May, a new beginning

May always feels like it is a beginning.  A beginning of warm weather, lovely, summer like days, flowers blooming and evenings where it is lighter, later.  The air is still clean with little of the summer pollution and generally everything is growing and looking happy.

My sewing space is feeling a little happier because it is sunny, I have organized, somewhat and am accomplishing a few things.

First I made this little threadcatcher for a new member of Wednesday Quilting group.  She doesn't have one and she does a lot of embroidery while we are chatting.

On Saturday I attended a 'sew-in' with the Modern quilt guild gals and most were working on quilts for Syrian refugees but I stitched on pillowcases.  Some are for Quilts of Valour and some are for kids that attend Burn Camp in the summer.  One of the members has a close connection to these camps and last year we provided each child (of various ages) a pillowcase and want to do the same thing again this year.

And I have one of my Yellow Brick Road quilts finished.  It is a preemie size, perfect for the newborns that have to live in an isolette (incubator) for the first weeks of their lives.  Bright and happy.

Another YBR quilt is under the needle of my sewing machine getting the blocks stitched together.  It will be a little larger for donating to either Peardonville House or New Beginnings.  And behind that is a pattern and some pieces cut to play with a plus quilt design, perfect for a layer cake and I have a Patrick Lose bundle that will good in this design, (I hope). 

I have my green strip twist ready to spray baste so I can quilt it.  Waiting for the B-line quilting system I share with my buddy but until it arrives, am quite happy to quilt some of these tops with one of my two machines either doing a simple free motion or stitch in the ditch.

One quilt has been finished this week.  It is my rail fence Quilt of Valour made from strip sets.   A great pattern for using up fabric on hand.  A complete stash quilt, nothing was purchased recently to make this.  I had a container of fabrics with a Canadiana theme in Mesa, so went through and stitched them with a contrasting fabric, sliced, stitched again and now, it is complete with binding and a label.

I have more quilts that are quilted and waiting for binding which I do when I watch tv.

For some reason my pile of quilts to be quilted doesn't seem to be diminishing but that is because I keep finding more tops tucked away.  I have a pile of backings to match up with the tops and am working slowly but diligently to get these layered and quilted.

One day at a time.  With sunshine comes weeds and weed whacking and my windows are looking nasty in this weather and my upstairs patio is calling my name to have the green grunge from winter scrubbed off.  And nice weather means tennis in the mornings.  Good to be fit and get exercise but I don't much done in the mornings and then have my afternoons for basics like housework and grocery shopping and when time allows, sitting at my machine or cutting fabric or just generally getting organized.