In Between?

Yes, it's still summer. I know that. The kiddos have gone back to school here this week, school buses are out and about. It's not yet fall but somehow it seems like we're in an in-between season. Even as I say that though, ninety degree temperatures are forecast here all week; yanking me back to reality. My zeal for finishing projects remains high. "Amarillo Skies, Revised" has had the binding applied and is awaiting hand finishing. "Strawberry Jam" has resurfaced and made it to the design wall; I hope to continue piecing the sashing strips and nine-patch cornerstones to get this one together. It's cool and comfortable inside. What's grabbing my attention though? Fall quilts and designs popping up all over social media. Who doesn't love a good Maple Leaf quilt? Pumpkin blocks galore and Halloween quilts. Sigh. 🎃🍁 These all threaten to divert my forward path! I need to gird myself and keep my resolve.

"Sew Berry Sweet" is fully quilted and coming off the rails today (Augie approved!). I'm thinking about finishing this one off with a scrappy, multi-colored binding. What do you think?

I've done a bit of reading this summer. Two books that I can highly recommend. Grisham's The Widow. Another legal thriller from an author that we know; one with twists and turns that are well worth hanging in there for, I thoroughly enjoyed this book clear through to the last page.

And this one, an historical novel

with excellent character development that slowly pulled me into the plot and kept me guessing. It's been a while since I have made any reading suggestions, I loved these two.

That's it from here. 

Sew, what's new with you?

Does anyone else feel that they’re at an "in between" season or is it just me?

Life is Good!

Milestones and Miles

I had posted about this Sparkler quilt a while ago, It finshed up to be a generous twin-sized quilt. It's the result of a R,W & B online fabric swap through White Shanty Quilts, the pattern is available there too. Julia Davis is the person behind White Shanty, she offers the swaps several times a year if you're interested, always color-themed. When this one was offered I knew that I wanted a patriotic quilt to celebrate our daughter's milestone birthday. She was born in July 1976, a bicentennial baby, and she needed a semiquincenntenial quilt to mark the occasion. I backed it with a sweet picnic print; it is a perfect quilt to use as such. 

I'd been working on completing another surprise for her too. She has taken to needlepoint and turns out beautiful ornaments and small items, her finishing techniques are impeccable. She had come to me well over a year ago to see if I could turn one of her needlepoint canvases, cute Christmas reindeer, into a pillow for her, something that she'd never done. I was honest with her and confessed that this is an area of uncharted waters for me as well!

After months of consternation, I took the bull by the horns and worked up my courage. There were many things that worried me: cutting and stitching into the canvas, I was afraid of damaging the needlepoint piece that she had worked so beautifully. Finally, determined, I set to the job at hand armed with the necessary materials and a dozen YouTube videos under my belt. I used a sturdy upholstery fabic and even set a zipper into the lapped back. It was ready in time for her birthday!

I believe that she was pleased; it was a great day!

The following day she and our granddaughter flew to Madison, WI for the TYR Futures Championships Swim Meet at the Soderholm Aquatic Center there on the U of W campus. Mr. Goodneedle and I left out for the same destination, in a car, we turned ours into a roadtrip!  There were many miles to travel and I took three quilts with me to finish by hand stitching the binding in place. There was plenty of time to do that, too. Lucy Ann's schedule each day consisted of swimming prelims in the morning and qualifying for finals in the evening. That meant getting her fed between events and long, afternoon naps to prepare. 

This was on the final day, Lucy Ann (L) came in 2nd overall in the mile! It was truly amazing to watch; and considering that the girl who finished ahead of her, in first, is 20 years old and a collegiate swimmer says a LOT about the determination of our 15 year old granddaughter! We're very proud. Her teammate is pictured here, too, she also placed in the mile event. 

Lucy Ann and her coach. Smiles all around; what a wonderful week! 

I'll share the finished quilts in my next post. 

Thanks for letting this Nana brag a bit. 

Life is Good!

Good Morning!

Good morning! 

Catching up after a long road trip, finishing up a few old quilts (👏),

playing with Chat GPT and welcoming August (how can that be already?).

I'll be back very soon with all the details and loads of pics. 

Life is Good!

On the Straight and Narrow

I tried something a little different on this Kaleidoscope scrappy; straight-line, parallel quilting lines at one inch intervals. I love the effect. I was stymied by my pantographs on hand and couldn't seem to settle on anything that I liked. I slid on the base expander, grabbed a ruler and just settled in. I'm SEW glad that I did.  This is a testament to the fact that I can overthink! Simple can sometimes be just the ticket. 😉 Because of the color cacophony and movement of the design, I believe that the straight and narrow quilting lines calm this down and pull it together.

