No OMG This Month

So! How are we liking the new and improved Blogger? Not! My dashboard automatically opened up into the new format; and for the life of me, I couldn't see how to start a new post. I found the button to use the Legacy (old) formatting and switched back to it; but eventually, I discovered how to start a new post in the new formatting. I hate change, and it will take a little while to get used to the new format if Blogger forces me to use it. 

My OMG for May was to finish the Star Crazy quilt. I'm sorry to say only half of it got quilted, and it's still sitting on the machine (insert sad face). Too many other things got in the way the latter half of the month--
tying up loose ends for my part in two quilt shows that got cancelled;
several all-day sessions of soap making to include 7 pounds of soap, a couple of different batches of lotion, and some stuff to keep the bugs away and soothe when they don't stay away;
and some serious spring cleaning, which may be ongoing til the fall because I've neglected it for so long. I suppose that's the most of it. May not sound like much, but I'm so darn slow at everything that it takes me forever to get things done.

This is also the season that dandelions and violets are blooming, and I have been harvesting blossoms to use for face cream, lotion and soap. I infuse the blossoms in either water or oil, depending on what I'm making.

Last year I made a couple of batches of dandelion soap, dandelion lotion bars, and violet leaf soap, but I missed my chance to make violet face cream because I waited too long.
This year I made my lavender and violet face cream, and it is such a lovely light cream. I shared some with my friend who let me pick flowers at her place.

I also picked some lilac blossoms which will be used for lotion most likely. Honeysuckle and wild rose will be blooming soon, and I can't wait to try some recipes with the roses. All of these recipes came from nerdyfarmwife.com; she uses a lot of plant material that she grows locally to make her own bath and beauty products. I have a couple of her books, and I really enjoy her blog.

I did finish this wallhanging earlier this month. It was a kit from Keepsake Quilting called Lake Life that I bought late last year. I also bought enough of one of the other fabrics in the line to make pillowcases, which hubby received for Christmas. We bought a camp on a lake last summer, and hubby has just retired; so this was a surprise for him.

Hubby started working from home in late March, I think; and it was a challenge to get this done. Even though he was supposed to be working, he would pop down to my sewing room occasionally throughout the day. I couldn't always hear him coming, so I'd have to work on the quilt at night often times after he went to bed.

We visited camp about once a month all winter just to make sure everything was secure, so I sent him up one day in April, and that's when I managed to get it quilted. Binding was another task that took place at night.

There was not quite enough backing fabric in the kit, so I added a panel of fabrics left over from the front, which worked out beautifully.

Lake Life was quilted with a pantograph called Waterworld, from Willow Leaf Studio, which was perfect for the theme of the quilt.

OMG for May

Star Crazy was a project for One Monthly Goal a while ago, and now it's back on. I got it loaded on the frame, and there it sits. I have just GOT to get this done, so my OMG for May is to get it quilted and bound, once and for all!

To see what others are working on in the month of May, visit Elm Street Quilts by clicking here!

The top half of the Sashed Tumblers quilt is now complete. That's 6 rows out of 12, and I think I'm going to have to add two more rows to get it the size I want.

The 5 Farm Girl Vintage 2 blocks were finished this month too. My friend received the next 6 block kits in the mail a week or so ago. I have them cut out but haven't started the sewing yet.

I only make cold process soap about once a month now because I have quite a bit on hand. This was a 3-pound batch I made with 4 different colors using the spoon plop method. Yes, that's a technical term. It was the first time I'd really tried it, and I should have been more conscientious about pushing the soap into the corners of the mold and into the other plops. As it is, there are gaps in between spoonfuls of soap, which doesn't really bother me. They might separate in the shower, but that won't really bother me either.

I am slow as molasses as most everything I do, so I expect it'll take me all or most of the month to finish Star Crazy, the Sashed Tumblers top, and make the next 6 Farm Girl blocks. I also have a tough time staying focused on one project, so it is entirely possible some other project will get injected into the mix.