Getting Back Into the Swing of Things and SAHRR

Hello friends! I’m back after taking another week off last Saturday. I just had nothing left in the tank at the end of the week and hadn’t taken any photos, so I didn’t post. But I’ve got lots to share and talk about this week. 

January’s color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is blue. I have one (of two planned) Rolling Stone blocks to show you. They’re also called Broken Wheel, but I’ll call them Rolling Stone blocks. Because “I can’t get no satisfaction”. Please tell me you’re old enough to get the reference!

 

It’s not a great picture, but it’ll do. These blocks (I’ll make 20) will finish at 12” for a kids quilt that will finish at 48x60”. I have a ton of blue strings, which I hope to start on in the next week too. 

I’ve also picked out my central blocks for this year’s Stay at Home Round Robin (SAHRR). Mary Engelbreit released the lovely and bright Queen and Princess fabrics in 2003 (Cranston Fabrics). I found a piece at last  year’s World Wide Quilting Day in March on the free tables. I grabbed it up, seeing 4 pictures, 2 of the Queen and 2 of the Princess. I put it away for this year’s SAHRR. 

Each block measures about 16.5” square out to the yellow. I’m hoping to use some of the blue as well, if I can get enough to show beyond the quarter-inch seam allowance. 

And when I took the fabric out to press it a little for the pic, I was surprised to find that there were a total of 8 panels, not just 4. So I have six more central panels - three additional sets of these two blocks. I have no idea at this point what to do with them all, but a pair may go back to this year’s WWQD, and I’ll first see if Kim or Ruby want any. But then, who knows.

Anyway, the SAHRR is once again being hosted by Quilting Gail, and next Wednesday will kick off our first round. This week we are showing our starting blocks. Check them out here at Gail’s Blog and see the orphan, leftover, or other lovely blocks that the other creators are using to fuel their ideas. 

And speaking of the SAHRR, I am using the gorgeous fat quarter bundle that I won in last year’s SAHRR to make the wedding quilt for my Grandson Easton. I had originally planned to do a Storm at Sea quilt, but after cutting out and sewing one block with my original fabric I realized several things; it’s beyond either my skill set or patience level (or both); the fabrics were boring, and I hated the result. So, on to Plan B, which should’ve been Plan A from the beginning. 

So, I am using instead the lovely Island Batik Midnight Garden fat quarter bundle I won to make a potato chip variation block. 

The blues and greens and purples are the couple’s preferred colors, and these are sewing up like a dream. Here’s the first third of them up on the design board. Disregard the flying geese; I’m still intending to web the rest of THAT quilt this week, too! 

Aaaaaand… my messy side table that is really calling me to straighten things up. 

I’ve been sewing four of the 8.5” blocks into 16” blocks, and will need 30 of those to make a quilt that is 80x96”. Once I sew the remaining four block sets for the third row, I’ll put them away until I finish my RSC January blocks and web that Night Flying Geese top. The wedding is in April, so there’s no need to drop every single thing for it at this time.

I had my 6-week post-op checkup on my knee and have “graduated”. When my sweet surgeon said that, he gave me a handshake and a bag of candy! And he also told me to tell my dear friend Terri (his aunt) to behave. I told him I would tell her just the opposite, and then make sure I was there to see what kind of good trouble we could get into! 

So, I still have 3 weeks of physical therapy left, but we’re now in the strength-building phase. I won’t have my left knee done until fall, because I need to take care of my late brother’s estate, plus I want to be able to swim in the pool this summer. So, fall it is, and in the meantime, cortisone shots in the left knee will keep me running, although not literally. 

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My cousin Dan is coming out from California, and sometime in February we’ll drive out (5 hours) to Steve’s house in Colorado to assess everything for a few days. I’ve been taking care of all Steve’s bills (ouch) because his accounts are frozen. Still have lots of paperwork to handle (Union pension, social security, taxes, sale of the house and vehicles). The pets have all been placed in good homes. Dan and I will retrieve all the papers, photos and personal effects on our first trip. Dan will eventually get Steve’s hotrod, and the two other transportation vehicles have been spoken for. We have a buyer for the house, so I’ll work with a local agent there to handle that sale paperwork. Dan and I (and cousin Julie and her husband David) will visit again in April or May to finalize the house sale and gather up any remaining belongings. 

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I’m publishing this on Friday evening. First thing Saturday morning I have a Block of the Month class, but as soon as I get home I’ll link up to Scrappy Saturday for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Have a good week!