I found the black and white stripe for the binding; of course I had to cut it on the bias. Don't you love it?

Basted in place and all ready for hand finishing.

And, speaking of finishing, "Chain Gang" has received a colorful, pieced binding (waste not, want not)

 and a trip through the washer and dryer to achieve maximum coziness. Fifteen years later~ done! ✔

Life is Good!

Checking 'Em Off...

...one at a time, from the "projects to finish" list. "Winter Winds"* is now ready for hand finishing! ✔ I used the Swirly Snowflakes pantograph for this one, it might just be my new favorite panto; it's FUN to quilt, it was just perfect for this one too! I got the binding and the hanging sleeve made as soon as I removed it from the rails so that I would be motivated to complete it 100% without delay. I use the glue basting technique at the ironing board before I attach my binding by machine.  I've been doing this for years and have always been happy with the results. You can watch Sharon Shamber's video by clicking on the embedded link above. It's wonderful to have no pins whatsoever to contend with!

The only difficulty that I had with glue basting my binding was that someone was inconvenienced whenever I had to move his bed down below as I worked my way around! Sorry, Augie.

Quilted, bound, hanging sleeve and label all attached and ready for hand stitching. 

This is the hemmed edge of the hanging sleeve before it was attached. I turned the edges in 1/8", finger pressed, and turned it again, at less than 1/4" inch and stitched it down. Don't those edges look straight and crisp? I used a new tool, keep reading...

Clover's Fabric Folding Pen. When I was getting ready to make the sleeve I remembered this, it had been a Christmas gift that I put in my notions bin to try later. No time like the present, right? I read the instructions and gave it a try. I was amazed. As I drew the pen onto the fabric along a straight edge it made a moist line. I folded it along that line and, like magic, it behaved perfectly... straight, crisp fold! I did press it with the iron too, but I probably didn't need to. This is a great tool to have on hand! Clover NEVER disappoints! 

Another tip: if you have access to a serger, do yourself a huge favor and finish your quilt top's edges before loading your quilt for quilting. This is the second time that I've done this and I can't believe how it has improved my life! Edges are secured and stabilized as they're over-edged and your top will lie smooth and square on the quilt sandwich throughout the entire quilting, and advancing, process. Plus, it is so NEAT!

One more check ✔: working my way through last year's BOM, I knocked out block #7; this block is entitled "Hopeful". I am that, hopeful, that I'll get more of these stitched up on Saturday; it is National Quilting Day after all. Can you think of any better activity to commemorate the occasion?

Life is Good!

*The snowflake pattern shown above is called Stars and Snowflakes by Wendy Sheppard.

Late August Wrap-Up

I had a friend ask me the other day of I was ever going to post again; that's how long it's been since I've updated here! Sheesh. It's not that I haven't been doing anything, that would be the simplest explanation; actually, the exact opposite is the case. I'm going to bring the blog up to date, but it will take several posts to accomplish that. At last post, I was pulling blocks-of-the-month out of the stash closet (it just keeps giving... ) and setting them together. I'll pick back up there. This one was called The Chain Gang, it's been aging, like a fine wine, since 2010. Out of the bin and into the light: two blocks needed to bring it to a respectable size. I decided on a straight set and sashed it with a gray fabric that I had left over from another, different, (more recent) block-of-the-month. I found some bright grunge fabrics to use as the cornerstones so that the "chains" would remain unbroken. I had to order more Kona black to finish up the borders after the blocks were completed.

"The Chain Gang" ~ 56" X 72"

So, here we are, eleven years later~ finally at the flimsy stage. Another one to add to the ever-growing "to be quilted" queue! After all these years I've decided to not waste anymore time on this one, even to think of a clever name for it. It will simply be called The Chain Gang, as it was titled originally. 

One more late-August update, our baby turned 41 years old; he graciously hosted us at HIS house this year to celebrate! As the month wound down we've been treated to an absolute abundance of fresh tomatoes from the garden of friends. I needed to find a way to use them up quickly. I found this quick and easy recipe for homemade soup.

Fresh and colorful tomatoes before (l) and after (r) oven roasting. 

This tomato soup is smooth, flavorful and delicious. If you're looking for a use for extra tomatoes you might want to give this recipe a try!

