Quilt shows and "potato chip" blocks

Thursday I took two quilts with hanging sleeves to the library to be hung where the AIDS quilt panels were.  I'm not sure how they'll get them up there.  The space on the older brick wall of the building and visible from the new art is huge.  They say they have a volunteer handy man who doesn't mind climbing.   

I think the quilts (Harriet's Journey and Hanky Quilt #2) will be a little small for the space, but I had only one larger quilt with a hanging sleeve.  I'll work on another one this week and swap them out in another month or so.  Both are older and used to be on beds in our B&B.

It never rains, but it pours! On Friday, I had a call from the Barre Opera House asking me if I could show some of my quilts in the lobby for about six weeks.    I had a show there one summer maybe ten years ago.  They have a lot of events planned this season and a very empty (dull) lobby.  The catch:  I need to hang the quilts this week.  

Yesterday I got out all the smaller wall hangings and curtain rods and dowels I have.  Paul cut one dowel to fit a small wool appliqued piece.  We will try hanging everything on Tuesday.  I'm excited!  Today I'll get the steamer out to work on one quilt that's very crumpled (shown here without wrinkles).

Meanwhile, I've been cutting 2" x 3.5" rectangles for "potato chip" blocks to go around the Dresden Plate quilt that was in timeout in the closet.  I need 24 for the next border and am having fun putting them together.  It's going to be quite colorful.  The final border will be a wide, plain print to bring the quilt up to about 72" square.  

I told myself...

 ...I wasn't going to participate in the guild Block of the Month this year.  I just end up with too many orphans.  Then I realized I didn't need to put a slip of paper into the bag of names for the drawing.  So today I did make the block and will put it into the drawing at the October meeting without entering.

I did end up with two orphan pinwheel blocks from the cutoffs, and I will use them somewhere - on pot holders or mug rugs - eventually.   I did a little complaining about the requirement that the background fabric be a fall batik fabric, thinking that I didn't have any.  But I did find something in my stash that worked although the contrast with the darker fabric makes that fabric, which was supposed to be green, look blue.

This morning I finished machine quilting Rows D through F of my Dear Jane.  I'll roll it up with the first three rows and proceed... eventually.  I want to work on a few other projects first.  I offered to coordinate a Round Robin or a Block Robin for the guild, with a deadline to sign up of October 1.  No one jumped right on it, but maybe some people will by next week.  I enjoy either type of exchange project   It's a challenge to build on someone else's project, using someone else's choice of fabric.  The last Round Robin I worked on was mostly my least favorite color - brown - but I chose to add a little blue to the border and really liked it.

I received more of the "Flora" fabric from the Cute Little Fabric Shop in Utah yesterday, so I can work on the Dresden top and the lily block, both using parts of that line.  I'm thinking the lily block will end up as a table runner, but I'm not sure yet.

As I write this, I see some guys on top of the house across the street cleaning the chimney.  That's a sure sign of fall!  Our leaves are beginning to change but have a way to go yet.  This morning it was about 45 when I got up and today's high is to be in the high 60s.  I do love fall, but I'm not wild about what it turns into!

Dear Jane activity

Yesterday I finished Row G of Dear Jane.  I'm thinking of calling this quilt Scrappy Jane since that's what it is.  I'm using scraps from stash at whim - no particular order - with black and white backgrounds, and I like the way it looks.  I was torn between working on Row H and quilting Rows D, E, and F, and finally decided to get those three rows together for quilting.  They're all basted now and ready for quilting.

I finished these rows back in May, so it has been fun revisiting them.  I had to piece together some batting and also backing fabric for this long, thin section.  When I finish quilting this section, I'll add it to the one I quilted in May.  This Dear Jane is a slow but steady project.  I'll start working on the quilting today after I bake an apple cake or two to take to quilt guild tonight.  

I'm on the September "team" which means I need to get there early to help set up and plan to stay late to clean up.  I have my Round Robin from last year all quilted, so will take that and the Barn Star Sampler along for show and tell.  It will be good to see everyone - over 70 women and one or two men - again.

