Cookies!

The cookie shortage at our house is now over.  I got right to business this morning after showering and having breakfast.

I wanted to try the chocolate "surprise" cookie recipe that I think I got from Martha Stewart.  I always find her recipes fool-proof.  The chocolate dough was easy enough to make, and after baking for 10 minutes, you put half a marshmallow on top of each one and let it melt sightly.  After the cookie cools, you put a gob of frosting on top.  the cookie itself isn't too sweet, but the marshmallow and frosting makes it a meal by itself.

Then I made chocolate chip and molasses cookies, both from Betty Crocker mixes.  Even though they're easy, they taste very good and make about a dozen and a half.  I'm all about portion control these days, even though my output doesn't make it seem so.   I will pack some up for Chris to either take home or take over to friends.

As the cookies were cooling, I made some sweet roasted pecans some of which I plan to use in a salad with blue cheese on Christmas eve. And that's enough cooking for me considering yesterday I made a French Canadian meat pie (tourtiere) and French bread to serve to company.   Now it's time for me to put my feet up and enjoy the holiday.  An extra plus:  the sun is shining and it's 40 degrees out!

Best books of 2019

I had set a goal for reading 62 books in 2019, but so far, I've only read 51.  I blame it all on plugging away at the Laura Ingalls Wilder biography, Prairie Fires by Caroline Fraser, for about a month.  It was quite thorough - perhaps too thorough - but I made it all the way through.  I didn't read as much before, during and after our trip to the Netherlands.  There was too much to see and do, and when I did sit down to read, it wasn't long before I fell asleep.

My favorite book was Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owen, which tells the story of a girl, abandoned in a primitive cabin on the coast of South Carolina.  She doesn't have anyone to talk to or play with, so spends her days observing and drawing animals, plants, and the waters around her.   She is a heroine in every sense of the word.  I had resisted reading the book because "everyone" was doing so, but I finally broke down, zoomed through, and thought it was just wonderful.    Other books I enjoyed were:

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine - Gail Honeyman
    A quirky heroine finds love.
Bookshop of Yesterdays - Amy Meyerson
    A young woman inherits a bookshop but has to move across the country and answer clues in the books before making it her own.
The Never-Open Desert Diner - James Anderson (and its sequel Lullaby Road)
     A down on his luck trucker helps who he can along his route which includes some unusual and nasty characters.
An Address in Amsterdam - Mary Dingee Filmore (who I saw in person twice - what a great speaker!)
     A young Jewish girl works for the Underground during the Nazi occupation in WW II.
Beneath a Scarlet Sky - Mark Sullivan
      A young Italian man works as a spy during WW II.

I also really enjoyed Charlaine Harris' "Shakespeare" series and devoured them all - maybe 5 or 6 in a few weeks.  And of course, I loved the latest installments by Louise Penny (A Better Man) and Jacqueline Winspear (The American Agent).

Christmas at our house

Thought you might like to see a Christmas throw I made about 20 years ago.  We had it hanging all year long in the stairwell of the B&B, and now I just get it out for the holidays.  It's a sampler/medallion throw with a cozy flannel back.  I made a pillow out of some scraps last year, and they look nice together on that antique chair no one uses (unless there's no other option).

I have a Christmas Dear Jane variation on the sofa and a Bonnie Hunter "Roll, Roll, Cotton Boll" in Christmas fabrics on a wing chair.  When I get out these quilts, it finally feels like Christmas has arrived here.  I have finished shopping and wrapping, and yesterday I finished my wool appliqued Santa.  Now it's time to make Chex Mix and cookies.  In fact, my second batch of Chex Mix (Chris' favorite) is cooling.   I will pack some up for Chris and his friends later.   I'll bake a bundt cake Tuesday for the quilt guild meeting, and then a few batches of cookies, just because I can.

Eventful days

The holidays are fun but can be hard on folks.  I went to two dinner parties last weekend, and today we have two open houses to go to.  One is at our public library and is a first community Christmas party there.  Long ago, in my first library job, I instituted one which was a huge success and became an annual tradition.  

After the library party, we're heading a few blocks away for an open house at Fred's.  He has done quite a bit of energy saving renovation, and the city Energy Committee wants to highlight his work.  He deserves the recognition.  We went to a party at his house last year, and it is very cozy.

