Two finishes

Here's a little quilt, lap sized (or maybe crib, depending on your point of view), made with leftover bits and pieces of the Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt that I took to the long arm quilter last week. The setting is based on the book Circle of Nines. I quilted this one myself and am calling it Vermont Spring. We do still have gray skies and a little snow on the ground into May many years. Let's hope for an early one this year.  This little quilt required some time ripping out seams, and another trip to the quilt shop for more gray fabric.  But I'm happy with the way it turned out.

And next is a table runner made with some vintage hankies and some Jane Austen-era reproduction fabric called Jane at Home.   I joined a quilt along on Facebook this month and followed along, making 9 blocks before I put pedal to the metal on the BH mystery.  Many people in the quilt along group have made bed-sized quilts, but I think I want a wallhanging.  So I chose three blocks to turn into a table runner, and one of these days I'll start making a few more blocks to go with the six that are left.  There's another vintage quilt along starting in March, and I may yet join that one, too.  I still have a bunch of hankies and parts of a little embroidered table topper I've been saving for "someday" that I can use.  Some will need a little washing first - I tried Dawn dish soap but have found Oxiclean does a better job with stains.

A new scarf and hat

 My sister Jenny gave me a skein of lovely lavender yarn for Christmas, and I promised to knit her a scarf.  It turned into a very cozy cowl with a little left over to make a striped hat.   Doesn't she look cute in them?   She's an outdoorsy gal, hiking the 14ers in Colorado and walking a lot in all weather.   Thank goodness she is nearby to help Mom with just about everything to keep her going in her own home at age 98.5!  

And how about that quilt that's hanging in her living room?  I made it years ago as a round robin with a group.   The center has African fabric I got at a quilt show and didn't know what to do with for a long time.  The round robin group did a great job, as did my friend Mary, the long arm quilter.  I love the purple and orange together.  

Maybe I'll knit her some mittens (like Bernie's?) for her birthday in March.

Finally, a finish

 I started sewing the binding down on the Virtual Round Robin quilt before Christmas, set it aside, and forgot about it.  I finally sat down with the Hallmark Mystery channel yesterday and finished in half an hour.  I'm really pleased with how the quilt turned out, but not with the indoor lighting for photography.  Nonetheless, here are some photos.

Winter is a tough time for photo-taking because it's usually too cold and snowy outside.  It was only in the teens when I finished this yesterday.  The quilt is double bed sized, so two people are needed to hold it for a good picture.  I often hang quilts over my neighbors' porch railing but would have to slog through snow to get there now.   I draped the quilt over the living room couch for these pictures.

A shot of the center came out better.  I enjoyed doing the sashiko embroidery in the center, and I hand quilted the center while Marie added swirls with her longarm on the rest.  

I haven't done much hand work lately due to the gloomy skies, but I'd love to do some more sashiko.  It's very easy - big stitches using a special weight of thread.  The Dear Jen quilt has some appliqued blocks I'd like to work on, and maybe I can incorporate a sashiko block or two into that, too.

Thinking about WIPs

I have quite a few Works in Progress right now and several I'd like to get busy on.  I saw something recently about COVID procrastination, and maybe that is my problem right now.  Yesterday, I started machine quilting a little (48" square) quilt made with leftovers from Green Mountain Spring, based on the Bonnie Hunter mystery.  I'm mainly going in the ditch with some gridlines in various spots, so it's fairly mindless which is OK with me.  But I do have a few projects in the works that I'd like to get busy on after this:

1.  The Vintage Linens a/k/a Hankie quilt - I have made eight star blocks with hankie parts and the Dresden Plate center block.  But the latter needs a re-do in its center because I appliqued the lace askew.  I am thinking of substituting part of a blue hankie.  There are more blocks to this quilt along which I found on Facebook, but I'm not sure how many I will add.  I want to make sure the finished quilt is a wall hanging due to the fragility of the hankies.  I love the Jane Austen At Home fabric I'm using for this and will have plenty of it and more hankies left over for something else later this year.

