onward to christmas!

 

a singular, subdued holiday for me....oh, and if you see one-legged turkey around, please don't mention my name...LOL!   ***  the day flew by with lots of quilty stuff....two bastings got done...

this piece made from some gifted anonymous blocks....a hawaiian style baltimore project.  so much applique work already done....chose these 4 and 2 of the border units for this wall piece...i do have more blocks awaiting ideas...and mr. reindeer got basted as well...perfect backing in the stash that is now used up. 

pinned the binding on the amish granny wall quilt and finished quilting on another runner UFO that now needs just binding too.  added another border to the guild's challenge quilt.  then played around with this potential project...

another hawaiian style piece...the print is a lovely yard of an edyta sitar design....the yellow is the new piece i just got, which was NOT intended for this applique but looks pretty good.  not big enough tho, so if i do go with it, will need to acquire more.  the applique is very coral-ish in design.  simply have to stop with the applique projects...five are on board so far--dargate baskets, midnight at the oasis (border only), red/green christmas blocks (4), a vintage design wall quilt and now this coral thing...before settling on a background will audition a few other colors, but so far i like this a lot.  

still to baste is the scrappy trees, after backing is fashioned.  all these should keep me busy until the new year i would imagine, plus a bit of cross stitch besides.  no wonder time flies! 

happy thanksgiving!

 "Now thank we all our God....."

this painting definitely someone's romanticized interpretation, after all, it was late fall after the harvest, on the coast of southeast massachusetts.....brrr, chilly just thinking about it..... ***  lots of blessings to be thankful for this year, way too many to list....hope you feel the same.  *** closing in on another UFO finish this week and have pulled fabrics from the stash for a couple of new starts.  the list will never get done at this rate....LOL!   ***  the requisite pie has been baked, tested and approved!  it's squash, one i always make at thanksgiving.  

below is photo of a fountain statue erected and dedicated in plymouth by the DAR to honor pilgrim women...hardy souls every one.  

 wishing you all a thankful day and overflowing blessings....

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.