A couple of finishes and some frustration

Thursday I picked up two quilts made of miscellaneous blocks from Marie, the long arm quilter.  Both will go to "Bags of Love," which puts together bags with toiletries, a book, a stuffed animal, a quilt, and more for kids going into foster care.  I bound both quilts over the weekend and feel so good to have two UFOs done.   I'll get them back to Marie this week or next, I hope.

The first quilt is made of orphan blocks that didn't really go with any other orphans in my growing pizza box.  I liked the setting I found on a pattern that I've had for a long time.

The second quilt is mostly made of blocks of the month I made in 2023 in my various guilds.  The two tulips were leftover from another quilt.

This was the first time using the walking foot on my little Brother, and, while noisy, it did a fine job.  I do miss the smoothness of the Elna's dual feed foot, but the end result is a binding on.  I always machine sew both sides of the binding on charity quilts and those going to children so that they wear well.

With those quilts out of the way, I sandwiched the first three rows of Dear Jane and started quilting it.  That should keep me busy most of the week.   I want to take my time working on each individual block with the walking foot.  I am definitely missing the large harp on the Elna, though.

My Fly with Me pattern arrived in the mail over the weekend.  I bought it because I was intrigued by its various sizes and shapes of flying geese.   I thought it would make a nice scrap quilt.  When I opened it, I was dismayed to find no foundation sheets or templates.  These all needed to be acquired by scanning a QR code which I did with my phone.  How to get the resulting information onto my computer in order to print the pattern pieces led to an afternoon's frustration.  

After I wrote to the designer in Germany and got no response, I wrote to the shop owner who sold me the pattern, Phyllis.  She had the same problem and also got no reply from the designer.  Now I don't feel so dumb, but neither of us can still use the pattern.  What a boondoggle!   

Phyllis says she is no longer going to stock any Zen Chic patterns without assurance that the pieces are included with the pattern, and she very kindly refunded my money.  She removed it from her website, too.  I started drafting the pattern with graph paper, but the blocks are all 12" and my graph paper is only 8.5" wide.   So I am making my pattern 6" square.  I could have done this to begin with but don't feel good about simply copying a design seen online.   Getting to know Phyllis was a good thing to come out of this.  I needed more backing fabric for Dear Jane, so I bought it online at Phyllis' shop.   She's very speedy at filling orders, and my fabric is already on its way.

Lottery blocks

Over the weekend, having finished Row F of Dear Jane, I decided to sash the rows together in groups of three.  I'll quilt each set of three when my Elna returns home and, eventually, put the sections together.  I suppose that will happen sometime in 2025!

Realizing that the local guild meeting is tomorrow,  I knuckled down yesterday and made the block of the month for March.  Some lucky person (hope it's not me!) will receive all the blocks that people bring in.  

I do like green and blue together so I made one for myself and one for the lottery.   I have all the Christmas blocks I won in the January lottery to put together, so I really don't want to win these.

This wasn't as easy to make as it looked at first, so this one with a few corners cut off is staying here.  The semi-perfect one will go to guild.

This morning I made the lottery block for the May state guild meeting.   It always makes me feel good to be ahead rather than catching up at the last minute.  I like this block, too, for its springy look.  Again, I made one for the lottery and one for me.  I'll have a nice batch of blocks for a sampler or a few table runners by June at this rate.

After finishing these blocks, I went back to sashing Dear Jane.  I'm cutting the charcoal gray sashing a little wider than Jane's 1" because I want the individual blocks to show up more.  I'm also using lighter gray cornerstones to make the sections line up more precisely.  This is a challenge of quilt-as-you-go.

That was all the sewing I did today.  Now I'm baking rolls and making vegetable soup for dinner.  It's perfect for the gloomy, rainy day we're having.

Tulip Star

 

Before Paul's brother Jim arrived on Sunday, I made most of this month's Barn Star Quilt block.  After Jim left, I finished it while doing laundry.  Houseguests are nice, but I always feel I have to get the sheets and towels washed right away.  

I enjoyed making this 16" block which went together fairly easily.  I am thinking of making four blocks in various colors - red, blue, purple, yellow, with green "leaves" - for a baby quilt.  Our friend Karen has a new granddaughter, born on the day of the eclipse.  I am dying to know what her parents named her.  I'll find out soon enough, I guess.   Paul suggested "Aurora," a pretty name.

It's been a rather slow week as we recuperated from the excitement of the eclipse and Jim's visit.  On Tuesday morning we took him to the Wayside for breakfast, which is something many "natives" of the area get nostalgic about.   The restaurant has been in business since 1918 and has extremely reasonable prices.  Always busy, it serves old fashioned food like pot roast, liver and onions, and grapenuts pudding, as well as great breakfasts, burgers, and more.   Jim was anxious to get a lobster roll the last time he was here, but we couldn't find one until after he had left.  This time, we took him to a different restaurant on Sunday night, and he pronounced the lobster roll great.  It was a short visit, mostly to see the eclipse, but the two brothers seemed to have fun together.

