border crossing

in today's mail, i find these beauties that skipped across the border from NH into maine...from victoria!  how sweet is that!  i do love paisley fabrics and have a bit of a small stash of them for a someday project percolating in the gray matter.  it perked me up enough to get through my 8-hour day at work after working very late last night covering for a coworker with an early AM flight.  i planned ahead, though, and came home to a freshly changed bed and a neat room with new, colorful stuff on the design wall.  will be catching up on sleep tomorrow, not sure how much sewing, if any, will get done.  ****  spent friday on a summer veggie cooking marathon of corn fritters, zucchini pancakes and a huge pot of escarole soup for the freezer for work days ahead.   i come from a long line of family who "put food by" for winter's enjoyment, long before produce from chile was ever dreamed.   when my great-grandmother died, the cellar still had jars of veggies, fruits, pickles and jams and a bin half full of potatoes.  her raspberry jam excelled far above stonewall kitchen and long before it as well.  and guess what, she was our family quiltmaker too! 

first 2 of 20

i know, i know, yet another amish style quilt.  what can i say...i love to make them!  it's the quilting, don't you know; the piecing is just, well, piecing.  this is 1 of 5 i currently have in progress.  it's a boring, plain, old traditional block but i like it nevertheless.  they will be set on point with alternating solid blocks for....that's right, quilting!  it is being hand sewn, a take-along project and will, of course, be hand quilted.  it is a gift, already earmarked, but when it's done i hope i am not tempted to renege on my current plans.  **** our excellent weather just keeps coming and coming.  we were at the beach nearly all day yesterday, unusual for us, as it was simply divine...warm, breezy, sunny...not a bit too hot.  one of those rare, perfect days. nevertheless, there is a bit of fall feel in the air and small trees are starting to turn.  anxious to see what mother nature has in store this year, one of unprecedented warmth and periods of downpours. 

getting close

just 2 short months from today i'll be cruising down this boulevard in PA, arriving for my retreat.  i have to now get serious about getting stuff together to bring along.  a general list made and that will be fine tuned in days ahead.  the new suitcase will be called into duty and need to make sure i have all my charging devices for the various electronics, not to mention some clothing, the projects and all the quilting accoutrements!  a list is also in process for what needs to be obtained fabric-wise, leaving some room in the budget for surprises!   there is still lots to do between now and then NQR (not quilt related) though.  it's a far cry from the quilty vacations many take, but with budget and travel mode limitations, it suits me fine.  there are many places i'd love to go but wouldn't spend hours on a plane or on the high seas either.  tempting fate has its limitations!

progress?

doesn't look like much cutting but i can tell you, a whole lot of ironing is represented here, the reason being that i'm using scraps for the white units and they were smallish pieces i was trying to use up.  this quilt is another blue/white combo that is always popular; using up most of my indigo stash for this project.  some are not exactly true indigo, but most are.  once all these pieces are cut, i'll put it in a shoebox to pack for Lancaster, along with the civil war diary and the little batik project.  those should keep me busy for 6 days, don't you think?  ****  it's a spectacular end-of-summer week here in maine, couldn't have ordered better weather, good for doing just about anything...cleaning, beaching, sleeping, sewing, nothing!   off to decide....

it's official!

just got the email from chookyblue and i am in this swap this year!  have thought about joining previously but never did....until now!  getting a surprise package in the mail is always nice, but like christmas itself, the joy is in the giving.  don't know yet how far my package will be traveling, but i am thinking about what goodies i can send from up here in the hinterlands of the USA.  ***  now that i've printed out the next section of "just takes 2," i am thinking of sitting down at the old viking to see if i can get more squares done. or, maybe i'll quilt on the pinwheel....not sure, but now to get going!

the way to carnegie hall....

is the same road to take to get your applique technique perfect...practice, practice, practice.  you might remember these posted some time ago as pin basted only.  during the warmer weather, i've been working on smaller projects and this is one of them.  as you can see, i've gotten 2 finished and working on a 3rd.  wisely, i only made 9 blocks so it'll be a finish sooner rather than later.  no doubt working on the hawaiian and the great instruction video i got from pacific rim/nancy chong helped tremendously.  *** in addition to doing this applique, i'm working on another small UFO, a combo of applique and piecing, so hoping to get that finished some time before retreat.  inbetween applique, working on prepping my kits to take on retreat, a mere 2 months away.  when i think it was 8+ months when i started keeping track, i am astounded at how quickly the time has passed to now.  ****  the weather gods are gifting us with a proposed excellent week here...cool nights, warm days a great wind-down of summer. 

new arrivals!

the black/white and black/cream new stash arrived yesterday.  the 4 quarter yards on the right are black/white and the rest are black/cream from the "cumberland" line.  though barely distinguishable here in this photo, they are different in person.  i had depleted my little stash of black/white some time ago and needed to add a few since they are used frequently for zing! purposes.  there are 4 paisley pieces in this grouping which i'll store with my other paisley fabrics.  **** our storms and humidity have finally abated after a week or so of unsettled weather and we are the recipients of a gorgeous summer day with just a hint of fall air; in fact, some of the smaller trees have already started showing the effects of mother nature's paint box.  although i love fall, many of us here hate the thought of summer passing and winter in the too-near future.  but we still have plenty of nice days ahead before snow flies...we hope!  ****

10 little...

packets of teeny, tiny HSTs all ready to go, so i guess friday night sew-in was a rousing success. also spent time on a kit i want to take with me on retreat.  i am vacillating between taking 3 or 4 projects to do.  one is a small project, so no problem getting that one to the flimsy stage.  the 2nd is the kit and i can probably get that one to a flimsy too.  the 3rd is the civil war diary, not sure how far i can get on that one.  i have another i want to start but probably won't have time for that one, save it for a later date, even though i'm tempted.  the hawaiian is also going with me for when i want to just sit and applique.  *** since it's past august 15th, can go and download the latest installment of "just takes 2" as once my kits are ready to go, i simply must go back to that.   

friday night sew in!

for friday night sew in, planning to finish these little swap HSTs.  need 100 in all and they take hardly any time at all to assemble.  then i can bag 'em up, label and put aside until they need to be sent.  **** luscious day here in southern maine; warm, dry and breezy.  can't believe september is 2 weeks from tomorrow.  **** been quilting on the amish pinwheel the past few evenings trying to get another finish in, though i doubt it will be done this month.  possible i might get this one and another done before retreat, we'll see.  *** on a more projecting note, is anyone thinking christmas yet? 

a prize!

my prize arrived from "a sentimental quilter" yesterday.  a free stencil for my little quilts and a bonus stencil too!  a catalog was included, of course, but i don't really have the need for any other stencils right now.  this is a great company for quilting stencils; i did get a few from them last year....it's "the stencil company" and they carry a voluminous amount of stencils for quilting purposes.  i recommend them highly.  *** a few chores this morning and then maybe some sewing time.  august half over?  can't be...can it?