A busy week

I didn't sew as much as I wanted this week, and I hope to make up for it this weekend.  This past Tuesday I drove over to Burlington to visit a friend at the hospital (she was in the ICU but recovering well) and to shop at Trader Joe's for a political gathering at our house on Thursday which went quite well.  Of course, I had to clean a bit to host the latter, but everyone appreciated the food and talk.  I also made it to yoga twice - once for gentle, once for chair - and I got some paperwork done, too.  

This morning I made the block of the month for this coming Tuesday night's guild raffle.  It was very simple, and I was glad to use scraps.  It should make a nice quilt in various shades of green.

Earlier in the week I made the state quilt guild's raffle block.  I had a heck of a time finding a pink floral print for the center, but then I remembered that I had a bunch in the box I have labeled "wild fabrics."  These are mostly Kaffe Fassett-like fabrics, and I found one that worked very well.  It looks good with the prescribed dark blue star points and light green background.

I made another state guild tenth anniversary block that worked better, at least for me, using paper piecing.  The one on the left is the first block I made using the 1989 directions.  The one on the right uses the paper piecing method.  As you can see, the points won't be cut off if I were to put them together with other blocks made with the same method.  I plan to try to make one using the "Peaky and Spike" rulers I bought years ago when they were popular.  We'll see how that goes.  I plan to make up instructions using the same 1989 colorway but offering all three methods.  It would make a nice quilt if we raffled the blocks off at the fall meeting, but I'm afraid the pattern will be too complex for beginning quilters., as some of our members are.   We'll see how the other board members feel.

Here and there recently, I did make seven more Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks in this month's pink, but I must say I just glanced the tip of the pink iceberg in my stash.   While working on all of these blocks, I have come to realize that I need to do a conscientious weeding of fabric I doubt I will ever use again.  If it doesn't "spark joy" for me, it may do so for someone else.   Will try to sift through the pinks this weekend and put what I can on the "free" table Tuesday night.

Sewing hit or miss

I finished the center of my Wensleydale quilt on Thursday, but I needed to find a light blue for the first border before continuing.  Yesterday, before attending the Calico County guild meeting, I found just what I need, and today I'll proceed to work on the stop (a/k/a skinny) border and outer border.  I'll be glad to finish the top and move on to other projects.  I need to make or buy a back for Wensleydale and get some batting, but that can wait for a week or so.  We have a busy week ahead so my sewing will be hit or miss.

Tuesday I'm heading to Burlington for a trip to Trader Joe's for wine and for lunch with my friend Pauline who is recovering from hip surgery.  The wine will be for a getting-to-know-you gathering with a candidate for the town board on Thursday.  Today we'll walk around the neighborhood with invitations.

Wednesday and Thursday, I'll attend yoga classes, and Thursday morning I'll also go to the genealogy group meeting.  The candidate gathering is at 4 pm, giving me time that afternoon to move furniture and make up cheese and fruit trays.  I don't think our candidate has a chance of winning because she's up against a well-liked incumbent/business owner, but this run may set her up for a win in the future.  Our town board has a history of irrational negativity toward funding the library, and we Friends would like to change that.

Hit or miss sewing will involve making blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (pink log cabin and traffic stop), the local guild monthly raffle, the state guild raffle, and another 1989 state guild block.   I pieced the latter a few weeks ago, but as you can see, the points didn't fit well.  I don't remember if paper piecing was "invented" by 1989, but I'm going to try to make the next blocks that way.  I also have plastic "Peaky and Spike" templates that I can use on a third iteration.  We'll see how far I get this week!

Rainy days = sew days

 We are heading into a period of rain every day until the weekend.  That's fine with me - more time to sew!   There are a few things we could be doing outside, such as picking up sticks that have fallen from our white birch tree.  We'll do those when the sun comes out.  

Because bears have been sighted already, I did take one bird feeder and it's "shepherd's crook" down the other day.  I left two up in the backyard, but they are out of food.  I'll get them inside as soon as I can.  I usually wash the feeders in bleach when the season is over.   I also need to rake up any seeds that have dropped onto the ground because they also attract bears.

I only managed to make two Wensleydale blocks yesterday, but I did cut out all the fabrics I think I need for the rest.  As I lay them out to sew them together, I may want to change one or two.  I found that the papers I bought are just a bit too long to photocopy, but I can make them work if need be.  The blocks measure around 7 X 11".  But, of course, the papers include outside seam allowances all the way around.  A package of 60 papers should make a nice sized quilt, and I plan to make only 56 blocks.  I've made 40 so far, working diligently almost every day in March (except while we were away for two weeks).

Today we have yoga, and I'd like to stop by the Opera House this afternoon for tickets we've ordered for two shows.  The library book sale is this weekend, with set up tomorrow, and we have plenty of helpers this time, which is great.

Spring!

 

When I saw these at the grocery store yesterday, I just could not resist buying them.  Later in the morning, as I was sewing, a huge flock of cedar waxwings swooped into the flowering crabapple tree outside my window.  They gobbled the little fruits and then swooped away.  Still later, a flock of robins pecked around on the front yard.  I think they know that spring is near.  

In true April fashion, it's supposed to rain all week.  This is good as we need the rain AND, best of all, gives me an excuse to spend as much time as possible sewing.  I've got 36 Wensleydale blocks made - just 20 left to go!  I ordered some matching fabric for the border via etsy yesterday.  I've found etsy orders come quickly, so I'm hoping I'll be nearly ready for it when it arrives.

