Making progress

 

I finished hand stitching the binding on the Unity quilt this week as part of my clean up in advance of company coming.  Now it's waiting for its portrait, along with a bunch of other, smaller quilts.  Getting outside when the sun is blazing is not my idea of fun, and many mornings have been foggy lately.  All in due time!

I finished knitting my socks and will block them soon so that they may look a bit more photogenic.  I don't plan to wear these except as slippers around the house.  I found sock knitting quite difficult, so I took a break and started some mittens (using the same blue, of course, since I have lots of it).  I'm almost finished with the first one after just a few days of watching Jeopardy.  This pair will go to Bags of Love, for kids in foster care.

My online swap group is going swap some tree blocks in early 2023.  Several bloggers are making them and calling the resulting quilt Arboretum.  Even though I really want to work only on UFOs right now so that I have a clean(er) slate, I did make about 15 of these last week, too.  They are incredibly fast and fun to work with.

Batiks really make these easy to put together, improvisationally.  I need to get a few more batiks so that I have a variety to swap and to incorporate into a quilt.

The next to the last UFO I have to work on is Austen Jubilee, which based on a series mystery in Quiltmaker magazine this year.  I found myself very low on fabric, unfortunately, but managed to make several blocks this week.  Some have been pieced where they needn't have been, but they turned out pretty good.  

I finally broke down and ordered some more Jane Austen at Home fabric on etsy.  When it comes, I'll be able to finish the last bunch of blocks and then wait until the next issue comes out to put them all together. 

I don't think this pattern is really meant for such busy fabrics, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they'll all look OK together when the time comes to put them together into a queen-sized quilt.  You may not be able to tell, but two of the triangles in this block were pieced.   Busy fabric has its advantages.

The next UFO to work on will be my on-going pineapple quilt.  I have several months of the rainbow scrap challenge to catch up on, which is OK.  I like making these foundation pieced blocks, and I will roll this project into 2023.

Happy Labor Day

I have always liked Labor Day, a "free" day at the end of summer and also the day before the first day of school.  I would lay out what I was going to wear in the evening in anticipation, and I usually loved school, too, even though it often meant starting at a new school.  We moved a few times between fourth and eighth grades so that, in those years, I switched schools.   But I really enjoyed using new school supplies, meeting old friends and new, learning new things, and reading new books.  Going back to work after a long weekend wasn't nearly as much fun, even though I loved my job.

I haven't done a lot of quilting in the last few weeks, and I am definitely behind on taking pictures of projects I've finished.  

I changed the quilts on our beds recently; I like to do that to keep them from fading and wearing out.  We are now sleeping under Cornucopia of Thanks, a sampler by Jennifer Chiaverini, and the guest bed has a Bonnie Hunter 2021 mystery which I call Green Mountain Spring on it.  I can't remember the official name, and when I checked her www.quiltville.com website, I couldn't find it.  It isn't my favorite quilt but I am waiting for a relative to tell me how much they like it so I can give it away.

I am half-way around stitching the Bonnie Hunter Unity quilt's binding down.  Then it will go outside for a photo shoot.  Today I'm hoping to finish the second sock I'm knitting as soon as I learn to do the Kitchener stitch.  (Kitchener, Ontario?  or is it named after a famous knitter?  it's always capitalized.)

This leaves only two UFOs in project boxes, one being the RSC pineapple quilt I'll carry over into 2023.  The other is Austen Jubilee, a mystery quilt using Bonnie Hunter blocks, in Quiltmaker magazine this year.  I am two issues behind in the clues so started working on blocks yesterday.  I had started with a Jane Austen at Home layer cake and also some yardage, but I am now down to snippets.   I pieced a few things together that weren't meant to be pieced, but now I think I will just order some more to complete the blocks.  I have introduced a solid brownish fabric that I can scatter around also.  I don't think I'll be doing another Bonnie Hunter quilt any time soon.  Too many tiny pieces! 

Waiting in the wings are a scrappy Hunter's Star and two other scrappy quilts for which I have patterns and background fabric waiting in project boxes.  Those and a modern Dear Jane should see me through the coming year, if not beyond!

Where did the week go?

I was busy as a bee this past week, and, I guess, too busy to take a picture or write a blog.  By Friday, both Paul and I looked at each other and wondered how the week just zipped by.  He wrote two historical articles for the newspaper which I edited, and he started on another.   I worked on binding two quilts that came back from the long arm quilter, put together and quilted a small (36" square) quilt, and started quilting another small (51" square) quilt.  I am half-way around, sewing the Unity quilt's binding down to the back.  I am also in the homestretch of knitting the second blue sock.  Phew!  I need to take some pictures.

Along with all that handcraft activity, I made a chocolate cake to take to a potluck and some brownies to share with neighbors on Friday.  I did the minutes for the Friends of the Library meeting last Tuesday, and sent out publicity for the Friends' annual meeting and the barn quilt meeting in September.  Thursday we drove to St. Johnsbury, 45 minutes north, and took Suzanne, who just turned 87, out to lunch and on an errand.  Double phew!

