dreary day?

ignoring the laundry basket giving me the evil eye, dove into scrap shoeboxes instead.  lack of sunshine sent me to starting the repro quilter's sew along...those little economy blocks.

in less than 3 hours had all these littles assembled...will have to raid stash to finish them with reds and greens.  they finish at 4" and not sure yet how many i'll make but again, it won't be a big quilt.  

tuesday was a washout day for me...erratic sleeping habits left me with no energy whatsoever, but wednesday did manage quite a bit of sewing....

got the final border on the tree of life project...not yet ironed so might have to tweak the top border a bit...i measured twice before cutting the borders so hoping it isn't off.  i have decided on the half hexie flowers for the gold border and whole ones for the corners...the outside border design is planned and started as well.  even prepped the binding.  so happy to move this project along.  

some quilting on 'dreams' got done and sewed some on african wax resist circles project.  

it has seemed like a long week but keeping up with exercise waiting on really good weather...warmer but rainy this weekend so not here yet.  avoiding the news mostly but what little i do see really sickens me.  as one who relies on state assistance programs, continued support seems tenuous but must wait to see how all plays out.  like the feds, the state is also in a budget crisis which never bodes well for those who need it most.  

a spring tuesday!

yes indeed, at 70 degrees i am claiming spring to have arrived!  yesterday balmy at 64....waiting for shuttle with no hat or coat and sitting in the warm sun...priceless!  aside from that brief grocery trip, been whiling away hours on different things....first, those little hexies got some time...

dug out chookshed challenge piece and played a bit with those little hexies and how to finish this border....after quite a few trials, i like this one so far....those corner pieces will go...that leaves one more border that is planned already.  good project for sewing on the porch...

and indeed, the weekend was spent on serious quilting time on 'dreams'.....this is how it's looking so far...

those cross-hatched squares take about 4 hours each....there are 12 and nearly 2 done...not a quick finish here....that 4-heart pattern in the small square is from an antique amish quilt...will definitely need another spool of thread for this project.   

always longing for the beach, was given this panel that i quickly trimmed, backed with flannel and hung on my door....

the hallway is dark and that is my shadow on the left....getting there is on my perpetual wish list...

some regular appointments sidelined as county systems have been cyberhacked and no transportation can be scheduled.  nothing serious so no big problem for me.  at least good weather so can venture outside more for change of scenery and a smidgen of cabin fever relief.  am thankful for those who drag me along but longing to just jump in the car and go anywhere by myself and not feel like a pet on a leash....or handicapped....sigh....bike time and fresh air will chase the gloom away!  

about time!

 

according to the label, i made this wall quilt in 2003....that's 22 years ago....and today finally it got a sleeve so i no longer need to use a coat hanger with clips to hang it on the door...great huh?   i thought so....

another day with no place to go and no WAY to go either...so what did i do?  well, finally finished this wall quilt...

it's the 'oz' wall quilt renamed 'a quilter's journey'...after all, even with a wizard waiting, no quilter would pass by quilt shops along the way, right?  it's all ready to submit to the Maine quilt show late summer....i've kept my guild membership from afar...

and we all know sewing is fun but unsewing?  umm...not so much.  but that's another thing i did today....pulled out hexies meant for another project and began unsewing some to use in this month's chookshed challenge project....

not all will get used...perhaps some quilter might be interested in the remaining...happy to pass them on for postage only....

lastly, a confession....in the last post i showed "purple pathway" with plans to hand quilt....not gonna happen.  it was basted so i gave it to the senior center to machine quilt, bind and sell.  the money buys supplies for our charity projects and honestly, my quilty plate is full PLUS the list of things i want to make equally so.  a win/win anyway i think.  

the day is nearly gone and i won't belabor a lengthy diatribe on how bored or imprisoned i feel...i've a couple of outings this week and the following that should provide a smidgen of relief.  spring temps of 70 are due to arrive so at least i can escape the apartment and get some steps in.  i'm keeping up with the bike but it really isn't enough...thankfully my mom raised a family of readers and going thru a couple of good whodunit books every week that do provide a quasi-escape from hum drum.  been eating out of the freezer so no cooking to speak of---just fine with me.  farmer's markets open in april with early produce....mostly greens that i have to limit but even so, fresh vegs not too far away.  

anyway, it's keep calm and quilt on....or whatever keeps me from SCREAMING!!!!

welcome blog hoppers!

delighted i got into this blog hop at the very last nanosecond!  books, books, we all got books!  if you have been quilting for a while--46 years for me--you have some gems on that bookshelf, some from quilters no longer with us but definitely goodies.  a recent fabric catalog showed a pattern that immediately piqued my mojo sending me to pull out this book....

