My semi-monthly return to blog-land.

I've been gone from the world of blogging and checking up on my favorite blogs. I'd like to say I was distracted, which it true, but it is mostly because I have been too lazy for blogging and busy doing otherwise.  I even thought about discontinuing this, but I have met some lovely people through blogging and I like the idea of having a space to talk about pretty, creative things.  

Speaking of pretty things, I finished up the front and the back of Catherine's Dresden Quilt.  I ordered thread for the quilting but haven't managed to make an appointment at the long-arm studio or get to Jo-Ann's for the batting.  Honestly, I would rather have a root canal than go to Jo-Ann's this close to Christmas.  I'll toughen up and head over there sometime this week with a coupon and a devil may care attitude.  (Last year at Christmas, I went to Jo-Ann's wearing inappropriately high heels.  The floors were wet and I fell down and slid into a display of wrapping paper containers. It was like people bowling and I was left with a 7/10 split.  I am slightly afraid there is a video of me floating around the Jo-Ann world.  But, I digress….)

The final, pretty blocks. 

She really is the worst helper ever. 

Centers!

All the blocks all put together. 

The pretty front

I originally laid out the blocks in a 4 x 4 square.  It looked busy but it also looked too small and I thought that I would have to make 4 more blocks to make it less square and a little longer.  I just couldn't do it.  I'm a little over Dresden's for the moment.  And, as you can see above, I had a cat on the materials. The situation called for special action.  I decided to stagger the rows instead of adding more blocks.  I think this worked better because it was getting a little busy and now there is some nice negative space.  I used the remaining fabrics to make up the back of the quilt.  I'll share a picture when it is all bound.

November South Sound Modern Quilt Guild Block of the Month. 

This was a scrappy little endeavor.  I have difficulty doing improve quilting - everything tends to look like a log cabin.  This was probably my best effort so far and I have to thank the original creator of the block as well as the lovely guild member who wrote up the instructions.

My next project

I've had this Christmas fabric for two years now and have not played with it.  Since we are getting close to the holiday, I thought I would give it a try.  Of course, this won't be done for quite awhile and I don't know how much fun it will be to play with in March but the point is I tried.  I tried to make a quilt for Christmas.  (Not very hard.)

I've started the cutting.  I got the pattern off Pinterest and it consists of two blocks.  One block is a 6.5 x 6.5 square of the patterned fabric, the second is a white block with 2.5 x 2.5 patterned square off-center.  It will be a good way to display the pattern and should be relatively simple to put together.  I like the idea of doing something complex, then a simple quilt to have a quick finish. And, yes, for me a quick finish is two months.

Awesome Guild Swap

Finally, I would be remiss without sharing this.  My Guild partner made all these items out of the fabric I gave to her.  I didn't give her any instructions, just told her to do what she wanted because I was curious what she could come up with.  As you can see, she did an amazing job and I am so incredibly happy.  The embroidery hoop is a gadget holder. If you've seen my kitchen table, you will agree I could use this.  It's up on the wall by my sewing machine and I love it.  I also got two mug rugs and a little pincushion ring.  It was all so awesome and I was very, very happy.

I have a couple of finishes to share and I will have to take some pictures of them.  The Spinster quilt is bound and hung on the wall.  I realized that I haven't shared the final picture so I will have to take one.  And, I finished the pretty flower quilt I started a few months ago.  All is well here and I can't wait to get caught up on my blog reading.  Hope everyone is doing well.