Brick House, etc.

For this year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge, I'll continue making scrappy 6" pineapple blocks each month with the hope that I can have enough blocks by the end of the year to make a decently sized quilt.  I took a month off in December, but I'm looking forward to getting back to these blocks in the new year.

I'm also determined to make a quilt featuring a variety of house blocks.  I have several patterns and books to choose from and a whole lot of scraps.  The first block of the year is called Brick House and I found it on the Fat Quarter Shop's website.  I don't know what the RSC color for January will be yet, but I thought I'd make one in green to see if I like the pattern.  And I do!  It measures 12" x 13".

I'll use a variety of backgrounds and try to make this a stash buster.  I will probably vary the orientation of the houses now and then to keep it interesting.

I also started working on Bonnie Hunter's Unity medallion quilt yesterday.  It's going to be a section a month sew along with some members of my local guild.  I have changed the colors a little, removing red and adding a bright yellow to navy blue and light blue.  Hoping to bust a little more stash with this one.   Feeling energized!

Suddenly, sun!

This morning we received a call from our next door neighbor (so lucky to have them!), telling us there were covid test kits being given out from a pick up truck at the mall.  We hopped in the car, drove around the parking lot at the mall, and didn't see said truck.  Paul went inside and, sure enough, there were some kits being given away at the vaccination clinic there.   They told him they were going fast, but he managed to snag a couple of kits.  We feel more prepared now.

When we got home, the sun decided to shine, just for a little bit.  Enough so I could go out into the snowy backyard while Paul stood on the porch with the quilts.  Here's Harriet's Journey.   Because it measures 78" x 78", it was too large for his "wingspan," but you get the idea.  The blocks were 6", mostly made of Moda's Moody Bloom fabrics.  I love the soft colors which fit the Jennifer Chiaverini pattern so well.

Here's a closeup.

We also managed to get some pictures of the Scrappy Big Block Sampler, which measures 74" x 74".  I don't have a preference for square quilts.  These just turned out that way.

And a few closeups.

It's a happy quilt which will probably go to "Bags of Love" for kids in foster care.

Down to the wire

With year's end approaching, I did finish two more quilts in the last few days - Harriet's Journey and the scrappy big block sampler.  Both turned out great.  Harriet's Journey was long arm quilted by my friend Marie in a floral pattern, and I quilted the other sampler myself in sections using my trusty Elna.  Both bindings were sewn by machine.  

Unfortunately, it's been too gloomy to take pictures.  We've had the living room lights on for days.  And there is no sun in the forecast!  It's been warmer here lately which usually is a sign that it's going to snow.  Luckily, we haven't had a whole lot, but the weekend sounds a bit promising (or ominous, depending on your point of view).   If the sun ever comes out, I'll get Paul to hold the quilts while I stand in the snow to take some pictures.

Meanwhile, what to do next?  I made some miscellaneous blocks the other day but think I'll start working on the Bonnie Hunter Unity quilt which I'm doing as a quilt along with my friend Joanne.

This is Laurie's quilt in greens, blue and yellow.  It inspired us to organize the quilt along with other guild members.  We'll do a section every month.

The original is red, dark blue and aqua.  I have chosen bright yellow, navy, and light blue with scrappy background fabrics.  I'm anxious to start because the center looks intimidating with all those chevrons.  The last time I made a quilt using chevrons - for another Hunter mystery - I made them too small and had to make 100 more to fit!  I will try not to repeat that mistake again.

I'll be making a special, Indonesian dinner for New Year's Eve, and hope to Zoom with Mom and sister Jenny over the weekend.  Best wishes for a very happy New Year!  

Winter's beauty

 

This was the view from our garage yesterday at 7:00 am, when it was about two degrees out.   Today's the first official day of winter, but here in Vermont we've been having winter since at least Thanksgiving.  The bird feeders have been out since Dec. 1 because the bears are asleep (we hope).  The second quilt on the bed keeps us cozy.    

"The most wonderful time of the year"

I spent much of the weekend baking, and now we have a mountain of cookies waiting to be enjoyed and/or given away.

Karen's ginger cookies are a must in our household each year, and I also tried new recipes for shortbread and congo squares.  I have had Mary's congo squares quite a bit and love them.  The ones I made are a little softer than hers (perhaps because I used butter?), but still delish.  

The shortbread... not so much.  While they taste fine, they all flattened out as I baked them.  My friend Diane stopped by with some cookies for us, and she said the same thing happened to one of her batches.  It's nice to get a little sympathy!

Saturday it started snowing around 2 pm, and by the time we woke up Sunday, we'd had 6" of fluffy stuff.   True to Vermont form, the roads were cleaned up by lunchtime, enough so we could walk over to Mary and Manny's for a visit in the afternoon.   Their Christmas tree is very pretty, and I noticed a star ornament I made them a year or so ago.  

This morning, the temperature was 1.6 degrees.  I doubt if we'll walk anywhere today.  The roads need a little warmth and sun to dry out.  That's OK - I still have one section of the sampler quilt to add as well as borders.  

