Spiders, Snow, and Spools

Snowball

 Snowballs!  Isn't it fun to think of snow during the winter?  No, no it isn't.  Thinking of snow reminds me of the 14 inches of snow we got here last winter that was accompanied by freezing rain and no power for six days.  But, who is keeping track of that sort of thing around here.  I went with circles and diamonds for the snow because, well, snowballs are round and freshly fallen snow sparkles like diamonds.  A very easy block to put together, but a block that I like quite a bit for its simplicity.

Spider Legs

 Grossest name for a quilt block ever.  Ever.  Every once in awhile I get these horrible looking spiders in the garage that look like black widow spiders but aren't.  They have the same body type and creepy looking spindly legs, but I've never tickled their bellies to see if there is an hourglass there.  This block is red for the red hourglass and is a block I like quite a bit.  Especially since it is in Badger colors.

Spool

The spool block definitely requires straight lines, or straightish lines as the case may be here.  Next, an update on the Forest Fantasy Quilt.

Sew Mama Sew's Modern Block of the Month

April

March

The pieced back

All together now. 

I decided that I had to finish the Modern Block of the Month project because being two blocks short just wasn't going to work for me.  So, I finished March and April and then set about putting them together.  The sashing is in a grey because it turns out I have a lot of grey left from my last project and I felt like being thrifty.  The backing is shades of grey with one lovely 1/2 yard of lavender.  The grey 1/2 yard fabrics are from Pink Chalk's color of the month club.  It was rather fortuitous that I received a package of greys as part of this program and I decided just to go ahead and piece the back with those fabrics.  Again, I'm being thrifty, but I also really like how it looks and I think it fits in with the modern blocks in the front.

Thanks to the cute cat for the necessary scale.

A Smitten Finish

Smitten

The pretty back, viewed sideways

Finished!  Isn't it fortunate when you finish a quilt when there just happens to be extra hands in the house for quilt holding?  My brother's family just left; they are heading to Idaho today and then to Glacier National Park for 5 days of camping there.  Before they left, I asked Rich and Deb if they would be happy to stand in the one sunny spot in the neighborhood and hold a quilt.  They responded rather well to this request and here we all are standing in the middle of the street on the corner near my house.  They held it sideways, but beggars can't be choosers when it comes to your quilt holders.  Seriously, sunny days are rare here and to have people able to help me, well, I should probably buy a lottery ticket today.

Stars, Cats, and May

Bob meets Orchid

I've been very excited for the last couple of years because I noticed that these tall purple stalks in my yard are actually wild orchids.  I debated moving this one because it is near where visitors park when they come here, but I've been told this orchid is parasitic and likely connected to the nearby tree.  Moving it would only cause its demise.  As did the camper that is currently parked on it.  That is completely okay, though, because the camper brought my brother and his family here for the week.  They drove from Wisconsin and are spending several days camping in the northwestern and western part of the country.  They will likely be here until Thursday or Friday which means we get some nice visits in before they pack up and head east.  

Shooting Star

 I thought that the Shooting Star block should be bright yellow to match the bright shooting stars that I occasionally get to see here.  This block was a pain to put together by the way.  I have had to accept that this is as good as I can get.  Those center seams have an awful lot of fabric at them and are quite bulky.

Single Wedding Star

 I thought that the Single Wedding Star should be purple to match the engagement ring that once belonged to my grandmother.  It is a lovely purple, but sometimes looks aqua and is set in an art deco setting which I just love.  This was not the engagement ring given to her by my grandfather, by the way.  No, she never got married to the guy who gave her the ring.  I think I like my ring more because of that.

May

I am quickly catching up on the Modern Block of the Month project.  Only April and March to go and then I can start putting these blocks together.  I think I will put a bright purple sashing in between the blocks and a bright purple border to match.  But, that seems a little ambitious for now.

Ribbons, Seasons, Silver and June

Ribbons

Spinster Blocks are in the house y'all!  We will start with pretty blue ribbons because this block could be its own little blue ribbon commission.  (That's some very inside baseball humor for my work peeps.)

Seasons

 It is hard to think of a color that could symbolize all the seasons.  The commonality is that there will always be a sun and sunny days, no matter how cold or rainy it gets in the winter.  It's not a bright yellow, though, because it is June here and I've turned the heat back on.

Silver Lane

 I thought grey would be a lovely way to represent Silver Lane.  The cat in the picture agrees.  She is so very helpful.

Modern Block of the Month - June

And, finally, some Modern Block of the Month action.  I have three of these to go.  This is the June block and I've got to go back in time and do May, April, and March.  That may or may not happen this week.  I'm enjoying the Spinster Blocks quite a bit at the moment, and there is always yard work to do (and if it is sunny tomorrow, that is what is going to happen).

Sorry about the month break. I've been thinking about you, I swear.

And, I've been busy putting the finishing touches on the Smitten quilt.  I have video to prove it, but I can't get it to load and I'm getting frustrated.  If I can figure that out, I will completely show you a very cool video of my quilting Smitten on the long-arm.  I will just say that it was awesome. But, until then, here is a photo of the experience.

Rosebud

Sawtooth

And I did manage to finish two more blocks for the Spinster quilt.  Rosebud was done in bright pinks for the bright pink roses that manage to occasionally bloom here in the summer.  for the sawtooth, I used fabric that mimics a sawtooth blade.  I also really like how that turned out.

So, despite the fact that I haven't posted in awhile, I have been busy.  I've also bought a lot of fabric because when you do two blocks a month, you need all the fabric you can get!  Hope to write again soon.

Smitten blocks - all finished

Boom! I took some time off from quilting to go outside and play a bit.  A deserved break, I would say.  But, the lure of freshly steamed fabric has been calling to me and I finished up the blocks for the Smitten quilt this week.  Tonight I even pieced the top.  I'll be waiting to post a picture of that pieced top until I have better lighting and maybe even a back to share.  Until then, hooray for the finished quilt and I can knock another project off the list. (Eventually.)