Making progress, albeit slowly

 Quilting the floral Dresden plate quilt is coming along nicely so far.  Yesterday, I ran parallel lines around the center plate, and today I'll work on the half plates.  Sorry the quilting isn't visible in this photo.  

After taking the class on walking foot quilting with Beth Ann Williams, I feel a whole lot more confident and comfortable with what I'm doing.  I ran out of basting pins mid-way through on Sunday, but managed to buy up all the rest that Joann Fabrics had.  Where do the pins go?  I should have gotten some more flower-headed pins while I was at it, too, since my supply is dwindling.  

Anyway, as I work my way out from the center, the quilting should get easier.  I will continue going diagonally down the center of each piece of the plates and echoing the center half circles today.  I'll switch to black thread on top for the half circles.  Echo quilting those butterflies will be my next challenge.  Once I move on to the succeeding rounds, quilting should be easier.

Definitely November

Yesterday was as gloomy as a November day can get - chilly, too.  Robin, Marie and I headed to tiny West Topsham, VT, to play Quilt Bingo at Mary's house.  She is closing her online shop and wanted to get rid of all of the fabric she didn't want to keep for her own projects.  I'm curious to know where she keeps her longarm (if she still owns one) as her house didn't seem that big.  

At any rate, the attic where we played was quite cold, and after two hours, we were glad to go home, heavily laden with fabric and other goodies.  I bought a good part of a bolt which will make a couple of backs for $12, and Mary gave everyone three matching yards plus some more in winnings.  I wish I could say I didn't plan to buy any more fabric, but that's impossible!

Here's part of four tubs of fabric a friend from my genealogy group gave me last Sunday.  She has been cleaning her mother's house because her mother now lives in a nursing home.  At one time, the lady made lots of doll and other clothes, so quite a bit of the fabric in these tubs is unusable to me.  

I will take a little at a time to various quilt meetings this winter, and also to the ReStore.  There are silky and large pieces of lacey fabric as well as knits and corduroys.  If I sewed clothes, I would definitely be happier.  The tubs take up a lot of room in our dining room, but I'll chip away at them.  The fourth tub is in the garage because it's even bigger than these.

Sitting next to the tubs are some of the things I'll be taking to the state quilt guild meeting this coming Saturday.  There are two coffee makers and part of a coffee pot for a silent auction, as well as supplies and a quilt rack.   I will put some of the tub fabric into tote bags for giveaway also.  I doubt if I'll take anything for show and tell - all this stuff is enough.

Earlier this week, Paul and I went downtown to visit Marsha at her antique shop's new location.  From there we bought Paul some new boots and then looked at a new monument at Hope Cemetery.  At first, we thought it was a mausoleum, but there is no way that we could find to open it for more bodies.  

It's quite cute, as you can see from this photo of Paul on the porch.  The clapboards and windows are on all four sides.  But there are no birth/death dates of any of the family members.  Future generations will not be happy with that omission.

As you can see, it was a lovely day that day, but it seems that as soon as November came, so did the clouds.  I started quilting a bed-sized scrappy quilt on Friday, and it's just the right activity for these gloomy days.

A lovely day and "Marilyn"

 My Thanksgiving cactus is beginning to bloom!  I call her "Marilyn" because she was owned by my late next door neighbor who went to Florida every winter.  I kept an eye on her house and went over periodically to water her plants, including the cactus.  Unfortunately, Marilyn the neighbor passed away suddenly in Florida about five years ago, and in cleaning out the house, her children offered me any of her plants.  Of course, I wanted "Marilyn," not so much as a reminder but as a very reliable bloomer.  

Sometimes the flowers are more pink than they are right now.  But there are lots of buds, with blooms continuing through the winter.  My orangey cactus tends to bloom closer to Easter, and the hot pink cutting from Chris' Christmas cactus is a bit too small to bloom much.

All that aside, Monday was a lovely day for a drive, even though we woke up to snow on the ground.  It all melted when the sun came out, and by then I was about an hour south, close to Hanover, NH, where my friend Polly lives.  On the way, I took a slight detour to the King Arthur Baking Co. (their new name) shop.  The last time I stopped there, it was so busy that I turned around and left.  This time, it was busy but one could still walk around and - importantly - find a parking spot.  I bought a loaf of yummy bread and some sourdough starter.  I'll work on the starter this afternoon.

Polly and I went downtown for lunch at a burgers/salads place.  We hadn't seen each other for three years, so we had a lot of catching up to do.  When we lived in Montpelier, we belonged to a women's group that met weekly for about ten years.  Through the years, members came and went, but of the core, she and I both moved (me just 7 miles away), Cindy moved to California, and Sandy passed away.  I got Polly interested in quilting long ago, and I miss going to quilt shows and shops with her.   A trip to our favorite shop near Burlington is something we need to do in the near future.  Anyway, we had a very nice time, and the drive home was simply lovely with bright blue skies and, as is usual for Vermont any time of year, beautiful views.

Pre-holiday projects

 In the last few days, I've finished four table runners, three 12" table mats, and 3 potholders, most of which were made with "Snowflake Bentley" fabric.     The two table runners that had other fabric in a disappearing nine patch pattern will be going down to the florist's shop for sale.   I just need to update my written list that I always take along with the items.  I'm wondering, too, if I should take the fall items home or leave them there for a few more weeks.

