Resolution

 I've come up with a solution for the last six inches of my Time Flies quilt top. In the previous post I had a 6" x 12" hole to fill. I was able to make two flying geese units out of the scraps from the quilt I was working on at the beginning of November 2020 (which I don't seem to have shown you as a finished top! It's still waiting to be quilted; maybe I'll think to photograph it and show it to you then 😏).

So here's what I have now:

And here's what I did:

In case you can't tell, the black "goose" features a watch face. The blue patch will be where I inscribe the legend for this quilt. It won't be very detailed as there isn't a lot of room. Still, it will afford more room than the triangular patches I normally put in the corner on the backs of my quilts. This project has always been Time Flies in my mind. The more official title might be Time Flies Whether You're Having Fun or Not. I believe this flimsy is calling out for a border before being declared ready for quilting. However, it's time to round up some scraps to see what I can do with them for Scrap Happy Day on the 15th!

It's About Time!

From the end of October 2019 through to the end of October 2020 I made a "flight" of flying geese every week to create my second version of a diary quilt. You can see the flimsy of my first one here.  (Apparently I still have not taken a picture of the finished product.) Most weeks I chose two prints that somehow related to the experiences of that week and sewed the flying geese units in a string. Once in a while the geese were scrappy rather than consistent. When I sewed up what I thought would be the final flight of geese I turned my attention to other projects and pretty much forgot about it until recently. I have decided the time has come to bring the top to completion. 

The first step was to lay out the geese again to try to figure out how I wanted to arrange them in the quilt.

It's a good thing I kept track of what was significant each week.

A couple of blocks got misplaced during the auditioning process.

And then I sewed half the columns opposite to the way I intended them to be.

The idea is to start at the top left and follow the geese downward. At the bottom of the column you "turn the corner" and follow the geese back up to the top. You will notice there's a gap at the bottom of the rightmost column. Just room enough for another four geese. I've already made two out of scraps from the quilt I was working on in the first week of November 2020. I'd like to use one or two of the remaining spots as a label. First I have to figure out how to word said label so I know how much room it might require. A comprehensive listing would be ideal of course, but I'm not going there, even using the computer and printer. In the end it will probably be short and sweet. A reference to the little guidebook would be helpful but I don't quite know how I would accomplish that either. I've thought of a pocket into which a paper legend could be inserted. Not entirely sold on that idea though. Suggestions are welcome. I'd like to get this off the design wall as soon as possible as there's yet another baby quilt to be made!

After the Rain

 We finally had some rain overnight. It has cleared the air of wildfire smoke to the extent that we have progressed from the Unhealthy category yesterday (Very Unhealthy the day before that) back into the Good category. My body seems to need more time to recover however. Of course, even when the air is safe for most folks it's not safe for me. 

To commemorate this week of smokey air in my Time Flies diary quilt I made these geese:

I've been keeping to a light value for the background patches - until now. It would appear I bought that variable gray/brown print 15 years ago just so I'd have it for this set of geese. It's a quarter yard cut that hadn't been touched since it was laundered and put in the stash. At the time I was making house blocks and probably thought I'd be able to use this print for landscaping or a roof top or something. I don't buy quarter yards anymore. Fat quarters, yes, but most often half yard or maybe third yard cuts if I don't anticipate needing a great deal of that color or print.  

Scrap Happy Day inspired me to pull out some of my smaller scrappy Ship blocks to see how they might play with the Tall Ship blocks I'd made.

There are definite possibilities here! As soon as I get some energy back I'll have to see what else I can do with them. 😉

Bee, Myself & I in August

 I've been sewing down bindings on gift quilts so haven't had much to share this week. Bee, Myself and I is a forum for "selfish sewing," anything which is purely for pleasure and not for anyone else or to meet a deadline. Granny Maud's Girl came up with the idea originally. I tend to use these posts for the needlework I like to do. This time, however, I have an update on a quilt top that will have meaning only to me I suspect. 

I made a diary quilt a couple of years ago and enjoyed the process so much that I wanted to do it again. Last time I chose a 2.5" x 8.5" strip for each day of the year. 

Apparently I don't have - or just can't find - a picture of the finished quilt. One of these days... 😒

This time I've been sewing up "families" of flying geese units for each week of the year. I began at the end of October so only have about eight more weeks to do. The math works out to a personal size quilt, 60" in one direction and at least 72" in the other. I've not entirely decided how I will orient the geese yet. The first time I laid them out on the design wall I placed them all in one direction, vertically. 

Today I tried out a horizontal orientation.

The latest set of geese are in the upper right, and the first down on the bottom. Fortunately, I had the presence of mind right from the start to keep a physical diary describing what the geese are meant to represent. It would be very easy to get them out of order! I had to refer to it a couple of times today just to be sure I hadn't mixed them up.

That layout didn't really do anything for me so I had another go at columns rather than rows. 