I was able to get in some reading time in August; these two books held my attention for a few weeks. I'm already onto a new book for September which I'm loving, I'll report on that in a future post. I can't say that I particularly enjoyed Picoult's novel, it was a little over the top for me. Berg's "The Confession Club" was a fun and diversionary story which I liked very much; a friend had recommended it to me and I'm so glad that she did!

Elmer the elephant made his way down off the shelf and onto my cutting table while I was stitching up the  last blocks of The Chain Gang. He's good company, sewing is always more fun with friends! Stay tuned, I have lots more to show and tell. I can't believe that we're rocketing our way toward Labor Day already! 

Happy September!

Life is Good!

Fast-Forward Fourteen

It only took FOURTEEN years for these blocks to make it to the finished flimsy stage! Yep, I know that's how long it’s been because I looked it up; this was a block of the month project that occurred in 2007! 😲 I have a large plastic bin in the bottom of the stash closet, it contains more "antique" treasures too! Last week I dragged that bin out into the light of day and emptied its contents onto my sewing table. 

Here is what was awaiting me as I pawed through, what seemed like, years of my quilting life; six sets of unset blocks from BOM programs at my local quilt shop. The quilt pictured on top from 2007 wasn't the only one that I did blocks for that year, oh no; I also did what was known as the "traditional colorway" and piled those blocks up too! They're in the #3 pile above; this BOM was the "Hidden Stars Sampler", done with templates by Marti Michell, I have all the matching setting fabric neatly bundled together with the finished blocks which certainly makes bringing them to that all-important "flimsy" stage that much easier. Group #1, above, was a program entitled "Creative Options"; those are relative newcomers to the bin, they're from 2015, only six years old. The black/bright blocks in stack #4 are from 2011; I don't have any setting fabric from those but I do have the fabric and pattern for two additional blocks as I'd only completed ten. Why? Who knows, that was ten years ago! The mounds of blocks numbered #2 and #5 are harder to put exact dates to, they're VERY old; at least fifteen years have passed since I started those. The mound of fabric and blocks identified as #6 are red and white "trial" blocks from other projects, they've been collected over the years as I've experimented with  new patterns. So, here's the plan: none of them are going back into the shadows of the closet! The bin is now empty and it will remain that way. These UFO's have seen the light (as have their maker) and each is destined to make it into the "finished" column ASAP. From there; who knows, one step at a time. They've been sitting this long, clearly there's no identified destination. 

Progress report: "Summer Stars" has been loaded onto the rails for quilting. Unlike fine wine, flimsies don't necessarily improve with age; but, what does increase their value is to be quilted, bound and done!  And sew it goes... "instant" vintage! 😉 

Life is Good!

Finished is GREAT!!

Pumping Up The Volume

After getting the Star Flower quilt all quilted and the binding attached, I needed a bit more color saturation to brighten the day. I dug deep into my bin of 4.5" square scraps and after a quick pass through the die cutter I set to work on this scrappy hexagon quilt. It's vibrant and fun. I have half of it pieced as it's shown here on the design wall. It will measure 56" X 72" at completion, containing 280 bright/medium/dark scraps out of the bin. Yay! Waste not, want not! 

So, here's the Star Flower quilt with the binding all basted in place for this evening's hand work. I love this quilt! There's so much to love: the softness, the "Puddles" quilting design, the ultimate binding choice (after load of auditions and consultations!), the pop of color on the backing, the fact that this one has been YEARS in the making! I'm claiming this one and keeping it forever.

Here is a sampling of the binding fabrics up for their audition.  Ultimately, I chose the one on the right.

Once the selection was finally decided upon, it was applied for stitching- a first view of the backing.

Another month has passed and a new one's begun. I'm SO READY for the warmer spring days. A dear friend gave me this Quiltfolk calendar at Christmastime. It hangs right over me desk space in the sewing room and where look at it every day. This month's photograph depicts a stack of stitched squares with this explanation: "my mother, who's battling dementia, finds familiarity in taking stitches on small squares of linen, filling them with circles, sweet meandering lines and and tiny hearts, forming new memories for herself and for her family." 💗

March 1st is my parents' wedding anniversary, this year they've celebrated 69 wonderful years! 💗💗

Star Flower is all ready to curl up under. As winter slips into spring I'm to celebrating with brighter, louder colors! For me, that means back to the scrap bins; I've got well over a hundred more hexagons to cut, that might just make a dent! 😉 Maybe. 

Life is Good!