Designing done..............

 I had to take the photo from an angle because my sewing cabinet blocked a full view from straight on.  I finished all of the designing of this die cut half hexagon quilt top.  I had more dark pieces than light ones so the left and right edge have more dark pieces in them.  After I took this photo I sewed  the pieces of 2 columns and sewed the columns together.  I overlap each piece by 1" and pin them together in columns to go to the machine.  It took over a half hour to sew that little bit and there are 16 columns so this will take awhile.

Half hexies.............

 I die cut these half hexagons some time in 2019 or early 2020.  I decided it was time to get them out and design the quilt.  I need to add more pieces at the bottom of these columns and 6 more rows across.  I will add the bottom pieces last because they will be laying on the floor and I don't want to trip on them.  I'm going to count the pieces that are left and see if I need to cut any more before I finish the designing.  

I have made 2 other half hexagon quilts the same size that this one will be, 57" x 79.5"  It's a nice throw quilt size for a tall person.

Still just playing..........

I get ideas for future projects while I am sewing so I continue to play with these pieces as I zero in on the next quilt.  I have a magic box full of leftover pieces of Kaffe collective fabrics from previous projects.  I remembered there were some 3.5" squares in there that would match up with the triangle blocks.  I pulled the ones that had 5 matching squares and started making some Ohio Stars.

I made several blocks, some better than others and they will probably all go into the Kaffe orphan block box.  I will do lots of cutting today so I'm not sure how much sewing will happen.

 

Cutting scraps.............

 

I spent a couple hours pressing scraps, mostly Kaffe collective.  There was a group that was a weird triangle shape left from cutting large hexagons for a previous quilt.  The grain line was on the long edge so they were perfect to re-cut into quarter square triangles.

After sewing them into squares this is what I have.  If I sewed them together it would be a 12" square.  Lots of hours, lots of pressing and cutting, not enough for a quilt when done.  Prep work takes a long time.  I love scrap quilts but I'm wondering if this is the best use of my time.  I have a lot of yardage to use.

I went outside to take some photos before the rain was supposed to come.  The Columbine has buds now.  I still haven't seen any sign of my blue or pale pink Columbines.

I have seen several small Jack-in-the-Pulpit plants in the back garden.  This is the all green one.

This is one of the striped Jack-in-the-Pulpits.  I don't see the big plant that has been in the garden for several years.

Speaking of the rain...it rained hard...for almost 5 minutes.  Then there was some light rain and it all added up to a little under a quarter inch.  I am thankful we got any at all but with the size of that storm on the radar I thought we would surely get more than we got.

And because I like pink so much, this was the view from my kitchen window a couple days ago.  A lot of the blooms are now on the ground after the rain.

Making test blocks.............

I mentioned a couple weeks ago I had some new dies that I hadn't used yet and needed to make test blocks.  The first one is three fabrics and took some concentration to make.

The second block is one background and four colors.

Then I tried 2 backgrounds and 4 fabrics for the star.  I think it would look better with 4 backgrounds than it looks with 2 background fabrics.

Today I think I will dig out this yellow edged Hosta and move it to a different spot where I can see it better. 

I mowed my backyard yesterday late afternoon after it cooled down a few degrees.  We have rain forecasted for tonight and we really need it.
 

Sorting scraps..............

I decided to sort the Kaffe collective scraps that were in 2 medium size boxes.  I did teeny tiny, small, large enough to cut a shape with a die, and strips.  My large scraps are in a third box.  This photo is part of the strips.  Some are skinny strips, some wider.

 I made quarter log cabin blocks for 3  quilts between 2010 and 2013 with skinny strips, some regular quilting cotton prints and some Kaffe fabrics.  The one on the left is still waiting to be quilted.  Do I want to make another of these?  NO!  I need to come up with a better idea.

I decided I needed to dig a couple Hostas and split them yesterday.  I can really feel it in my rarely used muscles.  I need to dig several times a week and I'll be back in shape.

My purple Lamium is starting to bloom but I don't see any of the white yet.  This bed needs to be totally dug out to get rid of the blue bellflowers that are coming up in it.

There are so many Bellflowers in this section that I can barely see the Lamium leaves.

Monthly recap for April 2021

 Three pink quilt tops, all the same fabrics and they look so different in photos taken different times of the day.

Hugs and Kisses is 40" square, zig zag is 40" x 48" and pink diamonds is 48" x 64".  I hope to quilt all of them in May.

I made 3 more quilt tops in April, Floral Colorwash is 30" square, scrappy Friendship Star is 48" x 60" and Chisel Star is 54" x 72".  I was surprised how the orange and red backgrounds in the Friendship Star stood out as squares.  This was an experiment in using different values as the backgrounds instead of all similar value backgrounds.  I don't think it is very effective and probably would not do it again.

The backyard is beautiful now with the maple trees in the background behind the Redbuds.

The Redbuds by the driveway look great too.  The sky was so blue.  I took these photos after I finished mowing the grass.  It was in the 60s, not too hot, with a little breeze.  Today is supposed to be in the mid 80s and windy and that would not be a comfortable day to mow.