I started putting sashing between my Dear Jane blocks and have a few more rows to go.  Today I won't do any sewing, but tomorrow I hope to get to the guild's block of the month and the state guild's raffle block.  We have a couple of busy weeks ahead with meetings and doctor's visits, but I hope to squeeze some hand sewing in, too.  I have hexies ready for one block in the Green Tea and Sweet Beans (or is it the other way around?) quilt and "just" have to sew them all together before piecing a few more blocks.  This afternoon we are off to the library to see a locally made movie.  Friends loved it, so I hope we do.

What a day!

The eclipse and our party turned out just great.  Folks started arriving around 2, many bearing cookies and other goodies.  We all ate a little and took a little outside.  Most brought lawn chairs, and we had extras, too, so everyone could sit, put on glasses, and watch the sun and moon perform their miracle.  (This photo was taken by Anna, the daughter of a friend).

Paul, his brother Jim, and I wore our special Barre eclipse t-shirts, and I gave one to our friend Diane for leading us in You Are My Sunshine... not once but twice.  

As we were sitting there, commenting on how quickly totality seemed to approach, I thought I couldn't think of a nicer group of people to experience this once-in-a-lifetime event with.  We have awfully nice neighbors!

Right before totality, we could hear dogs barking, the street lights came on as the air around us dimmed, and the wind picked up.  It got downright chilly.  Over to our northwest, the distinctive Camel's Hump (mountain) was surrounded by sunset/sunrise.  I wish I had taken a picture.  We see it all the time, but never like that.  As totality arrived, we all cheered, and we could hear other small groups in the neighborhood doing the same.  Diane said to look for a flash of light around the corona - she called it a "diamond ring."  She pointed out Saturn (or Jupiter?) and Venus which were not visible until totality.

As totality passed, we slowly went inside to warm up and get a little more to eat.  Some people stayed outside until the sky was perfectly normal.  I went inside and enjoyed talking with people I hadn't had a chance to chat with before.  After everyone left and I did some cleaning up, there were plenty of goodies to munch on, so that was our dinner - hummus, veggies, fruit, crackers, cheese, cookies.  A perfect end to a perfect day!

Row F and more

I finished Row F of Dear Jane yesterday, and what a challenging row it was!  I hope Row G is easier, but first I'm planning to work on a few other things.  A big snowstorm is coming later today, so there will be plenty of time to sew tomorrow.  We hope it doesn't start until later this afternoon so that the "Senior Day" program at the library about the 1927 flood will still go on.

Here's Row F...  There was quite a lot of paper piecing here, some fusible applique, and even some hand applique.  Like Jane, I had to make a few blocks a little larger or straighter with added background strips.  

I decided to add the charcoal grunge sashing between the blocks, so I'll start with Row F and go back and sash the other rows.  It shouldn't take me long because I've been carefully measuring each block as I go.  I'll double check before stitching, though.

My plan is to quilt this in sections when my Elna comes home, so I'll leave the rows sashed but not attached for a while.  I've been keeping the blocks clipped together by rows in a large envelope, and once they're sashed, they can hang on a hanger in the closet.  

I made a delicious loaf of maple oat bread over the weekend and will most likely make another tomorrow.  It has a touch of whole wheat flour and some cinnamon, making it extra yummy.   I also made some granola because Paul's brother Jim seems to eat cereal for breakfast, and he's arriving Sunday.  

In between sewing and cooking, I started reading The Dutch House, by Ann Patchett who wrote a favorite of mine some years ago, World of Wonders, about the Amazon.  I'm reading a large print edition which is really easy on the eyes, but so far isn't as good as some of Patchett's earlier books.  My hold for the e-book of The Guest List by Lucy Foley came up from the library, so I've had to switch to reading that for a while.  It's very soap-operaish with unlikeable characters, so I'm not sure if I'll finish even if it did win "best mystery" on Goodreads in 2020.

As I write this, we are having a lovely red sky, a harbinger of things to come. The weather folk say it should go on for several days - rain, snow, sleet, wind, and everything else.  Yesterday, in advance of the storm, I started shopping for things we'll need for our Eclipse watch party Monday afternoon.  I'll do some more over the weekend.   We've invited neighbors and good friends and are hoping for sun and melting snow so we can go in the backyard to watch.   Mainly round foods are on the menu:  moon pies, black and white cookies, fruit with yogurt dip, Diane's lemon squares, round chips and salsa, punch, wine, soda.  Should be fun!

Just puttering along

I decided to devote my machine sewing time to Dear Jane this week, so I got right onto Row F.  So far, seven blocks are done, and I forgot that I had already done F-6, so now I have two.  I'll pick the one I like best and put the other one on the back or use it in a mug rug.   

One of the blocks (F-8) had 30 pieces - for a 4.5" block!  It's paper pieced which means I used about twice the fabric a pieced block would take.  This photo is from the website HobbyStash where one can find paper piecing patterns for most of the blocks.  Mine is a bright teal green on a black and white background.

There are three more blocks to go, one of which is hand appliqued.  It feels odd to be doing fusible applique on some of the blocks, but that is really more accurate this time around.   F-13 has fairly large pieces that I can handle.  I'll post a photo of the whole role when done.

I also started cutting out sashing this week.  I have several yards of charcoal grunge for this quilt and will put a few of the rows together now.  I want to machine quilt it myself in sections when my Elna returns (I'm hoping it can be repaired - it is frozen at the moment and seems hopeless.).  Meanwhile, the new Brother is working fine, especially with paper piecing.  

