Design Wall Monday, 11 November 2013

On my design wall today are elements for my November NewFO.  I have all the 9-Patch units done and have only begun working on the side elements that create the star points; the one you see is the only set of four that's done.  I was side-tracked over the weekend!

How was I side-tracked?  By genealogy.  You see, ArkivDigital, a Swedish genealogy site was offering complete viewing of their records ... FREE for the weekend !!!  And I like free, especially at this time in our life.  And who wouldn't like being able to search for document images in Sweden?  I was able to find, and save to file and print, about a half-inch tall stack of documents, mostly church records for births and what amounts to a form of census called "Household Records".  All of which gave me birth dates I didn't have and even names of siblings of my direct ancestors.  Some of these were from the very early 1800's.  All that to say, I didn't make much quilting progress.

Another small sampling of the 77, 9-Patch blocks, one with the star point units pinned next to it.

I love scrappy!  So much fun mixed in! 

Close up.  These are the only 4 "wing" sets I've done, who knows which 9-P they'll become attached to later.

Wait a minute, do you plan on doing my pressing?

Look at the fun ice-cream treats in there, yum.

Here, kitty, kitty, join me for tea in my garden?

Linking up with Patchwork Times and then I'll see what you've all been up to :)

Marty's at his all morning long interview, with four or five different individuals in rotation at that company, so I'm praying God's will and that if he gets this position, great, we can celebrate, but if not, that Marty won't be discouraged and will recognize he just needs to keep trying, God will provide in His timing and His location.

Three-Day Weekend

I think I'm really thankful it's a three-day weekend, with Monday being Veteran's Day...and no school, which equates to "I don't have to do the back and forth school drive.".   With today's traffic, thankful is an excellent word!  At least half of the drivers on the road were out to frustrate me.  It was a conspiracy, I know it was, lol!!

We spent several hours at the financial adviser's again.  That can be frustrating as it seems like some of the same stuff is said over and over again ad nauseum, and a lot of it is Marty's fault. And I'll leave that at that! We signed a lot of papers today.  It reminded me of all the papers you have to sign when you sign for a new mortgage!  There were a few things I didn't have with me today, so will have to gather them and drop off on Monday, and we should be set, at least in the sense of our some day retirement.  Marty still needs a job though, we are not retired and won't be for several years yet.

Yesterday I spent over eight hours sewing 77 blocks for my next project, setting aside Gathered Over Time (G.O.T.) temporarily.  Again, I was sewing 9-patches.  These are larger and use 2.5" squares.  I could have used 2.5" strips, but since I was again pulling from my scrap bins, it was easier to make sure I had the right set quantities by cutting into squares.  I'm posting several pictures of some of the blocks.  Though the 9-Ps are done, they are not the entire block, but rather are the centers of each block, so there will be more revealed in the future.

I really, really loved how the fabrics came together for these blocks.  When I was matching up the sets of five pieces and the coordinating four pieces, I did some planning, instead of going willy-nilly.  I'd put my five or four piece sets together and lay them out separately in rows and then grab a set of fives and coordinate them with something from the fives.  Sometimes they blend well, other times they contrast, and some are just really fun combos with the coordination from the patterns in the fabric.  Here are some picture examples.

Contrasting fabric styles, but the blues are perfectly aligned.

Viny plants along a green pebbled path?

Hmmm, beyond description.  The five-patches remind me of wall-paper from a house I lived in 1980.

Coordination sunflowers and flying objects with contrasting blues.

The solid yellow sets off the vibrant reds and purples and coordinates with yellow-toned ribbon

Blue shades, very calming and simple.

Hmmm, maybe not huge on contrast, but the pinks coordinate, along with flowers, and aligning the "border" in this way draws more interest than had they all gone the same direction.

Loved the houndstooth pattern and it looks great with the greys and black.

Recognize those flying objects? This time they coordinated with colored patchwork squares.

This quilt will be as interesting as an "I Spy" though that is not what it is.  

Off to start the next step.....after these parting shots:

Flame on G.O.T.

Raven is not about to be outdone by Flame, taking her turn on G.O.T.