Sewing, Blowing, and a Wee Bit of Rain -

Yesterday I dug into to one of the many “Someday I wanna” projects.

Have you been doing the same?

This project has been started before – shoot, many many moons ago and my test blocks ended up in a random sampler orphan block quilt top that I finished in 2002.

That project took me more than another 10 years  to quilt – I think I finished the quilting while here at the cabin within the past couple of years.

Some projects are just like that.

Snail’s Trail block from way back when.

There are times when I look at the different parts of my Scrap User’s System and realize that certain hunks and chunks – namely cut-off triangles that are still “big enough for something” but as of yet have done nothing but fill clear boxes with lids.

Then I dream of a way, and a day - where with time on my hands - I'll find a way to put them to good use.

It’s a veritable archaeological dig, these collections of cut off triangles and hunks that are definitely not strips and not pre-cut squares.

Paper piecing has been a long time friend when it comes to cut off triangles such as this.

That was the whole premise of the Wild & Goosey craze that took the internet quilt world by storm and eventually wound up in the Addicted to Scraps book.   (Still on sale in the Quiltville Store for just $15.99 while lock down lasts! You know the drill!)

I pieced many of these block quarters and sashings from such cut off triangles while on the road because I could simply take a baggie of scraps and a handful of paper foundations and I was good to go for days on end.

Now this home quarantine due to the Covid 19 pandemic is starting to feel like another “days on end” thing (I am in my 6th week of shelter-at-home and am placing this here for future generations who come across this story!) 

I gave a couple of clear bins with lids the evil eye and gave them an ultimatum – YOU ARE GOING DOWN!

Only – I couldn’t remember the size the original orphan test blocks were, and my new test blocks are 1’’ smaller!!! 

I may make a 4th block in the smaller size and turn it into a mug rug or something – and then opt for the larger size, so I can use up more triangles faster. 

But then there is  the whole “print as many as will fit on the page” thing and the smaller size I am able to get 2 blocks per page.

Do I sacrifice more paper for the sake of a bigger block? 

Yep, I’ve been under house arrest for far too long!

At any rate – I had a wonderful time playing with The Free treadle until the rain stopped so Zoey and I could get out for that leg stretch.

This is Wilson Creek – about 1/2 mile up from Quiltville Inn.

Things are so much greener in the week or so since we’ve walked up here!

Wild yellow daisies – I love these in the breeze!

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A post shared by Bonnie K Hunter (@quiltville_bonnie) on Apr 24, 2020 at 11:46am PDT

The road was fairly wet from the morning rain, and it felt like we better keep making a pretty good pace to make it to the top and back before the intermittent rain drops turned into a deluge again.

Patch of blue on the right -

But that dark patch of grey on the left is moving in quickly!

Saying hello to the McMillan Family!

And as you can see – the drizzle is blowing in.  Which means we are going to have to hope for the best on our way back down.  It’s about 1 1/4 miles to the car from here – and this is the highest ground I hike to making it a good turn around spot.

Getting a bit wet and windblown!

(And thinking more on those Snail’s Trail blocks!)

Zoey is busy watching for squirrels -

Not caring about the rain one bit!

Old fence and rusty gate on our way back down.

I was glad we got our steps in – it really started to rain by the time we made it back to the cabin.

And yes, Unity Quilt Along parts are in progress.  There should be more sewing time for that today, so I can do the write up tomorrow!

And now for the moment you’ve been waiting for – as in – who gets the April 2020 Quilty Box??

Who is entry 840 of 5580?

Elizabeth Schneider!

Elizabeth, please reply to the email I have sent to you with your shipping address and I’ll have the kind folks at Quilty Box get your goodies right out to you.

Congrats!

And thanks for participating, everyone.  There will be another great Gift-Away happening soon!

Quiltville Quote of the Day -

You Are Enough. Just As You Are.

For those of us under #stayhome advisement, count your 4 walls as a blessing not a curse.

At some point we have to stop beating ourselves and the world up for what we didn't get to do. We are not prisoners, we are protected.

We can only do what we can only do for the good of all.