Accoutered August

Well, here it is, already August, I'm calling it Accoutered August. It's been a fun exercise for me this year coming up with an adjective for the month ahead that starts with the same letter and isn't necessarily a word I already know or use. Accoutered means: Having been fully equipped or furnished with necessary items or accessories, indicating preparedness and readiness (prepared, equipped, provisioned). Which is definitely the state of my studio, I have just about everything in there that I would ever possibly need (and more!) from here on out. 

The monthly marker is made up of two photos, the first one of the Lupine Mystery HRTs.

edited in the Percolator app,

 and this ICAD piece layered over in the SnapSeed app and edited.

 Here is my 1sE video for the month, one second of every day of the month of July

 Monthly I-Did List for July

1. I cut out the rest of the rectangles for the HRTs needed for the Lupine Mystery quilt.
2. I finished binding a Community Giving quilt and wrote and illustrated a ruler tutorial for myself
3. I made an interesting backing for the Mosaic table runner.
4. I caught up and finished my yearly participation in ICAD.
5. I worked on making the HRTs for the Lupine Mystery quilt and almost finished them.
6. I designed a quilt in EQ8 using the new to me Judy Martin stars add-ons.
7. I finished my Mini QCR Pumpkins project for the BAMQ UFO Challenge.
8. I made two napkins out of beautiful toweling.

I only got a few things done this month due to being ill, but I did make it to Sew Day. and managed to have a couple visits with family. I haven't gone to the gym for the whole month and I miss it so much and will be going back starting on 8/1. I didn't do a whole lot of gardening, as I was only able to water a little bit at a time, just enough to keep things alive. I only went to one PT visit early in July for my right wrist, but the rest of the month, all that rest seems to have let it really heal up. I'm raring to get going in August after so much down time, but I have to keep in mind to not overdo things. 

 

Jocose July

Welcome Jocose July! Joscose means: humorous or liking to play. Sounds like a very good plan for July. Keeping a sense of humor as it heats up in my work room is very necessary.

I chose to start with this picture of some of the HSTs I made for the Lupin Mystery quilt.

I ran in through the app Percolator.

And then combined that with the super dramatic and showy Passionflower in the app, SnapSeed.
 

Here is my 1sE video for the month, one second of every day of the month of June..

 Monthly I-Did List for June

1. I started working on the Lupine Mystery quilt again with various sizes of HSTs in different color combinations and sizes. It was A Lot of HSTs all at once~300!
2. I started working on the HRTs for the Lupine Mystery quilt and used a new ruler.
3. I made five Community Giving blocks.
4. I worked on binding a Community Giving quilt.
5. I made my BAMQ BOM blocks just in time, Drunkard's Path and X+.
6. I started on my yearly participation in ICAD.
7. I set up and started using my new Oliso iron.
8. I participated in three exhibits at once in June, BAMQ AT SMCF, BAMQ at the SM Library and SLV Quilters at the BC Library.
9. I got out and started working on my Mini QCR Pumpkins project to finish for the BAMQ UFO Challenge.
10. I finished quilting and then did the binding on my Six by Six quilt for the BAMQ UFO Challenge.

I found that I got plenty done this month, including going to both the Sew Day and meeting for BAMQ,  had a couple great visits with family, kept going to the gym (yay me!), did a whole lot of gardening (see the June  Flower Friday post), kept going on two weekly PT appointments for my right wrist as it is working and helping how I can keep using my right hand like I need to. The plan is to continue keeping up the forward momentum throughout July. 

 

Jubilant June

Welcome to Jubilant June, well I hope it will be at least somewhat Jubilant (feeling or expressing great joy).  The monthly marker picture above was made out of the combination of two of the pictures I took during May and several editing steps in two apps.

I started out with this picture of the almost completed 6x6 quilt.

I transformed the picture in the app Percolator.

And then I combined it with this picture of of our Angel's Trumpet tree.

Here is my 1sE video for the month, one second of every day of the month of May.

 Monthly I-Did List for May

1. I finished Ocean Effect for the BAMQ exhibit at the SMCF and turned it in
2. I started and finished a small quilt for the BAMQ exhibit at the San Mateo Library
3. I made some more Mosaic blocks at Sew Day and at home too.
4. I finished piecing the Mosaic table runner.
5. I made four Community Giving blocks.
6. I updated my Fabric Tracker and kept it updated during the month
7. I assembled, pieced together , made a backing and then sandwiched and quilted my Six by Six quilt for the BAMQ UFO Challenge.

