Angels and opportunites with perfect timing

I haven't been blogging because I haven't been able to wrap my head around what's going on with this Covid-19 thing that has turned all of our lives upside down and inside out. 

Honestly, I'm still not ready to put my emotions and reactions into words yet, I doubt I ever will. Besides, this blog is about quilting and crafting! Time to get on with it 😘.

Last week I was in a particular emotional low. (For goodness sakes, I resorted to baking bread 😳 in an attempt to snap out of it.)

Then out of the blue, my quilting friend Carol Punday from Mississippi, made an Instagram post and also shared in Facebook, that she started making this Village quilt by Moda Fabrics.

When she suggested it would be a great block to swap, I jumped at the opportunity!

Today, these house blocks from her to me were in my mailbox! 

Aren't they fun?!!

I love that zigzag house! Can you imagine the eccentric lady that lives there?

And the Greenhouses! I've always thought it would be fun to have a greenhouse and raise interesting plants.

And the Butterfly Habitats! Have you ever sat in a butterfly house and watched them flutter all around you, sometimes brave enough to perch on your shoulder and say hello? I could sit in a butterfly habitat for hours, it's so peaceful. There's one here in Dallas, TX that I will have to go visit when everything opens again.

These are the house blocks I sent to her.

I enjoyed the construction of each of them.

This is the Texas house with Blue Bonnets and Cactus.

I was tickled with making an Ocean-front Property house. (Oops, I changed the roof to a seahorse print and forgot to get an updated picture.)

And giggled over building a Chicken Coup. See the chicken wire walls? 

And a Coffee House (even though I prefer lattes over espresso. 😋)

And I called this the House of the Rising Sun.
"There is a house in New Orleans, they call the Rising Sun..."

I attempted building a house with a fireplace...

but my Sweetling said that I burned the house down. (I'm keeping this block for myself for the memory 🥰.)

Carol's offer of a block swap was perfect timing!
~~~~Oh! BTW, Carol has been a great inspiration to me long before this. She's a prolific quilter. And is always sharing what she's working on in IG and FB.
 #emptyclosetquilting is her unique IG hashtag. Have a look!~~~~

...back to perfect timing...

 ...because I happened to have just finished putting together the mystery quilt by Edyta Sitar from Laundry Basket Quilts, but haven't decided on a border yet. I'll have to think on it for a while.

and I'm between projects now, even though I have plenty projects that need working on... I just didn't have the "umph" to pick one of them up.

...because I had looked at the Village pattern before, just in November when we moved into this house. But it wasn't the right time for me to jump into a project like this. I was working on several quilting deadlines at that time that required concentration. And unpacking, trying to organize my sewing room.
...because, as an added incentive, the pattern is free now!! As of April 10, Moda generously provided it as their contribution to ease the stay at home new normal for us quilters.
One Village - Together
...because I can give  myself permission to beginning the Village quilt knowing that it's going to be a long term project. I'll make a block here and there when a scrap of fabric just has to be made into a house!

Perfect timing also because I've been going through my scraps.
For a moment, I've been blindly sewing pieces of fabrics together, as inspired by this Tracks Herringbone Quilt Block by Patchwork Facil on YouTube.

This is a fantastic stash buster!!
But throwing in some of those bigger pieces with interesting prints only to be cut into 1.5 inch strips is a little difficult!
Now, the bigger, more interesting pieces can be used for the Village houses before the piece makes it into the Herringbone pattern!
It feels like a Bonus!
Like, two projects in one 🥰.

Ok. So, working on the Herringbone quilt and Village Houses is producing smaller fabric scraps.
Now I'm getting strips of fabric that are less than 1.5" wide. These strips are perfect for the "strings" I've been using in the Honeycomb quilt that I started last year with Watana Cantrell at the Wanna Bees in Vernon, AL.

The pattern is Honeycomb by Karen Griska.

Until a few days ago, I only had about 10 of the 78 required triangle units. Now, I only need a few more to go!! I'll start filling in the background pieces this week!
Oh! It feels so good to see progress in my work!
And THREE projects in one!

And that's what happens when an angel appears and offers an opportunity.

That's what happens when you're open to opportunity and say, "Yes! I'm in!"
One thing leads to another leads to another... (leads back to something already started...)

Inspiration and progress. Yes, that's what happens!
I am ever so grateful for angels and opportunities with perfect timing!!
(what will inspire the other 25+ projects that are patiently waiting for me to pick up again?... lol. 👼😜)

Wishing all the mamas out there a very Happy Mother's Day 😍