Before the two parties, I'll look in on the Calico County Quilters meeting.  I have been machine quilting the state quilt guild logo challenge wall hanging and want to show it to Robin.  I was in a quandary about how to quilt this center but ended up highlighting the star in the center with a row stitched in the ditch and an echo.  I'll post a picture when it's finished.

She and I figured out the pattern which is the Vermont #2 block on www.quilterscache.com with a Delectable Mountains border.  It was difficult, and my mountains are really hills.  I've added some borders to make it about 36" square now.  Robin's is a little smaller, but she's hand quilting it.  I'm curious to see it.

Pre-Christmas busy-ness

It has snowed almost every day, and we have a good base layer on the ground now.  It can stop anytime LOL, but we know it won't.   Driving downtown in a squall late yesterday for the library staff appreciation dinner was a bit hair-raising, but I made it.  Because we have a garage, I rarely have to clean the car off, but I did after the dinner.  Ugh.

Nevertheless, it was a very nice event, with about 36 people attending - library staff, trustees and Friends of the Library members.  Because our public library is incorporated, we had some nice wines with our appetizers before the lasagna and all the trimmings.  The staff liked the goodie bags I made them - quilted potholders (made from orphan blocks) and homemade jam (either Strawberry-Rhubarb or Peach Melba).

I have just a few items to applique onto the woolen St. Nick, but I took a break this week to make a few fabric ornaments out of scraps.  These stars were very easy to make out of hexagons.  Sew two together face to face, turn right sides out, and fold.  Stitch the star down and add something to hang them with.  I tried using Steam a Seam 2, but they turned out a little too stiff.

My overflowing "Holiday" fabric box was given a real trimming this week, too, as I put strings into the string basket, cut smaller pieces into tumblers to make Christmas stockings with, and ironed what was left.  I can now close the box - with room to spare!  I hope to make a few scrappy Christmas stockings to store until next October or so since I sold one on etsy and the other in a local gift shop.  I also sold two table runners at the shop, and the owner asked for more.   So I took all the Christmas-themed runners out of the etsy shop and took them downtown.  Fingers crossed.  Any sales feed my fabric habit, of course.

Olde St. Nick

I've been working steadily on my Christmas woolen applique, and today I hopw to stitch down the tree, star, pocket, and bear.  I was so pleased that I actually remembered how to make a French knot for the eye.  Here's the pattern so you can see what the finished piece should look like.

It's about 8" tall, so some of the pieces are pretty small.  With my machine still in the shop, I am enjoying this slow bit of stitching.

Sinterklaas is coming

When I was small, living in the Hague, the Netherlands, kids visited St. Nicholas (Sinterklaas in Dutch) just as they visit Santa Claus in the U.S.  Because the Sinterklaasfeest begins on the evening of Dec. 5 and continues into the 6th, the Sint was available a little sooner than Santa is.  Dressed in his saintly garb, he comes via boat, supposedly from Spain, and rides a white horse throughout Holland as he distributes gifts to the kids.  He is accompanied by his servant Zwarte Piet (Black Pete).  Sometimes there's more than one Zwarte Piet with him.  As a child, I was terrified of Zwarte Piet because I was told that he put all the bad kids in a bag and took them back to Spain.

I remember being scared to death when I stepped off the airplane in New York City at age three-going-on-four and saw not one or two black people but many.  I was sure I had landed in Spain and started to scream.  My mother quickly had to explain that some people come in that color and that they are perfectly nice.  I took a little convincing but soon learned that was so.  Now, with refugees and immigrants streaming into the Netherlands, I am sure Dutch children encounter quite a few guys like the smiling Piet below who, according to Facebook, enjoys his job every year.

These days, I imagine kids aren't threatened in the negative way of the 1950s, but there is still a great deal of controversy about Piet in the Netherlands.  Some feel it is racist to have him at all, others decry painting white faces black with exaggerated red lips, and still others feel it is part of a fun tradition that should be kept.  Some say Piet is black because of going up and down chimneys all evening.  He is dressed as a Moor because, after all, he is supposed to have come from Spain.
 
If only I'd been taken to the public library in Holland where, apparently, Sinterklaas and several Zwarte Piets conduct storytime and do other nice things with kids these days.

 If you want to follow the tradition, put a shoe by the fireplace or door on Dec. 5.   Make sure to leave some straw and carrots for the Sint's horse, too.  In the morning, you might just find a surprise, courtesy of the Sint's henchman, Piet.

