Nervous energy

I'll start with the only quilt related part of this post.  I'm still working on my Marshfield quilt.  It's going fast but it will probably still take me another month to finish it.  I'm a little over half way.  I love those pops of cheddar.  This is fun to quilt.

The apricot trees were pruned this week.  My husband brought in a few branches to bloom inside.  But, the weather has been so warm that the branches outside are blooming too.  

I saw this tree on a spring walk this week.  Evergreens are so sturdy,  Any other tree would be bent over with the weight of these pinecones.  So, pretty against the spring blue sky.

I was an avid doll collector about 20 years ago.  I have sold or given away much of my collection but I still have these little storytime dolls and miniatures that I like to display occasionally for the grandkids.

But, Easter is on it's way so it's time to decorate with all the bunnies.  I have other stuff too but I love the bunnies.

I've been trying to finish the blouse above.  It is a bear.  I'm so used to sewing on cotton that trying to sew on this rayon is like torture.  I need to unpick again this morning because the ruffles don't match at the top like they should.  I'm determined to finish this before I make any other clothing for myself.  AND, I'm in great need of new clothes.  Covid not only kept the stores closed for quite a while but it diminished my desire to go shopping and online shopping never brings clothes that fit (I hate returns).

In-between quilting at the frames I've been working on a Cross Stitch UFO.  I loved the hand dyed fabric but it is 32 ct. and my eyes get so tired.   So I basted some waste canvas over the top and am stitching the design on that.  When I'm done I'll pull out the waste canvas and "Voila!" I'll have this Halloweenish design on the beautifully dyed aida.  I've never tried this idea before but I don't know why it wouldn't work.   (If there is Cross Stitch police - I'm sure they are shuddering)

 And, once again we have been visited by the fence crashing gremlin.  Only this time we know who it is and they are willing to help pay for the repair.

  You can see the previous hole in our fence from January here.

My husband hit a different corner of the fence last year.  So. . . . 

The old superstition that bad things come in threes is over.

Robin

A sweet surprise

I got a sweet surprise package in the mail last week.  Janet O. made this adorable mug rug.  She said no person should have just one and so she made me this cute little miniature quilt in her signature purple.  Such a delightful little thing.

I set it up on the mantle with my blackbirds.  I'm not sure it's going to get used as a mug rug.

My pictures are a little dark.  It must have been a cloudy day.

She also sent me a cute little "Quilty" note pad.  It was so sweet.  Thanks again Janet.

 I made the first block in Blockheads 4 that just started Wednesday.  I've been wanting to use some of my Minick & Simpson scraps and when I got into the box there was a whole layer cake of Prairie Paisley II from a few years ago.  So I dug in.  I hope I keep up with this because another red, white, and blue quilt never hurt anyone!  

The other thing I like about this is that I've been working hard to finish up the UFOs and the hand quilting sometimes lasts much longer than my interest level does.  Making one block a week will give me a respite from hand quilting and change things up a little.

Hope your day is sunny. . . 

Robin

A sweet finish

I completed the hand quilting on my SAL with Gay Bommers of Sentinmental Stitches called Cheddarback.   My quilt is called Children's Corner (which I have mistakenly been calling Children's Hour) after a collection of pieces for children by Debussy. 

Here is a (not very good) picture of the whole quilt.  I don't have anyone to hold it up for me right now and the ground is covered with frost outside so this is as good as it gets.  I'll get a better picture outside as the weather allows.

This is a picture of from the back side.  It is a bit dark because I wanted to show the quilting. 

The picture below shows the true coloring.  I used the same fabric for binding.

I think I enjoyed every part of this quilt.  I enjoyed learning how to make new blocks, I loved deciding on fabrics.  I enjoyed hand quilting it too but, I've got a catch in my sit-down from quilting for 3 hrs. at a time.  I need to get up and move around more.  One of the hazards of quilting I guess.

I'm working on the applique for the top border of the house quilt.  It is going to take longer than I was hoping but it will be worth it. 

