Wind and Wild Geese, A Tour of the Letter "W"

Welcome to my random assortment of Spinster blocks that start with the letter "W."  I think there is something for everyone here, assuming you are into bright colors and awesome points on geese. Yup, I went there.  Awesome points on the geese.

Wild Goose Chase

Finding a color that goes with a large print, red on pink floral is very much like heading out on a wild goose chase.

Whirlwind

I like how these dandelions look like they are being dispersed in the wind.  No doubt they will be landing my still unmowed yard where they will grow like the weeds they are.  Don't judge about the unmowed yard, we've had so much rain here that the ground in the back sinks a little when I step on it.  It's great for the plants and the wild dandelions, not so good for impressing my neighbors with my mad yard maintenance skills.

Windblown Square

I thought the pattern here looked like little fans and was appropriate for a windblown square.  Also, the cat approves.

Whirlpool

Looks a lot like a windblown square, doesn't it?  I went with complementary colors for this one so I could distance it from its almost twin when I put it in the quilt.  Yes, I know, whirlpool practically screams for a blue block.  I wanted to add more yellow so I went there.  Also, at some point in time, I plan to remember to not photograph the stain on my cutting mat.
 

Waterwheel

A waterwheel. Now, that's a block that should be blue.  I also like how the Art Gallery fabrics look like little drops of water.  That wasn't planned and I just spotted that now, but let's pretend I'm that good at matching fabrics to random ideas.  

Wild Geese

Boom.  I finished this one up at about midnight last night.  I had a crazy good night of making blocks and hanging with the cat army.  Work has been one big pile of stress lately and I've been feeling it. Making pretty things has helped quite a bit.  I'm going to finish up some more today (with any luck) and share them next week.

Lots and lots of more "W" blocks to come.

Tulips and waste

Don't you just love Pinterest?  It is a great way to waste hours of your time and learn about other people's obsessions.  I follow several quilt boards and have made board of pretty things like flowers and hummingbirds. My inspiration for my Tulip block was a lovely tulip picture. 

Tulip

 Nailed it.

Waste Not

For the Waste Not block, I decided to waste not and used scraps left over from the backing from this little project:

I was able to take some scraps from the Modern Block quilt and turn them into something simple and pretty.

Next up, oh, heck, I don't know.  I got giddy and printed out all the blocks that I have left and will be randomly doing some of these in a random order. I'm almost done which is all kinds of awesome.  

temperance, swallows, trees, strawberries, and lightning

Strawberry Basket

 My first thought with the strawberry (dude says hi) basket was to go with red, but in digging through the stash I couldn't help but think these pinks were better. I think they are.

Streak of Lightning 

 I've been saving this fabric for this blocks for months, well, maybe a year.  I knew this would be perfect to represent a streak of lightening.  Bright and almost neon, a perfect portrayal of lightning.

Tall Pine Tree

 Pine trees around here are rich, deep green.  This is not. I did think, however, that this was a pretty shade of green and I wanted to use it.

Swallow

 We had swallows nesting on our house when we were kids.  They were beautiful and they annoyed the cat. What more could you want from a bird?  At any rate, my swallow block is grey to bring home the neutral colored swallow.

Temperance Tree

I'm not going to lie.  I'm drinking an old fashioned as I type this.  This block is my way of honoring the old fashioned which is made with bourbon (a manly brown liquor), bitters, ginger ale, cherry, and an orange.  A pretty, pretty orange.  And, probably, an improper way to honor the temperance tree.  But, then, I'm not one to really honor the temperance movement.

Hi!

Storm Signal

Red skies at night, sailors delight.  Red skies in the morning, sailors take warning.  This is a signal to get you through the storm.

Star of Hope

It was fun to use this star patterned fabric for this block.  I won about an eighth of this pattern at the Sewing Summit a couple of years ago and was happy to see it in my stash. I believe this was a gift from Fabricworm, so props to them!

Squash Blossom

Speaking of Sewing Summit, this patterned fabric is what was left over from fabric I took there for a fabric exchange.  One of the lovely ladies there organized a color wheel exchange and each participant was assigned two colors to bring a stack of 5 inch squares to switch out with the others.  I was assigned yellow and yellow-orange.  I thought the seeded pattern would be fun for a color wheel and, in this case, fun for yellow colored squash blossoms.

Next up, strawberries, lightening, and a sparrow.

