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!

Finishes!

Is there any better word than "finish"? (And by "finish" I mean quilted, bound and labeled!) For a quiltmaker it's a word that brings extreme  joy and a song to the heart! I've not only had one recent finish, I've had three!

Yes, strike up the band!! This tiny quilt-let has twelve hand embroidered month of the year blocks. It's an ancient pattern by Bareroots (I think), it's no longer in print that I can find. I stitched and set these little three inch blocks in 1996; thirty years ago! 

This quilt, my version of the Be-Attitudes, from an Art to Heart book by Nancy Halvorsen was begun in 2008. (Compared to the quilt above it's a relative newcomer to the "now finished" team!) This is now hanging in our eating area in the kitchen where "Mealtime Mantra" has hung for the past fifteen years. I plan to switch the two out from time to time, they're the exact same size.

And now the baby of the bunch, coming in over the "finish" line at only two years of age, "Lemoynes Revisited" is the result of a 2024 BOM at my LQS. This finish deserves a standing  O! These finishes are all credited to much "down time" while our granddaughter napped between events at the recent TYR Futures Swimming Championships in Madison, WI! I probably need to attend more of these if only to get more handwork done! Ha!!

Speaking of handwork... Patriotic Tweet by Teresa Kogut is currently under my embroidery needle in the evenings these days, it's a sweet little design, I'm working it on 30 ct Legacy Linen, the color is Victoria Sponge Cake. 

Since the subject is finishing, please indulge me: two more photos of Lucy Ann from the recent meet. The first one, above shows the level of intensity and focus that she displays before she enters the pool for each event. The second pic I simply adore, it captures the instant when she looked up at the board and realized that she had just finished second overall in the mile (1500 m), I am so happy to see this and relive that perfect water-slapping moment! 

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!

Hello, September!

I'm afraid that this post is yet, another, catch-up post which will be strangely reminiscent of that old beginning-of-school assignment we all remember: "How I Spent My Summer Vacation"! I do have lots of show and tell, bear with me. 

As the weather allowed, and it wasn't too hot, I spent many an afternoon stitching out on the porch where the light is perfect!

These are a sampling of the seasonal pin-keeps that I managed to get finished over the past months. I've been trying out a variety of edge finishes on these. I ordered a few different trims from Lady Dot. 

I did get Amarillo Skies quilted and bound; it has joined the growing stack of "to be finished up by hand". 

An outer border was added to last year's Lemoyne BOM, it was loaded onto Snowbird...

... and quilting commenced using the "Easy Peasy Baptist Fan panto and Glide thread.

Voila! I still need to name this one. I'm attaching the binding today. 

With space opening up on the design wall it was high time for the Be Attitudes blocks to reappear. 

Working from this book by Nancy Halvorsen, this one must've been pushed off the back burner years ago. In fact, I found this post, dated May of 2008, when I bought the book and the fabrics. 

Instant vintage!! 

No time like the present, right? 

Stay tuned... I'm on a roll. 

Life is Good!