July start

I got the July banner on my mother's walker yesterday.

The "S MMER" letters were embroidered--I just didn't feel like paper piecing them. The U watermelon slice was paper pieced, using a Sharpie to create the seeds.

Back in business

April finished with a flurry of activity. First up: get Rosaleen up and running again. The belt I ordered looked suspicious in the package . . .

. . . but it was labelled for her model . . .

. . . so I  suspended disbelief and told myself that it was probably easier for product storage if the belts are forced into rectangular shapes by the packaging.

April prep

March ended with a flurry of projects. As soon as I got home from my 4-day trip away, I put my head down and concentrated on Mom's April banner. I'd heard her reading the March banner to herself several times a day, so I added words to April's as well.

Not ready for March

Like most people, February ended way too soon to suit me. I don't know why we can't borrow a day or two from other months. January can afford to be a day shorter, and March would never miss a day here or there. Too bad those decisions aren't mine to make.

Because of various factors eating up this month, I've decided to forgo the vintage machine swap out and resume it again in April. I'm already happier!

For the past several weeks I've been quilting the Shoo-Fly Leader-Ender project from 2019. I chose a clam-shell pantograph that came with the New Home quilting frame I bought way back when. Because the Glad Press'n Seal is twice as wide as the pantograph strip, I doubled up the pattern so I could trace everything in one go. The paper was long enough that I could loop it around the table and secure everything with binder clips.

Sorry Phil: February = Hearts!

I set to work first thing this month getting February's walker banner underway, with the hopes I'd have it done before today (spoiler: I did). Other than President's Day and Groundhog's Day, there aren't many events competing for the iconic 'February Means: ' position, so I threw myself wholeheartedly into ... hearts. Foundation paper pieced hearts.

February Eve

I finished up the second of the two fireworks blocks today,

just in time to put them away and start on February's banner for my mom's walker. True, I could've put this project away earlier and gotten started on February's, but I'd rather not set things aside half-done. I know myself better than that by now!

For February, I'm thinking along these lines...

... but will instead use four 16-patch blocks (with 1.5" squares for a 4" finish) alternating with four different FPP hearts. One heart pattern I found in one of my paper piecing books, the others I found as images on the googles and have been having fun figuring out not only how they're constructed, but in what order.

Fireworks

I made a walker banner/sleeve for my mother a few weeks ago.

Our daily afternoon ritual starts with a cup of coffee, either on the front 'porch' or sitting at a large window inside, depending on the weather.

Before this, the only thing identifying her walker as hers was a sorry string of gold mylar from a Mardi Gras 'celebration' at her previous facility. The banner is two-sided (embroidered with different thread on each side), folds over the bar and is secured at the bottom edge with small, strong magnets sewn into the hems (one of the perks of taking apart lab equipment--there are tiny, mighty magnets everywhere!)

It's been my intention to have quilt blocks that will hang below her name, secured between the magnets, that can be changed out every month--one or two blocks to evoke or commemorate whatever is usually associated with that month. January will include something about her birthday; New Year's Day seems an obvious choice as well.

More tags

Washing dishes this morning while my coffee brewed (as is my routine), it felt as though I had something stuck to my palm. On closer examination, I noticed this bump action going on:

Very odd! Most of the questions words ran through my head: What? When? Where? How? Huh? Then, as the coffee maker gurgled its last drops of water through the machinery and I reached to pat the top several times (to knock the condensation on the sides of the reservoir to the bottom), it was obvious. Apparently I was a little too enthusiastic with my "patting" yesterday!

QR Luggage tags

This is the project that had me chained to needles and threads of various forms right up through the evening before I had to pack and leave for a 4-day Sweet Adelines event, inspired by this post on the Elaine Adair Pieces blog:

Hard to see, but there's a plastic sleeve into which I slipped the business card.

The business card is blank on the back, so personal info can be written in.

Our chorus participates every year in a judged competition for the choruses in Sweet Adelines Region 10 (most of Texas and the Gulf Coast states up to Florida). This is an opportunity to show the Region (and ourselves) how much we've worked and (hopefully) improved over the past 12 months. The Competition weekend is our traditional time to show appreciation to one another through Secret Sister gifts and section gifts (from members to Section Leaders and vice-versa).