Summer Sewing that Wasn't

Hello Quilter Friends! It is not your imagination--I have not posted all summer because there really was not a lot of sewing going on all summer. I lost my mojo and really did not focus on much. I don't handle uncertainty very well and there was too much of that with how my teaching was going to be this fall. My summer wasn't totally wasted because I did take a few professional courses and read a bunch of middle grade books.

I finally got word that I would be teaching all year virtually. My position is unique because I work at three elementary schools with students in grades 3-5 and see about 60+ kids a week. This would be much too risky for spreading COVID. I also petitioned to work from home and that was granted one day before I was due to report for work! My sewing room has been transformed into my virtual classroom. My cutting table is a great raised desk and some quilts came down and a whiteboard and bulletin board were put up. I bought a tall stool and brought some supplies home from my classroom. Most of my students are attending school in person and will Zoom with me weekly and work on my enrichment activities in their regular classes--it is not ideal, but I feel it is the safest option. Our district has already had a couple of outbreaks and quarantines.

The one quilt I started this summer was this baby quilt. A coworker had a baby back in June and I started to work on it immediately, but did not finish it up until this week. The pattern is from Lori Holt's book, Spelling Bee, and is called the "Name Quilt." I made mine a little bigger and after washing it measures approximately 44" x 49" a good crib size.

Lori does not have any woodland animal blocks, so I bought the pattern for this Raccoon block on Etsy from BurlapBlossomPattern--it was $2.50 and that is all I spent on this quilt. All the fabrics, including the backing, binding, and the batting were from my stash.

I highly recommend making this design if you need a quick baby quilt and it is so easy to personalize it.

This backing fabric is an old Moda from my stash. I had to do some piecing to make it big enough. We are still not shopping in person, so making do with what I have on hand or can order online is a priority for me. Finishing this quilt and the need for some other baby quilts has brought my sewing mojo back.

I started cutting and sewing all the blocks for another baby quilt. They are having a girl and going for a desert/southwest look even though they recently moved to Alaska. I am using Bonnie Hunter's free pattern: https://quiltville.blogspot.com/2005/06/scrappy-mountain-majesties.html.

I am not sure on the setting, but I will play around with it--the blocks are very versatile. I am making 48 blocks and can make more if needed. I like baby quilts to be big!

I started this cross stitch in July it is "Stitchville" from Thimbleblossoms. There is a stitch along for it this month, so I plan on working on it while watching football today for Slow Sunday Stitching: https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2020/09/slow-sunday-stitching_13.html

I did bind a bunch of quilts for Rachel this summer and she quilted this one for me. It is my Ombre Gems Quilt, I plan to gift it to a friend. We had a few cold and rainy days earlier this week and that put me in the mood for fall--pumpkin spice, cozy pajamas, casseroles, and football!