blue stars, sparkling in the night sky...

and then there was that crazy Saturday in May where it was snowing...

or maybe it was a crazy Saturday because the blogger did 3 posts in one day.

THREE!

anyway- i made 5 quilty stars blocks last month. i first saw this block on instagram, i believe. i'm using the 3" squares from my block drawer, and using a fabric from my stash for the star points. 

the blocks finish quite large- about 21", so i'll either make a very large quilt, or several smaller quilts. i was contemplating dividing them up into warm/cool colors. we'll see..

i already did my green quilty stars in February. i don't sort out my colors by light/dark. so i did all my greens in February, except for the crumb blocks. (i'm working on those now.) same for the blues- i did all my blues in April, not just the lights/brights. i'll pick another color, or a UFO to work on when blues come around again.

thanks for stopping by at The Sporadic Blogger. make sure to visit all the other bloggers and their projects, too! 

I Spy some happy children!

i mentioned before that i was busy making I Spy quilts for all my grandchildren. my grand Let's Get The Whole Family Together For Easter And Have A Fabulous Easter Egg Hunt And Other Fun Activities Plan was changed for obvious reasons. 

But- most of the quilts i was able to  gift in person, so i'm calling that a win! C (3yo) with his quilt.

Brother L (2yo)

Granddaughter E (3yo, also) in Baltimore. better picture coming soon!

granddaughter L (18mo).

all the grandchildren seemed to really like their quilt! i was pleased, and am so glad that they each have a snuggly quilt to nap/play/picnic with. 

i still have enough blocks for a few more I Spy quilts when the time comes. (and as we're expecting grandchild #5 any day now, that might be sooner rather than later!) 

and in a related note- daughter A (13yo) absconded the quilt kit that i (on a total whim and impulse) ordered from Kitchen Table Quilting. it's the Frances pattern, perfect for beginners.  A chose Kona black for the sashing on the smaller blocks- she wanted it to be different than all the other quilts on instagram. (search #francesquilt) 

as i said, it was a quick, unplanned purchase, but i'm calling it a win all around. A generally does not like to sew or quilt, but when she saw the pattern and the colors, she wanted it for her own. how could i say no? we both love the colors, and the fabrics are so different than what i have in my stash. i was so happy to share with her, and now that the blocks are pieced (the alternate blocks are 5" squares, so there were only half the blocks to piece)

i had previously made another impulse purchase at a LQS when we were down in Florida in February, which will turn out to be the perfect backing. stay tuned... 

waste not, want not- the story of crumbs...

my favorite blogs to follow and check in on every day are the ones that write every day. obviously, i'm not one of those. i do lots of sewing for RSC and other stuff in the background, but it seems that blogging has become a dreaded chore...

anyway- i'm here today to share lots of pictures and projects!

i've been making crumb blocks for pretty much each RSC year- beginning in 2015 i think..

i usually need some mindless sewing to do in the evenings... and i've built up quite a collection of crumb blocks over the last few years...

while down in Baltimore this Christmas time visitng my son and his family, i picked up a few pillow forms at IKEA, planning on making some covers for pillows on the living room sofa. 

it took a pandemic to finally make that happen! yikes!

and in no other particular order, some more crumb blocks.

many more are sewn that are not pictured...

i did get a little out of whack with the colors, but i'm roughly sticking to the RSC color of the month...

thanks for stopping by!

lots more blocks and bloggers to visit- click here. 

more posts and pictures coming !

from rags to riches!

Christina, at ChristinaCreates emailed me offering to adopt this neglected Puss in the Corner that mysteriously showed up on my front porch 10 (?!) years ago. 

i happily and quickly sent it her way, and it's only been a couple weeks, and look what she's done with it! 

isn't it great?! and: to be perfectly honest, here's where the selfish pack rat in me comes out: it's a fantastic quilt- why didn't i think to do that? and why didn't i do anything with it in the last 10 years?! 

but: here's the realistic in me, too: i know that despite my best intentions, i wasn't really going to actually get around to doing anything with it in this lifetime... so ultimately, i'm very happy that this quilt top went to a good home! 

i'm certain that was the original intention when it was dropped off mysteriously on my front porch all those long years ago! 

and in other news....

in this week of "sewcial distancing" there has been plenty of time for sewing, that's for sure!

a few reasonable sewing sessions (not really marathons, even) i have the 4 I Spy quilts done for the grandchildren. (a surprise Easter gift from Grammy) . the only thing left to do is to sew on the label on the bottom right side- and they're on the way from Oregon, so it won't be too long and they're officially done! 

the Kona navy quilt is for grandson C, and the Kona lupine is for granddaughter E. they're both 3, born 6 days apart. 

the grey one above (due to the quarantine, i used a different grey LV print, instead of Kona medium grey, which would have been my first choice) is for granddaughter L, 1½, and the Kona azure is for grandson L, who just turned 2 last week. 

each of the 5" squares were chosen specifically for each child, and each family.

