More rainy weather

We have not had a weekend without precipitation since December, and this weekend is no exception.  It is another gloomy day, but I do plan to get out into the garage and pot up some impatients for the front stoop.  Maybe I'll even transplant some houseplants that need larger pots.  Everyone is tired of this gloom, but the rain does make everything look lush and pretty.

Yesterday I sewed the binding to the back of this little table runner.

It's about 10" x 20" and made of scrap purples.  The focus fabric and the pattern came from the quilters auction at the state guild.  My friend Tess wrote the pattern, and I bet she put the fabric in with it.  I will send her a picture soon.  I chose to make the smaller size, but the pattern has instructions for a larger one, and I just might make that one, too.   These are just my colors.

Tonight, we are going to the opera downtown - La Traviata - put on by Opera Vermont with a soprano from Italy.  We have been invited to a "meet the cast" reception beforehand which should be fun but will mean a very early dinner.  And, as usual, I'm wondering how dressy it will be.  Vermonters don't dress up much, so I probably could wear almost anything at all.  And that's probably what will happen tonight.  

In just another week we'll be heading to Colorado for a week with my mom and sister Jenny.  I'm beginning to pile up things to take along.  Mom's 103rd birthday is on June 27, so we're visiting early to have plenty of time with her alone.   We like to spend time chatting on the back porch, so I'm taking the kawandi piece I started last weekend.   She's looking forward to going to brunch at Denny's with us, and I'm sure we'll do a little sightseeing, too.  Chris likes to shop at the Coors Brewery, and I have to go to the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum.   We're hoping for sun in Golden.

Finishes!

What a great feeling it is to finish long-standing projects!   This morning, I took pictures of two things I finished recently.

First is a Christmas throw made of one of my guild's blocks of the month.  I think the month was December, so the drawing was in January.  I call the block "Ribbon Star," although I'm not really sure what the name was.  At any rate, it was quite easy to make.  I really like the alternating sashing - green and red.  My friend Marie quilted it on her long arm using variegated green and red thread in a loopy floral design.

I have two more of these blocks left over so I may make some placemats for us to use over the holidays.  I didn't use them in the quilt because it was big enough and one of them was made of a juvenile print with a gold glitzy background (not my style!).  

I enjoy participating in the guild block of the month but I try not to enter more than once a year for fear I will win.  I usually make the block but don't put my name in the drawing.  I'm not sure who I'll give this throw to or if I'll put it in my etsy shop.   For now, it's going in a pile with all the other quilts I'm not planning to keep.

I received five homespun Ohio Star blocks in a "teacup" auction at the state guild meeting.  People buy tickets and then put their tickets into the teacup - or in this case a brown paper bag - by the item(s) they want to win.  No one was putting tickets into the bag for this item which also included some books, patterns, and fabric.  So, of course, I did... and won.  

All of the blocks were different colors except the two in the table runner I just made.  It took me a while to decide that I didn't need to use all five in the same project.   I love the denim-colored quilter's linen I used around each block set on point and am happy to have some left over for a future project.  Now I have two blocks left over that will probably become potholders.  I'm going to take this table runner to the florist/gift shop downtown to sell when they are ready to take more items.  They opened the day after the flood cleanup but are still fine tuning.   

This morning, I got the binding on the bargello Christmas tree skirt, but I didn't take a picture yet.  Will do that tomorrow if I get a chance.  That project wasn't too hard once I figured out that paperplates were helpful for keeping track of the order of each fabric.  I used a preprinted piece of batting from the Warm Co. and found the instructions very helpful.  I needed over 6 yards of bias binding, though, and didn't have enough coordinating Christmas fabric.  I ended up buying green commercial bias binding, and it turned out surprisingly nice, even though it is a bit stiff.

Cleaning up

My brother R and his wife L are coming for an overnight on Sunday, so I need to clean up my sewing room.  They are easy guests, but I still like to make things tidy.  I had asked my niece E if she wanted my Viking Classico 100 machine, and yesterday I packed it and its various auxiliary parts up to send home with R & L.   She had asked me a year or so ago what to look for in a machine but hadn't gotten around to buying one (she's in graduate school).  

I think something basic like the all-metal-parts Viking will be a good starter.  And it drives me crazy when I need to use it as I have gotten very spoiled with the automatic cutter, the needle up/down, and all the features of a computerized machine.  I still think about getting a Singer Featherweight for travel, but I also think about a new computerized model that does a better job at free-motion quilting.   Decisions, decisions!  Not to be made swiftly!

Meanwhile, I also put away all sorts of stuff - a pile of backing fabrics, orphan blocks, Christmas gifts I've bought or made, etc.  I can actually see the top of the guest bed now!  

I took six orphan blocks and made two small insulated table runners.  I need to do a fall change over of my stock at the florist shop anyway, so today or tomorrow I'll take them and 3 regular-sized table runners there and bring home any summer stuff that's still there.

With everything picked up, I'm at a loss for what to tackle now.  In the closet, there are five quilt tops waiting to be quilted.  Most of those are destined for Bags of Love (for foster kids) along with some knitted hats and a scarf (in progress).

Today may be the day I start an appliqued block for Jen Kingwell's Green Tea and Sweet Beans.  Stay tuned!

More cold weather

I took advantage of today's brilliant sunshine to take a few pictures.  It can sometimes be too gloomy in my north-facing sewing room. 

Here is the table runner I made out of a couple of antique hankies and a corner of an old, embroidered tablecloth.  Pink seemed just right to surround the hexagons I used under each piece.  I have a nice piece of pink fabric cut for the back and plan to get it all quilted... manana.  

Next are some more heart blocks that I'll tuck away for now.  I am planning a smaller sampler with various blocks of the month.   Earlier this month, I made some Friendship Stars, and the hearts are really for February.  This was an extremely easy pattern by Cluck Cluck Sew.  I like her patterns which can be adapted in many ways.

I may make a few more of these heart blocks in different colors as the month goes on.  I like Cluck Cluck Sew's colorful way of setting them with scrappy squares for a happy quilt.

Table runners

A few years ago, I made a very cute table runner with 4" free-form trees.  A friend bought it at a craft show, and I was thinking of borrowing it back so I could see how I made it.  But I found the pattern and decided to make the trees 8" this time.  They are really quite easy, so I made two to sell.  One will go down to the local florist's shop and the other on my etsy shop.  I particularly like this table runner which I quilted in an all-over wave and backed in polka dots.  I will probably make another Christmas table runner (stars?) to take down to the florist's, but it will have to wait until we return from Colorado.

Meanwhile, I'm back working on the piece I started in the class I took in June.  I don't really like to buy specialty rulers, but the Quick Curve Ruler seemed a bit more useful than some.  I can cut curvy leaves and Drunkard's Path pieces with it.   The class was a half day one, so we only made and put together four of the flying geese, which will be horizontal.  I have a huge stack of pieces to sew, but I find they go fairly easily with my 1/4" piecing foot.  They get cut a few times, once to square up and once to look wonky.  Below is a photo from the book.  I'm using fall colors with brown rectangles for mine.

In between sewing, I'm doing laundry and babysitting my sourdough culture which I refreshed twice yesterday and have added to this morning.  If all goes well, I'll bake a loaf of bread later today.