last, not least

 more snaps from the show....

this exhibit was of portrait quilts....dimensions were given and each description included the photograph...i just liked this one with the orange hair...some older women nowadays have funky hair so maybe this was her color?

another exhibit whose theme was recycling....lots of eclectic entries as you can imagine but i thought this was innovative....

i didn't know that shweshwe came in colors, thought it was all indigo....french connection shop had a booth with LOTS of them, all different colors, plus african and french fabrics...scooted past real fast..

beautifully done i thought....ticks all my boxes....blues, geometric, sorta wedding ring/pickle dish...

this was in a section of traditional quilts...this woman is in my yahoo group and i said i would look for it...

nicely done EPP lucy boston...but the english major in me thought it should have been titled, laura meets lucy...

well that's just a cross section of all the gorgeous quilts...my knees gave out before i got to the kaffe and liza exhibit so glad i have some of his books.  the tremendous boost i got from a fun day away lingers still and has motivated me to not only finish things in progress but maybe think about a new, exhibit worthy piece.  most of these are way out of my quilting/design skills but who knows?  

facing a week of rain and back to the routine....exercise days, the usual cooking tasks...apt is clean so after that it's all sew time.  sunday morning the sneaky grief grinch attacked, prompted me to write this...

FIRST AND LAST

the first of us to feel her touch,

our 'gang of four' she loved so much

two girls, two boys, four years apart

bound by love within her heart

the years went by, the children flew

to here and there, the family grew

always there unconditional love

with wisdom and faith sent from above

then one day death made its call

with shock and sadness to us all

we knew her soul was heaven-bound

our dad and others to surround

the moment came, my task was clear

one final touch as she left here

my siblings were fortunate to have been spared that last half hour...nothing to be envious about i can guarantee them...

more eye candy

one exhibit at the show that drew me in was quilts made of tops bought online and finished...i didn't take any photos of them but thought it was a good idea to see them rescued, finished and seen.  

one of the first seen walking thru front door was this prize winner...pictorial quilts ranged from so-so to this beauty....definitely worthy of its prize

some i photographed just because of the colors and this was one...

another whose color grabbed me...not a technique that interests me but it is pretty i think...

the description totally lost me but again i loved the colors....

sorry about the blurry photo here...i liked the colors and the title really fit the quilt...

who doesn't love a finely executed new york beauty?  colorful--wish it had more autumn colors, but i don't live in NYC so maybe the colors are spot on

of note, the pickle dish from yesterday made from pattern by sarah bond....sadly sarah died about 3 weeks ago from metastatic cancer...such a great loss from the design and color use world...

saturday was a slow day getting back to routine...some sewing was done and the oatmeal cookies got made as well...and yes i did get dressed finally...LOL!  stay tuned for part 3!

fun on steroids

at least that is how it seemed to me...friday started out a bit cloudy but soon gave way to bright sunshine ending with a huge orange ball at dusk....only one thing could have made it more perfect, revealed later...

two quilts shows in our proximity--AQS and Mancuso--and was fortunate to tag along to the Mancuso show about 3 hours from here.  lunch and all necessaries packed and rollator too for walking around.  it was heaven to be amongst the faithful and soo sooo many beautiful quilts plus tantalizing and tempting vendors.  some of the many i found quite appealing

pickle dish is on my someday list....and next?

could not resist this homage to kaffe fassett...next?

the lancaster diamond done in brights....have to say i have been mulling this one over in my mind...kaffe fabrics maybe?  and from the hoffman challenge collection....

the fabrics chosen were all beautiful blues so naturally a lot of ocean/sea types but the bag was a unique idea i thought...and then the mermaid was just so spectacular...

will save the rest for another post....so what did i buy?  not very much...i had a short list and found all except one thing--many vendors had the chalk marking pencil but nobody had any refill leads...i was hoping to avoid pricey shipping but now will have to i guess...these came home with me..

the red and green stripes from one vendor...i'm into christmas mode a bit and always nice to have some pretty stripes to use....the other 2 were from a shop we visited after the show and will be used right away for planned projects...and i simply MUST give a huge shout out to AURIFIL...i found the hand quilting thread for my whole cloth wall quilt...

superior had a lovely booth and lots of nice thread but nothing for hand quilters...the photo shows the color much lighter than actual....the thread is called 'mulberry' and i was ecstatic to find it and sad to see not much traffic at the booth.  thank you AURIFIL!  you support hand quilters with your high quality threads...i am a forever customer...

such a perfect day--weather, awesome traveling companions and driver, comfy ride, scenic vistas, a smashing dinner at the last, plenty of bathroom stops.  it was a blissful mini-vacay from concerns and so badly needed by me, not to mention the always needed exercise.  and the one thing lacking to make it perfect?  winning a new bernina to bring home....LOL!

