Colorful November

Well, it's been another busy couple of weeks!  I finished my shabby-chic quilt, gifted to my mother's sister who just turned 80.  I bought several packets of precut triangles when we went to Keepsake Quilting this summer, and added a few more from my stash.

 

 

And a niece has just given birth to a baby boy:  hooray, an excuse to finally use those Oceanica panels!  I found this blue bubbly batik in my LQS and practically swooned; I'm so glad it came out as I'd imagined!

The front:

 

 

The back:

 

And because older siblings shouldn't be left out when a new kid arrives, a puppy for Big Sister: 

 

You've seen this before: every year I go to Gozzi's and take the same photos!  Here's my favorite colored turkey from the farm this year: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a group shot!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some folks have a good steady hand, others do not.  I always start with grand intentions - in this case Hungry Happenings' adorable pie turkey - and end up feeling like I have the artistic ability of a third grader.  Oh well, it tasted good!  

Hope your days are colorful too!

Sandy's a Big-Ole Meanie

She knocked us out for a while!  We were Powerless for several days, and for several more we had no telephone or Net access.  But the house and my humans are intact and we lost no major trees so we are among the very fortunate. 

 

The upside of having power but no communication is, time to craft!  I finished a mess of crochet and quilting projects - word to the wise, it's MUCH easier to crochet than to sew when working by candlelight. 

 

Here is one of my finishes.  Are any of you playing with Konda's latest quilt along?  It's my first foray into mini quilts and I've got to tell you, I love it!  Here's my Mini Number 3 from her book - I chose to make it a Halloween quilt, another first!

 

OK, I hear you - but if you squint a bit you'll see a pumpkin, several bats and some ghosts!  This is her "Flying Around in Circles" pattern, finishing at 16" square.  It was a total blast!  Easy and satisfying. 

 

When I left you last time I offered up my bag-o-selvages as an incentive to back Threadbias on Kickstarter.  Alas, the project did not get the backing it needed to be Kickstarted.  Hope is not lost however:  the community is very much still in place and they're going to try to fund the software directly through the site.  So you can still back them and be a beta tester if you wish!  And - the selvages go to Jyllybean!  Jylly, I'm emailing you now; look to your inbox so you can send me your snailmail!

 

 

Just for fun, here is number one from the quiltalong, "Mosaic:"

 

 

And number two, "Fire and Rain:"  I need to re-bind this because it popped - eek!  Every quiltalong is a learning experience and this one is no exception.  But Konda's schedule has a built-in get-it-done break so I have time to do it and keep on schedule for the rest of the quiltalong! 


 

  

September, September

Let’s see, where did I leave off?  Oh, yeah.  I was so thrilled at how my Orange You Glad bee quilt turned out that I sent an email to the block designer to show it to her; she suggested I send it on to Quiltmaker.  So I did!  The morning we left for vacation a plain envelope arrived in the mail containing the fall issue of Quilts from Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks.  Did I order this magazine?  I don't remember, but that's not conclusive!  When I finally pulled it out and read it, there was my OYG in the back!    Look Ma, v.2.0:

 

And I finally finished my One Block Wonder!  This one is called “Camping in the Back Forty” ‘cause it makes me think of a campfire in August surrounded by meadow flowers.  I know, I’m a dork.  Here's a peek:

 

Isn't it fun to chop up a whole bunch of flowers, put 'em back together and get ... flowers?  You'll get a full view later; it's reserved for Things With Wings attendees for now.

We went to Western New Hampshire this summer and rented a lovely little cottage on a lake.  It was fun to drive around the lake:  “We’re in Maine!”  “Now we’re not!”  “Back in Maine!”   Kayaking and canoeing and food and campfires and long drives, a lovely family vacation.

