lone star update

here's a current photo of the lone star wallhanging and a closeup of one of the triangles already quilted. i've one more triangle and 3 of the corner squares to quilt with this arc design and then i can bind it. you can see the green solid i chose for the binding. i actually had to go out and buy it because i didn't have a piece large enough for the entire binding in my stash. it pulls out the green fabric in the star itself. green is not my favorite color but i felt there was enough blue/pink shades without choosing either of those for the binding. i'm a bit disappointed as it didn't come out as well as the first one i made but it was a lot of work, pieced by hand and now quilted by hand. not perfect but then who/what is? i can live with it without a lot of guilt and only a smidgen of regret. i do this for fun is why.....

yeeccchhh!

why? it SNOWED today! after 60-degree weather last week, this is one of the last things we wanted to see. "they" say we might get up to 5 inches overnight, but the good part of snow in late march is it's soon gone, as this will be by wednesday, again "they" say. even if they are wrong, it won't be by much. ***** and what have i been doing? well, quilting on the lone star. i am now quilting the corner squares and triangles, having finished every one of the individual diamonds. i got the binding fabric over the weekend; no, i didn't have any in my stash to match. i've also been on a job interview today, done the usual weekend stuff like laundry, read the sunday paper and do some miscellaneous sewing on other UFOs. the unemployed life is hardly exciting, i'm afraid.

afterthought

today is the first time i've heard the seagulls squawking in the morning. that has to be a sure sign of spring. the sun is out again today after a rainy wednesday and it's going to be quite warm for march, about 50 or so. i can take that for sure...

the sewing table

this is my sewing table. it belonged to my late ex-mother-in-law, Maude. Most likely it really belonged to her mother before that, Lila, as she was the quilter in the family. I don't think Maude ever sewed. When Maude died, my ex-father-in-law, Joe, sold it to me. He said he couldn't give it away, but i could buy it for $5, a pittance. i understood his reasoning because i knew him pretty well. it was my blue antique period so of course, it got "antiqued" (dumb) and the drawer pulls got changed (dumber). anyway, because it's old, the top drawer front broke off and the drawer itself was in shaky condition. i bought some wood glue and glued the daylights out of it and it pretty much held, except for the drawer front. i finally took it to be repaired and a whole new drawer had to be made for the old front.....and here it is. back in "normal" shape again. don't mind the fan, no place else to store it...and the right shoe? i usually sew without one. if i could afford it, the table would be refinished and new "old" pulls reattached but no funds for that. no green today but then i'm not irish either.

this and that

this is one of the "ends" i finished yesterday, the block started in the curved paper piecing class. it may be just an orphan block or used in something in the future, time will tell. ***** more progress on quilting the lone star, so it's coming along fairly quickly and may indeed be a march finish. **** today's the day to make irish soda bread. we aren't irish (i don't think) but we have corned beef and cabbage AND irish bread anyway. our heritage is English, some Native American and not sure what else.

remember?

if you are of a "certain age," then your mornings--like mine--often started with this little tune....takes me back to a galaxy far, far away...well, not THAT far away!

UFO in progress

here's the red/cream north wind UFO i've been working on this week. every so often i pull out the shoebox and sew together a stack of units and some squares. these are 5" unfinished because I misread the new ruler directions and cut the strips 1/2" too small. won't do THAT again! i'm nearly at the point i have to cut more HSTs and extra triangles to assemble the middle portion of the square itself. today i'm probably going to finish up some odds and ends and maybe hand quilt for a change. i've 4 small UFO projects that need quilting and could be knocked off my list if they were done. ***** the sun is streaming through my window here at 7:45 so it's going to be a sunny day. plenty of natural light flooding my sewing space....always a good thing!

"into" antique quilts?

margaret over at www.quiltstation.com.au is drafting and selling the patterns for this beauty. there are 60 blocks plus the center medallion. i am sorely tempted as i think it's a real masterpiece but i have more than a few projects already in the works PLUS others on a "want to make" list, so i have (so far) resisted the nearly overwhelming urge to cave. it would be no small feat to add this quilt to my list. i am already choosing certain flimsies to tie rather than hand quilt to save time. with one large applique project in progress and 2 baltimore books over which i have sufficiently drooled already, not to mention the hawaiian AND the civil war diary quilts, i simply have to pass on this one.....for the time being. more than once i have wondered why i didn't start quilting when i was 13 instead of 30.

nature abhors a vacuum....

with the completion of flimsy #2, the shoebox was empty, but not for long. in went another in progress UFO, the amish ocean waves pieces. even though the shoebox is no longer empty, i think this is real progress. ***** today i spent a good portion of the time working on another UFO, the red/cream north wind squares. this has been in the shoebox quite a while and the top at least needs finishing. i have to make 130 of these little 5" squares, and each square has a bunch of little and 2 larger triangles. **** i have spent most of my time lately doing machine projects, but also working some on the lone star to get it hand quilted. it's coming along and i'd hoped for a march finish, which still may happen but might not. the best part is i am seeing a change in the amount of fabric i have in my elfa drawers, always a very good thing. it is completely mind boggling how slow a reduction in stash occurs. i can't just fling it to the thrift because i feel i have too much. i paid for this fabric and intend to use it up if at all possible. i am happy to share but don't feel as though i can just just toss it; it wouldn't really be frugal at all. and truth to tell, i don't think i have too much but certainly enough for the foreseeable future.

another flimsy

one of the local shops sponsors a buck-a-block and 2 years ago (i think) i signed up and got this pattern and this fabric. today i got the top done with muslin sashing and the binding will be next (after basting). this quilt will be tied, not hand quilted, and probably donated at some point. i really am quite determined to finish everything on my UFO list. **** our snow is nearly gone and we are hoping for no more until christmas time.