Busy days

Wow!!  It has been 10 days since I blogged.  Where does the time go?  We've had quite a bit of snow lately, but today there's probably less than an inch on the ground.   The days have been gloomy with iffy road conditions - perfect for staying home and sewing.   I finished two quilt tops and pieced backs and did a little applique including a Dresden plate block for a guild "block robin" and a few more melons for my brown and pink Lafayette's Orange Peel quilt.  That's my very slow project to take to guild sewing meetings.  I need just 36 for a smallish quilt and have made quite a few over the last year.  I might finish in 2020 and then start on another color way.

My Elna machine is in the shop having its regular check up - very overdue - so I'm using my Viking 100 this week.  It doesn't have any bells or whistles, and I had to re-learn a few things, like how to wind the bobbin.  But it does a fine job going in a straight line.  I'll wait for the Elna's return before machine quilting anything.  One thing the Viking does better than the Elna is zigzag, so I'm hoping to make a coiled rope hotpad later today.

Mostly, I've been busy with Christmas.  I sold a Christmas stocking via etsy, so popped that into the mail.   They do seem to sell, so I'll have to make a few more for next year.  Seven family packages to the Netherlands and places in the US have been shopped for, wrapped, and mailed.  Phew!  We have one more package to mail to Alabama, but now I can concentrate on Christmas cards and then gifts for Paul and Chris.  For neighbors and friends, I have a case of homemade jam to distribute here and there.

Thanksgiving this year will be lowkey with just the three of us, some filet mignon with trimmings, and pound cake with sorbet.  I'm going to try to concentrate on vegetables during the holidays, starting with a lovely squash Chris' boss gave us.  I'll add some maple syrup and a little butter after baking and mashing.  Whatever's left will become a nice soup after Thursday.  Even though I love to try new cookie recipes during the holidays, I'll try not to make too many.  We'll see how it (my willpower) goes.  Have a happy Thanksgiving, all!

Another top ready to quilt

This Double Churn Dash quilt top was pretty easy to put together - the blocks measure 20" and there are only 9 of them.  A 10th one is going on the back.  I didn't like them before I put them together, but the secondary design made where the half-square triangles form a square in a square makes me like it a lot better.  I will piece the back tomorrow and then put it in the closet for a few weeks before quilting.  I will quilt it myself once my Elna returns from its annual check up.  I think I have plenty of navy blue for the binding, so I'll probably get that ready tomorrow, too.  

It's been pretty cold today - 6 degrees when we got up and 21 at mid-afternoon - so indoor projects are best.  I might do a little Christmas shopping tomorrow as I like to get my packages ready to send by Thanksgiving, particularly the one for the Netherlands.  Once those are all mailed (I have 7, I think), I'll start on our Christmas letter.   How did the holidays creep up on us so quickly??

Finishing frenzy

Winter is truly here now with the snow we got Monday/Tuesday and bitter cold temperatures that accompanied it.  But as long as we have heat and electricity, I am happy to be stuck at home.   I finished a quilt top and a rather complex (for me) purse over the last few days.

First, the purse.  It required a few trips to Joann Fabrics prior to the snow days because I needed large pieces of fusible fleece, fusible interfacing, hardware, and longer red zippers than I had on hand.  I also bought a bunch of Minnie Mouse fabric via etsy.  I rarely buy novelty fabrics, but my Dutch niece Susan is worth it.  She loves all things Disney and just got back from her honeymoon at Disney World.  The Lazy Girl "Lexi" pattern works well if you follow the directions carefully (this took me 8 hours to make).   It was still a pain to turn right side out, but the result is a solid bag with lots of pockets and room inside with pink Minnie fabric.  This is the back, and the front features an outside zippered pocket.  

I had thought to make my mom a similar bag, but out of an Indonesian batik - I'll wait til after Christmas to work on that.

This fall I participated in the NQC (National Quilting Center?) Happy Block swap, a one-on-one swap.  Linda from Florida was my partner, and every week for four weeks we would each make two of the same blocks and mail them to each other.  I chose a red, white, and black colorway while she chose pink, light green, and cream.  We each ended up with nine 15" quilt blocks (actually, she made me an extra that will go on the back).  The last week was a bonus week during which we made a 9th block.  My top is now finished, using a "circle of nines" setting.

Most people set their blocks with sashing and cornerstones, but I wanted a little larger top.  Mine is 65" x 65" which is a nice size for a throw.   I will use Linda's extra block on the back which will most likely be scrappy.

