WiP Wednesday: Back in the Saddle

I am finally sewing again!  I'm not completely finished with rearranging my studio, but I just HAD to do some sewing.  It has been too long.

 

I'm participating in my first bee, a local bee through the Salt Lake MQG.  We only have 6 people participating in this round so we each make two blocks each month for the same person, and we'll be done in six months.  This month was Sarah's month, and she asked us to make these wonky star blocks.  I had never made wonky blocks before.  It was fun to try something new, and I think they turned out really well, but I think wonky stars aren't really my thing.  I guess that is partially what bees are all about, right?

Next month is my month in the bee, and I decided that we will be making X Strings blocks (shown untrimmed here).  I had started making these a long time ago by sewing all the center strips together. At some point I lost steam/got busy doing other projects, so this seemed like a great way to get them done.  The hard part is already done so it shouldn't be too much work for everyone.  I made a paper piecing pattern and made a test block, and I LOVE it.  I can't wait to see this quilt come together.  I am planning on posting the pattern and a tutorial in the near future. 

On Monday this beauty (that needs dusting!) arrived at my house.  This was my husband's grandmother's industrial Singer.  This thing is fast.  I sewed on it a couple of times at her house before she passed away, and it is so much fun.  I'm happy that it came to live with me. 

 Unfortunately, with the new longarm on the way, I won't have room to have it in a place where I can use it.  It will be living underneath my new cutting table.  Sad, I know, but someday when we move to a bigger house, it will have it's own special spot and I will use it all the time.  Grandma kept all of the accessories, and even the original sales receipt.  Those are all tucked in that box in the background. =)  Grandma had a drapery business in Solvang, California for many years and made beautiful drapes with this machine.  I'm glad to have a special part of her life in our home. 

Finally, the last project I'm working on this week is finishing up my Madrona Road challenge piece.  I finished the top quite a while ago, and just couldn't decide what I wanted to do with it, so it sat unfinished.  I finally decided that I'm going to turn it into a mini quilt and give it to my daughter.  She is looking forward to getting it!  I pieced the back today, and now I need to hurry and quilt and bind it before our guild meeting tomorrow night.  Good thing it's tiny!  I think it's about 15" square.

On a completely unrelated note, I recently got a new computer that runs on Windows 8.  The Windows Photo Viewer doesn't seem to have the option to do simple editing on your photos.  Anyone know where to find that on Windows 8?  I don't do lots of editing, but sometimes you just want to crop or adjust colors a little, you know?

Linking up to Work in Progress Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.