The cottage – loved those stairs!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The lake in the early morning

 

 

I also kept up the family tradition of Tyrant Mom Makes Us Hike Horrible Hills.  We went up the Frankenstein Cliffs trail, then to Arethusa Falls.  This is a trail?!?  Maybe for mountain goats!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I know you hardcore hikers will scoff at me – 5 miles, hah!  But this one, rated moderate, involves a serious rise:  something like 1200 feet in one mile!  There was genuine huffing and puffing.  And if I hadn’t “insulted” my arches, as my doctor put it, before then, I surely did with that walk! But the view from the top was totally worth it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arethusa Falls was lovely, a great end to the hike.  A little dry in August but they were still flowing:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also saw the Madison Boulder.  Get ready for some real excitement, guys:  it’s a big rock.   Yup, one of the largest erratics (a rock moved by a glacier and unceremoniously dumped) in the world!  Notice that I am sparing you the dreaded Covered Bridge Photos.  I had to go through it as a kid, so my kids do too; that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

 

Other nowhere-else-to-be-seen sights:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Things With Wings starts this Sunday!  If you’re in flying distance of Windsor Locks, CT, do make an effort to come!  There will be quilts hanging in the regular hangar right near the B-29!!  We’ll have lectures, a special exhibit of WWII quilts, vendors and an origami station for the kids!  If you haven’t seen the New England Air Museum this is a great time to do so; it’s very cool on its own but add quilts and it’s insanely cool!

 

 

 

Charms Winner and Orange You Glad Finale

Another irrepressible blogger, Mama Spark, has won the charms!  Check your email, Mama!  Pam will make sure the next round is lots of fun so make sure you check in with her blog if you don't follow her already - if you don't you should, she's always got something fun cookin'.
I'm not going to offer up a pic of the edited charm pack but here's my finished Orange You Glad quilt!  I had such fun with this Flickr group.  I chose the Courtyard Square block by pamkittymorning.  The Orange gals each made me a block and I finally finished my borders just recently.  The front:

and the back:

OYG I will live at my house; it will be at Things with Wings in September so if you're in New England stop at the Air Museum and say Hello, the cheery block design and colors will make you smile!

I'm playing with layout ideas for OYG II.  Because I was a bee noob (as opposed to a newbie), I wanted to make sure I could tackle every block before cutting into others' precious fabrics.  So I took my own oranges and made a practice block for each one.  Here they are all together!  I haven't decided on sashing/borders so I'll let it stew awhile.  I've decided this will be my method for any bees moving forward; it's a great confidence builder and I get a second top out of it too! 

Look at all those neat blocks the folks chose - you can tell at a single glance what a great collection of humans we had participating!

BQF Spring 2012: Forgive Me, Quilty Mother .…

This Spring I have a confession to make:  I have committed the sin of Quilter’s Pride.  I allowed myself to forget why I do what I do.  Here is my confession:

Ordinarily I am a pragmatic gal, feet firmly planted.  I do not claim to create High Art, I take no sides in the Modern debate and I use fabric from any source that yields what feels like good quality.  I do feel a strong drive to get my creative ya-yas out and I do exercise those muscles when I quilt, but I have no illusions about what I produce;  DaVinci I ain’t.

Recently I realized I’d forgotten the most basic premise of my craft.  I got all caught up in my bees and swaps and quiltalongs, cooing over gorgeous new fabric lines, agonizing over getting things finished by (mostly self-imposed) deadlines, taking classes, and all that jazz.  I was on a social networking site one day and an acquaintance posted a photo of her first chemotherapy session.  She was all wrapped up, neck to toe, and apparently the nurses had put a heater beneath the blanket to help keep her warm.  I made some comment about it looking cozy. 

Three days later my tiny mind achieved the basic math:

I make blankets.  For fun.

Blankets are for keeping people warm.

Duh.

I had started this top as part of an Old Red Barn Co  quiltalong  but I hadn’t finished it.  It was humungous and I had a Plan for adding some bits but hadn’t done it yet.  It looked right at me and said, in the way our quilts sometimes do, “I’m the one; finish me and make me useful.”  I unpicked several blocks to bring it down to lap-sized.  Added my extra bits (the smaller plates at the joins) and then bordered, backed, quilted and bound. 

I frequently tell non-quilty folks that all quilters give to charity, it’s sort of built-in.  Well, I can give a quilt to the hospital to go to complete strangers or I can bypass a piece of that process and give one to a woman who is not quite a stranger and who has an immediate need.  Hopefully it will help keep her warm and comfortable during her therapy.