I sold a scrappy Christmas stocking via etsy and am now sorry I didn't make more.  Well, there's always next year.  On to the next UFO!

Winter is definitely here

As you can see, there's snow on the ground today.  There was more yesterday, but luckily it melted.  More is predicted for tomorrow night into Tuesday.  We did a few leftover fall chores this morning = putting the grill on the back porch with its covers, moving my flipflops off the porch and into the house, putting up the bird feeder holders.  We won't fill the feeders until we're sure the bears are asleep - around Dec. 1.  

This was the last day we could go to our "secret" spot (by the elementary school soccer fields) to gather some bittersweet.  It's up a steep hill, but we managed to get enough for me to add to some greens and put into an old maple syrup bucket.  I'll put a bow around the bucket when it's closer to Christmas, IF it is still intact.  Right now it serves as a pop of color in a darker time.  I'm OK with the time change in the mornings because it's lighter sooner, but sure gets dark early these days.

The Genealogy Fair

Our local genealogy group (it's a club, but it sounds more serious to use "group") held a fair yesterday.  As coordinator of the group, I coordinated the event as well, and our local historical society co-sponsored.  They upgraded their WiFi and let us use the historic building for free, both very important elements.  We had tables set up by country of origin (German, English, Irish, French/French-Canadian) and special interest (Jewish, Enslaved/slave holding, Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org).   

I filled in for a man who had a death in the family at the Family Search table where I was kept quite busy.  I helped a young woman find her grandmother's maiden name so that she could go further with her research.  I had a long chat with a lady who had been adopted and hoped to find relatives via DNA.  And an older lady who had some detailed questions about her Italian ancestors turned out to be the sister of our neighbor, four doors down.  It's always a good feeling to help people, even just a little bit.

Some statewide organizations had literature tables with representatives, there were some displays from members, and we had a kids' table.  I would say 15 of our members helped out and 35 people attended, which is five more than the 30 I said would make it a success.   During clean up, people were saying they'd like to do it again, but, for me, every few years would be just fine.  I will need to delegate more of the prep work next time!  I was tired but happy when I got home, so we had chicken pot pies and applesauce for dinner, my go-to comfort food after a long day. 

A fall sunset

As we were leaving for a library program last night, I happened to notice the setting sun and the oak tree across the street.  I wish I could have caught the whole panorama with a view of the mountains, but this tree deserved to be the focal point.   Most of our leaves have fallen due to rain and wind last week, but there are still occasional pretty leaves to be seen.  We plan to take Paul's brother Jim up the Grand Lookout trail on Sunday and hope there'll still be some visible there.

My Small World

I showed My Small World at both the state and Heart of Vermont guild meetings this past week.  It won first place at the state guild meeting, although it wasn't competing with too many there.  I am still happy with the way it turned out and, if the sun ever comes out, will take a few better photos.

One friend, who spent a lot of time making Gypsy Wife recognized it as a Jen Kingwell pattern.  I love her patterns but they are complex and my Long Time Gone quilt making has come to a temporary halt.  The next block is a 12" "Trip Around the World" with lots of 1" squares.  I need to be in the proper mood for that!  Maybe this weekend when the sun returns.  Yesterday's rain and wind blew down most of the leaves which were looking very pretty.  "Stick season" begins!

Happy blocks

I've been working on a block of the week sponsored by the National Quilting Circle, and this is the fourth week.  This coming Friday we'll get the last set of instructions for the "bonus" block.  Each Friday, there are two blocks' instructions given, and we make two of one and send the second block to a partner who is making slightly different blocks.  Linda chose a pink, green, and white colorway, while I chose a red, black and white one.  Here are my blocks so far.

It's going to be a nice quilt!  I hope to get Linda's block done today so I can mail it tomorrow along with her blocks from another swap.  I paired up with Linda in Florida because I know she is always on time and does great work.  Meeting deadlines is probably left over from work for me, as I seemed always to be meeting one.  You wouldn't think a librarian would have so many, but I was a state bureaucrat, too.

My wall hanging My Small World (need to take a photo of the finished quilt) won first place in Show and Tell at Saturday's state quilt guild meeting.  One of our speakers was 88 years old and showed two beautifully hand quilted traditional quilts.  The other was a young woman who belongs to the Modern Quilt Guild.  Her quilts were great, too, and I loved this one.

