UFO Review

I keep a running list of UFOs because I tend to work on more than one project at a time.  My friend Polly works on one quilt at a time and is happy with that.  She's a Chemist and her quilts are perfect - all points visible and matching, all quilting lines straight as an arrow.  I like variety, so I work on deadlines or on whims.   There are currently 17 items of all sizes on my UFO list.  One is a knitting project, two need only binding to finish, and the rest are quilting projects, one of which is missing (Hawaiian applique) and one is so long-standing that I forget when I started it (1980?).

That's not to say that I don't finish a lot each year, though.  This year I completed quite a few projects, including knitting a pair of socks and several hats for the Bags of Love project for kids in foster care.  In addition, I made two quilts using the Jane Austen at Home fabrics, one of which I gave to my mom and the other to the homeless shelter.  I also made 12 mug rugs which I gave to each library staff member for Christmas.

I finished the long-standing Pineapple throw (took 2 years, working on a few every month), the Arboretum (given to Preservation Burlington), and

  - Two baby quilts - for Daley Hoffman and for Pat's greatgrandchild

  - a turquoise house mini

  - Moon over Mt. Fuji (hand quilted and given to Pat)

  - On the Patio (small quilt that won an honorable mention at my LQS)

  - the Blue and White Hankie Quilt

  - Cakes on Stands swap quilt (sent to folks on Maui)

  - Rainbow Log Cabin throw

Then there were the Rows Parade and Guild BOM tops which have been quilted by Marie and are now waiting for bindings.  For my guild has a UFO challenge this year, I brought in my Manx quilt blocks to show for that.  I think I need only one more block to make the planned table runner.

The project that I was most happy with in 2023 was the hanging of my Green Mountain Sunrise in the Woodridge Nursing Home dining hall which I technically finished in 2022.  It's hanging over the door to their lovely patio which was renovated and rededicated this summer.  It's based on Bonnie Hunter's Purple Mountains Majesty pattern.

Are quilters more able to face failure?

Today I read a blog by author Jenn McKinlay whose topic was the importance of failure.   How will we know we've succeeded if we don't fail once in a while?

Seems to me that quilters run up against failure all the time - most of us are intimate with our seam rippers but keep at it anyway.  I have a closet full of orphan blocks to prove this - blocks too small, colors too clash-y, etc.  Yet I have not lost my enthusiasm for quilting over the last 50 years.   At show and tell and online, quilters often begin by apologizing ("it's not perfect, but...").  Every quilt has its ups and downs but generally offers a learning experience, too.

Yesterday I started working on a fabric covering for a brick salvaged from our local art center after this summer's flood.  Artists were invited to take a brick and create a piece to be raffled off.  The deadline is January 16, so I've got to get busy.   I'd been thinking about what to do and rejected several ideas as being too time-consuming (small hexies) or too difficult (appliqueing a streetscape).  I'm now weaving selvages with interesting sayings like "not suitable for children's sleepwear" onto muslin to cover the somewhat dirty brick.  I'll cut some spaces between the strips to allow the brick to show.  Watch this space...

Short row knitting

I spent yesterday morning making real progress on the collage but being hunched over was tough on my back.   We took a walk in the morning which helped get the "kinks" out, but I'll give the collage a rest today.   I hope yoga later this morning will help, and I'll work on either something else in the quilting room or knit some more on my wave scarf.  The latter is looking good!

I haven't memorized the pattern yet but hope this will come in time.  Right now I'm holding the pattern on my lap while knitting.  It is going faster, though, as I develop a rhythm.  Using #7 needles helps.

I want to turn my attention to making some placemats for Pauline.   She was hoping for something in dark greens, burgundies, and blues, so I bought some fat quarters and a jelly roll in the Winter Flurries line by Holly Taylor.    It's way more than I need for the project, but I can use the excess in other projects, too.  

I have a lot of Waverly fabric in the same colors for the backs.  It's really upholstery fabric, but I think it will soften when washed.  I used it to make a few shopping bags to give as gifts and still have a couple of yards.   In addition to this project, I have two quilts to bind and two more to machine quilt.    The collage will require quilting when finished, too, so I don't think I'll be at a loss for projects this winter!