This time I started with the oldest set of geese in the upper left corner and worked my way down and then up. So the week at the bottom of the first column is followed by the next week's geese at the bottom of the second column. I like this layout much better. I suspect this is the way the blocks will be put together in the end. 

Families of flying geese units have turned out to be great leaders and enders. I'm going to have to come up with another project in which to use them, and pretty soon too! 

Thursday Happiness and My Diary Quilt

Today is another opportunity to make the most of one blog post. ;- ) It's time to share a couple of things that make me happy along with LeeAnn over at Not Afraid of Color. One of those things is my Diary Quilt, my take on Audrey's Quilty 365 quilt along over at Quilty Folk. Another is novelty prints.

So far my Diary Quilt is still just rows or columns of 2.5" x 6.5" strips, one for each day of the past year. I put the last strip on the last row on November 19.

I have 13 rows/columns in total but they won't all fit on the design wall until I get them sewn together. Therein lies the challenge: what to use to set the rows? I've got every color in the rainbow in the strips. I used white for Sundays and wrote a scripture verse reference on each one. Whatever I use to set the rows needs to recede into the background, not compete for attention with the rows. I can't sew them together until I've made that decision because each row needs a compensating strip added to the top and bottom to make them all the same length. Whether or not there will be an outer border remains to be seen.

I'm already missing the act of choosing a strip a day. There were days when sewing a few strips together was just the ticket to get my day started. One of the fun things about choosing strips was the chance to feature a novelty print.

Sometimes those novelty prints were actually going into a quilt I was working on at the time!

I mentioned how much I enjoy fussy cutting novelty prints in a recent post. I've been making stars featuring prints that reflect the interests and activities of my daughter's FIL. He's a fan of science fiction and a follower of Dr. Who. Here's the Doctor's space ship, the TARDIS:

The star points were cut from a separate Dr. Who print that has the sound the TARDIS makes as it materializes and dematerializes. There have been special episodes of Dr. Who on television for Christmas every year for the last few years. Naturally I had to use a Dr. Who TARDIS print around a Santa print!

He also owned more than one diner throughout his lifetime, which involved pouring a lot of coffee.

Everyone should have lots of money in their lives.

You can't have enough Peanuts either. ;- )

I'll be linking up with both LeeAnn and Audrey. Do yourself a favor and go have a look for yourself!

Diary Quilt and Selfish Stitching

The Princess is in the closet and the Macabre Medallion has been on the design wall in her place. I've added a bit more to the MM but still haven't settled on how to incorporate stars. It will be interesting to find out what the next prompt is and whether I can use it with stars for a border, thus fulfilling both challenges. ;- )

In the meantime, it's time to check in with my version of Quilty 365, my Diary Quilt. I can no longer get the whole thing on the design wall for a photo shoot so I'll only show the most recent rows/columns:

I'm at day 290 in this year-long adventure. Rather than the circles others are appliqueing for each day I'm cutting 2.5" x 6.5" strips representative of my daily experiences. In the end there will be 13 rows or columns of strips. I have ten complete and have just begun number eleven.

I believe I began this mid-November last year so it will be the middle of November this year when I'll stop adding new strips and sew these columns together. There's a link party over at Quilty Folk today for those of us still slogging along.

It's also time to check in with my selfish stitching efforts. I haven't touched any needlepoint since my SAL post in the middle of August. Instead I've been embellishing a bit of intuitive piecing I did some time ago (probably more than two years ago in fact!). I don't think I have a picture of the piecing alone. This is what it looks like now:

It all started with some random scraps that I just sewed together as they came to hand. Very soon I was seeing the little house image so I purposefully used the yellow batik to create a frame for the house. Then I decided to set it on a strip of land at the edge of a body of water. I've seed stitched most of the background areas with either cotton or rayon floss. The fluffy yarn is couched down with an occasional delica bead. The rick rack is hand sewn in place. This is one of a pair of 4" x 6" creations. The other is next in line for embellishing.

On Sunday (4 September) I'll be linking up with these ladies who are cheering each other on with their individual needlework projects: Kathy, Susan, Kate, Avis, Claire, DebbieRose, Gun, Carole, Wendy, Lucy, Jess, Christina, and Constanze. If you'd like to join us every three weeks just leave a comment when you visit Avis. :- )

Quilty 365 - Diary Quilt

June first! Time to check in with the progress of my version of Audrey's Quilty 365, my Diary Quilt. Regular visitors may remember that instead of appliqueing circles I've chosen to cut a strip a day based on what I worked on that day or some other significant event that may have taken place. There have been just a handful of days since I began in November when there didn't seem to be anything particularly noteworthy for the day. On those days I simply cut a strip from a favorite print. I'm using a white-on-white strip for Sundays, to mark the Sabbath, and inscribing a scripture reference on each one.