Sorry about the light - it was right in front of a window and there was a crowd in the way.  It's a bit like a stack n whack, but, as she called it, with an alternate setting.  Lovely colors.

A rainy day

It was a very gloomy, rainy day yesterday.  So gloomy that we had to turn on lights whenever we moved into another room.  I sewed another Long Time Gone quilt block in the morning while also making some bread.  I used leftover mashed potatoes and the usual white bread ingredients in my bread machine to mix and knead and for the first rise.  Then I removed it from the machine, shaped, rose, and baked it in the oven.  I find I can control the rise better so that the bread doesn't  collapse during baking in the machine.

I've also found I can bake two smaller loaves by using the large loaf cycle.   If I were to try to bake this size in the machine, it most likely would touch the "roof" of the machine.   One of the loaves has gone into the freezer but probably will come out in a few days.  I do like making bread although I notice that our consumption of butter rises proportionately!  It made a great turkey sandwich and should toast up well.

Long Time Gone

I started working on my blocks for the "Long Time Gone" quilt, designed by Jen Kingwell.  She's the Australian who designed "My Small World" which I finished binding last week and "Gypsy Wife" which a few friends have made.

So far, the blocks are not that hard to do, and all of them are machine pieced.  I am using darker blues and beiges, some of which I received in a birthday fat quarter swap.  I'm mixing Civil War reproductions with various other pieces in my stash.  I like the way they look so far, but I have a long way to go.

There is a specific layout for the blocks even though it is a sampler.   I'll see if I like it when I get to that point.  As usual, Kingwell's pattern is a booklet, not a couple of sheets of paper.  :-)

Happy blocks

I joined a short one-on-one swap a couple of weeks ago, and its block-of-the-week pace is just right.  I make one block in my colorway (red, white, black) and the other in Linda's colorway (pink, green, white).  I mail Linda's block to her.  Meanwhile, Linda is making slightly different blocks for herself and me in our colorways and mailing my blocks to me.  Here are my first two weeks' blocks (Linda's have gone in the mail already).

They finish at 15" so are fairly easy to make, and this swap, free and sponsored by the National Quilting Council (?), only goes on for five weeks.  We have blocks of the week to make for ourselves and our partners for four weeks, and the last week we receive a pattern for a fifth block.    We end up with 9 blocks for a finished center that measures 45" x 45".  Of course, it can be enlarged with sashing and borders, which I will probably add to get it up to a lap size.

Forest walks

I haven't posted many pictures of our weekly forest walks this year, mainly because they are a bit repetitious.  How many photos of a small group of walkers do we need to see?  Tuesday morning walks started in June, and there are only two weeks left before I hang up my boots for another year.  We have two new "regulars" this year - Nancy and Bruce - and some drop outs from previous years.  I especially miss Lois who moved to NC to be closer to family.  She especially loved the walk to the Empire Lookout, mainly because six years ago we could still see her old house from up there.  Now the trees have grown and hidden it.  At any rate, I always think of that route as "Lois' walk."

Last week I led a small group of college kids and two adults on a short walk.  It was a beautiful day.  Two of the kids were from out of state (CT and NJ) while the other five were from Vermont.  Before lunch at the forest, they had toured the active Rock of Ages quarry, but they had not had time to watch the video at the Visitor's Center.  

Starting at the kiosk with its map, I told a little about the history of granite quarrying in Barre (I do take horrendous pictures!).  They were very attentive and seemed to enjoy themselves.  Their instructor said that they came to explore “what is the ‘social imagination’” — i.e. what are the things we (humans) do to evolve our ideas to fruition? Friday, September 6, we found ourselves immersed in nature and it felt like a trance — even students who were reluctant to hike were snapping great group photos and taking selfies.  The walk was persuasive and put us all in a good mood. 

After the walk, they were heading to Bragg Farm by way of Hope Cemetery.  The VT kids told the out-of-staters that they had not really experienced Vermont until they had had a maple creemee (soft ice cream).

Insul-brite

Every year, I make little gifts for the library staff to give them at the Friends and trustees' annual appreciation dinner before Christmas.  Gifts have included mug rugs, key fobs, and more.  This year I've made small jars of jam and potholders.  The latter are very scrappy, using orphan blocks and fabric from stash.  Last weekend, I put together 15 8" blocks and 10" backs and, yesterday, quilted most of them together.  I also made a large poinsettia hotpad to sell in my etsy shop.

