Two more blocks done

Three things to be happy about:
(1) straw hats for summer
(2) sweet, fresh milk (I drink soy milk)
(3) the silky texture of tofu

I made the March and April blocks for the Quilt Doodle BOM - still sticking with the black-and-white color scheme:

March - rail fence



April - ball game



I paper-pieced the "ballgame" block, it just seemed easier than fiddling with eighth-inch measurements.  The center is a reject from January's block - it jusssssst fit the space!  That little heart might drive me nutty though (it's kilted just a bit too much), so I'll probably applique something else on top of it. 

This will make a cute little wall hanging when it's done, I think black and white is such a classic, can't miss combination.

I just finished listening (again) to two very good Connie Willis novels from her "Oxford Time Travel" series - Blackout and All Clear. 

If you're not familier with the series, it's about a group of historians from the future (I think its the year 2060?) who travel back in time to signficant historical events to observe and record certain aspects of the event.  In this case, three historians have travelled back to WWII London during the blitz, something goes wrong and they're trapped in 1949.  Enemy planes are dropping bombs all over the place; they know where the bombs will fall and they can avoid those areas - but only up to a certain date, which is coming up fast!

I don't want to say any more but if you like a good great book that keeps you on the edge of your seat, check these two out - you'll be glad you did! 

That's all for now, have a great Wednesday, so forth and sew on...

Playing catch-up

Three things to be happy about:
(1) stacks of new magazines
(2) a leisurely pace
(3) someone with your last name winning the lottery, and realizing you're her favorite long-lost niece

Oh well, one could wish!

I decided to do the Hello Moon BOM but I never really got started, so I yesterday I played catch up and made the first three blocks.  The pretty background fabric is from Robert Kaufman:


Full Moon



Moon and star

 This is actually the first one I did, then I realized some of the grey I used is too dark.  The moon actually has a grin but you can't see it -  I need to be aware of how I place the pieces.


Moon and earth

What's up with the earth's crooked grin, looks like it has a toothache!  I'm making the faces with my sewing machine rather than hand embroidering them. 

The blocks are 6-1/2" square, they'll make a cute wall hanging when they're all done! 

I'm seeing 16-patch blocks everywhere, so I made a few using African fabrics:

I think this will be a very small piece, I've made about a dozen blocks and I'm convinced a better approach would be to limit my fabric choices.  Some of the combinations, although they contrast nicely, make a too-dark block when viewed from a distance.  Sometimes those large-patterned African fabrics can be a bit tricky to work with!

Well that's all for now, enjoy your Monday, sew forth and sew on!

Quilt doodles February BOM

Three things to be happy about:
(1) winter squash
(2) quilted hangers
(3) Burt's Bees honey lip balm

I'm a bit late doing the Quilt Doodles BOM this month because I wanted to print out the pdf to take to my sewing room, and I hadn't installed my printer - my bad!  It was so unbelievably easy to install I wonder why I procrastinated in the first place.  Of course before the new install I went in and deleted each and every HP program on my PC.  I knew some of it was useless, and I didn't want to be confused later on about what I really needed or what could be deleted to free up space - so I wiped it all out!  I figured the new install would give me everything I needed.

So ... Cindy has named this month's block the Garden Pinwheel, another pretty one!  The central motif is a flower (hence the "garden" in the name, I think).  I'm sticking with my black-and-white theme, but I chose to use a heart in a third color for the central motif.

When I finished putting it together, I didn't like the results - that middle square needs some serious work! 



I'm going to run upstairs and make another center... 'scuse me a sec while I doodle around with it!

Okay, I'm back with a new center! 

I considered using blue or red, and I even went with a gold color because I thought it would look good.  But as you can see I used the same black-and-white that I used for the spokes in the pinwheel, and I also used her flower - I think it looks great!  It's sorta iffy to choose a third color, not knowing what the other blocks will look like, but that's the nature of a BOM... sometimes it's also a mystery!

I've added this one to the 2013 BOM flickr group.
Have a great Wednesday, sew forth and sew on...

Starting the year with a BOM

Three things to be happy about:
(1) a TV show worth watching
(2) romaine salad with caeser parmigiano yogurt dressing
(3) barbequed ribs

 As I was working on a quilt block yesterday, my neighbor Mike popped in with some ribs he'd just barbecued.  He has a smoker and a drum-type bbq out back, and he uses a dry rub on his ribs - yum!


It's been awhile since I've participated in any bloggy stuff because I needed to back off and minimize, but now I'm at a point where I can get back into the swing of things. I'm getting in on the Quilt Doodles 2013 BOM, it sounds like fun!  You can click the button on the right hand side to get to her site; she has a page tab for the 2013 BOM.

I thought I'd dig into my black and white stash for this BOM, since I'm not sure what each months' block will be... white-and-black for the background, and black-and-white for the foreground.  If I need a third color I always have the option of using a solid or textured black.

January's BOM is the Monkey Wrench; for some reason I've never made one before - hmmm...  First you have to pay attention, though - I cut my units 1/8" too small the first time but luckily I caught it before I started sewing!  Not used to that 7/8" deal.

It's an easy block to put together, I think another name for it is the Snail's Trail.  So here's the finished block...

black and white is always a classic combination!  I'm adding it to the 2013 BOM Flickr group here

Have a great Monday, sew forth and sew on til later...