i took a workshop with pepper cory once on quilt marking and it was soo informative and helpful...this book is no exception.  lots of ideas and multiple size templates for any project--opted for 4" finished units.  found these cherrywood solids in the stash, beautiful scrap pieces....

in the 1980s i made a drunkard's path quilt and hand pieced it as curves were scary, but plenty of practice has made them now easily do-able by machine.  my design called for 49 units.  

played around with the units on my design wall and this was the result....

called "purple pathway to enlightenment"....still using methods from the long-ago quilt class, it's thread basted and will be hand quilted.  no, i am not a modern quilter, just a quilter who tries different things and loves to play with fabric, especially solids.  hand quilting is the part i like best and solids are the perfect medium for all those stitches and designs.  lured into quilting by amish quilts, they are still my first love. 

and though i NEVER EVER use a pricey fabric on the backs of my quilts, unless it's ugly of course, this gorgeous kaffe urchin print in the stash was perfect don't you think? 

and before you go, here is another wall quilt made from this book....called 'a quilter's journey'....even as Oz beckons, no quilter would resist stopping to shop along the way!  

be sure and stop by all the bloggers who have dusted off that book for something special!

March 3

Karrin’s Crazy World

Textile Ranger

 

March 4

Alyciaquilts

KathleenMcMusing

 

March 5

MooseStashQuilting

WithStringsAttached

citymouse quilter

 

March 6

NettieSews

Beaquilter

and thank you beaquilter for organizing this hop!

february challenge wrap

could i use up all the kaffe hexies?....in my dreams!  i think maybe 1/3 got busted, leaving a healthy stack still to use.  more plans for them but not now.  this was posted the other day....

now in the baste/quilt pile...and thursday spent assembling this...

a placemat measuring 12x20....i've triangles to make another at some point....

and here is where i've stopped on the rising sun blocks....

has to be put aside now for the march challenge....i've adjusted the color and this is pretty close...the gold does not want to photograph true...planning to have it done before fall as our local library is again having a show of local works...

and i've also been working on another UFO.....

before the pandemic somewhere i saw a collection of african wax resist fabrics, so naturally i scooted on over to the website and bought a charm pack--so hard to choose just one.  started during the pandemic with a working title of "telescopic travelogue" since distancing was the order of the day.  fast forward, now anxious to get this done, whipped out my karen kay buckley bigger circles and have gotten this far...there are 36 blocks altogether i think...the others are basted.  i alternated gray/black as i felt the black was too much and pretty pleased with the result.  not like the (ahem) love bug fiasco!  

so you see, peeps, plenty of irons in the quilty fire, no doubt due to extreme boredom waiting for warm weather and a bit of diversion.  i've a busy week ahead for a change....3 outings via county transit which takes a chunk out of each day.  since spring is just about here, will have to set aside a week soon for cleaning the apartment before the horrible hots arrive.  no summer clothes out yet until shorts weather.  still grieving of course, losing mom and then the car, a double whammy that totally derailed me.  the siblings and i move forward with baby steps as we navigate life without our touchstone and anchor...but resilient yankees we...just keep on keeping on....so off to do just that...have a blessed day!

bring on spring!

this just in from deana.....Google generator gives us challenge #2!

so you ask what is my challenge #2?  it's this....

2.  tree of life panel wall quilt top....this too was a gift and needs to get to the flimsy stage, perhaps even basted...i've got as far as next-to-last border to use some tiny hexies on hand from an abandoned project, so a win/win to achieve this goal

this IS going to be a challenge....lots to be done to get this to a flimsy...thankfully march is longer month than february....thankful for longer days of more daylight and sunshine (fingers crossed)...there's this gold border and then one more and some of the prep is already done but both require lots of hand sewing.  it will be great to move this along for a (hopeful) 2025 finish.  

thursday spent busting more of those kaffe hexies...check in this weekend for a wrap up of that challenge....

next week a bit busier with monday shopping shuttle and 2 appointments and maybe a food pantry run as well.  with better weather there'll be more walking outside....also hopeful...should quell the cabin fever a bit...but oh how i am desperate for my independence again...i feel like a 5-year-old, not able to go anywhere i choose or by myself...these are good beach days and, of course, i can't go at all.  but glass still half full as i know it could be much worse...i'll just keep calm and sew on!

i get ideas....

ventured into the quilt book stash tuesday morning for JUST ONE THING...grab it and go....but nooooo! the book i wanted was at the bottom of the pile and so fingers did the walking thru a few others and came away with more project ideas....and of course the kaffe books contributed their share.  my stash is heavily fat quarters and often pieces too small for projects that interest me,  but pulled this one out especially...

and these.....

until i get to those "new ideas" here's the autumn tree runner ready to baste and finish...binding will be the gold...two pieces used up from the stash too!  

still lots of the autumnal hexies left but idea #3 is percolating for another time as the march challenge is on the horizon.  

