Four months! It's hard to believe that it's been that long since I've posted here. It certainly wasn't intentional and definitely won't be the norm in the future.
As for why? It's a lot of reasons. I couldn't work on posts while we were on vacation at the end of August because my Ipad is old and Blogger no longer works with the older operating systems.
Then, on the urging of a couple of friends, I applied for and got a job (while on vacation) as a part-time study hall monitor at one of the middle schools. Once we got back home on Labor Day it was a ton of rushing as I had mounds of new hire paperwork and online training to complete, a required training to attend the following day and school started the day after.
As it turns out, that job was not for me. It was more hectic and aggravating that I had imagined and definitely wasn't worth it. I was either stressed out or had a headache practically every day and wasn't in the mood to sew, let alone to write blog posts. I left at the end of October. My mom visited for a week in early November. Some other family issues over the past couple of weeks have kept me away from the computer but hopefully now things will begin to settle down and I can get back to the regularly scheduled programming. I have a lot to share with you.
Last summer, while participating in Moda's Summer in the Country quilt along, I got the bug to make a summer time wall hanging for the space above the desk between our kitchen and great room. I was happily surprised when I found this fat quarter bundle of Beechwood Park by Jenean Morrison for Free Spirit that I had totally forgotten about.
I knew I wanted to make an oversized Blackford's Beauty blog because 1) I like that block a lot and 2) it would tie in with my American Beauty table runner. When I laid out the pieces, I accidentally set the flying geese blocks in the center of each row upside down but when I noticed the oops, I decided that I liked it so I kept it that way.
After piecing the wall hanging and the place mats and then sandwiching them with batting and backing, they sat waiting for quilting. For a whole year. In June, with school almost over and July 4th fast approaching, I decided to get these done.
Quilting was going to be simple and done on my domestic machine. I started by drawing a 45 degree line with the purple disappearing marker.
After sewing that line, I used the seam guide for my walking foot to quilt a grid.
The process was then repeated in the opposite direction for a cross hatch design.
The completed piece hung there all summer. It finished at 28" square.
The place mates were all created utilizing the leftovers from the FQ bundle.
I took the largest pieces from each print and then added randomly until it was 12" x 20".
Each one is different and I don't have a favorite.
I do love that the fabrics aren't typical patriotic prints.
The best part is that, other than some small bits which were tiny scraps, I was able to use up the entire bundle so nothing got added to my scrap bins. The batting used was also scraps.
I was thrilled with how they turned out.
I'm happy to finally have these UFOs finished and crossed off the list plus I now have another seasonal set for the wall and the tables.
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