My first Texas Quilter's Sit and Sew

I attended my first Texas Quilter's Sit and Sew!

 I was invited by my friend and fellow Possum Town Quilt Guild member, JoAnne!  She had moved here around the same time I moved to Mississippi.  But she is part of the group that rooms together at Mountain Quiltfest in Pigeon Forge.  And that's where we became friends.

 JoAnne is working on an English Paper Pieced Flower Garden.  The colors are bright and happy.

Some ladies are having a closer look at the incredible satin stitched applique on this quilt top. I should have gotten some close up photos because attention to detail was amazing!!

 Everyone is encouraged to bring their own project to work on and a lunch if you plan to stay. 
As you can see, there were a variety of techniques!...

A machine pieced Jacobs Coat

... English paper piecing

  ... Appliqued circles

... Embroidery

these tiny circles ready to be appliqued look perfect!

And there's my Double Wedding Ring in progress ☺️. I got a few more wedges put together. It's progress!!

I really enjoyed this group. It was very casual and comfortable. The conversation was nonstop, one topic after another. And any topic was fair game.

I hope to spend more time with this group!!

True Hita's Whimsy.

Oh yes. True to Whimsy Hita fashion,

I did not stick to the projects I listed in yesterday's blog update.

This morning I had every intention of tackling the first bag of scraps.  I envisioned nice tidy stacks of "strings" for the Honeycombs, 2.5" mini charm squares, 2" X 3.5" rectangles for the scrappy, and even 1.5" squares.

I dipped into the bag and this piece was right on top.

It's really too small to cut. Though, looking at it now, I see that it would've made a good flying geese unit.

I could've gotten a 1.5" square out of it.

But then I would've thrown away the left over triangle pieces. ... It's just too pretty not use as much of it as possible.

This stack of solid blue was also at the top of the pile.

I couldn't resist the urge to applique!

I have a note tablet that's almost exactly the size of the solid blue.

I traced the heart, then started doodling...

... Until I got a design that pleased me.

... Yep, my Whimsy self started another project!! 

Taking inventory

So, have you been wondering when I'll resume blogging? 😄 It's been a few very busy weeks for me.  Until yesterday, I hadn't picked up any type of needle work in at least two weeks! I don't know how I made it that long.
Moving from Mississippi to Texas was all time consuming.
I did make sure to spend some time on the "George" (which I own now! My Heartbeat made a deal so I could keep it!! 🥰)

Phew! There's a lot that goes on with moving. I'll just give you the short version.

We had parents weekend in NYC with my Sweetling. The day after coming back home the movers came in and packed everything they could get their hands on. I watched in awe as they meticulously wrapped item after item in packing paper and placed it carefully in a box.

They arrived at 8 a.m. and the last box taped up by 6 p.m.  Just 1 day!! It was amazing!

I got a little emotional when I saw my sewing room like this. I purposely stayed away from it while the packers did their thing, because I would have tried to manage every box and slowed them down. (Honestly, I thought this room would take a whole day by itself 🤭)

I know the contents of my room, I just don't know which box holds what.  Setting the sewing room up in the new house will be like opening gifts on Christmas! Don't you think?

The next day the movers loaded everything onto the moving van. They arrived at 8. It was pouring rain and they were soaked before even getting one box into the van.  The rain stopped after a couple hours and the movers were done by 3:30. And all my house hold things were on their way to Texas to be put into storage until we found a house.

The next day my Heart and I handed over our house keys. Closed the garage door. Loaded the pets and plants into my car and started on our way.

Let me backtrack a little bit. 

Before the movers came in, I had to keep in mind that we could possibly be in temporary housing for 2 months while we looked for the perfect house.  That's TWO MONTHS without my sewing things!!

So along with the pets, the back of my car was packed with a few projects to tide me over this rough patch...

This is where packing for retreat experience came in handy!

I, of course, kept my sewing machine with me and all the usual supplies - cutting mat, rotary, acrylic rulers, thread, etc.

And here's what else I brought along to keep me busy... (I apologise for the dark photos. It was late evening when I got the urge to take inventory.)

... a hand piecing project... (Blog post: My oldest unfinished quilt project)

 ... just a few things needed for that.

... a Bonnie Hunter project "Geese on a Strong" is from a class I took during the 2019 Mountain Quiltfest in Pigeon Forge  (blog post: Mountain Quiltfest 2019

 

... The Honeycomb project started at Watana's Wanna Bees in Vernon, AL. (Blog post: Keeping busy)

... a big bag of scraps that need to be trimmed into "strings" for the two previous projects or into 2.5" squares for scrappy quilts. (Blog post: Scrap system or brink of insanity?)

... another bag of scraps to be trimmed.

... a secret project I can't tell about yet 🤭

... there was room in the secret project box for baggies of more scraps.  Included are 2"x3.5" rectangles for a scrappy quilt.

 ... some cotton and spindle, in case the spinning mood strikes. (Blog post: Bitten by the Cotton Bug)

... knitting 😊, the easiest project to pick up and work on, was my first stitching in Texas as my new home. (Blog post: The end justifies the means.)

... I also brought along a few quilts that need binding...

I shouldn't run out of things to do, right??