In Progress This Week

As always, there are a bunch of projects on the go at once around here 😊 One of them is a computer project for now, but it will likely result in a lot of sewing in the future. Sandra, of Musings of a Menopausal Melon, has started her 30 Quilt Designs 2019 challenge and I've jumped right in again. This is the fourth time I've participated in a 30 designs challenge and I'm still working on finishing projects from all three of the previous ones, lol. Here's my first design, which I created specifically to use the collection of colour-coordinated 4 patches I've made over the years as leaders and enders. Funny enough, Scraps Squared was also designed during one of these challenges to use that same collection of 4 patches, which seems to be never ending!

Of course, I realized after I posted it in the challenge FB group that at the size I've designed it, the 4 patch blocks would need to be 4" finished and mine are only 2"! I guess now I need to start making bigger 4 patches as leaders and enders!

On a completely different note, I'm sure you were as heartbroken as I was about the shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand. The amount of hate some people feel just boggles my mind. If you're looking for a way to show love and support for the people affected by the attack, you can make a 6 ½" heart block (or several) to send. All of the instructions and the address for mailing the blocks can be found here.

I mailed my blocks yesterday and when the postmaster noticed that the envelope was going to New Zealand he made a comment about the sadness of the situation there. He is familiar with the concept of mailing quilt blocks for projects like this as he was the one dealing with the sudden surge of mail into our box two years ago, so I explained I was mailing blocks for people to make quilts for the families. He just nodded and said, "So you quilters are just like one big family then." 😊 Doesn't that do your heart good?

I've also been working on my Island Batik March challenge. The challenge this month is Vintage Reimagined, so we're to take a vintage quilt or pattern and make it more modern. I'm combining a blue Irish Chain and bright pinwheel blocks with Island Batik's solid white to make my quilt. All of the blocks are made, so now it's time to cut all of the sashing pieces and get to the assembly.

This will also be my contribution for Sarah's Hands 2 Help Comfort Quilt Challenge and it will be going to Victoria Quilts Canada. Are you participating in Hands 2 Help? Sarah has a variety of charities to choose from, so there's likely one that you would be interested in supporting and although the official sign up week is past, more participants are always welcome.

I'm also working on these placemats for my MIL. We won't talk about how these are her gift for Christmas 2018 (shhhh!).

I used the Missouri Star Layer Cake Dresden ruler, which I also used for my Dresden Log Cabin quilt back in November. I found I had a little extra fullness this time, so it took a lot of pins to tame the dresden in order to applique it to the background. There's still a bit of waviness, but I think I'll be able to quilt it into submission. When I made the center circle for the mini back in November, I used large basting stitches before pulling the fabric around the template and I found the circle wasn't really smooth. This time I used small basting stitches and the circles are much smoother around the edges.

I've been waiting for some navy Aurifil thread to arrive and it was in my mailbox this morning (along with some friends), so now I can get those center circles appliqued on. The navy thread is 2785, the aqua is 5005 and the cone is a replacement for my 2600 that is almost gone.

That's what's keeping my occupied these days 😊 What are you working on?