My portable project

 My husband and I are auction junkies on the weekends, but I find myself lately missing some valuable weekend sewing time and thinking of all the projects that I could start or work on or even maybe finish with those missing 4 or 5 hours of auction time.  There had to be a compromise - handwork!! English paper piecing to be exact.

About 15 years ago, I tried my hand at making hexagons for a grandmother's flower garden quilt that never happened (I got bored and abandoned it before I could even see any progress on it).  I watched a video on You Tube (English paper piecing with quilt patis) and decided to give paper piecing another go.  I would not put any pressure on myself; this was just supposed to be a take-along project for those auction adventures. I decided on 6-pointed, 60-degree diamond "flowers".  

I then had to decide what would be my background fabric (the dark gray small print won), and I was not sure if I wanted to piece the flowers and then applique them centered onto a square of fabric or piece them together with contrasting fabric. 

I decided to make diamonds from the gray print and piece the contrast between the 6-pointed flowers.

My first attempt at organization for this project was this cardboard box.  I have since then visited the dollar store and found plastic storage containers with lids to contain it all.

At the dollar store, I also found these plastic chopping mats that I thought would be great for reusable piecing diamonds (and they are - if you don't need a lot at one time), but have since switched to making the diamonds out of card stock, first drawing the pattern and then cutting out with scissors.  I think I have roughly 600 cut out now with about 20 flowers pieced together and a lot more basted and waiting to be stitched together. 

On the books

Do you love to read? I sure do.  In fact, I've been reading more these past few years since being introduced to the Kindle.  First, it was just the basic Kindle with the keyboard that I used for a year or so, and then

it was the Kindle Fire with color, Netflix capability, magazine reading, a ton of apps to choose from, and so much more!   

I love the backlight of the Kindle Fire, but I still prefer the basic Kindle when out in the daylight since there is no glare on the screen.   These little babies have enabled me to clear out some major book clutter.  I have hundreds of books stored on them, and I add to them regularly.  In fact, what I am reading now is this- Beautiful Creatures.

 The movie trailers intrigued me, but being the person who waits for the movie to come out on DVD instead of visiting the movie theater, I decided to read the book first.  It's a book written for young adults, but being a Twilight series fan, I thought it was worth a read, and I was right.  I am only a few chapters in, but I am hooked!  A brief synopsis from Amazon is below.

"Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything."

 

 

On the quilting front, I am working on some new small quilts. Right now I am hooked on flying geese.  Pics to follow soon.