Unfortunately, I only had enough insul-brite to finish off 12 potholders.   So yesterday I headed off to Joann Fabrics for more.  Much to my disgust, they no longer carry any Warm Company products, including Warm & Natural batting and Insul-brite.  The clerks in the store are very dismayed about this; customers regularly complain.  I didn't want to try the Pellon alternative they carry - some sort of gray insulated fleece.  I don't want some of the potholders to look different, and how will that stuff quilt?

My order from Amazon.com will be here in a few days, luckily, and meanwhile I have plenty of cotton batting, both Pellon and Quilters Dream, to work on other projects while I wait.  Hope to get My Small World sandwiched this afternoon, after I make banana bread.

Fall items finished

The other day when I was in the flower shop showing friends two quilts I have on sale there, the florist asked me when I'm going to bring some fall table runners to her to sell for me.  She said people have been asking for them as they buy chrysanthemums.  Today I finished one and will take it down either later this afternoon or tomorrow morning.  Here it is, front and back.

I love the print, which includes sprays of fall leaves, berries, and acorns in blues, salmon, and bronze.  Luckily, I have some left for other projects.  

 I'm taking a green table runner to the florist's as well as a small quilt that can be a table topper or wallhanging.  Its fall colors are certainly varied and should go with any chrysanthemum.

Here's a closeup of the quilting, done with my domestic machine:

While I haven't been posting much, I have been heating up my machine!  Knocking a few items off my UFO list.

September already?

Happy September!  It's amazing how fast it crept up on us.  The nights have been cooler and I see some leaves turning just a little bit.  I have had to wear a sweatshirt in the forest and shoes with toes a lot.  I still have UFOs that I wanted to finish this summer, but I guess I will just keep plodding along.  I am almost finished with the curved flying geese quilt - just a little quilting and the binding left to do.  Then I will most likely make another table runner and get the three I have down to the florist's shop for sale.   

I was a little under the weather yesterday so spent a lot of time snoozing and finishing Prairie Fires by Caroline Fraser.  It was looooong but very extensively researched.  Laura Ingalls Wilder lived a very typical frontier life, and her books were my favorites growing up.  I had heard rumors that her daughter actually ghost wrote them, but it seems she only edited them, adding pizzazz to the writing.  Much of the book is about Rose, who was not the easiest person to get along with.  She wrote yellow journalism, fictionalized biographies that she passed off as true, and potboilers.  Yet she made her mother's books come alive.  Still, I'm happy to move on.  The book was 600 pages long (I read the Kindle version), with photos and many footnotes.  I'm looking forward to dipping into A Better Man, Louise Penny's latest.

Peach Melba jam

I love peaches, and I try to freeze some and use them in various other ways while in season.  This morning, I made raspberry-peach jam.  The little jars are to use as gifts while the pint ones are for Paul to put on his toast in the mornings.  I don't eat it as often, but I do love it on fresh, homemade bread.

I have a stash of small jars of strawberry-rhubarb jam also, and plan to make some potholders to go with the jams.  There are 13 or 14 people on the staff so one case of small jars isn't enough.  Every year the Friends of the Library and board of trustees hold a holiday party for the library staff, and I like to give each staff member a little something.  The rest of the jams will go to friends and neighbors, and it makes me feel good, getting a jump on the holidays.

I have been plugging away at a biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder (Prairie Fires by Caroline Fraser) and am anxious to finish.  Growing up, the Little House books were my favorite, and I have a complete set that I treasure.  This biography won the Pulitzer Prize a few years ago and is very extensive.  It also covers the life of Laura's daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, who is supposed to have encouraged her mother's writing.  Or was she the ghostwriter?  I still don't know yet, but I am finding not much to like about Rose so far.  I'm anxious to finish because the new Louise Penny book is waiting in the queue.

Flying geese

In June, I took a class in curved flying geese at the Vermont Quilt Festival.  I don't like to follow patterns or buy specialty rulers, but I was intrigued by the wonky curves.  Today I finished putting the little (43" x 43") top in fall colors together.  It has a modern feel about it, so I don't think I'll add any borders, but will bind it in the grayish brown.  The big question is... how to quilt it?

I like using the mini curve ruler.  This particular pattern involved a lot of chopping off to achieve the shapes, but I can use the ruler to make a traditional Drunkard's Path.  Will give that a try soon.