Steadily working

 

Wish I could say I have finished something in the last few days, but nope!  Not happening!   It's been a busy week.  Tuesday, I made two batches of Chex Mix which I divided for gifts (kept just a little for me and Paul).   I did a bit of reading in between stirring every 15 minutes while it all baked.  I'll bake some cookies over the weekend and will put some in the freezer for after the holidays.

Wednesday, I helped set up and clean up a luncheon for the library staff.  Everyone seemed to enjoy it, including the bowl cozies and soup mix in a jar I'd made them.  One person reminded me that one year I gave everyone Christmas socks - she had just worn hers the previous day.  I am glad the Friends of the Library can do something like this each year for the staff who have been working super hard to keep service going.

In between holiday stuff, I've been putting the quilted blocks of the "big block sampler" (for lack of a decent name) together.  After I quilted each of the four strips, I have been putting them together, one at a time, hand sewing the back seams and then machine quilting the sashing between the sections.  Fitting the sections together is a bit tricky but looks good in the end.  Cornerstones are essential to keeping it all square.

Above is my favorite block in the quilt because it used so many 2.5" squares and some of my stash of half-square triangles, too.   I enjoyed quilting each block separately, even the appliqued one.  Each block finishes at 16".  It feels good to end the year with a very scrappy quilt.  After I get the sections together and cream borders on, I'll decide about a final border - scrappy, strings, plain?  I'll wait and let the quilt "talk" to me about what it wants.

Unity quilt along

Joanne and I are running a quilt along in 2022 using Bonnie Hunter's "Unity" medallion quilt pattern for our local guild.   We both missed making it last winter and were re-inspired when we saw another guild member's finished quilt this fall.  I love scrappy medallion quilts.  I have been gathering fabric for this quilt this month.  The original colors are red, blue, and aqua, but I'm using bright yellow, dark blue, and light blue since I have a lot of blues in my stash and want to use more yellow in my quilts.   I have a full project box of neutrals collected, too.  

I can't wait to begin work on those dreaded chevrons in the center, so I probably will get a head start in a week or so, after I finish quilting the big block quilt (which needs a name!) and binding Harriet's Journey.  For 2022, I plan to continue making four 6" pineapple blocks each month, making some 12" blocks in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and making the guild blocks of the month.  I hope to finish a little quilt with elephant blocks on a black background, too.   

Meanwhile, this week has been a busy one and the coming week promises more of the same.  This week we've had two sets of guests visit for lunch, and today there will a third.  The extra leaf is out on the dining room table.  Wednesday I'll be helping set up and take down a luncheon for the library staff put on by the Friends of the Library.  Due to COVID, we won't be having our traditional holiday gathering, but we don't want the year to go by without recognizing all they are doing.  

Creepy Santa

 

I've had this Santa since I was five or six.  When new, it had a light inside, but that is long gone.  We get him out every year despite his rather creepy appearance.  Sometimes he sits on a shelf; sometimes on the mantle; sometimes on the back of the toilet; and now it resides at the top of our Christmas "tree." 

A few years ago, Chris made a "tree" to hold the Christmas village we've had since he was a baby.  My parents sent the first two houses and then sent one or two every year for a while.  We had outgrown the small table and then the window seat that we had it on, and I was tired of putting up the conventional tree.  This new set up works well for us.   We can still put presents underneath, it has lights to brighten our evenings, there are no needles to drop, and I could actually buy a few more houses on eBay.  A total win!

Chris brought it up from the basement on Wednesday, and we set up the houses.  He used to scatter small Star Wars figures throughout, but this year only Yoda is visible (I haven't found him yet).

 This picture is rather dark because the village is set up in front of our double glass doors.  I have a few plants on a table behind it, including an orchid that, miraculously, keeps blooming.  We enjoy having more light in the late afternoon and early evening these days.  Paul reminded me that the days won't start getting longer again until after the 21st.  It sometimes gets dark enough to turn on the living room lights at 3 pm these days, yet there is a nice reflection from the snow on sunny days.

I finished sending out Christmas letters yesterday, have wrapped everything that needs it, and am cleaning the oven today in preparation for a bake-a-thon.  Actually, I don't bake a lot for Christmas, but I do like a few sweets and a lot of Chex Mix.  Much of it goes out the door, though.

Today I'll finish putting the 16" blocks together in strips for quilting and hope to start quilting the first section.  While I'm quilting, I'll think about whether it needs a border and what one might look like.  Right now, with 1.5" sashing and borders, it will measure 71", getting close to twin size.

Holiday stuff

 I wrapped what I hope is my last package for Christmas this morning.  Almost everything is sitting on the treadmill which we rarely use - it looks like a sleigh!  As soon as we get our Christmas village "tree" up, some of the items will move there, and the rest will go to the library for the staff appreciation lunch.

