A rainy day

 Yesterday's snow flurries turned to rain, so we stayed indoors and didn't even open the garage door until noon.  We rarely use the front door and always exit/enter through the garage, so it is usually open all day long.  It's a good thing I opened the garage door after lunch, though, because my order from Hancock's arrived with fabric for my Hannah's Journey quilt.  I'll be starting those blocks of the month in mid-March.

Meanwhile, I finished knitting and sewing together these very basic mitts.  They look fine on, but like weird tubes off!

I also finished my long-standing shredding project, eliminating many boxes containing old guest receipts from our B&B and records from Paul's late mother's estate.  It felt good to get the last box out for recycling along with the shreds.  

The hankie quilt got its last border attached and was sandwiched, too.  It's about 38" square and shouldn't take long to quilt.  The hankies belonged to Marj and Karen, so I will offer the wall quilt to their favorite charity, the Old Labor Hall, for fundraising when done.  Marj passed away last summer and is sorely missed.

In a flurry of productivity, I started a Gansey-style scarf, too, using some soft cotton/modal yarn.  While I'm not a great one for following a pattern row-by-row, I do enjoy an easy change in design and just discovered Gansey knitting which seems perfect for me.  Maybe it will help me learn to use charts for quick reference, too.  My row counter is getting a work out.  The pink seems a lot brighter than the online photo, but it's growing on me.  

Tomorrow will be March and, with warmer daytime temperatures, sugaring season is beginning.   This week we'll get our first COVID vaccinations.  Vermont is waking up in many ways.

A start and a finish

 

I started working on Hannah's Journey, the new sampler quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini, the other day.  I joined a block of the week group on http://www.quiltingboard.com which will begin in earnest in mid-March.  I'm using white backgrounds and bright colors and am waiting for a layer cake to arrive.  

Chiaverini's previous sampler books contained some odd instructions, sometimes using templates when paper piecing would be easier or more appropriate.   I didn't always follow the instructions.  The first block I made, Air Castle (A-1 in the book) worked well, though, and I'm hoping the rest are similarly clear.

When I haven't been sewing or reading, I've been knitting which I find is quite a meditative activity.  I finished a scarf that went to the Salvation Army and ordered some yarn for a scarf or fingerless mittens,  

While waiting for the yarn to arrive, I made a child's hat with some leftover yarn. I don't like to use circular needles, so this was knitted flat and sewn, a very quick project. It will go to the Salvation Army after I do a little more closet thinning.  Meanwhile, I started making some very easy fingerless mitts, again on straight needles.  When my new yarn comes, I'll give the magic loop method on circular needles a try for mitts.  I have tried several more complicated patterns lately and started over because I really enjoy just sitting and knitting mindlessly while watching TV.

I did some more basement cleaning and also thinned craft supplies and plan to to the ReStore with those soon.   Now, if I could only find a place that will take a ton of metal coat hangers.  Our basement closets are looking very organized, and once I finish shredding old documents from 2006, I can put the shredder and card table away for a while.

"Encouraging Words" is finished

In July, I started a block of the month created by Abigail Dolinger called "Sisters" because it included patterns for two similar blocks each month, 6" and 12".  I worked hard to catch up with the previous months and then worked on blocks every month through December, using scraps from my stash.  I love mixing batiks, contemporary prints, and Civil War repros in the same quilt.  My background fabrics were cream scraps, but I did use a new printed fabric for the sashing and border.   

Aby had a suggested layout that resulted in a larger quilt, but a slightly "tighter" layout suited me better.  The finished quilt measures 60" x 64", so it's a nice-sized throw.  I'm calling it Encouraging Words because the printed sashing has words like "love," "snuggle," etc.  I guess it's meant for babies, but it seems very a propos for anyone at this stressful time.  