Today being Easter, we have plans to meet Chris and a friend at the Asian Gourmet for lunch.  We started doing this last Easter and really enjoyed ourselves.  It's a new tradition but fun.   This morning we'll go around town and hang posters for the April library booksale.  I drive while Paul posts.  Happy Easter!

Last round robin

 

Due to yesterday's snow (we got about 12"), I made good headway on Renee's round robin, and today I finished.  I was initially dismayed because I don't really like brown, but this turned out pretty nice.  I hope she likes it.  At about 44" square, it could be a big wallhanging.  If she wants to add another border, it will be a nice lap quilt.  It's so big that I couldn't really get a good picture, but I hope this gives some idea of how it looks.  The scrappy Jacob's Ladder blocks I added are 6" finished.

I enjoy doing these round robins because they challenge my creativity.  It's fun to work with someone else's color and style choices, too.  I have never made a blue and brown quilt and probably never will.   

There are quite a few newbies in the guild, and I hope we can persuade some to try joining a round robin next year. Our group this year had six members, two of whom I didn't know, so it has been fun getting acquainted through their fabric.   

Snow day

We're having a late winter snow day today, with accumulations of about a foot expected.  Almost everything is closed so it's quiet outside, except for the occasional roar of the snowplows.  

It's only about 20 degrees, which is good, because that means it's a soft, light snow and we probably won't lose power.  I've got laundry going and just finished baking a batch of Snickerdoodle Squares.   They are soft and yummy, tasting like cinnamon toast.  Yes, I just "had" to try one, and it's only 9:30 in the morning!

Yesterday was a busy day, starting with a haircut.  This was my second time with Hollie, and she did a great job.  On the way home, I stopped at Quality Market for necessities, "just in case" - bread and milk - ahead of the snow.  

The ladies of the neighborhood get together for lunch once a month at a restaurant downtown, so I joined them for a salad.  Quite a few neighbors are off traveling or dealing with family issues, so there were only nine of us.  It's always fun to get together.  

I came home and goofed off for a while before Paul and I headed over to Montpelier for dinner with our friends Pauline and Bob, who was celebrating a birthday at our favorite Italian restaurant.   We started with drinks, bread, and a shared antipasto plate before our entrees.  Bob had cake for dessert, and Pauline had a yummy coffee with Kahlua and whipped cream.  Paul and I decided we'd had enough.  But it was all delish, and we even carried some pasta home for today's lunch.

Later, I'll move upstairs to the quilting room and work on Renee's round robin quilt some more.  I like to get the rounds done and put away right after I receive the quilts so that I don't get sloppy waiting til the last minute.  I like to take my time with someone else's quilt.  We'll reveal our group's six "flimsies" at the May meeting, finish the quilts over the summer, and show the finished ones at the September guild meeting.  Tammy has very kindly offered to long arm quilt any round robin quilts for us.  I will definitely take her up on it.

March Barn Star blocks

 

Yesterday morning, after I finished the February blocks of the month, I worked on the March ones since I had the purple box out.  One set of two was fairly easy and the other set turned out to be problematic.  I would not have made the Lemoyne Stars (the book gives them another name) that way, and I know I'll end up nipping off the points.  But they are done and put away with the other blocks until April.

Most of our afternoon was spent at the Retina Center in Burlington, a 45 minute drive away.  Paul goes every four months for a check up, and I sit in the waiting room with a good book.  During the pandemic I couldn't come in, so had to either wait outside in the car, go shopping, or sit on a lawn chair by the parking lot.  Now we all still have to wear masks, but I don't really mind that.

I'm reading The Boy Who Cried Bear by Kelley Armstrong, the latest in a series set in a remote town in the Yukon.  Casey and her partner Eric run a town for people who need to disappear from the "outside" world for safety, such as criminals, victims of violence, etc.  They know the forest surrounding the town well, but every now and then some stranger will appear.  And it's always the humans that are more dangerous than the animals, of course.  There's food for thought along with the adventure.

Tonight I have quilt guild and will take the collage and Disney quilts for show and tell.  I hope to go through my stash a bit to glean a few things for the free table.  I tend to take more than I bring in, and I really need to reverse that trend!

Catching up... slowly

Saturday was our semi-annual Green Mountain Quilters Guild board meeting which I had arranged to be at the public library.  Because of being exposed to COVID a few days before, I did wear a mask even though I had no symptoms and tested negative.  I'm still negative, thank goodness.  

We had a great meeting followed by a nice lunch at a restaurant across the street from the library.   It's a really nice group of people who work hard to keep the state guild alive.  The state guild only meets twice a year, so we were planning the May meeting.  

Everyone went home with assignments, and mine was to arrange for an inspiring speaker for the morning program.  I asked one of our most creative members, Chris, via email, and she enthusiastically agreed!  Arranging a speaker isn't always that easy, but I guess I caught her at just the right time.  I think we'll attract quite a few people who have enjoyed her very creative quilts over the years.  Here's her "Hiding My Stash" wallhanging. 

