3 blocks to go!

If I've counted right, I only have three more paper pieced Double Date blocks to go before I can put the quilt together on point with triangles (as yet uncut).  I'm not sure whether I'll attempt to put the quilt together now or wait until I get back into the sewing room.  I have plenty of UFOs to keep me busy, including Dear Jane which I haven't touched in months.

Pat is still here, but yesterday we talked a bit about her next steps.  There will be a smaller condo coming on the market in our neighborhood eventually.  But when?  Or can she move to an apartment owned by a friend a few miles from us?  Our discussion was a good start, and we'll try to be patient as she continues to feel better.  

Today we have errands to run - post office, bank, haircuts for us both.  Tomorrow I'll be going to aerobic walking at the library following by a pedicure and a monthly chat fest with my friend Debb.  

I started another toddler hat a day or two ago and will continue with that while watching the news tonight.  Yesterday, I sewed up the latest hat made of scrap yarn.  I'm not wild about the beige so added a bit of purple to the mix.  It's will go to Bags of Love when I finish a couple more hats.  The ones I had been making were way too big, and these smaller versions are really quick to do.  With quilting stalled a bit, these finishes are a good boost.

Smokey morning

Canadian wildfire smoke has been heading our way again with warnings about air quality.  Yesterday was lovely, though, so I managed to get out and deadhead the daisies and do a little weeding.  Today I'll stay in and sew after a trip to the pharmacy.  I'm well into a new book by Kate Morton - Homecoming - which I'm enjoying, so I know I'll sit down and read for a while, too.   A perfect Sunday!

I had a birthday a few days ago, and want to share the range of cards I received.  

Aren't people sweet?   I'll put them away soon, but it's fun to look at them all lined up on the mantle.  My cousin sent me a card a few weeks ahead, but all the rest arrived around the actual day, last Thursday.  It's nice that people still send cards through the mail.  

All things blueberry

With Heritage Days in the books, I can get back to life as usual.  Grocery shopping, accumulated laundry, and a little housework are done, and I've made quite a pile of Double Date blocks.  I'm on the home stretch with about 12 left to make.   I think I've made 73 so far - a painstaking job!  I should be able to start cutting the triangles for the on-point setting by the middle of next week.  Laying the whole quilt out in the basement should be a challenge.

Our local quilt shop offers us a percentage of half our age around our birthdays, so Tuesday I spent some time picking out neutrals (blacks, beiges, and whites) for backgrounds as well as some prints and nearly solids (yellow, red, teal) to use in the coming year.  It was quite a haul, but I forgot to get any green for the final border and binding of Double Date.  Guess I'll try to piece it with leftovers if I can.  

I'm anxious to finish putting it all together so I can work on another UFO, definitely not paper pieced.  I have never worked so exclusively on a quilt before, but with Pat in the guest room (maybe for a couple more months), this is what I've been doing.  Lots of other quilters work on just one quilt at a time, but this is a first for me. 

Paul has picked quite a few blueberries. One night we had blueberry pancakes for dinner - yummy!   I froze several bags, gave one more bag to a neighbor, and have another to give away. I've had blueberries on my cereal and plan to make another blueberry buckle today.   My blueberry cookbook is getting a workout.  My friend Cindy sent me this sweet little plant for my birthday (last Friday) - I set it in the kitchen window to add a little cheer to doing the dishes.

Heritage Days

Today is the last day of Barre Heritage Days, our annual summer community extravaganza.   We set up the library book sale Thursday under tents on the library lawn, and a vast array of jewelry, used but cleaned and repaired, was set up inside.  The weather continued to be hot and humid which was simply exhausting.  

After setting up, Paul and I walked over to Subway for dinner and cool drinks before heading back to the library for a friend's talk about his most recent novella.  It was great to see about 30 people of all ages there to hear Alan speak.  I wanted to ask him what he's working on now, but I'll catch him later today.

While waiting for the program to begin, I chatted with a person I'd met long ago at the library book group.  Neither of us has time to attend these days, but she told me she's been going to one in a neighboring town that deals mostly with mysteries - just up my alley.  I may start going to that in the fall.

Yesterday, I worked at the sale in the middle of the day.  We had a half hour's cloudburst which eventually cooled things off.   We managed to cover up what we could with plastic when the rain started, but we all got soaking wet ourselves.  Our soggy crew went home to dry off when a new shift arrived.  There were books in boxes on the ground that may or may not still be wet - we'll find out when we clean up later today.

In the evening, Paul and I returned downtown to hear "Donna Thunder" and her band which includes our next door neighbor.  Unfortunately, he wasn't playing, but our neighbors on the other side arrived to have drinks and appetizers with us before going down the street for Mediterranean street food. 

