DrEAMi! #63

Welcome! This is a celebration of distractions. Yes, those Drop Everything And Make it kind of distractions, where you actually drop whatever you should be sewing in order to make this oh-so-cool THING! Some people refer to this phenomenon as a squirrel.

What the heck?

My friend Helen of Word Weaver Art sent me this photo of her 'uninvited guest' who joined them at dinner at a restaurant. That would definitely be a distraction! DrEAMi's often bring us joy. The sheer fun and excitement of diving in, and having to just keep going to see how something turns out is so good for our spirit.

Gratitude #64

Good heavens, I forgot the last Thursday of the month - where did May go? I started this post, as I usually do, part way through the month, but Thursday just sneaked up on me. Remember if you'd like to read more of these uplifting posts, several of us write them, some every week, and we link up at LeeAnna's blog Not Afraid of Color.

1. I like Kopegaron Forest, a little nature preserve we just discovered at the beginning of the month just 20 minutes from home.

Magical. Fragile. Perfect.

And we are about to re-elect a government in this province who wants to pave over thousands of square kilometres of wetlands to put in a highway that will benefit commuters by shaving off seconds, not lying, of their drive, but that will give billions to his rich buddies who clearly buy him off. I have to stop thinking too much about it other than signing petitions and writing to my MPP because I get a panic attack feeling in my chest.

Trilliums are a big deal to me, being from Alberta where they do not grow. But seeing these rich burgundy ones took my breath away. I looked them up: red trilliums. Who knew.

Makeup Pouches and Etsy Thoughts

One of my favourite parts of the quilting process is combing fabrics, whether it's all one family or several. I really like making makeup bags either with 2.5" charm squares or strips. Last week I sold a deep blue makeup pouch and this week I've made two more, one in white and ivory, the other in pinks. I kind of went down a rabbit hole, aka had a Drop Everthing And Make it! moment.

I've adapted the latest few to use Noodlehead's zipper application that allows the bag to open to its full extent. These two came about because I'd cut a few charms from scraps from my spring tote bag I made for Benartex. I never make just one bag these days, always two as it's a more efficient use of time.

Hands2Help Gingham Quilt

This is my third quilt for Hands2Help this year, and my eighth year of participating. This one was a DrEAMi, as in a Drop Everything And Make it project. It is not a true DrEAMi, in that I did not drop everything until it was done, but it did definitely take me away from regularly scheduled sewing for two separate chunks of time: cutting and constructing. From starting to piece until finished quilt it took just 24 hours!

It started with making a string placemat for the RSC challenge, which happens to be forest and sage green for this month... I had the squares all cut and on the design wall on May 9. And then a couple of other necessities preempted its completion: La Mer (I behaved, and finished up a UFO) and making the Pop Star flimsy for my QAL.

La Mer

I have finished the second of my hopefully twelve UFOs for the year. I bought the pattern, 'Sea Glass' off Craftsy several years ago (details below), collected a few turquoise, aqua, sea-green, and lime fabrics for options, got started on it within a year or so of purchase, and then it sat for a few more years. I cannot tell you how satisfying it is to have it finished, and how much in love with it I am.

These are MY COLOURS! And yes I sort of yelled/sang that. Oh, they speak to my soul. So does the fuchsia of the crabapple tree. Makes me want to make a quilt in pink and turquoise, mmm.

Pop Star - Borders and Quilt Top Assembly

Are you ready?! We just have to make one giant nine-patch and two borders, and we will have our quilt top! I am loving the fabrics and colours I am seeing on Instagram. Thank you all for joining in with another QAL. Let's get to it!

I can't tell you how gratifying it is to see the quilt on that little graphic, the one I put into EQ8 a few months ago, come to life! I also can't tell you how annoyed I am that I somehow got off my original schedule of posts, which were all supposed to be on Sundays. When I did the one for Hands2Help, I had to move the Pop Star over to Saturday, and then I just continued posting the steps on Saturdays!🤭 Even though I am finished with menopause, it is not finished with me, muddled brain-wise. So here we are, back to Sundays.

Pop Star - Centre Star Unit

Have you put your four pop star units on your design wall to admire all week as I have?! Well this week we are going to fill in the centre.

Betcha can't wait out the week to put the whole quilt together, just sayin'...

Whirling Petals - A Hands2Help Quilt

I am happy to report that my second H2H quilt this year is a wrap! Hands2Help is being hosted this year by Mari at The Academic Quilter.

I had a goal this year to use up a bunch of leftover floral scraps, and some stash that I knew I wasn't going to use for the intended purpose. I made a dent, albeit small, in the pile.

DrEAMi! #62

A great photo for our "Oh look! A squirrel!" party aka DrEAMi which stands for Drop Everything and Make it! was the lead in Kate's of Arts and Socks post:

Read the explanation of her foster kitty Mystique taking this chipmunk's drive-through order by clicking the photo.

Adorable and smart on the part of the foster family and the chipmunk! This month's DrEAMi party where we celebrate those projects we saw and just had to make, like NOW, is a day late because of publishing Step 2 for my Pop Star QAL. It's not too late to join in! The link to all the details is also on my sidebar and may I remind you that there are some sweet prizes?!