I got a surprising amount done this month, including going to both the Sew Day and meeting for BAMQ,  had a great Mother's Day with family, kept going to the gym (yay me!), did a whole lot of gardening (see Flower Friday post), starting on weekly PT for my right wrist which is really helping and I'm feeling silly for putting it off, Here's to keeping up the good momentum into June.

Munificent May

 Welcome to Munificent May, I'm looking forward to the flower-filled lovely month ahead. Munificent has always been a word I enjoy seeing in use, so I'm taking the opportunity to use it here. It means magnanimous or generous, which sounds like a good sort of May to me. The monthly marker is made with Percolator and SnapSeed. It's a combination of two of my pictures from April.

First, I started with this picture of my now finished kawandii, 

and then I edited it in Percolator.

Then in SnapSeed I combined it with this picture of the Moss Lady statue in Beacon Hill Park in Victoria, BC, Canada.

Here's my One Second Every Day video for April

Monthly I-Did List for April

1. I worked on the second BAMQ Creative Play piece that got handed to me
2. I started a new quilt for the BAMQ exhibit at the SMCF, quilting it with the walking foot
3. I continued assembling Ocean Effect for the BAMQ exhibit at SCMF.
4. I started working on the Clover quilt pillowcase and finished it for the BAMQ UFO challenge.
5. I made some more Mosaic blocks at Sew Day 
6. I finished my Kawandii just in time for BAMQ UFO challenge.

Doesn't seem like a whole lot, but there are two finishes in there which feels pretty great, as well as starting a completely new piece. It's been a fractured sort of month because I did some international traveling in the middle of April, when we went up to visit family in Nanaimo, BC, Canada for a week,  Hiking happened on our trip to Canada, along with continuing to regularly go to the gym the rest of the month. I went to BAMQ Sew Day. I was fairly active on social media, posted here on le blogue only 18 times,...over on BlueSky 34 times, on Flashes 5 times, and on Instagram  times. 

Aprillian April

The  new month arrives, and I'm awash in flowers around here. A lot earlier than usual because of the unusually high temperatures we had for a lot of March. Aprillian is an actual word, one that I don't think I've ever encountered, it's quite old, from the mid 1600's. It means "Of or characteristic of April." Not amazing, but it works well as April is such a transitional month between seasons and around here that means flowers. The lilacs have already come and gone thanks to a bit of rain on the last day of March. 

The monthly marker is a combination of two photos, manipulated in the apps percolator and snapseed. First I took this picture from the Mosaic Improv class of the blocks I made in class, 

and put it through Percolator.

Then I overlaid that result with a picture of Marcel Duchamp's rotoreliefs that I was fascinated with at the MOCA in Los Angeles. I really like the final combination of the circular designs ghosted over the circular Percolatorized squares of the quilt blocks.

Here's my One Second Every Day video for March

Monthly I-Did List for March

1. I worked on the pink flying geese from the Lupine Mystery clue #2 and finished them
2. I did a lot of stitching on the Snake in the Garden quilt
3. I sewed 26 HSTs for a Community Giving quilt
4. I worked on the first BAMQ Creative Play piece that got handed to me
5. Together with other BAMQ people we sewed an entire Community Giving quilt top
6. I made a Sawtooth Star for the BAMQ BOM with a Snail's Trail center
7. I took an Improv Mosaic class and made a bunch of blocks
8. I sewed a whole lot more on my Kawandii.
9. I refurbished a "vintage" SF Giants yard flag in time for opening day.
10. I gifted DH the City Sampler for our 36th anniversary.
11. I worked on the second BAMQ Creative Play piece that got handed to me.

A lot of traveling in March (as expected), one last time for me going up and back to Spokane for the medical study and then almost a week in Los Angeles with DH, including a stop-off on the way home at the Getty Museum. Hiking has been replaced with going to the gym that we re-joined in February, we need to work on balancing that out, as I do miss hiking and really need to do it when it isn't super hot outside. I guess this month's hike was attending the No Kings demonstration as we were walking around our town for two straight hours. I went to BAMQ Sew Day, as well as an in-person class. I was a bit less active on social media, posted here on le blogue 26 times,...over on BlueSky 25 times, on Flashes 7 times, and on Instagram times. 

January Apricity

 The first month of our new year has blitzed past, and I've just learned a new word seen above in the title. Apricity - the warmth of the sun in Winter. 

