Suddenly...Six Scrappy Stars

I stitched up another three of these blocks. I just KNOW the magazine with the pattern will appear soon. It just has to!! What a cinch piecing is when most of the block is pieced beforehand. I have made soooo many quilts with my 2" scraps as leader/enders...4-patches and 9-patches, oh, I love it!

~Joan, who just reviewed her whole blog from last year...how *do* I do it?? Ha ha ha, ho ho ho, hee, hee, hee...I do crack myself up!

New Leader/Ender Quilt in the Works

I have a little dilemma...I started piecing these blocks, and now I can't find my magazine with the instructions. In between the blocks is supposed to be strips of 1" finished fabric (two rows, I think). I am going to plug away on the blocks in the meantime. The only unit I need to piece for the blocks is the star points. I am using up my box of 4-patches for the 4-patches (as if that wasn't obvious). Since the 4-patches are elderly, I am cutting strips of fabric from my newer stuff so I don't repeat fabrics too closely together.

I've been gleaning through my collection of many quilt magazines. My tastes have changed, and I'm getting rid of many magazines. I am keeping individual paterns here and there. Those that I want to keep are going in sheet protectors and into a magazine file box. I see that I'm still drawn to the traditional patterns, nothing artsy or wonky here. Precision and small pieces!

My engaged daughter was asking about my making her *ahem* some quilts for her house. She is getting married in June. Just some wall hangings and table runners. Well, maybe a bed quilt and a couch throw, too. A whole new world of quilting opportunity!!

~Joan

Flannel Fat Quarter Squares

I had not posted much on my Fat Quarter Squares quilt. I bought a kit for it so long ago that I didn't even remember WHEN let alone from WHOM. It pieced up fairly quickly. I alternated the direction of the seams so that I only had to match where four blocks met. Easy peasy sewing. I got it back a few days ago, quilted by my friend, Sam. I told her to surprise me with the thread and quilting pattern. I am so pleased.

I don't like my quilts heavily quilted. I like them to be quilted uniformly, but remain soft. This also has a flannel backing, so it's fairly heavy. Each block finishes at 9" square, so it is about 63" x 81". Nice couch throw size.


I tried to get a picture of the quilting, but it was not easy. Here is the best I could do...

Here is Susanna venturing out to replenish the bird feeder. Steve and Emily got me the feeder for my birthday in August. I hung it on a hanging basket hook. The pesky squirrels kept climbing the hook post and getting on the feeder, not only eating the seeds, but managing to scare all the birds away in the process.

Emily took one look at the problem and went out to fix it. Haven't had a squirrel get any seeds yet, but it's fun to watch them try. She cut a slit in a paint bucket (it holds about 6 cups) then taped it upside down on the pole. It's not beautiful, but it is 100% squirrel proof.

Have a safe and sewing day,
~Joan

Snow and Snowball Runner

Yes, we got tons of snow. Here is my little birdfeeder outside my sewing room window. Strange phenomenon today...usually birds of a feather flock together. That is, I have rarely seen more than one species of bird at the feeder at a time...today was different! I saw five different types at once on it with another on the hook waiting for an opening. The snow must have covered a lot of the available food for the little feathered creatures. Glad I got a big bag of bird food at Aldi's last week. Looks like it might come in handy.

My hopeful machine quilting plan for the baby quilt never happened. I got it pin basted today. But I can't find the thread. It is a light lime green. I have a spool of machine quilting thread that color (imagine!) but I can't find it.

I really like this snowball runner. I didn't get pictures yet of my other two runner finishes, but I'm showing this one again. Some day I'll make a whole quilt of this size "ball". I like the way these turn out looking round. I've seen some with corner triangles that are too big and make the balls look strange to me. Next time, no matching corners. And half light and half dark, just to mix it up! The blocks finish at 3-3/4" square, so this is about 11-1/2" x 34" I'm heading upstairs to put it on our sideboard.
In other piecing news, I am working on my last two rows for the Texas Braid quilt. I still have not received the promised bricks from Arizona, and I'm going to wait for them. I was so disappointed that I could not find my quilting thread that I wanted to sew on something for a little bit, so I worked on the Texas Braid. I love working on it...so easy and striking of a design.

Another day of being snowed in tomorrow. We have a house guest tonight. One of the young men who attends college with my daughters also works at the same restaurant as one of them. The roads were too dangerous for him to get back to the dorm, so he is staying overnight here. Interesting turn of events.

~Joan