Green Up Day

Yesterday was "Green Up Day" all around Vermont, a day when folks get out and pick up any trash along the roadsides that's accumulated over the winter.  Paul and I went to the playground down the road and picked up a small amount.  On our way home, we picked up a little along the road behind our house.  We left two basketballs and a black hoodie at the playground, hoping the owners would come by for them.  The telltale bright green bags make it easier for town crews to find them now and give me a sense that all's right with Vermont (in sharp contrast to the country and the world).

It started raining soon after we got home, so we were glad we went when we did.  I got busy finishing this month's blocks and then remaking a block I'd made a few months ago for the Optimism monthly quilt along.  I'm using fairly basic colors for that quilt - red, yellow, blue, green - from my stash along with a beige-y Liberty print background to tie them all together.  I'm not sure what I'll use for sashing yet.  I suspect I won't know until October or so when the quilt along ends.  It may be another neutral, but probably not the same one I'm using for the background since I expect to run out.

In the afternoon, an unexpected phone call sent me to the quilt shop to meet Beth who had a carload of quilting books to give away.  Her mother isn't quilting anymore due to Alzheimer's.  Judging by Beth's age (thirties?), her mother must be fairly young, poor thing.  I will take the books to the state guild meeting and sell them for $1 a piece.  There are some great books in the bunch, and I allowed myself to take four.  I will need to weed out a few from my own collection to make room.  One has a great variety of setting ideas for blocks which might come in handy as I try to tackle my "orphan" collection.

Today, I'm not sure what I'm going to do!  It's going to rain so much-needed gardening is out.  I should finish sewing down the binding on the Exploding Heart quilt and knitting the shawl that has been languishing for a few weeks.  Maybe I'll turn on the Hallmark Mystery channel and knuckle down on those two projects.  I might also cozy up with a good book...

Spring has sprung!

These last two weeks have flown by.  Last week my brother Rob and his wife Linda visited, and we spent a lot of time just catching up on our lives.   It was great to see them.  There was a lot to do before and after their visit, and then there was catching up on things not done.  I spent some time outside on nice days, picking up sticks in the yard, edging the front flower beds, and simply enjoying nicer weather.  I did snow - hard - one afternoon, but it all melted within a couple of hours.  We hope not to see that again until November.  

Our daffodils and tulips are blooming, and every day I see something new peeking out of the dirt.  There will be violets and lily of the valley soon, as well as flowering crabapple trees.  Spring is always a surprise around here after the long winter.

This week I finished Row H for my modern Dear Jane quilt and then caught up on some blocks of the month.

The block on the left is going into the lottery at my guild meeting later this month.  The other two are for me, with the one on the bottom being blocks for the quilt designed by Kristin Laura.  She has given our guild permission to make her quilt as a block of the month.  We will only have 9 guild blocks and 12 Kristin Laura blocks, so I decided to make them in the same colorway and combine them.  Hope it works out.

Then I made the "rows and pathways" (?) block for the lottery at the state quilt guild meeting May 10.  I initially wondered if it would turn out OK, but I like my block and assume the other quilters' blocks will turn out just as nice.  It will definitely be a scrappy quilt when they're all together.  It's supposed to look like garden paths.

I've spent some time in the last few days getting stuff together for the state guild meeting, too.  This will be my last meeting as president, and I'm looking forward to "just" being a participant and not responsible for anything.  We'll see how that turns out!

A friend and I are doing a short program on Dear Jane-type quilts at the meeting.  That's how Ginny and I met long ago.  We each have stories to tell and variations to show.  I have encouraged others in the guild to bring their variations along for show and tell, too.  One person has a mini that I think is just amazing.

And speaking of amazing, the other day as I was watering my indoor plants I noticed that my orchid, which I repotted a few weeks ago, is sporting two blossoms, with more on the way!  It hasn't bloomed in years, so it just goes to show that it needed a bigger pot.

  

Dual duty

 

I had this quilt top (53" x 55") hanging in the closet since early fall.  It is a variation (as most of my quilts are) of Jen Kingwell's Green Tea and Sweet Beans pattern.  I got tired of working on it over the summer, so set it aside until fall when I added the striped Australian fabric as the border.   All of the appliqued blocks are wool applique which I hope will not run when washed.  I like the quilt's cheerfulness.