The picture above shows how much I've prepped.  I ran out of pins (on that particular pin cushion) so I am sewing the left side and will continue on as the pins become available.  There is a section of the border that is overhanging on the right side of the table.  So, it is a larger than it shows.

Some signs of spring - the yellow crocus' are up with a grin in the front. The yellow ones always come up before the purple or white.  Yellow seems like a hearty color in nature.

I working on the quilt I call "Marshfield" using big stitch in cheddar colored pearl cotton (with a little red in the middle).  I like the way it is turning out and it goes together fast.  I've already turned one row under.  There is a picture of the full quilt on my right sidebar.

 And, I'll leave you with what I was left with yesterday after two sweet little boys came for a visit.  I guess this house and my house will have to wait for another day to play.

Robin

Busy Quilting Day

I have got so much on my mind of quilt related things I want to get done.  The first one is to get the next  quilt ready .  It's time to get it on the frames.

I got the backing made last week from a Charles Wysocki piece (I love Charles Wysocki's art).   I had to add a strip down the middle to get it wide enough. 

I thought it would go pretty well with the top because of the cheddar color in the windows.  The stripe is a blue ombre piece from the Wiscasset line by Minick and Simpson.  I used some of that fabric in the stars on the front.

Here is the quilt top all ready to pin baste.  It laid  so nice and smooth.  I had it pinned in no time.

And here it is ready and waiting.  I'm going to quilt it using "Big Stitch" and cheddar colored DMC Pearle cotton.  I'm not sure of the design for the solid blue squares but I have some ideas in mind.  I'll just have to see what looks best.

I am almost finished with the Cheddarback/Children's Hour quilt.  I just need to quilt the block with the flying geese, the last sashing strip, and the brown star block to the right.  I like to have the next quilt ready to sit down and quilt before I finish the current one.  That way I don't waste any of my actual quilting time because it's ready to go.  

I am always surprised to find a mistake when I'm quilting because I think that mistakes should be found and corrected during assembly.  BUT,  I found a gap in this log cabin block.  The fabric in the strip to the right of the pin doesn't have a seam allowance.  It just stops at the edge of the piece it's supposed to be sewed to.  I guess I was in a hurry.  

I put some fabric glue on it and  decided to sew a circle over the mistake to give it some stability and a little whimsy.  I used some of my Jo Morton Little Women fabric.

It's not very  noticeable with all the other things that are going on in this quilt.

I found another problem on the opposite side of the quilt top where I put another face to cover it up.  It was a hole caused by the pin I used for pin basting.  It is quite noticeable so I may need to come up with another idea.

I've also been putting fabrics together to sew something with my pseudo-antique orphan block  (far left) for Lori of Humble quilts Antique Blocks Challenge.  Here and Here. My block isn't really an antique but it's pretty old.  It was from my MIL's stash that I inherited when she passed on.  I need to get busy because it's supposed to be completely finished by May 30th.

 And then, it's the last day of February and the new clue for the Aunt Daisy Quilt comes out tomorrow. 

 So, I need to get all 144 of these flying geese units trimmed to make 72 double flying geese units before tomorrow.  I am trying a 'new to me method' for making the flying geese.  I accidently cut out twice as many as I needed -drat!  I'm hoping I can use the extra cuts for some HSTs or Hourglass blocks that will be coming up. 

I got the red house quilt top put together except for the top border. It looks so pretty.   I want to do some applique on the top border but I haven't got it planned out in my mind yet.  Sometimes it helps to work on something else while a design takes hold.

Isn't it amazing how we can have so many projects in the process and know exactly where we are on each of them.  And then while we are working on them we have other ideas spinning around in our head.

It never gets old.

Robin

PS  I think I'm keeping my mind busy so I don't have to think about what's going on in the Ukraine.  It's so terrible and I feel so helpless to assist

Good Morning!

 Breakfast was a warm cup of Ibarra Chocolate (cocoa), a dish of home canned apricots, and a slice of date nut bread.  Some of my favorite things. . . 

A shout out for Julie at Julie K Quilts who sent me this quilty package of goodness. 

