Monday, March 18, 2024

Catching up... slowly

Saturday was our semi-annual Green Mountain Quilters Guild board meeting which I had arranged to be at the public library.  Because of being exposed to COVID a few days before, I did wear a mask even though I had no symptoms and tested negative.  I'm still negative, thank goodness.  

We had a great meeting followed by a nice lunch at a restaurant across the street from the library.   It's a really nice group of people who work hard to keep the state guild alive.  The state guild only meets twice a year, so we were planning the May meeting.  

Everyone went home with assignments, and mine was to arrange for an inspiring speaker for the morning program.  I asked one of our most creative members, Chris, via email, and she enthusiastically agreed!  Arranging a speaker isn't always that easy, but I guess I caught her at just the right time.  I think we'll attract quite a few people who have enjoyed her very creative quilts over the years.  Here's her "Hiding My Stash" wallhanging. 

In between errands and meetings, I've been pecking away at the purple Barn Star quilt blocks of the month and have finished all the blocks for February.   I'm making progress!  This block was 24" square, and the following ones are 8".  

My purple box is still bursting at the seams, so I'm happy to proceed with the March blocks this week.  It's going to be a pretty quilt.  This BOM has been organized by Abigail Dolinger whose annual BOMs I almost always follow because her directions are very clear and the pace is perfect for me.  I do sometimes get behind due vacation or whatever, but I generally manage to catch up.

Yesterday, I resolved to finish the purple Wave Scarf I've been knitting for a few months.  I still have the loose ends to weave in but will post a photo in the next few days.  I may save it for my brother in Wisconsin who likes purple because it's regal.  I usually work on knitted things for kids going into foster care, but my next project will be another scarf with an unusual pattern.  These projects keep my hands busy (and sometimes my mind!) when I want to take a break and watch TV during the day.

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Brother!

As I was finishing the binding on the Disney quilt, my Elna started making an odd noise, very similar to the one it made before I took it in for service last summer.  It has had an average amount use since it came back from service.  I opened it up and did a thorough cleaning.  Sunday I cut out pieces for one of my blocks of the month - I'm behind a month and wanted to spend the day catching up.  When I started sewing, the metal-on-metal grinding noise became more and more excruciating, and I just couldn't continue.   I'll take it to my local quilt shop where a guy from "up north" will pick it up eventually and repair it (I hope).  This will be a different person from the last repair.

I sewed 12 flying geese by hand, thinking all the while about what to do next.   I gave my old backup machine to my niece, so how would I endure 4-6 weeks without a machine?  Clearly, I couldn't.  So I started hunting around for lighter, less expensive machines, both new and used, and settled on a new Brother from Walmart.   I didn't even have to go to the store; it could be delivered free to my house.

Although I would have preferred a mechanical machine like a Featherweight, this SQ9825 is computerized and comes with quilting feet and the ability to drop the feed dogs.  The harp is teensy but will be fine for smaller projects or quilt as you go.  I ordered it Monday, and it came on Tuesday.  It was easy to set up, and there were quite a few online videos about it.  It is light enough to carry to classes.

Today I put Brother through its paces, finishing the 24" block of the Barn Star Sampler, the first block of February's five.  There's no automatic thread cutter, but I coped.  It has an automatic threader, but I can't figure it out yet - I never could on my Elna either.  Getting a scant 1/4" seam required a piece of tape that I've been using on the Elna now and then.  And the machine sews smoothly, quietly and in a straight line which is most important to me.  The LED light is almost useless, but I have good extra lighting.

Saturday, March 9, 2024

The Disney quilt

Early this week, I made 16 log cabin blocks and mailed 12 off to the other people in the swap.  Then I turned my attention to a baby quilt for my cousin's daughter (in the Netherlands, she is considered my niece) and her husband.  Susan and Arjan are crazy about all things Disney and even went to Disney World for their honeymoon several years ago.  Over the years I've sent little things I've made with Disney fabric.  Now I'm thrilled to be sending them a baby quilt.

When I double-checked on the baby room's decor, Susan said "Disney, of course!"  I thought so!  I ordered some Disney-themed charm squares on etsy.com and made disappearing nine patch blocks.  The back is a soft red polka dotted flannel.   It's almost embarrassing how quickly this all went together, but I love the way it turned out.

What a nice change from the two neutral baby quilts that were requested last year!  The postscript to that story is that for the quilt for my new greatnephew, Daley, I made a colorful scrappy back.  And his mother seems to prefer that side for tummy time.  I'm so glad!

This afternoon I'm heading to my monthly hand sewing group, the Calico County Quilters.  I have a sashiko piece and some hexies to work on and will bring the Disney quilt along for show and tell.  

I belonged to this group before my son was born 42 years ago but took about 30 years off for one reason or another.  I enjoy the members very much.  Everyone works on her own project; we learn so much from each other.  Of course, we talk about non-quilting things, too, which makes for a very pleasant afternoon.

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Inventorying WIPs

Now that winter is waning (but not gone by a long shot), I find it necessary to assess what I have to work on before I start anything new.   Here's what I'm thinking about.