Today I'll be back at the book sale which winds down at 1 pm for cleanup.  We'll pick out the best books for the "bargain basement" which is open whenever the library's open.  The rest will be stacked up (see photo from last year) and picked up on Monday morning by Shred-X for recycling.  Tonight, we'll stay home for dinner and tomorrow we'll catch up on household things.  I might even get a chance to sew!

It's not the heat...

...it's the humidity, they say.  And it truly has been unbearably warm and sticky for at least a week.  In Vermont, a heat wave is not considered "official" until we have three 90 degree days in a row, but if it wasn't 90 out, it sure was hovering around 89 most days.  We have a heat pump which keeps it cool - sometimes too much so - downstairs, but on the second floor the air conditioner is in our guest/sewing room.  Our bedroom is cooled by a fan, which was pretty effective, but did make sleeping somewhat difficult some nights.  

Well, enough grumbling.  It's summer and very pretty outside.  All of the flowers are at their peak, and the sun has been shining a lot.  Last Friday night, we went with neighbors to a fun Gilbert & Sullivan operetta, The Gondoliers, at a little theater in the country.  We had a very nice pot luck picnic beforehand and managed to keep the bugs away for the most part.  Sunday, I had dinner with my son Chris which was a nice, cool way to catch up.

This week has been quiet, with a whole lot of reading to keep us fairly cool.  I finished How to Solve Your Own Murder which was quite complicated and fun.  I did a little sewing in the basement because our houseguest is still with us and may be here for several weeks more.  She is nice about eating whatever I concoct, and on hot days, that's mostly salads.

Today it is lovely weather - sunny and relatively cool.  We did some grocery shopping and picked up and dropped off more boxes for next week's library book sale.  Now I'm doing the laundry, catching up on online reading, and goofing off.  This afternoon, I'll head down to the basement for some more paper piecing.  I took stock of my progress with Double Date and have around 20 more blocks to make.  They're going to be set on point, so I've had to draw it out roughly on paper.   On-point settings always make me a little nervous, but I persisit!

Double Date progress

One benefit of sewing in a space that isn't my usual sewing room is that I've been confined to work on just one project at this time.  That's not my usual way, but it's my current way since Pat has been in the guest/sewing room for three weeks (but who's counting??).   Not bouncing between projects might be more efficient, but I do find myself reading more instead.  That could also be a consequence of the humidity we've been having, though.  

In the basement, I have a tub of "muslin" which contains cream backgrounds and lots of snippets of muslin-like fabrics, along with a bunch of green fat quarters.  The little Brother machine works just fine with paper piecing the 6" Jen Kingwell Double Date blocks.  Each takes about half an hour to make, so I can get three or four done in a session.  

At some point today I will get the ones I've stuck to my design wall upstairs and do a count.  I had planned to make about 49 blocks, which would be a 7 x 7 layout, but I think I might need 7 x 8 for balance.   So far, I think I have made about 36 blocks and have at least 6 more cut out.  I'll try to lay them out on the basement floor which I recently vacuumed.  It's carpeted and stayed relatively clean until I started sewing there!  

I also need to get into the room to put away some of the fabric I bought from Mary who is moving.  She closed her quilt shop about a year and a half ago and didn't want to take any excess fabric with her.  A huge hodgepodge of yardage was purchased for $50, and I plan to use most of it for backs.  There's 4 yards of a cream print of Mary, Joseph, and a donkey along with a couple yards of light green angel print.  Great for the backs of holiday table runners and tree skirts.

Independence Day

For retirees, most holidays seem to be just normal days.  Sometimes we don't even remember that they're holidays.  We don't have a lot of family to gather with, but we might just have a special meal.  Yesterday was no exception.  We grilled hamburgers and had cole slaw and chips (a treat for us).  After dinner we went downtown for a candlelight vigil with some like-minded folks including our next door neighbors.  Our friend Beth, a retired Episcopal clergyperson, said it best,

We held candles to share light in a dark time. Our unhoused neighbors — 109 folks in Barre alone — were kicked out of the hotel shelter program on July 1, on top of the budget boondoggle, and the fragility of our democratic system) and we decided candles were a good metaphor since their light is fragile (it was windy), requires tending and help from others if they go out.

Some were sad about the end of the hotel/motel program for homeless families, pointing to three people getting ready to sleep on the steps of the Good Shepherd church across the street.  Others were concerned about the signing of the "Big Beautiful Bill" (which our Congresswoman Becka Balint called the "big ugly bill").  I am concerned about the capture and incarceration of immigrants without due process, and the potential removal of naturalization from people deemed "unsuitable" American citizens.   It was a sober event, but nice to be with people who care about more than fireworks and barbecues.