coincidence?

last week visited a nearby guild and on the free table was this little book of geometric quilts in lovely solids.....

back in my formative quilting days, was never a devotee of gwen marston's simply because i was too rigid and cautious, aka no confidence at all in being "liberated"....and now this week she has passed on...joining so many others who inspired novice quilters like me in the 1970s and 1980s, people like mary ellen hopkins, virginia avery, jeff gutcheon, yvonne porcella, jean ray laury, monica calvert, sally palmer field....thus this little but powerful book is now more important as a testament to gwen's liberating style.  flip thru old quilt mags and you'll find gwen giving advice and encouragement to many who yearned to earn the title of quilter....another empty seat at the frame.....

got strips?

as you can see, i've got plenty but this sizable tote had only ONE measly, piddly, itty, bitty aqua strip for this month's rainbow scrap challenge blocks!!!  how revolting is that!!!  i took on this challenge to empty this tote, or at least make a dent, but so far...nada.  so back to the stash for aqua FQs to cut up and now, of course, there are more aqua strips in the tote....groan....making it more jammed than before.  

but now they are done for april...once again, this pattern is bonnie hunter's 'crayon box' found on her website...and more civil war blocks are done as well...

the red/black/white block is so well named...plenty of anxiety over the 2 hours it took to make it but result is quite acceptable to me.  ***** and today's cup runs over with thankfulness for how good i am feeling, how far i've come in not-yet 1.5 years since open heart surgery...did i actually have that?  so hard to believe at this point.  the restrictions, the meds, the exercise are all routine now, which i never thought would happen...hoping you find blessings in your day as well...they are there!

a finish!

had a small UFO that served as my doll quilt swap piece that is now done!  a win/win situation!   just have to wash, dry and then mail!  once received, i'll show the front!

and today's dish?  a nearly no-salt quiche, more like a savory custard since reduced the amount of cheese by half and added more veggies--sauteed leeks, mushrooms, onions.  the salt culprit here is the store-bought crust but since it'll be eaten over 3-4 days, can manage.  used to buy croissants, pizza crust, biscuits in the tube but no more...too much salt for me.  ditto for rotisserie chicken...at my local store it has 850 mg of sodium per 4 oz serving... my ex, a sometimes sober alcoholic, used to say there was nothing worse than a reformed anything as they would be on the soapbox constantly but it isn't my intent to tell anyone what or how much to eat, smoke, drink or anything else.  making this change has been very hard for me--nobody likes cheetos better--but on a restricted budget and with food choice no-nos, i'm always tickled to find something delicious and allowed.  now doesn't this look yummy?  and it really is!

weekend update

two good days, one cloudy and rainy and one sunny, made up the weekend but since sewing was on the agenda both days, it was a good weekend indeed.  **** first up was a few household chores and some food prep....

these are my go-to, cardiology-approved stuffed peppers.  i participate in a couple of food programs that give me one box every month of meats and produce and a weekly program that is just produce.  much of it is rescued food that has been turned down by retailers but good nonetheless.  the selection varies every week and this week was peppers, 2 each of mangoes, oranges, apples, acorn squash, grape tomatoes and eggplant.  most has to be used fairly soon so the eggplant and grape tomatoes got roasted with onions, garlic, ital seasoning.  in the monthly box came ground turkey, a roasting chicken, fresh tomatoes/cukes/lettuce, potatoes and onions and oranges.  so made up these for the week ahead with no salt added, even canned stewed tomatoes had no salt added.  having such a severe restriction is a lot of extra work and rules out nearly anything canned/boxed/frozen, most restaurant meals and everything in the grocery store that isn't fresh.  this is my own recipe concocted out of desperation.  there is about a tablespoon of worcestershire sauce for zing.  the corn was in a previous week's order that i cut off the cob and sauteed with a bit of pepper then froze.  this will give me a few days' respite...lol!   ***  now for the sewing part...i quilted some on my big quilt, finished up the doll quilt that i'll show later....and made these 2 civil war diary blocks.

still more household tasks on the to-do list but i'll be spacing them out to fit in more fun sewing time...war rages on!

early morning skirmish

can't believe it has been 11 days since april started and i'm just now getting to this project....dang, time does fly by!  and notice how i left the star a bit wonky to give it that antique look?  i'm using this tactic now and then to give my stuff authenticity...LOL....the doll quilt for the swap is just about ready to fly outta here too!  will be focusing on the "war" blocks and quilting the cabana daydreams, plus sneak in a basting day someplace as well before may rolls around....for hand piecing busy with more bow ties and the new england sampler applique border.   better stop there!  have a quilty day all.....

