patriotic duty

 

Thomas Jefferson

“We do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate.”

election editorial

on the eve of a most important event in the country....

i voted over 2 weeks ago and have been avoiding all things political ever since.  before that lots of media dialogue, most of which seemed vague, untrue, unfocused, pandering, blaming rhetoric.  as an evangelical Christian and patriot, neither candidate speaks for me or represents me.  after reading "the federalist papers" in college, my eyes were opened as to the lengthy process, angst and agony with which our founding fathers drafted our Constitution and the reasoning behind each amendment.  political races have become popularity contests rather than for determining values to hold important jobs in our government.  

there's always hope that somebody sometime will actually be elected with true patriotism, moral integrity, common sense, courage to act on behalf of the country rather than any one special interest group, shore up America's standing in the world, be a beacon for democracy, vehemently support our Constitution, choose advisors of the same ilk, and protect our freedoms in an ever-volatile world.....not merely an impossible choice between two ill-suited candidates.  

on vacation

that would be my quilting AND sewing mojo...a wacky sleep pattern has me snoozing in short increments and then wiped out the rest of the time...yeeech!  time change maybe?  partly and serious cabin fever too i think...and holidays approaching without our mum seems to have paralyzed me a bit....finally some family concerns have ironed out now, so maybe things will improve.  

clocks turned back and i can get up at 6:30 now, at least on sunny mornings, without turning heat on.  sunshine heats up my apartment quickly.  but today i turned oven on for these...

blueberry muffins made with wyman's frozen blues direct from downeast maine....recipe by marjorie standish, a well-known maine cook, served on my union blueberry pottery....unsalted butter of course but delish anyhow!

another episode of drawer emptying coming up....pulled out these pieces to use up and bust more stash...

another small piece...once my joann order arrives i've a couple of things to baste, one a UFO i hope to finish in november whilst i continue quilting on bow ties...when the mojo gets fired up again of course...meanwhile, put off vacuuming and laundry will have to be reckoned with absolutely first.  everything considered it's still a blessed day filled with thankfulness and hope...

all saint's day

today's the day...my heart surgery anniversary...7 lucky years...so thankful i lived to see my dear mom to the end and more years with my family.....couldn't feel more grateful and blessed...a gift from the Great Physician!  after an 81-degree day i hope it's  going to become more seasonable, 68 here this morning.....hand quilting a big quilt in too warm weather isn't really ideal...but it has been nice for outside walks and stitching on our porch...

what else have i done?   moving along on another UFO, the scrappy repro triangles....i goofed before and really need 243 blocks, not 234 blocks...just about halfway there now...i pin them in bunches of 10 for easy counting...

moved the christmas stitchery along...not much left, then it's decide how to finish...

doing some secret  gift sewing for christmas so keeping under wraps...thankfully an extra hour is on tap for this weekend...

speaking of weekend, a bit o' housework must be done now that freezer is stocked with easy meals...then i can sew!

sunday sewing

bright and early at the machine and these got finished....

a pile of potholders!  only a few more but i've run out of batting scraps for the moment...happy to see the selvedges all used...

and if you see this dapper gent today, wish him a happy birthday!  it's brother #2...mom brought him home on halloween...i waited all day for him to wake up but he didn't...not until i was ready to go trick-or-treating, so i had to wait until the next day to hold him.

father of 4 and grandfather of 1, his cup runneth over.  senior struggles like all of us, but still keeping on....love you brother!

a quick lunch of some homemade chicken soup and then back to miss sunny for more stash busting!

the weekend?

like Lady Violet Crawley, i question what IS a weekend...being without car and no local transportation, weekends are like most any other day, just whatever needs doing and then whatever i choose...but blogging is always a priority...lol!

at senior center friday, a large stash was donated by a retiring quilter.  we have 3 tall cabinets with fabric so naturally some culling was needed.  free fabric?  oh yeah i'm in...but with restraint of course.  you can always tell how long somebody's been quilting by their stash....look at this...

definitely 1980s....3.5 yards of it too...so either background, backing or what?  i grabbed this, not because i love it, but my kitchen window needs an insulated drape before winter.  this will do the trick.  there was also a large piece of fleece to back it, bright orange but who cares...and this small pile came home with me, a few half yards but most less.

the selvedge date on the bottom piece is 2004--isn't it gorgeous?--but some of the others are older....like the stripes/hearts and the blue shells on cream, VIP cranston print pieces...oh and the madras plaid piece too.  marbling?  i never tried it but was too pretty to leave behind, definitely 1990s that one.  and the blueberries on black....with my heritage it had to be mine.  the RWB stripey piece just the ticket for a planned patriotic piece and the very top is a pretty thanksgiving theme piece with turkeys just right for a runner or 2 placemats..last the red/white print just because valentine's will be here before you know it.  

plenty got left behind, lots of big pieces of 3-4 yards i surmised but my reserve held fast...so not addicted to fabric after all.  and with UFOs always at the forefront, moved on to another....

