February's color = green

I've spent mornings this week making blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.   First, I made 10 log cabin blocks mostly out of strings in my stash.  While pawing through my greens, I found a few more strings that I added to the bag.  These blocks measure 8" finished.

Next, I made three Traffic Jam blocks, which are really nine patches with the center strips made of 2" squares.  

Yesterday I started working on a table runner made of blocks left over from Double Date.  I am now able to close the green box of fabric now that I have set aside a bunch of fabric to put on the "free" table at guild.  Today I sewed it all together, quilted and bound it.  Next week I'll go down to the florist's to sell this table runner and pick up the Christmas ones that she is probably sick of seeing by now.

I noticed that the quilt on our bed, made back in 2015, has some blocks that are beginning to deteriorate.  Before I put my green box away, I'm going to dig deep to see if there's any matching fabric I can use to repair the damage before it gets worse.

What's next?  Today I cut some very wild fabric from the 1980s into pieces for a tote bag.  The lining will be a pretty pink gingham poly-cotton blend.  I have quite a bit of that poly-cotton stuff that is pretty but I don't like it for quilts.  Tote bag linings seem like a good use.  

Tomorrow IF the weather cooperates (and it threatens not to), I'll be hosting a program on DNA and genealogy at the library.  We have a speaker coming from the Burlington area 45 minutes away, so my fingers are crossed.   We have an alternate date already planned just in case he can't make it.  Winter!

Finishes!

I finished two projects this past week!  One was begun in May and took most of the summer to complete.  The other was started about a month ago. 

Here's Double Date, a pattern by Jen Kingwell, which is mostly paper pieced.

I spent the summer paper piecing this using scraps of green and neutral backgrounds.  I hate taking the paper out, but because I was sewing in the basement away from my stash, I was not distracted by other projects (I have quite a few UFOs).  I used my not-so-great little Brother to do the sewing, and it proved quite good for this.  In between, I did sew the binding onto a friend's quilt, but that didn't take too long, especially because I sewed it all by machine.

Here's an up-close version:

I say I will never make such a project again.  Nonetheless, the Fat Quarter Shop's paper foundations were a godsend, and I have a book of papers to make a Wensleydale quilt out of Christmas fabric waiting in the wings.  Maybe I'll work on it this winter...

Meanwhile, I made a Christmas tree skirt using the Bentley's Snowflakes fabric.  This one is for my friend Pauline with whom, with her husband Bob, we enjoy going on historical and artistic jaunts.  Bentley was a Vermonter who photographed snowflakes long ago and discovered that no two are alike.  His original plates are owned by the Smithsonian.

The snowflakes came as a panel to cut up into 8" squares.  I still have some that I plan to use to make a table runner to raffle off at the Light Up the Library event that starts in November.  If there are any squares left, I'll make some potholders.  

 

Adding to my stash

 Even though I am still sewing in the basement, two floors from my stash, I can't seem to stop adding fabric to my "collection."  Guess I'm more of a fabric collector these days, but I do plan to spend a lot of time in my sewing room this winter, using some up.  I bought a bundle of nice Riley Blake half yards on sale recently, and the other day a friend, Robin, gave me two tubs of mostly cottons to take to the free table at guild after taking some myself.  There were some bigger pieces I can use for quilts for "Bags of Love" and some blues that would be good for a few projects I've been thinking of.

Saturday, I took an online class on curved piecing with Beth Ann Williams.  I have wanted to try working on a scrappy quilt with arcs as well as the Blue Onion pattern.  Beth Ann is a great teacher - this is the third class I've taken from her this year!  Everything is clear and concise, and I now feel very confident to tackle Blue Onion.  That's what all of Robin's blues will be used for.

Beth Ann showed how she cut her fabrics and sewed the blocks together.  There's a bit of flipping, shuffling and trimming involved that I didn't quite understand from reading the pattern.  It's somewhat improvisational which I was hoping for.  

I'll set that aside for now as I have two projects nearly to finished.  First, I'm about halfway through hand sewing the binding down on Double Date.  And I'm days away from finishing a blue Christmas tree skirt with "Snowflake" Bentley fabric for my friend Pauline.  I have four snowflake blocks to machine applique, and then it will be ready to bind as well.  I will sew that binding on completely by machine as there's always a lot of binding needed for tree skirts.   Not my favorite step in the process but definitely needed.   I chose this holiday project to finish before a few others so that I would know how much of that special panel I have left to use.  I now have enough for at least one table runner for the library's Light Up the Library raffle.

