Home is best

Off hand, I can't remember the quote so well - east, west, home is best?   But it sure is good to be home in peaceful, green Vermont although we enjoy visiting Mom and sister Jenny in Colorado.  Saturday was Mom's 104th birthday, and we celebrated with two online video chats.  My brother took a screen shot.  It's difficult to see anyone, but the upper right has Mom, my son Chris, me, Jenny, and Paul.

Later in the day we had another video chat with my nieces in Los Angeles and Queensland, New Zealand.  It was good to see them both.

The day before we had a visit from my second cousin, twice removed, Joice, her husband Bob, and one of her sons and his family.  Mom hadn't seen Joice and Bob for 60 years.  The last time was when she gave them baby furniture, and now her son has grown up with kids of his own.

Joice lives in Pennsylvania, and we last saw her and Bob a couple of years ago when we were traveling through on our way home from the south.  We hope to see them again this spring.

Our visit included a lot of "mom care," taking her to appointments, helping her navigate the oxygen tubes, and just helping her in general.  I did a little cooking but also discovered delicious pizza already made at Whole Foods.  Wish we had one!  We browsed around Barnes and Noble, stopped at Starbucks, and generally enjoyed life in suburban America. 

A trip to Colorado is never complete without a trip to the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum.  This time, there was a fabulous exhibit of medallion quilts by Cindy Vermillion Hamilton.  All were hand sewn, hand appliqued, and hand quilted.  Very impressive!  

The blue and white quilt is about the plainest one in the exhibit, but one I think I could actually do.  It gave me the idea that I could surround the map of the Netherlands I made last winter with a border of appliqued melons.   

The red background with bright blue on this quilt is stunning, my favorite of them all.  It was Cindy's wedding quilt and reflects her and her husband's Native American heritages.  

We've been home a few days, and laundry, grocery shopping and other household chores have been done.  I think I'll get a chance to quilt today before going over to Pam's with lunch and gossip.  She had a stroke about a month ago and needs a little pick-me-up.

Going scrappy

Even though I've been busy quilting Dear Jane off and on, I've taken the time to work on this month's Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks and do the guild monthly challenge.  I showed the Improv Houses a few days ago.  

Here I am at guild with our June challenge.  Each person received a baggie of scraps and was asked to make something with them.  All of the scraps belonged to Lisa, so I decided to make her a "thank you" fabric postcard with the scraps I received.  Lisa does a lot for the guild, including a massive fabric auction in May.  I came home with 18 yards of lovely purple fabric for $30!  All the money went to the Vermont Food Bank or a project to support Afghani refugee ladies learning to sew and earn a living.  

At the June meeting, some guild members brought a large number of tubs filled with the stash, much of it yardage, of a lady who had moved to a nursing home.  I felt pretty smug, taking home only two large pieces of Christmas fabric which will become tablecloths.  I have too much stash as it is.  I'll use the fabric for table cloths during this year's Light Up the Library event.

The guild's summer challenge is to make a tote bag from scraps.  I am planning to make each library staff member a fold up shopping bag for Christmas this year.  I'll be looking for a pattern very soon so I can peck away at the bags over the summer.

The 2026 round robin

The last Heart of Vermont guild meeting was this past Tuesday, and we had the reveal of our 2025-26 round robin.  One person in the group couldn't make it, but we showed her quilt anyway, and we all took home our own quilts which were begun in the fall. 

I started with a left over 14" square from last year's Optimism quilt along sampler designed by Aby Dollinger.  Then it passed along to the other five members of the group monthly or bi-monthly depending on the size.  Each made a round with fabric I provided.  As you can see, it's another purple quilt, my favorite. 

Toward the end of the nine months, we had two months to work on a round, which some bigger quilts needed.  In the next to last round of Diane's quilt, I made a ton of nine patches in 30s fabrics, and for Marie's last round, I made quite a few friendship stars in red, white, and blue.  It's really a lot of fun to work on these round robin quilts with fabric other than my own.  Everyone does her best work, which is really nice.  As I said at the meeting, "it's a matter of trust," and it usually comes out great.

I didn't know some of the quilters in this year's group very well, and it was nice to get to know them through their quilts.  Here are five of the six of us, with me holding Marie's quilt top.  Our red ribbons denote that Ginny and I were "founding members" of the guild back in 2008.

I'm not sure when I'll get to my round robin quilt top or if I'll add another round to make it bed-sized.  These days I peck away at quilting my Dear Jane which is coming along pretty well.  We're heading to Colorado for a week to visit Mom, and I hope to finish Dear Jane all together by the end of July.  I have a few small projects I'd like to work on but meanwhile, I'll just think about what I'll do with the purple quilt.

Summertime and the living is easy

 

The rugosa roses in front of our house are blooming, and I picked lettuce yesterday.  Friends came for lunch Friday and gave me a lovely bouquet.  The whole house smells delicious - peonies will do that.  Wish we had some in the garden, but at least these are ant-less.

We had some pretty muggy days with summer temperatures.  School is almost out here - I know it's out elsewhere around the country, but ours stays in session longer to make up for the inevitable snow days.  We've had the fan on in our bedroom at night and the AC on in the living room and sewing room a few times.  We've had a few salad and cold cut meals, too.  Tonight we'll grill some pork chops from the freezer which I'm trying to empty in anticipation of having a crop of blueberries later this summer.

I am now ready to quilt the last section of Dear Jane.   I worked on the borders last week and made four 3" blocks for the corners.  Then I made another Improv House block.  I'm not sure how many of these I'll make, but so far I've been following the Rainbow Scrap Challenge colors.  This month's "pastel" turned out not as light as I wanted, but that's OK.  I plan to vary the landscapes a bit so that not all the hills go in the same direction.  It's pretty easy pattern, but I can't remember who designed it off hand.  Jo Avery?  Will have to go through my notes to make sure.

