Two of the reasons we haven’t stopped by this blog in six weeks or so.
The month of August flew by in a flurry of toddler-chasing, moving (not ours, thanks goodness!), furniture shopping, husband-sicky, toddler-sicky, and…summer life. I’m hoping to show up here more often now that the siren song of the beach isn’t quite as sweet and loud. When I wasn’t here, or at the beach, I was making, doing, and reading up a storm. I finished my plus quilt. I got this granny square quilt all the way to basted and half-quilted. I planned and cut and made 50 HSTs for a baby quilt (again, not ours!). I read Gloria. I read (sigh) Gone Girl. I’ve watched waaay too much Gossip Girl (sheepishness).
More to share in this blog space soon. For now, granny. Tutorial for the blocks here. Fabric is Kona Bone (I pulled a Jo Ann’s scam wherein I purchased 6+ yards for $20, using a 60% off a single cut of fabric coupon; now I have a bolt that should last me through the next two or three projects) and two Aunt Grace “Jolly Packs,” Fat Quarter Shop’s version of the charm pack (which, honestly, I don’t think they’re doing anymore, a shame). I’d been hoarding the Aunt Grace for *just* the right project. This was absolutely it.
Here is a very crummy photo of my first six blocks. I found that the actual block construction was a breeze, and it was a lot of fun. I enjoy making blocks that are sort-of-planned, sort-of-not. Choosing the fabrics as I made each block encouraged fabric and color play, sometimes a lot more fun than just cranking out a certain number of blocks in a certain prescribed color scheme. I was nervous to trim them down, but you know what? It wasn’t bad, and I didn’t lose any triangle points. Go me. At my 16-month-old-chasing-feeding-cleaning, summer-laziness pace, this whole quilt top took me two weeks, about three blocks a session. NOT BAD.
I’ll post more pictures when I get the delicious lavender dotty binding on it. Have you had a recent color crush on lavender and yellow? No? Just me?
little and lots 
I just joined the Granny Square group on Flickr and saw your pictures today. I totally agree about how much fun it is to play with the color arrangements and I was also apprehensive as I trimmed my first blocks. Your fabrics are light and bright like the cute little feet in your picture. I am impressed that you are hand quilting your project. I am first and foremost a hand quilter but I have been learning to do some free motion machine quilting.You must be living somewhere in the south, your picture looks like it was taken along the beautiful canopy roads that we have in south Georgia. I am looking forward to seeing your finished quilt.
It’s great to hear from another hand quilter! I have machine quilted one project ever. And then I spent a whole day unpicking the machine quilting so that I could do it “the right way.” My header photo was taken on St. Simon’s Island, GA, where my husband’s family vacations. So you were right about GA! I’m a transplant, though, a Tennessean living just north of Boston.
Oh, that top photo — so cute! I read gone girl this month too. Thoughts?
Gone Girl! A page-turner. I’d recommend it for sure, but I had some troubles with some of the details. Neither my husband nor I could figure out how Nick got $100k for his fancy lawyer’s retainer? It felt good to read the book of the summer while it was still summer, though.
I think his sister mortgaged her house, though how that is done overnight, I don’t know. Still trying to decide if I am satisfied with the ending. Part of me thinks it’s brilliant. Part of me feels like I want revenge, ha, ha.