Our time here is winding down and I wanted to get out on the lake one more time … today was supposed to be completely clear … I thought I was going to have to make a run for the Marina as the sky darkened.

But I was lucky, after a little drizzle, the afternoon turned out beautiful. The clouds kept it from being too hot and there was a nice gentle breeze.

I did manage to piece a little Strippie top when I got back. These are always so cute. I also cut one out from the leftover fabric from the puppy quilt. That leaves me 4 Strippie “kits” here assuming I don’t piece another one before we leave on Monday.

This one took me a while … I don’t love it but I don’t hate it either. It’s a perfect example of the good and bad of using precuts. The good is it’s easy to pick up a Jelly Roll or two (I used 2 with some leftovers) and start sewing, the bad … they can be too busy. Ideally, if I was working at home I would have added in fabrics from stash to calm this down a little. It’s not that I don’t love some of the fabrics, it’s just that it could have used some tone on tones. With some Jelly Rolls you can just use a consistent background fabric but others like this one would benefit from lots of stash fabrics being mixed it.

But … I’m not going to fret over it. Sewing in two places means sometimes I’m going to want or need stuff that’s at the other house. I’m just happy that I have great sewing spaces set up in both houses AND lots of projects to work on too.

The block is a framed 16 patch and you can find my quilt notes at this post.

Adam and the kids are coming for the weekend so I won’t be sewing for a couple days … not sure what I’m going to start on Monday. Maybe a Quick Strippie or two since I’ve just got one week left here after the kids go home before we head back to Tampa.

I got the Puppy 5 yard quilt assembled. That makes 5 tops plus some camo yardage that Chris wants quilted up to take back home … and just like that I’m behind on my goal to finish as many of my quilts as I start.

We will go back to Tampa in August and I plan to get a bunch quilted but I’m not sure how long we’re going to stay. With the rising number of COVID cases and deaths, I don’t see Keith flying for work in the near future and if he’s working from home he can do it here in GA just as easily as in Tampa.

My precut July quilt is assembled – that was quick!

I gave you all the wrong information on this quilt. First, I called it the Stop and Go quilt … that is incorrect – it’s called Walk and Stop. Second, I said I bought the kits from Craftsy but they were both bought from Connecting Threads. Mom pieced the batik one I showed yesterday and now the black and bright top is done too. I did exchange the solid black in the kit for a print from stash. I feel like a solid black picks up and shows lint really bad so I rarely if ever use it for a background.

The kits are no longer available at Connecting Threads and it’s been several years since I bought the two I got but I will definitely be using this pattern again – just 2 yards of a background fabric (2.5 yards if you’re going to bind it in the background fabric) and scraps or fat quarters from stash and it makes a quick and easy quilt. Mine will go back to Florida for quilting and eventually be donated.

Finally! Adam’s T-shirt top is assembled and it will go back to Tampa for quilting. So glad to have this top finally done. No pattern although I did look on Pinterest for inspiration on uneven block layouts. I drafted it in my TouchDraw app which helped me make sure that the sashing strips were offset and that each row came out to the same size! The finished top is about 70 x 92. Sashing strips are cut 2.5 inches.

I told you I was going to do a Quick Strippie before starting Adam’s T-shirt quilt and I finished assembling it this afternoon. I have MORE than enough fabric of my own so I don’t ever take donated fabric when offered except when we were in Maine, Susan had brought fabric to share and when I saw the trucks and stars, I knew it would make a really cute strippie. The yellow I pulled from my stash. Thanks Susan!

The Triangle Scraps top is assembled. This is my precut project for May and as you can see, I’m a bit late getting the top done. I have some instructions on the website for a similar quilt although this one is a little different.

• Triangles are 4 inches finished (4.5 inches with seam allowances)
• Blocks are 8 inches finished (8.5 with seam allowances)
• Blocks are set 6 across and 8 rows down
• Brown border is cut 4.5 inches
• Finished quilt size is approximately 56 x 72

I also managed to make a couple masks for myself. I left some of mine in Tampa and since they’re so easy to make, it was easy enough to sew up some extra ones. I like this little dragonfly print.

The post office can’t seem to get my mail forwarding right so while I was waiting for some assistance today (they were no help unfortunately) I snapped a photo of this deer. I can’t believe how close he came to my parked car! We’ve seen more wildlife in the couple months we’ve had the new house than I think we saw the entire time we had the condo here. We used to see some deer crossing the road and on the trails but they never came by the condo. You’ll get tired of seeing the photos I’m sure but I won’t get tired of taking photos of them!

I had some time to sew today but I’ll be busy tomorrow getting ready to leave on Saturday so I decided to piece another Quick Strippie. I have SO much quilting to do when I get home … Stephanie from my HeartStrings group is getting ready for a quilting marathon so I’m going to join in starting Monday and I’ll try to get 10 tops quilted before we come back mid June.

I didn’t get downstairs during the day so after Keith and Finn went to bed I went down to finish assembling the Boxed Squares top. SO quick and easy – it’s a great choice for a nice lap size quilt from a single Jelly Roll.

This will go back to Tampa this weekend for quilting with the other 3 tops. None of them are large quilts but I’m pretty happy with what I’ve accomplished here in addition to all the work to get the house in shape. The last few weeks accomplishments in the sewing room are:

• Pieced 4 tops
• Pieced, quilted, and bound 2 doll quilts
• Made 70 face masks

I’ll have a lot of quilting to do when I get home along with some packing. We’re planning to pull a small Uhaul when we come back mid June with some more of my quilting stuff and some other household stuff we’ve decided to go ahead and bring here now.

We’re settling into a routine here and it’s starting to feel like home. I’m looking forward to our time here and in Tampa over the next few years!

My plans for the rest of the week are up in the air but if I end up with more time to sew, I’ve got another quick Strippie I can pull out.

Another top pieced – a Quick Strippie. I’m debating whether to give this one to a niece that’s expecting or I might donate it. Maybe when I get it quilted will determine where it goes! I’m getting a little behind on my goal to finish as many as I start – my count right now is 10 starts, 6 finishes, 1 waiting in Tampa for binding. I’ll need to get ahead and quilt some tops when I get home in May because we’ll be back in GA for 6 weeks this summer and all I’ll be doing here is piecing.

I’ve still got a week and a half here … going to have to decide what to start next. I prefer to get a top completed before leaving on a trip or at the very least, all the blocks made. It just feels easier not to start piecing something and then have to pick it back up days or weeks later. It’s one reason why I try to get all my UFOs to the finished top stage before setting it aside too.