Summer is here! It came! It came!

What came?

My Missouri Star BLOCK magazine!  Summer fun can begin although I probably won't be doing that much quilting.  We have travel plans coming quickly, my husband starts a new job, and then school starts too soon in August. :P  BUT this mag actually helped me put on the fun attitude so I don't get bogged down in details.

Making it even better, it has directions for some of the quilts I've wanted to make like Stacks and floating hexagon quilts.  They also included a patriotic remake of the Friendship Star Sashing that got me excited to try.

I really like how the magazine suggests different fabrics and combinations so I can start visualizing the quilt patterns from Jenny Doan's YouTube tutorials in different colors.

Along with quilt patterns, Jenny tells stories to get me thinking of my life in terms of the high points instead of the shoulda, coulda, woulda slant.  I need that!!!

Some of the patterns include the Dresden Botanica, a quilt I never would have even watched a tutorial for but am intrigued at trying now.  Okay, so it's not going to happen first, but that's because I already have one in progress and more waiting on my shelves!

A new I Spy quilt follows with a delightful family stories that, again, got me fired up to try.  Summer in the Park reminds quilters that quilts are meant to be used and loved and looks easy.  In fact, the themes of summer and dirt and FUN resound throughout this issue!

Rhombus Cube reminds me to keep it simple, the Jelly Basket just looks like fun and seems to encourage it, Dandy Stars reminds me of the joys of children and the walks we used to take to the library, grocery store, and around the neighborhood.  Jenny didn't ignore the fact that it was often hair raising but always an adventure!

Wallflower goes into the power of remembrances and duplicating those to pass onto further generations.  I have a starburst quilt from my grandmother that I think I'll duplicate for my kids in the coming years.

Floating hexagons came with a delightful story.  This is one I already bought fabric and the template to make so I'm happy to have the written pattern.  I learned my lesson with the Hunter's Star quilt!

The magazine includes a heartwarming story about a quilty proposal that is fun to read.  And of course they end the whole issue with a continuation of the mystery story.  Cheesy but so lighthearted!

It's well worth $5.99 and my summer looks brighter with new ideas and attitudes!  Thanks MSQC!

Disaster strikes my sewing room

Oh dear.  It has been over a month since I've blogged!  I'm so sorry!  We've gone on vacation, I've finished the Hunter's Star quilt top, I've done some cross stitching, but I've blogged about none of it!

One of the major things that has happened is this:

It's not what is outside although the weed jungle is growing like mad with all the rain we have had.  My husband is taming it now that he has more time for yardwork.  He was laid off--did I mention that?  The picture also doesn't just show that my sewing machine table is a mess, but that's a major clue.

I finished the Hunter's Star and programmed my machine to write a label for it, and then forgot to change the presser foot.  The needle came down, broke in the machine, seriously messed up the timing, and the machine began shredding thread.

Even though I took my machine to the dealer's the next day (two weeks ago), the repairman attended training for at least a week so I still don't have it back.  I even tried sewing more blocks on my old Viking that is now my daughter's.  Getting the 1/4" seam right on a different machine is hard though.  Hopefully I really will get my machine back in a week because I have to sew the binding on the Hunter's Star quilt when it comes back from the quilter.  All before leaving for vacation the following week.

I have done these blocks so far on my husband's Minecraft quilt.

Notice the white chicken on the bottom row.  It was one of Kelli's bonus blocks that my husband preferred.  Since I've already purchased the sashing fabric and back, we picked and chose the blocks my husband wanted most and I'm putting all these blocks on the front.  Kelli recently posted a pattern for the pickaxe that I'm going to make for one of the blank spots although I'm changing it a tiny bit.  I spent last night graphing out a diamond sword for the other blank spot and figuring out how to make it without making it look appreciably different than the others, i.e., more pixelated.  I'll be publishing instructions for it soon--as soon as I write them up.  Making it into a 12" block was much more easily said than done.  I have no idea what software Kelli uses so I used graph paper and pencil.  I'll probably post pictures of that.  Very high tech--not!

Kelli has also created a large dragon for the back of the quilt that I'm duplicating too.  Here's the link to the tail section, mid section, and head.  Of course that means I bought far too much backing fabric.  Oh well. It will look cool when it's done after I get my sewing machine home.