My last quilted Christmas gift of the year is this table runner from McCall's Quick and Easy Quilts, designed by Aby Dolinger.  It's made with various scraps and the outer border was from a fat quarter on the guild "free" table.  The back is a red fabric with dogs in Santa hats, very appropriate for the recipients, our dog-loving next door neighbors.  

Yesterday was a Sew Day due to snow, strong winds, and chilly temperatures.  Today we have a beautiful blue sky, but it was six degrees when we woke up.  This calls for indoor activities today:  working on Christmas letters, perhaps balancing my check book, and some hand applique.  

Favorite books of 2021

It's Christmas letter time again, and I'll be busy with that this coming week, having already mailed ten letters across "the Pond."  I enjoy receiving holiday letters and hope the people who receive ours aren't too bored by them.  We really don't do a lot of exciting things during the year, but it is nice to touch base with old friends nonetheless.  

This year's missive includes a list of our favorite books since Paul has been reading up a storm on his new Kindle Paperwhite.  He started downloading from the library's website, and it seems he's read almost every biography they have.  I often use Book Bub to find free or reduced priced mysteries and other lighter reading, but I also spend the full price for books I just have to read as soon as they come out.

Here are some  of our favorites of 2021:

·       American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst – Jeffrey Toobin (Paul)

·       American Prometheus:  The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer – Kai Bird & Martin J. Sherwin (P)

·       Clark and Division – Naomi Hirahara (Marianne)

·       Grandma Gatewood’s Walk:  The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail – Ben Montgomery (M)

·       The Madness of Crowds – Louise Penny (M)

·       Mike Nichols:  A Life – Mark Harris (P)

·       State of Terror – Hillary Rodham Clinton & Louise Penny (both!)

I read the latest books in various series by authors such as Aaron Eskens, Paula McLain, Susan Elia McNeal, Charles Todd, Elly Griffiths, Jacqueline Winspear, and Spencer Quinn.  All were up to "standards," very enjoyable.  The Keeper of Lost Things, by Ruth Hogan, wasn't a mystery but stands out as well worth reading with its quirky characters.  It seems everyone is writing stories about bookstores lately, and my favorite in this sub-genre was Midnight in the Bright Ideas Bookstore, by Matthew J. Sullivan.  I hope my favorite authors, Robert Galbraith (J. K. Rowling's adult pseudonym) and Kelley Armstrong, will come up with gripping new stories in 2022 that feature my favorite characters, Cormoran Strike and Casey Duncan. 

Gift giving

I may be unusual in that I really enjoy the gift giving part of the holidays.  I pick up gifts for particular people all year long, and if I see something that more than one person might like, I pick up at least one and sometimes more for later.  I keep part of a drawer in my sewing room for just that purpose.   It's actually quite efficient because I can just pull something out, wrap it, and give it away at the proper time.  Somewhere in Sept. or Oct., I sit down and make a list of Christmas possibilities and purchases which I try to keep year after year.  One year when I didn't do this, I got my Mom the same book for Christmas and her birthday, so I now keep each year's lists on my phone to try to avoid that.

I know some people don't like to come up with ideas for gifts, but I find it a pleasant challenge.   My brother said once that I give the best gifts, and I guess that's because I do put some thought into it.  Upon receiving a gift from me one year, a friend complained that she "thought we weren't exchanging gifts this year."  I didn't expect anything in return for gifts I give; the gift giving is part of the holiday fun for me.   And some people are harder to shop/make for than others, that's for sure.

My family especially enjoys receiving books from me since they know that buying books for the libraries I've worked in has been one of the best things about being a librarian for me.   I still read book reviews although not as religiously as I used to.  I'm afraid Amazon receives the bulk of my family gift giving budget because our tiny local bookshop just doesn't have what I want when I want it.  

I don't spend a lot, and I especially like to make a lot of my Christmas gifts.  In Dutch we call these gifts "aardigheitjes," pleasant little things.   This year, the library staff will be receiving bowl cozies and a jar of soup mix (I found a great set of recipes online for various bean soups and more).   Other years I've made mug rugs, pot holders, key fobs, and other little things for them.  

I always give the letter carrier and the cleaning ladies something - it's often candy but sometimes something handmade, too.   Handmade items also go to my son's friend and his father, who are alone at Christmas now that his mother has passed away, and to some of our neighbors.  This is a somewhat close-knit, older neighborhood where we help and watch out for each other.   More "aardigheitjes," mostly handmade or consumable, are on tap for them.  Most people here are trying to downsize, and some hate to cook.  I just happen to enjoy making rolls, donuts, and breads, and love receiving cookies!

Holidays

 

The last two packages went in the mail yesterday, and now I can work on our Christmas letters.  I always mail the international ones first and even have a bunch of stamps ready to go.

I think I'm finished shopping for the guys, too, although I'll probably pick up some stocking stuffers here and there in the next few weeks.  Our Thanksgiving dinner is planned  - a small ham and all the "trimmings" (whatever those really are).  An apple pie made by the Presbyterian Church ladies is waiting for us in the freezer.  

