Sunday, May 29, 2016

St Petersburg, FL

When I started this post, I was in St. Petersburg. My fabric is still there, but I am not, alas. We rented a car and drove 14 hours to Lottsburg, VA where our old motorhome is stored. We sold it on eBay and now we're cleaning it up and fixing a few things to get it ready for the buyer.

The whole process has been full of glitches, but that's a story for our travel blog.


Before I left town, I got a few quilty things done, though. I finished this quilt top, using some of the fabric that arrived in my my latest batch of mail. The pattern is called "Movement in Squares," written by the lovely Wendy Sheppard. It's available for free from Benartex.

The pattern is well-written, easy to follow, and went together pretty quickly. It finished at 54" x 62" and will be a gift for a friend who is struggling with health issues. I have enough of the turquoise polka dot for the entire back.

I did modify the pattern a little so that all the non-black rectangles and squares are different fabrics. That allowed me to use fat quarters, since each color was then less than a quarter yard. I also calculated whether the pattern could be made with a jelly roll instead of yardage, and it could if there were at least two duplicated strips in the roll.


I also finished binding this gift quilt. It needs a trip through the washing machine and we'll see if/how it crinkles up with cotton on the front and fleece on the back. 


These blocks were sent to Covered in Love for Kat's May block drive. She asked for a soft palette of grays, blues and yellows. I didn't have a lot in my scraps, but managed to squeak out two blocks. The finished quilts should be gorgeous!

Over on Red Letter Quilts, I won the drawing for a copy of the new Crafted Applique book by Lara Buccella. I had already purchased an electronic copy of the book, and Lara graciously refunded my money in lieu of sending me another book. I'm quite excited about trying this new applique method, which uses Modge Podge to keep the raw edges from fraying. Thank you Heidi and Lara for offering the book giveaway!

We have been living in the motorhome for several days, and remembering all the things we like and dislike about it. I didn't start quilting until we moved onto the boat. There's so much less space on the motorhome, so my hat is off to those who sew in RVs. Claudia, I don't know how you manage!

It doesn't take any extra space to think and dream and plan, though, so I've been doing quite a bit of that while away from my studio. We found out that a dear friend is retiring at the end of the year, so I've been looking through patterns and researching colors for her quilt. And the Hands2Help charity drive ended this week, and it's been fun to look through all the finished quilts that are being donated. Scroll down to the bottom of this post to see the wonderful variety.

2 comments:

  1. Very nice movement in squares! Are the top and bottom rows of squares smaller? So many pretty dot fabrics!

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  2. It's creative use of space and an understanding husband. There are times I miss my studio but wouldn't change our life on the road to have it back. Now to get back to finish sewing blocks together on a 66" square quilt before borders. Hope all goes well we the sell of the bus. Know it's a big hurdle. Travel safe.

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