a swap tale

back in the 80s or maybe 90s, i was in a small quilt swap...four seasons....one each spring, summer, fall, winter...being a fairly new quilter, was a bit overwhelmed by the others swapping...could i make something that would measure up?  my spring quilt went to a Canadian gal, rose marie....this is what she received....

fast forward to now....signed up for humble quilt's doll quilt swap...you saw my entry in previous post....here is what came in the mail the other day....

isn't it lovely!  so beautifully quilted and such pretty fabrics....it's on my kitchen table now to see every day....and guess who it's from.....yes, rose marie in Canada!  i learned a while ago on zoom (she is a zoomer) that she had received a small quilt from me many years ago....and she requested my name so she could return the favor....i am humbled and touched by her kindness and sentimentality.....

just about recovered from the cleaning marathon....yes i overdid it....waaayyy overdid it...even had my backpack ready in case of an ER run....slowly getting back to quilty plans....sewing the scrappy blocks, now 30 done with another 10 started....

today basted Basket I....

goes in the pile for quilting at some point...now it's a quilting afternoon on 'dreams'....six weeks to july and shooting for a finish by then....

outings monday and tuesday so have 2 days before friday and quilt group....nice to be able to relax (after daily bike) with sewing pursuits in a clean apartment....especially on dreary days like today....and tomorrow....and maybe friday too...still an enjoyable day and thankful for it...

next???

spent weekend catching up on rest after marathon cleaning week...pushed the mended heart to the limit and beyond it seems....but did finished block #3...

ooh they are looking good....before the applique there was too much green but now i really like them....19 days to get #4 done....border plan pretty much formulated....there will be swags!

and did get to the machine a bit yesterday to work on the scrappy log cabin blocks....had to pull out the tote of 1.5" strips....

revolting isn't it?  makes me glad now i passed on the scrap basket pile to someone who will use them and saving me the time to cut and jam into this tote....

so it was a low key weekend, not really sad over mother's day...i think of my mom as just not living here anymore, she is just living somewhere else...probably everyone in my building is now motherless...

i'll close with this photo from the lancaster show's cheddar exhibit....lots of quilts with cheddar/red/green combo but i thought this different take was quite pleasing....

blue is my favorite color doncha know!!  enjoying the sun here ahead of a few gray and rainy days....regardless of the weather the days are filling with blessings!

throwback thursday

the may baskets wall quilt...have to get it out for my door this month...this came from a calendar of patterns from the book 'a month of sundays'....now out of print.  i made all 12 and use them for my door....

not much sewing-wise going on here in this lake woebegon....the weather has been cool, sunny and mostly dry so it was designated spring clean week.  along the way a few things got fixed, repurposed and re-organized...the usual bike time and some cooking added....

a christmas past gift was a blue waterhog doormat for in front of the sink.  while washing kitchen floor noticed a couple of other trouble spots---in front of fridge and in front of counter where i prep veggies etc...what to do?  pulled out waterhog car mats, washed in the shower and voila!  all 3 problem areas now covered...the mats are an LL Bean product and available in many sizes...2 thumbs up from me...

evening TV time spent working on red/green applique blocks...just about ready to start the last one...another long time project happy to get finished or moved along at the least...

days pass mostly dull and uneventful...quasi-planning for the maine trip.  even tho southern living isn't my choice, have created personal space that could only improve with a car providing much needed freedom to partake in free fun stuff.  so it's keep calm and clean on!