I started with this picture I took of a Western Jack O'Lantern mushroom on a hike at Quail Hollow Ranch.

I used the app, Percolator.

Then in the app, SnapSeed I added this picture in and added the title.

Here's my One Second Every Day video for January, all 31 seconds of it!

Monthly I-Did List for January

1. I did the BAM BOM Friendship Star blocks at Sew Day.
2. I made most of the purplel Flying Geese blocks for the second clue of the Lupine Mystery Quilt.
3. I stitched a lot of sky on Snake in The Garden.
4. I did Project Quilting 17.1 and made Clean Cloud for my first finish of the year.
5. I started and finished  making my Stretching Art & Tradition 26 quilt, Cumulative Spiral.
6. I found, found the notes for, and began working on May You Ever Return for the BAM UFO challenge.

Well, that's actually quite a lot! January was a month with mostly local traveling happening, except for going up and back to Spokane once again for the medical study. I went hiking with family four times, wow! I  attended both Sew Day and the monthly meeting for BAMQ and took a great 2-day online class from SDA called Soft Circuits. I kept on being pretty active on social media, posted here on le blogue 27 times,...overon BlueSky 40 times, on Flashes 7 times, on Instagram 8 times. Will February be even more active and productive? It could happen...

Definitely December

Now that November is done, we are Definitely Doing December now. That means I'm a year older as of today, 60 whole years if you can believe it! I'm ready for lots of indoor time for me to sew.

The Most Perfect Pomegranate ever grown on my tree, on a napkin on my mom's counter at Thanksgiving.

Edited in Percolator app and in Snapseed. I really liked how Percolator dealt with the printed napkin.

 Here's the 30 second long video from my one second everyday for November.

The monthly I-Did List for November is as follows:

1. I pieced a great back for the Metro Twist quilt.
2. I reviewed a new ruler.
3. I learned a new technique for adding text to quilts in an online class.
4. I inked the backgrounds of the embroidered Sister Artists pieces.
5. I quilted circles and circles on Running Out of Raincloud.
6. I pieced part of a backing with leftovers from Friendship Stars.
7. I made binding and applied it to a Community Giving quilt.
8. I chose fabric for the Old Town mystery quilt, and started work on it.
9. I made a barely festive bow for Meg to wear to Thanksgiving.

I posted here 19/30 days, I posted on Instagram 6 times, on Threads 4 times, and on BlueSky 30 times. 

Still a lot of posting from me online this month, mostly due to after the election (sigh). 

I went to Sew Day for BAMQ, as well as for another project and I took an online class. 

However November

November is here and we hopefully will get some rain tonight. It feels like good stay inside and sew weather.

The monthly marker is made from this close-up picture of the quilting on the Running Out of Raincloud quilt. 

Edited in the Snapseed and Percolator apps.

Here's the 31 second long video from my one second everyday for October.

 The monthly I-Did List for October is as follows:

1. I made two donation Sunflower blocks.
2. I quilted and quilted and quilted and quilted my Ruby+Bee challenge quilt.
3. I worked on the borders for the City Sampler.
4. I reviewed a new rotating magnetic cutting mat.
5. I voted!
6. I made some Friendship Stars for a friend's quilt.

I posted here 27/31 days, I posted on Instagram 8 times, on Threads 14 times, on BlueSky 23 times and on Facebook 1 time. A lot more posting from me this month. I'm chalking that up to being "too online" because of the upcoming election.  I went to Sew Day for BAMQ, and I virtually attended meetings for a writing/quilting class a couple times until it ended. We traveled to Sacramento for a family birthday party and had several other family visits of differing configurations, as well as even more going to doctor visits with my Dad.  I'm honestly urprised I got as much done as I did.

This month, I hope that I'll have the time, energy and bandwidth to get some more sewing done.

Oh Hi There, October

Here we are rolling over into October, and it's 104° F out right now. I'm ready for fall, but fall's not ready for me quite yet I guess. 

The monthly marker above is made from this picture of my almost finished City Sampler, being manipulated in Percolator.

Then also taken over to Snapseed for more adjusting and cropping and adding of the title.

Here's the monthly video of 1SE, one second everyday.