and coming attraction...i've signed on to a blog hop under www.beaquilter.com....i'm slated for march 5th so hope you will come on by and see my selection....and see which book i dove into the stash to find....

the hawaiian blocks i mentioned previously?  two of the patterns proved to be far too intricate for the size of the block but i did keep two of them....

next to find a background fabric and baste....the print is from hawaii

i pulled these out to show...the two scrap pattern books my mother gifted me so many years ago....there was another on applique, but at the time i had zero interest in applique other than to drool from afar...i believe these were the only 3 books she ever published...i am so very thankful for this long-ago gift that has been used several times over....

it's another late start this morning due to broken nighttime sleep--no matter as i've nowhere to go except outside as it's into the 60s today and sunny....about time!  it was finally a one-quilt night.  have a blessed day!

miss sunny's day

after a day off for hand quilting, it was back to the machine...got a later start than usual but the entire monday afternoon and part of the evening devoted to chookshed challenge.  here is the beginning...

this is the first of 3 blocks for this runner....each has 4 autumnal trees and that pinwheel center...all pieces ready to finish at least the top today....then it's back to the rising sun blocks and make the binding for the circles.  thanks to gladi for the idea as she used it on some large circles for a quilt--rather than applique down, she secured them with a narrow bias all around.  she is definitely one of my online mentors.  she's a yankee gal too...upta na-hampshire!

so what else?  repro quilt lover over on instagram is hosting another sew along, this time for tiny economy blocks.  i did the 3" finished 9-patches but i'm going with 4" blocks this time.  the goal is to make 60 of them using reds and greens but might not, we'll see.  i have shoeboxes of reds and greens and this will use up some of them.  

i am going to swap colors so i can put them all together.  this will probably be donated depending on how big it finally comes to be. 

lots of chatter online about the demise of joann's and the cost of fabric in a recent catalog.  almost never got any decent garment fabric at joann's...in recent years i've bought batts and backings using the coupons but no need for them now so the closings won't really affect me.  as for fabric prices, i've only bought an occasional piece here and there.  i've been the lucky recipient of much gifted fabric that i do use and for which i'm thankful as it keeps my quilty muse fueled.

spring weather has finally arrived and yesterday actually sat outside a bit...i'll take more that mother nature gives us before the blistering hot stuff descends.  it certainly does re-energize...off to catch me some rays!

 

the un-birthday....no quilty content

february 23rd is mom's unbirthday...she would have been 98...she nearly made it...healthy and vibrant into her 90s until the junkyard dog cancer grabbed hold and didn't let go.  she never thought about age or numbers, just got up every day and did what she always did...as the family stalwarts always did.  we were shocked and still are at this deep and profound loss.  if she were here, we'd have chocolate cake with boiled icing, a nice dinner, a few gifts, probably flowers from somebody and calls from faraway family.  we wouldn't have been surprised that she was 98, still walking in good weather, living independently, preparing family get togethers, doing her crosswords....we are surprised she isn't here, leaving us with a crater-size hole in our hearts and lives...

i didn't circle her in the grade school photo, but she is on the left in the front row....i ended with a photo of pemaquid point, her favorite ocean place....we went there often just to relax and drink in the ocean smell and sounds, sun glistening on the waves, always with a book and ending with a trip to the snack bar for french fries...she loved them and her Savior, Jesus Christ, and family, reading, walking, lobster, vintage dishes, adventures, music, the ocean...in later years i gifted her special trips like a windjammer cruise, a music concert, a trip to see Cirque du Soleil, pilgrimages to Jonesboro, holiday concerts, Downeast Brass at an old church, summer festivals, a high tea luncheon, beach vacations....and always, always ocean visits...never did get the sand completely out of the car!  i'll be making clam chowder in her honor and a toast to a lifetime of love--her gift to all of us...

slow mo jo

continuing cold temps and chronic cabin fever have left me with decreased mojo for sewing or anything else.  i did get my quilty group homework done...2 lap robe tops for our charity project.  oh and the laundry too..

what else?  finished the 2 "rising sun" circles and onto backgrounds....

one medical appointment took up a fair part of a day...a bit more on the winter saltbox by pinker and punkin designs....

that about sums up the week so far....without close friends and no car to do fun things makes life dull and feeling largely disconnected.  almost no public transit here aside from the train station about 3 miles away--too far to walk.  so i usually just do whatever will keep my mind occupied until the worst passes...spring can't come any time too soon.  

with a week to go in february's challenge, used up more of the large hexies for a planned table runner, autumn trees...not sure if it'll get finished this month but perhaps in time to sell later in the year...here's a peek....  

also traced 4 hawaiian applique patterns for a sew along...i do love hawaiian quilting and hope these small pieces will satisfy my longing for a bigger project.

it's friday but sunday's coming!