Grand Illusion, Step One

I got step one of Grand Illusion done this morning.  I wasn't sure until I started cutting what colors I would use.  So far, they are Bonnie's colors but in different places.  The pink is consistent in this step, but I won't have enough of it for the whole quilt. The goal is to use my stash only.

 

To see more Grand Illusion Quilts:  http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2014/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-1.html

Stash Report

I have fabric used to report this week because I made pillowcases.  And then I went out today and bought more fabric for more pillowcases.  Tis the season, I guess!

Used This Week:  3.625 yards                                                    
Used Year to Date: 71.5 yards 
Added this week: 2.625 yards 
Added year to date: 78.125 yards
 Net Added:  6.625yards

Christmas Pillowcases

I finished 3 pillowcases today.   The farm one is for my nephew.  The Grinch one will be used to wrap a Christmas gift.

 

The third one I'd already used to wrap a gift before I remembered to take a picture.  It is not really Christmassy, but my BIL loves comic books, so it is perfect for him.

 

You can see the cuff and band in this picture.  I used safety pins to hold the whole thing together. 

 

 

Stash Report

I bought fabric this week to make two pillowcases that I'm going to use to wrap Christmas gifts in.  They need to be done by Thanksgiving because we always send our Christmas gifts home with my sisters, so the gifts will be there Christmas day, even if we aren't.  Most of my siblings split the holidays between my parents and their in-laws.

Used This Week:  0 yards                                                    
Used Year to Date: 67.875 yards 
Added this week: 2.5 yards 
Added year to date: 75.5 yards
 Net Added:  7.625 yards

Thanksgiving is usually the big holiday when we all get together at my house.  This year will be different because my dad broke his hip and had surgery last week.  My mom plans to stay home this year, and one of my sisters will stay with her.  My brother's FIL had eye surgery recently and can't travel, so his family will stay home with him.  There will still be about 40 people here for Thanksgiving, though.

I haven't done much sewing this week because I spent the week Christmas shopping and wrapping.  Two of my boys have birthdays the first week of December, so I did some birthday shopping too.  I did get one more POD block embroidered.

 

From Egg to Inferno, a Dragon Keeper's Guide; The Tales of Beedle the Bard and Defensive Magical Theory.

I recently learned that there is going to be a POD quilt along starting in January.  I've gone back and forth over this:  do I really need another Project of Doom quilt?  Not now, but maybe some day.  Wouldn't it be great to have the blocks already pieced when I do need one?  Surely, one of my future grandchildren will be a Harry Potter fan.  So I think I'm going to plan on making another.  All I'll need to get is background fabric.

To see more stash reports:  http://www.patchworktimes.com/2014/11/23/stash-report-week-47-2014/

Carolina Christmas Progress

My only goal for Carolina Christmas this year was to get the borders pieced.

After that was accomplished, I wanted to put it all away and pull it out next November. But Monday morning I decided to sew for just one hour more on CC.  I ended up sewing for 2 hours and got 12 blocks together.

Today I worked another couple of hours and got the last 12 together.  I think I've earned a break from this quilt for  a while. 

 

Linking up with Jo:  http://www.joscountryjunction.com/22604/

A Late Stash Report

We had  company this weekend, so I didn't spend a lot of time on the computer.  My friend and I hit two quilt shops while she was here, and I made a small purchase:  fabric for a pillow case for my nephew.

Used This Week:  0 yards                                                    
Used Year to Date: 67.875 yards
Added this week: 1.375 yards  
Added year to date: 73.0 yards
 Net Added:  5.125 yards

While my friend was here, I pulled out all my unquilted tops to show her. I have a lot of them.  My friend told her husband I have 'at least 50', but I think it is more like 15.  We should have counted them!

Last night I finished the embroidery on another POD block.

 

Holidays With Hags, Magical Drafts and Potions, Moste Potente Potions, Wanderings With Werewolves, Encyclopedia of Toadstools, Armando Dippet: Master or Moron?

 

This is not one of the Fandom in Stitches blocks but my own very simple design. I needed a block to fill in a space in the quilt because I am not putting the witch's hat on the bookshelf.  I may put it on the top of the shelves, but I haven't decided for sure yet.

Fall in My Yard

Most of the trees in our woods have turned color now.

 

The prettiest trees in my yard are the crape myrtles.  They turn orange or red in the fall. The leaves are small enough that they don't have to be raked up.  My husband just runs them over with the lawn mover and mulches them into the grass. To me crape myrtles are the perfect tree:  beautiful all four seasons.  I love their flowers in the summer, and I love their bare trunks in the winter.

There aren't many flowers now in my yard, but one camellia bush is blooming.

 

Something that looks odd to me in the woods is the way the small trees catch the pine needles that fall.  We have big pine trees in our yard, and the needles that fall and get caught on the small trees remind me of icicles.

 

 

 

Another thing I love about the fall is the seed pods.  I'm not sure what kind of plant this is.  It sort of looks like a cross between a lily and  an iris.  It probably came from my sister's garden originally.