In between errands and meetings, I've been pecking away at the purple Barn Star quilt blocks of the month and have finished all the blocks for February.   I'm making progress!  This block was 24" square, and the following ones are 8".  

My purple box is still bursting at the seams, so I'm happy to proceed with the March blocks this week.  It's going to be a pretty quilt.  This BOM has been organized by Abigail Dolinger whose annual BOMs I almost always follow because her directions are very clear and the pace is perfect for me.  I do sometimes get behind due vacation or whatever, but I generally manage to catch up.

Yesterday, I resolved to finish the purple Wave Scarf I've been knitting for a few months.  I still have the loose ends to weave in but will post a photo in the next few days.  I may save it for my brother in Wisconsin who likes purple because it's regal.  I usually work on knitted things for kids going into foster care, but my next project will be another scarf with an unusual pattern.  These projects keep my hands busy (and sometimes my mind!) when I want to take a break and watch TV during the day.

Brother!

As I was finishing the binding on the Disney quilt, my Elna started making an odd noise, very similar to the one it made before I took it in for service last summer.  It has had an average amount use since it came back from service.  I opened it up and did a thorough cleaning.  Sunday I cut out pieces for one of my blocks of the month - I'm behind a month and wanted to spend the day catching up.  When I started sewing, the metal-on-metal grinding noise became more and more excruciating, and I just couldn't continue.   I'll take it to my local quilt shop where a guy from "up north" will pick it up eventually and repair it (I hope).  This will be a different person from the last repair.

I sewed 12 flying geese by hand, thinking all the while about what to do next.   I gave my old backup machine to my niece, so how would I endure 4-6 weeks without a machine?  Clearly, I couldn't.  So I started hunting around for lighter, less expensive machines, both new and used, and settled on a new Brother from Walmart.   I didn't even have to go to the store; it could be delivered free to my house.

Although I would have preferred a mechanical machine like a Featherweight, this SQ9825 is computerized and comes with quilting feet and the ability to drop the feed dogs.  The harp is teensy but will be fine for smaller projects or quilt as you go.  I ordered it Monday, and it came on Tuesday.  It was easy to set up, and there were quite a few online videos about it.  It is light enough to carry to classes.

Today I put Brother through its paces, finishing the 24" block of the Barn Star Sampler, the first block of February's five.  There's no automatic thread cutter, but I coped.  It has an automatic threader, but I can't figure it out yet - I never could on my Elna either.  Getting a scant 1/4" seam required a piece of tape that I've been using on the Elna now and then.  And the machine sews smoothly, quietly and in a straight line which is most important to me.  The LED light is almost useless, but I have good extra lighting.

The Disney quilt

Early this week, I made 16 log cabin blocks and mailed 12 off to the other people in the swap.  Then I turned my attention to a baby quilt for my cousin's daughter (in the Netherlands, she is considered my niece) and her husband.  Susan and Arjan are crazy about all things Disney and even went to Disney World for their honeymoon several years ago.  Over the years I've sent little things I've made with Disney fabric.  Now I'm thrilled to be sending them a baby quilt.

When I double-checked on the baby room's decor, Susan said "Disney, of course!"  I thought so!  I ordered some Disney-themed charm squares on etsy.com and made disappearing nine patch blocks.  The back is a soft red polka dotted flannel.   It's almost embarrassing how quickly this all went together, but I love the way it turned out.

What a nice change from the two neutral baby quilts that were requested last year!  The postscript to that story is that for the quilt for my new greatnephew, Daley, I made a colorful scrappy back.  And his mother seems to prefer that side for tummy time.  I'm so glad!

This afternoon I'm heading to my monthly hand sewing group, the Calico County Quilters.  I have a sashiko piece and some hexies to work on and will bring the Disney quilt along for show and tell.  

I belonged to this group before my son was born 42 years ago but took about 30 years off for one reason or another.  I enjoy the members very much.  Everyone works on her own project; we learn so much from each other.  Of course, we talk about non-quilting things, too, which makes for a very pleasant afternoon.

Inventorying WIPs

Now that winter is waning (but not gone by a long shot), I find it necessary to assess what I have to work on before I start anything new.   Here's what I'm thinking about.

Job 1:  Susan and Arjan's baby quilt.  The baby is due June 6 and will take up to 6 weeks to get to the Netherlands.  Top is ready for sandwiching and quilting.  I have pre-washed some lovely red polka dotted flannel for the back.

2.  Dear Jane - I'm ready to start Row F or put blocks together to begin quilting Rows A-E QAYG style.  Decisions, decisions!    I have some charcoal grunge for sashing.  Here's Row E.

3.  Log cabin swap - I have all the pieces for 16 8.5" blocks cut and can start putting them all together.   I decided to use the 9 Manx blocks I have for the center of the quilt and surround them with the blocks I receive in the swap.

4.  Purple Barn Star quilt along - I am behind a month but hope to catch up soon.

5.  Knitted wave scarf - It's getting long and looking good.  It's almost time to change color combinations again.  I knit while watching TV on gloomy days (which we seem to have a lot of lately).

6.  Sweet Tea and Green Beans (Jen Kingwell) - I finished the 8 orange peel blocks on vacation and now have the hexies to put together into a block.  This is portable so I'll take it to guild on Saturday.  I have a long way to go on this quilt, but I'm enjoying the variety so far.

