Making quilting progress

The Friends of the Library book sale and my birthday got in the way of my quilting last week.  Then on Sunday, we went to the movies to see Oppenheimer.  Some years ago, I started to watch an opera based on his experiences at Los Alamos, but I just couldn't figure the story out, except for the fact that he smoked incessantly.   The music was very atonal, so I turned it off after about half an hour.  Oppenheimer smoked a lot in the movie, too, which was about the beginnings and workings of the Manhattan Project as well as the guilt and concern he experienced after the dropping of the bomb.  Three hours flew by, and, while one reviewer complained there was virtually no science in the film, that was a plus for me.  

But I digress!  Tuesday morning, I had a tutorial in using the long arm quilting machine at the Gypsy Moth Quilt Shop here in town.  Mary carries more modern fabrics which aren't always to my taste, but she does have some fun activities, including Quilt Bingo nights.  She also rents time on her Sweet 16 machine.  Now that I've taken my course, I can make appointments to use the machine even though I don't feel all that confident yet.  I hope that will come with time.

I took a small quilt to work on and managed to finish the quilting in a couple of hours.  There is one spot I need to redo on my machine and then I can put the binding (all ready to go) on.  Mary seemed surprised that I chose a fairly modern quilting design, but the Cakes on Stands seemed right for it. 

I haven't taken a photo yet but will soon.  Here's one of the blocks, made by my friend Susan from Washington state.  I worried about quilting on top of the rick rack, but it was no problem at all.

Yesterday I put the two sections of my Hankie quilt together, added the borders, did a little more quilting, and cut out the binding.  Today I sewed the binding t the front and started hand sewing it to the back.  I have just a few more spots to hand quilt, but you can see that most of the quilting is done.  

It's a fairly large throw and a little fragile.  While quilting, I got the walking foot caught in one of the hankies and then, to add insult to injury, poked the hole with my finger.  I have to figure out how to mend that spot.  Even if I never give it away, I risk making the hole bigger as I handle the quilt.  I'm thinking of embroidering some cross stitches at that spot, but I might also do a little sashiko.  I'll keep thinking about it as I sew that binding down, probably a side per day.

75 Feels Fine

 

I had a great birthday on Monday!  I had invited about 20 old friends and neighbors for an afternoon "tea."  Two batches of cupcakes, one gluten/dairy free, were decorated and were accompanied by cookies, a cheese board, fruit, punch, and iced tea.  

I had asked for "no gifts," but Donna brought her famous cheese dip and a funny button for me to wear.  Carol, from two doors down, brought the sweetest little bouquet from her garden.  I see her out there working all the time while I do practically nothing outside.  It is obvious that her hard work pays off - and I should do more!

Bill wrote a funny poem which he read to those assembled, and he also worked hard at getting people who didn't know each other to talk.  "Tell me how you and Marianne met," he asked, and everyone chimed in with a different story.  Karen arrived with another bouquet which is still looking very nice on our dining room table.  Pam's bouquet is on the mantle.  How lucky am I!?!

Earlier in the day, I had phone calls from Paul's sister Pat, my mom, and my sister Jenny.  During the party, Marty, husband of our dear friend Yve who passed away in 2018, called as he always does.  Birthdays are a time to reconnect as well as a time to look forward.  As I told my brother Rob, who  celebrated his 66th birthday four days before, "75 feels fine."  I have lots of things left to do, plenty of books to read, and quilts to make.  

I survived the book sale

Even though Heritage Days were postponed until fall due to the flood, the Friends were forced to continue with our planned sale this past weekend.  It's all my fault.  After I announced on Front Porch Forum that we'd lost 95% of our stored books in the basement at L. Brown Printing across the street, everyone in town seemed to clear out their bookcases and take books to the library.  My co-president was in a panic, and I needed to be the voice of calm even though I wasn't all that calm inside.  

It all worked out pretty well despite stifling heat and humidity, besides some dust and muck left over from the flood.  We had a tent outside filled with adult paperbacks, and the rest of the books were inside.   About 25 volunteers sorted, set up, lugged boxes, served as cashiers, and helped clean up.  As we were leaving the library Saturday afternoon after cleaning up, the skies opened with a cooling rain.  Ahhh!  

We still have lots of books to sell and no place to store them or recycle them as most businesses downtown are still cleaning up.  We'll have another sale in September when Heritage Days are rescheduled.  Meanwhile, boxes of books are piled up everywhere which may incur the wrath of the trustees, but we have no choice.

Last Wednesday, I finished a scrappy quilt top, 48" x 54", made entirely of strings and set in a "colorwash" manner.  I'm calling it Floody Cabin, since it's the third log cabin-ish quilt I've made in recent years.  The others, Corona Cabin and Omicron Cabin, were made during the pandemic.  

This wonky quilt was fun and easy to make once I sorted all my strings by color.  I worked on one color each day until I had 54 blocks.  I could make a few more, but I am out of every color string except black/gray.  I have an Australian print set aside for the back and I hope to start quilting it in a simple way with my Elna this week sometime.

My birthday spree at A Quilter's Garden was squeezed into the Thursday before the book sale, and it was, as always, incredibly fun.  I got many yards of basics - white/cream backgrounds, bolt ends of batik, a couple of darker fabrics for sashing, and then a few basic solids.  These should keep me busy in the coming year.  

