Not Much Sewing

There hasn't been much sewing going on in my sewing room. I finished some things for church up to getting the top and backing made and passed them on to someone else to finish. Arthritis in my hands has been a problem lately and I have concluded that large quilts are more than I want or am able to quilt.  I am still thinking about how I might quilt some larger quilts in sections if I plan hem right. I am probably going to stick to smaller things.

I have been going through all of my scraps and odd blocks and leftover components. I am sorting and  and purging and cutting strips and squares and rectangles. I started putting together pieces to make Triple Four Patch blocks and blocks that Donna Poster demoed on Simply Quilts. They are both good blocks for scraps and I have made some of my favorite quilts using them.

I can only cut and sort for so long before I start thinking about how what I am cutting will look in a block. I made these 4 Donna Poster blocks over several days time. I cut some pieces and put some up on the wall and cut some more and went away and did other things and changed some squares or rectangles when I came back. I finally sat down and sewed them together.
This is an easy block because there are no matching seams within the block and not too many when the blocks are sewed together.

4 Donna Poster inspired blocks

I like to use a light fabric in a specific place in each block so they a scattered throughout the quilt. I put most of the blocks together in the same format but sometimes I change the components in one half or the other.

After I looked at these on the design wall I wasn't sure I liked them. I left them on the wall and went back to my cutting marathon. This morning I took a break and visited some of the blogs I follow. Julie Sefton, quiltdivajulie , is working on scraps and she has narrow pieced strips separating sections. I put some pieces together for narrow strips and stuck them up on the wall between my blocks and I think I like it.  I think it will breakup the predictability and help to unify the sections. The plus is that I will be using some of the scraps that were not big enough for the squares or rectangles.

My goal has been to get all of my various odds and ends organized and have some sort plan the either use them or give them away (or dispose of them). This is probably going to keep me busy for a while.  I still have a lot of cutting to do but now I can have have some playtime as I go along.

My time lately just seems to get sucked up in the other things going on in my life. If I can have short periods of playtime here and there I might just keep on quilting instead of getting rid of everything and turning my sewing room into another bedroom or TV room.  I have entertained that thought.