Busy Weekend

 

It was so nice to be able to finally spend a day just sitting and sewing!   I did take a break for a beach walk in the afternoon, and did the normal weekend things like laundry and cleaning the bathroom.  Other than that though, I just played with fabric!  So good for the soul.   I made quite a dent in the green bin.  There were lots of little bits of crumbs hanging out with the strings.   I also generated so many waste triangles with the Sister's Choice blocks, and those are adorably tiny.   There is still one more green Saturday, so I should be able to polish off the rest before the month is done.   

Today it is back to school!   We have exams on Wednesday and Thursday, which is quite harsh right on the cusp of spring break.  This year evolved greatly due to COVID related changes in ways that nobody foresaw.   Next year will make more sense I am sure.   I am looking forward to doing normal things again.   Vaccines are proceeding quickly around here.  They have just opened it up to people 50 and above which has my husband off this morning to get his.  

ScrapHappy Saturday - Blooming in Green

 

I've been so busy quilting that I haven't gotten much sewing done this month.  I finished quilting the Tiny Tuesday Sampler quilt from RSC19.   I got about half of the binding done last night before dozing off in the middle of Justice League.  Maybe I can finish the movie and the binding at the same time today.   There are lots of green blocks in progress, but nothing finished to put up on the wall.  Hopefully I can fix that today.   It looks like a nice calm day today, I'll try not to think about heading back to school on Monday.   Plenty of time to prepare for that tomorrow.

Today is the spring equinox and also International Quilting day.  Those are two great reasons to celebrate.    

Spring Break Productivity

Yesterday I painted the stairs!  My back is angry about all the bending, but they look so fresh and clean.  I almost hate to put back the plants that usually live there.   

Out bathroom glass finally got installed.  I'm just two days away from being able to shower in my own bathroom again.   The guys showed up the first time and turned right around and left after looking at the stairs.   They came back on Wednesday with two extra guys to help carry it up to the third story where the main bath is located.  

A fresh lifeguard stand is a sure sign that summer is right around the corner.  The spring break crowds have been impressive.  They aren't up at sunrise though, so no photos of crowded beaches to share.  

I have been savoring our daily  sunrise beach walk during the break.  I am going to miss that when school starts again on Monday.  Just nine more weeks though.  I think I will make it!

 The Tiny Tuesday Sampler is on the frame.  I am doing a tiny wave in the background and then minimal quilting in the colored areas of the blocks to knock down the puffiness.  I think I'm about halfway done.   I used a pieced section in the center of the backing and that has just shown up.   I was just too tired yesterday to stand at the frame and settled for some hand quilting instead.   Just two more days of break though, I am determined to make the most of it.

Spring Break Quilting Fest

Spring break has begun!  Saturday we started off the week with a Wedding.  My friend Linda from work was the happy bride.   There were lots of Covid safety features, but it was still a little scary to be in a group of people again.  

The flowers were just beautiful!  I was lucky enough to bring home an extra to enjoy after the brunch on Sunday.  

I spent yesterday getting the borders on this sampler quilt.   I pieced a back and it is ready to go next on the frame.   I am picturing allover flowers for the quilting on this one.   My feathers will definitely enjoy some practice.   

I spent the afternoon today sitting on the balcony finishing up the binding on Nine Carat Diamonds.   Then I got the Tiny Tuesday Sampler quilt loaded up on the frame, so that will be next on the list.  Spring break is always a little bit of a taste of summer vacation being just around the corner.  Just nine more weeks of this terribly odd school year!  Still hoping that things start to get back to normal in time for the next one.  

 

Green and Spring

 

Happy Scrappy Saturday!   The house is a mess, but I'm having fun organizing my green scraps.   Got to have priorities, right?

Making a List

 

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge Row by Row sampler from 2016 is done.  That one took a while.  The quilting has been a backlog lately just due to the lack of a permanently set up frame, but I am still able to make burst of progress.   Spring break is next week, so I won't disassemble the quilting set up quite yet.  I think I can add one to two to the finished list before the week is done.   