Why is it taking me so long to accomplish sewing projects lately?  I've gotten distracted reading a few good books (Britt-Marie was Here, Silent in the Sanctuary, and Dreaming Spies), but mostly we've been running around the countryside looking at fall foliage.  We take advantage of nice weather now before winter keeps us closer to home.  Tomorrow we're heading up through Stowe to Morrisville on an errand with a stop at Thompson's Flour Shop which makes great sandwiches and amazing take-and-bake pies.  Early next week, Paul's brother Jim is coming for a few days when we'll do a little more leaf peeping.  Busy days here!

Row K is finished!

 

It's been a busy week, but I managed to peck away at Row K for Dear Jane here and there.  I'll continue to do the same on the next two rows, but I think this weekend I'll work on binding Double Date which I picked up from Marie the quilter.  She did a wonderful job, and I can't wait to finish it.

I missed the first Heart of Vermont guild meeting of the year, but response to my email to the guild about a round robin activity has been good.  There are now six of us planning to join in.  I don't know two of the people, but that will make it all the more fun.  I enjoy meeting people in smaller groups, especially because that guild has 60 members.  It's hard to get acquainted just at meetings.

We had a very nice time with my brother Rob and his wife Linda early in the week.   We took a guided tour of the Vermont State House, visited a sugar shack for maple ice cream, visited the Vermont Granite Museum, and took several nice walks in the sunshine.  Of course, meals out together and a lunch at home were fun, too.  Rob is totally immersed in changing his house over to solar power and driving his new-to-them electric vehicle.  The learning curve appears steep, and I'm not sure I could deal with it all.

Vermont is experiencing a drought, and our plants are all in need of soaking rain.  The foliage is changing color rapidly, but I don't think it will be as vibrant as usual.  Still, the visitors are beginning to come, including the tour buses.  That's our "bread and butter"!

On to Row J

 Over the weekend, I finished Row I of Dear Jane.  Here are the last seven blocks:

I started Row J right away and am on block #5 now. This row seems easier than Row I.  The last two blocks (the yellow and purple ones above) each had 40-some pieces.  That's a lot in 5" block!

Last Thursday, I took the Double Date quilt top, backing, and batting over to Marie for long arm quilting.   She thinks it needs a modern quilting pattern and is waiting for some software to arrive.  That's fine with me as I was sick of looking at it and need a break.  It has felt good to be working on DJ again.  There are only 3 more rows after Row J, left.  I don't think I'll include the triangles in my quilt, but you never know.   Working on one quilt at a time is different for me, but it has proved useful in that I concentrated on Double Date for about three months.  And got it done!

Over the weekend we met Paul's other sister and her husband for lunch and, the next day, attended the annual neighborhood picnic.   Tonight we're going to the library's author program.  This summer has been busy, but not all that bad.  Pat is still with us but may be returning to Florida in late October; things are going pretty well for her these days.   I've been reading quite a bit but ought to be outside gardening while the sun shines.  It's good to enjoy the lazy days of summer while they're still here.

Heat wave is over

A heat wave in Vermont means temperatures over 90 degrees for three days (or more) in a row.  And that's just what has happened over the last week or so.  It's been hot, humid and wildfire smokey, making it extra difficult to do more than stay inside and read, sew, and snooze.   I did get a surprising amount of quilting work done this week, though.

On Saturday, I went to a quilt guild meeting which is usually held in the cool basement at the quilt shop.  Some people were continuing with their kawandi projects but, having finished mine, I started on a new sashiko.  It's a sampler/table topper that I will reserve to work on mostly at this group's meetings.  I enjoy getting together with these ladies for the wide-ranging conversations we have. 

Sunday, we spread Paul's brother-in-law's ashes at the island he and Pat owned about 45 minutes north.  Pat has been staying with us all summer and is hoping to sell the island and buy a condo near us.  We hope it all works out.  Meanwhile, I've been sewing in our basement while my stash is upstairs in the guest/sewing room.   I've been in one project at a time mode with my little backup Brother machine, and yesterday I finished the top that was that project (blocks below).   

Double Date got put together and had two borders added.  It looks great and is all bundled up to take to the quilter for long arming.  I am happy to get it all packed up.  Despite all the work it took, it's only about 63 x 74" with the 5" borders.  I ordered coordinating backing from Connecting Threads and hope it arrives fairly soon.  There's batting waiting in the closet in my sewing room, too.