Yesterday I did a little embroidery at quilt guild while chatting with the group.  Some of us are planning to go to the first Vermont Quilt Show this week by a for-profit national group.  I'm curious to see vendors and some displays by local guilds.   My other guild meets this Tuesday for the last time before a summer break.   

Progress!

So far this week, I've been making all kinds of progress.  I finished a book and started another one.  And on Monday, I finished machine quilting the third of four sections of Dear Jane.  I'm pleased and want to work on the final section and work on the borders soon.  

But I also want to get the month's Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks finished so that I don't fall behind (as I often do!).  This month's color is "pastel," which is a little vauge and presents a bit of a challenge.   I have a lot of pastels, but I'm not sure how good they'll look with the blocks I've already made.  I decided to combine some colors, so yesterday, I made a couple of Traffic Jam blocks in pinks and purples.  

Then I made an Improv Houses block in light blues.   I added the houses to my RSC list last month because (a) I love making house quilts and (b) I have plenty of scraps.  I have yet to make the log cabin blocks for the month and hope to get to them today.

Yesterday morning I made a stop at the Vermont Historical Society library with a bankers' box full of the archives of the state quilt guild.  I had been sifting through several tubs all year, with turning the files over to VHS for safekeeping the ultimate goal.  I was so glad and relieved to be able to finish this long term project.  The tubs had been languishing in the former historian's basement and garage for ages.  Now they will be preserved, indexed and available to anyone doing research.

Naulakha

On Saturday we drove two hours south to Dummerston where British author Rudyard Kipling lived for a time back in the 1890s.  His house and outbuildings, "Naulakha," are open to the public one weekend a year for Rhododendron Weekend.   The rest of the time the space is reserved for overnight guests in a sort of B&B arrangement.  

The highlight for visitors on this particular weekend is the rhododendron tunnel as long as a football field.  Once inside, it is amazing!

It was an overcast day, which means it was a little humid, but it didn't rain until the afternoon when we were well on our way home.  We had a tour appointment for 11:00 and found that only about 25 cars fit in the parking areas down the hill from the main house.  It was all very well organized with volunteers directing traffic,

All three main buildings were open for view and all are available to rent during the year.  The main house sleeps 8 and all of the bedrooms looked comfortable and inviting.   I took this photo from the upstairs balcony.  The views of the mountains were very nice.  The main house had a billiard room on the top floor, which was impressive considering how the staircases wound upstairs.

People were encouraged to bring picnic lunches, and drinks (water and seltzer) were complimentary.   Of course, everyone ventured into the tunnel.  I took this photo about halfway through.  We have a rhododendron at home, but it is much shorter than these which must be as old as the house.

There is a pavilion area at the end of the tunnel which must have been a nice spot for cocktails in Kipling's time.  We could see a tennis court down the hill from there, and we heard voices in the woods behind.  We couldn't find a path to walk out there, however, and I thought it was a bit buggy.  June is black fly season for Vermont, so I didn't want to attract any, having already been attacked in our yard a few weeks ago.

We enjoyed our visit very much and talked about renting the house some time with family.  It has the potential for a peaceful, fun weekend.   After about an hour, we had seen it all, so we ventured back toward Brattleboro and stopped at Panda North, a delicious Chinese restaurant, for lunch.  

Now that we're home, we are still curious about why Kipling was there.  He wrote several of his more famous books there, including Captains Courageous.  Paul ordered a book, of course!

Orchids and more

Several Mother's Days ago, my son gave me an orchid plant.  It bloomed for a long time and then nothing happened for a year or so.  I transplanted it into a larger pot, and it immediately bloomed.  After the blooms were finished, maybe 6 weeks after beginning, maybe even longer, I snipped the stalk near one of the "elbows" (or whatever they are called).  Finally, that branch began to grow and started blooming.  There is still one bud at its end.  

Much to my surprise, another stalk appeared and now has some fairly sizeable buds.  I'm amazed!  My other orchid plant looks awful even though I water it just the same (minimally) and it sits right next to this larger one.  Orchids are fickle!

Our kitchen and dining room were painted during the last three days.  Our painter is just wonderful - very neat, precise, quiet, hard working.   She's a pleasure to have in the house.  Prior to Monday, I moved everything off the kitchen counters and everywhere else I could.  We moved the dining table into the living room and a large antique sideboard into the middle of the dining room under the chandelier. 

The kitchen bench was stashed behind the couch and paintings were stored in various places.  This morning I rehung curtains, removed a slight film of dust here and there, and started moving stuff back into the kitchen.  This afternoon, Chris is coming by to help us move the bigger items back, and life should return to normal, albeit much cleaner and brighter.

Quilting Dear Jane!

I put the last stitches in block M-13 of Dear Jane Friday, and Saturday I sashed the row and added it to the Rows J, K, and L.  Sunday I sandwiched that section and have one more section left to sandwich.  It feels so good to make progress! 

I cut my sashing 1.5" instead of Jane's 1" (or less) because I think that makes each block stand out a little more.  Of course, that makes the center bigger (about 73" square) which is OK since I'm not adding the triangle border on Modern Jane.  I have been cutting pieces for the 3" wide piano keys border when I have gotten a chance, and I'll continue to do that off and on as I quilt.  

Yesterday I quilted the grid of this section, and today I started on the individual blocks.  Each one is being done a little differently, just as it would be if I were hand quilting.  Meanwhile, downstairs, the painter is working hard on our kitchen and dining room.   Our house is a bit topsy turvy this week.

Everything from the kitchen counters is either stuffed into cupboards (watch nothing falls when we open them!) or in some spot in the living room.  We moved all the dining room furniture into the living room except the big sideboard which we left under the chandelier.  My Oma's big painting of Lake Como is covered in and resting on two old quilts in the front hall.

