DGS Update & my WIP

Well, I haven't been doing a whole lot of longarming lately.  It's too exhausting for me right now.  (I'm 36+ weeks preggo btw.)  Plus my 2.5 year old little guy has given his 3 hour afternoon naps the veto.  So that has really put a damper on my productivity around here.  So when I get a few moments of me time when he's with daddy in the tractor, I just want to sit down.  So that means I either go on the computer or sew on something. 

So I've been making progress on this quilt--my Do Good Stitches Haven group quilt for March.  I finally have the top all together!  Now I just have to quilt it up, bind, label and send it to Rochester, NY.  Think I can get it done in the next couple weeks??  That would be great, but probably unlikely.  We'll see. 

And, I got my June blocks done in record time!  Joey picked out this block for us- applique!  A little out of the box for our group, and out of my comfort zone, but I love how they turned out.  She was very proactive and sent us the backing fabric, leaf templates, freezer paper, and the 1/4 inch bias green stems.  All we had to do was the leaves and 'sketch-stitch' them down.  She even provided us with plenty of online tutorials and examples.  You can find those on our Flikr page.  Using spray starch was highly recommended when pressing the leaf edges under, which I have never used before.  Oh my goodness, where have I been?!  Spray starch is awesome, and has become my new best friend.  But pressing all those little edges under was still kind of a pain.  My thumb got a little red, but I have no scars to report.  I have a few extra leaves leftover and I'm thinking of making a set of 4 more blocks into a pillow for myself.  One of these days...

But here's what I've really been working on: making pennants!  Amy made a pennant quilt a few months ago, and it really resonated with me.  Mostly because you could use up little bitty scraps and strips, which add up fast in my scrap bins.  I don't have a fancy triangle ruler, so I just made a paper template (that now has little Doritos cheese fingerprints on it!  nice.)  that measures 5.5 inches tall and use that to cut out my muslin foundations and to "triangle up" my pennants once they are pieced.  I try to be extra careful not to shave off any of my paper template while I'm trimming each side.

So I've been slowly making my way through my color-coordinated scrap bins/shoeboxes and making these little pennants.  I've gone through my pinks, purples, blues and greens- making about a dozen or so in each color.  Long skinny strips and long triangular pieces seem to work the best for these.  So far I have about 50 done--they are addicting and quick to make!  

I have also been sewing some of the bigger scraps together into 10 inch blocks as I go too.  

Next up: Reds, yellows and oranges!