weekend update

it's been a crazy week around here, capped off with a quick ER visit for abscess in my graft site...inner thigh behind knee....where as BB (before bypass) would have gotten by with a quick office visit, now had to trek to ER for ultrasound, bloodwork etc.  all is well now that antibiotics are on board!  also got bogged down doing some family research for my mom...and that, as you know, is like m&ms or potato chips...one link leads to another and before you know it, 2-3 hours have evaporated....

i did get the border on this so now it's ready to baste and quilt...the border fabric is one of marsha mccloskey's basics and it's just perfect...in fact the whole line is...

then betty got a present!  as mentioned, i've been doing some applique blocks for a guild member and with the funds obtained a walking foot for betty.   so pulled out this little piece made of bonus triangles and hoping to have time to try out some matchstick quilting....

not that i will ever switch to machine from hand quilting, but i like the look of the matchstick style and it's perfect for small things like this...and there is the quicker finish of course!

finally, over at humble quilts,  lori is having a show and tell of all the doll quilts in the swap....serious repro eye candy!

monday design wall

only 13 more of the red pinwheels to go....got these done on sunday as leaders/enders while making more civil war diary blocks....so with 2 more of THOSE finished, only 79 to go..

first block was easy peasy but 'dark gloom' is a perfect name for this challenging block...resewed this puppy about 4x before getting it to this point, and that is where it stays.  not perfect, but done!  ***  and it really is summer now...week ahead in the 80s every single day and finally sunshine today after too many dreary, wet days....nearly finished one of my gardening angel blocks; the 2nd is half done and both should be finished before week's end.  then the donation quilt will be tackled in earnest to see how close to finished before june arrives....

only 81 more....

with the most recent civil war diary block finishes, now have a growing stack of 40 blocks with (gulp) 81 more to make.  while i'd like to hope i'll make them all, it would become one huge quilt, so might stop before it gets to be gigantic.

and a look at the current stack....

on another note, it seems to have stopped raining finally...for now anyway...lots of damage around due to above and below ground creeks that have overflowed....our local Y had 10-12 feet of water in its lower level that houses both pools, but should be up and functional within the week they say.  *** only 5 more formal rehab sessions to go; cannot recommend this program highly enough as after a grueling and discouraging nearly 7 months, am feeling great and beyond my pre-surgery activity and endurance levels, not to mention an entire wardrobe that needs replacing.  i'll be at the thrift when not at the YMCA in the coming days....

it's baaaackkk...

that would be the annoying thief in my building....now among the missing is one of my 3-pound weights, my mother's album from my daughter's wedding, my DAR certificate....somebody needs to have their hands lopped off--the sooner the better don't you think?  i had a cousin (now deceased) who would occasionally ask me if i still had such-and-such.  i'd go to get it or look for it and it, too was gone.  at the time i figured she was the light-fingered brat as she had been jealous of me my entire life.  once she helped me move some household stuff from a storage facility to her cellar temporarily.  somewhere along the way, my blueberry luncheon plates disappeared.  they WERE in a box in storage but somehow never made the hour's trip.  i knew she had taken them.  at the time i was homeless and she could well afford to buy them for herself, but she felt justified stealing from me.  she later had a brand new home, took trips to europe, had many of life's benefits but alas, died of cancer before she could spend one year in the new home.  she grew up very poor, always wore hand-me-downs and often went hungry, but a good marriage to someone with a good income changed all that.  down deep, though, she was always that destitute child and earned my pity.  as to who the building nasty is, it's anyone's guess.  even the management here isn't trustworthy, so it could be anyone.  thankfully, my God watches over me and seeks His own form of retribution--a very comforting promise. 