We went out for pizza last night, but I plan to cook tonight.  Actually, it will be a salad topped with left over chicken.  The good news is that she's almost finished, after just two days on the job!   It will probably take a few days to get things back in order, but that's OK.  It's nice to see everything looking bright and clean.

 

Row M has begun

I finished blocks M-1 through M-5 yesterday for my Modern Dear Jane, including the dreaded M-3 which can include quite a few Y seams.  Rather than piece M-3, I decided to applique the pieces which worked OK but required a little hit of Fray Check here and there.  ome of these final blocks seem quite intricate - and difficult!   M-7 looks like it will need to be fused, but I'll worry about that when I get there - maybe today.

Lately, email ads and blogs have been touting patriotic themes as the 4th of July approaches.  I understand and honor the writing of the Declaration of Independence, but today's USA is in such turmoil that I just can't get enthusiastic about celebrating.  I won't be joining others in making anything patriotically quilty this year.   It just makes me uncomfortable.

Here's a quilt I made in 2018 that has the typical red, white, and blue color scheme (which I like very much).   It includes an old UFO center block along with several Dutch folk fabrics from my stash.  It's one of the first quilts I quilted myself using my old Viking.  I'll be changing the quilts I hang at the library soon and think I'll take this one to display along with Cornucopia of Thanks.  

Row L is finished!

This morning I appliqued Dear Jane block L-13 and that leaves only one more row to make!

Tomorrow I will sash these blocks and attach them to rows J and K before I move on to Row M, which has a mix of foundation pieced and appliqued squares.  I think Jane might have been running out of fabric by this point because some of these later blocks are very intricate.    

Once I finish Row M, I will attach it to Row L and perhaps add the bottom border.  I have several sections to quilt before putting all the sections together into one quilt.  This should take me quite a while, and then I'll add borders to the sides.  I've been cutting piano keys sporadically lately to try and get a jump on the borders.  I have a lot of black and white scraps by this stage in the process.

Wednesday, I worked on the "block of the month" for one of my guilds.  Each person received a baggie with some scraps, and we are to make something quilty with them.  Having just enjoyed making a quilted postcard for Diane and Bill's anniversary, I decided to make another post card.  I need to get some stiff Pellon in order to finish it. 

This measures 4" x 5.5", so the pieces are about .75" square.  It was fun to make.

Happy Memorial Day, everyone!

Spring planting

The last few days have been just beautiful - warm, sunny, breezy - perfect for getting the gardens in shape.  My aging knees have been put to the test, but they seem to bounce back fairly well if I don't overdo.  Saturday Chris helped me plant the flowers that I had bought earlier in the week, and yesterday I did a major weed of the garden beds in the front yard.  I planted a bunch of impatiens in a shady spot.  I also now have two garbage bags full of weeds to give to the compost guy when he comes to pick up next week.

Today's plan is to plant some lettuce in boxes out front and some geraniums in a pot.  I decided not to put out flower boxes this year because our windowsills have just been repainted.  I'd hate for Nate's work to be spoiled by the mess of boxes make.  

If I feel up to it, I'll work in the backyard, but if I don't, I'll worry about that flower bed manana.  I have wave petunias to plant there and want to reduce the size of the shasta daisies.  They like to take over.

After my session with the Maze of Mystery Saturday, I decided to take a break and just read yesterday afternoon.  Maria Semple's latest book, Go Gentle, has been highly anticipated by critics but I'm not loving it.  The plot zigzags in time and seems very disjointed.  If it doesn't improve (and I am now 37% into it), I'll set it aside and start reading a mystery set on the Isle of Man.  I halso ave a haircut scheduled and a Zoom gathering with state library retirees, too, this afternoon.  

Spring has sprung!

Yesterday was sunny, warm, and lightly breezy, with trees beginning to flower.  We opened up windows for the first time since fall, cooked outside on the grill, and planted annuals.  What a day!  We're hoping for another today and, if we're lucky, tomorrow, too.  The many colors of green are wonderful to see on our lovely Green Mountains.

Chris came over to help me with some planting and, while I had a tall person around, I took a picture of the quilt I finished last week, It's made with scrappy Kaffe Fasset fabrics and a few other colorful prints and will be going to Bags of Love for kids going into foster care.  I quilted it very simply using fusible batting (which I don't like much but keep trying to work with as it does make it easier to baste together).

Today I'll do a little more weeding and may go out to buy another hose and a longer extension cord so Chris can trim the bushes.  While at the hardware store I may also get a few more plants although there is still a slight danger of frost.  We always waited until after Memorial Day to plant tomatoes and other things, but in recent years, with climate change, we can often plant a little sooner.

This is going to be a busy week with a hair appointment for me and dental cleaning for Paul, quilt guild meeting, lunch and dinner out with various friends, and the opera - Cinderella - on Saturday.  In between I'll peck away at Dear Jane and the gardens.

The Maze of Madness!

It felt really good to work on my modern Dear Jane quilt again.  I hadn't made any blocks since September, but when I got everything out again, I found that I only have two more rows of blocks to make.  That's 26 blocks, however!  I have been quilting as I go, in batches of rows, so I sashed three rows and put them together.  I'll quilt those... eventually.  I then sashed two more rows and put them together.

Here are the six blocks I made this week for Row L.  While I'm not wild about paper piecing, it really works the best for many of the blocks in this row.

Just in case you'd like a closeup of L-6, Maze of Madness, here is one:

It truly did drive me nuts although not as much as L-4 (the name eludes me).  I hope the next few blocks are a bit easier.

All the blocks in rows A-K look great together, and I think I have enough gray grunge for the 1" sashing and stop border for the rest of the blocks.  Instead of the triangle border I'm planning a 3" piano keys border using all of the black on white background prints all the way around.  I will start cutting those scraps up when I feel like taking a break from sewing the blocks.   

