New beginnings!

Design wall progress - hourglass blocks from "Cultural Fusion Quilts" (book by Sujata Shaw, see her blog here) + hand-dyed fabrics by Vicki Welsh (see her etsy shop here) = fun baby quilt! Fabrics on the right side are being auditioned for border and binding/backing. 

Spring piano recital was awesome!  I had a movie theme - all the students performed music taken from the movies, from Harry Potter to Mission Impossible to Star Wars! They all got fresh popcorn from our local theater to take home and enjoy.

It was a cold and windy Saturday, but we were all glowing inside with happiness over Danny's (my daughter, Hannah's boyfriend) graduation from Illinois Benedictine University!  He got a degree in Business Administration/Accounting WITH HONORS.  He finished his degree in night school while working full time.  So proud of this boy! 

Speaking of proud, I am so proud of Hannah, buying her first house (with Danny) at the age of 25!  They found a cute 3-bedroom house just 15 minutes from our house, which is great!  So excited for them as they make this house their home!

Emily and Matthew were here over Mother's Day (yay!), so we went over and walked the property of Hannah's house (we couldn't go inside, they haven't closed on it yet).  Such a cute house, and it's all landscaped!  All she has to do it hang up her American flag and move in!

I LOVE spring! Bought all of my annuals for my pots and window boxes, potting soil, a new clematis, and a hydrangea for Hannah and Danny's house.  Happy spring!

Windmill Block Play

Ever since I got Sujata Shah's great book, I have been wanted to try her windmills pattern. I love everything about it - the free-cut shapes, the colors, and the windmill inspiration.  My grandparents lived on a farm, and I grew up in a small town, so windmills are a part of my past.  Very nostalgic.

Sujata's book.

Look at all of these yummy colors! As a birthday gift (thank you honey!), I got a "grab bag" of Cherrywood Fabrics' hand-dyed scraps.  Their fabrics have a unique, sueded texture, in addition to the gorgeous, rich, yummy colors. Perfect for my windmill blocks!

Sujata has us choose 4 fabrics, of contrasting values.  So I chose a bunch of "quartets" of fabrics - sort of like auditioning voices for a choir, isn't it?

First windmill vane block, cut.  This is four layers of fabric - a quartet - all 4 cut at once, with a ruler, but in gentle curves.  It is quite easy actually!

Then - you take the top-most center piece - the vane - and shuffle it to the bottom of the stack.  Now the pieces are ready to sew.  I kept these pieces right next to my sewing machine, which made piecing easy as pie, following Sujata's directions.  The curved piecing is easy.  No pressing until the piecing is done - her tip - which also makes the piecing quicker!

First block, done! Not sewn together, just arranged - I was anxious to see them together! The hand-dyeds fabrics work really well in this block! And the blocks pop out to easily, like popcorn - I can't wait to make more of them.

Two blocks completed.  Thank you Sujata for this great design!