Holiday gift sewing is all finished, too.  The basket is for some neighbors and will have candy and some homemade rolls in it.  The pattern came from McCall's Quick Quilts; untie the ribbons to store it flat.  The binding was the worst part of this little project.  I finished a table runner for another set of neighbors and hope to get a picture today.  It's been so gloomy lately - it's November, after all - that photo taking can be unreliable.

This promises to be a calmer week than last when I had meetings, Paul got his booster shot and needed to go to the optician to fix broken glasses, and there were quite a few other errands.  Today I'll have a pedicure with my friend Debb and hope to stop by the library to see all the Christmas trees being set up by various community groups.  It's a "Light Up the Library" fundraiser that we hope will become an annual event.  

Where does the week go?

Sunday, we woke up to a dusting of snow - what a reality check!  The rest of the week included snow flurries and showers, but today it's supposed to be sunny all morning.  November is not my favorite month - too gloomy!  It's been a busy week, with meetings and commitments, but I managed to get Christmas packages mailed, some projects finished, and more.

The quilt for Ken, my brother's friend, is finished and ready for mailing.  I'm pleased with the way it turned out.  Marie quilted it with a boxy modern all-over pattern, and I like the gray "grunge" in the setting.  The blocks were part of a quilt along called "Options," by Aby Dolinger.  This will be my final package to be mailed this season - now on to the Christmas letters/cards, with the international ones going in the mail first.

An electrician came Wednesday to install some outdoor lights on either side of our garage door.  We've been discussing this for the last ten years, so when our neighbors decided to have some installed, we got the same kind and used the same electrician.  The box says the LED lights should last 46 years. - wow!  I doubt if we'll be living here when the bulbs burn out, but we're really pleased with the way they turned out.

It has been almost two years since we saw our friends Bill and Diane who only live about 2 miles away.  The pandemic and various health issues have gotten in the way.  We were glad to host them for lunch on Tuesday and catch up a little bit.  I made a quiche and crudites; Diane brought sorbet and cider.  We hope to do it again sooner now that we are all vaccinated and well-quarantined.  

I finished a little fabric basket and am working on a table runner.  Both are for neighbors, so I have time.  I also swapped out the Halloween items I had for sale at the local florist/gift shop.  Now there are Christmas stockings and table runners on display there.  I also freshened up my etsy shop offerings with new items and better photos.  And there's more!   I'll post again soon.

Distracted by knitting

Some days, I just want to sit and knit instead of read or sew.  I made a few hats, scarves, and fingerless mitts this year and gave them to Bags of Love which puts together bags of necessities for children in foster care.  Their response was so positive that I started to work on a few more items.  I found a leftover skein of a soft acrylic yarn called "Bloom" and made a hat.  It will be sweet on a little girl.

I mentioned a few posts ago that I had been knitting a sweater for myself and really found it tedious.  Paul was shocked to see me unknitting almost an entire skein of light blue acrylic blend, but I just couldn't stand working on the difficult pattern any more.  I knew it would take years to finish, if ever! 

That same day, I started on a much easier scarf which I have been happily knitting on for the last week.  It's coming along great and is a nice thing to work on while watching TV.  The pattern is a lacy rib from a book of patterns.  It has just enough variation to keep me going, and it looks pretty on both sides.

I have been sewing a little bit, too.  I made four Christmassy pineapple blocks for my RSC box and have also been working on a small quilt using yoyos and scraps.  Our guild has a yard square challenge going on this year, and I plan to make something reversible.   I have plenty of time to figure this out since we won't be revealing til spring.

My Christmas package for the Netherlands is all ready to mail - I use M&Ms for packing and my Dutch sister uses Indonesian chips in return.  I'll take it to the post office tomorrow and also get a small box to mail to Cindy in California.  It's great to get this going early - almost like finishing a UFO!

More yoyos and the RSC

I still have a bunch of yoyos appliqued to black and white squares hanging around, after distributing quite a few at the state quilt guild meeting two weeks ago and making a small quilt for our president.  I had been considering arranging a few to resemble balloons with embroidered strings, but after I laid them out, they still looked like squares with yoyos attached.  I think they'll need to be cut into differently sized shapes in order to work together.

I still have a bag of 72 black and white squares with yoyos to turn into half of a small quilt.  Soni and Jan are making the other half.  That's a project I've set aside for a snowy day when I feel like sewing something mindlessly while watching the weather.  We have quite a few of those in January and February, cozy days when we don't go anywhere and have pancakes for lunch.

Meanwhile, I made a nine patch of some 5" yoyo squares and bordered it with various 2.5" scrappy squares.  Now the little quilt is 24.5" wide, and I'm at a bit of an impasse.  I think I'll add a small strip of bright blue as shown, followed by some scrappy log cabin blocks for the next border.   Adding more color always makes a scrappy quilt look better.

Meanwhile, I'm make some more pineapple blocks, this time out of my many Christmas scraps.   The 6" pineapples are a two-year RSC project, and I've been thinking of making a house-themed quilt for another RSC 22 project.  I have collected several patterns for house quilts and hope to combine variously sized blocks into one quilt made throughout the coming year.  

