I'm BAAAACK!

Hello! It's been awhile since I posted! Over two years in fact. Long story short: two years ago, I was working part-time in an elementary school. My principal called me at the end of July, 2013 and offered me a job as a first grade teacher. I was thrilled to accept, but going back to full-time teaching kept me really busy! Everything in education has changed dramatically since I taught 2nd grade before my kids were born...20 years ago! So for the past two years, I have been too consumed with my teaching responsibilities (plus my family) to have much time to quilt, and if I'm not working on quilts, there's not much to blog about!

I've missed the quilt-blogging community, so here I am again. Although I can't promise to be very consistent once school starts up again next month. ;)

I have managed to do a bit of quilt-related things over the past two years. In January, 2014, my guild started a block of the month program. Different guild members designed or suggested blocks for the BOM. I decided to challenge myself to make each block improvisationally. Although I finished all the blocks last year, I didn't finish the quilting and binding until this month.

For the prints, I used some of the 2014 Downton Abbey fabrics. I supplemented with a few Kona solids. I offset the grid to add to the modern feel of the quilt. Here are a few closer shots of the various blocks:

For the back, I used some yardage of the Downton Abbey castle fabric, with a strip of the blue DA fabric on the side. The small square is my label.

Here's a close-up of my FMQ in the background. I did swirls and flowers. In each block, I FMQed different designs to go along with the block design.

My quilt guild is part of the Modern Quilt Guild, so last summer, I participated in their Michael Miller fabric challenge by making this wall hanging.

I received fat eighths of these fabrics, and I was able to add Kona snow for the negative space and (I think Kona azure?) for the binding. I enjoyed playing with asymmetry and deconstructing the square-in-square block. I FMQed the negative space in my favorite concentric circles design.

This summer, I've been enjoying some time off school to work in my studio. I'll catch you up to some of what I've been making soon!

Have a fabulous day!

Happy stitching!