Hugs 'n' Kisses

My mom gave me some lovely pink fat quarters for Christmas, and they were just screaming to be used with chocolate.  So I bought a Bali Pop and used the darkest strips for this quilt, just finished today and now appearing on my etsy shop, Cobble Hill Quilts:

I'm particularly pleased with the quilting, which includes quite a bit of free motion, in a "coffee bean" motif.

A busy week

I am looking forward to the weekend and next week when my life won't be as busy as it's been (I hope).  Tuesday night, I went to quilt guild which was quite fun, with four different workshops going on in the corners of the room.  I also showed off my Cornucopia of Thanks.

Wednesday night was the Greater Barre Democrats meeting, followed by a public forum on the Decriminalization of Marijuana.  This was the second of three informational forums with speakers who offer pros and cons of issues before the legislature, followed by questions and answers from the audience.  We have not taken positions on the issues (the others are Death with Dignity/Physician-assisted Suicide and Health Care reform) but feel it's important to inform ourselves and the public.  I happened to be the moderator Wednesday night which worked out pretty well.  We had 18 people attend, and several were people I didn't know.  Guess our publicity is working.

Thursday afternoon, the Central Vermont Quilt Show committee met at the Old Labor Hall to get a feel for the space since it has been renovated slightly since our last show in 2011.  Our show is scheduled for April 26 and 27, so that is soon.  We have a lot to do, especially encouraging more entries.  Tuesday night we got a few, but we can use more.  I entered a second quilt, my recently completed Licorice and Lime (warning - the photo is lousy).

I still need to sew a sleeve on it, and today I offered to sew a sleeve on a friend's quilt since she is in Florida tending an ill 99 year old mother and doesn't know if she'll make it home before the show.   After our meeting, we all went out to dinner at the restaurant in the old firehouse which was fun.  There was live music, an extra bonus - not too loud, folk/rock oldies - just our style.

Today, after my stint at the Vermont Historical Society, I went to the hospital for my annual mammogram and then visited Joann Fabrics for a few things.  I treated myself to an afternoon on the couch finishing up a good book, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.  It was on all the "must-read" lists last year and, while the characters were not at all likeable, it was a page-turner.  Happy Easter, everyone!

Coupla blocks

I've been procrastinating today.  I have more binding to stitch down on a giant lime/licorice quilt, so I  worked on a few blocks today.  One is for Mary as part of the Around the World Swap.  I love her bright orange floral and have been dying to use a nice bright orange from my stash.  What I like about this swap is the ability to shop the stash.

 

Next, I made another green and blue block to add to the ones I've been making as part of my guild's block of the month.  Micheline had wondered how to make this Pam Bono block, so Jen drafted it and put the instructions up on Facebook.  It turned out OK although I wish I had used a different medium fabric.  Just another Sunday in Wildersburg!  Guess now I'll put a few more stitches into that binding!

Snow = productivity

It was a beautiful morning although clouds are rolling in now.  They make me nervous since we already had 8-10" of snow over the last 36 hours.  Still, it was nice to get up to a clean, fluffy world.  This is the view from our back porch.  You can see that Max the dog really enjoys snow.  It never stays pristine for long.

Yesterday, after finishing the batik quilt top, I enjoyed reading two new books, one by quilter Edita Sitar, and another by mystery writer Erin Hart.  The mystery involves a body found in an Irish peat bog.  Before I encountered Erin Hart, I never knew bodies could be preserved for centuries in bogs.  The characters are really good in her books, as is the suspense.

This morning, I finished what will be the center of a round robin that I'm joining in with an online group.  I get nervous using red with strangers but will add a note asking people to wash anything they add.  The center is 15" finished and each of the next five rounds will be 5" finished.  Should be fun!

Oma's muumuu

I've been working on a quick but pretty quilt for the last few days.  My to-do list included a windowpane quilt of Indonesian batiks for Chris, and last summer I bought a nice brown/burgundy batik for the sashing.  Sunday, I cut 5" squares and 2.5" sashing and went to work.  It now measures about 70 x 70" which is plenty for me to quilt in one piece.