 

she liked it!

that would be the doll quilt received by Andrea just yesterday....used the last 6 hexie rosettes i had to make this...i haven't received mine yet but a little bird told me the trip to my place might take a wee bit of extra time...

and this is where i am on block #3....thanks to zooming friday night, much progress was gained...with 28 days to go i can see all 4 blocks done and hopefully a flimsy....

these are the scrappy blocks mentioned previously....i've a fair stack of them done already but the strips are overflowing and need to make more...plus finish up a few small things so they don't become UFOs...

the scrap tote at our senior center has been very good to me...recently i found these 3 pieces...the christmas red/green paisley, the lemon print that i think is soo summery and 2 yards of a delish kaffe fassett stripe....have to dive into my KF books to find a project..

and last, the 6 left over basket blocks are now a placemat....a bit of hand quilting and then bind and that pile will be gone...

today is the last of the hot/humid for a while...next week looks picture perfect...70s daytime and 50s nighttime...good sleeping weather, good cleaning weather...i absolutely MUST finish the spring scour...it stifles my creativity when the place isn't spit spot...that's all for today!

may challenge

 summer IS coming...we've had a few 80+ degree day already...and may day is going to be another...

chookshed challenge number has been announced!  

8.  red/green applique.  a visit to the baltimore applique society initiated this project--i'm making 4 blocks (2 done) shooting for a finish next this Christmas.

my red/green applique project....if it hadn't been chosen i was going to swap out for this one...these days sometimes too warm to sit with large quilt on my lap, more comfy to do some applique.  working on block #3 now and quite possible to get them all done, squared up and maybe even basted?  

as for machine sewing this month, hoping to empty a shoebox of scraps for more blocks i hope to sell....vacation is looming--a mere 82 days away--and fun money is definitely required.  

no plans for mother's day so most likely will order a special dinner for delivery....and today?  a start on apartment clean before summer arrives in earnest....remember to count your blessings and have a good day...

then there were.....

 44!   my SMT  (scrappy meets thrifty) sew along blocks are piling up....

now that i see them on the design wall, thinking some sort of spacer block might be needed...so will play around and see what's in the stash....most of my time has been taken up with this....(bad blogger)...

the repro triangles top....final size is 66x90 so generous twin or double....the colors are a bit more subdued than this photo depicts...this is now off my UFO list as i am hoping to sell the top for vacation money...and in the nick of time, my chookshed challenge is done too!

a challenging financial week here in now 80s maryland....supplement health insurance took a $41 hike and the cable also went up $25....money out of the food budget....so had to cut the cord....2-3 streaming services will give me plenty to watch at way less money--alas, i had to sacrifice 'jeopardy'....but gained a few channels that i really like...

and couldn't resist this little chuckle....how things have changed, many not for the better but still there are blessings....summer is finally here!  have a blessed day....

sunday inspiration

saturday was a fantastic fun day for me....two friends invited me to tag along to a local quilt show...rain held off until i got out of the car at home...LOL!   here are a few that caught my eye...

nice representation of kaffe's wild fabrics....there was another done similarly but without the sashing...not as effective...the sashing is needed for a visual resting place to really appreciate the prints i think...

there were very few hand quilted pieces that i saw, but this one was done so beautifully...the flowers were painted on and then hand quilted for accentuation....there was a bit of some glittery stuff too, giving it a wow in my book....like irises in the morning sun with dew glistening on petals...

another that caught my eye...so simple yet delightfully appealing because of the fabrics...i thought hmm i have plenty in my stash that would work...perhaps a smaller scale?  

there were a few of these, a mini-challenge i think....the perennial tomato pincushion....i heard many say they had one from a mother or grandmother....i have my mother's as well...

another that drew me in....batiks sashed with the striking black/white stripe....crayola box on steroids....i love it...i could definitely make one albeit smaller....

there was a bed-size hawaiian, hand quilted, and some smaller hawaiian-style pieces machine quilted.  in the "bid or buy" section were small amish style hand quilted priced at $100, quite reasonable.  there was a vendor selling machine quilted table runners priced at $80...and some small pieces that were mostly thread art priced at $3500....prices unjustifiable by me or my cohorts...

i have a neighbor a bit older than myself totally frustrated and constantly complaining about the effects of aging, like why does she have to put up with these changes....and then i saw this on instagram....

it gave me a chuckle but would only increase her frustration....nothing to do really but find quality of life in spite of age....isn't that what we all do?  