Rocky Mtn. Quilt Museum

Over our vacation in Golden, Colorado, we made our usual pilgrimage to the RMQM, which has moved several times since it was founded.  It's now in a better space for exhibits, but I miss its downtown location.  The gift shop is very nice, and there is room for two exhibits at once.  I loved the display of miniature quilts.  What workmanship, all by the same woman!

I would love to make each of these - 12" square or thereabouts.

The quilts in the main room were all on the theme of "Evolution," although in some cases I really didn't understand how the quilts fit with that theme.  Still, here are my favorites.

This last one reads "Don't let people you despise live rent-free in your head."  Words to live by!

August 24 already!

We have had a really nice summer, despite our gripes about warm and humid weather.   What a surprise to find that school starts on Monday.

We've been pretty busy and just got back from a week in Colorado, visiting Mom and Jenny.  My brothers Rob (NJ) and Axel (WI) were also there as we celebrated summer birthdays, including Axel's 65th.  We went to a very interesting exhibit about Leonardo da Vinci at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.  Leonardo kept many notebooks of drawings and ideas for gadgets large and small.  Some engineers made scale models of some of them - a bicycle, a couple of airplanes, an odometer, bridges, tanks, etc.  Fascinating exhibits, along with a room devoted to the Mona Lisa and an area that reviewed The Last Supper.

We ate well, including birthday desserts, rode the train downtown for lunch, went to the movies (Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood - bloody so not my favorite), and went to the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum.  More on that tomorrow when I get the photos uploaded.

Table runners

A few years ago, I made a very cute table runner with 4" free-form trees.  A friend bought it at a craft show, and I was thinking of borrowing it back so I could see how I made it.  But I found the pattern and decided to make the trees 8" this time.  They are really quite easy, so I made two to sell.  One will go down to the local florist's shop and the other on my etsy shop.  I particularly like this table runner which I quilted in an all-over wave and backed in polka dots.  I will probably make another Christmas table runner (stars?) to take down to the florist's, but it will have to wait until we return from Colorado.

Meanwhile, I'm back working on the piece I started in the class I took in June.  I don't really like to buy specialty rulers, but the Quick Curve Ruler seemed a bit more useful than some.  I can cut curvy leaves and Drunkard's Path pieces with it.   The class was a half day one, so we only made and put together four of the flying geese, which will be horizontal.  I have a huge stack of pieces to sew, but I find they go fairly easily with my 1/4" piecing foot.  They get cut a few times, once to square up and once to look wonky.  Below is a photo from the book.  I'm using fall colors with brown rectangles for mine.

In between sewing, I'm doing laundry and babysitting my sourdough culture which I refreshed twice yesterday and have added to this morning.  If all goes well, I'll bake a loaf of bread later today.  

Logo block

I finished up the state quilt guild logo block this morning.  I like the way it looks even though the "mountains" are a little smaller than the original.  It measures 12.5" now, and the original is about 16."

I had a heck of a time designing them and finally ended up making the top half of a basket block.  The fabric was three pieces of hand-dyed Ricky Tims fabric, with the lighter one a mix of pastels.  I did a little selective cutting there.  Now, what should I do next?  I haven't a clue, so will keep looking at it on my design wall until inspiration hits.

Bring on the cookies!

I have looked at a lot of cookie jars over the years but didn't find one that suited me until I checked Ebay recently.  This arrived just the other day and has found a nice spot on our counter.

It isn't airtight, but will work fine with plastic bags holding the cookies.  In fact, I have a container of Dutch cookies from the Dutch Deli in there right now.  

I've been busy with this and that in the sewing room but just haven't had a chance to take any pictures lately.  Yesterday and today, I worked on a block that is the logo for the state quilt guild.  I am hoping to encourage a challenge centered around it for the guild in 2020 and thought I ought to give duplicating it a try.  It was designed in 1984.  I found a paper pieced center on Quilters Cache - it's called Vermont 2, but the Delectable Mountains border had me really stumped.

Here's the banner that we hang on the podium at meetings.  It has four colors - green, brown, beige, and cream.  I don't like brown, so I substituted purple for brown in the center and the "mountains."  The fabric around the mountains is aqua.  Will take a picture tomorrow when I get all the pieces together.  

Blueberry time

I made my annual blueberry pie yesterday, and Paul declared it the best ever.  In searching for the photo, I noticed I have one saved from last year, too.  So maybe he's right?  

