good news from PA!

FLASH!  phil did NOT see his shadow meaning an early spring.....woo hoo!  for us here in MD it's coming this weekend....what a great way to start a winter day--the sun is shining bright here and temps are on the rise.   me i am celebrating a finish...the paper doll books are done and will be on their way today..

lots of fussy cutting and sewing but the result is two adorable playthings for special little girls.  but my fingers were itching for some machine fun, so pulled out an easy UFO and got this far on this wall quilt project...

it'll say "home sweet home" when done and incorporates lots of bright colors--batiks and some very nice grunge dots--(thank you janet!) and it'll be for me.  this may not be my forever home but wherever, it is sweet to have a home.  ***  and mr mailman brought some goodies for me yesterday....a beautiful trinket box from dear daughter, 2 hand knit hats from my mum, a jonesboro, maine, history book with scads of photos of, well, scads of ancestors.  then my sister sent this...

when i belonged to the New England Quilt Museum, attended a talk given by Pam Weeks on this very subject and got to see a civil war quilt up close and personal.  I thought about buying the book but it was a want and not a need, so had to pass.  my dear sister got this a while back and i am super thrilled!  PS it's autographed too!   *** and yesterday finally got the border traced onto this UFO...

this is one of the true oldie UFOs that got put aside due to my timidity in tackling this part.  at the senior center was able to spread it out and finally get it marked.  there is one section i tried to do in my small space that is (gulp) upside down, so that'll have to be washed off (washable graphite pencil) and redone.  ***  also prepped final border on the guild's round robin challenge, so that's closing in to get done.   *** and (cringe) some former football jock on TV just said "it TEACHED the kids...."  uh oh....needs some verbal instruction i think! 

seeing red

last year at this time, only 3 months out from my cardiac surgery and struggling with basic daily needs, couldn't get behind this at all....fast forward one year and and things are hugely improved.  can't encourage enough to be a champion for one's health.  THREE, yes THREE primary care doctors fluffed off my shortness of breath due to physical deconditioning and obesity....turns out they were so very wrong.  One specialist even performed surgery with general anesthesia WITHOUT a cardiac clearance...so you can understand my gratitude for life today.  today i'm better, stronger, leaner, improved 1000%....HEALTHIER, tho not without the trauma and struggles of major surgery and recovery.  DON'T ignore annoying, recurring symptoms.  DO advocate on your own behalf.  DO find a physician who will pay attention to issues that trouble you.....it may save your life....

quilting and sewing

though haven't posted much lately, it doesn't mean there isn't plenty of sewing and quilting being done...this is the primary get 'er done project, two fabric paper doll books...

machine and hand sewing are called for putting these together...and they are adorable!  in addition to the "pages" with a variety of dolls appliqued on them, there was yardage of "clothing" requiring a few hours' worth of intricate, fussy cutting.  there are pockets inside the front/back covers where the clothes get stored.  they really are very cute and not as complicated as first thought, just plenty of TV time sewing....and when a change of pace is needed, still quilting on this UFO that is over half finished now.  determined to hack away at the UFO list this year...

this quilting design was chosen as the stencil has been on board for years and hardly used....hindsight being 20/20 as my divorce attorney said, might have selected something different but won't change it now....probably the final recipient won't care at all.   ***  winter is on/off, today being off and tomorrow definitely on so it'll be another full day of sewing fun with the required exercise squeezed in someplace.  so thankful my insurance covers half my YMCA membership, which is just one of many monday gratitudes!

for dora

remember dora?

remember dora's quilt?

it's done, finished...and hopefully off to its new home very soon.  been quilting on this for a whole year and happy to have reached the end.  now both dora and i can rest....in a job well done.

frozen

that's outside, but inside it's toasty warm and betty bernina is smokin'!....totally ignoring my to-do list in favor of some fun....remember the bow tie blocks done last week?  they actually were enough for the last block of the next row of this long-term project.  i do believe this is my last bow tie block quilt...LOL!  so i've been singing away with the oldies station and working on this...

