Another Block Party Weekend

Finally, after all the wonderful craziness and chaos that was summer here in our family, I think things are finally - kinda - back to some kind of normal.  A new normal, to be sure, since WH decided to go to law school and thus I am home alone.  I am, of course, desperately behind with everything, and so my plan for the weekend was to start getting caught up.

My VQB friends have been very patient as I totally dropped out of everything to make a wedding happen.  I am glad to say that the dress - and the wedding - turned out wonderfully, and BD#2 and DSIL#2 are happily embarking on their new life together.

And, after a wonderful visit, BD#1, DSIL#1 and beautiful little Abby have gone home.

So this weekend, I planned nothing but catching up.  First, my friend had a birthday a month or two ago, and luckily she was understanding about the whole wedding thing.  I'm sure you'll agree that a friend like that deserves a gift, after all.  So here it is, more than a month late.  (Hopefully she will receive the gift before she reads this blog!)

I guess her kitchen colors are the same as mine, because this would go great in my kitchen. I toyed with the idea of keeping it....  But no, that would just be too lame.

Then on to the blocks...  First thing was to finish the Christmas Fabric Bee. This bee should have finished up in August, and here I am dragging it out and preventing everyone from getting their quilts done for Christmas.  These ladies have truly been very understanding.  First, for Kari.  This one was a humdinger. 

These blocks are gorgeous, aren't they?  And they are just about as difficult as they look.  And since I apparently can't READ instructions (I was following the pictures in the tute) my seam ripper and I became even better acquainted.  I was actually afraid there wouldn't be enough fabric left to sew it together.  Should you decide you want to try it, the tutorial is here.

Next, the August blocks for Cassie.  These are drunkard's path blocks, which I had never tried before, but the curves aren't as hard as you might think.  The tutorial for these is here.

There.  All done.  Another bee officially finished.  It's kinda sad, really.  These ladies were great to work with, and lots of fun.  I love a bee that stretches your creativity and skills, and this one certainly did that.

Some of these same ladies are in the Fall Bee, which turns out not to necessarily be fall-themed since it goes into February or March.  It should maybe be a holiday bee.  The first block (August again) was Halloween, so that one qualifies as fall.

This one is a Triple Irish Chain, and it was really easy.  I enjoyed putting this one together.  Easy peasy.  I'm not a particularly Halloween-y girl, but I can't wait to see this quilt finished.  Love the purple in it.  Very fun!

This starburst block is supposed to be fall, but to me this block screams SUMMER!!!  I'm not great at paper piecing yet, and this block has its issues, but Carrie said she wanted wonky, and I think she got it.  I made the mistake of doing one side with the "ink" toward me as I worked, and the other side of the block with the "ink" away from me.  Needless to say, the centers did NOT meet.  So wonky it is. Still, I like the block.  It is so wonderfully colorful.  I'm thinking of this as the inspiration for my next pillow talk swap pillow.  What do you think?

Sarah wanted a Christmas-themed block, and what's more Christmas-y than a present?  Well, lots of things, perhaps, but a present it is, nonetheless.  This block too was great fun to put together.  I'm thinking maybe one day a whole quilt of presents, all different fabrics and shapes and sizes.  Wouldn't that be fun?

And, in my spare time this weekend (mostly while watching General Conference), I made 100 thank you notes for the newlywed couple, so folks don't think they're ungrateful sots. (I find that I'm more successful at watching GC if my hands are busy with some mindless task - it helps me stay awake and lets  me focus on what's being said.)

Now, what do I have left to do?  Well, I'm participating in the Scrappy Bow-tie Block Swap, so I need 20 bow-tie blocks by Saturday.  I also need the next installment of the Santa Sack Swap to magically get in the mail tomorrow (no, I doubt that will happen), and I leave Wednesday to visit family and head off to Sewing Summit, so naturally there's packing to do.  Of course, I had planned to make the CUTEST name tag, a tote bag, and some other stuff.  Nope, don't think that will happen either.  And, I think I can have fun at Sewing Summit without any of that.  I'm excited to meet everyone and learn some fun new stuff.  Hope you're going too.  See ya there!