Good start to the New Year.....

Now...if I can only keep up the momentum. I spent the good part of yesterday in my sewing room  and got quite a bit accomplished. 

First, I have given up on the Jack's chain block for my daughter's wedding quilt (in June).  I had to do too much fudging on the triangle blocks to make the block lie flat and just  thinking of doing a  queen sized quilt  with this block put me in a funk,

 so I have redirected my thoughts in this direction.  .....

This is the first block to a triple Irish chain.  I am still going with the pink, brown and dash of green scrappy on the cream background.  I am finding that scrappy isn't as easy as just whipping out a couple colors.  You have to make several segments ahead to get that really scrappy feel for each block, so that is my goal first ....make lots of segments.

Also, I pulled out three quilts that have been sitting for some time.  One of them needed a backing made up, so I did that.  Check that one off the list.  The first one was a round robin that I did with an online group that I get together with once a year in St. Louis, MO.  We worked on it for a year and then at our retreat we got our original top back.  I thought I would hand quilt that one.....but that's not going to happen.

The second quilt has been in the closet for a number of years.  It is a simple flannel quilt that I bought quite a few skeins of perle cotton for which I was going to hand quilt  in a  big stitch.  Obviously, that isn't going to happen either. 

The third quilt is the basket quilt that I did at Gwen Marston's Beaver Island retreat this summer.  That one I have intended on getting quilted.  They are all out of the closet and in the car. 

The next project that I worked on was for a birthday block exchange.  There are 19 of us from that same message board.  We are doing a variety of stars in the color choices of each participant. I wish I could post a picture of my first block...black and white; but I will have to wait until she gets her block on her birthday.

Then, there has been this quilt in my closet for quite some time.  It's my son's (who is 33) and it is his childhood quilt that was made by my mother.  It started falling apart awhile back and I thought rather than let it get worse, I took it away from him (it was one of his favorites to wrap up in while watching TV) before it got worse.   Here's what's happening with it.

It is machine appliqued with a satin stitch and then hand tied.

The problem is the seersucker fabric is rotting.

I thought I would try cutting away at the satin stitch, but that proved to be too difficult without damaging the background fabric.

So, I just cut away the bad fabric.

Made the hat and appliqued it down by hand using needle turn as satin stitching wasn't going to work without seeing the stitching on the backing.

I was so admiring my handiwork (the hat) when I realized that the scarf was falling apart, too.  (sigh)  Guess I will be fixing that next if I want this quilt out of my closet.  One more thing though....the edges of the quilt are showing a lot of wear, so I am going to have to find some fabric that will compliment the quilt and bind  the stupid thing  it.  I so want it gone....can you tell?

Now I am going to sit and trace my #15 block for Beyond the Cherry Trees.  I think once I get that start, it shouldn't take me long to get it done....probably right before block #16 comes out. 

I certainly hope your new year has started out with a bang.  Enjoy stitching.  Happy New Year to all of you again.