7.  There are several other projects on the back burner, including two quilt tops finished last year and the guild blocks of the month I won in January.   Should these become four table runners for gifts?  Stay tuned!

Seen while reading numerous blogs

 I've been trying to catch up on my blog reading after 3 weeks away and saw this at QuiltingGail...

This Quilty Ode was on posted on Facebook by Fons and Porter. It was written by Eileen Fowler, the editor of Quiltmaker and Quick + Easy Quilts.

We're home!

We arrived back in Barre a little before 3 pm yesterday (Saturday) after a rainy ride from Wilkes-Barre, PA, where we often stay on trips south.  It feels good to be home although there's a mountain of laundry, a bunch of obligations, and some grocery shopping to be done.  On the way home, we stopped at a Panera in Glens Falls, NY, for lunch and also bought a loaf of their Rustic Bread.  Our Panera closed during the pandemic, and I miss that bread.  We had tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner - yum!  Lunch lady meals can be very comforting now and then.

We wish we could move our house to Fairhope, Alabama, right by Mobile Bay although we know it would be extremely hot in summer.  Our bungalow there was small and a little funky, but it was right across the street from the Bay where we could watch the sunset almost every night.  We enjoyed nine straight days of sun, and only the last day was cloudy and humid.  Not bad!   On our last day, we returned to the library for a book review program, followed by lunch at our favorite Lebanese restaurant and a little shopping downtown.

Fairhope feels like the Cadillac of towns with helpful amenities everywhere.  Some of the drinking fountains offer bowls for people and for the many dogs that are walked along the Bay.  We enjoyed meeting the dog lovers and offering pets to many of their companions.  Vicarious living for us, now long dog-less. 

The park by the Bay held a nice monthly Saturday market with crafters, food vendors, and more.  There was a musical event Friday afternoon which also attracted a crowd.   A favorite restaurant on the pier is still under construction after last year's hurricane.  I missed their fried green tomatoes this time.

The library has a great auditorium for programs with a pass-through kitchen for refreshments.    The Friends have a wonderful, bright used bookstore, and they also have carts full of free books outside the store which is open a few days a week.    The library also offers a charging station for visitors' devices with various plugs visible.

We don't know if we'll ever return to Fairhope, alas, as the four day drive, especially around busy cities, is very tiring.  We were on the road 34 hours and covered close to 2,000 miles!  Next year we are thinking of flying somewhere as we did years ago when we visited Charleston.  On that trip, we flew in, took a taxi downtown, and walked everywhere for a week.  

Meanwhile, it's back to reality today with lots of loose ends to pick up as well as check ins with family and friends.  Have a great Sunday!

Lazy vacation days

We very much enjoyed the programs we attended at the Fairhope Public Library Tuesday.  One was a book review of Elliott Roosevelt III's latest and the other was a meet the author program.  Paul had read the local author's book before the program (he's a fast reader) and we had run into her at the bookstore.  The audiences for both programs were engaged and nice.

Yesterday was a more lazy day.  We drove to a pecan farm and then walked on the bike/foot path along the Bay.  We sat in the sun by a naturalized area set aside for butterflies (too early in the season but we did see one).   We had a nice pizza lunch and roamed around the history museum for a while.  They had an interesting display of blown up historical photos that were better seen with 3-D glasses.  This was fun. 

Our bungalow is across the street from the path, so we have gone out most nights to watch the sunset.   The sunsets here are just amazing.  The sky turns a lovely pink and the sun a brilliant orange.  But my iPhone cannot do them justice so far.  I'll keep trying.

I've been parking out front under a giant live oak with branches that spread out over the street.  Paul stood in front of it to give an idea of the tree's size.

Here's a view of the tree from across the street.  I copied this photo from the town's website.  And it really does look like this right now with all the tulips!

Alabama photos

We are in lovely Fairhope, Alabama, enjoying sun and warmer temperatures.  Walked without jackets yesterday!  After our first night, at Paul's brother's home in Montgomery, we visited Selma and walked the path of giants over the famous Edmund Pettus Bridge.  We met a couple of devoted volunteer guides and visited a small memorial park on the other side of the bridge from the town (below).

Later, we drive down to Fairhope and checked into our VRBO within sight of Mobile Bay.  And what a gorgeous sunset that first night!  

It has been six years since we stayed here, so yesterday we walked around checking out the changes.  

In our favorite bookstore, the Page & Pallette, we ran into a 91 year old woman who will be having an author's meet and greet at the library tonight.  Paul bought her book and has been reading it in preparation.  She's quite a character, walking around town 5 miles a day and chatting with visitors.  She had quite a sad childhood during World War II, when she and her younger brother, ages 9 and 7, were left to fend for themselves.  

Today we'll attend a couple of programs at the library and continue exploring.  We especially want to visit the historical museum to see their latest exhibit.  The sun has been shining since we've been here, which is a welcome change for us.  Tulips and daffodils are blooming everywhere!

For my Valentines

 

Super Bowl Sunday should really be a national holiday.  Everyone was at the grocery store at 7:30 am, and there were more men than women.  Most unusual for a Sunday!  

