a bit of a catch up post

my poor neglected blog....


i'm having a hard time getting back into blogging. december, january and february were all pretty tough months, between family drama, flare ups, loss, dental surgery and the worst flu ever, and even though things are looking up now that we're into march, i can't get back into the rhythm. (side note - rhythm is such a weird word, it's missing a vowel..)


part of the difficulty is that i'm addicted to instagram , where i get to post quick pics and get almost-immediate feedback. taking real pictures, editing them and then blogging them is so much more effort!


so maybe i need to combine the two? blogging and instagram? let's try that.


apologies to folks also on instagram for the repetition, but here are a few of the things i've been working on lately -


i've made a few pieces like this, i need to bind the second one and take proper pictures of them both this week...



a belated stocking stuffer for my mom, a needlebook using the tutorial i posted a few months ago. i didn't get it done before xmas because i couldn't find any cat fabric in my stash!



a bee block for Berene, very late, of course... she should never have said "no rush"!



i got kind of obsessed with this block, which everyone calls the Japanese + and x block, because the obsession was started when amy of badskirt shared the block from a quilt she saw at a show, and blogged a tutorial for it. it's actually dated back to 1938 and is attributed to Nancy Cabot, but Japanese + and x block stuck! it became an instagram sensation a little while ago, and as you can see by the flickr group, there are tons of gorgeous versions.



because i have a tendency to make things more complicated than they have to be, i resized the pattern and made 3.5" blocks using scraps. the original tutorial is for a 7.5" finished block, and tutorials are available for 12.5" x 12.5" finished, 10" x 10" finished, 12" x 12" finished, another 12" x 12" finished block, and a 24" x 24" finished block, which has slightly different dimensions (i think the 12" blocks have different dimensions too).



i signed up for the Lucky Stars BOM with Elizabeth from Don't Call Me Betsy, and i've managed to get one block finished so far. we're only three months into the year, so i'm not THAT behind. yet.



during QuiltCon i saw someone post about selvedge spool blocks, and got carried away. it was awesome to finally use some of my selvedges, but damned if i know what i'm going to do with the finished piece.



this will eventually be a pillow, but i'm only working on it in fits and starts. one of the bee blocks that i need to work on is star themed, so i started looking for star patterns, and fell in love with this one. i decided to "test" the pattern before i used it for a bee block, using some of my favourite prints.



this is the bee block - rainbow stars! it went a million times faster than my test piece - i cut all the fabric at once, pieced it all in sections, and now i just have to finish sewing the pieces together.



i've also quilted the front of the pillow that i'm making for my dad - a belated christmas present. i found the backing fabric last night, so i'll do that next.



and then there's Madrona Road Challenge! i got the top finished, and i need to pick up some white batting so that i can quilt it. i have a week to get it done!