with 2 rows to go i've only 120 more bow tie blocks to make, not 150 as previously thought.  and with this row finished up using some plum strips that deconstructed from a previous project...so am really busting scraps along the way.  really anxious to get to the quilting part as it's going to be a fun project to quilt.  now back to a couple of must-do things that got temporarily sidelined.  a-weema-way, a-weema-way, in the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight.....

inching toward a challenge

since starting quilting 40 years ago, there are now national teachers who have stopped teaching and traveling.  among those that i wish i had taken classes with is ruth mcdowell.  at the beginning of my quilting career, her instruction was way beyond my expertise; later on she was doing only 3-day workshops that were way beyond my budget.  i got her book from the library recently and am poring over the details of her technique....

 why you ask?  for this...

this photo was taken in boothbay harbor a few years ago....this garden was on the corner at a bank and snapped the pix as the beauty of these snapdragons and the color combo were just stunning.  i want to make a wall quilt using ruth mcdowell's technique.  the fabrics are on hand already (Marden's) but until now too timid to attempt.  first step is to enlarge photo...next to fedex office for a bigger version.  freezer paper is on hand as well.  from time to time will give updates...this is out of my quilting comfort zone but just have to try anyway.  first tho, gotta renew my book....

bevy of bows

monthly bee yesterday yielded this smallish bevy of bow tie blocks for the UFO in progress...

while hesitating to solidly (no pun) commit to particular goals, there is a sort of plan for the snail-like dwindling pile of projects in process and this is one...it's my busy box take along and think still need around 150 or so of these little bow tie blocks.  my conundrum is that i want to work on ALL the UFOs every day, humanly impossible though it may be.  few more necessary tasks and the day is mine....peaceful quilting to you all!

vicky and bertie

barbara brackman's 2019 sew along is "stars in her crown" referring to the 9 children of queen victoria...each block is named for one of the children....the sew along is 2 weeks old and happy to say am current....

late start was partly due to fabric selection but once i found one, the rest were easy.  chose some of my faves including a blue (naturally!) and am really liking them so far...these are 8.5" blocks for a smallish wall quilt with sashing yet to be chosen....with plenty of jo morton fabrics on hand, should be easy peasy!

snow sewing

hunkered down in the apartment for the weekend proved to be quite productive....first got my 'antebellum album' blocks sewn into a flimsy...

a narrow border is next...had hoped enough of one of the pinks would be on hand but doesn't appear so....that is the drawback of buying half yards or FQs....but have a couple of other options to try....then have to start on barbara brackman's new sew-along, already 2 blocks behind....next, the donation quilt binding is ON....yes, do believe will have a big quilt finish this month....that'll make 2 official UFOs gone which is 2 more than got done last january....so now the hoop is holding this...

one of 4-5 amish style quilts on the UFO list that is just about half quilted.  will this get finished in january too??  remains to be seen....oh and i've planned another for that scrap bag of cherrywood solids i've been hoarding...but concentrating on NO MORE STARTS until more get finished.   ***  both sun/mon mornings got woken up by snow plow....imagine!  that seldom happens here in the south...but lucky to be able to turn over and go back to sleep....thinking today will be another snow sew day...isn't it grand!

first finish!

a small one but done nevertheless...it's my thrifty hearts, so named as i found the precut hearts in a baggie at goodwill plus some plaid nickels and the white background fabric...only $2 so it had to be mine...

i had made 2 other small quilts with this find, one tea dyed and it's my mom's...the other got given away but this one i'll keep....and a belated christmas gift arrived the other day.  a stashbuster member asked me if i would like to receive some things from a quilter who had to relinquish her stuff due to health reasons...i always feel a bit ghoulish as i can't imagine how difficult that must be.  no doubt it is a very real concern in the back of any quilter's mind....the "what if" possibility....but have vowed to either use myself or share with others to honor the gift and the giver....

the book is needed for this fabric kit, which i've requested from the library...also included were several charm packs, 2 EPP starter packets, 2 layer cakes...all delightfully received and appreciated.  it perked up my week immensely as it included a brief hospital admit, a couple of unexpected doctor visits, more prescriptions that discouraged me a bit.  all is well now....not cardiac related but that will always be a concern... *** this snowy weekend dedicated to finishing a big quilt and moving on to the next UFO....