Quilting and jamming

I've spent a lot of time this past week taking my time, quilting "Incense and Peppermints." I'm taking it slowly in order to do a good job, particularly outlining the center medallion. If I hurry, I get sloppy, so I'm doing a little on the center and then working on the straight stitching with the walking foot. So far, it's going well. I decided to sew the binding on a few days ago since I got sick of catching the edges of the batting every time I put the quilt on the machine. I have one more side to go and then it will be back to slowly working on the center again.

Yesterday, my package of Dear Jane Spring Fling swap blocks came in the mail. I now have 20 more blocks to add to the 17 I have made. I laid out 35 to make a pretty crib-sized quilt, with 1.5" sashing and cornerstones made of various scraps of 1930's fabrics. I won't start the sashing until I've finished quilting "I & P," though. It is fun to look at those little blocks in the meantime.

This morning I made a batch of strawberry rhubarb jam. I love the sparkly look of the colorful jars when they're all sitting on the counter. I'll make spiced pear jam later in the fall and, together, they will make nice gifts for the holidays.

A Wisconsin Fourth

We didn't see any fireworks this 4th of July but we did hear some when we visited my brother Axel in Madison, Wis. This was his only 3 day weekend this summer, so we decided to share it with him, arriving Thurs. evening and leaving Mon. morning. Thurs. we had an unforgetable dinner at Madison's Indonesian restaurant, Bandung. The rendang (spicy beef), eggplant curry, and ikan rica rica (sweet and sour mahi mahi) were enhanced by a delicious Wisconsin white wine, a bite of loempia (egg rolls), and pisang goreng (fried bananas) for dessert.

We got up fairly early Fri. to head north to Appleton, childhood home of Harry Houdini. The local museum is in what was a Masonic Temple that looks like a castle. The A.K.A. Houdini exhibit is small but very hands-on, explaining how some of his favorite tricks were done. There are handcuffs to unlock, a box to disappear in, and other illusions to understand. The 2 1/2 hr. drive each way took us through some lovely countryside. Wisconsin has had a lot of rain this spring and summer, so everything was very green. For dinner, we were invited to Axel's friends Ken and Brian's in Mt. Horeb for a tour of their house, full of antiques. They saved the house from demolition and moved it to a new site a few years ago and have done some lovely landscaping. Our salad came straight from their prolific garden.

Saturday morning saw us on The Square for the amazing farmer's market, followed by a trip west to Spring Green, site of Taliesen, Frank Lloyd Wright's home and school of architecture. Our guide explained Wright's architectural principles very clearly, and it was fun to have lunch where we had celebrated Mom & Dad's 25th wedding anniversary many years ago. In the small family graveyard, we found the grave of Mamah Borthwick Cheney, Wright's mistress who was murdered at Taliesen and about whom Loving Frank was written. On our travels around the countryside, we saw quite a few fireworks stands, and it was obvious that evening that Axel's neighbors had visited them.

On Sunday morning, Axel took us on a tour of Madison's west side. It has really sprawled since our family moved there 47 years ago. Then we went to Johnson Creek, mid-way between Madison and Milwaukee, for a delightful brunch at Hi-way Harry's with old friends Henry and Gay. So we had a jam-packed weekend - lots of fun!

"Authors at Aldrich" are terrific!

Last night we went to this week's Authors at Aldrich program, featuring Gordon Hayward, a landscape and garden designer who has written a number of beautiful, useful books. He talked about growing up on a farm and having to prune fruit trees from a young age. His father would work very hard all day and then read in bed from 9 pm to about 1 am. At breakfast, he would share what he'd learned with his sons. He had very focussed reading habits, confining himself to one topic or author a year or two - from the Civil War to Shakespeare (twice) to Compton's Picture Encyclopedia. The boys got quite an informal education.

Hayward became an English teacher and then met and married Mary, an Englishwoman. He worked in England's Cotswolds as a gardener and then began writing for Country Journal and then for Horticulture magazine before embarking on writing books. Many of his books discuss designing a garden in great detail with photographs and sketches, and then include how-tos, based on his experiences with his Westminster West garden and others he has designed around the country. Intimate Gardens is of particular interest to Vermonters because it includes lists of plants for specific settings and their blooming periods for our climate. Warm and welcoming, Hayward talked for about half an hour and then fielded some very interesting questions from the audience.

Hayward's presentation was the fifth of 12 this summer, held on Wednesdays at 6:15 pm in the library's Milne Room. All that I have attended so far have been very different from each other, but fascinating. I also particularly enjoyed Gareth Hinds' discussion of his graphic novels and his process of putting them together. All the programs are being videotaped so that DVDs may be borrowed from the library, they will air on Channel 7, and they are accessible on the library's website. People can come to the Farmer's Market, move on to the library program, and then head to Currier Park for the concert. Barre is very lucky to have such an excellent package of activities every Wednesday night!

