Return of the Flying Mimosas

 

I'm happy to be sharing a February Finish:  Flying Mimosas!

Finished size:  76" x 84"

 The quilt was inspired by a Missouri Star Quilt company Triple Play video featuring Flying Geese quilt block patterns.

I had the perfect fabric bundle for the quilt aging in my stash - Mimosa by Another Point of View for Windham Fabrics.  Hence the name "Flying Mimosas"!

Diane Knott of Butterfly Threads Quilting did the long-arm quilting for me. 

 

 

I found just the right binding fabric at my local quilt store, and used it for bias binding.  Bias stripes are one of my favorite bindings!

I meant to use machine stitching for the entire binding, but my brain was on auto-pilot and I sewed the binding to the front of the quilt instead of the back.  Oops, that meant hand stitching the binding to the back of the quilt.

Having the quilt cover me during stitching was a good way to keep warm during the chilly weather we've been having!

 

This was definitely a fun quilt to make!  

I just need to add a label, and then it will be ready to gift to a special family friend.  

 

I also came up with a tulip quilt block pattern to share with my quilt group for March's lotto block.

I incorporated piecing techniques from a couple of different tulip block patterns to come up with my block.  Of course I had to make several of them to make sure the pattern worked OK!

Flying Mimosas?

 About a month ago, I shared a picture of some blocks for an HST Flying Geese quilt I was working on.

The quilt was inspired by a Triple Play video from the Missouri Star Quilt Company.  Jenny Doan called her quilt "Every Which Way But Goose" - which I guess was a reference to a Clint Eastwood movie from 1978.  I'm old enough to remember the movie, but I had to look up the date!

As I worked on the quilt, I tried to come up with a different name.  The quilt will eventually be gifted, and I thought it should have a more original name.  

Since the fabric line is called Mimosa and the quilt is made of Flying Geese blocks, the name "Flying Mimosas" popped in my head.  That's been my working name for the quilt, but I don't think it will be the final choice. 

As I was listening to WWOZ, our local community access radio station, I did hear what might be the perfect name for just about any quilt.  It's an old chestnut of a song (first recorded in 1931), but it has fun lyrics and a great sentiment:  "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams (and Dream Your Troubles Away).

Since this is a Crescent City blog, I'll leave you with a link to a version of the song by native son, Louis Armstrong!

Cleaning and Stitching

Happy Autumn Equinox!  (OK, I'm a few days late, but does it really matter if fall is truly in the air?!) 

When last we spoke, I was in Florida, waiting for the effects of Hurricane Ida to subside enough so I could go home.

We stayed in Florida for almost a week, then returned to our camp in Mississippi.  Our camp home was undamaged and never even lost power.  However, due to rain and storm surge, we had about two feet of flooding from the tidal inlet our house sits next to.  Once the water went down, we drove back and commenced cleaning up the mess.

Our camp is meant for outdoor living, so we have lots of patio and decking space.  Everything under the house was covered with a layer of dried silt, with another layer of mold/mildew underneath.  As you can see, the floodwaters moved our rolling planters, and pushed the veggie planters right off the deck!

The decking closest to the water had the most silt, while the grass and fig tree were covered with it, too.

Just like everyone else in the neighborhood, the power washer was our friend!

It took DH and I several days to get everything cleaned up and set right.

Ten days after Hurricane Ida hit, our power was restored in New Orleans.  We were able to return to an undamaged house and do more clean up!  Our neighborhood has lots of huge Live Oak trees, so there was leaf and limb debris all over. 

Although New Orleans is well on the road to recovery at this point, things aren't so rosy for the areas of the state that experienced the eye of the hurricane.  Thousands of people have been left homeless by the storm, with little housing relief in sight.  Local charities are stepping up to help, and if you're interested in contributing, I wholeheartedly recommend The Greater New Orleans Foundation and/or Second Harvest Food Bank.  Both organizations have been around for years, make excellent use of their financial resources, and serve the entire hurricane-affected area. 

 

OK, I do have some quilt-related content!

I have managed to work on a few things, although I'm struggling to stay focused on any one project for long. 

I started playing with these blocks after returning home, but as easy as the blocks are, I haven't made much progress.

I saw the pattern demonstrated on a Missouri Star Quilt Company "Triple Play" video.  Jenny Doan made her blocks using pre-cut 5-inch squares of 1930s style repro fabrics.  The Flying Geese blocks are made from HSTs.  When I saw her blocks, I immediately thought of a fat quarter bundle that had been aging in my stash.  Instead of cutting the FQs into squares, I just cut 4.5-inch strips and used the Easy Angle ruler to cut my HST pairs.  There are about 25 fabrics in the FQ bundle that will wind up going into the quilt.  I've worked through most of the red and orange fabrics - the rest are green and aqua, with a little gray thrown in.

 

Sorry for the yucky picture - I'm beginning to wonder if I need a new camera.  Or maybe I should give up on the camera and just use my phone!