We are having the kitchen and dining room downstairs painted the first week in June, so that will most likely be a good time to escape upstairs to sew or outside to garden.  It's been raining a lot lately, so everything is green and growing quickly despite chilly overnights.  Chris is coming tomorrow (Saturday) to give me a hand outside which will be nice.  I always enjoy those mother/son workdays.

Blocks of the month and other finishes

I managed to finish the Out of my comfort zone quilt and a table runner last week in between other activities.  I'll try to get pictures of each if/when the sun appears.  It's been very unpredictable lately.

And this morning I finished Blocks of the Month for May!

There are five 8" log cabin blocks and two 9" Traffic Jan blocks, along with a hexie flower that I made for one guild's block lottery.  The latter was finished at my Saturday sewing group a week ago Saturday.  It took quite a bit of time, but the light there is great and good for hand sewing.

Yesterday's state guild meeting went well.  It's so nice to attend as a "civilian" (non-officer)!  As historian, I have very few real duties although I have been organizing 40+ years of papers in order to turn them over to the state historical society archives for safe keeping.  I am planning to run a block of the month activity on the guild's website and Facebook group, but I don't think I'll start until I've figured out what blocks to include.  People seemed quite interested when I showed them the blocks for 1989 (10 year anniversary) and several others.   

Happy Mother's Day to all who read this!  We are heading to see The Sheep Detectives at the movies.  They always have subtitles for Sunday matinees.  We'll stop at the bowling alley on the way home for pizza.  They make the best in town.  My biggest question for the coming week is...  what UFO should I work on next?  Stay tuned!

Busy week ahead

Today we have an appointment at the "Eco Depot" to deliver some used batteries, old light bulbs, and an old thermostat for recycling.  They used to be the "Additional Recycling Center," but when they moved they upscaled the name and, annoyingly, made it mandatory to make an appointment before dropping off stuff.  I am curious to see their new digs.

It's going to be a jam-packed week.  Tomorrow I'll bake a lemon cake to take to a musical program at the library on Wednesday, and then on Thursday I'll go with Paul as he is interviewed by one of the TV stations about a Barre baseball bat company that became world famous for a time.  Apparently, all the major leagues used this particular bat.  I'm not sure when it will be televised.  The young reporter who arranged the interview seems to have caught on to Paul's vast knowledge of quirky local history. 

Friday I will be baking something again in preparation for Saturday's state quilt guild meeting.  I have a quilt made out of blocks I won at the fall meeting for show & tell, and I'll do a short talk on what I've found in the archives.  I can't believe I didn't take a picture of the finished quilt - I'll rectify that soon.

In between, I'll keep quilting the "Out of My Comfort Zone" quilt and knitting this purple striped scarf.  I started the scarf earlier this winter but because the yarn is very fine, fuzzy, and uses #4 needles, it's taking a while.  It will be a cozy scarf for a little girl going into foster care when I'm done.

State Quilt Guild Blocks

I've been working steadily on organizing the state quilt guild's archives over the last couple of months.   My plan is to deliver the archives to the state historical society for cataloging and storage in the manuscript collection as soon as I'm done.  Every two years, when officers change, I'm suggesting that they add to that collection.  

I inherited bags, tubs, and other containers of papers from the previous guild historian.  She seems to have lost her enthusiasm for the job several years ago, and they had all been stored in her garage.  One of the tubs is filthy, and the other one needs a little spraying with the hose.  I threw away all the three ring binders and plastic sheet protectors that had been used.   The materials used in the past were not acid free and some of the sheet protectors show signs that ink had already been removed from the paper.

The best part of the archives is the newsletter which was published at least twice a year since the organization's founding in 1979.  It's been fun looking at them, especially seeing the patterns for raffle blocks that people make in advance of the semiannual meetings.   I'm thinking of making a sampler of blocks from various years, beginning with those tenth anniversary blocks.  I think I showed the 1980 block, but here it is again.

Next, I worked on the block for 1999, the guild's 20th anniversary, which was not what I would call a beginner block.  I wonder how many people made it?  I was pleased that it was appliqued, and I had every intention of doing that with fusible applique.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find my Steam a Seamm so I reverted back to my old favorite, freezer paper.

My fingers are stiffer than they used to be, and my eyesight isn't great, but it turned out pretty good. The embroidery on the darker fabrics doesn't show up that well, but it will do.

I was very disappointed to find the 2009 block was just an 8" half square triangle in fall colors.  That will not do!  I'm going to make some 8-at-a-time half square triangles (a method I've never used before) starting with two 8" blocks and make a block out of the resulting squares.  I don't remember what the 2019 raffle blocks were, but I'll enjoy choosing one to sew, I'm sure.  If folks at the guild meeting in May are interested, I may just distribute little booklet for the fall meeting.

Paper pieced stars

On a visit to the quilt shop last fall, I picked up a book of patterns for paper pieced stars.  I set it aside with some fat quarters that I received from the board of the state quilt guild as a "retirement" gift after my term as president was up.  I worried that the blocks would look a bit washed out so I varied the background from neutral to periwinkle and set the blocks on point.  I added a little goldish brown to the mix and ended with a brighter periwinkle.  For the setting triangles I used foundation papers for 3" triangles which were much easier to make than the stars.  Once quilted, this will be a nice table runner, but unfortunately, it's now waiting in the closet along with several other projects.  I'll try to get a picture today.

I attended quilt guild Tuesday night and showed the Triple Barn Star quilt I made a few months ago. 

