UFO news

 some hand stitching resulted in this!  

five of the 16 blocks of 'wildest dreams' are done....the stars themselves are machine pieced but the setting pinks are done by hand due to many bias edges.  the construction will require a scant 1/4" seam to hopefully preserve all the points but alas, there may be some casualties.  lots of open quilting space, tho, which is delighting my quilty muse.  *** have also been working on this cross-stitch UFO...

i knew this family once who used this as one of their mealtime prayers....short and sweet and sincere...a probable 2022 finish....i also caved and sent for this on-its-way chart....picked up some aida and hope to have finished for christmas...

love the vintage-y feel...this could be my turkey day project as, alas, kiddos have to work so we'll be gathering friday to give thanks.  i've turkey parts in the freezer and will prepare some of the usual suspects for my personal dining while channeling my inner tap dancer watching the rockettes! 
 

wednesday again!

we've a couple of days of 70s temps but then back to cool autumn...no matter, i can sew in any weather....this morning tackled the challenge quilt for the guild...the center medallion was done...now how to proceed?  i was given a collection of blue fabrics (the pink i added), a very eclectic bunch if i do say....not shown is a piece of ombre, about 2 yards, from which i cut the background of the center medallion.  after much pondering, this is the next step...

this was taken close up at an angle so perspective a tad off...will do the bottom the same and then go from there.  i didn't want it to end up square is why.  after each addition, have to wait for it to "speak" to me as for the next step.   and what else have i been doing?  the november mini is ready to quilt, which won't take long as it's, well, a mini....here is a teaser, a photo of the binding...

this was another quilty challenge in itself.  my rudimentary math skills are rusty to say the least, so have to protein load before tackling...LOL...

all 64 squares of "splashes of color" are done and waiting for layout, which i'll do at my kiddos over thanksgiving as they have a bigger floor....

glad to have a healthy to-do sewing list as it keeps me busting stash and working the little gray cells...also to finish are the amish granny wall piece, the reindeer wall quilt and baste the scrappy trees for december's quilting.  will be taking time out next week to put up my little tree and ornaments overflowing with memories....then it'll be christmas!

mid-month update

november is flying by and temps are slowly cooling...winter jacket on board and cool weather dish recipes dusted off.  not quite clam chowder weather yet but may not wait...LOL!  with only fitness to schedule, plenty of time to sew....almost ready to construct the flimsy of the splash of color project...

53 blocks done, only 11 to go.  these are so quick to sew up.  it's the fabrics of course, vibrant colors make them fun.  when the top is done, will give it a wash before hand quilting--batiks lose their stiffness when laundered.  and the amish granny is coming along as well...first thing this morning picked up thimble and needle for some stitching...

almost done with first border, so a november finish is probably definite.  the apple green is a kona cotton, which is really too densely woven for easy quilting.  have switched my brand to moda bella solids, a medium woven between amerian made solids and the kona solids.  

and thanks to patty over at elm street quilts, a $25 gift cert to fat quarter shop came my way....so my mailbox will soon receive these goodies...

some bigger perfect circles from karen kay buckley for the tree of life wall quilt and some yellow solid for another wall quilt not yet started.  i seldom use yellow and have seen some pretty examples, so one is on my WHIMM list to start in the new year.  thank you patty!

since it's november, time to recert for my subsidized apartment....it feels more like signing up for the inquisition but must needs i guess.  the detour of the hip has not detoured my resolve to find and have a real home again, someplace where my health isn't attacked nor my belongings, with a population that's a bit more lively and less resemblance to a nursing home.  i can't stop aging but i refuse to be old...

bonnie hunter was right!

when it comes to ugly fabric, per bonnie there isn't any, just cut it smaller and it'll work....turns out she was spot on!  while assembling my 'splash of color' blocks i pulled this blue/white batik..not exactly an ugly fabric and it's blue, so it'll work, right?

sewed up a couple of blocks using it for the biggest triangle and nope, didn't work at all.  i was really disappointed as i like this fabric a lot (it's blue remember).  but, the bonnie hunter angel on my shoulder whispered "cut it smaller"....and voila!

okay this WILL work!  so big triangles became small ones and will get used.  these blocks are piling up and their bright colors are lifting my mood this sunny sunday.  and have you looked up lately?

i'm seeing tons of pine cones on fir trees everywhere (click on photo for closeup)....in my neighborhood (new england) that is a bad winter harbinger for sure.  it's nature's way of providing enough food for birds in the frozen season.  will see if it holds true for maryland as well i guess.  ****  one monthly goals are on track and the challenge quilt is moving along as well.  next is to come up with a november mini--my kind of work!
 

quilty choices

last weekend looked up jen kingwell's new book "quilt recipes" and was hit with immediate sticker shock....on amazon it's $49.50!!!!  yes that's right.  it has the 'wensleydale' pattern that had attracted my quilty muse.

it's a lovely book of course but at that price, totally out of my budget....there are templates with no instruction, but they are $31.50....again, beyond my budget.  everything is more expensive these days and more so down under australia i guess.  but for one pattern and maybe one recipe, just not practical for me.  will stick with the more frugal substitute and sort of similar UFO project by jo morton, an equally proficient designer in my mind.

aptly titled economy blocks done in delicious repro fabrics...gives me the same cozy traditional feel as the joseph's coat quilt and equally satisfying as 'wensleydale'....course if joe sends along another stimulus check might reconsider...

splash of color moves forward...i tweaked a few of the blocks whose value seemed incongruous with the overall effect...22 of the total 64 blocks are done....

added benefit of this project is i get to use up this thread...somehow i had 2 spools of turquoise thread which doesn't work for many projects but hardly noticed on this one.  used one spool for bobbins and this one remains...