Hope you had a fun holiday

 Well, it's back to "life" here in Vermont with another very foggy morning leading to another gray day.  No snow on the ground to reflect a little light back.  We have put the compost bucket out for pick up and in a minute I'll go down to get laundry out of the dryer from yesterday.  Exciting, isn't it?!?

We had a very nice Christmas day.  Low key as always.  Chris came for brunch, and I made his favorite - bacon - to go along with fruit and waffles made from cinnamon buns in a can.  They were incredibly easy and quick.  I had bought two cans but only used one, so I'll make them again soon.  We didn't have the frosting on top but, in typical Vermont fashion, used maple syrup instead.  Delish!  I have to admit that I prefer whole grain waffles, but these are nice for a change.

We spent much of the day talking on the phone to family, including a little texting back and forth with Paul's sister Pat in Florida.  The rest of the day, I cleaned up, read and knitted.  I'm working on a Wave Scarf made with short rows.  This is something new for me and ends up in a really interesting pattern.  

I'm using three different colors of alpaca yarn - dark purple, lighter purple, and brown - so I'll have to switch somewhere in the process.  It is working up fairly quickly on #7 needles, but I do have to refer back to the pattern as I go, with a lot of counting.  I'll share a photo somewhere along the way.  It will be a nice change from the baby hats and mittens I've been working on.

Merry Christmas!

 

Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday!  

Blocks of the month

 

Here are the sixteen blocks I won at guild this week.  I can't remember the name of the block - ribbon star?  Another quilter who couldn't come to the meeting is mailing me two more, so if I make 2 more (eventually!), I'll have 20 blocks to sash (red or green?) and quilt for a nice throw.  

One person attached a note saying that she was sorry but she forgot to wash her red fabric, but I will give try hand washing it in the sink.   I imagine some of the reds will run, so the first time I wash them all as a quilt, I'll use color catchers.

Interestingly enough, I promised my friend Pauline that I'd make her some placemats after the holidays, and the colors are burgundy, dark green, and medium blue, so very similar to these blocks.  I have a nice Waverly print to use on the back.  But first I'll be concentrating on the holidays AND the collage quilt!

Settling into the season

We put our Christmas "tree" up Sunday and then set the packages that had come in under it.  Our stockings are hanging at the mantel, and cards have also been arriving.  It's really feeling like Christmas now at our house.   I even did a little baking over the weekend and hope to do some more in the next few days.  I want to put together some tins of cookies for neighbors and friends.  The rain on Tuesday wiped out most of our snow, but we never worry about not having a White Christmas.  It invariably happens!

Yesterday I took a little time to work on my collage quilt and finished the tree tops - a major part of the whole wall hanging.  Now I'm working on the houses a little at a time.  I'd love to finish this week, but there's just too much else to do.  

Yesterday afternoon I attended a "Stay Steady" class at the Senior Center and found I am currently considered at low risk for falling.  What a relief!   They gave us tips to continue steadiness, many of which I already do.

Then I went to quilt guild at a new, better (brighter, good parking) location and had a great time.  I sat with two friends and met two new members.  I won all the blocks of the month, the door prize, and a prize when we played a few rounds of LCR (Left-Center-Right).  It was my lucky night!

I counted up all my UFOs and realized I have 16 to work on in 2024.  This far exceeds my usual count, so I have a lot to keep me busy this winter.  I'll move some along when we go to Alabama in February and on the usual snow days.  On the Quilting Board this morning, someone asked what folks' new years resolutions are, and I guess mine must be to whittle down my UFO list to a more manageable size before finally starting on a purple Exploding Heart quilt.

Green tea and sweet beans

 

These are all the blocks I've made so far for this Jen Kingwell designed quilt.  (What a name!  I keep forgetting it.)  I have a ways to go but am enjoying it quite a bit.   I am using the same background, a cream with a small brownish print, and scraps of cotton and wool.  