During March, I made a block a day of Pat Sloan's quarter log cabin blocks.  Of course, I had to catch up some when we went on vacation for a week, but that was OK.   I used my basket of strings for most of the blocks, and used the plain mottled black for all the centers.  

Strings weren't the best choice as the seams don't match up.  Other people posted photos of quilts they made with fabric they had bought for the project, and they really looked nice.  Nonetheless, my top turned out cheery but not enough to be anything but the back of the Green Beans quilt.  Hence, the name Dual Duty.  

I plan to wash the quilt first and then, perhaps, give it to Bags of Love for foster kids.  Now that it's quilted, I do like a bit more.  I chose most of the strings at random, based on their length.  I ran out of longer pieces, so I used some leftover binding pieces as well.  

My strings have all been sorted by color and put into bags in my string basket.  I plan to see how they work out for my next Dear Jane row.  I have neglected that quilt for months and would like to get back to it.   But it's a very satisfying feeling to have no quilts hanging in the closet, waiting to be quilted.  It won't last - I have several blocks of the month that will no doubt be finished this summer.  

This leaves me with hand sewing the binding down on the Exploding Heart.  That will take a while because I have quite a few meetings and other events this week, and I don't like to overwork my wrists with hand sewing.

A busy week

I've been quilting here and there on the Green Beans and Sweet Tea quilt and also hand sewing the binding down on the Exploding Heart.  Nothing got finished, which is OK, really.  We had a very nice week, and today we're meeting for a taco bar lunch/meeting at the library with the Democrats.  I also hope to shop for some chocolate Easter bunnies for next Sunday and maybe do a little reading on the new Jennifer Chiaverini book.

Thursday, we went down to White River Junction to see the musical Waitress at Northern Stage. It was fantastic!  We had never been to this theater and were pleasantly surprised by how nice it is.  The town, has been working hard to upgrade itself, and there are some very nice little shops and restaurants within walking distance.  Even the bus station is much improved and squeaky clean.  We had lunch at home before driving down, but when we go again, we will be sure to try one of the eateries.  I was pleased to run into an old friend and her husband at the show.  We became friends in library school and then worked together for over 30 years.  We've lost touch in retirement, so it is nice to reconnect.

Yesterday we went to Montpelier to pick up a banjo Paul was trying to sell at an instrument exchange.  That chore done, we visited an art gallery/antique shop to see a friend's recent show.  Cara is a professor in the architecture program at a local university and also paints.  

These paintings were inspired by the quilts of Gee's Bend, and I loved the muted colors she used.  It was a little gloomy inside, but the colors are fairly true in the photo.  I liked all of the paintings, though the architectural detail in this one caught my eye.  There was another painting with the dome of our State House prominent.

Then in the afternoon, I called my cousin Jeanne and then my mom, which took up the rest of the day!  Both are great talkers, but I love them.  Good thing I had a leftover casserole to pull out of the refrigerator.

Quilts, etc.

 It's been sort of gloomy out with drizzle and cloudy skies.  Good days for staying inside to quilt, cook, and read.  Yesterday I made some muffin-sized quiches and a simple salad with black beans, roasted corn, and mango (very good!).  Both recipes were recommended for diabetics.  Today I'll make some bread as we're almost out.

Quilting on the Sweet Tea quilt is going OK, albeit slowly.  There's a lot of marking and turning (or should I say "wrestling"?) so I do a little at a time.  I cut purple grunge fabric for binding the Exploding Heart quilt but didn't get it ready to use, so I may also work on that today.  I can then hand sew it to the back when I want a break from quilting.  I could also cut out the binding for the Sweet Tea quilt if I feel like it.  That's the great thing about quilting at this stage of life - no deadlines, just do whatever you feel like whenever

I'm reading The Women by Kristin Hannah, a book about nurses during the Vietnam war.  So far, it's a little like MASH although more realistic, of course, with a smattering of romance.  I can understand why it's been so popular, because it does tell a good story of war from the woman's point of view.  Beyond the operating room, the interactions with the locals are very interesting, too.  A week from tomorrow, the library is sponsoring a talk by a woman who was a nurse in that war, and it will be interesting to hear her take on the book.

Last night I stopped into the library's Spring Fling fund raiser and helped sell a few tickets for the Friends' gardening raffle.  There was a band, casual food, and a cash bar, but it looked like there were fewer people than usual.  

