Star light, star bright...

...so done with stars tonight.

I need to make 44 small (4.5 inch) stars. 40 with a print in the center and 4 with no print that will be the center in larger star blocks. I have them about a third made.

I also made these 8 star blocks. Do you see the star points?

There isn't a lot of contrast between my medium and dark fabrics. Hopefully once the corners are added the star points will show up more.

This little girl showed up in my backyard yesterday...

She didn't pay any attention to me, but I think she really wanted to get closer to Bella who was watching her like a hawk through the screen of the sliding door. She helped herself to the flowers on the hosta next to her and then went on her merry way.

Good Excuses?

Other than about a half hour today, I haven't touched my sewing machine for almost two weeks.  Does this look like a good excuse?

How about hanging pictures?

I also hung a couple of large ones in my bedroom.

What about this?

I finished squaring up all the Sunny Lane blocks and all of the HST that were in the little basket. Now I'm working on the little plastic container.  All of the pieces and parts you see here came out of that little container. It was stuffed. I've already squared up about half of them.

I bought I really pretty cut glass "dish" (it's really an ashtray, I don't smoke but I loved the large size) at a garage sale years go.  It is stuffed with my trimmings.

Speaking of garage sales...

Only Sunday, Monday and Tuesday are completed. The lady I bought them from said she decided embroidery wasn't her thing. I could tell. Sunday is stitched really nice, Monday is okay, Tuesday you can barely read the words. I'm thinking about finishing them, cutting out blocks, and making a small wall hanging for my laundry room.

I also went to a thrift store...

Not really my style but there is at least once project in each magazine I'd like to do (because I sew so much and I'm running out of patterns ... snarky comment).

I also splurged and bought this book...

I want to make every quilt in this book! Love it.

The Kiwanis Quilts for Kids meeting was supposed to be last Friday but our governor reduced the number of people for gatherings from 25 to 10. Our group is too large so the meeting was canceled. However Joann already knows me and dropped off a partially completed quilt top.

Isn't it the cutest! The blocks are almost completed and are wonderfully pieced and pressed. It won't take long to finish. You'd think this would motivate me to start sewing.

Do these sound like good excuses? Want to know the real reason? I miss sewing with my friends! 😥 In the past whenever I got in a slump I'd invite Nancy over or sweet talk Stephanie into visiting. With #$%! stupid Covid 19 (yes I said another bad word) I haven't had the opportunity to get to know other quilters in this area. I really miss sewing with friends.
 

Little bit of sewing

I did get a little bit of sewing done while Jayme visited. I made this small quilt top using up the leftovers from the sports disappearing 9-patch. I know I had four baseball squares yesterday, but today I could only find three. After over an hour of looking I finally said a bad word and just fudged a square from pieces and parts (upper left corner).  I know I'll find the square about 10 minutes after I finish sewing on the binding...isn't that Murphy's Law?

It is roughly 37 x 31 inches. I also got backs made for both quilts. Now I need to get them loaded on the quilt frame. Why does that stupid thing scare the bejesus out of me? 

I've also been squaring up half square triangle blocks. Maybe not 15 minutes every night but pretty close. By the time I grab a handful, press them open and square them up I've spent more than 15 minutes. All the HST for the General Jack quilt are finished, now I'm working on the Sunny Lanes blocks. They are larger and much easier to do.

Squaring the blocks up is VERY boring. It helps a lot to listen to audio books (I don't watch much TV). I just finished Sue Grafton's last book Y is for Yesterday. I'm going to miss Kinsey.  Any recommendations for another series?

Gotta show the latest bag lady picture:

She brought another (tail less) lizard into the house last week. I captured it and put it out in the backyard but I don't think this one survived. 
   

Bonus??

Not much (none) sewing going on this past week. Jayme is visiting from California and I helped my mom shop for a 4th of July barbecue. Hope everyone had a nice holiday.

Do you save all of your bonus half square triangles from making flying geese? I do. I've saved them for years and use them as leader / enders when I'm piecing other quilts.

I now have eleventy-seven gabillion of them in lots of different sizes...