granddaughter L and her family spend lots of time outside hiking, so the camping print was especially appropriate. clockwise above, is L's quilt (camping backing) the azure quilt for L, nuts and bolts backing, his brother C, (kona navy) screws, bolts, nuts and washers, {their daddy is a carpenter} and granddaughter E- just a wild and crazy pink. 

my oldest daughter, M, (mama to the 2 grandsons) is expecting baby #3 in 6 weeks. guess it's time to get started on the quilt, huh?! haha. now that the I Spys are done, i can focus my attention on this baby quilt. M & hubby K prefer a darker palette for the color scheme, so this honey bun it is! i've added some konas from my stash, so hopefully i have enough variety! instead of grey, i plan on using kona indigo for the background, and i'll probably bind this baby quilt in orange. (more preferred colors of the parents.) 

i'm pretty much totally. over. this quarantine and social distancing thing, but i guess we have a bit more time to go.... click on over to Angie's and see what everyone else has been sewing to  pass the time! 

sewing can be so soothing- and isn't that a good thing?

just when we think the world can't get any crazier- think again! we're home and plodding along with life, and so thankful for the little things! 

another thing to be thankful for : a deep fabric stash! i'm sure most of us are in no danger of running out of fabric anytime soon-  no matter how long this "sewcial distancing" lasts... 

I've sewn 24 more crumb blocks in aqua/teal/turquoise to add to my crumb block stash.

i also have this stack of crumb blocks that i haven't shown yet; i pieced them back in late November/early December when i was working on the Rainbow Stars crumb quilt for my granddaughter E. i wanted to have lots of variety to choose from as i laid out the rows on my design wall. 

i have quite  a large stack of crumb blocks now; i'll need to be brainstorming some layouts for quilts soon! 

click on over to Angie to see what everyone is working on in these different times.. 

aqua: it's so soothing...

seems like the whole world is going crazy- it's so unbelievable! hubby works at Lowes, and we home school, so not really too much seems different around here... 

it's just as well I have lots of tasks/sewing/cleaning to keep me busy! 

this week I made 2 aqua stars for my scrappy star quilt. I ran out of background (already!) and ended up picking something very similar; hopefully i chose wiser this time, and will be able to piece all the blocks for the remainder of RSC20. 

i had to dig very, very deep to find the darker shades of aqua to finish this second star. but: super happy with it!

i mentioned last week that i'm working on I Spy quilts for my grandchildren. I hope to have them done by Easter. (hahahaha!) My second grandson, L, will be 2 this week, and this is his quilt. (obviously just laid out on the design wall) the solid color is Kona Azure. the other quilts are grey, navy and lupine. I think only the boys will be here for Easter festivities, so technically I only need to complete 2 of the quilts... 

i'm super happy with how they're turning out- and i have LOTS of the 5" I Spy blocks left over (except for pink, purple, red and aqua) so i'm all set for more I Spy quilts for future grandchildren! 

click on over to Angie's linkup to see what everyone else is working on as we're all holed up at home! and, if you're looking for something fresh to sew, you could adopt one of my orphans! (i'm getting a bit of an early start...) 

somebody to love me?

I, for one, am so glad that Cynthia is having her Quilty Orphan Adoption program again this year. it goes right along with my ImmaCleanOutMyHouseAndGetRidOfAlotOfTheCrapISeemedToAccumulateWithoutRealizingIt theme of this Lent season. 

(i'm doing a List Of 40 Things I Can Clean, Purge, Sort or Donate for Lent. SUPER EXCITED: i'm on #24 as i type!!!) 

The sewing room has not escaped my merciless super-good-intentions work sessions! i have 7 things to move along from there. 1 i've already shared, and 1 has been claimed, so here are my remaining 5 things i'd like to share/move/donate. 

priority will be given to Charity Sewing/Donations, but whatever you do, it will be better than just sitting collecting dust in my house, so that will also be taken into consideration! i will be happy to mail these to you; i'll mail them for free, but if you want to send a bit-o-money back to help with postage, that would be appreciated!

#1- ADOPTED a Huge Pile of {mostly batik} strips. i think they're all 2 ½", and many seem to be parts of a jelly roll. i know i won't make anything with these, and batiks are not really my cup of tea. I think there are just about enough of the strips to fill up a large flat rate priority mail box. (but expect to do some ironing when you receive them!) 

#2- ADOPTED this is a random assortment of mostly tan/beige/cream strips. they have been sorted into lengths, and maybe you can see the measurement on the green dot? i was (and still am) making the JuneQAL hosted by Amanda of Crazy Mom Quilts. i pulled these strips out, as i just wanted to use the white based fabrics.. 

#3-ADOPTED this quilt magically showed up on my front porch ages ago. it's a pretty neat quilt, but again: i obviously won't get to doing anything with it anytime soon. the measurements are 93" X 54". it's a mixture of really old fabric, and spans the ages through to feed sack fabric. the stars are pretty neat, but many of the points have been cut off. i suppose if you took the strips of green, blue or pink fabric out, that might improve matters some. 