2.  The Anything Goes quilt - I've been log cabining the 6" purple and cream swap blocks I got in 2020 so that the resulting quilt is throw sized.  They are ready to put together.  If I need a couple more blocks to bring it up to size, I'll make a few easy ones.

3. Many Scrappy Trips Around the World - I made 12 blocks for this guild swap, but need 24.  The blocks go quickly, but I will need to cut a few more 2.5" x 18" strips to finish.  They aren't due until May but I like to be on top of things.  This is a good snow day project.

4.  Dear Jen -  Now that I've looked through this Jen Kingwell pattern book, I'm rethinking it.  Each block's pattern uses templates when paper piecing or rotary cutting would be better.  So I'll have to make my own patterns - ugh!  I'm incorporating the guild blocks of the month so maybe I'll just continue in that vein, picking 6" blocks I like, and adding in  Kingwell blocks (the top strip below is one) as I go.  

The quilt involves 3 6" blocks in strips with alternating light and dark backgrounds.  Here are a few I've made so far.   Someone suggested I rename it Dear Marianne, and maybe I will!  I do need to get some more tea-dyed muslin, though.  Joann's doesn't seem to carry it any more.

5.   Harriet's Journey - Jennifer Chiaverini's latest sampler is also on my mind, but I haven't started any blocks for it.   A couple of people in my online group want to start a quilt along, so I may join in, but my progress is sure to be slow.  These 6" blocks seem more do-able than Dear Jen's.  

What an agenda!   And these five projects are only part of my list of UFOs, some of which have been languishing for a long time.  It's good to know I won't be running out of projects any time soon.

Green Mountain Spring

I thought I had posted a finished picture of my newly finished Green Mountain Spring quilt top based on Bonnie Hunter's Grassy Creek mystery.  But we had some internet issues off and on due to Saturday's heavy snow.  Guess my post didn't make it online.  That's OK - it gave me time to think of a name.  My favorite colors - purple, pink, bright green - the colors of spring are all here.

This "flimsey" is going to my friend Marie, the long armer, on Thursday.   Its size (79" x 79") and many small pieces and seams make it a bit difficult for me to quilt myself.  The historical building where I often pin baste larger quilts is closed due to COVID-19.   This will get it out of the house and off my mind.  I'll get some backing fabric and batting when I take it in, too.

It is so nice to finish a project and move on to others!  I finished knitting the lavender and gray hat and popped it, along with a little scarf, into the mail for my sister Jenny.  Her birthday is in March, but if I wait until then she won't have a chance to wear them this winter.   I started knitting a new hat in purple variegated yarn yesterday but made a big mistake, so took it apart and restarted it this morning.  It will be a nice project for watching the inauguration today.  

Hoping for better days ahead!

Bye, Don!

We've been looking forward to today for a long time.  Our across the street neighbors have had Trump flags, signs, and other paraphernalia for over a year.  In our little condo development, such stuff (except for the U.S. flag) is strictly forbidden.  But we decided to sail this balloon this morning to celebrate the inauguration and, hopefully, brighter days ahead.  Little "Don" is a little deflated because helium deflates in the cold.  We're hoping for a little sunshine to help him pop up.

Serious snow

 

This, or actually something similar, was our view Saturday and yesterday.  The snow kept on falling, and, because it was quite wet, made for slushy streets.  But it was beautiful!  My friends Samantha and Vicki were brave enough to drive up to the Town Forest to snowshoe and take pictures, including this one.  It's one of my favorite spots in the forest, a peaceful place to rest by a quiet quarry and to gaze at the lovely "Westside" area with its old railroad bed and canopy of trees.  

It almost makes me want to strap on my snowshoes and head up there myself.   Instead of getting wet and cold, I choose to make snow days my sew days.  After making a loaf of bread, I played around with leftover pieces from the Grassy Creek mystery.  I don't know if they'll end up in the borders of the quilt which is now 69" x 69".  But I had fun nonetheless.

I also knit quite a bit on a new hat which uses up leftover gray and lilac yarn.  I have about an inch left to knit before I start decreasing for the crown.  Hope it fits!