The back and binding were also purchased, from Dee's bargain area and is a print by Cotton and Steel.  As you may be able to see, I quilted each of the 12 sections of blocks with a simple grid, using my walking foot and a washout pen.  This caused some of the red in one of the prints to bleed a bit, but after washing, I noticed the color catchers came out clean (although one is missing - where did it go?).  

This quilt is destined for sale at the florist's shop downtown.  It's time to freshen up my display and to replace a lovely twin Log Cabin quilt that hasn't sold over the past two years.  It's time to fluff that quilt up and try it out on etsy again.   I was quite surprised to sell two quilts on etsy this year, including one that has languished there for a couple of years. 

The day I finished sewing the binding down on Encouraging Words, I also finished the binding on my Green Mountain Spring, based on Bonnie Hunter's latest mystery.  That quilt's 80" x 80", though, so harder to photograph.  One spring day I'll have Paul and Chris hold up the bigger quilts so I can.  Winter is really my most productive quilting time but the hardest time of year to take pictures of what I make.

Snow days = sew days

This has certainly been a long winter, full of very cold and snowy days.  I haven't really minded much except that we haven't been able to get out and walk a lot in the last few weeks.  My joints are feeling it.  I could walk on the treadmill or row, but I just hate those things.  My weekly yoga class via Zoom will have to suffice.

Meanwhile, I finished machine quilting my "Sisters" quilt-along quilt and now I'm working on the binding.   I hope to finish by the end of the week.  I try not to get ahead of myself when I'm at this stage in a quilt, but over the weekend, I just couldn't hold myself back.  I got out a pizza box of blocks that I received from online friends last year in a swap and laid them out to see how they'll look.  The blocks are 6" finished, and I had bordered each one log cabin fashion.

As you can see each block is different, as the swap was called "Anything Goes."  We each chose what kind or color we'd prefer with a cream background, and everyone chose two blocks to make from a number of possibilities including Sylvia's Bridal Sampler.  The same group sent me fat quarters for my birthday in our annual birthday swap, and I had requested purple.  Hence the incredible purple-ness of this quilt!

Once I had the blocks all laid out, I just couldn't wait to put them together, so I started that even before I had the binding on "Sisters."  I had to make a couple more blocks to get a 5 by 6 block layout, and I managed to hold off making those last blocks until after the "Sisters" binding was ready for hand sewing.  

Now "Anything Goes" measures 60" x 72" and I'm thinking about how I'll quilt it as I hand sew.   I rarely work on finishing two quilts simultaneously, but I just got into the groove.   

The same online group has a UFO Challenge going this year, and quilting "Anything Goes" is certainly a possible project.  But what about those local guild swap blocks for Many Trips Around the World? There are plenty more chilly, snowy days ahead, I think, so I might even get them done, too.

Tulips!

 Late last fall, my neighbor brought over some tulip bulbs that she didn't have room for.  I had spent some time planting bulbs a few weeks earlier and it was cold, so I set them aside until I felt more like planting.  That never came, of course, and the bulbs stayed out in the garage.  I realized in December that I could actually force them since the garage is as cold or colder than a refrigerator!   

They are starting to bloom now, and it is so nice to see a sign of spring, even though it's a long way off for us here in central Vermont.  Today three are blooming, all red, in a blue and white pot I got at a garage sale.   It's not Dutch, but still I feel we have a touch of Keukenhof right here.

I have been spending my days trying not to strain my back and neck.  I overdid some quilting earlier in the week, I think.  Today I think I can get back to it if I take breaks regularly.  Instead of quilting, I've been shredding more boxes of old records, including B&B guest receipts.  The end is in sight, thank goodness.  We have a lot more room in the basement than we used to have, and it looks more organized, too.  I am procrastinating, though, on my taxes.  Will put nose to the grindstone soon... ugh!

