Creativity and Recovery

Today is 3 weeks post-op and I continue to do well with my knee replacement recovery.  I do my therapy exercises twice a day, and the therapist comes here 3 times a week to increase the exercises/weights, reps etc.  I am able to walk through my home with no cane or walker and feel stronger each day.  The  only annoying issue is I'm still not sleeping as well as I'd like.  My husband says it's because I'm sitting around all day, not being very active.  He hasn't seen me in the studio.

This past week I've gotten several things done.  Here are 3 more doll quilts:

 These are from the Temecula Quilt Company blog.  The blocks are their summer stars sew-a-long.  I've enjoyed their quick, easy patterns. 

 

This Bricks quilt is the larger version of Tiny Bricks I made in January. 

 

I saw this on one of the blogs I follow, Taryn at Repro Quilt Lover and thought it was sweet. It was also tiny. Those bricks were cut 7/8" x 1 1/4" and finish at .375" x .75".   Then I  cut out 61 more bricks, almost four times that size, cut 1.5" x 2.5".  Look how much larger the second one is!  The small one is 6" x 7", the large one 14" x 16".   

 

 

Then I started on the X Block Swap blocks for the group I put together.  There are 7 of us and each person will make 2 sets of 6 blocks for each person, using their preferred theme or colorway.  Each person decided if she wanted wide, narrow or middle-of-the-road X's--this determines how you cut the fabrics.  Each set of 6 starts with six 10" squares of fabrics, sorted light to dark more or less.  They are cut, then the pieces are scrambled--very fun to see what you get!  Here are Rhonda's blocks:

 

 

This pattern is from Sharyn Craig's book Layer 'Em Up and she has a great little video showing the process:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ5tIj6g3tg    It takes me less than an hour to make a set of 6 blocks and we are doing 2 sets for each person.  My plan is to do one set a day for the next 10 days and I'll be through with this project--until I receive my 72 blocks and get to play with a new quilt design.

 

While I'm piecing, I work with Leaders/Enders--using pieces at the beginning/end of piecing to create other small blocks as I go.  For quite a while I've been making 2" finished four-patches and must have hundreds of them by now.  Here is the latest layout to use some of them up:

 

 

Don't know what this will become next, but it tames some of those four-patches. 

 

I'm linking up with Judy L's blog--check it out to see what others are up to. 

 

Time for therapy then I can quilt!  Have a great week, all.

 

Barbara