confined to quarters temporarily due to weather...so what's a quilter to do but surf the net?  i confess to spending too  much time on instagram, which lured me to this website...she was working on a simple black and white quilt on instagram but the pattern is not yet on her website...

this is just perfect for a certain gal with a shoebox full of 2.5" strips....there are plenty of ideas there for good scrappy projects....there you have it, i'm an enabler...

so did the housework get done?  but noooooo!  instead more of this--the tumblers is now a flimsy....

and nann, another like-minded enabler, showed some batik squares on her blog that sparked my mojo...i have some batiks (no surprise)...might try just one, you know, for research purposes...my squares are a bit bigger than hers tho....

there is a project for these that i might get to today.....used up 3 pieces of fabric with these...bit by bit it's going.....

and today, like every day, dreaming of days at the shore....

winters in maryland are mostly cloudy, dreary, but we've had sun for a couple of days, always welcome in january (but not always in august!)...no snow of course, we seem to miss when snow falls south or north of us...

if you need a jolt in your mojo, i can recommend this...

a short film from the 1980s featuring some interesting quilters....watching it at different stages in my quilty life has prompted different reactions, but always entertaining

so about the weekend....sewed up several tumbler rows until i ran out of light value ones...maybe today this will finally be a flimsy...

next, my personal challenge of using repro fabrics...two squares made, one more for january...shooting for 30 in all for a top measuring 60x72..the most difficult part is choosing which fabrics..simple blocks, few pieces, quick construction

and peeking out behind them is this....

and sorry, lori, but make every effort to stay away from your pattern site and quilt show vendors who stock them...i'm a pushover for so many of them...LOL

recommended to me by librarian peep...but being a mainer, quite familiar with the eel, or elver, industry.  like most seasonal work, it can be fraught with tension, rivalry, even violence,  it happens with fish, shellfish too....hard to establish boundaries in a vast ocean and the pathways of its creatures amid governmental controls and sometimes nefarious behaviors...so definitely a very good read!

tree, lights, decorations all packed away for 11 months....have reclaimed my ironing table and tackled underneath..

found 7 shoeboxes with fabric but no lids in sight...hmm now where could they go?  with 340 square feet, not many places to hide....did manage to fling one, the slide out type, in the process.  

while spaghetti sauce simmers, working on the tumblers.  plan is to use up the ones i've cut, since the goal was to bust stash.  

now that i can "motor" to the library, can reserve things more easily....my name came up on this new book and scooted down to get it....have read all the others...like meeting up with old friends...

except for monday shopping shuttle, trapped all week waiting on replacement keys...good time for serious housework....or maybe not? everyone knows, housework only comes before sewing in the dictionary....LOL!  have a good day....me i'm praying for sunshine!

after an uber busy gap week when all manner of tasks got completed, time to get back on the sewing and quilting track.  you've seen my list and while #3 was chosen, must work on the semiquincentennial project.  would like to have ready for july but contingent on unexpected detours.  the applique pieces have been cut and background chosen...i tried lots of different neutrals, but this one seemed the best. it's a muted olive green...not enough white on hand but not sure it would work.  

miss sunny was oiled, lubricated and glammed up ready to work....we played with these....added 3 more on right side as afterthought...plenty of fabric of course...these are the tiny tumblers, about 2" height....

the stash shelves got re-orged as well....some uglies were pulled and are getting flung...the back wall is more visible now and re-acquainted with exactly what's on hand...jotted down some ideas to use more.  top shelf left is a tote of all plaids/homespuns....on the right is shoebox with whites/muslin scraps and next a few commercial patterns i've saved...

the bottom shelf has finished things that are going on the closet shelf soon i hope. 

that leaves this annoying situation...these are under the ironing table.  some things to be basted, project bags with UFOs, precuts in plastic containers.  box is poly stuffing.  some will go on the stash shelves but don't think it will all fit...yet that is.  

so the goal this year, as you can see, is.... 

exciting starting a new year....days ahead of promise and hope for health, family, fun...at least that's my list.  

also hoping for lots of sewing time as i've an ambitious list of things to make and or finish

2025 accomplishments?  finished 8 UFOs, acquired some small wheels, survived yet another medical event, did lose some weight, did NOT keep up with the kardashians, did see maine family briefly, learned to live with grief, ramped up exercise routine, sewed for charity...that's about it.  a pretty mundane lifestyle i guess.  

this week finished the re-do on the pumpkin wall quilt....i am thinking the panel was off...i trimmed it to keep the leaves border but now realize it was off....

got in some quality zoom time with the gals down under in their summer duds....plenty of quilty chat and barbie plans....i worked on my vintage melon squares and finished almost half...

the moderator IS doing the chookshed challenge again this year...my list at the ready.  started 2025 with high hopes and list of 10....all was well until july, then detour!  here the 2026 edition...

also a personal challenge of some blocks using my healthy repro fabric stash....plus whittle down the hand quilting pile, knocking off the last 2 bed size quilts..

in the not-really-resolutions department, tighten up the budget along with maintaining/improving my health, ongoing culling of unwanted stuff and increased independence.  not the least is keeping my faith strong in a world of increasing chaos, violence, absurdity.  on that note i close, wishing you peace, joy, contentment, health and faith to guide you on the journey. a blessed happy new year!

gap week tasks proceed with good result so  far....several drawers of sewing related stuff have been tidied and streamlined....but brief detour required for some housekeeping sewing....

hope your Christmas was as enjoyable as mine....spent a few days with daughter and son-in-love just basking in each other's company, refilling the hugs tank....the best gift of all!  my gifts were sorta spread out thru december but i did receive a couple more.....

a lovely gift of handmade soap from a quilty peep...she is so creative in all she does!  a set of blueberry print flannel sheets was tops on my list and will keep me cozy!

now begins a week of tidying the apartment, culling unwanted stuff, a few sewing tasks culminated with deconstructing christmas...if i had space i would leave my little tree up laden with its lifetime of memories in ornaments...it's comforting altho a bit bittersweet to relive special moments and people represented by them...days already beginning to lengthen and soon harbingers of spring will appear, every day overflowing with thankfulness....and so it goes...

busy with few last minute cooking tasks...when done, it'll be time to enjoy the day.   hoping you have loved ones close because that's all that really counts....all the rest is window dressing....we celebrate the birthday of a King, not the jolly fat man or most everything else that comes with him...may the warm memories of this and past Christmases remain with you in the years ahead...

are you almost ready?  speaking to my quilty peeps here, many busily finishing handmade gifts and cramming in decorating, baking along with usual....calm and bright in my neighborhood.  some early gifts came my way this week....

a cold and snowy weekend just the ticket for finishing up some things that were lying around annoying me....

a pin cushion and ornament meant for a swap that i had to drop...