thursday chat

it is ANOTHER gorgeous day here in maryland...all week can you believe?  i can't...but it sure is energizing and i have taken full advantage of its boost.  this was on my september list...

i'm calling it 'detour to oz' and it uses up those few row-by-row license plates i had on hand...just have to cut/sew 5 more units for the very top row, then sew together, baste and quilt...sewed those drunkard's path units on machine and they came out really nice...

as mentioned, the senior center gals are knee deep into christmas sewing...someone is making patchwork tree quilts and remembered some shiny fabric i found in the drawer organization...made a couple of star blocks for her...this is the 2nd...the shiny fabric really gives the quilt a boost.

and though i rarely go anywhere these days, my take-along project is the 'alaska' wall quilt...blocks being hand pieced and it's slow progress but did get another block done.

another found project, and i hope there aren't too many more lurking in the depths...this is an official UFO...some african wax resist fabrics bought during the pandemic....

tried sewing circles but not happy with result, so invested in some karen kay buckley bigger circles and that's where it stands...leg surgery and moving intervened.  the fabrics are so pretty.  would like to have done for maine show next year.  

quilting the 'tuscan starburst' is nearly finished, then bind and cross off list.  then it's the blue bathroom piece and then those wild solid bow ties....

yesterday laundry and today vacuumed and washed all floors...veggie cooking always on the list...tomorrow is a day trip day and so looking forward to some fun.  beyond desperate for some of that and a change of scenery.  fingers crossed no blips....have a blessed day!

it's friday....

time marches on and christmas things--yes christmas--are in the dollar store right now!  not much new here...weather continues to be downright perfect...i got this made...i love making these stockings....about 2.5 hours start to finish...

the weekend list?  work some on a new piece to use up these row-by-row license plates...for now holding off cleaning out anymore drawers that might reveal other lurking projects...lol!

more quilting on tuscan starburst, baste down tulips on the kim diehl applique...some veggie cooking and freezing, fit in some exercise too...wash kitchen floor?  maybe....

days are getting easier....always i try to think what would my mom want me to do...she came to me in a dream about a month ago, i was crying and she sat on the edge of my bed and said 'don't cry for me'....woke up and my face was wet.  a love that never dies....

and on a cheerier note...reading this book by carl hiaasen...

i've read others by him and they are always very funny, very irreverent and very politically incorrect!  in a recent interview he was asked where his descriptive style emanates and he replied from sitting in endless traffic in florida where he lives...his characters live in a world of ignorant hope...if anything can go wrong it does, seemingly simple plans always go awry and the mundane always has drastic results.  some of his other titles?  razor girl, bad monkey, strip tease....great diversions for the car-less, fixed-income senior set...LOL!

wednesday chat

keeping busy here in finally cool maryland....sleeping and doing just about anything is grand!  still in shorts, tho...today's tasks?  trim this piece and get the woodland borders on

then it goes to our group quilter....i left the banquet table up to do this, but it's in the way....my living room is small but handy when needed.  

pinned the new appliques on this piece....next is to press and get out the ruler before sewing down....i'm left handed, aka sinister, and i believe that means my eye...i keep a level on hand also to hang things as without it, well they'd all be skewed...

i do like the addition of the tulip stems and have an idea for the big pink petals as well...doing just for fun....applique fun you say?  yes getting that way....

quilting steadily on 'tuscan starburst' as the bathroom hanging and batik baskets must also be quilted before i can start the bow ties, which i am itching to do.  then blue album to start by january if not before.  also in the planning stage is a special project for an exhibit next year...

upping regular exercise is surely improving my mental attitude and am settling into a sort of routine sans car....grieving continues of course but not crippling, still have that huge hole in my life...no doubt worse as still feel a stranger here with no close friends and where people don't really know me and without any common history with anyone.  so what to do but keep on keeping on as so many do...could always be worse, right?  

silk purse?

 not even close....remember this sow's ear?

i tried to ignore but it kept falling off the closet shelf...could no longer avoid...came up with an idea that resulted in sacrificing some points and still a tad of a ripple in the top border, but here it is, renovated and ready to baste...

so what was done?  took off all green borders...it was still bit wonky despite all the measures i took to avoid same...then sewed the side borders back on moving in one-half zig-zag WITHOUT removing the outer edge row units, hoping to maintain some sort of straight edge.  worked pretty well--not perfectly--then re-measured, trimmed and re-attached top/bottom borders.  i can now and finish it without shame.  if you don't tell, then nobody will be the wiser....LOL!  my frugal muse simply wouldn't allow tossing it....

what else shakin'?  some cooking of course--corn fritters, veggie prep and chicken/leek pie.  laundry, bathroom freshen...then this...

