What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

I've bundled up for two forest preserve walks this week.  Fortunately the Kicks (S's car that I drive) stays warm so he is comfortable.  

We are at the southern edge of the paper birch range.  Hickory nuts.  The icy snow sparkles. 

All the Christmas decor is put away except for the wreath.  Each year I think about going through the storage boxes and culling decorations that I didn't use this year (or last year or the year before....) Then I think what if I want to change things up next season? So I just close up the ...

We also had the reveal for the 2024 round robin!  There was so much interest that there were two ...

Swans at Hastings Lake on Saturday.

Herons at Nippersink on Sunday.

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Natalie Doan of Missouri Star was the guest speaker at the guild meeting Wednesday.  I didn't get any good pictures!   It was fun to hear her side of the family business.  

We got the pattern for block ...

Used book sales, destashes, and publishers' warehouse clearance have been the source for most of the many, many quilt books I've acquired.   Just as with fabric--if I can't not buy them, then I need to get bargains.  

This year I am really and truly paring down all that creative potential.  I've gone through a stack, sorting them into "totally unlikely to make anything from this" and "review again just in case."   Why is ...

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I gave myself a birthday-month treat on Saturday.  A guild in the next county had openings for a workshop with Jane Sassaman.  (Thank you, Ann, for your encouragement!) My calendar was open and V was available to take care of Stevens. 

Jane used her Moths and Moons pattern to teach us her applique technique ...

Our favorite plant/produce shop is open for the season.  Susan always comes out to say hi to Stevens.  One of her customers made a stack of "hug blankets" to give away to other customers who might need a hug so she presented this one to him.

I got geraniums for the front stoop -- and, hooray -- FIVE healthy rhubarb plants that Susan started from seed.  I'll plant them tomorrow. 

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The egret was quite close--guarding a nest, perhaps?  Upper: sand cherry  (a bush). Lower: crabapple (obviously a tree); mullein.

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At the guild meeting last week I signed up for the upcoming round robin.  It will begin next month so I have to figure out my starter block (an orphan ...

It's the Second Round of the Stay-at-Home Round Robin

and

Wendy is the host this week.

It's a stay-at-home round-robin.

Quilting Gail has all the info HERE.

Here we are, more than halfway through August and I've barely finished my 8th quilt this year! Just not getting as much done this year. You'll probably have a hard time believing this, but I have went almost two weeks now without any hand quilting. Can you sense how itchy my fingers are getting? It was totally worthwhile as we got to see a lot of family, but wowsers. It's always so lovely to come back home!

Glory Be is finished!

A Round Robin quilt is the sweetest of group projects. It is passed among friends, each adding blocks or borders of their own.

And when it is finished, that quilt represents the talent and creativity of everyone involved. (I get all tingly and sentimental just thinking about it!) 

For this month’s Triple Play tutorial, Jenny and the girls stitched up one big Round Robin quilt. They named it Sparkling Stars, and it sure is a beauty! 

Jenny built the center with 9-patches and half-square triangle lemoyne stars, Misty added pretty sawtooth star blocks and quarter-square triangles, and Natalie finished ...

 Not much happened in the sewing room this week.  Major dental work on Tuesday followed by cataract surgery on both eyes on Thursday meant I spent lots of time lying on the couch and not much time sewing/knitting.  The good news...my tooth no longer hurts and I can see much better!  I am supposed to be limiting my screen time so this will be a shorter post than usual.  Hopefully, I will be back in the sewing room this week. 

I made one block this week for a travelling quilt project that I am doing with 5 other ...

It melted right away on the driveway and sidewalks so at least we did not have to shovel it!  By Friday, it had all melted and we were in our spring jackets again ...

So here we are for week 3 of this project and I thought it might be a good idea to talk a little more about the tricky blocks. It turns out that there are 3.

Of course the first one is the jellybean block. I opted to take it apart and give it another chance.

Please know, I am not judging the person who sewed this block. I am simply doing what I can to turn these blocks into a quilt. Block trades are tricky. You may get back blocks that ...