I don't expect to be able to remember the various projects represented by these strips in the future but it's an interesting experiment. I might even do it again when this one is complete - it gives me something quilty to think about every day, no matter how I may be feeling, and short little seams to sew between the seams of other projects. :- )

Meanwhile, the new color palette for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge has been announced, and the day of the reveal for the next step in the Liberated Medallion QAL is coming up. I didn't make many (any?) postage stamp stars in May for the RSC. I started work on green batik Scrappy Trip blocks for a wedding quilt instead. Guess I need to plan on showing those soon!

Status Report

I feel all confused about where I am with ongoing projects and what I may or may not have posted. Seems to be a recurring theme lately! 

For the record, the quilt I made as part of the Hands2Help quilt drive is finished. Woohoo! It's been bound but not laundered yet. I'm holding onto it long enough to enter it in a local quilt show. 

Not the best photo, just a quickie taken outside. It's upside down to boot!

I'm keeping up with the strips and rows for my version of Quilty 365. Here are the current strips just laid out on the design wall:

That bottom row has since been completed and a new row begun. I'm about halfway through my year of strips.

Kate should be receiving the F2F blocks I made for her soon. Hers was the last set of blocks to be made and sent out in this first F2F swap. A second swap has been set up and will begin with blocks for Lynn in June. 

I've only made a few postage stamp stars per the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color scheme for this month. We're only a week into the month though. In all likelihood I will be focusing on the green aspect of the palette, probably leaving brown out of the mix altogether. 

There have been more little ships.

Very soon I ought to be able to begin setting these into the Scrappy Sea I intend for them to sail.

Is that everything? Doubtful, but this is what comes immediately to mind. 

Oh, there has been a windfall of new fabric come into The Magpie's Nest. I received an early birthday (and Christmas and next year's birthday and Christmas too!) present from my sister this past week. I shouldn't tease you like that, I don't have any pictures yet. But there was an irresistible sale at my LQS the week before that. This is what 27 yards of fabric looks like all in one place:

Some of it will be quilt backs, and about half of it is for a wedding quilt I hope to get made before the end of July (oh dear! that's not that far off anymore!). There are other new projects on the horizon as well. Things are sort of nebulous at this point. Rest assured you will be kept abreast of the most exciting developments. ;- )

Diary Quilt - My Version of Quilty 365

I've been doing a good job keeping up with my plan to cut a strip a day to reflect a year of my life. I began this mid-November last year after reading about Audrey's project featuring circles, Quilty 365. I have almost four columns at this point. There will be a total of 13 when I've circled back around to November this year.

There have only been a few days when I've had a struggle to choose what felt like an appropriate print for the day. I have quite the selection of novelty prints. They've been a big help. For example, one day I spent quite a bit of money online and the next day I made Ohio Star blocks.

Here's a section where I worked on a basket quilt, bought a new print, then bound the teal and cream quilt that we sent to Ohio for our F2F playmate. I had quite the headache the day after that.

Audrey started her circle project by pulling from her scrap bin exclusively. I've chosen instead to pull from my stash, wherever the right print might be found. Others have put their own personal spin (pardon the pun!) on Quilty 365. Audrey is hosting a link party so you can click over to here and see who else is playing along and how they're participating.

Now the question is, what to do for Leap Day? ;- )

Starting a New Year

I dropped out of the cyber sphere for most of December, not always by choice. Now it's a matter of overcoming inertia as much as anything else.

Today I came across this quote from Mark Twain which feels very appropriate:

"Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions.

Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual." 

I don't generally do New Year's resolutions. Gentle goal setting has become useful however. To that end I am planning to participate in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge again. Not sure that I will make the column quilt Angela has designed. Instead I think I'll make postage stamp stars in the color of the month. I also want to use the practice of monthly blocks to make stars for another Christmas quilt. I've made two so far, just finishing up the second one this season. Of course I don't have a picture of the finished quilt. Getting good pictures is one hurdle in my blogging journey.

I'm doing very well with my version of Quilty 365. You may remember that I'm cutting a 2.5" x 6.5" strip each day instead of appliqueing a circle. This is what I have so far:

The column on the left is comprised of 28 strips. The right one will have 29. The third one will have 28 again, then 29, and so on. I figure 13 columns will get me through the year and make for a nice size personal quilt. There have been a couple of days when it was a challenge to choose an appropriate print but nothing has truly stumped me so far. (whew!)

The quilt tops and backs for our twin granddaughters are ready for quilting. No, I don't have pictures. Not of the quilt parts anyway. I do have this one from Christmas Eve!

The Ohio Stars quilt I made from some of 2015's RSC blocks was quilted, bound, and sent off to a cancer patient in December. It's so handy having a long-arm quilter in the house!

The feathers you see in the photo above are on the back of a quilt for a child in foster care. Two quilts were rolled together when that picture was taken. Below you can maybe see the simple meander we decided on for the Ohio Star quilt.

All of James' quilting is done freehand, which allows him a lot of creative license when it comes to the quilting designs. If you look closely you might be able to see a couple of different patterns in the block below:

Hopefully I'll be able to share examples of his work frequently in the months ahead. :- )