"State of Terror"

I tried to get a picture of the cover art for Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny's new book, State of Terror, but every website wouldn't let me steal it.  The link will have to do.  But the book itself is amazing!  I tried to stretch out my reading so I could savor it, as I do all of Louise Penny's books, but the story just kept me going to the end.  Paul read it in two days, but he reads a lot faster than me.  I get "distracted" by laundry, cooking, errands, quilting, knitting!  

The story centers around, Ellen Adams, the new US Secretary of State who takes over after the previous incompetent President is defeated.  She isn't wild about the new, liberal President and wonders why he appointed her.  Just weeks into the new regime, three buses are blown up in London, Paris, and Frankfurt, killing all the passengers and people in the area.  No group takes responsibility yet it has all the signs of international terrorism.  What's next?  The scene shifts among Ellen, her reporter son, her media director daughter, and the terrorists.  

Louise Penny's voice is very prominent in the writing style, so the suspense is as creepy as ever, building to an inevitable climax.  The characters are all very human although it is difficult, until the very end, to know who the good guys really are.  The former president, Eric Dunn (known to the press as Eric the Dumb), even makes a few appearances.  While the thriller genre is a bit of a departure for Penny, there are some bonus insider hints of  Inspector Gamache and the people of Three Pines, too.  It is a fast moving read, thought-provoking and highly recommended.  Best book of the year?

"Options" quilt top

It's finished!  Measuring 70" x 70", this scrappy block of the week was set on point with a 5" border all around.  I've really enjoyed making the Options blocks by Aby Dolinger this year.  Her directions are very clear, and three 8" blocks per month were fairly easy to do.  Each of the three was a variation on a basic block, and I only bought a little white to add to my black, red, and gray scraps.   Today's assignment will be to figure out a back, possibly by going to Joann's.  I just don't have enough of the Aboriginal fabric to piece into a back.  I do have dark gray fabric cut out for the binding, though.

Because I usually only machine quilt items 60" square or less, I'm going to take this to my friend Marie who is a whiz at long arming.  I hope it's ready to mail to Ken for Christmas as a thank you for all his help with my brother Axel's recovery from surgery.  

This week, I also made the guild block of the month - maple leaf - and set aside a box for those blocks with various scraps to go with a print background featuring burgundies, golds, and a hint of turquoise.   These are different colors than I usually use, and I'm looking forward to using them.  The guild is going to have a lottery each month, so I made a second block (on left) for that.

Meanwhile, it's almost Halloween, and I have candy but haven't yet decided whether to give out treats or not.  Last year, I  put a bowl out for kids to take as they wished.  They were quite good about not taking too much, or maybe we didn't have that many stop by.  Whole car loads full of people we don't know descend on our neighborhood on Halloween, causing a bit of a traffic jam.  Some people love seeing the kids in their costumes (not me, the Grinch! I'll be watching my favorite shows, Call the Midwife and Grantchester).  

Busy times

 

This is the quilt I took on Saturday for Show and Tell at the state quilt guild meeting.  Made up of leftover pieces of last fall's Bonnie Hunter mystery, I call it Vermont Spring because the bigger quilt ended up being called Green Mountain Spring.  At any rate, this quilt won first place in the state guild's virtual show, and for that I received an award at our first in-person meeting in two years.

We didn't have a huge turnout, but the program was excellent.  Roz Daniels, a friend and fellow guild member, told about her life as a quilter, from the 1970s with polyesters, through travels to exotic places, and now as an award-winning modern quilter.  I admire her creativity and approachability, and everyone seemed to enjoy seeing many of her interesting quilts.

Sunday, I got out my Options blocks of the month to see if I could put them together into a throw for a friend of my brother's who's been very helpful to him lately.  Ken has been driving Axel around to various doctor's appointments and helping him clean up his apartment - actually, it's with much-needed hoe out.  Why does a single guy need 46 water glasses?  Anyway, I started putting the blocks together on point and realized I didn't have nearly enough fabric. 

Of course, the quilt shop was closed Sunday and Monday, so I was chomping at the bit until yesterday when I found they are out of the fabric I was using for sashing.  So the whole setting is going to be more scrappy than I had planned.  I always have a lot of trouble figuring out the size of the setting triangles around the blocks in an on-point quilt.  Today I'll do the math and try to get everything cut out and start sewing.  I found some nice Aboriginal fabric in my stash for the back - hope I have enough.  

In between all this, I had my monthly pedicure/get together with my friend Debb, went to a Friends of the Library meeting, did laundry and some housecleaning, started knitting a hat while I decide if I'm going to continue with the very slow going sweater, and watched the rain pour down.  After a few days of gloom, we are hoping to see the sun some time today and finally get out for a walk or two.

Finished!