#4- ADOPTEDa brother to the magically appearing quilt above. mostly vintage fabrics. it's 84" X 52". Walker is my beagle {besides super cute, he's VERY LOUD! we adopted him last spring. i nevernevernever thought i'd be one of those dog people. but to the surprise of my children-and me!-i am...}

#5- ADOPTED this one really has to take the cake for Longest Ever UFO. but to be completely fair to myself, it's not really MY UFO. i've just been hauling it around with me for the last 33 years and 6 moves. yikes! 

the DWR is started- 9 rings almost completely pieced. there are also the muslin centers (it was the 1980's, after all!) a few melons, MANY arcs and a few chain pieced wedges. there is also a little bit of purple, and some yardage of the aqua calico that was used in the 4 patch centers. 

here's the note that i taped to the top of the pretzel can this sad UFO has been stored in- it's older than my oldest child! marily is the mother of an old friend, and she was an accomplished quilter. i was just starting out, and she had passed along some of her stash/unwanted items. i guess as a new quilter, i didn't want to tackle this project. 

in conclusion- if you'd like to adopt and love any of my UFOs, please let me know. give me your mailing address, and i'll get these projects out to you as quick as i can! and thanks for stopping by! 

Marching right along...

March definitely came in like a lamb here in our neck of the woods, and it's nice to feel the promise of spring when we go outside. just yesterday A, my 13yo daughter, excitedly came inside and announced that she saw a robin! it sure seems early, but spring is such and exciting and promising time!

i recently bought an Accuquilt Studio 2 Cutter. {not an affiliate link} and i'm LOVING it!!! i got a basic array of dies for it, while i become acquainted with what will work best for my and my style of sewing: churn dash, 6" tumblers, 3" squares and (too small in retrospect) equilateral triangles.

i have a list of things a mile long that i need to be working on: taxes, the family Christmas calendar, I Spy quilts for the (4) grandchildren for Easter, the baby quilt for grandchild #5 (!!!) and spring cleaning/Lent purging/get all the crap out of here/someday i'm going to die and i don't want to saddle my children with all the stuff cleaning.

anyway- lots to keep me busy around here! AND: i'm thrilled that Cynthia IS doing her Quilty Adoption again this year- starting March 19. i'm still working in the sewing room, cleaning/purging/rearranging, and i've found at least 4 things that i'd like to share/move on.

first up: (getting an early start!) a box of extra 3" squares. (picture coming later) ADOPTED there is quite a lot there: enough room for a boat-load of creativity! i sorted through the drawer, looking to consolidate, and picked out a bunch of the squares that i'm "done" with. there are many different colors, but most of them are "cream based" rather than "white based". if you'd like my box of squares to get creative with your own projects, leave a comment. i'll be happy to share- first priority will go to charity quilts, but other than that, the sky's the limit!

i'll be back later with more... Saturday morning is in full speed around here... 

it was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

i'm back! I've been lurking around, regularly looking at everyone's great projects and even leaving a comment or two...

this past summer was a difficult growing season: more on the personal level than in the veggie rows, but we managed to have our best CSA season, with 39 families eating from our gardens weekly, as well as selling at 2 Farmer's Markets each week, so i guess that's something...

i really lost my sewing mojo this summer/fall, but it feels good to be in a better place and sewing again... 

my second son, N is out of the Army and living in Baltimore (working at John's Hopkins) with lovely wife P and 3yo daughter, E. E recently went to a big girl bed, and Mommy happened to mention that she would like a quilt.

so, what's a grammy to do? make a quilt, of course! it's just my crumb blocks from recent RSC years, put into rows, interspersed with Kona stars (candy pink, lupine and watermelon). you can see in the first picture that E was really happy with her new quilt. 

i found this alphabet print on my birthday shopping trip and bought it on a whim and impulse. it was perfect for the back of E's quilt!

i still have a few stacks of blocks from RSC18 & RSC19 *hangs head in shame* so i only started one "new" project for RSC20.

3 orange blocks this month: burnt orange, bright orange and salmon.

i'm using my 3" squares as the "base" of this block (3" always, still, forever...)  and a neutral background. i WAY underestimated just how much of this background i would need, even with a reasonable and modest goal of 1 block per color each month. next month i'll choose something else- and hopefully with enough to last me through the year... 

the blocks finish at 20", so i'm sure i'll get a few tops out of these blocks at the end of the year.

AND: i've heavily edited my 3" square drawer. i plan on offering a box of them up in Cynthia's Quilty Orphan Adoption in March. more on that later... 

this quilt (pictured on my design wall) is my Rainbow Rail blocks from last year. i only needed to make 1 more pink block to complete it; the blocks are numbered and waiting their turn in the queue to be sewn into a flimsy. 

i've taken stock in the sewing room; sorting, purging, donating and evaluating. with the exception of the closet *shudder*, i've sorted and evaluated my projects (WIPs, UFOs, piles of inspiration and intentions) and made a list. i re-arranged and cleaned, too, so my sewing room feels like a new room. (more on that later, too) 

so: that's it for now. thanks for stopping by. and be sure to click back to Angie's to see what everyone else is up to...