Now it's Sunday and I promised to go with Paul to Green Mount Cemetery to help him gather GPS coordinates for a guidebook he's writing about prominent Montpelier citizens and where they're buried.  Hope to get a little time sewing and quilting later today.  There is definitely a touch of fall in the air now with morning temperatures in the 50s.  We see a few trees changing color, too.  The days are definitely getting shorter.  I love fall, though, and think it's time to pull the tomatoes out of my planters and replace them with mums.  We'll still have some hot days here and there and hope the heat pump can be installed soon.

The sock

 Here's a picture of the sock as a work in progress...

I bought a bunch of blue washable wool to knit a sweater for myself, but then I realized I really don't like to commit myself to big projects.  I only knit while watching TV and then not every evening.  I thought I'd try knitting socks which might also be cooler to work on during the summer months.  So far, so good.  Just have to learn the Kitchener stitch to finish the first one off, or maybe I'll wait til I have both done.  I tend to forget things like that very quickly.

Yesterday I did 3 loads of vacation laundry, including the quilt I keep in the car (it's an early one made of polyester and will probably outlast me!).  Today I'll do the last two loads and work on binding the Unity quilt that came back from the long arm quilter's.   It's good to get back in the sewing room again.

There's no place like home!

It is a long drive, from Wisconsin to Vermont, but we made it in three days via the ferry across Lake Michigan, and then across Michigan, Ontario, and New York.  We crossed over into the US at Buffalo, where there was almost no wait at customs.  The electronic signs said the wait was 45 min. at Niagara Falls, but I accidentally went the Buffalo route.  Will I ever find it again?  Next year we hope to take a trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., for the theater festival.  It is a very cute town surrounded by vineyards and orchards, and very walkable.

I missed my sewing machine while I was gone, but I did manage to [almost] finish knitting one blue sock and start its mate.  Now that I'm home with my computer handy, I'll look for a you tube video on how to do the Kitchener stitch to finish the toes.  I feel more confident in knitting with four or five needles now, so I will give making a pair of socks on #2 needles a try next.

Of course, yesterday was spent emptying suitcases and bags, grocery shopping, picking up and sorting through mail, and just plain relaxing.  Mary came for dinner which was nice, and I slept like a log two nights in a row.

Taking it easy in Wisconsin

 

It was a long ride to the Madison, Wisconsin, area; we arrived at my brother's apartment on Thursday afternoon.  Our route had taken us through Niagara Falls (both US and Canadian sides), across Ontario and Michigan, and on the fast ferry across Lake Michigan.  We took some wrong turns here and there, and it was nice to be in an air-conditioned car during a rather long heat wave for the north country. 

We found my brother, Axel, in pretty good shape, considering his ordeal this past year.  He is adapting well to having only half a foot, living in the hospital or rehab center most of the year, and now settling into a new, 55+ apartment in a suburb.  He can't really walk without his walker or cane, but he does manage to get around without help in his apartment.

We found Middleton to have a very cozy, inviting downtown with the historical features we enjoy.  The National Mustard Museum is small and silly, but we just had to visit it.  The gift shop was as goofy as the rest of the place.   Yesterday we took Axel to a doctor's appointment and did a little shopping, with a stop for lunch.  In the evening we took a dinner cruise on Lake Mendota, the largest of the lakes in the Madison area.

Today we are on our own and taking it easy as Axel attends a wedding.  After a trip to a farmer's market, the museum, and lunch, we attended an interesting book fair.  Groups and individuals could set up tables on the grounds of the Capital Brewery and sell mostly used books.  There was no fee to participate, and the sellers could keep whatever they earned.  There were authors, community groups, and people who just wanted to thin their collections.   Paul bought two books, and I just looked and thought about how we could organize something like this in Barre.   

Busy times

This past weekend was the annual Barre Heritage Days celebration, although we haven't had it since 2019 due to the pandemic.  The Friends of the Library always has a big book sale on the library's side lawn, so that's where I was Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Monday morning.  I got a few steps in during set up and clean up, that's for sure.  We had paperbacks and children's books under tents outside and adult hardcovers inside where it was air conditioned.  It wasn't too hot out, but it was nice to go in once in a while to cool off slightly.  We had a couple of rainy times on Friday, even though none were expected, but, thanks to the tents, very little got wet.  The whole operation took about 25 volunteers, so yesterday I wrote a thank you to the community to post on Front Porch Forum.  It is amazing how many people pitch in to make all the components of Heritage Days a success.

On Friday night, our friends Pauline and Bob came over from Burlington to join in the fun, and we all had dinner under another big tent on the library's front lawn.  The menu included chicken and mostaccioli, the typical Barre Italian dinner.  Saturday, I managed to escape the sale for a while to go to Lenny's Shoe Outlet tent sale, but, luckily, I didn't buy anything.  I visited some of the community groups' booths and bought some samosas for lunch at one of the food vendors.  After clean up on Saturday, though, I was definitely done and ready to stay home for a while.

On the home front, not a lot of quilting took place and just a little knitting.  I am nearly finished with the green shawl and have some yarn ready to start to learn how to knit socks.  

Our vacuum cleaner was in the shop and the laundry piled up.  This week I'm catching up with housework and freezing blueberries from our bushes and some Chris brought from his boss's bushes.  I even made a blueberry buckle - yum!  The cherry tomatoes are coming in, and the day lilies are looking superb, despite a definite lack of rain.  We'll be heading to Wisconsin next week, so there's quite a bit of pre-trip stuff to keep me busy in spite of the heat and humidity that's predicted.