School is painful right now because the kids are all so ready for a break.  I keep thinking that we never came back from the break last year.  What a long strange time it has been since then!   I see the national and state graphs coming down and keep waiting for an end to it all.  It doesn't seem over quite yet though and we keep quarantining new kids on a daily basis after contact with known cases either at home or at school.  Then the quarantined kids come back positive and we start all over again.   

I do feel better though knowing that I have had a vaccine.  It should be fully active by the time that we all return from the holiday.  After hearing the kids share their plans of grand trips and travel adventures, I can only imagine the round of contact tracing that will follow.   Glad that isn't my job!  I will just keep teaching them biology.     That is something I can do.   And I can make quilts.  Those two things are fully under my control. 

Binding Time

 

I just finished taking the last stitch on the binding for Frameshift!   There are still to more left in the binding pile, but I think I will fold some laundry and play with some green scraps first.  

I also finished a stack of masks for a wedding next weekend.   The bridesmaids will have fuchsia dresses.  The black masks are lined with pink to coordinate.  Yesterday I drove to Orlando for my COVID vaccine!  It ended up being the Johnson and Johnson vaccine which means that I am done with just one dose!

Today I will sew more binding.  Still two more quilts in the ready to finish stack.   First though, I'm off to Oh Scrap!  and Kathy's Quilts to procrastinate a bit more.  

ScrapHappy Saturday - New Leaves

 

Turning over a fresh page to the new color for March of Green.  First assess your supply.  Green can be a big color.  If you feel that you have too many to tackle in one month, consider starting at the darker end of green.  We will play with the lights and limes again at a later date.   I seem to have a lot of lime going on right now, but we will see how it looks after a good sort.   

My big news for the day is that I have a COVID vaccine scheduled for 11 today.  The president finally put teachers on a national priority list!  So even though I am still not eligible by Florida standards, I can still get vaccinated at a federally funded clinic.  Originally there were only 4 federally staffed clinics in the state, but CVS is now on board and I am driving to Orlando to have my turn.  I've been back in my classroom full time for 139 days because the governor mandated that all schools would meet in person at least 5 days a week or else.  I can't wait to be vaccinated and feel like I have more protection than the green tape I put on the floor to separate me from my students.  

March Color

 

Green will be the Rainbow Scrap Challenge Color for March.  If you feel that you have too many greens to take care of in one month, feel free to focus on the darker end of the greens.  The brighter and lighter shades will get another turn to play later in the year.   

Green in the color of spring blossoms and I am very much looking forward to a new season and a chance to turn the page on our long dark winter.   

Full Stop March Block - Brackets

  

Start with 1.75 inch strips in background and in green.  These will be sub-cut into all of the needed pieces.

• Green strips 6 inches - (2)
• Green squares 1.75 inches - (4) 
• Background strips 6 inches - (1) 
• Background strips 3.5 inches - (2) 

Sew one square onto each end of the shorter background rectangles and press toward the green.   

Arrange the strips in the following order

green rectangle, pieced rectangle, background rectangle, pieced rectangle, green rectangle

Sew all 5 of these rectangles together and press away from the pieced units.  

To set these together into a row, you should make 5 to 7 blocks.  Then sew them together with dividing strips of 2.5 by 6 inches of background fabric between each block.  Press the seams toward the green to reduce the chances of the dark showing through later.   

I had 5 different greens and so I made that many.   Because this is a random length row by row, we will add enough background onto either end to bring it all up to the desired size at the end.  If I can find another green before the end of the month, I might add one more block.   If not, I think this looks good.  

Here are all three months together so far.  I am debating evening up the rows now and adding sashing strips in between, but I haven't quite committed to a width yet.  I think that the quotations will be the largest row, appearing in pairs made it a big boy.