Slow, Slow, Slow

Things have slowed way down over here. Not a bad thing in the summer. Usually, I would be gearing up for  fall and the reinvigorating feeling it brings to me and my sewing. This year, not so much. In part, it's because I am having a bit of a creativity slow down. In part, my back is still not 100% and I have several quilts that need pin basting to move them forward and so I can't do any quilting. The third reason is that I am moving in a couple of months and I am loath to start anything new at this point. In October packing will begin in earnest, and I just can't make myself start something new with that looming.

I did sort of see this coming. I have two long term projects going on that I can fiddle with as time and the will to do so occurs. I have started the Scrap Stash Plus Quilt by Quilty Love. I need a total of 120 plus blocks for this quilt. I am about half way through this. I still have some to sew and about 34 more to figure out the fabrics and cut. I have been cutting and clipping together blocks to have ready to sew as I feel the urge to do so.

The other long term project is my Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt, which is EPP and so very portable.

 I am using mostly scraps. Can you believe I still have pink scraps after the other pink scrap quilts I have made this year? Each flower will be yellow center (also scraps) and pink petals. Once the 128 flowers are done, I will make more yellow hexies to be the in between hexies for the quilt. So a pink and yellow quilt.

I have these little wooden boxes that are perfect for holding hexies. I first made my 768 pink hexies over the course of a few weeks. Perfect therapy while waiting for back pain to subside.

Then, I made the 128 yellow centers and added them to the boxes. So now, whenever I want to, I can just grab the boxes and my thread and stitch them together.

Here are the first four I did. My only "rule" is to try and have all six petals be different in each flower.

The perfect stack of hexies, next to a stack of fabric squares waiting to be stitched together.

The funny thing is, I was never an EPP girl in my younger sewing days. Now, I seem to have infinite patience to sit and sew these little shapes by hand. Some days I prefer it to sitting at the machine. I shall do my best to keep a good photographic record of my progress on these two projects. Next time I shall share pictures of the plus blocks. Oh, and by the way this is my 700th blog post! Wow!!

Friday Stuff

Not a catchy title, I know, but that's all I got today. I have spent the week noodling around in my sewing room. Jumping from thing to thing and not finishing any projects at all. And I don't feel a bit guilty. Here is what I have done:

 Fiddling around with feathers. One of the projects I am doing for my middle daughter. I always wanted to try my hand at these and now I am. I'm going to try a few more in other colorways.

Then there's this. A Geranium dress for Miss N in Sarah Jane's classic Children at Play. I have wanted to make a dress out of this since it first came out. And now I have.

 Then I started playing around with a few fabrics in a Plus quilt. I have wanted to try this one before and now I have. Dark blue...?

or light blue...? Or...

 Both!! And a border of the dark blue. Just took one day to do, but no real plan in mind and this is how it ended up.

 There are some really cute fabric prints in here. Love the little tiger kitties.

And last, but not least, my HSTs for the Summer Solstice QAL. I have them all sewn up and am trimming away on them. One third done, two thirds to go. Hope to have them all done by the end of the afternoon. So, How has your week been?