sewing under the dome

that would be the heat dome....yes, records broken over the weekend and still hanging around....running the sewing machine drowned out the constant whirring of the electric meter while a/c pumped on...got this top done and packed for the thrift...

nearly all my blue batik stash used up and one of three blue projects off the sewing table.  

what else?  lots of quilting time and i believe i WILL finish s'mores this week.   recently gifted this gadget.

i knew about it long ago but never tried...now i am a convert!  keeps the quilting moving along steadily...the brown quilting thread was chosen, not a great choice.  using it on dark fabrics doesn't permit monitoring stitches, so it's another humble quilt by me i'm afraid.  

more dargate basket blocks got appliqued, some cross stitching, more album blocks--only 12 left to put together and can work on the flimsy.  the lobster runner got basted, plan to finish it in the next day or two.  no laundry was done nor kitchen floor washed either.  did have to do a bit of cooking of course and some PT exercises as well.  i do miss going to the gym immensely.  it seems every time i get into a groove, some annoying misfortune derails my momentum.

summer 1/3 over and i've still a hefty to-do list..hoping for good progress this week.  

so that's it for photos....keep COOL and quilt on!

today's post...

brought to you by the word "more"....as in more progress on current projects.

more quilting on s'mores...and found a use for that pesky walker i need to keep on hand...

acquired an oval hoop from senior center donation but no stand.  besides, would have been too short but eureka!  the walker fits the bill.  i just might get this finished in june...

more basket blocks....

only 72 more to applique...on target for finishing them all by august 31st...i could really use a much larger design wall...

more album blocks....

only 18 more to sew up and then it's on to a flimsy....am thinking these 2 will be the last bed size quilts i make...focus more on smaller projects and some scrappy tops that will get donated.  

and in the UFO department, batting and backing on hand to baste this biggie....

you know how i love solids and this makes me absolutely swoon....hoping this will be my winter quilt, or at least one to warm me as the new year dawns....maybe?  a good task for a triple-digit heat weekend...

lots of personal stressors have been resolved and aside from the heat, should be--or hoping it will be--a week to relax and focus on some self-nurturing.  hot weather meals requiring simple prep on the menu.  it surely has been a rocky, stressful and devastatingly tearful spring, thankful to my God for His sustaining and comforting daily presence. 

happy father's day

 

my dad in one of his favorite places--the maine woods--this photo taken late 1990s i would guess, he died 2002.  certainly my most unforgettable character and his (un) wise words still live with me...got your haircut dad?  yes, all of them...or this one:  it isn't the car, it's the nut behind the wheel...and a gazillion more.  and i won't forget the few times i saw him cry...a simple, sensitive, determined and hard working man who loved us all very much, no doubt happy today as his dearest is now with him.  

flag day

 

in our family, this was dad's birthday first--he would have been 99 this year--but always a day to reflect on our freedoms and the birth of our republic.  i wrote this poem for a DAR contest--it didn't win but i still thought it was a good poem that conveyed my patriotism.

OUR FLAG

Flying high above the pavement, waving in the breeze,
a flag that tells a story--can I hear it again please?
Of souls resolved, united, courageous, brave and true,
to defeat a foreign tyrant, to free themselves....and you.
They came with tools and muskets, leaving farm and home behind.
They marched and bled and died, all patriots, allies in kind.
The cause seemed lost at times, but perseverance never waned.
And in the end victorious, independence finally gained.

But how to show the country, the victory won but long?
Dame Betsy Ross' needle, with skill and resolution strong, 
sewed a flag to wave most proudly, to remind and fly on high.
With stripes of red and white, and white stars on a deep blue sky.
The stars for thirteen states, now united together as one,
a symbol of the republic now that the fighting was done.
The nation grew and stars increased for each new added state.
The flag steadfastly flown thru conflicts, wars and debate.

But dissention for our flag emerged in recent days, 
forgetting its true meaning, not a symbol of individual ways, 
but of a nation born in struggle by those who knew no fear.
My wish for every American is to hold our flag so dear.
Don't kneel or turn your back when it flies from poles or domes.
Revere this hallowed symbol, of our United States, our home.
So when you see our flag at ballpark, business or door,
your hand to heart or salute for the bravest who've gone before.

(c) grace thorne 2024

long may she wave!

 

tuesday stuff....

before jumping into to-do list, a quick post....still car-less....continuing PT exercises at home but difficult to get the heart rate workout i need...did a mish mash of stitching stuff...

pulled some stash fabric for a small baby quilt, the new project at the senior center...just enough of this fairy dust print for a 36x36 top.

putting away some selvedges and came across these two blocks made by lila, my ex's grandmother---the hazards of pawing thru containers...decided to put them together in a small piece...the setting triangles already cut, will quilt and finish off with the wee print binding on the left.  calling it 'remembering lila' altho i never met her, only heard the stories about her--she was the sewist and made many crazy quilts.  i was lucky to receive a box of her fabrics and some orphan blocks.  i made this from some...

this was lila, age 9, taken at a photo studio in provincetown which is actually still there...and here is my daughter high school photo...

uncanny eh?  and then early this morning--another fractured sleeping night--picked this up working toward a finish....

ended up tearful as i made some of these and gifted to my mom, she loved handmade things...BUT a few of my tears disintegrated the design paper, so had to put down.  should be done soon.   also kept up with my dargate basket-a-day, now only 79 to applique plus laundry, cooking etc.  