Miscellaneous blocks

 I have a pizza box in the closet of my sewing room that's marked "orphans."  These are extras from various projects or trial blocks.  The nine "Grassy Creek" blocks I have left will most likely go in there for a while along with their accompanying odd strippy sashing until I get the motivation to put them together somehow.  I am working on the final borders of "Grassy Creek" today using some other leftovers.  I really need to come up with a different name because I used completely different fabrics than the original.

I may have mentioned that I have organized a Block of the Month for our quilt guild this year.  We haven't met since last February, and I thought it would be a nice way to keep people engaged with the guild.  Every month, I post plans for a block, in various sizes, and there is an optional lottery people can enter.  The winner receives 6" blocks by all who want to mail them.  It's been fun organizing this and seeing other people's blocks.  The December winner received 15 blocks so not a lot of people are entering the lottery, but I hope more are having fun.

In order to come up with directions, I've been staying at least a month ahead of the group, and I have already made the February and March blocks - heart and wonky stars.  Some people in the guild have enjoyed making blocks smaller than 6".  The 3" wonky stars blocks were a bit of a challenge.

At the same time, I've been planning to start Jen Kingwell's Dear Jen quilt as a year-long project.  Her quilt is a sampler incorporating strips of three similar 6" blocks.  I'm making a couple of extra guild BOM blocks each month to include along with Jen's to reflect my year.   I made the pink one to go along with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, but am now thinking that wonky stars would make a fun quilt all on their own.  Oh, no.  I must stay focused on the projects I've already started!

It snowed all day yesterday and it's still snowing this morning.  So it will be another day inside.   Snow days are sew days!  I will bake a loaf of bread and make Chinese food for dinner.  As long as the power stays on (it went off around us but not here yesterday), we are good to go.

Taking it Easy with Grassy Creek

 I have been enjoying the Bonnie Hunter Grassy Creek mystery until this past Friday when the final clues and reveal came out.  The previous clues had been somewhat easy going, and I could do other things in between.  I even started another quilt.  This last clue was somewhat intimidating, but I decided I had to just take it one page at a time.  We ended up with 25 12" blocks and pieced sashing that creates a secondary block.  And directions for pieced borders which I expected, having fiddled with the ones on Roll, Roll, Cotton Boll.  

As planned, it measures about 94" x 94" which is too big for me to quilt on my own.  The design doesn't really work for quilting in sections or "as you go."  My quilt will be about 80" x 80" if I have the perseverance to do some pieced borders.  If not, it will still be about 72" x 72", a good throw size.  I took 9 blocks away for a 4 x 4 layout.  

Once I did that, I relaxed a bit - it is more manageable now, and I am really liking the way it's coming together.   Fitting the string sashing to the blocks is a bit tricky, but the stringiness gives them flexibility.  And I like the secondary churn dashes that result.  

I'll have quite a few pieces left over after I'm finished.  They may end up in the border or they may end up with the nine leftover blocks somehow.  I am looking forward to playing around with those.  I love the pink, purple and gray together.  Lots of scraps were used, which is a plus.  I still have a full bag of background strings I'd like to make blocks out of, and now I have a bunch of grays, too, to use in the RSC21 blocks.  This is all good for these gloomy days of mid-winter.

Birthdays

 Yesterday was grocery shopping and cookie baking day in advance of Chris' and Paul's birthdays, today and tomorrow.  It is hard to believe this guy (seen in 2010) is already 39!  It seems like just yesterday to me.

Chris doesn't eat much dessert, so I made a batch of Karen's ginger cookies for him to take home and for Paul to enjoy, too.  These have become adopted as a Christmas treat but, because we are watching our intake, I didn't make them until now.  The recipe makes so many that a few went into the freezer for later.

Having a winter birthday has its challenges.  When Chris was small, we tried hard to come up with birthday party activities, and sometimes playing in the snow with buddies was fun enough.  Snow soccer was also a hit.  And I do remember taking boys over to Burlington (45 min. away) for roller skating.  It was "interesting" for me to get back on skates after many years!