Blankets, after all, are for keeping folks warm. The art and science of making them beautiful is incidental.

Lesson learned, humility regained.   For my atonement I have offered up the Waltzing Matilda I’ve been hoarding for ages, using it for the borders and backing.  Hopefully it’s soft and lovely enough to make up for my transgression.

 

The technical details:  final size 46 x 67.  Large plates approximately 17” across, smaller plates approximately 6” across.  Fabrics from stash.  Quilted on my DSM using King Tut in a variegated turquoise.

postscript:  the recipient loved the quilt, and sent me the most clever card as a thank you - she incorporated pics of the quilt into it!  Isn't that neat?

Productivity is Good!

I've been quiet here but busy in real life.  The Big News is that I bought a new-to-me Pfaff and am getting to know her.  If she has a name it's probably Doris:  this gal is practical and efficient with little room for tomfoolery.  She has a sure and steady hand and I'm enjoying the learning process immensely!

Also working on my bee blocks and having loads of fun with that:

 

For Mother's Day, my family bought me a lovely handbag.  They all thought it looked like FABRIC until I helped them visualize the end product!  Here it is, already full of Stuff:

Pattern is "Yin Yang" (of course) by Scrap-Bags.  Surprisingly roomy and nicely docile - see how the handles flop down when you set the bag down?  No hardware at all, which makes for quick construction too.  I used fusible fleece instead of batting.  I could see really going to town quilting or otherwise embellishing that lower half of the bag.  One thing the pattern doesn't crow about - but should - is the pockets:  two very roomy and clever pockets created as part of the construction process.  They're angled in such a way that they keep even fairly large items secure and easily retrieved. 

I've got a few more Granny Squares on the wall, have finished my Orange You Glad top and have cut another One Block Wonder - with teeny blocks this time!  You'll see those soon I hope.

Catching Up

Wow, those weeks went quickly!  Loads going on around here.  In addition to my usual rounds of home life, parenting, dog-tending, and Zoning Guy stuff, Spring arrived!

I’ve also gotten a very few projects finished and a few more off the ground.  Doggie dishes!

Granny Squares!

I finished my FQ Stars quiltalong top but cannot share it since I don’t want the future recipient to see it.  But I did win Quilt Block Bingo in my bee group!  Staci sent me geeky fabrics, I actually "squee"ed!

The design wall this morning:

Hope you are being productive and having fun doing it!

Selling My Soul

A friend of mine is starting up an artists' co-op; I offered to provide a few things in case she needs to fill up space as they start.

These collapsible dog dishes photograph poorly but they're very cute in real life.  I made a couple for Cooper for when we visit Grandma's house and they hold up nicely.  They're watertight, wipe-clean easy, and fold for storage in between visits.  I'm *really* not crazy about sewing the laminated cottons - so far none of the tips I've found actually help move the buggardly stuff under the foot - but I'll keep trying. 

A wallhanging/tabletopper.  36" square.  This is a mitered square variation using striped fabric and ending up with two types of blocks.  Lots of fun.  The bubbly print in the border and binding isn't part of the main fabric line (I believe it's called Kiev, so sumptuous!) but I wanted to pull out those rich blues.  The wind was just howling when I went to take some of these pics, the quilts aren't actually wiggly!

A baby quilt - 33" square.  I found the bubbly backing fabric at a tag sale while driving home from buying the FQs so I figured it was meant to be. 

I quilted starry shapes around two of the squares for fun.

I think these little guys are SO cute! 

Another kid quilt - 42" square - using the adorable buggy FQ's from AdornIt that I bought at Sewing Summit last year.  Made from Amy Smart's tutorial; I've played with this rail fence variation twice now using very different fabrics and it works beautifully.  I love an easy, clean, effective pattern, don't you?

Backed in a woven that I had onhand, with a few coins for luck.   

So that's my contribution to the new shop.  If you happen to be in southern Connecticut soon, give me a holler and I'll take you over there; I got a peek at some of the stock yesterday and there are going to be some really fabulous offerings.