I started working on the Grassy Creek blocks that are this month's goal. I have pieced 8/25 of them.
I do need to rip and redo one seam on one block that is very noticeably off, but the rest will stay as is. The blocks are very vibrant in person, but I'm not capturing that in the photos.
This next photo is as close to true colors as I could get.
I've completed the pieced back for the Millennium quilt. I made a math error, so will end up trimming off around 18" split between the top and bottom. I added 6" strips on the top and bottom of the pieced blocks and it should have been 3". I thought about fixing it, but decided it wasn't really that important, so once I get a little break in my quilting queue, I'll get this quilted, bound, and ready for donation.My small guild had our mini quilt exchange Friday night. My partner wasn't there, so she hasn't seen hers yet. On the off chance that she reads my blog, I'll hold off sharing what I made until she has received it. I am happy, however, to show you what I received, because it is AWESOME!
Annie made me this in all my favorite colors. She said the pattern is by Granny Knot by Broadcloth Studio and she shrunk it down to finish around 12".
She also included this fun flamingo for me. You know I love kitschy flamingos. And real-life ones too.
In the quilting arena, I returned Brenda's red and white quilt and that left me with Jan's shaped tree skirt. I learned how to create my own custom-sized crosshatch blocks in the IntelliQuilter. I had watched a demonstration by Tracey Browning a couple months ago, so once I played around with it for a day or two, I felt confident enough to try it. I purchased a HST diamond feather from Three Sisters as well. Next, I learned how to place and "shape shift" blocks. It was much easier than I expected and I'm pleased with the outcome. Since I've returned the quilt to Jan, I'll share it here.
I have plenty more to work on, for which I am so very thankful. It's funny how they seem to come in chunks. Everyone must be on similar quilt-making cycles. I'm getting better about not feeling guilty if I take a little time to work on my own things or do things with family in between quilts.
In the garden, the strawberries are waning. We were able to harvest the bolted lettuce and enjoy a strawberry salad (lettuce, strawberries, pecans, and homemade poppy seed dressing) and strawberry shortcake. My pear tree has loads of baby pears, which I'm thrilled about. However, it also has big clumps of dead leaves at the ends of branches, so I'm not sure what is causing that (update: Fire blight. Cicada damage. Tree is heavily pruned and had to cut off about 1/2 the pears.). I noticed some of the sycamore trees in the neighborhood look like that too. The cicadas are thankfully waning. It's so quiet. And nice to hear more birdsong again. The butterflies are all arriving en masse and the milkweeds are in full bloom to greet them.
Linking with For the Love of Geese, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, and Alycia Quilts.
Glad it has quieted down for you. The blocks look great! Our strawberries are pretty much done, the heat has arrived! I never did get a strawberry shortcake made--I'm still on my healthy thing so chose to skip it this year for a different "cheat" about that time. I'll prob regret that tho because it sounds so yummy. I think I'm calling it quits with the lettuce, too. It just reaches a point where it's not quite as pretty because of the heat and all so I just let it go and pull slowly for chicken snacks. Also dealing with slugs (ew!). You do keep busy with your business! That star looks great! Glad you're finding time for some of your own projects too.
ReplyDeleteI love your Grassy Creek blocks!!! Wow on the Granny Knot! Awesome job on placing the quilting on the tree skirt.
ReplyDeleteThose Grassy Creek blocks are beautiful
ReplyDeleteYour quilting tho - WOW!!! You did an amazing job!!!!
Do you have cicadas? The last time they were here they damaged most fruit trees in our area. Glad you're staying busy and finding time to sew something for yourself. The Grassy Creek finish is going to be so cheerful. Thank you for sharing in Put your foot down.
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