I won a drawing on her blog for the cute zipper key ring bag.  It so sweet and citrus-y you can almost smell the lemons.  She included some red and white fabric - bonus!  I immediately cut some hearts out and sewed them together for my 9 yr. old class at church.  

Didn't they turn out cute?  Thank you so much Julie.

And in case I forgot, I'd like to thank Janet from Roguequilter for some of her fabulous homemade soap at Christmas.  She is one of the most thoughtful bloggers ever.  I'd share a picture but the bars are no longer in a state for a beauty shot.  sigh~

Thanks so much to both of you for your considerate and welcome gifts.

I decided to take out the 2 floral house blocks from my current house quilt project.

The whole reason I wanted to make this quilt was so I would have a red and white quilt.  I love this fabric so I thought I would add it to the mix.

It did look cute but it wasn't the vibe I was going for.  

So, they have become orphan blocks.  But, I don't think they'll stay orphan blocks for long because they would look great in a Christmas quilt.

I machine  quilted a long time UFO on lSaturday.  It is just a mini but it's one of the first things I put together when I started quilting in earnest in 2002 or so.  As soon as I finish the binding I'll get a picture.  It's simplicity and innocence give me some good memories.

One of my sons called Saturday afternoon and said he wanted to have a family dinner and would provide the food but could we have it at my house.  That was great!  Not everyone came on such short notice but he brought halibut and salmon from his fishing trip to Alaska and pumpkin cookies.  I made a fruit salad and opened some bottles of green beans.  It turned out great.

I didn't have any whipping cream for the fruit salad.  I sometimes just use yogurt but that didn't sound good.  I found a small package of instant banana pudding in the pantry.  I made that up with less liquid than it called for so it would be extra thick.  I'm not sure I would do it again but the salad was completely gone at the end of the evening so I guess it wasn't too bad.

Hope you have a great day!

Robin

January stitching

I've been working 6 days a week on my Cheddarback quilt (which I call Children's Hour).  There is still a bunch to do, It's  almost 3/5ths of the way complete.  The quilting is turning out to be interesting and fun.

Just a little picture of the spools I used up this year; 10 spools for hand quilting and machine piecing and 7 rings from DMC pearl cotton for big stitch quilting.  Not quite as productive as some years but better than others.

I'm making a red and white quilt using the house pattern.  I make about 2 blocks a day using mostly my stash.  I did buy some Kona Cotton in Christmas Red.  I think it's a bit dark (lower left) but it will balance out I'm sure.

This is the next block to be sewn.  I'm a little unsure about the floral.  It will be the only block with green in it.  I'll just have to make it up and see.  It's a pretty old floral by Alex Anderson.

My brother and sister-in-law gave me the craziest puzzle for Christmas.  It has only 500 pieces so I figured I could finish it up in an afternoon.  But, once I got started I had to work on it from the back to even make a little progress.  The back was stamped with 8 sections of letters A thru H.

It took me 3 days to complete and what I want to know is. . . how do you tell if an "H" is upside down or right side up?  It's a wooden puzzle so the little brown circles are knotholes.  Surprising, the "A" section was the hardest to complete. 

And then when I finished I turned it over to reveal this goofy bird wearing boots or is it a person in a bird costume?  We'll never know.

Oh, and about a week ago someone crashed through our fence in back and fled the scene.  Thank goodness one of my son's was willing and had the know-how to fix it right away.  We live on a corner.  The side road goes straight and then makes a slight curve to right before a stop sign at our corner.

Well, whoever was driving the car was distracted and didn't make the curve.  

Wish I knew who it was, some tired person coming home from the graveyard shift (it was dark and 6:30am), some youth who was texting, or just someone who didn't want to take the responsibility. 

  We continue to pray for snow, a cancellation so my husband can get in to see his surgeon before April, and the end of Covid.

This post sounds a little discouraging.  I don't mean for it to sound that way.  We are healthy, our kids live close by (and they like us), and we find things everyday to laugh about.  

Robin

I had to share

 My grandkids made a snowman right up next to the house so he can peek into the living room.

Cheeky little guy, isnt he?

Robin