Lazy days of summer

Summer finally came to Vermont this week - it has been increasingly hot and muggy. Despite threatening skies, we haven't had a drop of rain. The tomatoes in hanging bags are growing like crazy and have lots of blossoms. We are anxious to see what kind of tomatoes they'll bring. I think both are of the "grape" variety. The swiss chard isn't doing too well in its pot, but the lettuce has enhanced many a sandwich. And it is good to have fresh parsley in a pot that I'll take inside when winter comes.

With summery weather comes the food - hamburgers on the grill, potato salad, chips, cold cuts, sandwich meals. All have been indulged in this week. I've been doing some sewing (finished binding the red and white quilt) and reading, along with a little napping in the afternoon. What a life!

This idyll was upset this morning, though, when we woke up to learn we had no running water. A large main has broken on Hill St. so that this whole side of town has been without water for nearly 12 hours so far. Ugh! Paul got a gallon on spring water that we've been using sparingly for brushing teeth, the dog, and quick hand washing. But we are both feeling a little icky without showers and in yesterday's clothes. Luckily, it's not hot today, and we hope everything will be normal by tomorrow morning.

Our Colorado adventure

We got home last night from a week in Colorado, visiting family and seeing sites. The more we visit, the more we find to see. We always go to the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum in Golden where we saw an exhibit of small pieces with a water theme. Each quilter also included a self-portrait, and some of these were more interesting than the quilts. The second gallery featured quilts from the museum's collection, and each represented a decade. There were a few antique quilts in amazing condition.

Thursday, we headed south on I-25 through Walsenburg, where we visited a mining museum, to the monument commemorating the Ludlow massacre of April, 1914. Striking coal miners and their families lived in a tent village which was beseiged by the state militia and private detectives hired by mine owner John D. Rockefeller, Jr. The militia and detectives shot a number of miners and set fire to the tents, killing the families inside. Mother Jones, "Molly" Brown, and others marched in local communities in support of the miners. This important event in history is commemorated by a monument carved in Barre and forlornly sitting in the prairie surrounded by a red-white-and-blue iron fence and a few informational placards by the United Mine Workers.


After our trip to the Ludlow monument, we continued south to Trinidad, a charming little town with a sweet downtown area, brick-paved streets, and a small historical complex. We toured the Santa Fe Trail Museum and the Baca House and the Bloom Mansion, two Victorian houses built at around the same time as Maplecroft. We recognized the extreme home maintenance both of these houses require! The Baca House is adobe which was very interesting, and gardens around the two houses are planted with historic vegetables. We were impressed that each year the community selects a different ethnic group for various community activities and events. This year's focus is on the Italians who settled the area.


On our way home on Friday, we stopped for a tour of a recreation of a Native American cliff dwelling in Manitou Springs. Leaving Colorado Springs, we drove through the Garden of the Gods and stopped at Boonzaijer's Dutch Bakery for lunch and dessert to go. Saturday, we spent roaming around downtown Denver, visiting the "Molly" Brown House (we learned that she never went by that name but was called "Margaret" or "Maggie" instead) and the Denver Art Museum's special exhibit of psychedelic posters from San Francisco in the 1960's.


Sunday, we celebrated Father's Day a week early with a cookout at Jenny's in Longmont. She is doing pretty well, and we walked around the block, albeit slowly. We made it home right before the usual afternoon thunderstorm. Colorado has had a rainy spring, so the mountains were unusually green and the flowers lush. It was a great time to be there!

Incense and Peppermints

The top I've been working on since before we moved is finished! I even cut out binding so that after I quilt it (which will take time), I will be all set. I'm calling it "Incense and Peppermints" after the old psychedelic song since Paul said it has that look. The center block is a Pat Sloan design called "Arabella." The next border's blocks are from a book called "Courtship Quilts." The vine and flowers came from a book by the Piece '0' Cake ladies. Dee Lamberton of A Quilters Garden suggested the plain outside border, and it measures 62" x 62". It ws a lot of fun to work on!

Those addictive little blocks!

Instead of binding off the red and white quilt, I've spent quite a bit of time making Dear Jane blocks in '30s fabrics lately. I marvel at how inventive Jane Stickel was. Instead of making a quilt with conventionally largish (9-12") blocks, she chose to make them all 4.5", not a standard size. Instead of using easy, repetitive blocks such as the nine patch or log cabin, she chose to make a sampler. And what a sampler! Most of the blocks were original, and some of them take quite a bit of time to make. Of the 169 blocks, I have made some more than once. I have a list of blocks I have not yet made which I am slowly working my way through. There are probably 30-40 left to tackle (I was going to say "conquer," but in some cases that would be impossible).

Over the weekend I made "Rick's Volleyball Net" and "Battlefield." I had some cute red floral fabric that looked great as "Picture Perfect," a block I have made before in Christmas and Asian fabrics. Now I'm working on "Snow Crystal" which involves both piecing and applique. The author of Dear Jane, Brenda Papadakis, named all of the blocks with help from some quilting friends. I sometimes wish she had chosen Vermont-based names since Jane lived in Shaftsbury near Bennington in the Civil War era. But I am awfully grateful to Brenda for bringing this amazing quilt to life for thousands of quilters around the world. It sure keeps me busy - and learning with each block!