The monthly I-Did List for September is as follows:

1. I made my next few Stamp Quilt blocks.
2. I worked on and finished and sandwiched my Ruby+Bee challenge quilt.
3. I worked on the borders for the City Sampler.
4. I almost finished the back for the Bohemian Wife quilt.
5. I gathered and prepared to start the Toned-Down Circle Sampler embroidery project.
6. I began designing the next piece for Sister Artists.
7. I got more background fabric for the Pantone Project and worked on my design.
8. I worked with the Metro Twist scraps for a back for the quilt.

I posted here 18/30 days, I posted on Instagram 1 time, on Threads 10 times, and on BlueSky 4 times. Not so much for the posting last month! I got to two Sew Days for BAMQ, and I virtually attended meetings for a writing/quilting class weekly. We got to have several family visits of differing configurations, as well as going to doctor visits with my Dad.  I'm surprised I got as much done as I actually did this month, so here's to October and hopefully more time and energy for sewing.

Welcome Back, September

Happy to see you once again, September. Very ready to begin welcoming Autumn. I know I live in the wrong place to complain about long hot summers, but I'm ready for Fall to begin now.

This monthly marker is made with taking this picture of the 12 Temperature Quilt columns.

into Percolator first and then Snapseed to crop and add the title.

Here's the monthly video of 1SE, one second everyday.

The monthly I-Did List for August is as follows:

1. I made my next two Stamp Quilt blocks.
2. I got a good start on my Ruby+Bee solids challenge quilt.
3. I finished sewing the November and December columns for the Temperature Quilt.
4. I figured out some free thread nets.
5. The pictures of the finished Blue Squares quilt turned out well.
6. I put this year's ICAD pieces in the album.

I posted here 22/31 days, I posted on Instagram 6 times, on Threads 11 times, and on BlueSky 7 times. I virtually attended group meetings for CST as well as having several family visits, as well as going to doctor visits with my Dad.  It's a pretty short list, I guess I kind of took the summer off a bit last month. On to September and hopefully more productive days.

Hello, August

August, already. It's hard to believe July is over, two weeks of travel will do that to a month I suppose. This month will be not be as travel-centric, at least as far as I know at the moment. 

This month's monthly marker photo was made in Snapseed and Percolator with this photo of my City Sampler quit top in process.

July's One Second Every Day video, made in the 1sE app.

The monthly I-Did List for July is as follows:

1. I made my first Stamp Quilt block.
2. I worked on an ICAD piece everyday and posted them.
3. I  used up the scraps from the Bohemian Wife quilt to make pieced fabric to use for the quilt back.
4. I sewed the rest of the rows onto the City Sampler quilt top.
5. I made four Orla blocks for a Community Giving quilt.
6. I displayed four quilts at PIQF and attended the show
7. I did some freeway stitching on the Snake in the Garden quilt.
8. I finished sewing the October column of the Temperature Quilt and put up the November one on the design wall.
9. I photographed the Blue Squares Quilt. 

I posted here every day 31/31 days, I posted on Instagram 6 times, on Threads 12times, and on BlueSky 8 times. I virtually attended group meetings for CST as well as having several family visits, as well as going to doctor visits with my Dad. With all the traveling around, I feel like I did pretty well to get anything at all done.

Hurray, July!

Well, that sure was a quick June wasn't it? Even though it went by so fast and furiously, I managed to get a lot done. There's a lot happening in July, so we shall see how much I get accomplished.

This monthly marker photo was edited in Percolator and Snapseed.

I like the Percolator app a whole lot, it's another way to check out an abstracted version of a design that you're working on.

Here's my monthly one second every day video, using the app 1se.

The monthly I-Did List for June is as follows:

1. I pieced together all of the sections and eventually finished the Bohemian Wife quilt top . 
2. I pieced the teeny-tiny leftover HSTs from the Bohemian Wife into blocks.
3. I  bordered some of the extra Bohemian Wife blocks to use on making the quilt back.
4. I worked on an ICAD piece everyday and posted them.
5. I quilted and bound a Community Giving quilt.
6. I made some new pieces for the YES coat.
7. I found the grey for the rest of the City Sampler quilt top and cut out the needed strips.
8. I did some playing around with the Pantone Project blocks
9. I put up the October column of the Temperature Quilt and cut the last of the pieces for October November December. I also started piecing the October column together.
10. I made the trip to the San Mateo County Fair to see the BAMQ exhibit and visit The 4 I's quilt.
11. I entered the New Quilts of Northern California exhibit at PIQF and was accepted.
12. I also agreed to have two of my quilts made for the Prism Play SAQA exhibit (but not accepted) to be displayed at PIQF.
13. I gifted Japanese Houses to DS for his birthday.

