Spittin' Seeds on Ringo Lake Finish and Sweet Land of Liberty Block 1

 I got all the clues done for the On Ringo Lake Mystery Quilt by Bonnie Hunter.  When I tried to put them together it just looked too muddy and the blocks weren't able to shine.  I think I chose the wrong colors of red for the sashing.  It all blended in together without a place for your eye to stop and relax.  So I gave up on the diamond shaped sashing strips.

I decided I wouldn't use any sashing and would just sew them together in a straight set.  But, there were just too many seams to match that weren't pressed opposite each other.  It was not a fun experience so I changed my mind again.

I decided to try some different sashing options.

I tried a red swirl fabric but it made the blocks too dark.

I put in a white with a red dot but it was much to light.  (I'm sounding like Goldilocks here!)

Then I put the blocks on a red check.  Wow!  This was my favorite choice but, alas,  I didn't have enough fabric to go between all 49 blocks.  Boo hoo!

This is the sashing I finally chose.  It is actually a print from a Christmas line.  It looks a little more pink in the picture than it really is.

And here is the completed quilt top.  I don't have anyone at home right now to hold it up for a picture.  So I thought it was appropriate to put a watermelon quilt on my picnic table for a photo shoot.

The day is overcast and breezy so the quilt didn't stay still.

I hope no one was watching me out of their window and laughing their head off as I continually put it back up on the table!  It's a fun quilt.  It measures about 85" square.

Here is a picture of the Sweet Land of Liberty block for the month of January.   I didn't get the economy blocks done but I can easily do them soon.  I need to be so precise on the Roseville applique blocks I'm doing and these blocks are totally casual.   It's a nice respite.

  It's been a little difficult for me to select these dark  fabrics because I'm working on The Roseville Album Quilt that uses Kaffe etc. bright prints (see previous post) I have to go back and forth between brights and homespuns and it kind of gets me out of sync.  The background for the basket is a bit bright but it's done and I'm stickin' to it.

Robin

My first finish of the year

I finally completed the cute little heart wall hanging that Cheri Payne has as a free pattern here on her blog in January 2015.  I pieced it the first year,  I embroidered it last year, and this year I decided to do some ridiculously simple machine quilting so that it would finally become a finish.

I just put it on the back on one of my checkered chairs in the living room to add a little Valentine flair.  I've got another small red & white quilt (Jo Morton Little Women 11) on the other chair.

I thought about binding it with red but when I came across this little gem of a piece with tiny hearts on it - the decision was made.  Too Cute!!!

I'm still working along (rather slowly)  on the right panel of the Roseville Quilt by Kim Mclean.  I've got about 1/3 of the applique done.  This panel is 3 ft. long so it will still be awhile before it's finished.  That bright pink wing in the middle might need a replacement.  I'll wait till I'm all done and see if it still shouts, "LOOK AT ME!"

I'm linking up with Kathy at Slow Sunday Stitching.  Go check it out.

Robin

The TALE of the Needles

Gather all 'round while I tell you my tale~

As I am busily working on the quilt below I found that the needle I was using was very bent.  I opened my package of needles to find I only had two left.  Now, no one wants to be in the middle of a project only to find they have to get up and go to the store for a needed notion.  No, no.  I needed to get some new needles NOW before I used up my meager supply.

So I went to my local quilt shop, the place where I always buy these needles, so I could quickly replenish my reserve and skip happily out of the store.

BUT WAIT!  The didn't have any Richard Hemming & Son Betweens size 10 needles on the rack.  GASP!!  Now, what am I going to do?

I went to another quilt store with the same results.

I decided I didn't want to go from store to store (you're saying I could have called first) only to not find any needles of the brand I prefer in the right size.

So, I contacted my faithful friend Amazon and ordered the needles below.

I ordered one  package of Richard Hemming needles that come 20 to a package.

I ordered one tube of Roxanne needles that come 50 to a package.

I have heard that Roxanne's needles are quite good and decided to try them.  If I didn't like them for quilting, I can always use them for regular sewing; buttons, binding, basting, etc.

I received what I thought was a large package for just needles in the mail.  Inside was one flat package of Richard Hemming needles that was loose inside the box and another small box.

I opened the other box. . .

and found inside not one package of Roxanne's needles but six packages!!! 

That 320 needles total!

I quickly got online to check and see if I had ordered 6 tubes of needles.  I hadn't, I had ordered one package of the RH needles and one tube of Roxanne needles.  All I can figure out is that the person who was taking the items off of the shelf read one for the quantity and reached up and got one BOX to put in the mail.

Now, the other part of the story.

I have a friend that goes to Yuma AZ, (we live near Salt Lake City in northern Utah) each January because she has terrible asthma and the air quality in this valley can get really bad during the winter.  She was on her way to Yuma, alone, driving a truck and a 5th wheel trailer.  She periodically texts me to let me know where she is and hopefully tell me she is fine.

The first night she texted; "I'm in Mesquite (NV) and it's raining really hard but I'm fine and will spend the night.