A busy Thursday

During a Vermont winter, when it isn't snowing, everyone gets out to do errands, so that's what I did yesterday.  Just as I was getting ready to head to the bank, Marie called to tell me my Green Mountain Spring quilt (based on Bonnie Hunter's mystery) was ready.  I had told her not to hurry, but she was making her own version and got my quilt out to help her see how to finish one section.  Guess that was when she thought it should go on the frame.

I had been planning to go to the quilt shop anyway to find some fabric to border the hankie quilt and to get a few black and whites for the Options quilt along.  I had eked out these blocks Wednesday but noticed I was mighty low for future blocks in that monthly project.  It was, as usual, fun to stop there after the bank and chat with Marie for a while.  Her Grassy Creek is going to be great, and she isn't intimidated by bigger quilts like I am.   The shop was quite busy and there's a 4 person limit there, so when two ladies arrived, I headed out, even though I could talk to Marie all day!  

On my way home, I stopped at the florist/gift shop to drop off a tablerunner and small quilt to sell.   I love to browse the gifts and candy there and ended up taking a small beaded bag and a box of truffles home.  I will use the bag someday when we can all socialize again, and I hope Paul enjoys the truffles for Valentine's Day.

Even though it's only a few days into February, guild members are finishing their Valentine's block of the month - pieced or appliqued hearts - quickly.  I have the directions for March pretty much set, so I started working on the April block, Buttercup.   

I have been making one for the guild block lottery and three for my Dear Marianne quilt (based on Kingwell's Dear Jen).  A strip of three 6" buttercups looks very cheery and went together quickly.  

I'm hopping around the Dear Jen pattern book which seems to be meant for hand piecing which I will not do.  I need to turn some of the patterns into paper pieced ones.  Instead, I started working on an appliqued strip when the sun came out.  Hope to finish that today when it starts snowing again.  We have at least a foot of the white stuff on the ground.  I'm hoping it will hold off a bit so we can get a walk in.

Knitting

 

Here's the hat I finished a few days ago.  It's a very simple pattern with variegated thread.  It fits fine, but I am not really a "hat person."  Just hope it keeps me warmer on walks this winter.  And how does one take a flattering selfie?  I just can't seem to do it.  Sigh.

I'm now knitting a scarf out of the same yarn, using a basket weave stitch (K5, P5; opposite on wrong side; switch after 6 rows).  The darker yarn is hard to see on gloomy days and after dark, but I try to do a few inches a day.  Since you're supposed to make scarves as long as the person is tall, it should take me most of the month to finish!

I have tried a variety of more difficult patterns and projects, but I really find knitting to be a meditative process rather than anything else.  An easy project on straight needles like a scarf is fine for me these days.  

Pop Stars and Pineapples

 This year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks for me will be 8" "Pop Stars" (a Missouri Quilt Co. pattern) and 6" pineapples.  The color of the month is yellow, and I found out I don't have a lot of true yellow in my stash.  I have a lot of gold which I didn't want to use for these blocks.  The Pop Stars blocks have triangles to cut off and discard, but I have occasionally been making smaller blocks out of them.  Who knows how I'll use them?  Maybe on the border of the Pop Stars quilt.

I'm making the pineapples using convenient, pre-printed papers from the Fat Quarter Shop.  I'll take the papers out tonight while watching TV.  That is the part of the process I'm not wild about, but I think paper piecing is really the only way to make pineapple blocks.

I envision two quilts by the end of the year even though both sets of blocks have various shades of gray as backgrounds.  While working on these blocks, I got to thinking that I start a lot of quilts at the beginning of the year, after Christmas.  I guess I just love to make blocks.  By summer and certainly in the fall, I put the blocks together, and then in winter, I either quilt them or break down and ask Marie to long arm quilt them.  My cousin was surprised that I finished three projects in the last week, but there was a long stretch of time when I didn't finish much except small projects for Christmas.

My mom already has an "order" in for a Christmas tree skirt.  After many years of not having one, she and my sister Jenny have been putting a real one up, digging into the long-stored ornaments.   Guess I'll work on that this summer.