This and That 3/28/21

 A good evening to you. I've wanted to get this done for hours, but things kept coming up.  Where to begin?

1.  First, my Stay at Home Round Robin is a flimsy, and I've begun quilting it. This was only my second Round Robin.  I really liked this process of the project staying at home.  Made me put on my thinking cap and having to report in kept me motivated. It measures 36" by 40". I wanted it to be a size where I could hang it in my living room. Thank you so much, Gail and all those involved in making this happen!

More on the quilting later.  I'm on the flying geese round right now.

2.  Latest from hubby - he's always showing me his plants in bloom. Isn't this a lovely bouquet?

3. I have a finish!

This is my February Color Block quilt.  It was going to be a baby quilt, but I decided to make hearts and make it my Valentine wall hanging. One for me.   This quilt is part of my joining the year long Color Block Quilt Along by Debbie Brown. 

Debbie gives us a pattern each month based on the 16 patch block of scraps.  What I love about this is that she includes a video of a quilt motif suggestion of how to machine quilt our quilts. I used her bacon lines in the outside border, and the flower and loops in the light beige print.  The white sashing was just in FM loops.  Here's a close-up of the front:

4.  I'm participating in Shelly Pagliai's Studio Organizing Challenge. Actually, I've only been able to do one and it was the first one - I'm 3 behind - sigh.  But one is better than none. Our first challenge was to get rid of an annoying pile.  Here's my before pile that annoyed me daily because every time I dealt with the window, something fell.

I took care of all the things on it (ie - found new homes for most) and this is what I got in return:

Now I have room for the cute sewing machine a dear, thoughtful friend gifted me, and the little scissors I use all the time in a convenient spot. Much better than lost under stuff on the cutting table.


5.  This Sunday Holy Week began.  If you missed my previous post, go back and see a powerful and moving video for Palm Sunday.












Palm Sunday, 2021



A powerful message - the why of Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday.

On to My Stay at Home Round Robin

 Haven't given up - just way behind.  But I'm plugging away at this one:

I'm combining rounds 4 and 5.  I have the two side borders cut.  In the meantime, I'll be thinking of how I can incorporate log cabins which is round 6.  It's 25" x 31" now.  I'm trying to keep it wall hanging size.

This is all happening at Gail's blog  Go see all those that are way farther along than mine. They're a treat.

My Day at Dust Off a Quilt Book Blog Hop.

 It's here! The blog hop started Monday, and today is my day for posting the book I chose and the project.  Thank you Bea at BeaQuilter.com .  You'll find all the participants listed there.  This is my second time 


joining this fun hop.  Since I have over 200 books, time to start using them.  This year I picked
This is not an old book. Published in 2006.  I bought this book because of the quilt on the cover. I saw a quilt made and published by Bonnie Hunter in her String Fling book.  Here's the one:

and thought it looked enough like the lily in Bonnie's. So I thought I would make a sample block into a table topper and see if I liked it. 

I've already put it to use in the living room.
Here's the back after I quilted it and before binding. I'm going to bring the back fabric to the front and bind it that way. I usually do all my wall hangings and table toppers that way unless I make them reversible.

This was an interesting project and I learned a lot.  First I got to practice paper piecing - not my favorite piecing technique. I also practiced making bias stems and string blocks. In putting the block units together I figured out a way to keep seams facing the direction they should while sewing. Here's what I mean: 
   There were a lot of seams to keep track of. It would have taken a heck of a lot of pins to keep them correct.
After some thinking, I decided to lay the units right sides together and then pin a piece of paper to the string unit.

Turning it over, I sewed the seam from the flower unit side so I would be sure those seams laid straight.
Then I folder the paper over the seam to crease it and make it easier to remove. 
The block finished at 15" square.  I'm glad I made it because it taught me several things. The main thing is that I don't want to make this quilt any more. Way too much work. But then Bonnie's pattern might be easier to make those lilies. It could be a leader and ender project. Also, this book was a surprise. 
The subtitle is Quilting with Treasured Fabrics. It shows you how to use repurposed fabrics from clothes you own - such as wedding and bridesmaid's dresses, late grandmother's day dresses, old flannel shirts, dress shirts,  and men's ties. There were two quilt examples of each type of recycled garments. I found the uses creative and colorful.  So is there someone out there who'd like to have this book now?  Free to whoever wants it for the $3.50 price of shipping.  If more want it, I'll have a drawing.

Be sure to visit all the other blog hoppers.  Thanks for coming by! Blessings,








All Comes to A Halt

 Sighhhh....  While I was quilting I  ran my finger, somehow, under the needle. Went right through my left index fingernail right through to...