Last week, I also managed to put the binding on my friend Pam's queen-sized green and peach log cabin quilt.  It was a lot to handle in my small space with my slow and less accurate Brother machine.  She started the quilt back in the 1980s so the colors and polyester blend fabrics are retro by now, and the long arm quilting and cream poly binding really look great.  I hope to deliver it to her this afternoon.

With Double Date finished, today I'll try to clean up all the greens and creams, put them away, and get out another project which I think will be Dear Jane for a while.  I think I left off at Row I, and my tub of black/white backgrounds has been waiting since last spring.  

I have some bright charm squares which I hope will be a good substitute for my stash which isn't as handy right now.  As you can see from Row E, every block has different bright colors on different black/white fabric.  I don't have a design wall in my temporary space, so you'll probably be seeing pictures of small groups of blocks as they're made for a while.  Who knows?  I might just finish all the Dear Jane blocks before summer ends?

Need six more blocks...

I started putting my Double Date blocks together yesterday.  Ironing the seams is a challenge and I finally decided to iron them however they wanted to be ironed.  I will do a final pressing before I take them to be quilted.  I got the blocks halfway together when I realized that I need six more blocks to get a six by seven row layout.  But I love the way it looks so far!

I'll take a deep dive into my green tub this afternoon and see if I have enough scraps to make what I need.  I know I'll need to get a little more fabric for the last border and the binding, but I think the finished size will be 72 x 78 or so.  I am using a light greenish grunge for the setting triangles, so may just get a bit darker grunge for the outer border.

I will have a few lighter blocks left when I finish which is OK.  I can maybe use them on the back or as a table runner. 

Our weather has been gloomy due to Canadian wildfires and steadily more humid here this week.   The basement sewing area is the place to be.

3 blocks to go!

If I've counted right, I only have three more paper pieced Double Date blocks to go before I can put the quilt together on point with triangles (as yet uncut).  I'm not sure whether I'll attempt to put the quilt together now or wait until I get back into the sewing room.  I have plenty of UFOs to keep me busy, including Dear Jane which I haven't touched in months.

Pat is still here, but yesterday we talked a bit about her next steps.  There will be a smaller condo coming on the market in our neighborhood eventually.  But when?  Or can she move to an apartment owned by a friend a few miles from us?  Our discussion was a good start, and we'll try to be patient as she continues to feel better.  

Today we have errands to run - post office, bank, haircuts for us both.  Tomorrow I'll be going to aerobic walking at the library following by a pedicure and a monthly chat fest with my friend Debb.  

I started another toddler hat a day or two ago and will continue with that while watching the news tonight.  Yesterday, I sewed up the latest hat made of scrap yarn.  I'm not wild about the beige so added a bit of purple to the mix.  It's will go to Bags of Love when I finish a couple more hats.  The ones I had been making were way too big, and these smaller versions are really quick to do.  With quilting stalled a bit, these finishes are a good boost.

All things blueberry

With Heritage Days in the books, I can get back to life as usual.  Grocery shopping, accumulated laundry, and a little housework are done, and I've made quite a pile of Double Date blocks.  I'm on the home stretch with about 12 left to make.   I think I've made 73 so far - a painstaking job!  I should be able to start cutting the triangles for the on-point setting by the middle of next week.  Laying the whole quilt out in the basement should be a challenge.

Our local quilt shop offers us a percentage of half our age around our birthdays, so Tuesday I spent some time picking out neutrals (blacks, beiges, and whites) for backgrounds as well as some prints and nearly solids (yellow, red, teal) to use in the coming year.  It was quite a haul, but I forgot to get any green for the final border and binding of Double Date.  Guess I'll try to piece it with leftovers if I can.  

I'm anxious to finish putting it all together so I can work on another UFO, definitely not paper pieced.  I have never worked so exclusively on a quilt before, but with Pat in the guest room (maybe for a couple more months), this is what I've been doing.  Lots of other quilters work on just one quilt at a time, but this is a first for me. 

Paul has picked quite a few blueberries. One night we had blueberry pancakes for dinner - yummy!   I froze several bags, gave one more bag to a neighbor, and have another to give away. I've had blueberries on my cereal and plan to make another blueberry buckle today.   My blueberry cookbook is getting a workout.  My friend Cindy sent me this sweet little plant for my birthday (last Friday) - I set it in the kitchen window to add a little cheer to doing the dishes.

It's not the heat...