Sunny days

Good morning, friends!  Although it's been sunny and in the 70s, I've been recovering from a bad cold so moving a bit slowly.  The cold is finally gone - no more kleenex sticking out of pockets and sleeves, no more cough drops in every room, no more deciding about meds to help me sleep.  Paul had the same cold (or maybe it was COVID?  we never tested), so we've had company at least.  On the occasions when I had some energy, I worked on Light Up the Library preparations for the Friends of the Library - updating the mailing list, organizing committees, and writing the letter to donors.  The mailing list is almost ready for Nancy to generate mailing labels.  This year, I'm hoping to share the load as much as possible so that I can move on to non-Friends projects (like quilting).  Our little committee will get together soon to put the mailing together.

I did do some sewing every day, though.  Most of last week, I made string triangles in blues and neutrals when I felt like it.  Yesterday I went to the Calico County Quilters group for a two hour hand sewing session.  I finished a lily block that may become the beginning of a new medallion quilt and did a bit of Sashiko.  It's always nice to sit and sew with this little group while we catch up on each other's lives.

This past week, I got my Dear Jane background fabrics out and started on Row G.  I have quilted Rows A-C and have Rows D-F put together and now ready to sash and quilt.  I'll do that as soon as the Row G blocks are finished.  This row contains the very difficult G-6 block with a five pointed star and a little star in the middle.  I don't know why Betsy Ross suggested five pointed stars to George Washington - they are so hard to get even!  But, according to Wikipedia, no one really knows how the stars became five pointed.  Maybe it wasn't Betsy's idea after all.

At any rate, I had to add some coping strips to my star block and once again thought about what an amazing seamstress Jane Stickle was.  How many blocks or partial blocks did she throw away during the process of making her masterpiece?  None, I bet, since it was "in war time."  

A little getaway

A number of years ago, Paul and I took a trip to Michigan to visit his sister and her husband who had been dealing with serious health issues.  We had a nice visit with them and were glad we went because just a few years later each of them passed away.  On the way home from that first trip, we stopped at Niagara-on-the-Lake (NOTL), Ontario, as our quickest route takes us across New York State, through Ontario, and into Michigan.  We had walked around NOTL and found it charming, a place to return to.

This summer we resolved to return, and Paul hopped online to buy tickets to plays at the Shaw Festival Theatre as soon as they were available.  To my delight, my favorite musical, My Fair Lady, is the headline play this year!  We headed over on Thursday before Labor Day (the Canadians also celebrate Labour Day), stopping at Batavia, NY, for the night, and arriving in NOTL at lunchtime Friday. 

I love all the flowers along the streets which were quite busy in the middle of the day with tourists from all over the world.  The town used to draw most of its visitors from theater goers, but now it seems the area's wineries are the main attraction.  We didn't visit any, but several wineries had retail shops downtown and some restaurants had beer and wine tastings.

We had lunch on the patio of our lodgings for the weekend, the historic Olde Angel Inn, centrally located just off the main street.  Being the oldest inn in Ontario has its good and bad points.  The innkeeper, Diana, was very friendly and helpful, telling us about free places to park, good breakfast places, and the bands they have every Friday and Saturday night in the pub, right below our historic room above the pub's door (see above).  We did manage to get a little sleep in spite of the noise.  And we loved being able to walk everywhere.   There were delicious restaurants, both theaters, and cute shops just steps away.

My Fair Lady was absolutely amazing, and everything we'd hoped for.  Our seats, in the first row, couldn't have been better.  We could look into the orchestra pit and hear all of the actors on stage well.  I loved the costumes, especially the dresses at the races at Ascot and the ball gowns.  The actors who played Henry Higgins and Alfred Doolittle were super, "Eliza Doolittle" was a great singer.   The sets moved almost effortlessly.

The following night, we saw Agatha Christie's Witness for the Prosecution in a different, smaller theater, and it was just as good.  Again, the costuming and set design were wonderful.  I had come down with a cold, though, and sat masked with cough drops at the ready.  

On Monday morning, we packed up early to avoid long lines at US Customs, and our wait was only about 30 minutes.  We stopped in Malta, NY, for the night before arriving home Tuesday at lunchtime.  The memories of charming NOTL will linger on for quite a while.