Red Fish, Blue Fish

I took advantage of the bright sunshine yesterday morning to take some pictures, as the thermometer was struggling to climb to 0 degrees Fahrenheit.  I ventured just a few steps from the front door and spent about as long out there as it took to toss the quilt down  and press the camera button a couple times.  Brrr!

I've already posted about this heart wall hanging, but I think it looks better in full daylight against fresh snow than in a dark hallway on a dreary day.

I also quilted a little mini last week from some HST scraps left over from something else.  I'm calling it "Red Fish, Blue Fish."

It's mini-runner size, maybe about 7 x 21, or about the size of my computer keyboard that I'm looking at here, trying to guesstimate.

I also started cutting up men's plaid shirts for the quilt idea I had mentioned here. 

Also got a few of the sailboat blocks done.  They go together fast with chain piecing.

The time consuming part is cutting up each shirt, but it's a relaxing thing, even if it is sort of boring.

Something about working with thrifted shirts feels very grounding.  Maybe it's the humble medium or the soothing patterns.  And since it's not the latest designer fabric, there's no anxiety about messing up.  Maybe the simple act of pressing the shirts, or parts thereof, has me recalling another time, when the social network consisted of whoever was chatting with you in the vicinity of the ironing board (grandma, mom, sister, brothers, etc.). 

I'll probably putter away at these blocks a bit here and there, with other things happening between.  I'm considering possibly a red border of some kind when I get that far, but who knows, I may change my mind a few times by then.

I'm also thinking about other projects on the bucket list that I might like to start.  In particular, an Irish chain (single, double, or triple) and/or a drunkard's path are appealing at the moment.  Preferably from stash, although I don't know if I have enough of what I have in mind to use.  We'll see!