Also at guild, I picked up the last round robin quilt - Marie's - to work on, and I've been making friendship star blocks ever since.  It's red(ish), light gray, and blues, with a large pieced star in the middle.  I'm not sure what Marie plans to do with the quilt, but I do know she served in the Army during the Vietnam era.  Several of the rounds have been pretty plain, so the stars seemed quite appropriate to me.  But the quilt is around 48" x 48" so there are a lot of 4.5" stars to make.  I assume they'll take me a few days of solid work to finish.

Meanwhile, there are household and garden things to attend to.  The weather has been increasingly nice, so I need to get out and clean up the flower beds.  My knees have been giving me trouble lately, so I'll take it easy.  We have taken a few walks in the neighborhood, too, which has been nice after the long winter where we hardly walked at all.  

I finished reading Jennifer Chiaverini's latest book, The Patchwork Players.  It's very easy going which is nice after reading The Bullet That Missed, the third book in the Thursday Murder Club series.  The plotlines of those books can be very confusing with quite a few characters, but everything comes together in the end.  I thought our book group was planning to read the fourth book in the series next, so I thought I'd try to catch up before reading that one.  Instead, we're reading The Tokyo Express which isn't available on Kindle.  I'm reading a used paperback and hope I'll to finish before we meet next week.  We have a social week ahead with dinner out a couple times, so I'm not sure how much progress I'll make.  So far, it's moving along nicely, and I like the Japanese background.

A busy week

I didn't sew as much as I wanted this week, and I hope to make up for it this weekend.  This past Tuesday I drove over to Burlington to visit a friend at the hospital (she was in the ICU but recovering well) and to shop at Trader Joe's for a political gathering at our house on Thursday which went quite well.  Of course, I had to clean a bit to host the latter, but everyone appreciated the food and talk.  I also made it to yoga twice - once for gentle, once for chair - and I got some paperwork done, too.  

This morning I made the block of the month for this coming Tuesday night's guild raffle.  It was very simple, and I was glad to use scraps.  It should make a nice quilt in various shades of green.

Earlier in the week I made the state quilt guild's raffle block.  I had a heck of a time finding a pink floral print for the center, but then I remembered that I had a bunch in the box I have labeled "wild fabrics."  These are mostly Kaffe Fassett-like fabrics, and I found one that worked very well.  It looks good with the prescribed dark blue star points and light green background.

I made another state guild tenth anniversary block that worked better, at least for me, using paper piecing.  The one on the left is the first block I made using the 1989 directions.  The one on the right uses the paper piecing method.  As you can see, the points won't be cut off if I were to put them together with other blocks made with the same method.  I plan to try to make one using the "Peaky and Spike" rulers I bought years ago when they were popular.  We'll see how that goes.  I plan to make up instructions using the same 1989 colorway but offering all three methods.  It would make a nice quilt if we raffled the blocks off at the fall meeting, but I'm afraid the pattern will be too complex for beginning quilters., as some of our members are.   We'll see how the other board members feel.

Here and there recently, I did make seven more Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks in this month's pink, but I must say I just glanced the tip of the pink iceberg in my stash.   While working on all of these blocks, I have come to realize that I need to do a conscientious weeding of fabric I doubt I will ever use again.  If it doesn't "spark joy" for me, it may do so for someone else.   Will try to sift through the pinks this weekend and put what I can on the "free" table Tuesday night.

Sewing hit or miss

I finished the center of my Wensleydale quilt on Thursday, but I needed to find a light blue for the first border before continuing.  Yesterday, before attending the Calico County guild meeting, I found just what I need, and today I'll proceed to work on the stop (a/k/a skinny) border and outer border.  I'll be glad to finish the top and move on to other projects.  I need to make or buy a back for Wensleydale and get some batting, but that can wait for a week or so.  We have a busy week ahead so my sewing will be hit or miss.

Tuesday I'm heading to Burlington for a trip to Trader Joe's for wine and for lunch with my friend Pauline who is recovering from hip surgery.  The wine will be for a getting-to-know-you gathering with a candidate for the town board on Thursday.  Today we'll walk around the neighborhood with invitations.

Wednesday and Thursday, I'll attend yoga classes, and Thursday morning I'll also go to the genealogy group meeting.  The candidate gathering is at 4 pm, giving me time that afternoon to move furniture and make up cheese and fruit trays.  I don't think our candidate has a chance of winning because she's up against a well-liked incumbent/business owner, but this run may set her up for a win in the future.  Our town board has a history of irrational negativity toward funding the library, and we Friends would like to change that.

Hit or miss sewing will involve making blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (pink log cabin and traffic stop), the local guild monthly raffle, the state guild raffle, and another 1989 state guild block.   I pieced the latter a few weeks ago, but as you can see, the points didn't fit well.  I don't remember if paper piecing was "invented" by 1989, but I'm going to try to make the next blocks that way.  I also have plastic "Peaky and Spike" templates that I can use on a third iteration.  We'll see how far I get this week!

Rainy days = sew days

 We are heading into a period of rain every day until the weekend.  That's fine with me - more time to sew!   There are a few things we could be doing outside, such as picking up sticks that have fallen from our white birch tree.  We'll do those when the sun comes out.  

Because bears have been sighted already, I did take one bird feeder and it's "shepherd's crook" down the other day.  I left two up in the backyard, but they are out of food.  I'll get them inside as soon as I can.  I usually wash the feeders in bleach when the season is over.   I also need to rake up any seeds that have dropped onto the ground because they also attract bears.

I only managed to make two Wensleydale blocks yesterday, but I did cut out all the fabrics I think I need for the rest.  As I lay them out to sew them together, I may want to change one or two.  I found that the papers I bought are just a bit too long to photocopy, but I can make them work if need be.  The blocks measure around 7 X 11".  But, of course, the papers include outside seam allowances all the way around.  A package of 60 papers should make a nice sized quilt, and I plan to make only 56 blocks.  I've made 40 so far, working diligently almost every day in March (except while we were away for two weeks).