We picked up a few items for the next few days and, like everyone else, for our usual Super Bowl meal - pizza.  I didn't make the crust this year but, rather, bought a somewhat tough multigrain dough.  Next time, I'll make my own. 

Before dinner time, though, I baked some soft chocolate chip cookies for Chris and for us as Valentine's treats.  Chris came by with a box of candy for us and was pleased to take his cookies home.  This is really the best recipe I've found for chocolate chip cookies, and they keep well (if you are able to keep them!).  

It's too soon to pack for the trip - I'll do that tomorrow.  Today I'll do some hand sewing, run a few errands, and make chili for dinner.  I keep checking the weather because of the possibility of snow tomorrow, but it looks like Wednesday, when we leave, it will be sunny.  By the time we hit the snow belt, I'm hoping the roads will be clear and dry.

Sun almost the whole week!

Last night, the TV weatherman said we had no days of sun in January and very few during the months before.  So far this week, there's been sun every day, and we've been taking advantage of it.  Monday, Paul and I drove down to Bellows Falls, an hour and a half south, on an errand for the Barre Historical Society.  We didn't stay long but did enjoy a brief walk up and down the main street.  Former industrial buildings have been converted to stores, and the bookstore is especially nice.

Tuesday after my pedicure, we headed to Burlington for lunch with Pauline and Bob.  I gave them the eight placemats I'd made and was relieved that they like them.  (The photo shows them as WIPs.)  Wednesday, we were invited to lunch in Montpelier by neighbors Mary and Manny.  Both were delightful social events with excellent food!

Obviously, very little sewing has been done this week, although I have been pecking away at a disappearing nine patch baby quilt for my Dutch niece Susan and her husband Arjan.  Yesterday, I got some flannel for the back of the bright quilt top which I hope to finish today.  The top includes two packets of charm squares mostly featuring Minnie and Mickey Mouse.  These look great with red and white polka dotted fabrics, with little black accents.  

I'll wash the flannel today (it's red), but who knows when I'll start quilting.  I have packing and organizing to do for our trip which begins Wednesday.  The car's interior needs a good cleaning before we stuff everything in.  And there's a trip to the money machine and... and...

Finishing books and projects

Now that the collage is finished and hanging on the wall, what should I work on next?  I always have to take a little break after finishing an intense project or after reading an intense book.  Both happened yesterday.  I finished quilting Birch Street and hung it up in the front hall.    It's a narrow space and difficult for photography, but perhaps today I'll take the quilt outside for a photo shoot.  I folded and sewed the outer border over to the back as a facing and made a thin hanging sleeve which I sewed on by hand.   I think that will be "it" for collage quilting for me.  

I spent most of yesterday reading Go As A River, by Shelley Read.  It's set in Colorado, between 1949 and 1970.  Victoria meets a charismatic young man on a street in her small town, falls in love, and bears the consequences.  It's an adventure with coming-of-age, very exciting in parts, and also quite heartwarming at the end.  Beautifully written with very strong characters, it's a book I will remember for a long time.  I enjoyed Victoria's love of nurturing the peaches her family grew.  Colorado peaches are delicious.  

Feeling the void of a project and a book finished, today I'll work on getting some projects together for our trip and start a cozy mystery - palate cleansers!  Tomorrow we are heading to Bellows Falls on an errand for the historical society, and Tuesday I'll have a pedicure and go to Burlington to give Pauline her placemats.  I'd like to get my taxes done before we leave next week, too.

Row E

My new Dear Jane variation will be called Accepting My Limitations.   When I worked on The Quilt years ago, my fingers were nimble and allowed me to applique some tiny pieces.  Now I feel I'm all thumbs and have had to resort to using fusibles for some parts of the small blocks.  When I put my mind to it, I can make a row of 13 blocks in a week, which I did last week.  Here's Row E.

The next to the last block (purple with fruit) will receive a little embroidery rather than a fusible bit in its center.  Then I'll put the blocks away for a while as I quilt the Birch Street collage and head south for a few weeks.

Yesterday, I basted the collage together using Misty Fuse, a product I'd never used before.   The muslin back is wrinkly but, since it's a wall hanging, shouldn't be all that noticeable.  The quilting, in straight vertical lines is going pretty well so far. 

 I'm using polyester thread, and Paul helped me move my machine out from the wall in order to allow the stiff collage to drape onto my ironing board behind the machine.  

A few small pieces popped up while handling, so I'm sticking them back down with a little bit of glue.  I hope that after quilting, that problem will be eliminated.  I worried a bit about marking, but I have been making vertical lines with a water-soluble pen every 6" across to make sure that I keep the quilting fairly as I go across the quilt.  I'm actually liking the piece more with the quilting.  That will be what I do most of the next few days.

Farewell, my lovely

I was surprised yesterday by a message from Etsy telling me that I had sold a quilt.  I made this quilt years ago, sold it last year, and had it returned to me.  The buyer said the person she'd bought it for didn't want it.  Imagine my disappointment.  I loved making this twin-sized curved log cabin with a bundle of florals!  And Marie's quilting couldn't be beat.