 

 

have ordered replacement black thread for the UFO i was working on so maybe can get that one done this month as well.  added the cobalt blue for the scrappy double wedding ring to make postage worthwhile. 

regular exercise is doing wonders for the hip.  walking normally until it gets tired when hobbling returns, but i do now believe eventually all will be well.  it was booster shot monday and can now say i've had all my shots....LOL...

November OMG x2

november?  is it really?  indeed...and for this month am focusing especially on these 2 projects...first, a smallish wall quilt "amish granny" because of the granny smith apple green fabric.  have put the quilt that requires black thread on the back burner temporarily to get this one finished and off the UFO list...

an opportunity to use another border stencil...and since batik fun continues, hoping to get these blocks all done--39 to go--and maybe into a flimsy before december arrives.  

this isn't the final layout, just get put up as they get finished....hoping will put a dent of some sort into batiks in the stash... november's monthly mini is added to the list as well.  these should keep me out of trouble...LOL!

November 1st is the anniversary of the cardiac bypass operation....a roller coaster four years has zipped by....so happy to be alive and probably in better health than i was for a long time.  so thankful to the Great Physician for preserving my life and bestowing wisdom and expertise to those who are His facilitators.  as Mrs. Goodneedle always says....life IS good!

no tricks, just treats

lazy sunday sewing...and that is a HUGE treat of course!  the third finish of october is now crossed off the list. 

 

a big block wall quilt measures about 24" made to use up that beautiful piece of border.  this was a donation to the senior center but just small pieces.  not even enough to miter the borders so had to finagle for aesthetics.  what else have i done?  

now there are two....shuttle blocks that is.  this is going to be wild....like m&ms, i want more!

later the same day....

this is a "good" from today.....loving these batiks and playing with all these colors....anxious to continue tomorrow when the silence curfew is lifted....about 8 am....but there was a bad....while i was out today at fitness or bookmobile, my only spool of aurifil black quilting thread grew legs...almost full too....the bug man was here--he always leaves a calling card--but someone had to let him in.  nobody told me he was coming today.  so a $12 spool of thread has evaporated....other evaporations have happened here before.  and it will turn out that "nobody" took it.  so my person and place continue to be violated here almost since the day i moved in...wish i knew why...and wish it would stop.  for good.

monthly mini

my monthly mini was a UFO so doubly glad to finish it...

it's probably a smidge larger than what others make as mini, but it's a mini by my fuzzy math! just needs a wash to remove chalk marks.  and i've been playing in my quilty crayon box!

a box full of batik pieces that are positively swoon-worthy....such bright colors that are morphing into these...

four done and only 60 to go....winter will NOT be drab around here....and caved to one more new start, my last of 2021....a kaffe fassett pattern for that charm pack recently gifted....the accent fabric arrived and couldn't wait to audition....

pattern called "shuttles" by kaffe....the black/white is a timeless treasures called 'wild camo' and is zebras on swirly stripes...the unit measures 3x5 and tantalizing expectation is making me giddy... now back to that fuzzy math to decide how many to make....bought 1.5 yards of the zebra so will see how far it goes...

and just like that another week is on the wane...my melancholy has also diminished tho not entirely.  keeping busy, exercise and autumnal weather are a great tonic!

starting the week...

with two finishes....the monthly mini is done but will keep under wraps for another week.  the One Monthly Goal is finished and here's the photo finish.

it's the joseph's coat repro....i love this quilt...it isn't perfect but i don't care.  started years ago when piecing skills still needed work, but it just epitomizes "quilt" to me...about twin size, it's colorful, cozy, evocative of simpler times....i just love it!  i'll be linking up with OMG and document my goal reached.  what's next?

this is throw size and should be able to finish in november.  perhaps squeak in a small one or two besides.  attacking the UFO list with fervor!   my hand work project is the "midnight at the oasis"....the vine is basted and now to applique and add flowers.  hoping this will be a flimsy and maybe basted by new year's.  that leaves the next machine project...one wheelchair top and then this.....

called "splashes of color" by katherine guerrier from her book "scrap quilt sensations"....so many beauties in this book, all done with color crazy batiks.  difficult to choose and there is a scrappy blue snail's trail that is whispering to me as well...

this week will find out if guild meetings can resume...oh i surely hope so...has been a too-long hiatus and tho thankful for zoom, nowhere near the same.  and have you seen this?

it's a jigsaw puzzle designed by--you know who--kaffe fassett!  a biggie 1000 pieces and i'm pretty sure i need one...LOL!  it just might be the christmas present to myself this year.  available from C&T Publishing....no conflict just my personal advert...speaking of christmas, my kiddos are both working christmas day so declaring it a day-long pj retreat with a few allowed munchies and white christmas on tv...no snow needed, thank you very much!