I have done what I said that I would not do. I have so many ufos to finish, I said that I would not start a new block of the month or another long-term project. I follow a blog that is written by the most awesome talented woman. She knits, paints wonderful artwork and quilts. She belongs to a group of women who are making a Stay At Home Round Robin. Her SAHRR center was unusual. I thought about two embroideries that I had in a bin of quilt parts. A friend had made the embroideries and gave them to me. I gave in and decided to join in making a SAHRR using one for the center of an “art” quilt.

This piece has many things to look at. There are two horses, a man that appears to have no head. a hand, chain, numbers and lots of other unusual things. Looking at it, I realized that it was made from analogous colors, plus one, the gold, from directly across on the color wheel.

I will pull the fabric with these colors from my hand dyed bin. The first row was curves. They were easy to make. The background is a creamy mottled light brown. It actually is the same color as the brown square in the bottom row. It is mottled and looks as if the purple curve bled over onto it. I’ve decided to embellish each row with embroidery. I sewed a built-in embroidery on the edges of the insert.

The next row is diamonds. I have an idea what I will do. I want to introduce turquoise, or shocking pink. Hopefully, I can make narrow rows as I want this piece to be small. It’s nice to have others plan the rows.

One of my king size quilts has been under the needle for machine quilting. I’m thankful for the Kangaroo Joey table that holds it up, so the quilting is easy. I quilt a little on this quilt several days in the week. It will eventually be done.

Yesterday, my furnace died. I have a small electric heater. I put it in the sewing room and was comfortable in that room until the repairman came. It forced me to sew and quilt. I even had lunch on a TV tray in the sewing room. It was a good sound when the furnace started up. The day was frigid, so it took a long time for the house to come up to the correct temperature.

One of the ufos was finished. It’s a small baby quilt that I started years ago. There are no babies coming in the family, so I will put it aside for a while. Now, I’ll have to choose another ufo to work on.

One down, many to go.

All the blocks for the second Surprise Mystery Quilt are finished. I need to put them together and add the border. I had made one that finished at 44″ x 44″. The second one will finish at 77″ x 77″ I still have to write the directions for the last four blocks and the final instructions of putting the blocks together and adding the border. The instructions are not due for the newsletter until March and April, so I have a little time to complete them.

Have a great day and happy quilting.

It’s a new year and I have lots of plans for quiltmaking. While looking for my doll clothes patterns, I came across two plastic boxes. One had fabric and a pattern for a quilt that I had wanted to make last year. Maybe it will be on my list of new quilts this year. The second box had two identical small quilt tops that were charity quilt size. One top was finished and the other one had one more seam to sew. I usually don’t make quilts with the same patterns unless I’m making a different color or size. At first, I didn’t remember making them. Why would I make two alike? I vaguely remember combining two piles of blocks from the bin of orphan blocks into the two quilts. I finished the last seam, and the two quilts are in the to-be-quilted pile. Miss Molly has given her approval of the quilt.

I’ve made the first three blocks for the 2022 Mystery Quilt. Later this week, I’ll write the instructions for February and piece the next three or four blocks. The quilt can be made in seven sizes. I’ve already made one that is 44″ x 44′. This quilt will be 77″ x 77″ unless I add an additional border and make it bigger. The size depends on the cut size of the pieces. All the blocks have sixteen pieces that are either squares or half square triangles. The tones are light, light/medium, medium and dark. The alike blocks are a contrast in tone and/or color to the different blocks.

Block 1 There are thirteen blocks with different patterns and twelve alike blocks in this quilt. The different blocks are made with hand dyed fabric that are pastel tones of the colors in the alike blocks.

Block 2 The center was supposed to be half square triangles, but I made it a square in a square because the fabric was a large print. It looks better whole. There are twelve blocks with this this coloration. All the centers and half square triangles are made. I’ll sew one together each time that I make one of the different blocks.

Block 3 All blocks are labeled with their number so I will be able to place them in the correct position when they are all made.

All my pieces are cut out and the half square triangles are made. I will make the blocks a few at a time between making other quilts.

When I cut the pieces of the blocks and had a small amount of the fabric left over, I cut the scraps into 1 1/2″ pieces. They make a very nice doll bed quilt.

It is finished with a flange binding. It’s a quick and easy way to finish a quilt. No hand sewing.

It’s a good start to the new year. One quilt finished. two more ready to quilt.

I did find the doll clothes patterns. They were right where I put them when I decluttered last year.

Have a great day and happy quilting.