Finding a mailing box wasn't easy, but I settled on one in the basement.  I will need to find a large sized priority box, just in case I sell something else this year.  Luckily, the parking lot at the post office was clean(ish) so I had no trouble walking.  Otherwise, I would have recruited Paul to carry the box.  

I'm happy to have reduced the inventory by one good sized quilt, and hope this buyer will love it as much as I do.

Round robin

I enjoy working on round robins and organized one for our quilt guild this year.   Six people, including me, signed up, and so far I've worked on four quilts started by guild members.  Now that the quilts are bigger, we have two months to work on the last two rounds.  I have Soni's quilt to work on now, and it's gorgeous so far.  She said she would prefer that we make our borders no wider than 3", and I love the variety of batiks she included.  

I used a Seminole technique for my round and love the result.  Hope she does, too!   Years ago, I had a wonderful book on Seminole patchwork that I loaned to someone who never gave it back.  I bought another one and stupidly loaned it to someone who also never returned it.  Mr. Google came to the rescue yesterday!  

It wasn't as hard as it looks, but I'm really glad it's finished.  Each of those little squares was just 1" and the resulting strip is very stretchy.  The border ended up at 2" unfinished, and I'm going to leave it as is for the next person to deal with.  I like the way it looks on Soni's quilt.  

And I wonder how my quilt is!  I pulled the Christmas Dresden plate block out of my UFO box and added some fabric back in September, and now I hardly remember what it looked like.  The big reveal will be at the May meeting. Hope I can get a few more UFOs finished before it comes home to add to the pile.

Last year's purple quilt

I seem to make at least one purple quilt each year.  Last year, I won the guild Blocks of the Month, a purple floating star, and finally finished it in a few weeks ago.   I love purple, but I will be finding a charity to give this twin-sized quilt to.  Here I am showing and telling at Monday night's guild meeting.

I now have a stack of Christmas ribbon star blocks that I won at the December guild meeting to put together sometime this year.  I'll probably set them in a similar manner.

Also at Monday's guild meeting, I did a little demo of disappearing four patch blocks.  In preparing for the demo, I discovered an alternative that occurs when you cut the four patch block on the diagonal.  I really like it, so I may try making a whole multi-colored quilt of this pattern sometime.  Here I am showing the two methods.  

I had thought to use the disappearing four patch to make a baby quilt for my niece Susan in the Netherlands.  She and her husband Arjan are expecting in June and are big Disney fans, having been to Disney World at least 3 times and to Disney Paris, too.  

But the charm squares I got show very small motifs, so I will most likely just make a very colorful square inside a square for her baby quilt.  I will probably start that when we get back from Alabama in early March.

Starting a new BOM

I can't resist Aby Dolinger's Blocks of the Month.  Her instructions are just so clear, and I always like the way the end result looks.  

This year, she's using Shelley Cavanna's Barn Star Sampler as the basis for the BOM because she's teaching a class in her area (NC).  My version this year is designed to reduce my collection of purples.  I keep buying purples, and people give them to me, too.  It's next to impossible to close the tub now! 

I'm planning to make the throw sized quilt, but one never knows where one's whims will take me.  I may say "small" in January and change my mind in October!  

The first three blocks. #10 and 11, were fairly easy, and I enjoyed making them.  We are also supposed to make a start on a more complex, bigger star block, #2, but I will probably hold off until I finish a few other things this month.

There were quite a few cut-offs from the corners of the flying geese, so I sewed half square triangles together in hopes of using them as fillers down the line.  I'm varying the backgrounds a bit although I have quite a bit of white on white I can use here and there.  I especially like the background by Victoria Findlay Wolfe in the block at the upper left.

Ready to quilt

I got so involved finishing up the Birch Street collage yesterday that I forgot I had clothes in the washer.  They never got put into the dryer, so now I'm running a quick wash before doing so.  Such is the way of the quilter:  when we get really involved, all signs of "life" fall away.

After talking with Marie at the quilt shop on Thursday, I decided it was time to put pedal to the metal and finish up.  She made me feel better by saying that it took her 6 months to finish one of her collages.  And here I had been complaining that I started mine in October.  But the collage UFO took up most of the guest bed, and that's where I lay out quilts to be put together and/or quilted.  It was impeding my progress.

Yesterday, I added the "grass," the road in front, a few embellishments (including the tiny bicycles), and the border, and I ironed everything down with steam.  It is now ready for simple quilting which I will attempt to do with my Elna.  I've ordered some Mistyfuse to help me sandwich it with muslin backing and a pieced batt I've been saving.  

Big question:  how to "mark" the beginning center line?  I'm afraid to use painters tape for fear it will remove pieces (a window already fell off while I was putting the border on - glue to the rescue!).

Meanwhile, I will work on blocks for Dear Jane and Green Tea and Sweet Beans.  I want to get a few kits made up to take on our trip south in February.

Rows Parade

I'm a little slow in showing this new quilt which I bound last week.  I had to find two tall people to hold it up so I could take a full photo.  Luckily, Soni and Mary were willing at quilt guild on Saturday, and here Rows Parade is!  It was a row of the month designed by Aby Dolinger, and all the rows were made with scraps I already had.  I did buy the sashing and border fabric as well as the binding and backing.  It was fun to make, and I especially enjoyed the hearts row made in February.  Most of those blocks were hand appliqued.