As is typical with Kingwell, we make a lot of blocks, then some filler pieces, and then put the quilt together in sections that mix up all the blocks.  There are appliqued borders, too, and we'll have to wait and see if I have the energy to make those.  The wool makes the applique a bit easier, and I love how it feels.

Yesterday's snowstorm wasn't as bad as it might have been.  This was the third Monday in a row we've had wet, sloppy snow.  We had about 4", but because the temperatures hovered around freezing, the roads didn't look too bad.  Luckily, we didn't lose power so I was able to make a nice lunch - bacon, eggs, and raisin toast.  

We did lose the cable which provides internet, TV, and phone.   Paul had a Zoom meeting that he couldn't dial into, but he could use my cell phone to participate.  My preventing diabetes Zoom class was cancelled, but it all came back on in time to watch the TV news.

Because of the possibility of losing power, I didn't do much that required it like laundry, sewing, or baking.  But that meant I had a chance to finish the latest Marie Bostwick book, Esme Cahill Fails Spectacularly, which I really enjoyed despite the unfortunate title.  It is set in Asheville, NC, and has some quilting in it.  I will have to go look at Bostwick's website, though, because there is a recipe for Caramel Cake, which the characters talk about all the time.

The bests of 2023

This morning's New York Times newsletter mentioned all the "best" lists that have been coming out, so I thought I might list a few of my own...

Best book read - Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby van Pelt.  A cleaning lady befriends a giant octopus at an aquarium.  Yes!  A very interesting group of characters.  Lots of fun, and a great book to gift to family this year.

Best movie, either in person or on TV - I know that Oppenheimer is the most high quality movie I saw this year, but I really liked All the Light We Cannot See.  It was a wonderful adaptation of the book I loved a few years ago.  I also enjoyed The Holdovers for a feel-good experience.

Best new recipe - hands down, the Facebook Bread Machine group's "Antique White" continues as my favorite loaf and roll recipe.   It never fails me.   I looked for easy recipes this year, and my sister in law Linda's fruit tart became another favorite I can make again and again.

Best quilting project finished - Arboretum was a lot of fun to make and swap blocks for.  It just seemed to go together so quickly and easily.  I was glad to give it to Preservation Burlington for a fund raiser.

Best outing - we went on a few long trips as well as day trips, but I think I enjoyed going to Staunton, VA, and Asheville, NC, last March the best.   That trip included visiting the Virginia Quilt Museum with its thrilling Jinny Beyer retrospective, attending two plays at the American Shakespeare Center, and getting together with cousins I hadn't seen in 50 years.  Along the way, there were other fun experiences, making for a very full vacation.

Best thing I did - turn over the treasury of the Barre Town Democrats to a young man who actually seems to know what he's doing.  I'm so glad to have a little more free time and hope to continue to make more time for myself in 2024.

Back to sewing

Today I'll be working on some Drunkard's Path blocks for my Green Tea and Sweet Beans quilt, a Jen Kingwell pattern.  It's slow going but will eventually get done.   I bought several yards of a beige-ish print for the background and am using scraps for the pieced blocks and some wool for the applique.  

I don't know if I'll make the same appliqued border.  We'll have to wait and see.   Amy Stewart, an author I enjoy, says she's a very "imprecise" person who likes to paint outside the lines and do her own thing.  When I read that, I realized I am a pretty imprecise quilter, too.  I start a pattern but then diverge somewhere along the line.

This week I also made the guild block of the month (one for the lottery and one for myself), a few gift bags, three tote bags, and some disappearing four patch blocks for a demo I'm doing in January.   After  last week, when I was lighting up the library, I am happy to be back dabbling in my sewing room and in the kitchen.  

This morning I tried a new recipe for easy Christmas treats - M&M Pretzel Kisses. 

Yum!  You can't eat just one and they go pretty fast, so I'm going to have to make another batch.  This will require another bag of Hershey's kisses, but that's OK.  I know some guys who will love them.  I used red and green M&Ms today, of course.  Over the weekend I hope to make some shortbread, too, and put it in the freezer.  It's fun to be getting into the holiday baking routine.