Two repeats

We had a wonderful celebration of Luis at school this morning. He's an impressive young man, who has been declared cancer free. 

Since I attended the celebration, I didn't have as much time as I had hoped to work on tatting. However, I did finish two pattern repeats and my shuttles are fully loaded.

This afternoon I finished up another pot holder quilt block that I had started last night. Mom and I really like the way this one looks.

I checked the back to make sure I liked the quilting pattern before adding the binding. I think I have a plan for my next quilt!

Movin' along

 

I only managed two pattern repeats today. Round 18 of Renulek's Spring Doily 2026 is not difficult, but I do have to follow the instructions row by row. I really don't want to mess up this round.

I've started a new pot holder quilt. I'm using jelly rolls and 5" squares that I have recently purchased. These are surprise packs for me. Even though I can see the mix online, it always looks different to me when I receive it. I'm okay with that. It makes it easier for me to experiment.

I'm going to check the backs of my squares before binding. I wish I had done a little more quilting on this block. It looks perfect from the front, but the back looks a little too open for me. I may hand quilt a little motif in each of the little squares so that there isn't so much space between quilting lines.

We're having a celebration at school tomorrow morning for Luis, who was diagnosed with abdominal cancer a year ago at Christmas. He was pronounced cancer free about two weeks ago, which is definitely something to celebrate!

Another finished project

 

I had some squares left over from my wall hanging project, so I decided to try some techniques I've been learning about while finishing a table topper.

I joined the squares following a technique described by Georgia Bonesteel, a quilter I followed in the 1980s. The joining technique worked great, but since I didn't do a very good job piecing the squares, the piece looks pretty messy. If I use this method in the future, I will need to make sure that my quilting stops at least 5/8" of an inch from the edge so that I can join the blocks more easily.

I also tried putting the seam binding on completely by machine. The technique was okay, but I think I really prefer sewing the back side by hand.

Looking at the machine quilting, I've decided that I need to be a bit more careful with my back stitching so that it looks neater. Although I'm not thrilled with the final piece, I am keeping in mind that this was a practice piece for learning techniques new to me. As far as that goes, the project was a success!

I got a good start on round 18 of Renulek's Spring Doily 2026. I've chosen size 20 Lizbeth #622 Pink Med for this round.

Tomorrow I'm proctoring the AP Lit exam at school. The exam is from 8 -12. I'll take along a good book to read and my knitting. Knitting is a little quieter than tatting. Once the exam is over, I will supervise the two high school lunches, and then I will be ready to rest at home. I think I'll take it easy tonight!

Round 17

 

I'm very happy that I completed round 17 of Renulek's Spring Doily 2026 today. It's in size 20 Lizbeth #649 Baby Blue. It's time to choose the next color!

Back to tatting

It feels like I haven't tatted in forever, but it's only been about a week and a half. It's nice to be well past the halfway point of round 17 of Renulek's Spring Doily 2026.

We had a lovely visit with my sister this weekend. On Saturday, we went to a garden center and then went to lunch. Daughter Carol joined us. Janet and Carol each found something for their gardens. I saw many things that I really liked, but I've learned to not purchase plants without Dave along. I always seem to choose something that won't grow well in our yard.

I did spend some time exploring quilting techniques today, but I don't really have anything to show for it. I will keep working on quilt blocks, but my focus is going to be on my doily. I feel like I'm so close to finishing it!

Patriotic pot holder quilt

 

I just finished my patriotic pot holder quilt! My sister Janet is visiting, so she helped me hold it up so that Mom could take pictures for me.

I love the way the machine quilting looks on the back, and I like that binding each block gives a stained glass appearance.

The quilt is larger than I originally planned. It just covers the top of my queen sized bed. It would be easy enough to add to this quilt if I wanted it to fit my bed as more than a topper.

For now, I think I'll keep it on the back of my love seat. It certainly brightens up the room!

Five!

 

Thanks to some late night stitching on Wednesday, I was able to finish attaching the fifth row of my quilt last night. That's a nice accomplishment, considering I was gone from home from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

With only three strips left to attach, I'm pretty confident that I can finish by Wednesday. After that, I will focus on Renulek's Spring Doily 2026. It's good to set goals!