I put the last stitches into the border of Harriet's Journey on Monday, and it felt so good.  It's not a huge quilt, but the components took quite a bit of time.  I've been making 8 or so blocks a month since January, using Moda's "Moody Bloom" fabric with a few coordinating scraps here and there.   You can barely see the outer border, which is the dark, colorful print in that line that caught my eye first.  I started with a fat quarter bundle but added more along the way.

Each 6" block is a quilt in itself.  As is typical of Jennifer Chiaverini's patterns, the blocks are a mix of pieced, paper pieced, and applique.  That drunkard's path appeared pieced in her book, but I sewed it by hand because the pieces were so tiny.

I substituted a few blocks, like that courthouse steps block, when the suggested blocks of the month seemed too complicated.  The substitutions came from previous Chiaverini books as well as The Splendid Sampler, by Pat Sloan.  

I found some of the easiest looking blocks, like that pink and dark "wheel," were the hardest.  I really enjoyed making the interlocking chain block.  

I made the alternating setting blocks out of leftover scraps, thinking that would allow the individual blocks to stand out more than they would with the conventional sashing with cornerstones setting.  That means there are 121 blocks in this top, which only measures 78" x 78".  I plan to take it to my friend Marie who will do the longarm quilting, but I'm not sure when I'll get over to see her.  I'll need to buy some backing and batting also.

As usual, I took a day off from sewing yesterday.  I always need to take a mental break after finishing something this intense.   I still need to clean up the scraps and put everything away.  But I'm reading Hillary Clinton and Louise Penny's new book, State of Terror, and it's really getting good.  I'm not sure how much time I'll devote to quilting today.

Options and a sale

I forgot to show the three "Options" blocks for this month.  Aby Dolinger has designed a scrappy block of the month with variations, and I have made at least three blocks in a black/white/red colorway all year.  This month's blocks are "Birds in Flight," which is very appropriate.  We've heard lots of Canada geese honking away on our daily walks lately.  

I'm looking forward to putting these blocks together, although it won't be soon!  I am a little behind on my blocks of the month because I've been putting my Harriet's Journey blocks together.  Hope to get the center done today.  My pineapple blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge will just have to wait, and I'm sure I'll be doing them in 2022, too, in order to get a quilt of any size.

This morning, I received news from etsy.com that a small, fall tabletopper has sold, so I'll be packing it up and mailing it to Washington state.  

Fall colors aren't usually my thing, but I did like making these wonky flying geese with a gray-tan background.  It's Are We There Yet? from a book by Sew Kind of Wonderful and uses their mini-curve tool.  

I quilted it modern-style and am glad someone else will enjoy it.  The back is a blue sampler made with swap blocks, so it can be turned around or used as a baby quilt.  My first order of business today will be a trip to the post office.  It's a rainy, gloomy day, but it will be nice to get out of the house.  Maybe I'll stop by the bakery across the street for treats?

More blocks

Aside from those yoyos, I've been working on figuring out a layout for my Harriet's Journey blocks now that I have about 64 of them.  I'm running out of focus fabric and seem to have bought an endless amount of white background fabric so far.  

What I have is draped over a bed right now, but I hope to start putting the blocks together as soon as I make some more "cobblestone" blocks using scraps of the focus fabric to serve as spacers between the blocks.  I've decided on a layout of 13 by 13 with two borders so that I end up with a quilt measuring 82.5" x 82.5".  I hope I can stretch my available fabric out to make this work!  I may have to make a couple for HJ blocks, but that will be OK.  I also have some of that lovely pink and two yards of one of the dark prints for borders and, maybe, binding.   Stay tuned!

Awash in yoyos

A few years ago, the president of the state quilt guild asked if folks would like to join her in creating a yoyo quilt, possibly the biggest one ever, that could be displayed at the Vermont Quilt Festival.  People worked feverishly through that year 2018-19 to make yoyos and then to applique them onto black and white 5" squares.  There were a couple of sew-ins, too.  The resulting quilt would have been enormous, so she opted to make a king sized quilt (actually, 112" x 106") that could be displayed at the festival.  She thought that, later, it could be cut into four pieces and given to charity.

I am not into yoyos, but, good sport that I [usually] am, I appliqued some yoyos onto squares for her.  Any leftovers I gave back.  She is no longer the president, and I am the current secretary and live in her town.  The board thought it would nice to show the quilt at an upcoming meeting.   She delivered the giant quilt, two finished quilt tops, one top almost finished, and a huge shopping bag of squares a week or so ago.  I took the tops to a long arm quilter who works with the Dept. of Children and Families to supply "Bags of  Love" to kids in foster care.

But what to do with all those loose squares?  I took a few to my Saturday sewing group, and two people took some home to sew into strips for another top to go to Bags of Love.  I'll take the unfinished top to the October state guild meeting to see if I can recruit someone to put the strips together.  

Today I bagged up the squares, 12 to a baggie, to give away, too.  12 baggies will make another quilt top.  There were still some left overs, so I made a little 20" x 20" something - wall hanging? table topper? dresser scarf?   I'll quilt it soon and bind it in black.  

There are more white squares leftover, so they're in a bag of their own.  I have an idea for using those, too, but not for a while.   As I say, I'm not all that wild about yoyos!