Maybe they bought tickets but were too tired to come after the protest in the rain at the State House.  Officials estimate 10,000 people stood in the rain there, which is quite an impressive turnout.  (Photo by Daria Bishop - copied from Facebook group 50501)  There were 20 protests around the state which is pretty good for our little state, right on the border with our friends in Canada.

Blocks of the month

I wanted to make all the blocks of the month for April right away so that I could concentrate on (1) finishing the Exploding Heart which came back from quilter Marie and (2) quilting the Greent Tea and Sweet Beans variation that's been hanging in the closet since September.  The latter has the weird quarter log cabin flimsey on the back. 

First, I worked on the Heart of Vermont guild's BOM as well as the one designed by Kristin Lauren.  The "attic windows" one I made for the guild lottery is on the left.  I'm using the same fabrics for the guild BOM and the Kristin Lauren quilt because neither provided enough blocks for a bigger quilt.  I think it's going to end up as a very nice one with a black speckled background. 

I used an 8" block made with cut offs of previous months' blocks for the center of the attic windows.  The attic windows blocks were very easy because, every month, a different guild member chooses or designs it.  That means that it may be difficult or simple, depending on that person's interest or skill level.  This month's was chosen by a begnning quilter.   The half-square triangle was a stretch for her, but made for quite an easy block.  I noticed that very few people made Dresden Plates the month it was my turn!

After I finished these, I turned my attention to the Optimism blocks designed by Aby Dolinger.  I'm going for the queen-size so am making two 15" blocks each month.  I'm using a consistent beige floral background for each block and am dipping into my stash for a scrappy look.  I thought I'd make these quilt-as-you-go, but now I'm thinking I'll wait due to the various colors.  I'm not sure about sashing anyway although I have a very large piece of teal I'd like to use.  

I picked up my knitting again yesterday and worked away at the shawl I started in January.  I'd like to finish and go back to making hats for kids in foster care.   I really don't enjoy using circular needles and the shawl is wide enough to require them.   It was more or a long term commitment than the hats are, but nice for watching TV on a winter's afternoon.

Our weather has been typical for April - warm, cold, rainy, snowy, sunny.  It's hard to know what to wear, especially jacket-wise, but I have put away my warmest jacket.  I still have gloves at the ready, though, along with my puddle jumper Bogs slipons.  Tomorrow night the library is holding its Spring Fling, and I sure hope it doesn't snow!  I'll be joining Pam to sell raffle tickets for a gardening basket - what to wear will be determined by the weather.  My friend Sally says she's wearing a dress, but I will probably drag out the old faithful black pants and a top, along with a sweater if needed!

March block a day

 I have a small laundry basket for strings that I throw stuff in while I'm cutting other things.  Recently, I sorted the strings by color and put them in plastic bags.   All the neutrals and all the bits of leftover binding are in separate bigger bags.  I thought that would make them easier to use.  And I guess they are.  I made two table runners out of string-pieced equilateral triangles, and then I started on Pat Sloan's block a day challenge.  Wish I could find the link, but it seems to have left her website.  

Pat offered two different quarter log cabin blocks, each 12" finished but with differently sized centers.  I cut out a bunch of 4.5" mottled charcoal black squares to give the quilt some unity and proceeded to use my strings for the blocks.  I noticed "everyone else" cut even strips from fabric, but I was determined to make this a scrappy quilt.  Our little vacation got in the way of my making a block a day, of course, so I spent a few days this past week making more blocks, ending up with 25 before I decided to stop.

Yesterday I put all the blocks together and, while the result isn't awful, it isn't great either.  The different widths of the strings make it awfully busy.  But it's 60" x 60" so it will make a nice pieced back for the Green Tea and Sweet Beans flimsey (at left) I have had waiting to be quilted since September.  Sandwiching the two for quilting will be my project for today.  

I hear freezing rain tapping on the windows which I hope will melt the 6" of wet snow we got yesterday.  The roads were very iffy in the morning, so we had to cancel the library book sale.  But we did OK with the sale the day before, and everyone got a nice day off.

Because of the freezing rain today, I guess I will make some bread, too, rather than venture out on the roads.  I just started Kristin Hannah's The Women so I'll spend some time reading, too.  Happy Sunday!