Just like the Mississippi River, I feel like I'm meandering through the month of June.
I've worked on this and that, but no big sparks of creativity (or energy) seem to be flowing. I guess I'll just keep meandering and see what turns up - something always does!
One recent project was mastering the art of the Lone Star block. After inserting the background pieces - which required using Words of Power - I decided maybe I don't want to make Lone Star themed gifts for Christmas this year. I'd still like to make a large Lone Star quilt for myself, but the thought of lots of Little Lone Stars now gives me a headache!
I'm still planning to turn this star into a pillow. I did some basic straight-line quilting, but I want to make the pillow with a zipper, which requires a trip to the fabric store.
This small quilt (30" x 30") was just a bag of four patches a few weeks ago. The fabrics were left over from Barbara Brackman's Grandmother's Choice BOM from 2012. Once I had the double four-patches pieced up, I found a nice hunk of Brannock & Patek (circa 1997) fabric in my stash to use for the outer border.
For quilting, I used straight lines through the four patches, and pumpkin seeds in the border. Since I suck at free-motion quilting, I did the pumpkin seeds using the walking foot feature on my sewing machine - feed dogs engaged. It was fun figuring out the best way to make the design without having to start and stop the line(s) of stitching.
The backing also came from my stash - an antique map print. You can see the quilting a little better from the back.
And every quilt deserves a label - even the leftovers!
BTW, I got brave and used my laser printer to print the label. First, I ironed the label fabric to an 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of freezer paper. I wrote out the label using my word processing program, then played with different fonts until I found one I liked. The font is called "She Persisted" - which I thought was perfect. After printing the label in the printer, I also heat-set the design using my iron. This has been through the wash; it may have faded a tiny bit, but not enough to matter.
Meanwhile, at our camp, I have a new pressing/storage table! Dear Hubby built the shelf unit, then added a removable, expanded top. I covered the top with padding and cotton canvas. I love it!
I put the new pressing table to good use last weekend making more "Lego" blocks. I only need a few more blocks and I can start assembling the quilt.
In between quilting projects, I've been pickling goodies from our garden. The garden is small, but prolific this year! I can't keep up with fixing cukes in fresh dishes, so I made a batch of refrigerator pickles this week. This is two 4-cup pyrex storage containers full of pickles (graced with a few pieces of red jalapeño). I've also pickled more banana and jalapeño peppers than I can count.
I'm going to meander on to this project next. I think some creative energy might be starting to flow!
