all things aurifil

trekked to columbia, maryland, last night to spring water designs, a cute little quilt shop, to see alex veronelli talk about aurifil thread. 

even though i have been a sewist for nearly 60 years, had very little clue about how thread was manufactured.  and even though aurifil is thought to be a pricey item, now i think perhaps it is under priced....no door prize unfortunately, but a nice little goodie bag with 6 spools of white--one in each thread weight.  he said they will be coming out with an 80 wt next year...wow, that is superfine! sitting next to me was an editor for 'machine quilter' magazine and she gifted me a free issue...one thing he said was that in the recent past he has had difficulty finding workers as they consider the work too boring, and from his video that is apparent.  most tasks are repetitive and performed standing or walking.  have seen facebook posts of other presentations, and he said he travels to the US every month for a week or so.  the presentation certainly raised my consciousness about such a mundane item!   **** and friday was pantry stocking day, so no sewing at all....and the immediate future holds serious veg cooking after receiving this bounty...

just add eggplant, onion and tomatoes and it's ratatouille!  a couple of summer squash casseroles and also ina garten's delish roasted veg and orzo salad....how good is that!

365 rolls on...

with august closing today, heading into home stretch with this project and yes, once again behind about 11 blocks.  few other deadline projects are the cause; plenty of time to catch up once more.

am thinking netflix is my lucky charm with this project.   it seems whenever engrossed in watching, my blocks tend to come out darn near perfect.   even though i often groan when looking at the patterns, once they are done have a great feeling of satisfaction.  while the hawaiian improved my applique skills, this is doing wonders for my machine piecing abilities...proving once again the road to perfection is (almost) always practice i guess.   come to think of it, that's how my typing speed (eons ago) got to 90 and beyond as well.   ***   up early this AM to open windows and breathe in cool, fresh air meaning 63....yowza!   i am loving it!    and this weekend the daytime temps are predicted at 80 and 79...how good is that!!!   standing in line at the farmer's market is definitely going to be more enjoyable.  oh, i do love autumn.....visions of pumpkins and cider and foliage are dancing in my head.....bring 'em on!

finishes....

by mid-afternoon sunday, had racked up a few more finishes, all completely from stash. first, 2 lap robes for guild donation made from some scrappy blocks on hand and backed with soft, warm flannel, using up 3 yards each...not bad...

and these got finished as well; these, plus the pink virginia reel busted a total of 1.25 yards.

so total 7.25 yards busted, a decent amount...however, this arrived in the mail along with 2 yards of solid black, which is needed for a future project, giving me a net used of 1/4 yard total.   it's jo morton's new line with a total of 40 bolts as cyndi says.   the budget will not stretch far enough to get some of each, but the charm pack will help me narrow it down.   the question is how?  and hop on over to "oh scrap" to see some exciting news about an orphan adoption opportunity!

hide and seek...

the other day went looking for a pattern i had "put away" and did eventually find. but before it came to light, i also unearthed these UFOs that had been out of sight and out of mind. 

first, these 7 blocks...made these when this line of fabric first came out, maybe 5 or 7 years ago?  it's jo morton's "variety" and happy to say some is left in the stash...one more block and it's a table topper.  next found these...

from last year, part of a box of gifted stash.   one little wallhanging was made and finished, just these are left.  then this work in progress...

vic had gifted me a tiny tumbler and these charm squares were also from last year.  not sure what this will end up being; still have quite a few charm squares so....and then found this

another small piece with batting pulled and ready to be joined.  it'll get basted in the next week or so....maybe?   these are wild and goosey blocks BEFORE the W&G craze on facebook.   bonnie hunter had posted a bed-size antique and i loved it but decided to go small for a quick (???) finish...need i say more?   and last this little fella, a (hopefully) soon-to-be candlemat.  bought the pattern for a swap a few years ago and decided to make one up for myself.  recently gifted carrot button nose...shooting for a winter finish on this..

the number of wrinkles are in direct correlation to the time these have floated around the studio.  so you can see why my bigger projects are still in limbo here.  of course, it's been a topsy-turvy year with moving and homeless most of last year; well that's my excuse story and i'm sticking with it.  making a vow to myself to make the supreme effort for more progress.  and the 365.   and the farmer's wife.  and the magic of christmas.  and charity sewing.  as mr. bill would say....oh nooooo!

birthday blues....

