I've Been Working on the Round Robin...

I spent the day (most of it anyway) working on Pam's round robin quilt. Thank you for all the comments about the border. It helped me decide to go ahead with the chain.

I love the pattern at Quilt Blocks Galore, but I couldn't see myself cutting all those little triangles apart and then sewing them together again, so I simplified the pattern a bit. It may be a little hard to see in the picture, but each corner is the same--a little red and white two-patch piece sewn to a 3.5 inch piece to make a square. I cut all the fabric in 2-inch strips. The fourth corner is just two 2 x 3.5 inch strips which will be sewn together to make the fourth part of the square.

I've got all the little 3 patches assembled. The next step will be to sew the 2 x 3.5 strips together and then figure out how big to cut the setting triangles.

This is how it will look:

One side of it anyway.

Setting triangles...ugh! The idea of trying to do any math at this point in the day just makes my eyes want to roll back in my head. I think I'll just leave it until tomorrow.

Right now I think I'll jump in the shower and then figure out what to do for dinner tonight.

Help!

Okay, folks. I need big-time help here. This is the round robin block I am going to be working on this month. It's got a few problems. Notice the notch in the lower left corner and its mate in the upper right corner? Those are fixable, I think, with a scrap or two of left-over fabric that came in the box with the quilt. But, what about the next border????

Here is what I am thinking about doing. It is a border pattern from Quilter's Cache. I think I can make it without all those little triangles because it is basically just a four patch variation. I am thinking about using some of the Depression solids: greens, yellows, oranges, yellows, and maybe some more of the red so that there would be more contrast and that red and white part there in the middle wouldn't stand out quite so much. What do you think? Should it go all the way around? Just frame two sides?

Got a better idea? I'd love to hear it. All suggestions will be eagerly read and considered!

Spring is Here

This has been a beautiful spring weekend. The forsythia is in bloom. The trees all have that misty green color they get before they actually leaf out. We've had two sunny, warm days in a row. One of our more energetic neighbors even got his lawn mower out and had a go at his front lawn.

I worked a little bit on the four block on Saturday, then finished it up this afternoon. This was made from a Moda charm pack called Picket Fence. I used a technique I got from Darlene at Quilting Daze for making the four-block patches. I was even able to find some yardage of my favorite of the fabrics to use for the border. It's very simple, but I love it! I had a lot of fun putting it together. The fabric reminds me of some old cotton tablecloths my mother had. Thanks, Darlene!

And thanks for all the comments on the round robin block I was working on for our guild project. Below you can see what I have to work on this month.

Everyone must have been thinking of spring when they put their original blocks together. I found some beautiful buttery orange in my stash and I bought a fat quarter of yellow with tiny purple flowers. Now I'm trying to figure out how to proceed. We'll see...

Usually at this point on a Sunday night I am finishing up laundry and mentally running down my list of things I have to do at school tomorrow, but next week is spring break! My agenda for tomorrow is to sleep in, run a couple of errands, and then sew.

You Never Can Tell

You never can tell how a day is going to turn out!

I woke up suddenly this morning with a terrible headache thinking that it was quarter after seven, giving me exactly 45 minutes to get ready and get to work. Panic time! Once I managed to actually get my eyes open I realized that it was only quarter after five, so I was able to take an aspirin and go back to bed to try to sleep the headache off. At six, the headache had abated somewhat, so I went about trying to get ready for work.

I was pretty snarly by the time I got to school, and morning duty in the gym didn't help my mood much. At our school all the students sit in the gym for morning assembly--three teachers each day have the task of keeping order for the twenty minutes or so between the time the doors open and the time the principal comes in to make announcements and lead the pledge to the flag. This is the last week before Spring Break, so the kids have been pretty wild. Picture supervising 280 wild kids in a gym. When you have a headache.

When you're a teacher, though, no matter what your mood you just have to suck it up. So I did. Suck it up.

So began my day. My last thought as I walked up the stairs to my classroom was, "Am I going to make it through the morning?"

But then, something happened. Actually quite a few little somethings happened.

First, Wednesday is the day I check off the words on flashcards that my kids have been working on all week. Most of them have a stack of ten words--get five checks and you have "mastered" that word and you get to take it home and brag to your mom that you learned a new word. This morning I started on the cards with the kids and every single one got EVERY SINGLE WORD!

The day started looking a little brighter.

Then, a little boy who struggles to read each word in each story he tries came in and asked (asked!) if he could write a story. Ten minutes later he handed me his paper--with a three sentence story! With words I could actually read!

The day was definitely a LOT brighter! It is for moments like this that I am a teacher.

I posted a picture (and here's hoping that it stays posted) of the block I have worked on for the round robin for my quilt guild. A very nice lady named Audrey made the center block. I fussed around for a while before I decided on the border for it. I couldn't match that green she used and I spent a lot of time worrying that the darker green would overpower the center, but I'm reasonably pleased with the way it turned out. Tomorrow we all exchange blocks and get the new one we will be working on next month.