grief struggle goes on accentuated by being confined too much of the time.  plenty of sewing but even that gets ho-hum sometimes.  at least we've a break from the disgusting heat for one brief day.  off to tackle to do list!

friday report

another week nearly gone and settling into a sort of routine sans vehicle...not happy about it but there it is.  on the sewing front, miss sunny up and running again with a new belt...

purring along as usual....love this machine....keeps me close to my beloved mom...and may blues sewing continues with a scrappy project that needs to move along....

it's a pattern by amanda jean nyberg i've used before, a great scrap buster.  for this one i've pulled all my blue batiks.  pattern calls for 36 blocks but may end up with 30, depending on how long the blues hold out.

for a wee color detour, sewed up this summery runner that'll be gifted to dear daughter...long ago she spied the lobsters and asked for a runner....fast forward to now and it's a flimsy, soon to be machine quilted, bound and gifted.  time gallops along and i am trying not to leave things undone.  

we always knew dear brother was way ahead of the pack, and here he is circa 1962 with a prototype cell phone!  somebody contact the patent office!!!

and last but most important, my belmont baby, dear daughter, is celebrating another birthday saturday and again on race day!  i've told her many times how i delayed my hospital run until the horse race was over!  here she is at her first birthday...still adorable and so very precious!

keep cool and quilt on!

june's chookshed challenge

it was the shed's birthday this weekend with a gathering of some faithful at the down under headquarters.  i was able to join in and catch up with fearless leader and others to ooh and ahh over a variety of world-wide projects.  

without further delay, here is the june challenge from my list...

10.  tidy the stash shelves...a one-day project that will go a long way to assessing what's on hand and corral wanderers

so here's what it looked like in january....and, confession here, couldn't wait until the challenge to create order out of this chaos. pieces were flung everywhere and finding something i knew was there nearly impossible.  it's in my bedroom and was the annoying first view every morning when awakening.  

isn't that better?  and yes that is the wall you see behind....so stashbusting is in full force here at happy village....plus i sleep a lot better too.  

more inspiration....someone brought in a stack of mags yesterday and saw this....

new issue of Ameican Quilter, a quilt by kimberly einmo with roos!   the down under peeps loved it and so do i, well the roos anyway.   little gray cells percolating thinking about yes, a new project with these adorable  creatures....chooky says they are cute until they run into your car...not unlike the maine moose i'll wager.  

it's my turn as reigning queen of the stashbusters so this has come my way for an all-too-brief week....

actually it's a blingy badge of failure for not having a UFO finish when my name hit the top of the participant's list...just couldn't be helped this time around but long hot summer ahead so not for long.   off to tackle the weekend to do list!

chookshed challenge may wrap

despite significant detours in may, managed to meet the chookshed challenge of using some blue stash and here it is...

for lack of a better title it's blue lotus...the sides will get evened off and it'll be hand quilted and bound.  it's hand pieced too....thinking waterfall maybe?  

and hoped to move the dargate basket project forward as well...this is the design wall today....

there are a few more finished not yet up on the wall, but it's because the wall is too small.  and the self-challenge to finish one every day?  nope, not today....

actually got 4 done....then counted up what's left and there are 88, one for each piano key or just a smidgen under the days in june/july/august...means top to assemble in september?  that makes me pretty happy....

measured tops for scrappy DWR and the solids bow ties, so hoping can squeeze $$ out of the budget for backs and one batt to get them basted this summer as well. 

word is out that deana has pulled challenge project #10 for june....that would be tidying the stash shelves...tune in tomorrow to see what needs to be done.  *** finished cutting blocks for the blue album and happy that 4 small pieces got used up as in not going back on shelves.  along with finishing the baskets, hoping to make a dent in the UFO list as i'm woefully behind.   time to make that summer list i guess.

and juvenile delinq-cats has gone to its new home...have been promised it'll be well received.  that always makes a quilter happy.   still struggling, though, to get out of bed and go forward each morning.  

throwback thursday

decluttering?  no doubt surprises will emerge, like this....

long ago in a galaxy far, far away (massaschusetts) i belonged to a quilt group in plymouth called cranberry quilters.  ever year they had a nice small show at the carver library.  one year there was a mini challenge.  this was my entry--amish of course--hand quilted, 10" square.  i was a newbie quilter of 3-4 years at most, but realized then and there my chunky fingers were not designed for tiny quilts.  

in the on-a-roll department, 2 days and 2 baskets done...washing machine cycle takes the exact time to finish one...and it does help that was gifted a delightful project bag--with handle no less--for portability.  a flimsy before 2025?  in my dreams for sure...

header photo shows cemetery where mom's ashes will be taken.  she had the yellow flowering bush planted just behind the stone of her parents' grave.  we went nearly every year to check on it, to revisit the area and reminisce.  the first couple of years it didn't do well as apple tree branches blocked full sun, which it required.  the caretaker cut back the branches and the bush flourished, which made mom very happy.  anxious to see how it is this year.  soon all three--grace, dewey and carolyn--together again to rest in its cheerful presence.  

oops...i slipped

not going to start another project....said no quilter ever!  fondling my liberty fabrics and auditioned for a background and found these 2 pieces, probably each FQ size...

just right to highlight the delish libertys!  these were gifted to me---thank you so much mystery peep!  tucked all the parts away in the liberty bag for now.  

did some sewing, more album/chimney sweep blocks.  i am going to need 63 in all, only 30 more to make, so more blocks and backgrounds need to be prepped.  

first up, laundry....basket overflowing...than back to the blues!