Dresdens and other stuff

 

Right now, my favorite quilt block is the Dresden Plate, so when I volunteered to make the local guild's December block of the month, that's what I decided to make.   I wanted to have one last year when I did the blocks of the month lottery for guild, but all of those blocks were 6" so they could be mailed.  That size would have been way too fiddly for some of the beginners in the group.

Here is a finished one in Christmas colors, and then I also have an unfinished one in wintery colors so that I can demo how they come together.  I usually use my Darlene Zimmerman template for the 20 blades, but this pattern from the state guild newsletter has14 blades.  It works up into a 12" finished block.  I enjoy fussy cutting the centers, although I didn't do that with the blue one.  It will have a glitzy center.   

Now that I've made these, I wonder if I should make them for next year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge, but - oh no! - I told myself I was only going to make pineapple blocks.  I'd like to work on the exploding heart and strippy Vermont quilts in 2022.  And what about finishing the 16" block quilt?   Too many ideas, so little time!

Fall!

The fall colors are at their peak and, while the chicken pie suppers are now carry out only due to COVID, everyone is busy enjoying the season.   I made my annual apple pie last weekend, and our daily walks have been very nice, with new color showing every day.  It's foggy every morning but by mid-day it's sunny and bright.   My neighbor made this sweet arrangement between our garages.  We are lucky she takes care of our decor as I was nursing my summer flowers for as long as I could.  They are finally all gone today when I cleaned the garage, put away all the planters, and scrubbed the house where the flowers were touching.

I have been busy making Harriet's Journey and Options blocks of the month.   Here are the HJ blocks.

I made some substitutions to avoid tiny appliqued pieces.  I have 64 blocks made now and am pondering how I'll set them.  And should I continue with the blocks of the month project or choose a few more to make before I put them together?  I have bought several yards of one of the black prints, some pink, and some white.   It's probably overkill, but I'd rather have options and some leftover fabric after I make up my mind.

In case you aren't as lucky as we are right now, here's another fall in Vermont photo - this is Paul's sister's home and island at Greenwood Lake, taken today.

Busy not sewing

 The last Friends of the Library book sale of the year was a great success, perhaps because of the off-and-on rain we had this weekend.  People came downtown for the fall festival but some events (like the sidewalk sales!) were rained out.  So they came inside the library to shop.  

We still have plenty of books returned to boxes and stacked up, but we'll spend the winter organizing.   Paula did a great job cleaning up the area under the stairs, which we filled afterwards, along with our "store" area which is available whenever the library's open.   

I was on my feet most of Thursday through Saturday, so yesterday I took it easy.  I did manage to get into the sewing room and finish up my Harriet's Journey blocks for this month.  I have at least 64 blocks so far and chose several more blocks to make before I set them together.  I'm running out of focus fabric and keep buying white on whites for the background.

I still can't decide how to set Harriet, however, so today I'll work on some other blocks of the month - the "Options" blocks and, if there's time, the RSC pineapples.  The latter will follow me into the new year since I only have 9 or 10 made so far.  Not enough for a quilt of any size.

I keep saying I won't take on any more blocks of the month projects in 2022, but of course one of my guilds has one that's just starting.  The blocks will be 12" instead of 6" as we did last year, so a bigger quilt is definitely possible.  I offered to design the December block and have been experimenting with various patterns.  So far, I haven't settled on The One.

A couple of projects

This is going to be a busy week, with a meeting, a pedicure, and the library Fall Festival booksale.  So I probably won't be able to keep up with my almost daily big block making or other projects.  I'll be lucky if I make dinner a few of the days.  Here's the latest big block, a 16" Dresden Plate in burgundies, inspired by Karen's recent block.

I usually hand applique Dresdens onto their backgrounds, but I just didn't feel like it.  So I carefully machine stitched it, including the center using matching thread.   I also did a 12" raffle block in fall colors the same way for the upcoming state quilt guild meeting.  They turned out fine, but I will know they are machine done!

I love the fabric I used in the center.  It's black with burgundy/purple maple leaves, a gift from another Karen in Canada.  The background fabric has teal, green, and burgundy; there's plenty left for a few more projects.

For one of my local guilds, I've volunteered to make a block of the month for the program team I'm on.  The December meeting is the Tuesday before Christmas when people are rushing to finish things.  So I've settled on a wintery theme and have been trying various snowflake blocks.  So far this is the "winner," but I may try a few others.  The block finishes at 11" but I'm going to try to adapt it so that it ends up at 12".  

It goes together fairly easily, log cabin style, but those diagonals may be a problem for beginners.  I'm going to suggest appliqueing them, so I'll give that a try, too.

Finished and unfinished

 I forgot to take a picture of the Christmassy mug rug I made for Leigh in a swap, but, thankfully, she did.  She has a black dog so I used doggy Christmas fabric.  Because she lives in Australia, I didn't want to do anything wintry, either.  I wrapped the mug rug in some more of the doggy fabric which I love.  The dogs are kind of wacky.

