Two weeks ago, I started Thread Thursday with a first-half update on my WIP list. After 1,000 words and a lot of scrolling, I knew I needed to break things up a bit. For you as a reader and for me as an anxious person!! So here’s the second half of my list:
Projects by Hand
I fell in love with hand appliqué and English paper piecing several years ago and now have several projects going at once so I can sew on the go. They’re also great for nights I want to just sit in front of the TV but not be totally lazy about it.
Naturalist’s Notebook
This amazing project from Sandra Leichner has tons of tiny pieces, but it is so fun to keep layering them on to see the birds come to life. I’m finishing up the embroidery on the third block right now. I may put this project down for long stretches of time, but I’m always delighted to pick it back up.
Spring Bouquet
Spring Bouquet is by Edyta Sitar from Laundry Basket Quilts. I’m not really sure how I feel about it, but with just two blocks to go I feel like I’m in it to win it at this point. Edyta has released some newer patterns lately that really excite me, so I’m looking forward to trying one out once I finish this project.
New Hexagon
I’m a sucker for a good English paper piecing project, and this one from Katya Marek had me hooked with my favorite shape… the hexagon! Instead of piecing all the sections together as I went, I pieced all the individual hexagons for each section so I could line them up in a row. They’re so pretty! I’m working on piecing the first section together now.
Odds & Ends
The rest of my list are projects that are both new and reach way back into my early quilting years. I don’t have a lot of pictures of those projects yet, but the run down is here:
Actual Quilts
The Old…
- Stuff My Family Won’t Let Go: Remember that one time you agreed to make your mom or cousin a quilt but told them that you had other deadlines and projects ahead of them? Let me tell you, they sure do!!! I have about three of those projects in bins. I think I might need to move them up the list for my own mental health and family harmony!
- Ocean Quilt: I took a picture of the ocean while I was on a cruise nearly a decade ago and started laying out squares to get the water and sunset just right. I put it away for a really long time and pulled it out again after my hurricane deployments for my last job. I got to thinking about the memories from helping communities recover from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. The only thing left to quilt is the track for the three storms in red over the water. Maybe I’ll finish it this hurricane season!
- Just for Fun: Three projects sit in my “just for fun” bin. These are projects where I want to work with a new shape or technique to see how I like it. These might also end up in the charity pile if they turn out well enough!
And the New…
- Charity Quilts: When Emily visited last, she helped me pick out fabric for my charity quilts this year. We decided that teens really get left out of the quilt charity space and picked some amazing fabrics that would be great for boys and girls. We pulled enough fabric to make five lap-size quilts for teens and three smaller projects for Project Linus, and I can’t wait to get them out the door.
- Barrel Aged: I’m sharing this one next week, and I can’t wait for you to see it. For now all I can say is that it’s a birthday present for one of Sir’s best friends.
Not Quilts
- Bags, Totes and Minis: It seems like a really large number, but I have 41 of these types of projects lined up to work on. From zipper pouches for stuffing with candy and gift cards at the holidays to minis for hanging in my studio, I’m not really worried about such a large number. These projects can be finished pretty quickly and done in an assembly line when I’m making gifts.
- The Net is Inevitable: This is not a quilt but an inside joke between my flying trapeze coach and me. Some tricks require a “Superman” landing on the net, and it always makes me nervous because it’s really a blind landing and I never know when the net is coming. After a couple of rough landings, my amazing coach put his hand on my shoulder and said, “Don’t worry about the net. The net is inevitable.” With that, I’ve made a cross-stitch sampler with that saying on it. Once I get it framed, I can give it to him. I hope it makes him laugh as much as it does for me.