We went to the movies yesterday to see Project Hail Mary, and I highly recommend it.  It was fun, interesting and very touching.  Ryan Reynolds was perfect in it.  How nice it was to see the theater practically full.  The last few times we've gone to the movies, there were only a handful of other people there.

Illusive spring

I was working on another Wensleydale block yesterday and glanced, as I usually do, out the window behind my machine.  A flock of robins was hopping around the front yard!  What a great sight.  It gave me hope that spring is on the way.  It was a sunny day but chilly and windy.  Later in the day we had a brief snow shower, but my optimism about spring remains undaunted.   "The snow that takes away the snow" will inevitably give way.  My Dutch sister has been posting pictures of Keukenhof where everything is abloom.

It's one week before Easter, and my pink Christmas cactus is blooming.  Friday I drove over to the Lake Champlain Chocolate outlet and got some chocolate bunnies.  Their chocolate is delicious - almost as good as Dutch - and I like to give them away to family and friends.  This Saturday we'll be going to Burlington to see a play about Marie Curie with longtime friends Pauline and Bob.  Afterwards, we'll have dinner at our favorite Middle Eastern restaurant and spend the night.  We all have Easter things to do, so Paul and I will head home fairly early in the morning, and I'll leave them each a bunny.

My daily goal is to make five Wensleydale blocks a day, and I cut out a bunch more fabric yesterday to make it all easier.  Today we have some grocery shopping to do, and then I'll get right to it.  This afternoon we're hoping to get to the movies to see Project Hail Mary.  The theater always shows films with subtitles on Sunday afternoons.  I plan to make some chili for dinner before we leave.  So I'd better get on with my day.  Hope you have a good one!

Continuing on with Wensleydale

Before I left on vacation I cut a bunch more fabric for the Wensleydale blocks.  The pieces are all stacked on paper plates so I can pick them up in turn and mix the fabrics as I go.  I made five blocks in the last few days and took the papers out yesterday while watching TV.  There are now 21 blocks made.  I'll need at least 35 more, but I was running low on larger pieces of Christmas fabric.   Luckily, the fat quarter bundle I ordered before we left arrived, and I can cut those fabrics when I get a chance.

I don't usually work on one quilt at a time, but somehow Wensleydale is so satisfying to paper piece that I'm sticking with it for now.  The larger harp on my machine makes it fairly easy to maneuver the 6" x 11" papers; it would be more difficult with a conventional harp.  It's fun to see the variety of blocks as they develop.

Yesterday I took the teal tote bag I made a while ago down to Studio Place Arts, the local gallery, for their spring silent auction.  The director seemed thrilled with it (perhaps it's the only practical item in the auction so far?) and asked if I make them to sell.  Because it took me about half a day, I said it is a one-of-a-kind.  I confine my energy mostly to quilts anyway.

Then she asked if I was busy making spring clothes!  Ha!  I am lousy at garment sewing and haven't made anything to wear in many years.  Quilting is my jam!  I did tell her I bought some pink sneakers but haven't worn them yet as it still feels pretty wintry.  Anyway, I hope the tote will be a big hit for the gallery and bring someone joy.   A woman who "won" a little wallhanging of mine a year or so ago told me she loves seeing the little scrappy houses every day.

Beaufort, South Carolina

We arrived home from lovely Beaufort yesterday around 1 pm.   It's a three day drive either way, which we have decided is too long for us nowadays.  Next time we go south, we will probably fly and rent a car.  We did need a car in Beaufort - to go to the laundromat, to visit the other islands, and to go to the Kazoo Museum.  Other than that, we walked everywhere which was fine with us in such nice weather.  There was only one rainy day, and we even managed to get outside between showers then, too.

Our motel was downtown and just a block from restaurants, shops, and tour meeting points.  We took several tours, beginning with a golf cart history tour that took us by some amazing antebellum houses once owned by plantation owners, briefly run as Union hospitals in the Civil War, and then owned by other wealthy folks.  Their gardens were amazing.

Beaufort is a very nice city, perfect for tourists.  Our first morning walk brought us by Harriet Tubman's monument, and we learned about her time teaching freed blacks and organizing a raid on rice fields owned by Confederates.  On an excellent walking tour led by a ranger from the Reconstruction Era History center, we also learned about Robert Smalls, a former slave who captured a Confederate ship, and later served in the US Congress.  A major motion picture is being made of his life.  

The Pat Conroy Literary Center was high on our list of places to see, and we enjoyed our tour with a northern transplant.  A couple also on the tour were devoted Conroy fans and lent other information about one of our favorite authors.

As I mentioned, on a rainy day, we visited the Kazoobie Kazoo factory and museum for what turned out to be a fun tour.  Everyone got make their own kazoo in colors of their choosing.  Paul's is all black, but mine is purple and hot pink.  The kids on the tour really seemed to enjoy that part, but Paul and I enjoyed learning about and seeing all of the similar instruments that have been developed.

The Gullah-Geechee three hour tour on St. Helena Island was very good, too.  Our guide, who also works as a storyteller, talked to us some of the time in Gullah, a West African patois based on the native language ("Krio") of the people brought over to farm rice and indigo on the islands around Beaufort.  We visited the Brick Baptist Church where Martin Luther King, Jr., worked on his "I Have a Dream" speech, and e drove on back roads, including the one where they filmed the "run, Forrest, run" sequence in Forrest Gump.

There were lots of great restaurants to try, but the hearth-cooked lasagna at Plum's was to die for.  I did enjoy some crab cakes, but unfortunately Paul didn't get a po'boy.  Next vacation, maybe!