pulled lots of small repros from the stash--smaller than FQ--and set them aside for a top with this pattern.  simple simple simple but nice.  i need 234 triangles of each, neutral and print, and no worries there.  i won't finish this but either sell or donate top when done.  

not much quilting friday as the machine needle thru the tip of my finger resulted in a tiny but painful and nuisance cut.  3 doses of liquid bandage didn't stop the seepage and so had to put off until the weekend...pesky blood thinners you know.  

last night was games night with some pals and a late bedtime, so full day today--dishes, laundry, sewing, quilting, cooking and walking as our weather is still drop dead enjoyable.  the leg surgery left me with a bit of neuropathy in my shin but the walking is making slow improvements in that.  no time to dilly dally, the day awaits!  have a blessed one...

chookshed challenge wrap up

all saint's day approaches and it's time to report my progress.  hopefully it will run again as i found it motivating and quite do-able.  

so this was a 10-month challenge with 10 things to accomplish...how did i do?  start with the most recent challenge....

all four zippers plus vinyl plus some stash all used and now hold UFOs instead of stacked on the sewing table.  keeping them corralled and in plain sight should be a great motivator.  they came out pretty good and they are so gosh darn handy.  miss sunny is not a fan of the walking foot and being an older machine, there's no adjustment of the feed dogs, but we managed.  

the other challenges:

1.  tame the scrap basket....it's nearly empty and gets fed seldom as i focus on UFOs

2.  make something out of solids drawer....done!  still scraps left but far less and now some nice blocks for play

3.  finish up selvedge strips....done, tote empty, almost all potholders done and ready to gift

4.  clear out 2" shoebox tote--stack of scrappy 9-patch blocks that will be used to make an insulated drape for my kitchen

5.  start a new blue quilt....changed pattern to blue album, now basted and in the quilting pile..this used up most of my muslin scraps too!

6.  circles for tree of life project....also done, next step please?

7.  prep appliques for penn dutch wall quilt....ready to roll on this one!

8.  dargate baskets applique....these are finally finished awaiting next step

9.  tidy the stash shelves...this was a great task that, once finished, very advantageous for finding stash, putting away stash and best of all, using it...i can definitely see a reduction

early morning quilting before the day gets going.  i've got quilt group, zoom meeting and games night on tap.  another day of overflowing blessings and delight!

calling all sewists!

this is an invite to participate in chooky's cancer donation zoom....make a donation to your choice of cancer foundations and join in this friday afternoon/evening US time for a healthy dose of down under fun.  

i donated last year in memory of others but this year it's personal--my dear mother succumbed to ovarian cancer in april--nobody should live healthily to 97 and then get cancer of any kind.  for far too many, cancer is like a junk yard dog...once it grabs you it doesn't let go.

for details from chooky, here's the link...

https://chookyblue.blogspot.com/2024/10/zoom-cancer-fundraiser.html

i wish the US would take the money going to mars for stupid, senseless stuff and funnel it somewhere that really helps real people....

ho ho ho?

everyone in blogland seems to be making christmas stuff...i should be focusing on UFOs but no no no!  i caved for this....

it's a wee stitchery by anni downs of the shop 'hatched and patched' and shared with me by chooky down under!  unearthed a small piece of linen from the cavernous stash plus a small piece of lightweight fusible to bust and i was in business!  the bottom says "bring joy at christmas"...a great project for when sitting on the porch soaking up this late summer weather we've been gifted...

but a UFO did get finished finally....

the batik basket wall piece is done....this will probably make its way to the donation blog....i do love those batik colors and glad i went with the matching binding as i think it makes the colors really pop.  

while i can enjoy new england vistas only on youtube, there is a smidgen of color in my back yard....

sadly, still no car of mine in the roomy parking lot...diligently keeping occupied with other things, or trying to anyway.  you can see what a delightful morning it is...i think today is the last of the near 80 weather but won't be cooling down that much.  i've been able to get out each day and walk around then sit and soak up the fresh air.  

it's hump day and hope to finish up my project bags, busting all my on-hand zippers and vinyl.  i made one already and 3 to go and doubt i'll make anymore.  

got my fall shots yesterday--covid #6 and flu--and arms bit stiff this morning.  never had a reaction to the covid shot at all and no covid either.....and maybe this weekend get out winter things?  

one week to the 8-year heart surgery anniversary.  it's taken a lot of work and lifestyle changes but cardioman says function has improved.  my heart bursts with thankfulness and blessings at the life-saving event, doubly so this year for the ability to see my loving mum move on with comfort and unfathomable love.    gotta go, sunshine is calling me!

something new

i've set up a new blog.  in the interests of relieving overcrowding, i've listed some pieces that have just been folded and put away since being made.  all the details are here at the new blog.  any questions of course feel free to ask.  i confess to only adequate photography skills but happy to provide close ups or whatever.