fig tree mystery quilt - month 2

Hi everybody! I'm just back from a week of travel and now I can get BACK TO SEWING. More about the trip in a few minutes.

As soon as I got back I cut up fabric for month 2 of the Fig Tree mystery sampler quilt. The two weathervane blocks in the third photo went together really quickly. The single plum colored pineapple block was fun to make - Joanna Figueroa's pattern for this block uses the stitch and flip corner construction so you don't need to cut any weird shapes or use any awkward rulers. I made a quilt with this pattern a few years ago and it was simple to put together.  

The three nosegay blocks at the top are my favorites. I've been wanting to make these blocks for years but I was scared of the pattern. Joanna originally called it Coney Island. I love that name because I visit the Coney Island amusement park in Brooklyn every summer. I don't do the rides, but I like to walk on the boardwalk and visit the aquarium. It's a little seedy and very old timey New York. Let's go on a little visit to Coney Island now, ok?

That was a fun diversion, right? But back to the quilting. The nosegay/Coney Island blocks actually aren't that difficult to construct as long as you pay attention. I had to do a few steps over with new fabric because my seam ripper really messed up some of the bias-cut pieces. But I absolutely love the finished blocks. I'd really like to do a whole quilt full of them.

Last week I traveled to Houston on business. I was a guest speaker at a military convention. I taught ten classrooms of managers about my company's current fragrance and cosmetic promotions. This involved a day of classroom setup, then 10 solid hours of talking, talking, talking, and finally the classroom teardown. Chocolate and tea helped. Exhausting but rewarding. As a treat, I flew to Santa Fe for a few days to recover. Of course it rained the entire time I was there, but that didn't stop me from eating amazing food like the pumpkin waffles with vanilla cinnamon cream at Inn at Loretto. I got to listen to my favorite cabaret performer, Doug Montgomery. And I visited some of my favorite museums, where I found a painting by American Indian artist Fritz Scholder done in Fig Tree colors.  It really doesn't get much better than that.

I've even started a new quilt using the blogger bundle that I put together for Fat Quarter Shop! It's cute and happy, and I'll tell you all about it next time!