Happy Pi Day 2022

It's strange that one of the definitions of "empty" is: to remove from what holds or encloses. And one of its definitions of the word 'freedom" is: not bound or confined or detained by force.

~Dorothy Gilman

Happy Pi Day! Every year more and more schools and companies celebrate this odd little holiday. Two friends told me their companies started this year with free pizzas and pie for lunch.

Here are the circles I finished this year. Most are one I worked on last year. At least they are now done.

The Wheel quilt is on the guest bed...

Wheel quilt

while Shadow Star is the summer quilt on our bed.

Shadow Star quilt

There are a few circles in the improv String Tulip quilt, too.

String Tulip 3 quilt 

The only other circles are the Os in some baby word quilts and they don't look much like circles.  Nevertheless, here are LOVE

LOVE baby quilt

HOPE

HOPE baby quilt

and HOGS.

HOGS baby quilt

This year is so upended I have no plans for future work. Just sewing when time permits. Stay safe and have fun today.

Enjoy the day, Ann

Pi Day 2021

It's Pi Day, the only time American dating makes more sense than European style: 3/14. Time to review all the circles I made this year.

My largest circle quilt was the Wheel although it's not back from the longarm quilter.

Wheel quilt top

I also appliqued circles on several quilts including the String Tulips

String Tulip quilt 2

and Mars on my newest grandchild's Christmas stocking

Christmas stock with Mars

and the Shadow Star sashing. The eight-pointed stars also look circular, probably because they are drafted with radii, and arcs.

Shadow Star quilt top

Speaking of eight-pointed stars.... I finished Lone Stars

Lone Star quilt

and LeMoyne Stars

LeMoyne Star quilt

and a string star. I'm counting all of them as circles. 

String Star quilt

We're having chicken pot pie with apple pie for dessert. What about you?

Enjoy your pie, Ann

Pi Day 2020

"Hope is the choice we make to see the light, 

even while recognizing the inevitable presence of darkness." 

~Rabbi Nancy Kasten

Quilting

Wonders never cease. Pi Day is Saturday and I'm currently working on a circle quilt as it approaches. In fact, the top is sewn. Sort of. Maybe I'm moving forward; maybe I'm standing on quicksand. I'm not sure. But I have sewn plain white sashing and posts to the Shadow Stars. While it's not as visually appealing as the green compasses, it's not lumpy and twisted either.

Shadow Star quilt with plain white sashing

While I consider whether to add appliqué near the posts {and if so, what fabrics to use} I'm also going to think about the border. The Stars are {fairly} precise so improv or very casual piecing won't match. Appliqué borders may be a solution but oh, how I wish I could think of a pieced border that would work.

Meanwhile, here are some light prints that might fit in a border somewhere. I'm wondering how they'd look as part of a pieced border or as the background to some appliqué.

Possible border prints for Shadow Star quilt

I can only find three circle quilts this past year. The propeller baby quilt:

Propeller baby quilt

The spirals on this Chinese Coins quilt:

Chinese Coins quilt with spirals

and Clara's emoji hair:

Clara, a collage quilt

Now that we have the spiralizer apple peeler, we are definitely having apple pie for dinner. All week!

The daffodils are fading. Every time they bloom I remember how our mother told my sister she was born "when the tulips bloom." Upon spying the daffodils in the garden she started dancing around crying, "It's my BIRTHDAY!" And we had cake that night.

Coronavirus
Professor Marcel Salathe recorded a lecture on coronavirus for an infection biology class at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne the last week of February. It addresses the state of our knowledge at that time but it also contains excellent general information about how epidemiologists address novel diseases. Just over ninety minutes so get your coffee first.

Enjoy the day, Ann