...it's the humidity, they say.  And it truly has been unbearably warm and sticky for at least a week.  In Vermont, a heat wave is not considered "official" until we have three 90 degree days in a row, but if it wasn't 90 out, it sure was hovering around 89 most days.  We have a heat pump which keeps it cool - sometimes too much so - downstairs, but on the second floor the air conditioner is in our guest/sewing room.  Our bedroom is cooled by a fan, which was pretty effective, but did make sleeping somewhat difficult some nights.  

Well, enough grumbling.  It's summer and very pretty outside.  All of the flowers are at their peak, and the sun has been shining a lot.  Last Friday night, we went with neighbors to a fun Gilbert & Sullivan operetta, The Gondoliers, at a little theater in the country.  We had a very nice pot luck picnic beforehand and managed to keep the bugs away for the most part.  Sunday, I had dinner with my son Chris which was a nice, cool way to catch up.

This week has been quiet, with a whole lot of reading to keep us fairly cool.  I finished How to Solve Your Own Murder which was quite complicated and fun.  I did a little sewing in the basement because our houseguest is still with us and may be here for several weeks more.  She is nice about eating whatever I concoct, and on hot days, that's mostly salads.

Today it is lovely weather - sunny and relatively cool.  We did some grocery shopping and picked up and dropped off more boxes for next week's library book sale.  Now I'm doing the laundry, catching up on online reading, and goofing off.  This afternoon, I'll head down to the basement for some more paper piecing.  I took stock of my progress with Double Date and have around 20 more blocks to make.  They're going to be set on point, so I've had to draw it out roughly on paper.   On-point settings always make me a little nervous, but I persisit!

Double Date progress

One benefit of sewing in a space that isn't my usual sewing room is that I've been confined to work on just one project at this time.  That's not my usual way, but it's my current way since Pat has been in the guest/sewing room for three weeks (but who's counting??).   Not bouncing between projects might be more efficient, but I do find myself reading more instead.  That could also be a consequence of the humidity we've been having, though.  

In the basement, I have a tub of "muslin" which contains cream backgrounds and lots of snippets of muslin-like fabrics, along with a bunch of green fat quarters.  The little Brother machine works just fine with paper piecing the 6" Jen Kingwell Double Date blocks.  Each takes about half an hour to make, so I can get three or four done in a session.  

At some point today I will get the ones I've stuck to my design wall upstairs and do a count.  I had planned to make about 49 blocks, which would be a 7 x 7 layout, but I think I might need 7 x 8 for balance.   So far, I think I have made about 36 blocks and have at least 6 more cut out.  I'll try to lay them out on the basement floor which I recently vacuumed.  It's carpeted and stayed relatively clean until I started sewing there!  

I also need to get into the room to put away some of the fabric I bought from Mary who is moving.  She closed her quilt shop about a year and a half ago and didn't want to take any excess fabric with her.  A huge hodgepodge of yardage was purchased for $50, and I plan to use most of it for backs.  There's 4 yards of a cream print of Mary, Joseph, and a donkey along with a couple yards of light green angel print.  Great for the backs of holiday table runners and tree skirts.

Sewing is my therapy

It has been two weeks since I last blogged; a lot (or maybe very little) has happened in the meantime.  Paul's sister Pat has come to stay with us.  It was to be a few days while she got her cabin on a lake habitable for the summer, but immediately upon her arrival, we could see she isn't fit to be alone there.  And she needs help.   Her husband passed away early this year, and she is both depressed (my diagnosis) and alcohol dependent (everyone else's).  She has been detoxing, and, while it initially was quite tense around here, we have settled into a fairly quiet situation.  Our house is fairly small, so it has taken a couple of weeks for us all to adjust.

My sewing room is also our guest room, so I haven't been sewing much.  I finished knitting one hat and started another.  I have a sashiko piece all ready to start, but we had a few extremely (for us) hot days when I just didn't feel like starting anything.  I'll save it for my next Calico County Quilters meeting July 12.

Yesterday we finally moved my backup machine into the basement.  Earlier in the week, we moved enough stuff so I could cut fabric.  Yesterday I set up my little Brother machine (internet photo above) and went back to making Jen Kingwell Double Date blocks.  I have made about 20 and need 44 more (I think).    I bought a few more green fat quarters one day last week and also discovered quite a few neutral fabrics here and there.  