Today we have yoga, and I'd like to stop by the Opera House this afternoon for tickets we've ordered for two shows.  The library book sale is this weekend, with set up tomorrow, and we have plenty of helpers this time, which is great.

Spring!

 

When I saw these at the grocery store yesterday, I just could not resist buying them.  Later in the morning, as I was sewing, a huge flock of cedar waxwings swooped into the flowering crabapple tree outside my window.  They gobbled the little fruits and then swooped away.  Still later, a flock of robins pecked around on the front yard.  I think they know that spring is near.  

In true April fashion, it's supposed to rain all week.  This is good as we need the rain AND, best of all, gives me an excuse to spend as much time as possible sewing.  I've got 36 Wensleydale blocks made - just 20 left to go!  I ordered some matching fabric for the border via etsy yesterday.  I've found etsy orders come quickly, so I'm hoping I'll be nearly ready for it when it arrives.

We went to the movies yesterday to see Project Hail Mary, and I highly recommend it.  It was fun, interesting and very touching.  Ryan Reynolds was perfect in it.  How nice it was to see the theater practically full.  The last few times we've gone to the movies, there were only a handful of other people there.

Illusive spring

I was working on another Wensleydale block yesterday and glanced, as I usually do, out the window behind my machine.  A flock of robins was hopping around the front yard!  What a great sight.  It gave me hope that spring is on the way.  It was a sunny day but chilly and windy.  Later in the day we had a brief snow shower, but my optimism about spring remains undaunted.   "The snow that takes away the snow" will inevitably give way.  My Dutch sister has been posting pictures of Keukenhof where everything is abloom.

It's one week before Easter, and my pink Christmas cactus is blooming.  Friday I drove over to the Lake Champlain Chocolate outlet and got some chocolate bunnies.  Their chocolate is delicious - almost as good as Dutch - and I like to give them away to family and friends.  This Saturday we'll be going to Burlington to see a play about Marie Curie with longtime friends Pauline and Bob.  Afterwards, we'll have dinner at our favorite Middle Eastern restaurant and spend the night.  We all have Easter things to do, so Paul and I will head home fairly early in the morning, and I'll leave them each a bunny.

My daily goal is to make five Wensleydale blocks a day, and I cut out a bunch more fabric yesterday to make it all easier.  Today we have some grocery shopping to do, and then I'll get right to it.  This afternoon we're hoping to get to the movies to see Project Hail Mary.  The theater always shows films with subtitles on Sunday afternoons.  I plan to make some chili for dinner before we leave.  So I'd better get on with my day.  Hope you have a good one!

Continuing on with Wensleydale

Before I left on vacation I cut a bunch more fabric for the Wensleydale blocks.  The pieces are all stacked on paper plates so I can pick them up in turn and mix the fabrics as I go.  I made five blocks in the last few days and took the papers out yesterday while watching TV.  There are now 21 blocks made.  I'll need at least 35 more, but I was running low on larger pieces of Christmas fabric.   Luckily, the fat quarter bundle I ordered before we left arrived, and I can cut those fabrics when I get a chance.

I don't usually work on one quilt at a time, but somehow Wensleydale is so satisfying to paper piece that I'm sticking with it for now.  The larger harp on my machine makes it fairly easy to maneuver the 6" x 11" papers; it would be more difficult with a conventional harp.  It's fun to see the variety of blocks as they develop.

Yesterday I took the teal tote bag I made a while ago down to Studio Place Arts, the local gallery, for their spring silent auction.  The director seemed thrilled with it (perhaps it's the only practical item in the auction so far?) and asked if I make them to sell.  Because it took me about half a day, I said it is a one-of-a-kind.  I confine my energy mostly to quilts anyway.

Then she asked if I was busy making spring clothes!  Ha!  I am lousy at garment sewing and haven't made anything to wear in many years.  Quilting is my jam!  I did tell her I bought some pink sneakers but haven't worn them yet as it still feels pretty wintry.  Anyway, I hope the tote will be a big hit for the gallery and bring someone joy.   A woman who "won" a little wallhanging of mine a year or so ago told me she loves seeing the little scrappy houses every day.

Beaufort, South Carolina

We arrived home from lovely Beaufort yesterday around 1 pm.   It's a three day drive either way, which we have decided is too long for us nowadays.  Next time we go south, we will probably fly and rent a car.  We did need a car in Beaufort - to go to the laundromat, to visit the other islands, and to go to the Kazoo Museum.  Other than that, we walked everywhere which was fine with us in such nice weather.  There was only one rainy day, and we even managed to get outside between showers then, too.

Our motel was downtown and just a block from restaurants, shops, and tour meeting points.  We took several tours, beginning with a golf cart history tour that took us by some amazing antebellum houses once owned by plantation owners, briefly run as Union hospitals in the Civil War, and then owned by other wealthy folks.  Their gardens were amazing.

Beaufort is a very nice city, perfect for tourists.  Our first morning walk brought us by Harriet Tubman's monument, and we learned about her time teaching freed blacks and organizing a raid on rice fields owned by Confederates.  On an excellent walking tour led by a ranger from the Reconstruction Era History center, we also learned about Robert Smalls, a former slave who captured a Confederate ship, and later served in the US Congress.  A major motion picture is being made of his life.  

The Pat Conroy Literary Center was high on our list of places to see, and we enjoyed our tour with a northern transplant.  A couple also on the tour were devoted Conroy fans and lent other information about one of our favorite authors.

As I mentioned, on a rainy day, we visited the Kazoobie Kazoo factory and museum for what turned out to be a fun tour.  Everyone got make their own kazoo in colors of their choosing.  Paul's is all black, but mine is purple and hot pink.  The kids on the tour really seemed to enjoy that part, but Paul and I enjoyed learning about and seeing all of the similar instruments that have been developed.

