Winter Wanderings

Recently, I joined my first swap in ages. I confess I was a little nervous (having been burned in long ago swaps). But I had such fun planning what to swap, making my gifts, then packing, mailing and eagerly anticipating, then receiving my own package.

"Fall into Reading Book Swap 2022" was hosted on InstaGram by @wwarner27 (aka Wendy). She matched participants into one-to-one swap partners. Everyone in the swap filled out a questionnaire including favorite book genres and other interests. My partner and I were able to chat via emails while deciding what to send to each other. 

Here's a peek at the books I soon purchased for Mandi  ...  My puzzle now is which one (or two) to send to her .... or maybe send more?  

See any titles below that intrigue you? 

Wondering where I purchased this stack of books? Why, at one of my favorite independent book stores! I am lucky to have two located near me. If you're in Houston, be sure to visit "Murder By The Book" on Bissonnet and "Brazos Bookstore" a block away also on Bissonnet. While I frequent both, the books above are entirely from Murder By The Book. Now to decide which books to send to Mandi....hmmm....

Meanwhile, the swap includes sending small gifts. Mandi and I are makers and crafters, so I wanted to make something special for her. But time was short and I needed to whip something together quickly. What could I make for my new book-loving-&-crafting-friend? Inspired by the name "Fall into Reading", I looked through my unfinished blocks, pulling two made in fall colors. I decided to finish both.

 

The second block is called "Leaf Love Wreath." It is an original design and paper-piecing pattern by Kristy Lea (aka Quiet Play). 

The pattern is currently available on her Quiet Play website. For your ease, click Leaf Love Wreath pattern for a direct link to this pattern. Click Quiet Play patterns to see all of Kristy's wonderful patterns. To learn more of my creative quilty friend Kristy who lives in the Land-Down-Under (aka Australia), take a look at her website: https://quietplaydesigns.com/ 

I finished this sweet leaf wreath block into a small quilt too.

It is that time when summer is beckoning .... schools are winding down, teachers and custodians are cleaning classrooms, bulletin boards are being disassembled ....

But I took a break from the cleaning and final lesson planning to make a small gift for my 10 young students this year.  Each child selected the colorful zip-pouch they liked best and then picked out a new pair of sunglasses to tuck inside. I love sending them off with a little something made by me and specially for this class. They are my first class back at the preschool where I first discovered my fascination with working with this unique age group, their parents and their families (siblings, grands, cousins, etc).

 

What a year it has been ... but we (my co-teachers, students & families) safely navigated the full year of in-person school during a pandemic. While I and some of my families did test positive for covid at some point during the year, and our class closed for a single day, we never spread it to other classmates! I am extremely proud of that (and very thankful too). This class came with an awesome group of parents!!!

Happy summer to everyone! 

 

Have a fabulous time whatever you do and wherever you may wander.  Me? I'm excited to have a renewed passport and am ready to wander .....  See you in the fall!

 

Months have passed...
Time moves ever forward ....

and covid19 still rages across my city, my country, my world.

So I focus on the little things as I take each day, one at a time, as it comes.
I am still stitching here.

It is soothing to be creating something with my hands.

And moments scattered in-between, I make masks.

Stay safe.
Stay home.
Wear your masks.

Meanwhile my current wanderings have been around my neighborhood and also across the keyboard of my laptop. I am learning new digital skills - how to make and share YouTube videos (perhaps I'll create my own station too?); how to set up and post information into my Toddler classroom on Google Classroom; how to create a private group on WhatsApp for my current toddler class and how to establish an account for ZOOM cloud meetings. In fact, I have three meeting meetings (or is it four?) scheduled for tomorrow?

Soon a new normal may set in --  I am hopeful that it will be a new normal that allows solid blocks of time to sew, to create, to daydream and possibly even to nap now and again.

My final finish for 2019 is this Super Simple Sampler in Blue quilt.

I pieced it in early 2017 when this pattern Simple Sampler by Thangles was brand new.  I can indeed verify that this is a super simple pattern to stitch together, especially since it uses the Thangles method. The pattern and Thangles to make it are available for purchase by clicking here. As you can see by their sample, that I reversed the colors: using white in the blocks and a blue batik for the background. I love it!

While the piecing was fast and easy, it took another year (or year and a half!) to deliver it to a quilter. First I had to decide on a backing fabric, opting to stitch one made of a patchwork back of blues from my fabric collection (P. S. I am a quilter who loves to quilt-by-check any of the large bed size quilt tops that I stitch up).

In summer of 2018, I had this quilt quilted by one of the local long armers whom I frequent. Jenn Saxena did a wonderful job at quilting this top using a doodle flowers pattern.  .... then at long last in December of 2019, I stitched on the binding. Now it is complete!

Oh, wait, I may still need to add a label to it!  Guess it will be officially finished in 2020?

 

Stars and Stripes by Amy Pabst

signage from the 2019 Quilt Festival

Sawtooth Star by Amy Pabst

Ultra Violet by Amy Pabst

Marching Elephants by Amy Pabst

Milk and Honey by Amy Pabst

Fever Dream by Amy Pabst

Off-Center Barn Raising by Amy Pabst

A Long Way Home by Amy Pabst

Barn Doors by Amy Pabst

I love seeing my Quilt Family at our annual gathering in Houston for the International Quilt Market and Quilt Festival.  This blog post features a few favorite quilts made with Thangles, created by MB Hayes, who I met at Quilt Market maybe 1,000 years ago.  I plan to start one of these soon ....

I love this Orion Star quilt.  If you are familiar with Thangles, you may recognize this best selling pattern which is always on display in their booth at Quilt Shows and Markets -- but in a cooler color way (purples, blues and greens).  I plan to make it one day, possibly in reproduction prints ....  The project pack is available online (directions and Thangles included!) by clicking here.

This one is called "Gemini Stars" and is one of newer Thangles patterns.  You learn how to make the "tulip" block when stitching this one together.  It simply sparkles, don't you agree?

I love this StashBuster pattern!  It is very similar to the current 2014 StashBuster pattern that is the free bonus sent out with all online orders placed that year.  I hope they bring back the Stash Buster patterns one day....

This is a variation of a pattern called "Stash Balls" -- such a fun what to use up your colorful fabric stash! Thangles are so easy to use when stitching up patterns with half-square triangles. 



The blue and white quilt below is one of the older designs and possibly one of the first Thangles patterns that I ever made.  This one is similar to a pattern in the Dress Your Table collection. There are now two Dress Your Table patterns, both feature quick-to-sew small quilts (great for making and gifting to friends and family).  They are "Dress Your Table" and "Dress Your Table 2" (scroll down the page to see the second pattern).


To watch a demo on how to use Thangles, click here. 
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