Waiting on my eyes

I haven't been sewing very much, waiting for my eyes to adjust after the first two surgeries. I have at least one more to go, next Monday. I decided I could sew on the Stashbusters Sunshine Ugly fabric challenge, since I will be able to discard blocks, if needed. The nine big (12") blocks on the left, and the two bottom right ones were all made before my surgery. I decided to make a few more 6" blocks to use in setting these whenever we finish with the big blocks. I'm sorry about the blurriness of the right picture, but - I'm working on it. I was able to make the 3 star blocks last week. I've always loved making stars since nearly my first quilting class, which was with Alex Anderson, teaching out of her Simply Stars book. I had tried several times prior to her class to make LeMoyne stars, but had pucker problems, even when making them by hand. I learned how to make them by machine from Alex, and have loved them since then. I try to incorporate at least one star in every quilt I make, even if it is on the back for a label. So here are three stars - Sawtooth, Ohio, and LeMoyne for the ugly fabric sampler. If you aren't in Stashbusters, the challenge is to use a fabric you think is ugly as the focus fabric, then try to add yellow and orange into every block. My "Ugly" is the fireworks print - I like the fabric, but this colorway is very toned. I really like brights, so I thought this toned fabric would be a good challenge. I'm using several yellows and oranges, so will see if I can manage to put some in nearly every block.

I also made it down to the quilting machine for a while and quilted a small charity quilt. It turned out okay, but I think I need to wait for the right glasses after the eyes finish healing if I want good results. The "pond scum" in my left eye is still quite a distraction, so I'll be glad to have it cleaned out next week.

Happy quilting,

Becky