two revolting things

two things i saw again this week that simply fed my wrath.  one is a food bank, a small, generic building that has now tripled in size not far from here.  the second is a shelter that was formerly a motel and is now bigger than a mcmansion with new buildings and wings.  working class people are down and on life support and the only thing that shows signs of expanding in this horrible economy are organizations that service homeless and poor.  not far from here they built 4 new banks along a small stretch of route 1 in the past year...huh?  when i came to maine i had hoped to continue in my career and buy a condo of my own but in 10 years that has not yet happened.  i worked very hard for many years and don't claim to be a genius by any means, but i did work hard and kept my family off welfare when they wanted a lien on my home.  at this point i am wondering why i bothered, except i raised a child with pride in herself and a strong work ethic.  if the middle class gives up or goes under, no doubt we'll see more homeless palaces.

retreat so far....

in addition to finishing the center of the amish diamond quilt, i've been working on my halloween piece and the red/cream northwind.  as you can see, i've gotten as far as the shoes, working my way down from the hat.  after the shoes and buckles (green pieces) are done, it's the bats and letters and lastly the spider.  it could very well be done by the witching hour, at least i'm hoping it will be.  the sock print will be the binding.  ****   i've also finished a stack of red/cream blocks, leading me to think about the border(s).  piano keys?  sawtooth?  remains to be seen at this point, totally dependent on how much red fabric i have left.  **** if anyone had told me a month ago that october 9th would be a beach day, i don't think i would have believed them, but so it is.  in fact, portland is set to possibly break a heat record today.  great beaches and cheap lobster, only 2 of very few reasons i know of to be in maine at all.  

it works!

this is still wet but i wanted you to see how it came out.  the Solvy has completely dissolved and my quilting is intact!  i solved the needle problem by switching to a heavier between, probably an 8 or 9 so no more blunt tip.  i am anxious to see it once it has dried but so far i'm pretty satisfied and i would definitely use this transfer agent again.  it takes a bit of getting used to, but it was the perfect choice for this particular project.  the batt in this quilt is 80% cotton and 20% wool, something i had ordered from buffalo batt eons ago.  the finished quilt will have some weight to it, but that is fine.  i might have to use only this one during the winter instead of a poly quilt AND a blended batt quilt.  now back to the halloween wallhanging and the red/cream northwind.  3 whole days to go in this weekend!

trying something new

last night i decided to try out my water soluble "paper" on a design for this amish center diamond quilt.  in pepper cory's quiltmarking book, there's an antique design that she gave permission to copy.  i thought it would be neat to preserve this design in a new quilt.  i enlarged the pattern as indicated and used Solvy water soluble transfer paper to trace it, basted it to my quilt and here it is!  it's a bit like quilting through a raincoat and it seems to be blunting my very sharp #10 quilting needles, making it a bit more difficult to quilt.  it would be really difficult to do an entire quilt or even a very large area with this, but for the center of this quilt, it'll work fine.  ***** it's a stashbuster at-home retreat weekend and maybe i can finish the red/cream northwind flimsy.  that plus the halloween wallhanging is on the ever-so-flexible agenda, but at any rate, it's 4 days of no real plans and plenty of projects.  

swap treasures!

wow!  got my swap package from donna yesterday and it is super!  sooo many delish goodies; some yummy honey for tea and biscuits, a "necessary" needlecase and needles, an "essential" pincushion and my favorite quilting pins, a country-ish mug for that hot chocolate and tea along with a mat from moda's "grace" fabrics, a journal for my jottings, some delish dot fabrics and a quilt calendar for next year...how great is that?  and she wrapped them all in some gorgeous fabrics and will fit nicely into my scrappy stash.  i am blown over at the thought and care that went into this stash of goodies.  **** pretty cool here in the hinterlands overnight.  bonnie is coming to maine in a week or so and i hope she brings her woolies!  i had to close my window last night even.  **** last night worked on my halloween wallhanging, hoping to get it done in time for the big day.  then i'm going to quilt the amish center diamond.  my bed needs a new quilt this winter.

a fine fair quilt!

spent this lovely autumn day at the fair!  i was there helping out at a craft booth in amongst all the quilts and such.  i didn't get much time to look around but this beauty was hanging nearly over my head.  from far it looked a lot like kaffe fassett fabrics, but up close i see they aren't.  even so, it's stunning don't you think?  had some yummy fair food (kettle corn and fudge)...just a bit mind you.....and saw tons of people and some cute little kids.  hope i was able to plant the idea of quiltmaking into a few interested minds.  i took my halloween piece to work on now that my big quilt is done.  i am itching to start quilting on another big quilt but the spooky stuff comes first!

done!

the lover's links quilt got finished last night!  though it can hardly be seen, it was bound with a lavendar cotton, so right with these 30s repro fabrics.  this is a giftie so it'll get mailed off as soon as it's washed.  ****  another bed size quilt from my list is done, so i can move on to the next one.  the amish center diamond is all basted and ready to go, hoping to finish this before the end of the year.  for hand work in the meantime, though, i'm going to finish the halloween piece.  for machine work, it's the red/cream northwind flimsy to finish. ***** though i do enjoy quilting, i really need something different to do.  still working on a job hunt with hardly any result.  it's downright discouraging. 

busy binding

while i'm still busy binding the lover's links quilt, thought i would post a photo taken inside the quilt museum.  this is in the downstairs shop section, not the actual gallery.  i apologize for not giving credit to the maker but i neglected to see if it was documented.  there are other quilts hanging on the shop walls, but i liked this contemporary piece....something i would never make for myself.  **** so yes, i'm busily binding the lover's links quilt.  it'll be a finish this week for certain.  then it's back to red/cream and also my halloween wallhanging too, i think.  last week was really busy for a change but this week i'll have more time to sew.  my quilt mojo has been low so i might have to tackle a new project to jazz it up a bit.  probably finishing some stuff will help as well.  ***** we are solidly into fall here in maine.  i've pulled out some fall clothes and put away some summer clothes.  no freeze yet so that's good.  it's getting dark earlier which saddens me, and most everything seasonal closes this coming weekend.  then it will be even quieter here in pine tree place.

friday road trip

this is the new england quilt museum in lowell, mass.  friday we went there to see the current exhibit on quilts from the maine documentation project.  it's in a terrific downtown location.  i am a member of the museum.  the gift shop has really expanded since i was last there about 8 months ago.  the quilts were gorgeous; all antique and one a quilt of tiny yo-yo squares set on the diagonal.  they have a library and i borrowed some videos; gwen marston and ruth mcdowell plus "quilts in womens' lives," and they also have tons of used books for sale, but i resisted.  i met some friendly quilters in the library who share my memories of the new england guild of long ago, now defunct.  we stopped for a delish seafood lunch on the way back to vacationland.  the weather was simply beautiful; sunny, not too hot, breezy; typical early fall.  if lowell were closer to the coast, i might move there....seriously.

another bonnie fan?

this is the tie brian williams had on last night during the NBC newscast.....cheddar and blue?  just goes to show bonnie hunter's influence is far reaching, way beyond quilty circles!  i am certainly impressed.  hmmm, you think his wife makes quilts?  is a quiltville fan?  could be.....**** no quilting today, off daytripping AGAIN, that's the 3rd day this week.  boy, this unemployment stuff can be challenging!  plus wednesday was the shopping day; these have really cut into my sewing time.  oh well, winter is coming and there will be weeks when i hardly leave the apartment no doubt.  we are taking advantage of this oh-so gorgeous fall weather to the max!