As the Needle Sews

 Hi quilting friends!

I thought my quilt blogging days might be over as I lost my blogging mojo somewhere during the second half of 2022.  I decided to take a break from blogging and see if I was well and truly finished with the medium.  It's only been in the last few days I've thought about giving the blog a visit.

I don't know how my blogging efforts will carry out in 2023, but I'm going to make a start and see what happens.

Even though I lost my blogging mojo, I didn't lose any quilting mojo!  Here are a few finished projects from 2022.

 

I finished this mini quilt in June, 2022 with plans to share it for Wendy's  (The Constant Quilter) monthly mini challenge.  I never got around to posting it, as I got called away to help my mom move to an independent living facility.  The selvedge basket blocks were made in 2016 for a blog hop celebrating Diane Knott's first book, Scrap Quilt Secrets.  It doesn't show up in the pictures, but I hand quilted some flowers inside the basket handle, then machine quilted the basket outline.  Now I have the perfect Easter wall hanging!
 

Yay!  I finally finished Blackbird Designs' Gathered Harvest quilt!  Well, it's still waiting for binding, sleeve, and label, but I should have that finished by the end of January.

Undercover in Chicago V - a mystery quilt by Debbie Caffrey.  My local quilt guild does a mystery quilt every year.  As a new member, this was my first year to participate.  The goal is to finish the quilt and share it at our annual Christmas meeting in December.  I'm happy to say I met the goal!  I still need to add a label, so I'll share more pictures when that's done.

Bonnie Hunter's Carolina Chain.  The blocks were made as a Rainbow Scrap Challenge project and finally assembled late last summer.  The finished quilt has already been gifted (and I forgot to take more pictures!).

Another Rainbow Scrap Challenge project - Burgoyne Surrounded - which got started in 2017.  The picture only shows the block arrangement prior to assembly, but they got assembled and are awaiting their turn to be quilted.

 Mardi Gras Memories, pattern by Diane Knott.  My regional quilt guild - Gulf States Quilting Association - will be holding their quarterly meeting this month in New Orleans.  My local guild (Cotton Pickin' Quilters 😁) is co-hosting the meeting, and our theme is Mardi Gras (Mardi Gras will be celebrated February 21 this year).  The call went out for Mardi Gras-themed quilts to decorate the meeting venue, so of course I had to contribute.  Fortunately, I had started the quilt much earlier in the year, so it wasn't a huge hurdle to finish. 

OK, that's enough for now!  I still have some holiday projects to talk about, and then there's that pesky planning for 2023 quilts.  Maybe the blogging mojo is returning?

 

A Little Aquamarine to Soothe the Soul

It's Rainbow Scrap Challenge check-in day, and I have a few modest efforts to show.  Angela, our fearless RSC leader, used the word aquamarine to describe the color she wanted us to aim for this month.  I found that color to be a perfect description of the scraps I pulled to start my blocks. 

I started with the easiest of all projects:  selvedges pieced and cut into Rail Fence blocks.  Sally of The Objects of Design sent me a large box of selvedges last year.  Somehow it must be a magical box, because there never seems to be a dent in the contents! (Thanks, Sally!)

 Next I turned to the pile of Happy, Scrappy Houses I made as an RSC project several years ago.  My goal this year is to make wonky frames for all the house blocks so I can finally assemble them in a quilt.  I don't have a real plan for this, I just look at the blocks each month and try to find some that would look good with that month's RSC color as a frame.  I'm pleased with this month's results AND I got all the houses to go "down hill".  You may recall last month they all went "up hill" and not intentionally.

That's all my aquamarine until next week.  I spent most of today doing some long-neglected chores (yuck!) and now I'm too tired to be playing with sharp objects.  I think maybe a glass of wine and reading about everyone else's RSC adventures this week sounds like a good idea!