Elephant parade

When some online quilting friends proposed a swap of elephant blocks, I wasn't sure I wanted to join in.  I have no grandchildren and am not really into making kids' things.  Then I realized I could give the quilt to Bags of Love, a local organization that supplies kids going into foster care.  I've made other quilts and knitted items for them.  My local guild is also having a yard square quilt challenge, and this resulting quilt truly fits the bill.

Five other quilters made blocks for this quilt, and I enjoyed putting it together.  We all used Kaffe Fasset-like fabric on black, and I love that one elephant is facing the other way.

Also for the yard square challenge, I'll show my very scrappy Omicron Cabin, a twin (more or less) to Corona Cabin, which I made at the start of the pandemic.

This is also headed to Bags of Love.  I made this with "strings," but I have lots of them left over.  I'll be making something else with strings sometime soon.

Quilt Show!

It had been more than two years since I attended a real, live quilt show, but Sunday I finally did!  Here are a few of my favorites.  The soft colors against a gray print background really caught my eye.  I have always wanted to try making a circular flying geese block, too, and was impressed that it was a double circle.

Also, by the same quilter, Karen Abramovich, is this rainbow with tiny colorful blocks.  So impressive - and you can see that the judges thought so, too.
 

The quilting on this is amazing.

Here's a pattern I'd love to try in purple.  The Snail's Trail block alternating with those four patches including kite shapes is just up my alley.

And, finally, here's my own quilt - Harriet's Journey variation - which received a Vendor's Choice ribbon!  (Sorry I cut it off in the picture, but it's now hanging on my refrigerator)

I enjoyed attending this show even though the vendors seemed cramped for space.  I did notice a gadget that I want to research more - the Cutterpillar lighted cutting "system."   The owner of our local quilt shop told me she's going to try to carry them soon.

A few small projects

 

This little wool penny project got sashed and put together this week after languishing for a few weeks.  It's a sampler of various embroidery stitches.  I found the batik background a little difficult to embroider but was pleased to find the sashing/binding in just the right colors hiding at the bottom of my blue tub.  Now it needs quilting, which I will get to manana.

At guild the other night, the coming month's block of the month turned out to be a 12" block exactly like the 6" one that will be coming up for the June Unity quilt round.  I got busy right away and found it wasn't so hard at 12".  I was dreading the 6" version, but now that I see how it goes together, I'm not AS intimidated.  Still slightly intimidated, but ready to soldier on in June.  I can't remember its name - Twirling something-or-other.

At any rate, I made one to keep and one for the guild lottery in May.  I won the March blocks but have set them aside while I work on a few other things.  I'm still working ahead on the May section of the Unity quilt - 2" x 3.5" flying geese.

This week I also made a beige linen tote bag for the Quilters' Auction at the state guild meeting in May.  Everyone on the board will be contributing things to put in it.  I've had the linen for quite a while and still have enough to make another bag or two.  Forgot to take a picture, unfortunately.

Where is spring?

 Tuesday morning, I'd planned to go to Burlington for lunch and a little shopping with Pauline before dropping Harriet's Journey off at the Champlain Valley Quilt Show.   As they say, "the best laid plans..."  We awoke to a few inches of sloppy, wet snow, and I arranged to deliver the quilt a few hours earlier than planned so I could drive home in the light.

By the time I hit the road, snow had turned to rain, making for wet travel and a good deal of fog around here.  Still, I made it just fine for a nice lunch with Pauline, after which I drove over a bit early to the church hall to deliver the quilt.  I'd planned to read in the parking lot, but a lady drove in not long after I arrived.  She turned out to be Mary, who I was to meet, so I helped her unload and set up before being her in-take guinea pig.  The roads were clear and the sun was out by the time I headed for home.   

I arrived home with 45 minutes to relax before heading down to our local guild meeting.  The program was "First and Last," a major show and tell.  We were to bring our first quilts or those that inspired us, as well as our most recent.  "Spooky" brought a recently acquired antique that I would like to use as inspiration for a new quilt sometime soon.  I love appliqueing melon pieces and have never seen them arranged this way before.  The soft colors are just up my alley.

I'll see the show Sunday afternoon before picking my quilt up at 5 pm.  It's exciting to go to a show in person after all these years of virtual-only activity.  Unfortunately, the Vermont Quilt Festival won't be happening until 2023, so this show will be "it" for me this year.

Happy Easter

 It looks like it's going to be a lovely Good Friday today.  The sun was out at 6 am and the grass has been greening up quickly.  Soon it will be time to mow, and our tulips and daffodils will bloom.  I always have a sense of relief when that happens, generally very quickly, each year.  Here's what I expect, based on this photo from 2020.