The Gullah-Geechee three hour tour on St. Helena Island was very good, too.  Our guide, who also works as a storyteller, talked to us some of the time in Gullah, a West African patois based on the native language ("Krio") of the people brought over to farm rice and indigo on the islands around Beaufort.  We visited the Brick Baptist Church where Martin Luther King, Jr., worked on his "I Have a Dream" speech, and e drove on back roads, including the one where they filmed the "run, Forrest, run" sequence in Forrest Gump.

There were lots of great restaurants to try, but the hearth-cooked lasagna at Plum's was to die for.  I did enjoy some crab cakes, but unfortunately Paul didn't get a po'boy.  Next vacation, maybe!  

Packing, cleaning, and more

This afternoon I'll be packing for our trip.  I have lots of stuff gathered or thought about and just have to fold them neatly to get into suitcases and tote bags.  I don't like to do it too early in the day in case I change my mind or take too much that I never use.  I'm not looking forward to three days' drive, but I do like to have our car with us.  When we're going for a while somewhere, I like to take food, coffee, things to do (knitting, reading, etc.), chargers, and guidebooks.  Paper towels and disinfecting wipes come in handy on the road.

This morning, I made my RSC blocks for the month.  The color for March is red and I have already made a bunch of red log cabin blocks.  I just had to make a couple of red Traffic Jam blocks.

I had to cut some more 2" and 3.5" squares of red this time.  I have a box of 2" squares that makes this the perfect block for the RSC most months.  I hope the next color will be purple or orange.  At the end of the year I'll make some brown/beige/black ones to fit here and there.

I put away all of the Wensleydale blocks just to keep them together.  I have more pieces cut for when we get home.  It's fairly easy once I get the rhythm of cutting and paper piecing.  I may even finish before summer if I keep at it.  I hope there are a few quilt shops on our trip as I need a small transfusion of holiday fabrics.  If not, I'll order some when I get home.

Chris and Marad are coming by this afternoon, no doubt to find out if we have any last minute requests for watching the house.  I hope they will fill our windshield washer fluid for me.  I need to clean the inside car windows, too, as well as the headlights and rear windshield.  As usual, we will be hoping for a little rain to wash the rest of the winter dirt away.  

Proceding with Wensleydale

 I've made ten Wensleydale blocks so far and pinned a second row over the previous blocks.  Today I cut out a few more, but I may just sit down a read for a while now.  I gave Paul a haircut and helped my neighbor use my Elna machine to fix a bathmat.  Then I made blueberry pancakes for lunch - yum!

Last night we watched the movie Train Dreams which was a somewhat sad but sweet film about a lumberjack in the west who lives through the world's "progress."   William H. Macy is up for an Oscar (best supporting actor) in it.   He's always one of our favorites.

Tomorrow I'll be doing one last load of laundry and then will start packing for our trip south.  We hope to leave early on Tuesday and make it to Wilkes-Barre, PA, by midafternoon.  With the advent of daylight savings time, it's again quite dark in the mornings, so we will definitely wait until the sun comes up.  At least the longer days will be nice for traveling.

Wensleydale

 Here are my first five blocks, made yesterday.

I thought the instructions I found were for conventional piecing but, after making one block, I realized they were all cut oversized so that they can be paper pieced for accuracy and less fabric waste.  I also soon realized that I need more Christmas-related fabric.  I have lots of smaller scraps, but not a lot of pieces that are 6.25" x 42", even by using fat quarters.  I'll look for fabric shops as we travel and see if I can't get a few more to add to the mix.  I will plan to make as many blocks as are in the pad of papers - 60 - so I have a long way to go.  I view this as a year-long project anyway, and there's no hurry to be done by Christmas.

As I cut the various pieces, I'm arranging them on paper plates left over from an old Bonnie Hunter mystery.   Paul was a little surprised to see them all laid out, but this is a good way to mix up the fabrics to achieve that scrappy look.  It's a big block, measuring about 8" x 11".  The larger harp on my machine makes the piecing a lot easier.

Today I'm off to the library for some aerobic walking followed by a pedicure with my friend Debb.  We always have a nice time catching up on the past month's activities.  I especially like to hear about her grandson's latest adventures.  He's smart and likes to read, making us both happy.

February's finishes

Besides the retro fabric "Bindy" bag and the snowflake rail fence quilt, I finished a strippy teal tote and a Triple Barn Star quilt.  I am on a roll!

I got the kit (marked batting, instructions, handle webbing) from Sentimental Stitches online.  I had lots of teal fabric and hadn't made anything with it in a long time.  I still have lots after cutting 2.5" strips for the tote.  It is so nice to finish a project in a day or two!

This Triple Barn Star was designed by Amy Gibson, and I think I downloaded the .pdf from the Missouri Star Quilt Co.  It was actually very easy to make, and once I cut the pieces (which were big), it took about a day to put it all together.  My friend Marie quilted it in a swirly pattern with light blue thread.   My blue box is still full to the point of not being able to close it, but it did use up some scraps.  I love the speckled background fabric.  I used a navy blue striped fabric (part polyester I think) for the binding.  I'll get a better picture the next time I take it to quilt guild show and tell.

Today I'm planning to start cutting and maybe piecing the Wensleydale quilt, a Jen Kingwell design.  I'm making it in Christmas fabrics and hope to be done by then!  I found a way to cut the pieces on You Tube through the Quilted Chicken, but I also have foundation papers in case that pieced way is too difficult.  There are other sites that offer suggestions, too.  This looks like it will be a project I pick up and put down throughout the year,

As it's March, I will most likely start on a batch of Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks, too, although this month's official choice is red.  I have some log cabin blocks already made, so I will most likely just make two Traffic Jam blocks in red.  This is fine since our trip south beginning next week will cut into my sewing time anyway.
 

