Nope. Not even close. In fact, we appear to be getting the opposite– 5-8″ worth.

I remind myself that I signed up for this when I said, “I do,” to the mountain man all those years ago. And like the groundhog, it’s back into the sewing hole for another week.

I have a 100% finished, finish! It seems like a rare occurrence in this establishment. “Vera’s Violets” has been gifted to a new little person.

I almost skipped the personalization step, but my family encouraged me to just do it. One of these days, when I decide to put some valuable information up on this blog, I will tell you how I do it– it’s so easy.

I usually don’t wash gift quilts, but I think a baby quilt is going to need to be washed– so here it is in its crinkly final form. With all the starching, my quilts are like cardboard when they’re done, so it really helped. I’m not usually a fan of the crinkly look, but it is charming in its way.

This pattern was from a Sew Sampler Box a couple of years ago– I loved it and it was one of the rare ones I completed as shown. It came with a plastic template for the diamonds, great instructions, and I really enjoyed trying something new. I clicked a button on the Fat Quarter Shop to resubscribe to the boxes when a subscription is available– the club is currently full. I hope by the time it opens up, I don’t sign up again! 😂 In my opinion, the value on those boxes is incredible.

Since we’re talking about purchases, I bought this!

I had my eye on this panel since I first saw it on the Riley Blake website months ago. It’s only $12.98, so I gave myself an upgrade and bought this little kit with borders for about $35. You get the fabric and instructions to make it as shown above. The border fabric is cute and has sewing themed things on it.

And here’s the panel– better grab one, if you want it– it has already sold out at Fat Quarter Shop once! They currently have more panels, but I could only get my kit on Etsy. In my opinion, it will be worth $300-$400 by the time the Tricentennial rolls around!

I love J. Wecker Frisch’s illustrations although I’m not generally a panel girl– but I’d love to hang this in Quiltopia. How much fun it will be to quilt the “quilt” on the longarm!

The Mushroom baby quilt is halfway there! I have all three leaves made.

Next up, three of these mushroom blocks– and finally! a quilt that’s coming out just the right size.

I’m still puzzled by the lack of variety of prints in this kit, but I did add ginghams for a more “baby” feel. Hoping to have this on the longarm by April 1st. Baby shower is in May and I’m relying on it for a large decoration.

Paper plates are on the move. Posh Penelope has been sitting for too long, so I cut some backgrounds to keep the ball in the air.

Mostly, I have been using the “quiet” prints in this collection for backgrounds, but this time I’m going all out bohemian. Fourteen more blocks to go and it’s time for assembly. My next Sit ‘n Sew class is April 24th– I’d love to be assembling by then.

For my daily hand stitch, I’ve moved back to Sweet Land Applique, so I’m way ahead of schedule on this. There’s a lot of pieces in these so I’m trying to really zip along. Does every corner need three or four stitches as I used to think? Now I think one is fine. Soon I will have two blocks down, two to go.

I thought you might be interested in seeing the back. If you haven’t ever hand appliqued, you should! It’s not hard, with the right needle and thread. It’s on my bucket list to hand quilt something, some day.

After the four applique blocks, there are five pieced star blocks and they are glorious! This is why I originally started quilting in the first place– I always loved puzzles.

The pattern for this block is free on the Lori Holt Bee in My Bonnet blog, if you have the patience to find and scroll through a hundred page “Sew-a-Long Guide,” and watch a video! I am not there yet.

So that’s about it! Someday, maybe I’ll be able to write about my vegetable garden or experience the moment when Snowy, born in September, first realizes the planet warms every year. Until then, well, it’s just more of this.

xox
Carol