In the Works

New year, new quilt-along!  There are many new quilt-alongs getting started this time of year, and right before the calendar flipped to 2017, I joined Pat Sloan's 182-Day Solstice Challenge.  The idea is to make one block per week between the winter and summer solstice, 25 blocks in all.

Pat posts the instructions for each block on Wednesday each week (there have been three blocks so far).  Each 12.5-inch block is different, like a sampler, and the choice of fabric is up to you.  Great for beginners and experienced quilters alike, I think.

Week one was a Churn Dash block.  I pulled a funky Alexander Henry mushroom print from the stash for that one.

Week two was a Day Into Night block.

Week three was Tide Pools.

I guess I'm going for a controlled scrappy look with these blocks, with the intent that all will come from the current stash.  Not worrying about how it's all going to go together in the end, just having fun week by week in a relaxed and casual way.  If you'd like to join in, follow the above link for the details.

I also finished a quilt top from bonus half-square triangles left over from the Precious Gems quilt.  The holiday-themed Aspen Frost fabric was too cute to let those pieces go to waste.  They only made a 30-something-inch square, but with a wide border of a gray and white dot fabric (think snow or snowballs?), it came up to a respectable 58x63-inch size.  

I'll probably straight-line quilt it with close vertical lines, eventually.

Also started cutting up some of the scrubs for a new round of kennel quilts.  They'll be nothing fancy, mostly functional, with a bit of fun from the bright prints.  My daughter, who works at the animal surgery where these are bound for, said the ones I made about 18 months ago are holding up well to use and laundering.  Good to know!  

She said some larger ones would be appreciated, and with that in mind I began.  This one may end up to be about 45x60 or so.  Two ladies' size medium long-sleeved scrub jackets and two size large men's short-sleeved scrub tops have gone into it.  That makes a good starting dent in the scrub stash.

We've been watching some good stuff on Netflix and Amazon, here in the middle of winter in the frozen tundra.  Loved The Crown.  Very well done.  On the opposite end of the spectrum (as far as propriety and decorum), I've also belly-laughed my way through two seasons of The Moaning of Life on Netflix as well.  If you haven't heard of Karl Pilkington, you might want to watch An Idiot Abroad first to get an idea of his brand of comedy.  Finally, on Amazon, we just began the third season of Mozart in the Jungle.  Love Gael Garcia Bernal as conductor Rodrigo, and I still smile when he calls the main female character Jai Alai (pronounced "hi-lie") instead of Hailey. Might have to find the soundtrack sometime as well, as the music is superb.

What's in your TV or streaming queue?