The dog was paperpieced, using a free pattern I found online.  Leigh's dog is a cocker spaniel, so I probably should have made shorter legs, but that would make the mug rug a little smaller than my usual 6" x 9" size.  I have fun quilting the ears and making it scrappy.

I've been chipping away at my 16" sampler blocks and made this Drunkard's Path the other day.

I got the idea from a new book, Crumb Quilts, by Emily Bailey.  All of the quilts in the book are made with "crumbs," snippets of leftover fabrics, but my block is just made of scraps.   The designs in her book are really great, especially the diagonally striped drunkard's path bed-sized quilt in many colors.

I got the book because I'm thinking of joining a crumb block swap in 2022, but I must say Bailey's directions for making crumb blocks are a bit too brief for me - only two pages long.  I need a little more guidance because my first three blocks were really bad.  I ended up throwing one away, and the third one has gotten a brief stay of execution.  I'll give it another try soon.

More big blocks

 Each 16" block takes quite a bit of time to cut and put together, but I am enjoying the challenge.  Here are the latest.  First is a giant Dutchman's puzzle variation.

And next is a Courthouse Steps with a little churn dash in the center.

Saying goodbye

A dear friend passed away two weeks ago, and yesterday was her funeral.  I took a chance, covid-wise, and attended because I was looking for a way to say goodbye.  It all happened so suddenly, even though Christine's health was precarious for a long time.  She was a stalwart community volunteer who loved music, reading, and people.  A retired teacher, Christine was the heart beat of our Friends of the Library.  I'm not sure who will replace her at the helm, but we need to carry on to honor her memory.  

I will miss visiting her at her cottage in Maine, which Paul and I did several times over the years.  Once, we went when she wasn't there, but it wasn't as much fun.  She had been going to Wells all her life and knew all the nooks and crannies - the Rachel Carson Nature Preserve, the best places to get lobster, the Hackmatack Theater, a great used book store, and more.   She took us by the Bush family's summer compound,  and St. Ann's Chapel right on the beach, which she and they attended when possible. The photo from the website does not do this sweet place justice.

We introduced Christine to the Maine Trolley Museum where we all enjoyed a ride through the country.  We had great talks into the night there, and Paul and she enjoyed watching the Red Sox together. 

 

Rest in peace, Christine!  Thank you for all the good times, wise advice, and reading suggestions.

New scrappy blocks

 

I've been playing around with scrappy blocks of various sizes lately.  I'll probably put them all in the same quilt, but for now I'm just playing.  Every day I make a new block, usually one I've been thinking about making for a while.  It's fun!

The first block is based on something I saw on Bonnie Hunter's blog (Quiltville.com).  The pattern was "Kira" by Gudrun Erla, and I just figured out dimensions for a 6" block using 2.5" scrap squares for the flip and sew corners.  Four blocks came together nicely.  I might make a few more of these blocks because they go together very quickly.

The next block was Odd Fellows Chain, another 16" block that just looked better in a non-scrappy look.  The turquoise/purple batik came from Soni who was de-stashing.  I need to do a little of that, too!

The blue hat

 "

Finally finished!  This cozy blue hat took a lot longer than it should have because I was knitting it using the "magic loop" method, on circular needles.  I also made cables for the first time in many years (50?).

While it looks small, this hat actually stretches quite a bit and is cozy around the head in washable wool.  I have plenty more yarn left, so I started another hat,  on straight needles, so I'll have to sew it together when finished.  That's OK.  Knitting for me is meant to be relaxing, and there were just too many tense moments with this hat, simple as it was.  I plan to vary the body above the ribbing Gansey style, just for fun.

It's fall

 

This is not a block I remember making, but I made it for a state quilt guild exchange a couple ofyears ago.  I love the soft colors.   I enjoy making leaf blocks in the fall, and this arrangement has always appealed to me.

This is the best time of year for us - cooler nights, crisp mornings, sun and warmth in the daytime, sweaters or fleece, apple pie, chicken pie suppers.  The latter will probably not happen this fall due to COVID - again.  It is fun to go to at least one in the fall, though.  People sit down with strangers, often those just passing through the state, and chat like old friends.  I hear that St. Monica's church will be having a take out chicken pie supper, so I may arrange one of those.  We went out to a restaurant a few weeks ago when the COVID cases were down, but now that they are up again, we carry out again once in a while.  Everyone is wearing masks in most public places again.

I've been working on some bigger blocks using scraps lately.  I saw something similar to this 16" star block at right and had fun digging through my scraps to put it together.  I have boxes of 2.5" squares and half square triangles, so I only had to make a few more HSTs.

I have another appliqued piece from the Piece 'o' Cake The Best Sampler Ever to work on.  I went through various websites and old magazines to find a few more 16" blocks I can make.  I am tired of the grind of blocks of the month, and I will try hard not to work on any more in 2022.  But I will eventually make my four orange pineapple blocks for Sept. and may make more in the coming months.