yet another UFO wanting attention....block pattern from kim diehl...was going to call it ok but there's a blog i follow, actually drool over....https://gladiquilts.wordpress.com/....if you have seen it you know what i mean...the block looked bare...what would gladi do?  so decided to add the tulips...am i done?  not sure...maybe those big pinky blooms need something added...anyway, it's a work in progress...and just to prove my growing obsession with applique....

the wall quilt for dear daughter to commemorate her savoy hotel tea in london...using those luscious liberty fabrics...only 13 blocks, still seeking the fabric for the alternate blocks....the perfect pieces i had are too small...

the santa panel for senior center is getting needle-turn appliqued but when done plan to do one row of zig-zag stitch for stability.  hoping to pass along to the quilter friday....

monday holiday finishing up photos for siblings and hopefully baste blue album...day by day life returns to normal or at least as normal as it will be from hereon in...have a blessed day!

chookshed challenge september

7.  prep/baste appliques for my penn dutch wall quilt; it's a 2024 UFO and doubt it will get done this year, but would like to move this project along

bought this pattern in 1980 and it's a case of now or never...as you can see i've done some prep work already but this month would like to get them basted onto background squares.  lately i've been doing more applique than in the past, now that my skill has improved and i find it more enjoyable rather than annoying.  

the blue bathroom wall quilt has gotten a remake....still not gushing over it, but this version is more acceptable to me.  

a bit more balanced...gonna go with it...

holiday weekend arrives...means little to me with no real fun plans and no wheels to wander a bit....hope to get blue album basted, the santa for the guild ready to pass on, maybe more potholders done and more quilting....bit of cooking and round out with more quilting...in other words MOTS....more of the same.  another hot one so inside....so it's another day of keep cool and sew on!

summer to-done!

with 3 days to go, have wiped out my summer to do list...today got the solid bow ties top basted....took me most of 5 hours, not 2 days as feared, and it is ready to quilt!  plop plop fizz fizz o what a relief it is!!!   fortunate to have a lounge area just outside my door a bit, so set up my table and went to work bright and early.  

that plum sashing fabric was gifted to me about 10 or so years ago when i was retreating in Lancaster.  was working on this little batik piece and stumped on a border....the quilter across from me said 'try this' a piece she had picked up in a shop that day and shazam!  it worked....i think it was 2 yards or so....i've used it a lot and probably still have some...this was the batik piece...

dear daughter stopped by with hubby to gift me some things from across the pond...she has a new penchant for shopping there since her spring trip...lol

i couldn't upload the video but it is a music box biscuit tin....cookies inside and it rotates and plays 'happy birthday'....soooo darn cute!!!

i had planned other things for today but the basting was the elephant in the room and it had to be done...in june when the list was made, i was knee deep in crippling grief....doing nothing, crying, lying in bed most of the day.  i prayed for relief and the summer list was it...gave me an alternate focus, a goal, the carrot of finishes for things in limbo...i still cry some but not all day and not horizontal either...i knew if relief didn't come, it could get more serious than i was willing to tolerate.  an anti-depressant prescription promised only 20% weight gain, which the knees vetoed right away...but God is faithful and hung onto me like super glue.  

got my bathroom wall quilt together...not gorgeous but done and will perk up the bathroom which nobody but me sees anyway.  going to hand quilt that won't take long and should perk it up a bit.

backing for the blue album quilt got washed in readiness for another basting day. this quilt plus my scrappy DWR and wildest dreams are my last for big quilts...they take a lot of space to prep for quilting and long time to quilt as well.. i've a stack of basted things waiting.  still lots of fabric on hand and lots of ideas for smaller pieces.  plus my storage shelf is already groaning from quilted things on hand...

all in all, a very good hump day in spite of the 100-degree heat!  it's what i call a southern snow day!

the week begins

our respite from horrid heat is over and we are back into it, at least for a few days....but that means more sewing maybe?  the to-do list for the week is ready.  the week got started with half hour of fitness, which felt really good--or it will tomorrow...LOL!  it's been far too long since i've done that much at one time but hoping it'll happen more often.  will make me happy and my improved heart as well...

racked up a little finish....

this got made in january when i was busting my solid scraps...now it's fully done...hand quilted with a lavender thread....be still my amish heart....just exactly the type of quilt i love.  

these got put on the design wall next....

the applique blocks are done and this obviously needs more work...and no, not making anymore blocks whatsoever...

the best news from the weekend???  the dargate baskets are DONE!  yes, and ahead of schedule too....now getting put aside as i'm totally tired of looking at them...

and more quilting got done on 'tuscan starburst'....hoping for a september finish, and maybe the batik baskets also.  

more ho-hum days as i slide into 75 years...no card from mom of course, which is heart wrenching, but so many do not have their mothers until this age so in that respect i was totally blessed...and no beach vacation either...no daytrips to interesting places either...have to work double hard to find any joy in the face of so many stressors so far this year....guess i'll just keep calm and sew on!