I'm planning to give the Snowflake Bentley items to various family and friends for the holidays.  My next door neighbors are a blend of religions, so the winter theme might be particularly good for them.  After I finished those gifts, I started making tissue cases, mostly out of holiday fabric.  Each little case takes just a 6" square and an 8" square, so they are great for using scraps.  Here are the first 12 I made - in just an afternoon!

These are going to be given to the library staff at the Friends of the Library's annual staff appreciation lunch.  I'm a little worried that there are three men on the staff, but then I figure they can hide them in their desks or give them away.   It's been several years since I made gifts for the staff, and I always enjoy doing it.  I have run through my repertoire, though, and am already wondering what I can make next year.

Because these were so easy and quick to make, I made 12 more, even though I am out of little packets of Kleenex.  Those are on order and should arrive next week.  While I was online ordering the tissues, I came across several books that family members might like to receive for Christmas.  Almost all of them like to read and also depend on my suggestions sometimes.   The titles are now in my Amazon "shopping list," and I'll review them in a week or two and then pace an order.  I like to get my package to relatives in the Netherlands out by Thanksgiving and, for those stateside, a little after that. 

This morning I did a little sewing with "strings" and this afternoon seems like a good time to curl up with a good book.    Several pre-ordered ones have arrived on my Kindle.  I'll probably be reading them tonight while the World Series gets underway.

Finally - sun!

We had some very chillly, gloomy days this week, but yesterday it started looking very nice, and today it's even better.  I finally snapped a picture of the bowtie quilt which I hope to get to Bags of Love very soon.  It was made with swap blocks from my online group.  Most people made one or two blocks to swap, but Debbie and I decided to swap 10 blocks each.  I made enough extra blocks to make this crib-sized quilt.

I took part II of my online walking foot quilting class on Thursday and, while my Elna doesn't cooperate when it comes to using fancy stitches to quilt, I did learn quite a bit that I can use right away.  In fact, yesterday I quilted two Christmas table runners using things I'd learned in class.  I just need to put the bindings on (by machine of course), and then I'll be able to take them down to the florist's to sell along with some Christmas stockings.   Everyone seems to be getting an early start on their holiday shopping, me included.

I have a few other things I want to quilt right away, but those I'll save until gift giving time during the holidays.  Most were made with "Snowflake Bentley" fabrics .  Wilson Bentley was a Vermont farm boy who was the first to figure out that each snowflake is different from all the others.  Beginning in 1883, he photographed the ones he caught, and his photos are now in the Smithsonian.   Marcus fabrics has a line featuring a panel with 8" individual snowflake blocks.  So far I've made two table runners and several hot pads and potholders with the blocks.  I'm running low on accent fabric, unfortunately.

This morning we took a quick trip over the antique mall.  It's usually closed for the winter right after Halloween, but this year the owner says he isn't reopening in May except to hold a closeout sale.  We wanted to wish him a happy retirement and to see if there was anything we couldn't live without.  I found a "Delft" (made in Belgium) plate that looks nice among all my other Dutch-themed things in our powder room.  I have been looking for a small table for our front hall, but no luck.  The plant stand covered with a quilt will have to continue there, maybe forever.

In my endless quest to lose weight, I started rowing this morning.  The nurse practitioner I saw suggested that I row at least 5 minutes a day until Thanksgiving at which time it will have become a habit I won't be able to stop.  I don't know about that, but today's session wasn't bad at all.

A great class

Thursday I zoomed a class with Beth Ann Williams called "Easy and Effective Machine Quilting with a Walking Foot."  It's a two part class, with more good info next Thursday.  Beth Ann showed a number of marking tools that I have but haven't tried very much, as well as those I haven't heard of.  I'm heading to the quilt shop this morning to see if I can find some.  Here's a link to her blog updating her test of marking tools.

We went over various ways of echo quilting as well as stabilizing the sandwich and moving it without turning.  Her hints were very helpful, and I enjoyed working on the homework.  That involved practicing marking and stitching.  If you are looking for a useful class, I would recommend Beth's.  She is practical and very approachable.  

Beth said that physical limitations have led her to quilt most things with a walking foot these days, and the quilts she showed were really nice.  I have stopped trying the do free motion quilting myself because I find it stressful.  I can never seem to regulate the tension and length of my stitches, but my walking foot stitches turn out great.  When I want curlicues, I take a quilt to a long armer.  Much of what she talked about, I already knew to some extent, but it felt good to dive a little deeper into the subject.  Can't wait til next Thursday!

Fall fun

 It's going to be a cloudy high 40s today, and I see the wind blowing.   That means it's chillier than it looks.  The foliage is still pretty, but I don't think I'll be going outside to do any yard work.  There is laundry going this morning, and this afternoon I have signed up for a machine quilting workshop online.  It's about using a walking foot more creatively, and I hope to pick up a few pointers.

Yesterday we met Diane and Bill for an early dinner downtown.  It was $5 Burger Night, and the burgers were really good.  I checked on Noom before ordering so found that my burger was within my range, thank goodness.  I am finding Noom quite interesting, but I don't know that I'll renew after my three months are up.  I'm not sure I've lost any weight this month.  Anyway, walking back to the car, Paul had to stop for a picture.  If you can enlarge it, you'll read some funny epitaphs.