Catching Up

Oh my goodness – time is flying by. Nothing like a pandemic forcing all of us to stay home day after day to make a person busy, right? In March when all of this started I thought I would accomplish this huge to-do list due to being stuck at home. I created a list of blog posts to catch up on, pictured myself scrubbing the kitchen and bathrooms till they sparkled – it was going to be such a productive time. Ummm, what the heck? I have hardly posted here and it took me until yesterday to force myself to scrub one shower. Not the picture of productivity I had anticipated!

Ah, just proof of my human imperfections!! Also proof I really am not into house work. Haha. OK – moving on to sewing. There hasn’t been a lot going on. I did get the April and May blocks done for the 2020 Monthly Color Challenge. Want to see them?

The block for April was made with purple and I was able to continue my polka dot theme. Have to say, I have no idea how I will put these blocks together. I suppose I need to think of a way to sash them with some sense of continuity.

Love the green block which was May’s color. It is a great pattern and would be cute as a quilt on its own.

I also made this cute little pink Dresden. Now I have three of them. Still not a concrete plan as to how I will use them but I like making them and they use up lots of tiny scraps so that is a win in my book!

A few days ago, I posted on Instagram that I was totally inspired by Kirsty of Bonjour Quilts to start a new project. She sent out a newsletter and as she always does, showed some quilts that had been made by others, using one of her patterns. She has a tutorial called Meadow and when I saw that quilt, I got all excited to make one. I clicked over to this post which was from a long time ago (maybe 2016?) . Deciding I really NEED to make this, even though there are three quilt tops on the guest bed waiting to be quilted, I started to pull scraps.

The beginning of a new quilt!

I spent a pleasant evening sorting through white, off-white and green scraps. I ironed a stack of them and began cutting squares in three different sizes. This is a great pattern to use lots of scraps from my bins.

Last night I started making nine patch blocks – only made a few but it is a start. These are the biggest size, using 6 1/2″ squares. They gradually become smaller. Fun, fun, fun. I love starting a new project!

Finally, I will leave you with a picture of my very imaginative grand daughter. She was pretending to be a bird in her nest, reading books. Thankful this bird is safely wearing her helmet while sitting wayyyyy up high in her imaginary tree. 🙂

21 thoughts on “Catching Up

    1. Bernie Post author

      Thank you Carol. She is so funny. Always, always pretending to be something or do something. She is 3 now and it is a delightful age. How are you feeling these days? I hope you are well.

      Reply
  1. JanineMarie

    What a sweet baby bird!! And that Meadows quilt will be so much fun for you. I can just imagine you picking all the flowers from your stash. And cleaning? You’d think that would be all we are doing in these nerve-wracking times. But here’s the thing: we have figured out how to grocery shop efficiently and only go once every two weeks. So I do an obsessive wipe-down of handles, door knobs, surfaces and switches when we get back, and then figure we’re good to go for another two weeks since our germs are pretty much contained at home. I guess this works best for retirees who have the luxury of staying home. But that’s my reason for not cleaning (much), and I’m sticking to it. Of course, not a lot of other stuff gets done either. Who knows why. Stay home, stay safe, stay creative.

    Reply
    1. Bernie Post author

      Well, I know why…. because it isn’t any fun to do chores. Haha. When I was working full time and had younger kiddos, we had a cleaning woman come in and do the deep clean. When I ‘retired’ I couldn’t justify the expense so that stopped. Julia was in about 4th grade or so. She couldn’t believe “no more Jeanette”. She was mortified. Hahaha – probably a good thing we stopped and had to include her on the chores. I didn’t know I was inadvertently spoiling her!

      Reply
  2. Torry

    I have been making masks and that is my excuse not to do much housework. I had knee replacement surgery in January and can not wash floors on my hands and knees. When he became glaringly obvious that my usually adorable husband wasn’t going to do them either, I had him buy me a mop and did the kitchen and bathroom floor. Other than laundry, cooking, baking and dishes, those floors are all I’ve done. And I’m fine with that. Husband did do the vacuuming and has done his share or slightly more of cooking.

    I love the pattern, but honestly, the picture had this teacher/mother/ grandmother’s heart melting. So adorable.

    Reply
    1. Bernie Post author

      Oh my gosh – I didn’t know you had a knee replacement. Are you healing and moving well by now? My mom has had both knees done over the years and she has done really well since.
      Sounds like your husband is pitching in which is nice.
      Thanks for the sweet comment about H. She is just so much fun!

      Reply
      1. Torry

        I had the surgery in January and it didn’t go well with recovery at first. I had a lot of swelling, more than most people evidently. and that caused a lot of pain and lack of range of motion. In order to do the exercises for healing and range of motion, I had to take pain pills. Finally my doctor suggested that I needed to do less until the swelling went down. And that was when I turned the corner toward recovery. All’s well that ends well. But I hope to never need another knee replacement! Thank you for asking.
        I knew that I was really starting to recover when I could use the pedal on my 1960’s Singer sewing machine! I have made a 100 + masks!

        Reply
  3. Wendy

    Housework is definitely not high on my list, so good on ya for getting that tub scrubbed. I tackled tat about a week or so ago, too. That is going to be a fun quilt, Bernie! I will enjoy watching your progress. I love kids’ imaginations – they have no limits and just enjoy the dreaming. Fun 🙂

    Reply
    1. Bernie Post author

      Well, you and I would get along just fine then. I am going to try to force myself to tackle something else. One thing at a time, right? Mostly I just want to play in the sewing room. Like a spoiled child. I don’t wanna do my chores. 🙁

      Reply
    1. Bernie Post author

      Thank you Nancy. I have been wanting to do something like this for such a long time. Makes me so happy to be starting it!!

      Reply
  4. Kirsty @ Bonjour Quilts

    Nothing but the minimum being done around here, too. I can’t wait to see your version of Meadow, it’s a great scrap eater. My favourite though is that sweet little birdie in her nest. So cute and so wonderful for mamma that she can use her imagination to keep herself occupied for a while!

    Reply
    1. Bernie Post author

      Oh Kirsty – I made more nine patches yesterday and I know I am going to really like the way this turns out. Sometimes you just know, right? My little birdie is so sweet and I can’t wait to see her. They move west (to Washington state) in August and then we will only be two states away (instead of 3,000 miles away). I CANNOT WAIT!!! 🙂

      Reply
  5. Carole @ From My Carolina Home

    OH, I know what you mean! I had all kind of grand plans too. I did get the deep clean of the kitchen done, and cleaned out an old box of papers, but the clean out of the sewing room magazines has yet to begin. Quilts have been finished, and another is on the piecing table now.

    Reply
    1. Bernie Post author

      Sounds like you have made some progress. I know what you mean about sewing magazines. I have a new thing with those. Our thrift stores and the treasure table at our guild meetings usually has quite a few. So I buy them there and read through. If there is something that really calls to me, I mark that page. If not, they go in a stack and are donated for someone else to look at. Mostly I feel like this is less paper waste. It isn’t helping the magazine companies out since I am not subscribing any longer but this feels better to me.

      Reply
    1. Bernie Post author

      Thank you Emily. I want to make some smaller than the pink one but haven’t figured out the size of the little ‘petals’ to do that (yet). They are so cute tho.
      When I got that picture of H with the helmet on it just made me laugh. She has a wild imagination for sure.

      Reply
  6. Kathleen McCormick

    Housework and gardening are pitifully low on my list. I still don’t feel like I get a lot done these days; one phone call and I loose half the day. Anyway, I love what you are working on….those sweet Dresden plates and the monthly color block and the nicely cut out new project. The helmeted bird is too adorable.

    Reply

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