In a bunch of different containers...

None have been squared up.

I also have the half square triangles from my retreat projects (which haven't been touched since) that still need to be squared up.

My goal (for probably the next year or more) is to spend 15 minutes a day squaring up and sorting my half square triangles. Then I'll have to figure out something to do with them...that could take eleventy-seven gabillion years.
 

Still Unpacking

I didn't do a lot of sewing this week but I did unpack all the large pictures and even hung a few pictures. Most of them are placed in the spot I think I want them to be but am not brave enough to put a hole in the wall yet.

I also took a truck load of goodies to my niece and another truck load of stuff to the animal humane society thrift store. I can almost move around my garage and there might even be an empty shelf.

I finished the disappearing nine patch quilt top.

I really like how this turned out. It is about 66 x 78 inches. Best part is it is all made from stash scraps. All of the fabric in this quilt has been in at least one or more other quilts. I still have a few blocks that wouldn't fit in this quilt that I'll make into a baby quilt. I want it all gone!

I'm still learning about the plants in my back yard. Here are a few pictures I took:

Pink/purple hydrangea.

Blue hydrangea...this bloom is huge!

I've always called this plant an elephant's ear. I love the tall blooms on it.

And the Hosta's are blooming.

No goals for this week. Jayme is coming up to visit and I don't know how much sewing I'll be able to do. Have a great 4th of July.
 

It's getting hot!

 
It is suppose to be 98 degrees tomorrow. Too hot!! I melt when it's hot. I am very glad I'm not in California. Roseville has already had 3-4 days over 100 and it is supposed to over a 100 there for the next 3 days. Yikes!

Last week was the third Friday in June (again Yikes where does the time go) so I hustled and quilted the whale quilt so I could turn it at the Kiwanis Quilts for Kids meeting.

Simple quilting, mostly straight line frames. I in-the-ditch stitched around the whale applique and then tried some FMQ "water" in the background. It was supposed to be a working / sewing meeting but I was the only person who stayed and sewed (binding). 

My mom asked for some coasters for her bedroom that coordinate with her quilt. When I dug out the scraps I had just enough for the coasters and a small table topper.

Probably should have quilted the center of the table topper but really didn't feel like it. It is doubtful that she will ever wash it so it's probably okay.

My goal for this week is to finish piecing the sports themed quilt. I have all but two rows of blocks sewn together, and half of the rows are already sewn together so it shouldn't take long to finish the top.

I also want to finish setting up my quilt frame so I can quilt the sports quilt before the third Friday in July.

 

Quilt Retreat

  

I spent last week at a quilt retreat at the Girl Scout camp in Somerset, CA. Which is somewhere up a very narrow, very windy road in El Dorado County.

We practiced social distancing...

There were twelve of us and everyone got their own table to work at. We had to take our temperature everyday also.  Most of us were dead with a temp of 90 degrees or less.

I forgot to take a picture of the bunks where we slept and I got eaten up by something (either fleas or spiders, cause mosquitoes don't like me).

Nancy taught a Stack and Whack class to seven of the ladies. Here are a few...

 

This one was made using the panel in the center. I would have never given the panel a second look but I LOVE this quilt.

The retreat was a half day Monday, I started a disappearing nine patch. I made and cut all the blocks.

 (laid it out on my design floor yesterday)

A full day Tuesday. Worked on my General Jack quilt. Got the center done, the next round of stars partially pieced and about 2/3 of the bazillion 1.5 inch HST for the outer border squared up.

Wednesday was another full day. I started another quilt called Sunny Lanes from The Big Book of Nickel Quilts. I used charm squares from a clearance kit I purchased 10+ years ago. I never liked the original pattern and have been trying to find the right pattern ever since.

160 HST that still need to be squared up and 160 four patches.

Thursday was another half day for Nancy and I. I cut and pressed all of the Sunny Lane HST and four patches.

It's amazing how much sewing / piecing can be accomplished when there is no internet service and barely any cell service.

The year is more than half over - wow - someone commented today about how fast time flies when you are not having fun - I thought that was very funny and very appropriate for this year.