The next evening as I'm going through my needles fiasco and wondering what in the dickens I'm going to do with all those needles, I received this text.

"Hi, I'm in Needles (CA).  I'm tired but fine.

I texted back something like, "YOU WON'T BELIEVE IT BUT, I'M IN NEEDLES TOO!!!!!!

Life certainly has it's own amusements doesn't it?

Robin

“Cut my pie into four pieces, I don’t think I could eat eight.” ― Yogi Berra

I made an apple pie this afternoon and have been mesmerized by the steam that is wafting upwards.

So, I though I would share.

Wish you could smell it.  I used Vietnamese cinnamon, a very aromatic cinnamon. 

Waiting for it to cool is both entertaining and exasperating.

Robin

January is a fun month

 because there is so much time for sewing.  I've been working on the Cheri Payne quilt.  I made the USA strip but it wasn't long enough so I added that extra blue piece (which I don't like and will replace with something else) to make it long enough.  

I replaced that blue strip with a neutral one.  It looks much better.

I spent so o o o o o o long auditioning fabrics for the log cabin block.  It shouldn't be so hard!

I've got the cabin appliqued and am working on the black bird.  Then I'll do the embroidered flag on the right and a vine with flowers on the left.  There are embroidered words at the bottom.

The cabin is supposed to have quite a few windows but I'm wondering if the plaid will compete with the embroidery.  I guess I'll just give it a go and see.

I've also been working on the right panel of the Roseville quilt.  It doesn't look like much in this state but it's progress.

This morning I decided I was tired of all the pieces of the On Ringo Lake Quilt getting in my way as I prepped my applique blocks.  So, I sat in front of the sewing machine until all 50 blocks were done.

It makes me happy to know that step is done.

And I've spent a number of hours in front of the frames.  I need to spend a lot more time but today it didn't happen because of the block sewing.

And here is my "Garden Gnome" climbing down from taking the Christmas lights down.  I wonder how many more years he'll be able to do this.  Somebody should tell him it's unwise to climb a tree when you're 66 yrs.

As you can see, there is no snow on the ground.  It was in the 50's today but that made it mild for President Monson's funeral and burial.

Hope you're enjoying the indoor time that January affords.

Robin

Quilting as usual and 13th grandchild news

The little red bird needs an eye.

I started the "Sweet Land of Liberty" quilt by Cheri Payne in 2013.  I finished 2 blocks and then we went to Wisconsin for 18 months.  I never got around to finishing it when we got back.  Lori at Humble quilts is having a sew-a-long doing this quilt so I had to jump in.  I completed the basket block last night.  If you don't have the pattern, like I do, Lori gives you dimensions and Cheri's Facebook group has similar patterns you can download and create your personal version.

It's interesting sewing one of Cheri's patterns because when something doesn't turn out exactly as you had planned, you say to yourself, "It's okay, it's supposed to be primitive."  It's very freeing (if that's a word) and I find myself relaxing more as I sew.






We had a very special occurrence on Christmas Eve.  Our newest grandson made an appearance.
We went to see him on snow covered roads (very slick).  He was born in the evening and had to stay 24 hrs. so they all spent Christmas Day at the hospital.  It was my son's year to spend it with the in-laws so they left the hospital and went directly to Christmas Dinner in Lehi.  Then, my husband and I promptly got sick so we haven't seen him since.  We're finally on the mend, especially my DH who was down in bed for days and is just now starting to get some energy back.  Hopefully we can see him soon because they only live 10 minutes away.

Actually, I went over there on Tuesday to take a treat but only Dad was there.  Mom and baby were at the other Grandma's.  We'll connect soon~

Collecting the fabric for the mystery quilt.

Bonnie Hunter's most recent mystery quilt, On Ringo Lake, kept me busy during the Christmas season.  I have more pictures of it than I do of Christmas itself.  Pity. . .

All the parts completed.

I chose to use up my watermelon fabric.  I call it "SPITTIN' SEEDS ON RINGO LAKE".  It's almost Christmasy but not quite.

First block ready to assemble.

I've decided on a different layout than Bonnie suggests.  I'm going to put all the blocks together without the sashing and I'm going to do a straight set instead of doing it on point.  I will only use 49 of the blocks instead of 50, a 7 X 7 setting.  I'm going to use the watermelon rind fabric for my border.  It will turn out smaller but that means less area to have to actually quilt.

First 2 blocks sewn together

We took the tree down yesterday and I'm still putting ornaments and other decorations away.  Christmas kind of came and went.  It was our lean year the year most of the kids go to their in-laws.    There was a miscommunication with my sister so she didn't come for Christmas dinner like usual. My two daughters and families came but were only here for about 2 hours and then the house was empty once again.

I guess this is what happens as the kids grow up, get married, and have their own families.  It's a natural thing.  I think I might go to one of their houses next year so Christmas will last all day.

Boy, I sure ended this on a bittersweet note.  That wasn't my intention.  Let's just say we had a transitional (and exciting because of the baby) Christmas this year and leave it at that.

Robin