Ahhh!  What a relief to be sewing again!  I kind of like sewing in the basement where it's cool and quiet.  I looked around and thought maybe I should move all of my sewing stuff downstairs.  That would require getting rid of the trundle bed that we just put stuff on these days.  No one has slept on it for years.  But where would I store my fabric?   And I really do enjoy looking out of the window onto the street when I'm sewing.  

Peace appears to be reigning as we continue to get used to a temporary change in our situation.  I do think it will be a few more weeks before we know what's next for Pat.  Meanwhile, she seems to be recovering slowly, and we are mostly going about our regular routines.  My sanity is returning now that I can sew again.

Progress?

Let me get this out in the open first.  Sometimes, but not too often, I make huge mistakes.  My recent baking of squash bread was an absolute disaster!  I set the timer for what I thought was 60 minutes, put two loaves of bread in the oven, and went off to look something up on the computer.   

It smelled good at one point, and I thought the time was nearly up.  Then, much to my surprise, my oven started making a very odd noise, one I'd never heard before.  When I went to check, the display said "F2" which I took to mean "fire" because the kitchen was somewhat smokey.  I looked to turn off the oven but it had already shut itself off.  I got the bread out and immediately took it outside to cool in the driveway.  Then I opened all the windows and turned on the exhaust fan.  Phew!  Crisis averted.

Later, I got the bread out of the pans and cut all the burnt parts off the loaves.  What was left tasted surprisingly good.  I had planned to make a loaf of regular bread in my bread machine, but somehow I had lost my appetite.  It was time to stop cooking and start sewing.  I have been cutting fabric for Double Date in advance, so it's easy to sit down for an hour or so and work on paper piecing the blocks.

I'm finding these to go together more easily as I go along because I've developed a routine.  Paper piecing can be rather tedious, so I just work on a few each day.  This means the quilt will take some time to finish.  But that's OK.

I like the way the blocks look together, and I hope to pick up a few more green fat quarters soon to augment my stash.  I have made a dent in my larger pieces of green, but I need some lighter shades for variety and sparkle.  I'm not sure exactly how many blocks I will need to make - 56? 64?

My sewing room will be off limits for the coming week, so I'll work on what's cut up today and tomorrow and then put most of my tools, including my ironing board, away.  

The air conditioner will need to go in the window so Paul's sister Pat doesn't roast.  She'll be here while getting her lake cabin habitable for the summer; we aren't sure how long that will take, but it's fine.  I'm hoping she will help me go through some of my quilts to give away to family members at a memorial event for her late husband June 28.

Little bits here and there

We have had amazingly beautiful weather lately, calling for time outside in the garden or just soaking up the rays.  I bought a bunch of plants Monday and have slowly been getting them into the ground.  There are still some petunias to plant among the tulips that just stopped blooming.  I need to buy some impatiens for the flower boxes in the front of the house and also a couple of bags of "Moo Doo" to spread around.  Hope to do that today or tomorrow, with Paul's help.

My Fat Quarter Shop order of foundation papers came, so I made one of each this week.  I love the way "Double Date" came together and plan to make a few 6" blocks in green and cream each month until I have enough for a quilt.  Paper piecing seems the only way to make this block accurately.

"Wensleydale" makes a much bigger block and seems perfect for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I may hold off on that one until 2026.  I did try out a block in reds for a new sampler that's starting to develop.  The blocks end up at 7" x 9".  

I've decided to focus on one or two colors and work on quilts from just those tubs for a while.  Hence, the red and cream/white sampler and the green "Double Date" blocks.  I'll be making a few red/white blocks in different sizes this summer until I have enough for a Bags of Love quilt.  I will alternate green and cream backgrounds for the green quilt.

So far, I've made just a few red/white blocks, but I'm enjoying using those scraps in different ways.  I need to make some "filler" blocks next.

Friday I got out the fabric and table runner pattern I "won" in the quilters auction at the state guild meeting.  As is typical of designs by my friend Tess, there are tiny pieces, but I did manage to get them all together and even quilt it.  

Now I need to hand sew the binding down, and then I'll need to decide whether to try to sell it or give it away.  I have two birthdays coming up in June, so if I don't find something for one or the other, I'll give them away.  I have plenty of the focus fabric left so may just make another to sell when I get a chance.  I noticed the fabric came from Joann's, a store I am already missing.

And finally, yesterday I went to our little Saturday quilt guild meeting to learn "Kawandi" quilting from Sarah.  It was fun!  I plan to take my project to Colorado in a couple of weeks to work on while we sit with Mom on the back porch.   Here's my work in progress.