My Small World ….is starting to grow!

After a week and a half of sewing teeny tiny squares together, I finally have half of part one of My Small World quilt finished. I had the sky portion finished on May 23rd but I struggled with the low volume fabrics and I felt like portions were too dark so (after a trip to the fabric store for some new fat quarters) I decided to re-do it to make it lighter. Here is the original: I may end up using this in another part of the sky, but for now it is just going to hang out on my design wall (and glare at me…)

I really like this quilt so far. I am trying not to rush through it but instead just enjoy the process. Even the process of cutting up white and beige squares was relaxing, up until a gust of wind came through the window and for one brief shiny moment I felt like I was in a ticker tape parade. Take a tip from me and never open the windows when you are cutting millions of 1.5 inch squares.  Trust me. I am also still working on my Mad Stars quilt. So far I have 25 blocks done. Here is the fabric that i already have cut for the next 5 blocks:

I’m trying to do 5 at a time so that chain piecing will allow me to work more efficiently. I have been jumping back and forth between Mad Stars and My Small World, depending on my mood. It has been working out quite nicely 🙂

In other news, my oldest daughter graduated from high school last Friday! I am very excited for her to be starting a new chapter in her life! But mainly the reason I am including this in my blog post is because hopefully I will have more time for quilting and blogging. She attended a private school an hour from our house, so to get her to school each day was a 2 hour round trip excursion. And then picking her up each afternoon was another 2 hours out of my day. It was worth it ( brag alert – she received over $100k in scholarship offers! And she also really loved her school) But I am really looking forward to having more free time. I have a younger daughter who keeps me busy as well, but she attends a local school so it won’t be as bad. With all of this new-found free time I am hoping to blog more consistently, and in an effort to make my blog better, I have joined the 2015 New Quilt Blogger group! I am really excited about this because I love reading other people’s blogs and I would really like to make new friends in the blogging community. I know I definitely need some help, especially with my picture taking ability, so I am hopeful that this group will help me in that department. Even if you are not part of that group, feel free to leave any comments about what kind of camera you use and any helpful tips you have. Right now I am posting pictures from my smartphone so the quality is not very good (my quilts look so much better in person!). I am in the market for a good (but not outrageously expensive) camera and I would love to get some ideas about what other people are using….

Another goal I have for the summer is to join the local Modern Quilt Guild. Their next meeting is June 10th, so hopefully on June 11th I will posting on this blog about what a great time I had and all the wonderful people I met! Stay tuned!