SMGO Still!

SMGO--So Much Going On... Still!

I've been fairly quiet online here because my sewing machine has been whirring like crazy since my last post of my SAHRR round 4.

I got an order for a tote bag and a day or two after that an order for three mug cosies. Here is the tote bag, another one I absolutely loved, but because it's going to a good appreciative home for a returning customer, I was happy to send it off!

This is part of my pattern Positive Flow which includes instructions for two quilt sizes of interlocking plus blocks that flow across the quilt in three waving rows.

SAHRR Round 4 Show Off Our Curves and Another Publication

Round 4 came from Wendy of Pieceful Thoughts. She asked us to show off our curves. I've had lots of fun over the years with improv curves, and a cool method that uses the bias to make fancy curves, but would you believe I've never made a traditional curves block à la Drunkard's Path? Out came the Betty Crockerass curves templates! 

Another one of the many things I love about Project Quilting and SAHRR is the challenges and prompts that push me to make the time to try something I've always wanted to try. I've done bajillions of set-in sleeves over the years along with the improv curves, so doing this block was actually really easy. Here is where my SAHRR sits right now.

SAHRR Prompt 3 Animal Kingdom

This one gave me pause (paws--ha--just thought of that as I typed). Emily of The Darling Dogwood was our 'director' this week and she asked us to look to the animal kingdom for inspiration, be it animal named blocks, appliqué of an animal, pieced block that looks like an animal or animal fabric. Once again, Kathleen's post was a good one to get the creative brain juices flowing. After round 2, I had a tentative plan to somehow extend the double flying geese into this round to accentuate the diagonal 'pull' they gave. I also had planned to incorporate purple into this round. Here is where it is.

Project Quilting 17.3 Bees

Here is my quilt for Project Quilting 17.3 Year of the Horse. This was a quilt that got finished and then linked up with 11 minutes to spare. I work well under pressure, but I don't like cutting it that fine! I'd like to say that I rushed home after teaching yoga Sunday morning and got straight to work making the binding and applying it, as that was all that was left when I had to stop at 10:30 Saturday evening. However, I had to make a quick stop at the grocery store to pick up some necessary items, and then take Rufus for a walk, and then finally, I got to work. Could I have waited for the groceries and Rufus's walk? Probably, but in this never-ending cold, I didn't want to go out more than once, and dogs do like their routines.

Thank goodness for sun at 12:39 EST which is the time stamp on the first of the three photos I uploaded to my Instagram post! It really shows the quilting. Don't mind the quilt waving happily; it's currently drying after being blocked on my design wall!

SAHRR Prompt 2 Make it a Double

Happy Full Snow Moon and first of February. When I first read Kathleen's prompt on Tuesday for this week, 'Make it a double,' I immediately thought of a double-double. Like 'Make it a double,' it's referring to a drink, though non-alcoholic. A doubles-double is Canadian speak for a Tim Horton's coffee with two cream and two sugar. 🫶

So we were to incorporate the idea of double, or two, in or round this week. I let that thought simmer while I spent the bulk of the time since working on my upcoming pattern in Make Modern. I took a break from the computer on Saturday to work on my SAHHR, since the PQ 17.3 challenge is released on Sunday. Here is where my SAHRR sits at present after this week's prompt.

Yay for some beautiful blues skies and sunshine for an outside pic

Gratitude and Glimmers #103

Welcome to my post of glimmers (of joy and wonder) and gratitude for the month of January. You can find links to more posts like this one at LeeAnna's blog, Not Afraid of Color. 

1. I love this quote which, I think, embodies all that we who link up with LeeAnna feel—

It's so easy to get bogged down especially as the media emphasizes all that is wrong, and rarely do we hear about good things, so taking time to notice the good things, no matter how small, is extra-important in these times.

SAHRR Prompt 1 Hourglass Block

I love designing in EQ8 (especially using the Symmetry tool where magic happens) and I really love designing in my graph paper notebook (I do love colouring, rather zen-like still at my age), but there is something at another level of magic about designing as I go on the design wall. It kind of combines the magic and zen of the first two. Every time I do a SAHRR, it happens, and it happened in this first round where Brenda of Songbird Designs (I'm linking this post up there) gave us the prompt to add the hourglass block, also known as a quarter-square-triangle, aka QST.  Here is where I am, first prompt complete.

 You may think, okay, magic... and? Because this doesn't look that magical. Well, let me explain.