A couple of projects

Most of this past week was spent preparing for the Friends of the Library's school vacation mini-golf session yesterday.  We had 140 people of all ages, a lot of them families, play the nine hole course throughout the library - on all three floors.  Most of the Friends took a turn at directing traffic, taking donations and handing out equipment.   People from neighboring towns came, and I overheard adults say they had never really been in all the parts of the library.  The little kids were adorable, and everyone had fun.   The owner of The Portable MiniGolf Company couldn't have been more helpful and encouraging.  It was a great day, but we Friends were all beat at the end.   Today we'll take it easy!

This week I finished my round for Donna's round robin quilt.   It's not due until April but I like to get these projects out of the way.   I also managed to finish a tote bag I started last week.  I needed some magnetic snaps before I put the whole thing together and found them at my local quilt shop.  I didn't know they carried them and the webbing for handles, too.  I used my old favorite retro print for this bag.

I also tried making the state quilt guild's tenth anniversary block, which was designed by a guild member back in 1989.  I'm not sure paper piecing had been "invented" yet, but this pattern sure could have used it.  I followed the pattern as shown, but I plan to revise it before I show it at the spring state quilt guild meeting.  I'm hoping to challenge folks to make it for a block raffle at the fall meeting.

I do like the colors which were all scraps in my seemingly endless supply of blues.  I was intrigued that the block includes half rectangle pieces which are a little tricky, and as you can see, the side triangle points will be cut off if I sew sashing or another block to this block.   Paper piecing should take care of that (I hope!).

Meanwhile, I started on another tote bag which is quilt as you go.  Guess I'm channeling my inner "Elsbeth" (the funny lawyer/detective in the TV series).

A busy weekend

I didn't get a lot of sewing done over the last few days.  I did work a bit on the guild round robin quilt - Donna's - and hope to finish this week.  We have two months to work on this round because the quilts are getting bigger.  I like to work on them as soon as I get them and not wait til the last minute.  Donna's quilt is 46" square already, and my border will be about 5" all the way around, between blocks and a coping strip.  It's all sweet 1930s fabrics which I haven't worked with in a long time.  I hunted around for matching fabric for the coping strip but didn't have anything that looked right.  So I am using one of hers before I add the very scrappy uneven nine patch border.  It's looking good so far.

Saturday, our group held a genealogy help session at the library in the morning, and then Paul and I headed over snowy roads to Burlington.  We went with friends Bob and Pauline to a play, Murder on the Orient Express, which was quite good - funny. and well-acted.  Afterwards, we all had a belated Valentine's Day Middle Eastern dinner at a favorite restaurant and then watched a more serious version of the same story starring Sir Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot.   We spent the night and came home after breakfast.  It was a nice getaway.

Today it's off to the grocery store before knuckling down with taxes.  Ugh!  But the sooner it gets done, the happier I'll be.  

Treasures from the state guild archives

I have had the state quilt guild's archives in the basement for over a year, so last week I started sifting through the files.  They had been stored in previous historians' basements and garages, so the totes they're in are not the cleanest.   I'll be glad to get them organized, out of our house., and into the collection of the Vermont Historical Society (VHS). 

Most of the records have been put into sheet protectors and three ring binders by year, making it all very bulky.  Sheet protectors are a no-no for long term storage because, unless they are of archival quality, they tend to adhere to the print over time.  I have been removing the papers from the sheet protectors and putting them into file folders.  The guild was started in 1979, so this has resulted in a lot of trash and recycling.  There are duplicates and unrelated stuff, too, that are being jettisoned.  

Most of the files are now in a "bankers' box" in used folders arranged not by year but by topic, as I learned to do while volunteering at VHS.  I'll make a list of topics after I have the files more or less in order before turning them over to VHS for safe keeping.

Among the treasures I've found are many years' worth of catalogs from the Vermont Quilt Festival, which at one time was the biggest quilt show in New England.  Alas, the pandemic and changes in the quilting industry caused its demise several years ago.  Their files are stored at VHS so I'll give the catalogs to them to fill in their collection if necessary.  I found newsletters of other guilds in the state also which I'll pass along.  

I did find a small cookbook that the guild produced for its tenth anniversary as well as a pattern for an anniversary quilt block.  I will share those with the guild at our spring meeting in May.   I thought I'd pass out recipes for cookies, cakes and pies and ask anyone who wants to to make one to share for the refreshment table at our fall meeting.  I will also challenge folks to make a block to put in the fall block raffle.  It looks a little complicated, though, so I'll try making a test block soon.  It uses half rectangles which I've been wanting to try.  

There are several binders left to go through, but I've been happy to get started on this project.  There's o a tote marked "stationary" which I've been avoiding; I will dig in soon.  

The hat, the quilt

I finished knitting my Melt the Ice hat and wore it yesterday.  Paul was asked to talk about Montpelier's past clothespin industry by the Channel 5 News, and I went along for moral support.  The reporter and camera man were very sweet and it all went well.  Except it was mighty cold mostly due to the strong wind.  I normally don't wear a hat, making my hair do the work, but I think I should start to wear this one in order to "make a statement." 

You can't see the tassel on top in the photo, but it's there.  I started knitting a bright red one on slightly bigger needles for someone, maybe my sister who has a birthday coming up.

Yesterday I started sewing all the Kaffe and Tula fabrics that I cut out Wednesday, and today I have 16 12" blocks to put together.  I like the way it looks but plan to enlarge it with some borders.  The first will be a think black one, and then there will be a colorful one using scraps of block fabric.

Right now, I'm calling this Out of My Comfort Zone, but I do like it quite a bit.  And it was embarrassingly easy.