week 2 no stars

this is the 2nd week i haven't--or can't--make any stars for the sew along.  the designated fabrics--chrome yellow and green calico--are packed up.  the old viking is sitting here waiting for some action but nothing so far.  will wait one more wednesday and then pack it up for the trip south.  there has been plenty of sewing action on the hawaiian, however.  now starting my 3rd round of echo quilting on the white background and looking real good.  all those facebook photos are making my fingers twitch big time.  so very anxious to have fabric to fondle and books to peruse.  for someone who normally sews every single day on something, this is a too-long hiatus.  ***  march marches on with extreme wind and blinding sunshine.  we are now 3 hours added to daylight and it is delicious; we know warmer temps will come.  thought i might wake up in oz due to the gale-like winds but no munchkins were spied so we are still in kansas i guess!  now back to the hawaiian!

erin go bragh!

photo of an old wallhanging now buried in a box someplace, but it's festive and green so.....work on the hawaiian continues as does the packing, tho remaining unpacked items are few at this point.  yesterday was a bit of a down day due to ongoing issues from surgery in 2010.  at some point will need a redo but this time will be looking for a legally blind, one-armed surgeon as would get a better result than from the previous supposedly unimpaired surgeon....who knew?  though i have ceased sending complaint letters to both the doctor and hospital out of religious conviction reasons, the reality hasn't changed.  i don't believe in litigation and, unfortunately, too many doctors take no responsibility for their mistakes without legal action, so it's like rearranging deck chairs on the titanic--pointless.  just that some days are better than others, like everyone else...moving on....

the home stretch

after quilting on nothing else for nearly 3 solid months, have finally reached the easiest part of this project--the simple echo quilting.  took me nearly 2 weeks to quilt the first row as had to navigate all the curves and fill in little spaces that got closed in with the first row.  now it's simply mark the distance as i go and continue until the edge is reached.  the binding is all ready once the quilting is done....another month maybe?  it is really in need of a wash once the binding is on.  this has been a HUGE project but certainly well worth the time and perpetually sore fingers.  the liquid bandage helps a lot.   is it perfect?  not by a long shot   do i care?  not a whit!  do i love it?  absolutely!   ***  march weather is anything goes and we've had a bit of snow but no real inches.  mom and i are busily boxing and donating.  i think i have one more box for pans and dishes and small odds/ends and then done.  still waiting on apartment confirmation, which should come this week.  moving van is booked and only have to pick up map at AAA.  the "girls" aka trudy, old viking and phoebe are ready to roll and though i can't speak for them, i am excited to be closer to my daughter and son-in-law.  having been a new england yankee all my life, this move takes me into the south and away from horrific winters permanently!

great bargain!

if you live locally, this item is up for sale. it is an LL Bean quilt rack, never used, had it about 10 years, hardware still in package.  style is similar to that pictured....i'll try and get an exact photo today if anyone is interested.  must sacrifice at $10 but must be picked up, cannot mail.   mine is about 4-5' long....have always lived in smallish spaces and so was never put up....feel free to email me for directions; i'm near maine mall. *** and a word to the wise...if you are thinking about adding to your stash, try packing what you already have in boxes....just saying....

springtime in naples

naples, maine, that is...due to a severe case of cabin fever and temps finally cracking 50 degrees, we took a leisurely drive to north conway, nh, and back thru little towns.  this is naples, maine, a bustling and crowded summer tourist destination partly due to now-disguised long lake.  in other seasons, it is a busy, beautiful, large lake.  as a pre-teen attended summer camp on the shores of long lake where i once again flunked swimming lessons and fine-tuned popsicle stick crafting and lanyard weaving.  if you find yourself in the area, worth a trip to see its unfrozen state.  ***  not much sewing going on in my neck of the woods.  aside from the hawaiian that seemingly has no end in sight and a few star blocks, the old viking is resting.  nearly all the stash is in boxes, and each day more things get unearthed that need to be packed.  would like to pack up the car but it's a bit early for that with just over 2 weeks to go before departure date.  in the meantime, basking in emerging spring and delicious sunshiny days....

spring tease

revisiting a springy wallhanging made a couple of years ago....so apropos for a day like today with temps in the mid-40s and tomorrow up to 50 even...how good is that?  busy here in lobsterville packing for the move in about 3 weeks.  today pulled trudy out of her cabinet and she will ride shotgun with me for the trip.  she is tucked away in my LL Bean canvas bag and should arrive no worse for wear.  most everything is packed now except the old viking and the barest of necessities--dishes and the like.  made one last marden's run for some stash that i'll show another day.  making plans for one more fried clam dinner and some lobster too before arriving in crab country.  so delighted this has finally come about and looking forward to some southern friends and fun. 

stars update....

thanks for your patience during my brief hiatus.  most of what i needed to do is done, so have some breathing room AND blogging time.  did manage to keep up with my stars sew-along....bottom row madders and top row indigos.  see the top left blue star?  the background fabric with the yellow roses is one of my very faves.  i bought 3 yards, unheard of for me, back before 2000 or so at the old fabric place in woburn, massachusetts.  they were a lovely fabric store meaning FABRIC....no crafty crap like you-know-who.  one could buy very nice garment fabrics of all types, drapery and slipcover fabrics and plenty of cottons.  they had delish remnant bins that were often large pieces, hence the 3 yards of this lovely print.  this was eons before the repro bug bit me, but i just loved the fabric and have used it in several things....so happy to have some left for this project.  *** while i was gone coping with various things, not the least of which was a horrific february, winter finally gave up the ghost.  the feeling and smell of spring is everywhere and though it'll be a while before the snow all melts, it is inevitable.  we know it's spring when dairy queen opens for the season....lol!

new header photo and taking a break

new header photo is a collection of swap siggie squares from online group called "real women quilt" from a few years ago.  my block is not included but i did make the letters in the lower right corner to identify the wallhanging.  aside from working on the hawaiian, busy packing.  it is now necessary for me to take a bit of a blogging break until things are less chaotic.  i'll continue to take photos of my work (fun?) and post at a later date and will, of course, try and keep up with my little stars sew-along.  aside from the repros, most all other fabric is packed up....i won't tell you how many boxes are fabric, will just say it's more than some and less than others...LOL!    see you in the spring!

double pinks done

first thing this morning after the usual stuff, sat down at the old viking  and got my double pink stars done to add to the growing pile.  this time tried to be less matchy matchy and think they turned our ok....loving this sew along, so do-able and lets me play in my gorgeous stash of civil war fabrics....and if you see this pinup gal, be sure and wish her happy birthday....my dear mom...can easily see why my dad was attracted to her...and she has grown in beauty that radiates even to this day....happy birthday mom!

home stretch....sort of

thanks to our winter, the quilting on the hawaiian is over half done.  the orange part is all quilted and now starting on the white background.  thinking this will definitely be finished by end of march or maybe sooner (snow again this weekend....LOL).   unashamedly bragging about how gorgeous this is...not worth 10k maybe like one in a hawaiian shop, but priceless to me.  as for machine work, still working on scrappy solid project but this weekend must make my double pink stars for the brackman sew along....otherwise we are enjoying hint of coming spring with longer days of more sunshine and a definite change in the air.  i even changed the desktop photo on my computer to lovely narcissus!