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As of today, I am more than 1/3 of my way through my first semester of full-time professoring (I'm making it a word, okay?). This is very exciting because it tells me that I might actually survive. If I do survive and if I get all the same classes next semester, I might even be able to leave my part time job during the semester and save it for breaks between classes.

But that is crazy talk. Thinking in whatifs always frustrates me. As a wee-lass, that was always one of my favorite poems:

"Everything seems swell, and then the nighttime Whatifs strike again!" -Shel Silverstein

Anyways, moving on! This might not be too verbose of a post, but it will be picture heavy as I have been squeezing in time for quilting since I cut back hours at part time job and am now only working about 50 hours a week at both jobs collectively. That is easy peasy.

I was able to finish the September buck a block from my local quilt shop. These are all basket blocks which I probably would have never tried on my own.

As it turns out, I actually really like the way most of them look.

I also completed my block for the newBEES block swap. The leader of this month was time2sew and she sent all the fabric and pattern, so I can take no credit except for the piecing.

Very cute block to get us started for a year of swapping.

Then we switch from newBEES to NuBees...

In my hive for September, I decided to make a spidery looking block out of HSTs. This first one is in my colors, teal, green, gold, & coral.

Next we have the block for Elizabeth. She requested oranges and pinks with a grey background. I love this pebbly grey fabric. I used it instead of the swirly one since this block had some solid in it so the background needed to stand out more (in my mind). Turns out pansies are her favorite flower, so the pink fabric was perfect!

Then we have the block for Christina. She wanted bright colors on a white background. I wanted to try and make it bright but not rainbowy, and I think I accomplished that. Unfortunately, after mailing this block to her, it was returned to me by the post office and she seems to be MIA in our hive. Hopefully, I can get it to her.

Then we have the block for Sara. She requested teals and reds. I asked if she wanted individual teal and red fabrics, or fabrics that included both colors and she had no preference. I also love the way these two colors look together, so I had a good deal of options to pull from in my stash. Yay! I love the way the little apples and the poppy flowers look together.

Then we have the block for our fearless leader, Kelli. Her colors were basically the same as mine without coral/orange. This was the only block I used a different fabric for each arm instead of doing two fabrics. No idea which way I prefer. But I do know this block is pretty!

I also made an angel block for someone who never received one way back in the summer. Made the block for Kira, who is so incredibly nice! She was always so appreciative and friendly every time I bothered her for more info. I used some of my absolute favorite chicken fabric on her block which was very fun!

In news unrelated to quilting, my boyfriend and I made butter from scratch to practice for a lab I was planning for my students! It came out so delicious! Then I turned around and made 18 batches of it with my students over 2 days. I was mildly sick of butter at that point, but now, I am back to proud!

Back to quilting!

I completed 32 + 1 scrappy string blocks for the Scrap Basket String Block Swap. They look so neat together!

Well, I made 36 + 1, but could not allow myself to surrender these four beauties. Something epic will be done with them, I just know it!

I also finished everything for Potholder Pass Swap. I ended up making 4 extra coasters for a total of 8 plus the 2 potholders. I also included a jar of homemade peach ginger jam! Yummy! Here are all the goodies except for the jam which was added on my way out the door to the post office.

Then I tried my hand at paper piecing!

Gimme an 'L'

Gimme an 'O'

Gimme a 'V'

Gimme an 'E'

What does that spell?!?!

LOVE!

I had no idea what to do with this, but knew it was my favorite thing I had ever made so whatever it turned into, I was keeping.

Then I decided to use it as the center focal point of a quilt and surround it with blocks of coordinating colors. So here it is with a few borders.

The darker grey inside border was added in the hopes that it will make this stand out more when it eventually becomes the focal point of a quilt. I would hate for something so pretty to just blend in!

I also completely finished (except for binding) the quilt for my friends' wedding that is in November not October. I was still shooting for finishing as if it were in October, and that looks like it will happen. Unfortunately, I can't show you any photos past the fabric/block selection (found Here and Here) in this post because the bride-to-be and/or groom-to-be could possibly see this and then the surprise would be gone.

They know they are getting a quilt. They know which fabrics I used. That is all they know. Spwee!

I will show you the fabric I picked for the back of their quilt.

Since they really wanted earth tones and modern, I think this is about as perfect of a fabric as I could have possibly dreamed of finding for the backing of their quilt! Yay!

For pictures of the front of the quilt and pretty shots once it is bound and beautiful, stay tuned until their wedding in November or until I remember that I really dislike keeping a surprise a surprise.

