Mid February and getting my mind organized with quilting projects for this year.

 It is the third Sunday in February but still 10 days left in the month.  We arrived back in our Canadian home a week ago, very late and so Monday was a slow, get back in the groove of being here.  I had a tennis game in the morning and then essential groceries to purchase.  

I brought home a lot of rulers with me because I realize that our time spent in our winter home is going to be minimal if the last few years are an indicator of my husband's health and abilities.  So, any sewing I do while there will be simple and quick and easy as it won't be a time to play with new ideas or patterns.  I also pulled all the rulers out of my Tutto bag that I take to retreats and sew ins.  What a stack! 

I have gone through them and sorted by shape with a pile for all the odd shapes.  I put the ones I need and use back into my Tutto bag and then sorted the others into my ruler holders.  All the specialty rulers that I use and like are in a container (Cozy quilt triangle ruler, special triangles, wedges etc).  All the rulers that I had extra of or that I know I will never use again are in a container and I will take my name off them and any markings on them and list them for sale.  I really didn't need four 9.5" square rulers! 

That task took me all week! 

I also tackled part of our income tax, organizing our medical expenses.  That seems to take awhile because our extended health company doesn't seem to provide a concise, easy to read and understand statement of items that they covered and didn't cover.  At least, none of it makes sense to me so I carefully go through all the saved prescription receipts as it seems that any for vaccinations are not covered and a few others that we used as well. 

Then I had all my blocks that I brought home that I stitched while in Arizona and they are piled up on a table.  However, my name is Queen on the Queen of UFO group that I belong to so I am going to have to focus on cutting backings and batting for at least one quilt and hopefully three or four and spend the rest of this month using my B-line home quilting system. 

Before I could do that however, I wanted to get the last of my February rainbow scrap strip blocks made and those are done!  I also wanted to get my steps for my Meadowland mystery done and out of the way.  While I worked on that, I made more of my St. Louis 16 patches as leaders and enders.   

I was going to put away my red scrap bin and one of my friends in another quilting group sent us the link for Bonnie Hunters next leader and ender challenge. "Oopsie Daisy".  Instead of being totally scrappy, we thought keeping our colours organized might be a good thing so I pulled out most of the 2.5" strips in red and then got out the neutral bin and pulled out the same width of strips from it.  Bonnie makes hers with narrower strips but I like bigger blocks so am going with that.  That container is now sitting beside the sewing machine as leaders and enders to work on when the 16 patches are finished (only 4 left to make).  

The room is tidied, the floor vacuumed and am ready to get to those backings. I made some frankenbatts in January so those are ready to be used.   Time to get a few UFO's turned into finished projects! 

Red scrappy strip blocks.

Red and neutral bins all tidied and ready to be put back on the shelf.

Oopsie daisy reds and neutrals ready for leaders and enders

Mystery quilt steps finished for February.

Blocks that are left for the next (and final) steps for March for mystery.

16 patches that got stitched as leaders and enders while working on the mystery quilt

The last of the 16 patches to finish up and then onto the Oopsie daisy bin of reds.  

I really hope my next blog post is going to show you a few finished quilts!  Two mornings of tennis this week and one day of medical stuff for my husband but that leaves most afternoons available for me to get busy and create some finishes! 

Three weeks in the sunshine and time is winding down for our winter escape

 I have been busy some days with excellent tennis matches and other days with reading and the usual housework and a lot of juicing using oranges on our trees.  We have about 15 quarts in the chest freezer and that seems like plenty for next fall - hoping we can come and enjoy drinking it! 

Friday was a planned day of quilting with Quilts of Valour.  I had a rain out for tennis but helped friend with clean up after the big English tea that they put on mid week.  Loads of laundry to sort with tablecloths, napkins, chair covers etc.  They also have all the English tea settings plus urns etc that they use that need to be boxed and put away.  I was home in plenty of time for the sew day but issues with Zoom that, thankfully, they resolved and finally got in to enjoy the presentations. 

There is a pattern for 2024 on the Quilt of Valour website and I worked on making some of those blocks and also have been working on bento boxes for the Heartstrings jelly roll February challenge. 

We have had some stunning sunsets though it is difficult for me to get a decent picture.  

I had to prune back our bougainvillea bush after the hard frost in early January and it looks very sad.

The colour for Rainbow scrap challenge for February is red.  First I wanted to make one more set of blocks in January green. And then made the block in reds.

The rail fences are made using up lots of scraps.

Star blocks are done.

The garlic knot and L blocks are also done as well as the bundles and bows blocks.  I had to go back and correct a couple of green blocks done wrong but all fixed now.  The beginning of the bento box blocks and another of more blocks made as I worked on the Quilt of Valour blocks. 

These are the 13" unfinished blocks for Quilts of Valour and a 13" block of a focal fabric will alternate with these blocks.  I don't have any fabric here suitable for that alternate block so will cut those when I get home and put the quilt top together. 

This is half the needed blocks and the other half are sitting by the sewing machine along with the last of the bento box blocks. 

Two tennis matches - one tomorrow and one on Tuesday.  The big question is when will the rain arrive from California?  Before or after tennis on Tuesday?  Being stuck inside mid week will be a good time for me to get organized for leaving our perfect second home.  There are always lots of small jobs outside and inside to take care of when the house sits during the heat of the Arizona summer.