Pink Spritz............

I tried to not get so much glare from the tray so bear with me on the tilted photos.  I got the first batch of Spritz baked last night.

The second tray was trees.  There was a third tray with about a dozen bells on it.  Now I need to start on the chocolate Spritz.  They are the favorite so I need to do 2 batches of them.  

I get to eat the incomplete or burnt cookies.

Sewing a seam............

Yesterday didn't go as planned and I didn't get any baking done.  I sewed the long seam in this backing last night and now need to get it loaded on the longarm.   I cut the 2 pieces for the backing on Sunday,  pressed them on Monday and finally got the seam sewn Tuesday.  I'm definitely the turtle in this race to get something finished.  Slow and steady, it will get done.

Today is supposed to be 66 degrees which will break the record in Chicago if it happens.  Then very high wind is predicted as the cold front comes overnight Wed. into Thurs.  I need to go outside today and make sure I have all pots and anything else that can fly away safely into the garage.

Monday's progress..........

I have the flying geese sewn together in groups of like pieces so I can change the arrangement if necessary.  I just need one more block to achieve the right length.  I also sewed the Snail's Trail blocks together as a row and they set the size for the width of the quilt at this point, 48".  This means that the column left to design should finish at 12" wide.  The Starry Path blocks are about 9.25" and the bottom star is 8.5".  The top block is 6.5".  I just have to decide if all of the filler pieces will be the same fabric or several different fabrics.

I need to start my Christmas cookie baking so I don't know if I will work on it today.

 

Sewing and Sunset.............

I added the vertical column of squares and 4 patches first and then added the row of 16 patches at the bottom.  Amazingly they both fit without any spacers.  Now I need to make some decisions about the next vertical group of blocks.  I can go ahead and sew the Flying Geese and see how many more I will need.

There was an intense colorful sunset last night even deeper toned than it looks here.  I just happened to be looking west at the right time to grab my camera.

All 4 buds have opened now on the hardware store Amaryllis.  The second bud stalk hasn't grown at all yet.

I brought in my Amaryllis bulb from last year and started watering it.  I hope I gave it enough rest time under a box for darkness in the cool garage.

 

Orphan blocks............

It has been 8 months since I last played with these Kaffe orphan blocks.  I put them up on the design wall and then sewed together the section with all of the Bear Paw blocks.  The rest of the blocks are loose and subject to change.  This is layout 1 of the Snail's Trail blocks at the top.

Here is layout 2 with some of the Snail's Trail blocks turned a quarter turn.  I think I like this one better.  The 3 Starry Path blocks coming down the right side could have strips between them so the area wouldn't look so light compared to the rest of the layout.  I have more Flying Geese blocks I can add to extend that border.  I don't want to spend a lot of time on this quilt so I'll probably go ahead and sew some more sections together today to see if I need to add in any spacers to make everything fit. 

6 blocks...........

I made 3 more Snail's Trail 8" blocks with more of Philip Jacobs large floral prints.  The background fabric is Kaffe's Aboriginal Dots.  It is probably one of my least favorite colors, kind of a sea green with pink dots.  The reason I chose it was for the value; it wasn't a white (too light) background.  I only have enough for 6 more blocks so for the "real" quilt if I'm making one I need to change the background fabric.  Meanwhile all of these will go with the blocks in my partially planned Kaffe orphan block quilt.  I should probably bring those blocks upstairs to my main floor studio and start building it on my design wall. 

A new die............

 I got the new 8" Snails Trail die.  It's perfect for using the layer cakes (10" squares) and I can cut 3 blocks with one pass through the cutter.

There are several layouts as well as using an alternating plain block for every other block.  I have a couple more new dies I haven't used yet so I'm hoping to make some more trial blocks.  If I make them in the right color group I can use them in the Kaffe orphan block quilt I had started designing a few months ago.