Now I go back to my busy world where I work 50+ hours a week. I even get to go out of town for work for the next two weekends! YAY! *eyeroll*

Better Block Pictures!

When I started this first month of bee blocks, I thought my stash was pretty diverse. I had these big hopes of being able to meet the color requests of every person in my hive by pulling from my stash (which is perfect because then I get to buy more fabric!). Unfortunately, I realized I stick to colors in my comfort zone and that there were some serious gaps.

Exhibit A: I owned absolutely no white fabric. It just scares me because I think it will look dirty and I make quilts in the hope that they will be loved to shreds.

So, off I ventured to my local quilt store and I came home with way too much fabric. I'm taking, 24 fat quarters too much. Ack! I only ended up using the white I bought and 2 fat quarters. Everything else did in fact come from my stash.

Moral of the story? I subconsciously underestimate my stash in order to convince myself that I need more fabric.

Admitting that I have a problem is the first step to recovery, right? ;)

Onwards and upwards! First off, here is a vastly improved shot of all the blocks together. Look! You can even tell that the whites of the backgrounds are made out of the the pretty new white I just bought yeterday! What a novel concept.

Next I will give a little recap of who the individual blocks were for, and what colors they requested so that I can maximize my bee-enthusiasm!

This one was my test block that I made in my colors. My colors being code for crappy scraps I found that had to get used.

Then we have the block for Laura. She requested rainbow colors, but not too bright. In my head, I kept thinking "muted rainbow" which seems to me like it would have a negative connotation. Why is that? Is muted a bad word when it comes to color? Whatever. I call this muted rainbow, and I hope she enjoys it!

Then we have the block for Jodie. She is making a baby quilt for her newest addition and requested blues and greens but preferably baby boy prints. I loved these trucks and thought any boy would be excited about them. Then the stars (asterisks?) were thrown in because I thought the colors go really well together!

Next up, we have the block for Alison. She requested blues, purples, and tans with a background in either white or any of the main colors. I love blues and purples together with tan, so I opted to use tan as the background instead of white. This block is pretty in-your-face, but I think she will like it!

Lastly, we have the block for Jan, our fearless leader for the month. Jan requested a block in blues and reds with a white background. Can I just say that I absolutely love all of the fabrics in this block. These were the only 2 reds I had in my stash that I didn't want to give up, but I decided this would be a good use for them. Plus, I still have oodles of each.

I hope all the women in my hive enjoy their blocks as much as I enjoyed making them! Now the only unresolved questions is why the heck did I finish these blocks so early in the month? Now I have to wait until September! Wahwahwahhh!

Blocks and Hens

I find myself more and more only able to work on quilting projects at night. There is nothing wrong with that, except that when I finish something, I have no natural light to take a picture of it. That wouldn't be so bad if I had a decent camera to work with instead of depending on my cell phone which is on its last leg.

Oh well. So I try hard to be patient and wait until morning to take pictures of things, but tonight, I just could not resist because I finished my first ever quilt bee blocks! Now, bear in mind that my camera is a phone and that these really are not true-to-life color representations due to the whole taken at night with a crappy phone thing...

I found the pattern in a book I picked up from my local quilting shop. This one spoke to me because it looked complex but was actually simple with just HSTs and squares. 

You might remember that I am terrified of the fact that people will be seeing the backs of these blocks... hence the easy ist gut vibe.

Well, I am happy with them, overall. I will post closer/clearer/taken with natural light photos tomorrow.  If I am feeling brave, I might even post a picture or two of the backs! Gasp!!

This is absolutely unrelated to quilting, but two other hobbies of mine are gardening and chicken-taunting. I say chicken taunting instead of raising (which I did, from teeny tiny little chicks) because that is probably what they would say I do. I bring them snacks, then I yell at them for playing in plants they shouldn't play in, for pooping on my scuba gear, for trying to sneak into the house, and for pecking the feet of my dogs/me/mom/boyfriend/interlopers/etc.

Anyways, I have almost given up the "Stop playing in the [insert name of plant that I covet]" campaign. Mostly because I have a day job and their day job is apparently to be disobedient hens. 

That being said, I love them dearly. Here are a few snapshots of them playing in my garden. 

 

First they walk around the garden innocently enough, as if trying to say "Honest, Mom, we were just making sure your basil and cucumbers are growing." I like to think my chickens would be hooked on phonics and super-spellers.

Then, these silly birds think that a spirited game of hide and go seek will persuade me to stop yelling like a banshee. Well, they were right. They also lost... Horribly. Apparently, my chicken spotting abilities have really improved over the last year and a half.