Raffled off

The Friends of the Library book and jewelry sale this weekend wrapped up at 1 pm yesterday, and we drew a winner for the month-long quilt raffle.   I called the winner, Shannon N., immediately when I got home, and she was thrilled.  She wanted to meet me right away, so I headed back down to the library with the quilt.  Shannon told me that she has been getting a room ready for a baby and is using the same colors as in the quilt, so I couldn't be happier to have her win the Barn Star Sampler!

I'm at the stage these days of having too many quilts, so I've been giving some away.  I make at least one purple quilt a year because purple is my favorite color, and this was 2023-24's block of the month with Aby Dolinger.  It ended up a somewhat odd size, and, while I had it for sale in my etsy shop, it did not sell.  After I closed the shop, I decided to raffle it off.  I hope it will make a little girl happy as she grows.  It was fun to meet her mom-to-be!

Barn Star Sampler

 I started my annual purple quilt in the fall and finished the top in June.  It's a throw based on Shelley Cavanna's Barn Star Sampler, and it was machine quilted by Marie Gross who always does a wonderful job.  I chose this pattern because, since I became the president of the Green Mountain Quilters Guild, I've been busy encouraging people to paint and hang barn quilts so that we can create a barn quilt trail statewide.  We are well on our way due to the efforts of quilters in Franklin County and classes being held around the state.  I hang little quilts on my front door since we live in a condo and can't affix anything except the US flag to the building.

Binding is on!

Yesterday I did a few errands in the morning - bank, grocery store - and also some housekeeping.  No laundry for once!  We took a walk in filtered sunshine.  It has been a bit cloudy these last few days, and I discovered it is due to wildfires somewhere up in Canada.  

I managed to cut, sew, iron, and sew on a binding for the purple Barn Star Sampler.   Today I'll start the laborious hand sewing to the back.  Most of my quilts are given to charity so I machine sew both sides.  But this one will be for sale on etsy as my stock there is a bit thin and needs a boost.  I'll do its photoshoot when I'm done.  

It was a block of the month I started in January, but as usual I got impatient this summer and decided to work ahead.  My friend Marie also worked on one but made hers bigger.  The quilt finishes to an odd size - long and skinny - so I made the throw size and added a border.  I can't wait to see hers.

I wanted to make something different and easy for dinner, so I cut up strips of chicken breast, browned it in olive oil, sprinkled a little garlic powder and minced onion over top, and poured a jar of Newman's Own Mango Salso over it all.  I let that simmer for 45 minutes and served it over rice.  Paul said it was a keeper, and we have some leftover for Thursday's dinner.  Tonight I'll make some salmon patties early, and we'll head downtown for the last summer author talk at the library.  We are both reading Gather by last week's author, Ken Cadow, a finalist for the National Book Award. 

Another orphan block quilt

I finished the last small quilt in a series using orphan blocks yesterday and feel I have license to work on a few other UFOs.  Whoopee!   I haven't made any Dear Jane or Green Tea and Sweet Beans blocks in several months, and of course, there's the Lily of the West quilt I just started last week.  I also have a couple of scrappy leaders/enders going, too, along with the bow tie block swap blocks.  I always chuckle when people ask me what I'm working on.  They are often surprised to hear that usually I have 10 or 12 quilts going at once.  That's not untypical for a devoted quilter.

Anyway, the quilt I just finished combines various guild blocks of the month with some string blocks.  I usually make my string blocks on an 8" paper foundation.  This time, after removing the paper, I cut each one in half diagonally and sewed four sections together.  Unfortunately, the result didn't measure the 12" of the BOM blocks so I had to border them in order for the blocks to fit together.  

I'll take this 50" x 50" quilt to Bags of Love for kids going into foster care as soon as I finish the little hat I've been knitting for them.  I have a bunch of leftover yarn to make a few more hats this fall and winter.  I decided not to buy any more yarn (I can't resist the lush colors of wool) until I use up some of my miscellaneous yarn.

The monthly guild "teams" decide the colorways for the blocks we bring for the monthly drawings.  I have been making two blocks the same and keeping one.  But this year, I've decided to try and make all of the blocks of the month I keep for myself in the same colorway.  I'm not sure what that will be yet, but I'm leaning toward blue and white to use some of the many blue scraps in my stash.

I am sure that Marie, the long arm quilter, will be letting me know soon that my Barn Star Sampler is ready because when I saw her last week, it was on the frame.  I'll try to cut a binding out for it in the coming week and pick it up next Thurs.  But today Deb and I are scheduled for our monthly pedicure and gabfest in the morning, and, in the afternoon, I'm going to the library to help clean up the booksale room with Pam and Martha-Jean.  By the time I get home I'll be thinking about what to make for dinner.   Black bean bowls?

Blocks of the month

Yesterday, I put pedal to the metal and worked on some blocks of the month.  It always feels good to get those out of the way and then work more in depth with one or two big projects.  The local guild's block of the month was called "Work basket," although it looks like "Bento Box" to me.

We were to use white for the background and a pastel for the other color.  I'm going to take the green one to guild for the lottery and keep the peachy one for myself.  This was quite an easy block although my first attempt didn't turn out so good.  It's sitting in time out (a pizza box in the closet) with the other orphan blocks.

Next up was a 16" purple block for the Barn Star Sampler BOM, led by Abigail Dolinger.   I found this one a bit tricky in that one needs to watch the direction of pressing in order for seams to nest.  I actually pressed one set of seams open in order to make it all lie flat.

This Barn Star Sampler is going to be very pretty and will end up throw sized.  I do have a lot of small cutoff corners from various blocks that I have sewn together as half-square triangles.  Hoping I'll have enough for the borders by the time I'm finished.

I laid out the log cabin blocks I've been making and swapping this year, but three of them haven't arrived yet.  I might need to make a few more to get a human-sized quilt.  Because my Manx blocks are also going into this quilt, I need to make four more to go with the 25 or so I made or received in the swap.

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.

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.

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.