I started out choosing colors from the Rainbow Scrap Challenge but then veered off the page a bit.  And somehow it grew to be full sized - not my initial intention!

A productive day

I had no reason to leave the house yesterday, so I stayed home and got a lot done.   A quilt got bound and 8 placemats got quilted.  First I had to create some "Frankenbatting" for the placemats.  My bin of scraps was overflowing, but now it isn't, and I still have a couple of queen-sized batts in plastic bags waiting to be used.  I wish I could buy batting by the roll, but I just don't have space to store one. 

Quilting the placemats was fairly quick because I used a very simple 2.5" grid on each one.  I only had to mark two with washout ink; the rest I merely cross-hatched through squares by eye.  I can't really machine quilt in a straight line, but it isn't all that noticeable.  The stiff backing, a Waverly upholstery print, made it very easy.

I have some binding cut out for four of the placemats and ordered some more for the others.  While I was in a binding mood, I got out one of the quilts Marie quilted for me and got that ready.  Not having anything else that needed to be done, I started binding and finished after lunch.  The quilt is Rows Parade, a row of the month quilt I worked on in 2023.   

How good it feels to finish!  I have no idea what I'll do with this quilt, but I'll take it to guild for show and tell and maybe list it on etsy eventually.  I have another, smaller quilt waiting to be bound.  Getting it ready will be today's project, but I'm not sure how far I'll get.

This morning we're heading to yoga and, after a quick nap, we'll go to Burlington to have dinner with Pauline and see Come From Away at the Flynn Theater.  Hoping the weather improves so the drive over is OK and that tomorrow morning's return home is without snow, ice, what-have-you.

Barn Star Sampler BOM

I have followed Aby Dolinger's blog for a number of years and enjoy working on blocks of the month projects she designs.   Her directions are always very clear.  This year, she's leading a BOM using Shelley Cavanna's Barn Star Sampler.  I got the book in the fall and, since I am involved in fostering a barn quilt trail all over Vermont, I thought this was a perfect project for me this year.  This will be 2024's purple quilt because my stash of purples continues to grow.

Here are Aby's first two block choices which look pretty simple to me.  I don't think I'll get to them today but hope to sometime this week.  At least I'll try to cut them out.  In my attempt to be more realistic about projects I start, I'm shooting for a throw this time.  I have yet to put the binding on the queen-sized BOM I did with Aby in 2023.

Today's project will be sandwiching and beginning the quilting on the placemats I'm making for Pauline.   I have lots of leftover batting scraps which should see me through this project.  I don't want to venture out of the house because the roads don't look too good yet.  The news reported that we had 13.5" of snow yesterday, and it will take a little time to clean that up.  Thank goodness we shopped for groceries on Saturday!

Catching up

I wrote the following on New Year's Eve...

This morning I made a few blocks for a swap, and yesterday I finished working on a brick for Studio Place Arts, our local arts center.  

SPA was flooded like every other building along N. Main St. this summer, with quite a bit of water in the basement.  As they pumped it out, several bricks fell out of the foundation, too.  Those were replaced, and the "bad" bricks stacked up in the back yard.   The folks at SPA decided to offer them to local artists to create items that will be raffled off this winter some time.  I volunteered and here's what I made with the brick I got.  

It was dirty but in good shape.   When I picked it up, I thought I'd applique a small version of the building which is full of large windows and has turquoise doors on the first floor.  In summer, there's an easy chair carved out of granite out front, and tourists take their pictures there.

But time passed far too quickly, and now it's due in a couple of weeks.   I decided to dip into my extensive collection of selvages.  Some of them have great sayings.  I added the ricrac just to be a little different.  I didn't cut out all the holes, just the ones on the top to make the brick visible.  And sewing the thing shut was a real pain.  But it's done and ready to deliver.

And now for today, a week later...

The snow is streaming down, probably at the rate of an inch an hour.  Winter is seriously here.  I have been baking rolls because we were going to have company for dinner.  I don't think they're coming now, so I'll put the rolls in the freezer to take to Pauline's on Wednesday.  We're going to Burlington to see Come from Away, the traveling Broadway show.  Just as we did last year when the three of us saw Book of Mormon, we'll spend the night at Pauline and Bob's (he has to work, poor guy).   I've been working on some placemats for Pauline lately, but I won't finish them before Wednesday.  I'll take them over later in the month.

Earlier this week, I worked on a few blocks of the month and also some samples for an online swap I've organized.  It's a traditional log cabin very similar to the Manx blocks I'm making.  Those end up at 9" and these swap blocks end up at 8" finished.  

I have tons of blue and actually bought another piece at the local quilt shop which is closing January 20.  Mary has long had an online shop but thought she'd try the bricks-and-mortar one a couple of years ago.  I don't think her selection was a good fit for our town and the hours were a bit erratic.  But I will miss going to Quilt Bingo there every once in a while.  Maybe we can continue that somehow.

Our Christmas tree and most of our decorations have been put away.  Our wreaths are still up but will come down this week or next.   Lots of neighbors have their lights up still, which does make the evenings cheery.  I do enjoy the peacefulness of a snowy day - I'll knit, watch a little TV, and read.  A perfect Sunday!