There are some batiks I bought and some I salvaged from clothes my mother sent me.  The last border used to be my mother's muumuu, hence the name.  As I was working, I noticed some of the fabrics smell a bit odd and I had to soak one to get a label off.  The water ran a bit, so I'm going to stitch all the way around before treating the top with Retayne.  Then I'll quilt it with a dark back, just in case it continues to run.  Fingers crossed!

In June, my sister in the Netherlands is going on a "pilgrimage" tour of Indonesia operated by an organization that cares for the graves of war victims around the world.  There are several sites in Indonesia.  I can't wait to hear all about it.  The quilt will be a nice reminder for Chris of our heritage.

Happy World Wide Quilting Day!

The only people who regularly read my blog are quilters, so have a wonderful day, you all!  Hope your day includes some stitching in one way or another.  I am working on a sweatshirt jacket made out of Indonesian batik patchwork cheater cloth.  It is coming along fine, but I am dithering about the length of the body and the sleeves.  Can't put the zipper in until I decide on the length, so that will have to happen today.

I received a wonderful WWQD gift from Terry, who is an online swap friend.

I was her secret pal at Christmastime, and she very thoughtfully sent me a handquilted mug rug (I "heart" quilting!), a pattern for a small embroidered wallhanging, a cute lady bug notepad, an emory board, and a sweet card.  It's fun to open a gift when it's not your birthday or Christmas!

My MoJo is back

I have the binding sewn onto the big lime and black quilt, so I've been sewing it to the back whenever I feel like it.  No hurry - it's for us.  Meanwhile, I made 20 brown and pink 8" blocks for a little quilt which is all put together and waiting to be quilted.  THEN I made some blocks for an online block lotto:

I really like this block with its flying geese.  Wish I'd thought of it for my Around the World swap block.  I made one of those yesterday, too:

This has been a great swap for "shopping the stash" since the recipient wanted a black on white background and lavendar to go along with her funky floral.

The sun's shining today, so I will probably work on my binding some more.  It's black, so I have some trouble seeing it on gray days.  A friend told me that out of 30 days recently, we had 22.  Ugh!  I also plan to make some shu mai, little Chinese steamed dumplings, today.  Yum!  Guess I'll make some vegetable fried rice to go with it, too.

In a funk!

I haven't sewn anything quilty in a few days, even though I did quite a bit of fabric shopping Saturday.  On Sunday Lisa delivered my queen-sized lime and black quilt (as-yet-unnamed), and I did trim it on Monday.  It's looks lovely spread on the bed.  I have the fabric out to make the binding (black "Dimples" fabric), but the sheer size of the quilt keeps me from working on it.  I need about 400" of binding!

Tuesday, I procrastinated by sewing Chris' curtains which I had been procrastinating on for ages.  I got some kelly green fabric with black tractors in an auction last spring, and I thought it would be nice trim for the black curtains he wanted to block out the sun.  Living on the 3rd floor with tall windows, his place can get hot in summer.  It took Chris a while to measure,  and I needed about 10 yds.  So I waited until Joann Fabrics had moved into the new place to buy that quantity of polyester blend fabric with a 50% off coupon.  Then I found other projects to divert me, but Tuesday I couldn't delay any longer.  It didn't take too long, really, and he is happy with them.  I don't know why making curtains is such a chore.  Maybe it's just that they're dull?

I just don't feel like starting any sewing projects, probably because I have that darned binding to make.  So, the last couple of days, I've been busy at other things - making granola, doing laundry, going out to lunch, working on paperwork for the Central Vermont Quilt Show and the Green Mountain Quilters Guild - meeting minutes, budgets/spreadsheets, etc.  I've also been buried in two good books by Sara J. Henry - Learning to Swim and its sequel A Cold and Lonely Place.  They're mysteries set in the Adirondacks and very involving. 

OK, now that I've said it, guess I'll go cut 10 strips of 2.5" fabric for binding...