here to stay

that would be spring....altho it was 80s over the weekend, this week is 70s all the way...it was a quilty weekend for me since holidays don't really exist anymore...it's been hard to get out of the 'family dinner' mindset, a tradition most of my life, so i always plan other things to not feel abandoned.  i never thought i would be spending my life alone without family at this point or any close BFF either, but...

here is progress on the scrappy repro top....

there is also a stack of units waiting to be ironed and more rows assembled....that's on this week's list....

and last week attended the monthly "featherweight fellowship" at a new local shop...this was our project...

great for those things needed at hand...utilized a clear lucite stand-up frame ($1.14 at walmart) and some scraps (plenty of those)....took about half an hour tops...

skies are gloomy again but temps seasonable so it's all good...no summer clothes out just yet...life isn't perfect but still filled with many blessings....keep calm and sew on!

necessity, they say....

is the mother of invention...this week's sewing took a wee detour.  the ott lite shade fell off....adhesive apparently dried up and down it came.  light is perfectly good and a tight budget meant a fix...but how?  i tried masking tape--same deal, dried out and didn't work...but eureka!  needle and thread to the rescue...the shade is linen on paper and some running stitches near the top and thru the frame did the trick...honestly, i surprise myself now and then...

household sewing project #2 also got done....double windows in kitchen, but this part of my apartment juts out from the building, as do the units below me...when it's windy it can be cold despite a heater unit under the window.  the kitchen floor is nearly always cold.  a lined drape was a must.  at the senior center was a box for scraps and somebody tossed a linen shower curtain exactly the right size....a quilty friend passed along some flannel, just exactly enough to fit...and the daughter of my late neighbor gave a curtain rod just exactly right size...and her husband put it up for me even!  

the flannel is the very palest blue and a quick tieback allows window light.  hoping this will keep out summer heat as well as winter chill...am i blessed or what?  

i did finish my doll quilt swap, just needs a label and then can be sent.  lori said it should look like it was old so put this revolutionary war print on the back...one of those things in the stash that is tough to use on many projects....it's hand quilted of course.

more rows got sewn on the chookshed challenge top....it'll measure approx 63x70" when finished...enjoying working with these repros after so much kaffe fun....

if wishes were horses i'd have a much bigger design wall!

a late start this morning due to late night hours awake...started spring cleaning tasks a bit every day.  weather is still see-sawing with cold and warm days.  evenings in the recliner quilting on 'dreams' and a small UFO that needs to be done soon.   may is a mere two weeks away.  finished my 365 daily emails from griefshare with a repeat in progress, now in a much better place learning to keep on keeping on.  i'll end with a chuckle here....

reading a book set in 1990 belfast...two young hooligans verbally sparring and one says to the other...."it used to be called a jumpoline until your mother got on it"    i can just see them can't you? ...LOL!  sun is finally out and the bike beckons....have a blessed day!

 

a magic trick

always decluttering around here...a habit of mine....the scrap basket popped into mind...more precuts?  put them where?  a light bulb moment...a quilty pal of mine COLLECTS scraps...so a bit of magic happened....

full basket....

empty (nearly) basket....

definitely my kind of magic....my "loss" someone's gain....

introducing Baskets II...

measures about 40" square, the max size of what i'm making these days...only 6 blocks left destined as a placemat...and more magic, just like that, over 200 baskets used...i've another much smaller basket project in mind for another day...

before getting back to scrappy repro triangles in earnest, had to clear the design wall of these...

just pinned for now to get them off the design wall for whenever...the green blocks will be squared and the bottom repositioned before basting...a good take along project at some point...

doll quilt for swap is done, quilting on "africa" is started, hoping for april finish....quilting on "dreams" continues...now i can focus on the triangles top, also hoping for april finish....

a stark realization becoming more frequent....two friends emptied the sewing room of recently passed group member...3 SUV trips later it was finished...me coming home thankful of my limited stockpile of quilty stuff

spring can't make up its mind...one day chilly, one day warm...talking weather heads say we need the rain but honestly the gloom is sooo boring...it's windy too so keeping drapes closed to ward off chill...like living in a cave...trees have leafed out, blooms everywhere, just waiting on sun!!!