Sunday was a lovely day for berry picking.  We drove to Karen's house where Chris had recently weed whacked the back yard so that people can get to the berry patch.  These are mature bushes full of berries.  With more sun now, they will probably ripen faster.  There were a lot of giant hogweed (a/k/a giant cow parsley) plants to contend with, so we were careful while picking.   

Karen broke her leg while visiting the Netherlands a few weeks ago, so she is pretty much homebound.  We were glad to pick some for her and for us, leaving the rest for more of her friends and neighbors.  I had brought a lunch of quiche, zucchini bread, and watermelon, and we had a great time catching up.   

Honeycomb top almost finished

It's been really hot and humid lately so I've either been reading in front of the fan or sewing with the AC on.  The honeycomb quilt top is almost finished.  It just needs a thin border around the piano keys border, and then I'll set it aside for a while.  I have the binding all ready to go whenever I get around to quilting it.  The size is about 55" x 60", so a nice throw.  I like the way it turned out.

Now there are two smaller quilts waiting to be quilted, a large quilt to be bound, and two table runners to be bound.  But I want to get busy and make a tote bag for Diane who will be retiring from her job at the historical society at the end of the month.  She has been a good "boss" to us volunteers.

Meanwhile, my birthday came and went, and it was a nice day.  I opened all the fat quarters from my international swap group, and put them aside with some other blues and beiges for a future quilt.  I'm thinking of Jen Kingwell's "Long Time Gone," but we'll wait and see!

My sister Jenny gave me an adorable soft sculpture.  I hope you can see the three batik stuffed birds sitting on a real branch.

The table cloth sort of hides it.  But I love it and plan to take it to my September guild meeting for show and tell.  I will move it around the house until I settle on a spot.

Still busy in the quilting room

First it was hot, then today it's rainy.  Both conditions are perfect for quilting.  There's AC if I need it, and lots of scraps to keep me busy.  Here are the two table runners I finished a few days ago:

Last year I participated in a swap of Missouri Star squares.  I made a few extra in case I needed them to make a bigger quilt.  One swap block went really well with the fall colored squares and another (from my local guild swap) went with the green ones.  The green table runner has Christmas fabric on the back so it can be used for the holidays (if the person likes not-quite-lime for the season).  Since finishing those, I made a bunch of modern Christmas trees that became table runners, but I'm waiting for fabric to come from etsy for the binding.  Then I'll take photos of those.  I plan to try to sell a few on my etsy shop and a few at the local flower/gift shop.

Meanwhile, I've been mining the depths of my string basket for a little bit of a longer term project.  The pattern, Honeycomb, is by Karen Griska who will be speaking at the state quilt guild in May.  I love her scrappy and her selvage quilts, so I look forward to meeting her.

My honeycombs look more like wheels, and I'm planning to make my quilt with just eight of them (they measure about 15").  My selection of strings just isn't big or varied enough to make the full sized quilt.   Not sure I'll make the same border, either.  I was thinking of a piano-keys or a rail fence border made with light strings instead.   I want to get the top done before the fall state guild meeting so that I can get everyone excited about Karen's coming.

So far, I have parts of six wheels ready to put together, but I'm waiting until I have them all so that I can shuffle the pieces around.  I've never used paper plates to separate parts of a quilt before, but I'm finding them very handy with this quilt.

Busy in the quilting room

I am enjoying making smaller items.  They finish up so quickly.  I am working my way through 30 blocks I received in a swap and, although I probably won't use them all right away, I am making a dent in the pile.  Yesterday I finished a table runner and a baby quilt to sell, either on etsy or at the local florist/gift shop where I have two quilts on display.

The table runner is reversible, using one block I made and two pineapple swap blocks, as well as a quick double nine patch back like the baby quilt I made last week.  That scrappy star block, from Eleanor Burns' website, is a favorite of mine.  Maybe I'll make a bunch next year if there's a RSC20?  I found the green binding in my stash of scrap bindings and just added about a foot of scrap to it.
 

The baby quilt is just nine blocks.  I cut up a "ten minute block" from the swap and surrounded two parts with teal fabric to end up similar to the ones surrounded by peach and light purple.  I used the same teal for the binding, and the back is a cozy flannel.  I made 16 of those Dutchman's Puzzle blocks for the swap and kept one for myself.   Quilting was fairly easy and straight-forward, and it makes a nice quilt for a newborn.  

Today I'll take a picture of another couple of table runners once I finish one I pin basted yesterday.  It's going to be hot the next few days, so I'll be in my quilting room with the AC running.