We are planning to grill on Easter - hamburgers, potato salad, cole slaw, and ice cream are on the menu, even though spotty showers are predicted.   Chris will come over to help us get the grill going again, and I've been saving some burgers that came with a gift we received at Christmas.

Next week is going to be busy with appointments and meetings as well as the Champlain Valley Quilt Show.  I'll be delivering my Harriet's Journey variation quilt on Tuesday evening and then picking it up again on Sunday evening.  In between I'm looking forward to the show after a couple of years without one.  Happy holidays to you!

"Favorites"

I've been making a few blocks of the month all year, using an interesting light print with burgundy and hints of aqua and gold.  It has a fallish look, and I suspect will be done around then, too.  I'm incorporating the guild 12" blocks for each month as well as those from Aby Dolinger's "Favorites" quilt along.   I enjoyed working on this month's blocks as Aby's directions are really clear and easy to follow.

I'm not sure what I'm going to accomplish today.  Paul has a doctor's appointment, so I'll spend a little time reading while I wait this morning.  If it's walkable out (rain is predicted), we'll try to sneak one or two in.  Yesterday's trip to Joann Fabrics netted all sorts of notions for miscellaneous projects - curtain tie backs, a linen tote bag, etc.   I've been thinking about making goodie bags for family attending Mom's 100th birthday party in June, so I thought I'd try one from Lazy Girl Designs as a sample.  And then there's the perennial question...  what to make for dinner?

April's "Unity"

 

The sun popped out yesterday and actually stayed all day.  Today we'll be having a bit of sun followed by two days of rain.  That's April for you.  We managed to take the Unity out for a photo, though.  There will be several more rounds in the months ahead as I quilt along with others in my local guild to achieve a queen-sized top.  

As is typical of a Bonnie Hunter pattern, there are lots of pieces to cut and sew.  This round wasn't as difficult as the previous month's - it is 6" (finished).  I'm liking the look so far.  You can't see it from afar, but all of the fabrics are scraps except for the constant yellow.   Next up:  2 x 3.5" flying geese at the top and bottom to achieve a rectangular shape.

  

April showers

 We've had some very typical early spring weather lately, and the bulbs are really springing up now.  I've even seen some buds on the daffodils.  My tulips are about 6" high, and the bleeding heart out back is beginning to wake up.  Can flowers be far behind?

Yesterday, at my monthly sewing group, I managed to hand stitch half of the binding on It's the Point.  I forgot that Tess wasn't going to be there, but I'll see her in May at the state guild meeting when I'll bring the quilt for Show and Tell.  I was pleased when Soni admired the straightline quilting. It looks wobbly to me, but the overall effect is great.  That "galloping horse" rule is definitely in effect with that quilt.

Meanwhile, I've been chipping away at the blocks for the RSC and other blocks of the month.  The rainbow color this month is pink, and I have a lot of it that needs sorting and going through.  I'm making variously sized house blocks, an online guild block of the month, and four 6" pineapple blocks.  Here are a few.  First, two of the four pineapples I've been making every month for a year and a half, and then a couple of houses and some posies.

Next up is my local guild's block of the month - churn dash in Ukrainian colors.  I really like that yellow/blue color combination.

I also finished the April portion of the Unity Quilt, but it's gotten too big and it's been too gloomy to take a picture indoors.  Those Bonnie Hunter quilts are truly fiddly, but so rewarding when done!

Toes and eagles

Machine quilting It's the Point is coming along nicely, and I hope to have all of the vertical lines done this afternoon.  When I look at it from a distance, I really like it.  Up close, it's apparent I can't sew in a straight line (can anyone?).  Well, I like the effect, and that's all that matters.

Yesterday I met Debb for our monthly pedicure and chin wag.  After all these months of just getting clear polish, much to Pedicurist Helen's dismay, I went for a soft pink polish, while Debb had purple.

Debb and I always talk about a lot of different things during these sessions, and this time she told me her grandson says everyone in his second grade class chose a "nature name" to be more in tune with the world around us.  He chose "Bald Eagle."  I told her how my friend Samantha took a bunch of spectacular bird photos on Lake Champlain a few weeks ago and shared her photo of an eagle for her grandson.  Isn't it amazing?

We speculated what our nature names should be although Debb's grandson has already given her "Cottontail."  I guess he's gearing up for Easter.  I think mine should be something floral, though, like tulip or violet.  Bulbs are beginning to pop out of the ground, and I'm hoping to see flowers in the yard very soon.   For now, I'll have to be content with the fabric kind.