A surprise and a night at the ball

Have you ever done a surprise quilt for someone you spend the majority of your free time with?  It is slightly difficult but fun in a sneaky sort of way.  I found this Washington State University fabric at my local quilt store last November.  I decided that it would be the best gift possible for my favorite Cougar fan.  I also decided that it had to be a surprise and would require sneaking and stealthy behavior.  It took me a couple of months, but I was able to do it.  I also managed to surprise my very happy Cougar on Christmas Day.  It was awesome.  The front and the pieced back are documented below. 

But, wait, there's more.  Have you ever wanted to attend a ball on your birthday?  Me too!  My city hosts an inaugural ball every four years for the incoming Governor.  It is held at my workplace and usually I don't feel the need to go because, well, it's held where I work.  This year, I had a Cougar fan to come with me and a birthday, which occurred the day of the ball, to celebrate.  It was too perfect and I bought a pretty dress, accessories, and shoes that should only be worn by women who need to earn money while standing on street corners. Unfortunately, I didn't get good pictures of my dress and hooker shoes.  But be assured the outfit was awesome.  The evening was memorable, filled with pomp and circumstance and I got to see my coworkers looking all fancy and pretty. (For Olympia, this is a very big deal, us west coasters don't go for fancy dress parties.) I even managed to get a few pictures of me and the Cougar.  Much fun.

Ice sculptures!  

Look at me and the happy Cougar who is still thinking about his awesome quilt. 

Getting ready to introduce the new Governor. 

The rotunda, which I usually just run through during legislative session. 

The chandelier, big enough to hold a VW beetle. 

Where did those come from?

Greetings, long neglected blog friends!

Hello again, everyone!  I'm sorry about the long delay between postings.  I thought I hadn't done a lot, but when I loaded the pictures off my camera I realized that while I have been goofing off for a month enjoying life and the cat army, I actually have been productive on the quilt front. I know you can't wait a moment longer, so without further ado, here is what I've been doing for the last month....

Steps to the Altar

The Spinster quilt lives!  Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.  These steps to the altar are strewn with beautiful little flowers.

Random Baby Girl Quilt

Well, drat.  I decided to use left over blocks from an earlier quilt to make a lap quilt for a friend of a friend who has recently been diagnosed with cancer.  I thought this would be cheerful and give her something to curl up in to relax between doses of chemotherapy.  Unfortunately, I didn't have as many blocks left over as I thought I did and didn't get it to lap size.  I'm going to quilt this and have it on hand for when someone, anyone, I know becomes pregnant with a little girl.  Want this? Get some wine into you and head down to the local bar.  I kid, I kid, you can buy wine when you get there. 

Forest Fantasy 

The beautiful back

Very cute little girl cat picture.

Folded and ready to go to its new house.

I did finish and give away the Forest Fantasy quilt last month.  I was so happy with how the quilting turned out and how it looks put together.  Scout agrees and had to be forcibly removed so I could put it away and keep some of the cat hair off it.  CF came over one evening and picked it up. I love giving these little projects away.  The cats are opposed to that practice, but I've told them that adversity builds character.

Next up, more Spinster action!  (And, hopefully, not another month between postings.  Sorry about that!)

Spider Web, Dancing in the Garden

Every once in awhile I get a little giddy at all the blocks I've made for my Spinster Quilt.  I've finished nearly 90 of them and am a little sad that this process will be over soon.  (Soon, as within a year.)  I finished three blocks this week and have a treat from the garden to share as well.  

Square Dance

Too literal?  Squares for the square dance? They kind of look like they are dancing don't they?

I know, this has very little to do with the Spinster quilt other than I can see it as I work at my sewing machine.  I just had to share this because it is a very confused rhododendron and needs to go back to sleep.  Of course, it never actually blooms when it is supposed to so I'm enjoying this while it lasts.

Spider Web

 Just in time for Halloween, a Spider Web.  I thought these ovals looked like little spider eggs which is probably not what the fabric artist had in mind when creating this pattern.  Also, I've got tons of these types of webs all over the exterior of my house and in the garage.  At some point in time, battle must be done with my trusty broom.

Star Gardener

Through absolutely no fault of my own, I managed to have 3 wild orchids come up in my yard this summer.  I'd like to take credit, but we all know nature takes it all in this case.  At any rate, they were purple and beautiful.  Had I actually planted them and got them to grow on my own, I would have been quite the Star Gardener.  (See what I did there?)

Next up, Squash Blossoms, Steps to the Altar, and a Star of Hope.