I have a special dinner planned for tonight (Chris) and will have to think extra hard about tomorrow (Paul).   Should be fun!

Busy, quiet days

 It is typical weather for January - increasingly cold days with wind making it feel even colder.  Some sun has appeared after about two months of gray, so I have been hand sewing a bit more.  I appliqued some hearts for the guild's February block of the month and worked on a new quilt that features a bunch of hankies I won in an auction and from my friend Karen.  It's the 1914 Boehm House Vintage Quilt Along by Rhonda Dort.  Long ago, I received a pile of vintage hankies for Christmas and have been making things with them now and then.  Lots of times, I've forgotten I had them.  This quilt seemed like a good one to use with the "Jane at Home" fabrics I couldn't resist buying from the Missouri Star Quilt Co.  One of the fabrics is called Marianne, after the character in Sense and Sensibility. 

The hankie quilt finishes around 54" square and starts with eight 12" saw-toothed star blocks with vintage linen centers.  Yesterday I made a Dresden Plate for the center of the quilt using scraps from all the star blocks and another hankie in the center.  I don't like the way the fabric underneath shows through, though, so I will set it aside for a while until I figure out how to fix it.  I'm thinking about making a smaller piece anyway, because I'm not sure those vintage hankies will hold up well when washed.  This is how UFOs are born - too many choices!

The final clue - 9 pages long - for Bonnie Hunter's Grassy Creek mystery came out Friday, and I've started on the first part, which involves making 6" Ohio Star blocks.  These will be the center of a 12" block, and so far I'm liking the way they are turning out in my different colorway.   I'm not sure if I will make the suggested border which is string pieced.  More papers to remove!

I'm glad to have these involving projects right now considering how turbulent the US has become.  This week's destruction of our beautiful, historic Capitol building and the threatened hostage taking of our Congressmen were just plain scary.   As a young teen, I remember safely walking all over downtown DC with my friends, and I am still in awe whenever I visit my favorite city.  To think that the violence was encouraged by a manipulative, uncaring President is just too much to bear.   I worry that more is coming during the next weeks, and even our state Capitol police force is on high alert.   May we all stay safe and healthy during this tense time.

Houses... quilted and otherwise

I don't know why, but I love house-related things, including quilts.  I enjoyed making this house quilt in 2020, as part of a swap with my international group.   It was quite easy, and a lot of people made them in various patterns this year.

I made another quilt called Won't You Be My Neighbor? as part of a swap a few years ago.  Those blocks were larger - maybe 16" - and more elaborate, but lots of fun, too.

I am not a big collector of things, although at one time I had a large collection of Beanie Babies which I have whittled down quite a bit over the years to include only one bin full of bears.  But when I saw something online a few years ago about the little Delft blue houses that KLM gives its first class passengers, I had to buy one... and then another... and then another.  I now have an app on my phone to keep track of what I have, and it appears I own 18 of the sweet little things.

This village resides in our downstairs powder room along with other Dutch items that used to be in our "Double Dutch" room at the B&B we owned.  That room had a couple of Dutch-themed quilts on the bed, some embroidery, and other souvenirs.  When we moved I gave some of the latter away, although I still have quite a few Delft blue things here and there in the house.  

The KLM houses originally contain Dutch gin, but the ones I collect are empty.  Some collectors prefer them intact, but I don't see the point,  The houses are mostly all modeled after specific houses, mostly in Amsterdam, with some composites, and range in price.   There are a few palaces that are worth hundreds of dollars, but I tend to buy only those that cost under $10 on Ebay.

I mentioned my collection to Mom who gave me a different set of collectible houses for Christmas this year.  They are finely painted and very sweet.  I have run out of room on the powder room shelf, so these are now populating a built in cabinet in our dining room.

One of these days, it is inevitable that I'll plan another house quilt like the one I used to make Mom a table runner/wallhanging a few years ago.  I'll most likely use the canal house pattern that I got from a Dutch fabric shop.  Guess I'll keep my eyes open for some more Delft blue fabrics in the meantime.