2021 Monthly Color Challenge - November

3 Announcements and a Confession

November might be my favorite month of the year…we are deep into football season, the weather is changing with fall in the air, and the holidays are just around the corner.

On top of that, it’s my birthday month 🎉

This year my birthday is extra special because it is also the official release date for my début novel, Grocery Girl, written under the pen name Virginia’dele Smith.

Grocery Girl is Book 1 in the Green Hills series of wholesome and heartfelt, small-town romance, and of course, it includes quilts, quilters, and quilting to end Alzheimer’s disease.

I would love for you to check it out, and please be sure to leave a review or shoot me an email so I know what you think about it.

The second announcement I have to share is the Quilt 2 End ALZ 2022 Theme of the Year:

One Stitch at a Time 🪡

Q2EA Creative Director Clara Warner put it best…

One of the ways I find it easiest to focus on the present is to take things as they come rather than trying to plan ahead for the known and unknown.
Clara

And now my third announcement…

In the spirit of taking things one stitch at a time, we are excited to try our first Block of the Month pattern!

The pattern is called “Fleeting” (as in each moment in life is fleeting!) and is full of movement and energy.

Each block will be a surprise, so no worrying ahead of time about what’s up next – just a fun project each month and a beautiful finished quilt at the end of the year.

We don’t want to share any spoilers, but we can tell you that “Fleeting” is a modern take on traditional quilt samplers, giving us a beautiful new block to create each month and then move on to the next.

The Confession

As you can tell, there has been quite a lot going on around here lately!

In fact, so much has been going on that I have not yet finished my full row of 4 blueberry blocks + 5 bonus blocks for my 2021 Monthly Color Challenge quilt layout.

Ashli's custom layout for her 2021 Monthly Color Challenge Quilt

I did finish one block to show you, and I think this is the easiest block we’ve done throughout the year.

The traditional nine patch checkerboards are great practice for sandwiching and pinning seams so that the joints line up just right. Putting them side-by-side without sashing creates a nice variation of how we often see them in quilts.

I’m excited to finish the rest of my blue blocks, and I promise to share them as soon as I have them pieced 🧵

Yogurt and Blueberry Parfait

Each month, our Color Challenge Quilt Bloggers share recipes that use that month’s color-inspiring fruit or vegetable. November is brought to us by blueberries.

I love, love, love blueberry muffins, but there is nothing better than fresh, juicy blueberries!

And I believe that the best way to enjoy those fresh, juicy blueberries is in a bowl of vanilla yogurt with a generous scoop of crisp granola and a drizzle of honey on top.

What is your favorite blueberry recipe or treat?

Please comment below or visit the Quilting to Mend the Mind Facebook group to share your recipe as well as your quilting projects with our Q2EA community.

So, those are my three announcements and a confession. I’ll be back soon with the rest of the story. Until then, keep sewing…one stitch at a time.