a nice squishie from victoria in NH....if you recall she had already sent me a birthday bundle earlier....and now these arrived today.....aren't they bee-u-ti-full!   judie rothermel indigos....be still my heart...i love them!  and a lovely lavender sachet she made as well....and congrats to her for winning a yummy gift certificate in the keepsake quilting quiltfest!  my guess before you can say 'jo morton' she'll be there scooping up some new reds!

got just the project for these blues tho.....a nice little tabletopper to start with.   has been a gorgeous weather week so far but heat/humid coming back for the end of the week.   still, there is a definite autumn harbinger about.  sorta busy day binding little projects, working on another lap robe, binging on law & order (the original, my favorite) and planning a few new quilty things.  can't believe i've lived here 5 months already and it is still wonderful.  so many blessings to count and me with fuzzy math skills...who knew?

the monday list

monday once again and very fine in the weather department....61 degrees at 7 am!   there is a hint of fall in the air, and the kiddos are back in school as of today.   the cooler air is invigorating so got right at it, but first a tiny finish....the pink virginia reel is done via sparse machine quilting (the only kind i do) and leftover binding.  not perfect but it'll make a great placemat and stains won't phase me.

 
basically i wanted to try the little blocks and found they are too small for my liking, but it's pretty and useful, if not perfect....next was to baste the 12 days.  pulled out a piece of fleece that was larger than needed and remembered another small thing that was ready for basting, so was able to bust the entire piece....

these will be sparsely hand quilted and bound...both are smaller than the pink and will use up only about a yard (if lucky) for all three, BUT it's 3 dones from the UFO list.   and over the weekend washed/dried my versailles giveaway pile...these are straight quarter yards and not FQs but not an issue at all...and they look sorta dutch chintz in a way, don't you think?   at least the colors are....thinking about making 4 feathered star blocks or maybe some lucy boston POTC blocks, which would really highlight the fabrics.  

would love a few more yards of the tiny blue dots....makes great background fabric!  ***  it's going to be a very nice late summer week culminating in my birthday, my first in Maryland....

sew along saturday...

up early and already at the old viking playing catch up on sew along blocks....here are the last 2 (until next week) of the farmer's wife....dinah and augusta....before putting this top together, some squaring up will be required

next up are 365 blocks and with pretty much the whole day ahead, should get those done as well...and have you seen these?   it's 'gratitude', jo morton's first fabric line with moda, and they are pretty darn gorgeous...i could sure enjoy a FQ bundle of these or, better yet, a half yard bundle...LOL!  

would they make some really nice vintage looking patriotic wall hangings?   yes indeed....

thursday blocks

starlight, matilda and carol....that gives me a total of 62 done, 26 more to reach the 88 needed for a twin size quilt top.   background material is on the shelf.  when this sew along started, 2-3 blocks per week were being posted, but now it's down to one so doesn't look like they'll all be done by the end of 2016 unless i forge ahead on my own.   sorta rests on my other sew alongs, holiday sewing, UFO sewing and what else is going on.  still looking for work and checking out other things that are contingent on finances.  with august whizzing by, that leaves a mere 4 too-short months until another year arrives and the UFO list still looms large....right now quilting and sewing take up most of my free time and while i'm fortunate to have this, occasionally feel the need to do something different.  for now will keep on keeping on and be attentive to options that present themselves....  

owning up....

at august guild meeting, there was a local vendor from WV with--what else--fabric at rock bottom prices...was feeling celebratory as it's my birthday month and well, one thing led to another, and before you can say "i'll take a yard" ended up with 4 yards of fabric, but the kicker is that the total budget hit was LESS THAN $9...that's right, a whopping $2-ish per yard...now these are marden type fabrics, meaning leftovers from years past but good quality cottons. i needed some solid black but none was available, but found these....

the lights are for the next round of 365, the teal/purple prints too pretty to pass by, the top fabric reminded me of turkish or tuscan walls, and can't leave candy canes behind, especially with a blue background.   except for the lights, have no project in mind for these but one day the right pattern will come along, i'm sure of it.  i still need some solid black, like 2 yards, but all in all, have done well curtailing retail fabric therapy this year so far...only 4 months left and am hoping to fit some new jo mortons into the budget, but that should be all.  ***  thinking more and more about machine quilting the little christmas and little pink virginia reel....so many seams, and this would give me a couple of quick finishes....then can focus on finishing my current donation quilt and keeping current with sew alongs....so watch this space!

in the house....

and sooo pretty too!   thank you henry glass fabrics AND the fedex driver!