Blue and Yellow

It has been a busy month: 

My version of Bonnie Hunter's Orca Bay is ready to go out for quilting! Started in November 2011, to be completed in 2022, so my OMG was achieved  Most of those little sawtooth triangles for the final pieced border were already cut and I had the perfect neutral fabric for the inner border in my stash, I also added a narrow black border to ensure there was no risk of losing any of my points when I get to sewing on the binding.

I finished my husband's Christmas socks, Christmas 2022, but better late than never.

I caught up on my Stash Busters 2022 blocks - in fact I am very slightly ahead as I know I won't get to sew in the first week or so of April.

I did some snow dyeing too - one of the big pieces will be going off with Orca Bay to become its backing.

So did I start more projects? Yes of course I did. 

My knitting guild hosted their For The Love of Fiber festival so I bought more yarn and started in on a pair of blue and yellow socks (Ukraine colours). This is Youghiogheny Yarns Highland Sock yarn.  Next year's FtLoF will be on Saturday 18th March 2023 at the Ramada in State College PA.

 

And a Ukraine colours sunflower cushion cover is well under way. The pattern is by Vanessa Goertzen of Lella Boutique.

There are other projects on the back burner too, maybe some will get some progress made on them in April.

Just the colours I feel driven to use

Current world events are pretty grim at the moment (that is British English for downright dreadful) with the completely unprovoked, unwarranted and illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine.  There are many reports and videos demonstrating the indomitable Ukrainian spirit and I know that many quilters are choosing to work in blue and yellow to signify the colours of the Ukrainian flag and national flower - the sunflower.  Once again this month I want to work on a project that has been "resting", this time Bonnie Hunter's Mystery Quilt from autumn 2011 - Orca Bay, pattern available in her String Fling book. Bonnie's original quilt was made in blacks, reds, blues and neutrals, mine is in blacks, blues, yellows and neutrals, so what languishing project could be more appropriate to pull out and get done this month.

Bonnie Hunter's original Orca Bay - 2011/12 Mystery Quilt

My version as I had left it

 

In early 2012 I had got as far as assembling the main part of the quilt top and then ran out of steam, so I really don't have a lot to do to get the quilt top finished. This one will get sent out for long-arm quilting so my One Monthly Goal for March 2022 is to get this top finished up and sent out (or ready to send out) for quilting.  Packed away with the main section are most or all the little bits for making the borders.  My first task is to remove the remaining foundation papers from the string blocks, this would have been easier before assembling the quilt top, but then I would have been dealing with a lot of stretchy bias edges so I made my sewing both easier and harder!  Of course no work on one of my quilts is without my "helper"

In other news my amaryllis have been blooming giving a bright burst of colour - this photo was taken a couple of weeks ago but the second flower spikes have opened on each of these bulbs.

This last weekend was warm, in fact I was outside in my t-shirt raking leaves and looking forward to the arrival of spring, so maybe there will soon be splashes of cheerful colour outdoors as well as in.