potpourri

tuesday spent wiping out the to-do list that included some sewing, of course....put together cheddar/indigo blocks, so now going to audition a border....and got a couple more leader/ender blocks done.  sometimes i try color combos and they don't work out.  wasn't sure about these red windmills but liking them so far.  have to make a total of 30 for a wall quilt...no rush on this.  then put up the star blocks made with kaffe fassetts and the pale pink solid.   i liked them as individual blocks but even more so seeing them together.  have downloaded the other patterns, just way behind is all.   this will give me the mojo to make more.

put together one more civil war diary block.  had hoped for 2 but this one took over an hour in the late afternoon and ran out of oomph. 

lastly, some friends were chatting and mentioned rhubarb cobbler.  my mother makes an awesome rhubarb pie but alas, i did not get the family pie crust gene, so before doing any sewing cobbler it was.  i was a bit shy of the rhubarb needed, so cut the sugar by 1/3 and it was plenty sweet for me.....and need i say delish?  the photo tells the tale!

next time i'll use more rhubarb and less cobbler....now off to get lunch....and dessert!

monday musings

summer has arrived in force here in maryland and i'm loving it...so i guess that means i am a native now....and what better way to brag about my new home than with these....

these were a mother's day gift from DD and DSIL.....maryland flag sox!   i love them!   i don't make a big deal of mother's day since i have an only child and don't want to put pressure or guilt on her....but she did take me for a wonderful, delicious lunch....my first steak in over 6 months!  it was back to chicken today (fish tomorrow) and some sewing with 2 civil war diary blocks done...

and a few more leader/ender blocks too....

lastly, some evening applique work that closed out another busy day.   only 7 more rehab sessions and i'll be finished.  my spot won't be vacant long as every week--and sometimes every session--brings in new cardiac patients.  crossed another threshold of endurance today, but with a 5:45 am start to the day, i'm still tired early and it's another early night with a book--for a few minutes anyway.   got my tuesday to-do list already roughed out.....more fun tomorrow!

our family's treasure

that would be this 1945 beauty....our mother, carolyn, who is still a looker today at 91!   though we cherish and revere her every day, having her with us another mother's day is a priceless gift, one we don't take for granted.....i'm with her only in spirit today, and my heart goes out to all whose mothers have passed on....

final layout

just have to sew blocks together and maybe add a border of some sort...no plans for this, just wanted to finish up this FQ bundle and i came close.....but these little leftovers will be going to janet so she can work her mini magic...

and a new leader/ender project is in progress as well....

these finish at 4"....have been ogling the pattern for some time, so might make 2-3 of these in different fabric styles.   for this one am using up some reds in my stash as have an over-abundance of that color....and two more gardening angel blocks are in the works....they work up faster than i had thought they would, altho still quite intricate.

this is january and february that will make 4 completed....and only 8 more to go.  *** with my may scrap attack project just about done, it's back to civil war diary blocks....never a moment to waste!

indigo and cheddar v. 2

tweaked the blocks a bit and pretty much settled on this layout.  only 2 more mini blocks to make and then i'll be flinging the small leftovers to janet who is a whiz at mini quilts....then this FQ bundle will be history.  not a smidgen left in stash at all...and while flipping thru some old mags yesterday, happened on this inspiring photo/pattern....so the churn dashes must have been buried in my little gray cells....i am still thinking of making this one....scrappy you know

then, i had seen this pattern in progress on the 'net someplace and the maker recommended the book, so got it from my library

another pretty scrappy that intrigues me, but not sure i want to buy the ruler....many other things i really want to make so will think on this a while....but finally have a whole day unplanned and a few house chores have to come first on this picture perfect day...summer's here!

this and that

here's the doll quilt i made and sent off to patty....forgot to photograph before it got mailed, so she kindly sent me one....

up to date now with the antebellum album sew along with completion of april's block....

the pink in this block is one of the scraps the barbara sent with my doll quilt....just perfect i think!  and got a bit more done on the may scrap attack....

just pinning them to the design wall for now; have no idea what the final setting will be....i do like this fabric line a lot.... ** ultrabusy day and week with errands and such, but this coming week is designated spring cleaning for sure before summer heat arrives....