There was once a photographer that got captivated by squirrels and spent six years taking pictures. If you click on the image above, you can go read his story and enjoy some whimsical photos of wildlife. :)
Myself, I got captured by a squirrel of a different color. :) We are still having sultry, hot, heavy summer weather here in eastern Maryland. July has seemed nearly as endless as March was this year!
Two days ago I got a very nice haul of mail in my snailbox. Here are the highlights:
This is one of the two print magazines I still subscribe to - partly because of the format (not much chatter, plenty of new design ideas) - and partly because I've sold them a number of patterns in the past and am nostalgic. :)
I once took a three day workshop with Jane in the basics of surface design on fabric; I have several times considered taking her two year at-home design series. This book combines her new interest in eco-dyeing (something I've toyed with) and the principals of surface design she has developed over a long career. I am actually reading the text - slowly - and considering how far down this rabbit hole I want to fall. :)
I took a workshop with Karen several years ago on making her Happy Villages. Somehow the rose in this book slipped my mind until I was thinking recently about my coming-soon month as Queen Bee in Hive 4 of the Stash Bee. I have been mentally pondering free-hand curved pieced roses for several months and Karen's roses here remind me of Rennie Macintosh's designs which I adore. I think maybe I have to explore how Karen's roses are made for my September block idea.
A friend had the reverse-colored version of this print which drew my eyes instantly. Off I went and found this print which I am eager to use as the 'background' for my daughter's dinosaur quilt (I am thinking Elizabeth Hartman's newest design issued at Spring Quilt Market). :)
I bought this Japanese fabric out of pure lust - the hexies are about 1.25" on a side and the pattern really flips my acquisition flags. :) I think I might use it as the back side of something beautiful and quilt around those nice randomly placed hexagons. Until then, I will happily pet it.
I adore Australian Aboriginal designs and had a hard time choosing this charm pack of 5" squares - there were four assortments and getting only one (being parsimonious) was hard. When I started sewing with these, I gave in and ordered the other three sets. :)
All of these fabrics came from an online shop called Easy Piecing which offers a variety of specialty fabrics, most of which I adore. The goods came quickly and were even nicer than I expected. Susan (owner) has made a customer out of me. :)
As soon as I started thumbing through the charm pack yesterday afternoon, my hands itched to sew with them ... so off I went, chasing another squirrel into the woods. :) I had a length of nice white background batik large enough to make a decent sized quilt with so I cut some 5" white squares and started making half square triangles.
The charm pack has two squares each of 20 Aboriginal prints so I sewed up forty half square triangles worth of goodness. This is not the first charm pack of M&S Textiles fabric I've worked with (I used to carry some of their fabrics in my shop) so I knew I'd have to trim my HSTs after sewing them - I hate working with those pinked edges (so hard to decide where to situate my seams). Once I squared my 40 hst blocks, they measured 4.25" each.
I enjoy those 'disappearing' block designs, so I laid out nine hsts and sewed them up, then cut them apart and rearranged them into a block:
I think this block looks rather floral in a graphic sort of way. I am considering using it as my beginning block for the Faithful Circle round robin that starts later in August. Not many people have an assortment of Aboriginal prints in their stashes so I will be including some fabrics if I do. Besides the three other charm packs, I ordered an attractive light colored print to go with them.
Today my friends Barbara and Patty and I sat down to our Friday afternoon Sewing With Friends Zoom get together. While we chatted, I turned my 40 HST squares into forty Hourglass blocks. Now I'm starting to think about a medallion quilt with the Aboriginal prints ... this squirrel is really pulling me along with a tight grip. Might not last until late August. :)
:) Linda
PS Other than sew my Hourglass blocks, the only other 'useful' thing I did today was wash dishes. Otherwise I spent the day (what part of it I was not sleeping through) reading. :)