a few ...

 I have emptied a project box with this finish. I finished flannel #2 his week. It feels so good to move another UFo to done. I finished flannel #1 last week as part rainbow scrap challenge at so scrappy.

46x58- 7 yards of fabric

My rainbow projects for 2021 with links:

tiny houses

postage stamp psp20

ice cream

waffle stamp blocks

love pillowcases

2 pink ...

My ufo # 2 and #3 for the rainbow scrap challenge at so scrappy was 2 pink flannel baby quilts. I didn't know, when I opened the box, if I had just collected the fabric, or, had it cut for what I needed. I saw labels on the fabric, so I was excited to learn it was already cut and ready to sew.

there are 2 quilts cut out in the box

I had all the letters I needed for the pattern -quilt #1

I arranged them on tray with all the letters showing

I haven't been able to add to the pink drawer of 2 1/2 inch strips in a long time. It is full. I noticed some red had worked it's way into the drawer when I wasn't looking, too. I have a new rainbow scrap challenge block I want to make to use from this drawer and help clean and organize it.

The first step was to divide the strips into width of fabric strips and shorter. I was curious about how many would fall into each category. I grabbed a part of the pile for the ...

I have two postage stamp blocks - psp20 - my goal is 5 new every month this year. It's hard to tell, but these are 2 different pinks. I bought a honey bun especially for making these blocks, but, it has disappeared. So, I will be scrounging through my limited stash of solids. No problem. Maybe, if I pretend I am not interested in finding it, it will show up again. LOL

tiny houses

I made the tiny houses from 2 inch strip bin. I look for the shortest strip and cut it 2 1/2 inches and 3 1/2 ...

Happy New Year! 

I hesitate to say it, since I said it last year, and look what happened.

Pink is the first color of the year for the rainbow scrap challenge. I hope to follow a plan for working on this challenge this year.

1. grab color wire basket and sort

 I keep my fabric chunks in wire baskets by color. Some baskets are in tidy shape, others, not so much. Pink is very tidy and full.

2. decide ufo by color -prioritize as #1

pink -2 love pillowcases, 2 baby flannel quilts, zuckerwaite ( any progress is progress)

3. make ...

 So far, I'm keeping up with the clues in Bonnie Hunter's Grassy Creek mystery.

Haven't trimmed the dog ears yet!

It is a lot of fun, and it is not too late to start!

Every sew often, I have to do a little cleaning up so I can find what I'm looking for. These drawers are from IKEA and came with their own stand, but my handy husband made frames for them so I could use them in the walk in closet in my sewing room.

Summer in France

Hi everyone! Back to Greece... and to my blog after a long summer in France. I am still busy there restoring my 19th century summer house bought five years ago. I love doing this job and especially  decorating, with the drawback that it keeps me temporarily away from quilting. 

I have sent most of my quilts, the antique ones and those done by me, from Greece to France, with the aim of a future exhibition, but not only : my house is going to be filled with quilts on beds, on couches, hanged on walls...

The above picture ...

 Hi everyone, and happy September! Really, it's September. I usually really like September, but I feel like it should be May right now, so I'm all discombobulated. But school seems to be going well, thank heavens, and I'm kind of starting to relax about it. The students are awesome right now and are pretty much game for almost anything, although they hate that their cameras have to be on all the time. Hey, it's a rule, and if I have to be on camera, so do you. Seems fair, right?

So, it's been very busy ...

Happy fourth of July. May God bless America.

Last Saturday, we lost power during a short thunderstorm. When we lose power, we also lose water and flush toilets. I didn't get a chance to post the last of my pink projects for the rainbow scrap challenge. And, I didn't get a chance to visit other blogs for my weekly inspiration. I really missed that.
I make the wonky stars from 2 inch scraps and leftover triangle pieces.

I thought the best next step for the dresden quilt would be to cut this bag of dresdens I bought at a quilt show. If I was going to use them at all, I would want to start adding the fabrics at the first to make the variety look more consistent. There were both blue and pink in the bag, but I was only interested in the pink.

Hello everyone! How are you all doing? Hanging in there?  I ventured out into the previously-closed world once this week, and it was odd.  There are a lot of empty shelves at Target, folks.  Thankfully, Mr. Academic Quilter now has a replenished supply of essential snacks, so it looks like we may be good for a while. I did go to a farmer's market, too, which was a very happy experience. Tomatoes that taste like tomatoes!

I also made my way to the sewing room a few times. I may have finally gotten all of the fabric that I ...