I posted here every day 30/30 days, I posted on Instagram 6 times, on Threads 14 times, and on BlueSky 7 times. I attended Super Sew Day for BAMQ, and virtually attended group meetings for CST as well as several family visits, and going to doctor visits with my Dad. For June being just the second month after surgery, working on continuing recovery and going to PT appointments every week, I feel like I did pretty well.

Mindful May

 

I'm being cautious calling it Mindful May, because who knows? May just might turn out to be marvelous, magical or majestic, etc. I am not dwelling on other more negative possibilities, at least for now, because it's May! The month of go outside and smell the roses and plant things and start watering and maybe do some dyeing because it's warmer.

For the monthly marker photo, I knew I wanted to use this dramatic shadow photo I took at the bamq retreat. My initial use of this photo was to pair it with one of the many flower pictures I took in April.

But once I got this result in Percolator, which I really really loved the graphic/cartoon look, nothing really combined well. So, for the first time in a while, my monthly marker is only one photo instead of two combined.

Here's my 30 seconds of 1SE, One Second Every Day for April in a short video.

 Monthly I-Did-It List for APRIL

1. I kept up with 100 Days project of sewing 9" of Scrap Tape per day through the month.

2.  I made more Pantone Project blocks and gave them to friend Jaye.

3. I did some more hand stitching on Snake In The Garden.

4. I did some more hand stitching around my Kawandii at Sew Day.

5. I sewed together the September column for the Temperature Quilt.

6.  I designed a quilt in EQ8 for the bamq exhibit at the San Mateo County Fair,  paper pieced the four blocks, layered, free-assembled into a top, free motion quilted and then entered the quilt.

7.  I packed up for the BAMQ retreat, helped with some of the work of the event, and  enjoyed getting a lot of work done.

8. I paper pieced another Y.E.S. for the Y.E.S. coat.

9. I got most of the City Sampler blocks assembled into a top but ran out of sashing material.

10. I made the rest of the blocks for the 5x5 quilt.

I went to the BAMQ retreat and did some family and friends visiting stuff.  I continued going to PT for my knee with no improvement and got knee surgery scheduled for May.

I attended several online CST lectures and groups, attended a BAMQ sew day, blogged here 30/30 days woot!, I  instagrammed 5 times,  threaded 14 times, facebooked 0 times and Blue-sky-ed 11 times. 

This month was definitely a productive one given the work and travel of the retreat.

Ambitious April

For the title, I looked up descriptive words that start with the letter A, because all my brain could supply was Amazing which seems like a lot to put on a month that has just started. Ambitious seems much more Accurate, (hah!) at the start of a month.  April Fools! Did you play any jokes or pranks on people today? 

This monthly marker was brought to you by the editing and combining of two photos I took in March.

First photo was this one of the train intersection shadows from San Diego.

Which I edited in Percolator. Love all those blues and grays and blue-grays.

Then I added this second photo of one of the blocks from the Bohemian Wife quilt in SnapSeed.

Here's my 31 seconds of 1SE, One Second Every Day in a short video.

 Monthly I-Did-It List for March

1. I stitched down the binding and added a label to the Blue Squares quilt for a quilt finish!

2. I re-started making blocks for the Bohemian Wife quilt and finished them all.

3. I did a lot of hand stitching on Snake In The Garden.

4. I did some more stitching on the Village/Japanese Houses quilt.

5. I made and submitted a Wearable slap bracelet cover for Project Quilting 15.5

6. I made a slap bracelet cover for friend Jaye.

7. I designed a quilt in EQ8 and posted it on the EQ Design blog.

8. I made and submitted a table runner for the final Project Quilting challenge of 2024.

9. I kept up with my 100 Days project and kept adding to the Scrap Tape throughhe month.

10. I did a new tool review.

11. I did some watercolors while I was in San Diego.

12. I worked on my Kawandi also while in San Diego.

I traveled to San Diego with my DH, and did some family and friends visiting stuff.  I continued going to PT for my knee with a little improvement and got an MRI.

I took an online lecture class, attended a BAM Meeting online, blogged here 31/31 days whoohoo!, I  instagrammed 8 times,  threaded 16 times, facebooked 0 times and Blue-sky-ed 5 times. Perpetuating my streak of being somewhat semi-social in definitely a few too many places to keep track of at once!

This month was a pretty productive one given the week off in San Diego.