Job 1:  Susan and Arjan's baby quilt.  The baby is due June 6 and will take up to 6 weeks to get to the Netherlands.  Top is ready for sandwiching and quilting.  I have pre-washed some lovely red polka dotted flannel for the back.

2.  Dear Jane - I'm ready to start Row F or put blocks together to begin quilting Rows A-E QAYG style.  Decisions, decisions!    I have some charcoal grunge for sashing.  Here's Row E.


3.  Log cabin swap - I have all the pieces for 16 8.5" blocks cut and can start putting them all together.   I decided to use the 9 Manx blocks I have for the center of the quilt and surround them with the blocks I receive in the swap.


4.  Purple Barn Star quilt along - I am behind a month but hope to catch up soon.

5.  Knitted wave scarf - It's getting long and looking good.  It's almost time to change color combinations again.  I knit while watching TV on gloomy days (which we seem to have a lot of lately).


6.  Sweet Tea and Green Beans (Jen Kingwell) - I finished the 8 orange peel blocks on vacation and now have the hexies to put together into a block.  This is portable so I'll take it to guild on Saturday.  I have a long way to go on this quilt, but I'm enjoying the variety so far.

7.  There are several other projects on the back burner, including two quilt tops finished last year and the guild blocks of the month I won in January.   Should these become four table runners for gifts?  Stay tuned!


Monday, March 4, 2024

Seen while reading numerous blogs

 I've been trying to catch up on my blog reading after 3 weeks away and saw this at QuiltingGail...


This Quilty Ode was on posted on Facebook by Fons and Porter. It was written by Eileen Fowler, the editor of Quiltmaker and Quick + Easy Quilts.

Sunday, March 3, 2024

We're home!

We arrived back in Barre a little before 3 pm yesterday (Saturday) after a rainy ride from Wilkes-Barre, PA, where we often stay on trips south.  It feels good to be home although there's a mountain of laundry, a bunch of obligations, and some grocery shopping to be done.  On the way home, we stopped at a Panera in Glens Falls, NY, for lunch and also bought a loaf of their Rustic Bread.  Our Panera closed during the pandemic, and I miss that bread.  We had tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner - yum!  Lunch lady meals can be very comforting now and then.

We wish we could move our house to Fairhope, Alabama, right by Mobile Bay although we know it would be extremely hot in summer.  Our bungalow there was small and a little funky, but it was right across the street from the Bay where we could watch the sunset almost every night.  We enjoyed nine straight days of sun, and only the last day was cloudy and humid.  Not bad!   On our last day, we returned to the library for a book review program, followed by lunch at our favorite Lebanese restaurant and a little shopping downtown.

Fairhope feels like the Cadillac of towns with helpful amenities everywhere.  Some of the drinking fountains offer bowls for people and for the many dogs that are walked along the Bay.  We enjoyed meeting the dog lovers and offering pets to many of their companions.  Vicarious living for us, now long dog-less. 

The park by the Bay held a nice monthly Saturday market with crafters, food vendors, and more.  There was a musical event Friday afternoon which also attracted a crowd.   A favorite restaurant on the pier is still under construction after last year's hurricane.  I missed their fried green tomatoes this time.

The library has a great auditorium for programs with a pass-through kitchen for refreshments.    The Friends have a wonderful, bright used bookstore, and they also have carts full of free books outside the store which is open a few days a week.    The library also offers a charging station for visitors' devices with various plugs visible.


We don't know if we'll ever return to Fairhope, alas, as the four day drive, especially around busy cities, is very tiring.  We were on the road 34 hours and covered close to 2,000 miles!  Next year we are thinking of flying somewhere as we did years ago when we visited Charleston.  On that trip, we flew in, took a taxi downtown, and walked everywhere for a week.  

Meanwhile, it's back to reality today with lots of loose ends to pick up as well as check ins with family and friends.  Have a great Sunday!



Thursday, February 22, 2024

Lazy vacation days

We very much enjoyed the programs we attended at the Fairhope Public Library Tuesday.  One was a book review of Elliott Roosevelt III's latest and the other was a meet the author program.  Paul had read the local author's book before the program (he's a fast reader) and we had run into her at the bookstore.  The audiences for both programs were engaged and nice.

Yesterday was a more lazy day.  We drove to a pecan farm and then walked on the bike/foot path along the Bay.  We sat in the sun by a naturalized area set aside for butterflies (too early in the season but we did see one).   We had a nice pizza lunch and roamed around the history museum for a while.  They had an interesting display of blown up historical photos that were better seen with 3-D glasses.  This was fun. 

Our bungalow is across the street from the path, so we have gone out most nights to watch the sunset.   The sunsets here are just amazing.  The sky turns a lovely pink and the sun a brilliant orange.  But my iPhone cannot do them justice so far.  I'll keep trying.

I've been parking out front under a giant live oak with branches that spread out over the street.  Paul stood in front of it to give an idea of the tree's size.

Here's a view of the tree from across the street.  I copied this photo from the town's website.  And it really does look like this right now with all the tulips!