Charm blocks

My daughter in law surprised me this weekend with some charm blocks. I have never used them before. I have made several quilts for her to give friends who are having babies. She honestly didn't need to give me anything because I really enjoyed making them. I don't really know how to use them but it seems like endless possibilities. I would love to use them to make a coin quilt.


















She also brought me this darling robot fabric. This will make a great back or maybe I could fussy cut some of the characters. Don't you just love the colors?


















We had a wonderful weekend. Our youngest grandson was baptized. He did so well. He doesn't like strangers and I was afraid he would cry when the minister took him but he didn't. It was so great to have everyone here even if it was just for a short while.

I was messing around yesterday and did some snails trail. I think the purple is a bit strong. I really enjoy making these blocks. I think I will use some different colors and see how that works.


















What was the most fun for me was figuring out how big to make the next layer of squares by using that famous old theorem of Pythagoras. Well you know us old math teachers have weird ways of having fun!! I should do a tutorial. This is one of those blocks that is much simpler than it looks.


















Yes I did use a calculator for those nasty square roots.

Thanks so much for all the wonderful suggestions on my house quilt. It is up on my design board and I am just going to look at it for awhile. I think I need to use softer colors if I do sashing. I am also making some different size houses. I can actually add to some of the houses I have already done to make the sizes vary a bit. I love the liberated way of working but it does take a lot of creative energy. Sometimes it is soothing to work on something simple that doesn't require so much creativity.

Whack Whack

I made these blocks a couple of years ago and they had been in a drawer ever since. They are Jan Mullen butterflies. For some reason they never spoke to me. I would get them out occasionally and look at them but never could figure out how to use them.





















I love the fabrics so I thought lets cut them up! So whack, whack and each block was turned into 4 blocks. You can't imagine how liberating it is to whack up quilt blocks!! It releases a lot of tension.




















I took the one of the blocks and made it into a house. I may make houses out of the rest or use them is some other way. The angles that are formed when you cut them up are really interesting.



















This is where I am so far. I welcome any suggestions. I was thinking of a bold sashing or possibly putting 4 blocks together. All the houses are 8 1/2", maybe I should make some taller or thinner. Maybe a more subtle sashing would work.






























I am a doting grandmother and I don't apologize. I have to include this picture of my "helpers". Why are stairs so fascinating to crawlers?



















Notice the tool belt! This boy is going to be a hand man!

Two finishes

I have finished two more baby quilts. One is for a friend of my daughters and one for a friend of my daughter in law.


















They will both be here next weekend for our youngest grandson's baptism. I am looking forward to a wonderful family weekend.



















I am working on my scrap blocks and making houses out of them. I think I will call this my Sanity quilt and make it for myself. I have never made myself a quilt. Then this winter I can do the hand quilting. I am varying some of the backgrounds. What do you think? I thought I would do the wonky stars for a border. Do you like my new "design" wall? It is a couple of plastic tablecloths from Target.


















Did you see the interview with Dan Brown last night? I was fascinated with what he had to say about the Free Masons. I bought his book at Sams Club the other day. I was going to wait and read it later on but it sounds so interesting I am going to start it tonight. Anybody read it yet?


















My mother has a young woman with her now. My husband and I visited an assisted living facility the other day. I don't know if that is the best thing for my mother or not. It is so hard to know what to do.

Piddlin'

For my own mental health I had to get into my sewing room yesterday. I don't have a pressing project. I wish I had one to concentrate on but at the moment I don't. I have two quilts that I have sewn the binding on and I need to do the handwork. I have the quilt for my grandson that I am hand quilting but I need something that is so engrossing I cannot think of anything else. Any ideas?

I did make a liberated star yesterday that I just love. A bunch of these would make a great quilt.


















I am still doing scrap blocks. I didn't like this one so I cut it in half and put it back together.


















This is kind of a wonky scrap log cabin. I really like the scrappiness of this one. Is scrappiness a word?

















Still working on a few houses. I am having an affair with dots. These are scrap blocks made into houses.



































I really like these. How would they do for a whole quilt?
















Two more scrap blocks. They are a great thing to work on when you just need to do something.
















I am still working on my mother's situation. I was so dependent on her caregiver that it has really been a jolt for me. Her caregiver is doing well and will recover but won't be able to come back to work. She did so many things for us. She is almost irreplaceable. I am looking at other options and we may try assisted living. It would give my mother some companionship and more stimulation. I am determined to look forward and make good decisions. Thanks so much for all your kind words. It means so much to me.

Adventure

I can say that this week has not been what I expected. We are all dealing with my aunt's death. Thanks so much for all the thoughtful comments. My mother's primary caregiver had a stroke yesterday! I am hopeful that she will recover but she won't be able to come back to work for us. She had been my lifeline for the last 6 months. Now what?

On a much lighter note and very exciting, my aunt found a workshop with Freddy and Gwen in Texas in March! She called and asked would I be interested! Would I be interested!!! OH YES!! So we signed up and are very excited to be going.
http://www.quilting-adventures.com/

Anybody ever heard of these folks? Or been to any of their workshops.