Thursday, March 16, 2023

A Stitch a Day Makes the Fidgets Go Away

It's been a busy couple of weeks. We had to leave town for a couple days to attend a cousins funeral and then last weekend, our grandkids came to visit. Yay! We're always up for that. Plus, there was a bridal shower for our new-to-be daughter-in-law. Wedding the end of April in Oklahoma! And our oldest daughter is expecting their first child. So very exciting. Shaping up to be one of those years. I almost turned the commenting off on the blog 'cuz I've been such a terrible blogger lately. It's all I can do to throw up a post once in awhile, much less, properly keep up with postings elsewhere.

Ormes Inspired getting some attention
I feel like the hand quilting has been massively neglected this year and it's been hard to get back into the regular routine of things. It's just one of those things where progress tends to happen very slowly. Then, little by little, that steady bit of effort {several evenings a week} can add up to a whole lotta by the end of the year! The current quilt in the hoop is getting the overall 'stacked hills' stitching treatment and I'm finally, finally closing in on the second row up from the bottom. This is a quilt where I wanted the stitching to mostly stay in the background. We'll see how it looks when more of the top is finished! So far I'm really liking the look and I'm usually fairly indifferent at this point. Crossing my fingers! 

Piddling away on the Hourglass Improv. quilt
Quilting time has definitely been a bit sporadic lately, but so have my moods as per which quilt project seems most interesting to work on. The hourglass quilt is to a point where all the larger hourglass blocks are stitched and now all of the smaller ones are sewn into 4-patch hourglass units too {didn't get a picture of that}. Time to lay it out on the design 'floor' and see where to go next! I just like to make sure auditioning time is mostly distraction free so I'm biding my time waiting on the perfect moment.

Making progress on the 25-Patch HST
I've also started sewing the 25-patch hst quilt blocks into rows. This project feels a little 'meh' at the moment. All the crayon color vibes are getting to me I guess. It's my own fault for trying to make it larger than the inspiration picture though. Just doesn't have the same look and feel as I was intending. Will have to look at it again later when it's all put together and see if my opinion changes any.

The start of Old Fashioned
A couple brand new projects are popping up around here for some reason or another. The cutting phase is getting close to being finished for the old fashioned yellow quilt. It's been a good excuse to use up more of the older fabrics that have been languishing in the stash totes. Don't know why exactly, but I have such a fondness for good cream fabrics. Always have had which means there is always an abundant supply on hand. Really hoping that these mellow yellow fabrics shine with the cream backgrounds and very simple design that's been chosen. Have you ever heard of the Crown block? That's what's happening here. Probably on point, but we'll determine that much later. For now, just need to get the blocks sewn together!

The start of Peace Always
Also, there just isn't nearly enough applique work prepped and ready to go around here. Makes me a little bit antsy! I gave into temptation, grabbed a marinating stack of fabrics and started in on the details. Quite an enjoyable afternoon pondering the exact shape that was needed for a basket, flowers etc. This quilt will be called 'Peace Always' and will be yet another medallion quilt. 'Cuz you know there's never enough of those! And they are so much fun to put together, playing around with all the interesting options available when making the quilt one row bigger. And then another row bigger until the quilt finally screams 'Enough!'. Well, maybe not a scream exactly. It's more like a very firm 'We're done now. You can go away'. Right? 


13 comments:

  1. well we all get busy with family obligations and growing families don't we - sometimes the blogging and quilting needs to set on the back burner for a couple weeks. How many grandchildren will this make - and another wedding too - aren't you lucky with such a growing family.

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  2. I love the elephant quilt. Your applique work reminds me of Jean Ray Laury's applique shapes. She was an early pioneer in the quilting revival in the mid1970s. I loved all of her quilts and even tried hand applique with my little daughter designing the blocks. I like free form applique so much more than formal traditional applique and I think that is why I like your quilts so much.
    I hope your yellow quilt works out like your vision of it. I love yellow.
    Congratulations to the additions to your family. More people to happily make quilts for.

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  3. Definitely a busy but enjoyable time ahead for you Audrey. Love the elephant, all that applique. Your 25 patch is looking exciting, I'm looking forward to seeing the finished top when you have your free time back again in your busy life.

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  4. For some unknown reason, my first thought when you shared the new appliqué block and that it would become part of a medallion quilt was . . . the "meh" crayon color HSTs. Might be worth a giggle to put the two close to each other to see if they play well in real life. Happy to read about the new growth in your family - like Wanda said, more excuses to make and share quilts! Quiltdivajulie

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  5. Sounds like a busy time but it's all happy things (except for the funeral, of course). I hope you have a lovely time preparing for all those significant events.

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  6. Your Ormes quilt is looking great, I love that slither of pink AMH fabric in the 1st border! And those 25-patch HSTs are looking good too. You commented that you are not too excited with them (yet), so I'm keen to see where you end up with these blocks.

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  7. That elephant and his little red flower is just too cute. Congratulations on a wedding and new grand baby. Don't be discouraged that your quilting has slowed down. Those spare moments do add up.

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  8. You're in the midst of one of the most rewarding times in life, seeing your children grown and establishing their own families. It's all so precious. I always love seeing your progress on the Ormes quilt!

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  9. Love the Ormes quilt and I like the picture with the 25 patch. It will grow in another beautiful quilt I think.

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  10. I am so happy to see the Ormes Inspired quilt in the hoop! That is one of my all time favorites. I'm hoping you are feeling better! It is sometimes a struggle to keep up with my blog reading but I am always so inspired when I visit yours! Looks like Peace Always is going to be a winner too! And yes, we all need to have more applique at the ready for the slow times. ?What are "slow times"?? LOL

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  11. Exciting plans for sure! And I like your hourglass piecing, wonderful and you are right, 'little bit by little bit' gets things accomplished.

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  12. You say you are working slowly but there always seems to be so much great stuff going on. If any of my big kids see fit to reproduce I will be so excited I may give up quilting altogether, so I am glad to see you are managing to enjoy your lovely family and still do the odd bit of sewing here and there.

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  13. Oops, previous comment was from me.

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