What Are You Working On?

Mom's been gone for over two months now. The new normal has settled around me. I miss her daily phone calls; she would always lead off our chats with "what are you working on?" I find myself talking to her sometimes, reporting on my latest projects. After her eyesight failed through advancing macular degeneration she couldn't sew anymore and, I believe, that she enjoyed just thinking about, and imagining, the quilts and other projects that were taking on life. Sew, in that context, here are my latest projects completed: shown left, "No Scrap Too Small" has been quilted and bound (those bitty scrap squares finish to 1 inch).

This cross stitch piece, stitching complete, will be turned into a pinkeep soon. 

Summer Sweets ~ Scattered Seed Samplers by Tammy Black

With that one checked off the list this one has been started and is almost done already, 

I'm working on border now.

"School Colors" is now a full-fledged flimsy (60" X 75"). 

Backing has been chosen, it's waiting its turn.

Inspired by this photograph that I found on Instagram...

...these Kaleidoscope blocks are my latest obsession, wedges are taking over!! Those dark blocks on the bottom of the design wall were pieced over 30 years ago. I dug them out and set them together, it is destined to become a table topper. Back then I must've made a wedge-shaped template and traced around it as the seam allowances are drawn in pencil on the wrong sides. Now, I am using Studio 180's Wedge Star Tool to make my scrappy version. I found that I could make 7" finished blocks working solely from my saved precut 4.5" square scrap bins; using them up on this project brings sheer joy. My goal (as long as the scraps hold out) is to piece a top measuring 56" X 63"; an ample-sized lap quilt. I've been pretty driven lately, making to-do lists and sticking to the tasks at hand, staying busy is helpful.

Last, but not least, "Tumbling Squirrels" is under the quilting needle at present, a few more passes and this, too, will be in need of binding. My conversations with Mom will continue. I'll talk to her about my latest idea and I know that she's smiling. From my earliest years I can remember my mother always making something; she decorated cakes for a period of time. She did folk-art painting and was a master of decoupage. She loved crafting all sorts of things from wood when she wasn't sewing. Handmade meant heart-made, she'd leave her mark on items that she'd created: her initials and the year hand-penned within a heart shape. 💗

"What are you working on?"

Life is Good!