A Quiet But Busy Christmas 2024

I had a quiet Christmas as both my families traveled away, one at a time so they overlapped with being here. But both families had also flu running through them, and so I stayed away, discretion being the better part of valor I think. Besides, I don’t like the commercialism of Christmas, though I love this dark season that is filled with light, hope, rest, and realized joy for all that we do have.

Add in that the painful knee strain reappeared, and was worse this time. I decided to get a good brace, spend time with a heating pad, and to really let it mend this time. I do so miss my walking though. It is much better now, but not totally healed.

I have SO MANY wonderful sewing projects happening, and I just delved into those–alongside spending more time reading (I’m halfway through the Mitford series now (Jan Karon) which is peopled by people I like and with whom I want to spend time–unlike much of what is on tv or described in current books these days. I also have listened to 25 of the 28 Tony and Anne Hillerman books–two of the early books aren’t on Audible or Libby, and Anne H’s most recent comes out this year. I love the quiet and peaceful spiritual way of the Navajo people described in these detective mystery books. (Some have been recently made into a tv series (Dark Winds), which led me down this path.

Here’s what the design wall looks like right now:

Here’s the third quilt in my half-rectangle triangle series, made with the Hurty ruler (Latifah Saafir). “Dancing Hourglass Diamonds” has been so fun to make–one’s eyes go all over the place to see the diamonds that form with this block learned in Tara Faughnan’s Block 2 online class–the diamonds along the diagonal and straight lines, yes, but also medium size and large diamonds that form and shimmer before your eyes let them go again.

I thought this quilt needed a border to control the chaos, and this fabric was in my stash, and it brings out the blues in the quilt. I’m going to back with a wild but gorgeous print bought on sale from Hawthorne Supply Company’s Black Friday sale. I don’t know yet about the binding.

Here is the fourth quilt in this series, “Gradations.” The strips are a mathematical gradation–and all but one measure 48 inches. The wild print set in light orange just got strips to even out that row. These blocks are 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, and 2 wide. At 43 or so wide and 48 long, it is either finished or needs something. I’ll just look at it for a while and think on it. I don’t really see it as a wall hanging. And it doesn’t feel like a baby quilt. Maybe this part needs to be the center of something???

“Crosses” is loaded on the longarm, and I did one pass days ago. But until this quilt is done, I didn’t have any binding handwork for tv at night. I find hand sewing so soothing. “Crosses” isn’t a large quilt, and I should make myself do one pass a day until it is finished. (“Crosses” is made from the 3 1/2 inch squares of Cotton+Steel/Ruby Star Society fabrics I cut up years ago in Maine.)

With no handwork to do, I started making funky log cabin blocks by hand–and one just funky block in the center. I was inspired by Tara Faughnan’s video and discussion of how she hand stitches blocks at night in our online Blocks 2 class. I learned several new methods I did not know. I think I’ll finish this project up with 12 blocks.

Here’s the 11th block all ready to sew. Maybe the 12th will be a dark green? I don’t know yet how I’ll sew these blocks together, but it will be an improv quilt. Probably it will need a solid field fabric to join everything together.

There are, also, other projects happening in the quilt room. I broke down the last of the separated Cotton+Steel/Ruby Star Society strips and put them into the regular bins–1 1/2, 2, 2 1/2, and 3 1/2 strips–separated by neutrals and colors. And as I pawed through these boxes for the funky log cabins, I isolated some shorter strips, starting with these greys, and sewed them together and cut them into 2 or 2 1/2 blocks, in strips. ( I have smaller bins of cut 2 and 2 1/2 blocks and one of just small scraps–and ***note to self, I should/could be sewing together 4 or 9-patch blocks as leader/ender projects from these cut blocks.)

There are 4 or 5 potholders ready to be made–layered with Insul-Brite and batting. I’m going to try to use leftover binding strips cut on the bias to bind them. I have a pile of those.

AND, upcoming projects are looming on the January horizon, along with New Year’s, but this post is long enough for today.

I hope you are all enjoying these holidays.