My plan is to tackle some of those patterns I've accumulated like the Exploding Heart.  I have the background fabric all set aside but have been debating about color.  I do like this version, though, using all the colors, yet I've seen very effective ones using all reds, purples, or blues.  I guess I'll just take the plunge, and see where all the colors take me!

Farewell, my lovely

I so rarely sell anything on etsy that I forget what I have in the "shop."  This Hunter's Star quilt sold overnight so I'll be finding a box and getting it in the mail today.  It's exciting to sell something, yet also a little sad that I'll never see it again.  

I gave the Accuquilt die I used to Krista because I don't plan to make another one of these.  I have too many other quilts lined up for the future.  In fact, there are two pizza boxes in the closet with patterns and background fabrics just waiting to be used.  I also have several other patterns I hope to make in 2024.  

Due to our town's recent flood, I spent last week burning off nervous energy by sorting my strings by color and then sewing 6" log cabin-ish blocks out of them.  I now have 78 ROYGBIV as well as brown/beige and black/gray blocks all ready to sew together, colorwash style.   I made a new date to learn the long arm at the local quilt shop, and I hope to get the hankie quilt put together soon.  Maybe today?  I hate to have a project hang around half-done for too long.

Due

Staying home - all OK

 

This was the scene downtown yesterday at 5 pm.  I hate to think what all the business owners are going to be coping with.  Their basements are a mess!  People, including business owners, are being asked not to go downtown before noon today.  They hope the flood waters will recede a bit by then.  I imagine the sludge on the streets will make driving difficult anyway.

My long arm class this morning was cancelled, of course, but we will reschedule for another time.  Mary didn't sound too concerned about the store.  She didn't see any water using her cameras, but the parking lot may be impassable for a while.  

A number of major roads, including a stretch of the interstate, are closed.  I hope things improve because some people were stranded last night.  We felt very lucky not to lose power, TV, phone, internet.  Being up the hill at 1200 feet on blacktop is a big help.  I was afraid to go down into our basement this morning, but Paul says everything is fine.  Phew!  I'll be sewing more strippy log cabin blocks today as I stay tuned to developments via phone and Facebook alerts.

High and dry through the rain

I don't know how many days we've had rain, but today's was steady and serious.  I had to go to the dentist for tooth cleaning at 8 am and saw water just pouring down the hills to downtown.  We live at around 2,000 ft. so for once it was an advantage to live up a big hill.  There's just some seepage into the garage, and the thing we got to attach to the downspout to fix it just arrived yesterday.  It was too wet to do anything with it today, and maybe not even tomorrow.

I treated the day as I do most "snow days" - sewing and reading.  Yesterday I finished the flying geese I needed to make Aby's Rows Parade quilt along for July and August.  I have not attached the geese yet because I made four too many, and I want to see how all the parts look before I make the rows.  Will I really want it to be queen-sized or will I want two throws?  I won't know until October or November.

After finishing the geese, I started working with some "strings."  I have an overflowing basket of colors and a large bag of neutrals.  I thought I'd make some log cabin blocks, and in the end I made 25 6" blocks this morning.  Obviously, it was pretty easy.  I love improvisational quilting and just picking up random snippets as I go.  

I think I may use these blocks as a border for some string blocks I have made out of neutrals.  Will have to see how they all look together.    I had so much fun making log cabin blocks out of the neutrals, I hope to sort my strings by color and make some sort of rainbow quilt out of them.   My basket runneth over.

But I will have to set all this aside for now as tomorrow I'm going to take a class to certify me in using the long arm at the quilt shop downtown (if it isn't closed due to the weather).  I hope I'll be finished with the throw I'm taking to learn with and can get the binding (already cut) on next.

After that, I need to spend a little time with the guild blocks of the month.  I have 15 12" blocks, so if I make another one, I can put them together with sashing for a throw which I'll give to "Bags of Love" for kids in foster care.   However, it occurred to me that perhaps I can use the blocks to make some table runners for friends and family this Christmas.   Decisions, decisions!

Meanwhile, we watch the rain pour down and stick close to Facebook for news on various developments.  There are road closings all around us, a "boil water" notice from the city, an emergency shelter set up at the city Auditorium, and more.  Good thing the kids aren't in school right now.

Visiting Capstone

 Yesterday's Friends of the Library adventure went pretty well.  We have long talked about putting some small batches of books from our book sale area into waiting rooms, and Capstone (formerly "Community Action") was our first site.  I was going to advertise on the online bulletin board that we were looking for a small bookcase for the collection, but then I was driving home one day and saw one on the side of the road.  I find it so messy when people put free stuff out on their lawns, but this time I was happy.  The lawn was across the street from Alan's house, so as soon as I got home, I called him to go over to have a look.  It was just the right size, so he got it, stored it in his barn, and later delivered it to Capstone.

Meanwhile, I picked out three boxes of books - mostly children's, but some popular adult.  Yesterday, Jo, Alan, and I delivered them.  The whole set up looks like it was made for the spot, and the staff at Capstone seemed really pleased.  They have a nice waiting area for their clients who will be encouraged to take books home, bring in some to trade, or give the books to friends.  Jo will be tending the collection weekly, seeing what people seem to want and adding new books as we go.