Not really MIA!

I haven't posted in a long time - just busy buzzing around!  I sandwiched a sweet little quilt made with "Scrappy Star" blocks, some made by friends in a block lotto.  The pieced back has some Paddington Bear fabric (do kids still read those books?), but after I had it pin-basted and quilted a few lines, I noticed quite a bit of puckering.  So I took out all the quilting and now have to re-baste.  But it's been muggy and I need a day when I'm feeling ultra-positive.

So I moved on to other projects:  washing the [vinyl] house, visiting Jim at the nursing home, roaming the town forest, taking a quilt to be quilted by the longarmer, taking the Opera House exhibit down, working on a round robin.  I decided to applique my round, so that is taking some time.  It's relaxing, though, and the Christmas theme offers an opportunity to use a favorite green and red color combination. 

I'm also working on a new sampler, through a swap I'm coordinating.   All the blocks will have navy Moda Marbles for the background.  When I picked my fabric up at the quilt shop, I was a little uncertain about the color.  It's motley with a grayish cast.  But after I made a couple of test blocks, I think it's going to be very nice.

I finished the six 9" Ohio Star blocks I planned to make, have cut out all of the Grandmother's Fan pieces and need to applique them, and made one Pieced Tulips block.  The navy looks really nice with a lot of colors, especially pastels.  Not too many people have signed up for this swap, so I am thinking of sending a couple of yards around for the guild Square Robin this year.

I've also been cooling my heels, waiting for Louise Penny's latest mystery to arrive.  It was just published, so maybe it will arrive before I start something else today.  This morning I finished the latest in the Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths.  Ruth is a English forensic anthropologist who specializes in ancient bones and is a good character - overweight, a single mother, and with a few odd friends, including a Druid who always seems to be on the spot when she needs help.

Drum roll, please!

Here's the new Family Estate wallhanging, now in the guest room!

I made the Edyta Sitar quilt just a little smaller and added the border she uses on the one block wallhanging pattern.  It's really a series of hourglass blocks.  I enjoyed quilting details on the windows and doors and think I have finally gotten the hang of outline quilting, too. 

This fills up a blank wall that used to hold a Mariner's Compass that's in the exhibit at the Opera House.  I asked the folks there if they'd like me to come get them, and they said they don't have anything else up yet.  I am beginning to miss them.

What a view!

Tuesday was my walking in the town forest day, and four of us and Angel the German Shepherd set off south on a trail we hadn't tried yet.  We wound around the Black Lagoon (that was its name on the map) and up a steep climb to the Holy Ghost Lookout.  It was well worth the climb.

 

We thought we could see the interstate from up there, and definitely saw the new copper steeple of the Graniteville Presbyterian Church and Rock of Ages' "bone yard" of granite blocks.  There used to be a Holy Ghost School connected with St. Sylvester's Church below, hence the name of the trail. 

The trip down was just as hair-raising as the climb up.  My sprained ankle doesn't make it easy, but Diane, good soul that she is, helped me down.  Our 80-some year old hiker slid but said it wasn't bad.  When we left for the walk, we all had on jackets, but by the time we came down we had all stripped to t-shirts.  We are indeed lucky to have this fun forest to explore.

Family Estate (or whatever)

I always have trouble naming my quilts.  The pattern for this is in a book called Friendship Strips and Scraps by Edyta Sitar.   There's a bed-sized quilt and a small one block hanging, both using the houses with applique.  The wallhanging is called "Family Estate" and the quilt has another name.  This is a cross between the two, with just nine blocks instead of 15, so it's a 36" x 36" wallhanging.  Where I'll hang it is still a mystery to me since we have so little wall space.  But I enjoyed working on it and am looking forward to quilting it.  It's all basted, and the binding is ready to go whenever I finish.

I took this photo before I started pinbasting.  It's a bit dark due to the gloom of the day, but that is, of course, a perfect day for such jobs.

Today I also made four six-inch block lotto blocks for Lou. 

She chose spools, which was fun because I had toyed around with choosing that last month when it was my turn.  I put the pattern in my Loyal Union Sampler box, just in case I want to make one to go in that quilt.  I'm waiting patiently for that new book by Jennifer Chiaverini coming in September, joined an online group, and have a box of blues and grays waiting.  I have plenty to keep me busy before it comes, though.

Today we also picked a batch of green beans which I will freeze tomorrow, and a zucchini which is destined for zucchini bread for the freezer.  Or maybe it will be more chocolate zucchini cupcakes which were a big hit around here.  Now I'm going to sit back down with The Dry Grass of August, a novel about the south in the 1950's, sort of like The Help, which I loved.