State Quilt Guild Blocks

I've been working steadily on organizing the state quilt guild's archives over the last couple of months.   My plan is to deliver the archives to the state historical society for cataloging and storage in the manuscript collection as soon as I'm done.  Every two years, when officers change, I'm suggesting that they add to that collection.  

I inherited bags, tubs, and other containers of papers from the previous guild historian.  She seems to have lost her enthusiasm for the job several years ago, and they had all been stored in her garage.  One of the tubs is filthy, and the other one needs a little spraying with the hose.  I threw away all the three ring binders and plastic sheet protectors that had been used.   The materials used in the past were not acid free and some of the sheet protectors show signs that ink had already been removed from the paper.

The best part of the archives is the newsletter which was published at least twice a year since the organization's founding in 1979.  It's been fun looking at them, especially seeing the patterns for raffle blocks that people make in advance of the semiannual meetings.   I'm thinking of making a sampler of blocks from various years, beginning with those tenth anniversary blocks.  I think I showed the 1980 block, but here it is again.

Next, I worked on the block for 1999, the guild's 20th anniversary, which was not what I would call a beginner block.  I wonder how many people made it?  I was pleased that it was appliqued, and I had every intention of doing that with fusible applique.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find my Steam a Seamm so I reverted back to my old favorite, freezer paper.

My fingers are stiffer than they used to be, and my eyesight isn't great, but it turned out pretty good. The embroidery on the darker fabrics doesn't show up that well, but it will do.

I was very disappointed to find the 2009 block was just an 8" half square triangle in fall colors.  That will not do!  I'm going to make some 8-at-a-time half square triangles (a method I've never used before) starting with two 8" blocks and make a block out of the resulting squares.  I don't remember what the 2019 raffle blocks were, but I'll enjoy choosing one to sew, I'm sure.  If folks at the guild meeting in May are interested, I may just distribute little booklet for the fall meeting.

Paper pieced stars

On a visit to the quilt shop last fall, I picked up a book of patterns for paper pieced stars.  I set it aside with some fat quarters that I received from the board of the state quilt guild as a "retirement" gift after my term as president was up.  I worried that the blocks would look a bit washed out so I varied the background from neutral to periwinkle and set the blocks on point.  I added a little goldish brown to the mix and ended with a brighter periwinkle.  For the setting triangles I used foundation papers for 3" triangles which were much easier to make than the stars.  Once quilted, this will be a nice table runner, but unfortunately, it's now waiting in the closet along with several other projects.  I'll try to get a picture today.

I attended quilt guild Tuesday night and showed the Triple Barn Star quilt I made a few months ago. 

Also at guild, I picked up the last round robin quilt - Marie's - to work on, and I've been making friendship star blocks ever since.  It's red(ish), light gray, and blues, with a large pieced star in the middle.  I'm not sure what Marie plans to do with the quilt, but I do know she served in the Army during the Vietnam era.  Several of the rounds have been pretty plain, so the stars seemed quite appropriate to me.  But the quilt is around 48" x 48" so there are a lot of 4.5" stars to make.  I assume they'll take me a few days of solid work to finish.

Meanwhile, there are household and garden things to attend to.  The weather has been increasingly nice, so I need to get out and clean up the flower beds.  My knees have been giving me trouble lately, so I'll take it easy.  We have taken a few walks in the neighborhood, too, which has been nice after the long winter where we hardly walked at all.  

I finished reading Jennifer Chiaverini's latest book, The Patchwork Players.  It's very easy going which is nice after reading The Bullet That Missed, the third book in the Thursday Murder Club series.  The plotlines of those books can be very confusing with quite a few characters, but everything comes together in the end.  I thought our book group was planning to read the fourth book in the series next, so I thought I'd try to catch up before reading that one.  Instead, we're reading The Tokyo Express which isn't available on Kindle.  I'm reading a used paperback and hope I'll to finish before we meet next week.  We have a social week ahead with dinner out a couple times, so I'm not sure how much progress I'll make.  So far, it's moving along nicely, and I like the Japanese background.

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!