quilty meet and greet

before i tell you "who" and "where", wanted to give an update on my 'stars in her crown' blocks, the barbara brackman sew-along that ran earlier this year.  took some time tuesday and got the blocks assembled and last night after the "where," pulled out the reds to find a suitable border.  now i know why i have all this fabric!  found a few that might work but settled on this very persian-looking french general piece...

the bedroom lighting isn't optimal but rechecked my choice this morning and it's a go (ignore the toes please!)....then the binding will be a blue, maybe a solid.  once again the color isn't quite as intense as in person but the saturation is the best i could manage.  *** now for the meet....a quilty friend took me to another guild meeting last night to hear....

fun-loving barb!  that's barb vedder from connecticut whose blog i follow religiously...i even won a giveaway from her of a large baptist fan stencil some years back....she was enjoying our warm and colorful maryland spring and was a pure delight to hear and ogle her quilts.  can recommend her highly if your guild is on the speaker search. and she brought with her THE KAFFE FASSETT APPLIQUE quilt that i've been ruminating about....hers is gorgeous and i feel more resolved than ever to make one....and this is a beauty shot for wendy, who had her photo snapped with barb recently at the new england quilt museum...

ignore my baggy clothing....always "fun" to hang out with a fellow yankee, and a quilty yankee is a win/win!

spring or summer??

today temps are hovering around 80...tomorrow too...so summer can't be too far off, can it?  then working on this quilt is just exactly right!

once again the camera has washed out the brightness but you can just imagine how summery and cheerful this is....quilting with the variegated thread--12 wt--is a challenge, especially threading the needle--but it's going along ok and it is making this quilt pop!  i didn't think i'd like the variegated but glad ignored the hesitation and jumped right in....  there was other sewing this weekend but under wraps for now, that would be the QOV top and also the small quilt doll swap piece.  busy week ahead including some much-needed house chores.  takes my mind off unpleasant things i simply cannot change...sometimes have to play the ostrich, you know!  it's one of those times when quilting is my oasis....

no foolin'!

a new month but an old UFO has moved to the top of the finish list....it's my "cabana daydreams" bed quilt...

if it looks familiar, it's because the scraps from this went into "sunny day" that got finished a week or so ago...again with the bright colors!  these were charm packs gifted to me about 4 years ago in my gap year while waiting for the maryland move.  and since it's a beachy type quilt, using a scallop pattern for the white spaces..

and while white thread is being used for the triangles and the hexagon outline, pulled out an aurifil variegated to do the scallops....so all the categories are now covered for april....hand quilting, machine quilting and hand piecing!  will be squeezing in a basting day sometime this month and the scrap basket is overflowing again too!  these should keep me outta trouble for 30 days...lol!

made the deadline!

with april arriving tomorrow and my plan of finishing the civil war diary blocks, was imperative to get this to the flimsy stage today....and it's done!

this is called "honeycomb" and it's from a vintage amish-style pattern book purchased in my freshman years as a quilter aka 1980s....most of the fabrics are cherrywood solid scraps and it's nice to see i had enough of the navy for the borders too...not always the case i'm afraid!  and bonus, the binding is also navy AND it's all sewn and rolled on a paper tube waiting its turn.  of course you know it's the hand quilting that makes my heart quiver, and this is the stencil i've chosen for the border....will outline the hexagons at perhaps 1/2" since they are about 4" across.  but oh the border....i can see it already!  *** and with this flimsy comes another empty drawer (temporarily) but it's progress nonetheless....

after my road trip this week, have a couple of ideas for new projects, but they'll stay as WHIMMs until more finishes are accomplished....

perfect!

new header photo of cherry trees that are now exploding with cotton candy color....official now that spring is really here!   The first section of "MATO" is done and the first narrow lime border is on and i think it's just perfect....any wider and it would take over, but this narrow slice of lime is going to make the other colors pop, especially against the very neutral background.

again, the colors are not as vivid but hoping you get the idea....and peeking out at the top is the first block of the next section.....first thing today was to make myself a list for april as otherwise, i'd drop everything and work on only this...when finished, this should really brighten up the industrial beige that surrounds me doncha think???