Patty Polar Bear show n tell

It's another day of show n tell! This is one of the three blocks that were assigned as homework over the summer from our ongoing class at The Hobby Horse. These blocks are from the North Star quilt by Elizabeth Hartman. All the animals are super cute and it never ceases to amaze me how a few well-placed seams and a couple of angles and voila - you have an animal. Not just any animal, but an animal that you can recognize. Isn't that wild?

Let's have a peek at what happened. Some names I remember because of the fabrics used in the blocks. Weird how I remember that! The block we're looking at today is called Patty Polar Bear.

First up is Sheila's. She's using a wild print for a background. I LOVE IT. This is my goal (I know I said that sometime last year and haven't acted on it...... yet!)

Sheila's block

The next one belongs to Jana. How do I know? Look at those polka dots! I love that the scale of the dots is all over the place. It gives the block a lot of character.

Jana's block

This one is Nancy's as she is one of the participants who is using the kit. What fun with those snow-covered mountains in the center of the blocks.

Nancy's block

The aqua in this block is fabulous. It makes me think of ice which is fitting for a polar bear!

An icy look to this block

This one belongs to Lynn. I recognize her background and the fact that she used some fabrics from the kit with a different background. That's what I love about these classes - the ideas are great - you get a total range of colors/fabrics so that each quilt will be unique!

Lynn's block

This is Marg's block. She's also using the kit but substituted a yellowish fabric for Patty as she didn't like the white that included in the kit. She didn't like it in the sense that she didn't think there would be enough contrast. Again - that's awesome. If you buy a kit and don't like something in the kit - you're NOT obliged to use it!!! Marg can no longer consider herself a beginner quilter!!

Marg's block

I should be able to remember this one with the tan background, but no name is coming to me! I love the background because it's so different from what was used in the kit and from what everyone else chose. Can't wait to see that one together!

Polar bear block with a tan background

One more Patty Polar Bear with a yellowish tinge to her. It's quite fitting because all the pictures of polar bears that I've seen are yellow, not white! It's funny how our brain works with the colors of some things!

Patty Polar Bear

This block has a nice blue tinge to it. Isn't it great to see all these different colorways all in one place??  It sure gives one food for thought when choosing the colors/fabrics for your next quilt.

Patty with blue

Ah - this would be Kathi's block! How do I know? Because she is using fabrics with the block animal in the fabric. See Patty is made with polar bear fabric? And I think she's used penguins in the centers of the other blocks. Could be puffins - I'm not sure. But it's awfully cute!!!!

Kathi's block

And then there is JoMarie. When I put her block up, we all gasped. OH MY GOD - what did she do???  Can you see in the block what she did?  She had a friend embroider the name of each animal. That's so darn clever - I wish I had thought of it. After all, I do have an embroidery machine or two. I think it's a brilliant idea since these animals do have character. Hmmm - I might just have time to sneak that in???

JoMarie's block

I'm back in the work saddle. I got another customer quilt done yesterday. It's a very pretty quilt and because of my phone with its amazing THREE cameras, I'm able to get a complete picture of it. Yes - the perspective is skewed, but you get to see the entire quilt when I take a picture with the wide-angle lens. OK - I love my DSLR camera, but seriously???  I couldn't have done that as quick with the big camera. Next time, I'll stand near the middle of the quilt.

Customer quilt - DONE

This whole organizing thing has me in a tight grip. I'm trying to get EVERYTHING organized in my life. Isn't that wild? I used to be very organized, then M came along and my brain literally turned to mush for 20 years. Now I'm back!

Technically, on Saturday evening, I'm supposed to look at my calendar and what needs to be done and schedule tasks for the week. I use this white (orange) board to get my quilting organized for the week. Also while I was tidying up, I found this set of day of the week magnets. I put the list of quilts on the board and then assign the day of the week that it'll get quilted. Once the quilt is quilted, I get to erase it from the board and put the day of the week magnet along the top. I love it!!!!

My quilting schedule

Don't worry - there's a whole other list of quilts to be added to the orange board. I'm just trying to get this group done and then the next group goes on the board. I get great pleasure from erasing a quilt from the list! It's weird but as quick as I can finish the board, it's full again! That's a good thing.

Do you remember a while back when I was getting the long arm back up and running that I had "lost" my seam ripper? I almost bought another one but the shop wasn't open? Well, guess what? Yep - I found an extra one in a basket by the long arm! DUH!!!!  While I'm pretty good at knowing what I have, some things slip through the cracks. Thank goodness, I didn't buy another one!

Extra seam ripper

I also did some more tidying in the puzzle room. I don't' have time to share with you today. I'll wait until I've finished with the North Star show n tell. OH MY GOD - I'm so excited. I mean - I made huge headway yesterday. There's still a long way to go in getting our house in order, but it's going to happen. I'm feeling more and more excited every day about how tidy the house is becoming. I can actually find things instead of going out and buying more. Oh, wait for that one!

And I know that once I've been through everything that I'm going to turn around and start all over again. Why? Because it's amazing how things pile up and we can't see them or there are things that I wasn't sure I wanted to keep so I kept them (not much) and I'll decide the next time whether it stays or goes. The next time, it'll take very little time to go through the various areas of the house as things have been put back in a very organized manner and they are staying that way.

Have you noticed one thing? I'm doing great at cleaning out the shed, the garage, then the basement. What's missing?? Oh yes - I'm avoiding this office like the plague! I seem to have an issue with this space. It's like I can't attack it, yet I want to. Don't worry - I'm psyched to attack the room. Now that I have much experience behind me in getting rid of things, I hope that it'll be easy.

I've got a few more things to sell on Facebook Marketplace. I've had great luck so far in that everything I put up for sale has gone. Yeah!!! I've got a couple more things to put up for sale - they are NOT quilt related so I'm sure you won't be interested. And I keep bringing up things from the basement that I don't' want. And there's still a few more things that can come up, but you know what? I'm almost there! Hard to believe, but yes.

I'm not even saying "thank you" to any of the stuff that I'm getting rid of. Nope - it's just going in the appropriate spot and it's gone! Very little is going in the garbage. I'm finding a home for almost everything. Now, if only my Mom had taught me how to do that. M - are you listening?? Keep your stuff organized and get rid of what you no longer need/want! Do it - do it NOW.

There's one last area in the basement to tackle and that's the area where my scrapbooking supplies are. I know - don't even ask. I did a bit of digging in that area yesterday and hope to start unpacking some of the boxes over the next couple of days. I really shouldn't be doing that right now as I have a LOT of work to do. So I really should stop organizing and wait for one of my scheduled days!

How are you all doing in the organizing world?? It's seriously not as hard as I thought it was going to be. It's just a question of doing it! I'm loving it. If you need help in ANY area, let me know! I've got great tips and for a price, I'd be happy to help out.

Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends! We have so much to be thankful for in our country. The right to vote, freedom of speech, great health care, and so much more. We should also be thankful for our health, family, and friends. I'm thankful to all of you who follow me on the blog. While I write the blog for me, I'm so happy to share my crazy life with you all! It makes life way more interesting!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!