wednesday morning status

a hot weather week--great for sewing!  mr. mailman delivered a squishie the other day....

a baggie of scraps...all 2.5 inch squares...and a book about the area where my mother's ancestors and family are from....washington county, maine, downeast it's called....the northeastern corner of maine, "where America greets the day" as the morning sun shines on America there first!  the squares are all christmas themed...oooh quilty muse sprang into action!  sorted them by pattern and some prints had only a few, others many.  how about a placemat?

so the very light print, gold and green are now gone.  what else to make?  a trip to my stash and pulled a black/white christmas print and presto! some little broken dishes blocks...

how many to make?  that's easy....whichever fabric runs out first....a tad less than half yard of the black/white print and this many squares left....

closeup makes them look much larger but none bigger than 2.5" -- a few under that got tossed.  it'll be a leader/ender type project...so more stash will be busted...what is it about someone else's scraps that make them so inspiring/tantalizing/fun?  *** elsewhere, more secret squares done, more hand quilting done, floors got washed and laundry too.  with every day to sew, still feel like there is never enough time to accomplish what i plan....spooky!

short post

a whole week has gone by and no posts?  that's because most of my sewing has been on the secret gift...happy to say only 12 blocks more and assembling the top can begin.  should get basted in july...but can show you this...

while clearing away stacks of fabric and looking for churn dash ones, found some juvenile charms...not quite enough for this but added a few, sewed them up and added the border.  it'll be finished and put aside for a need....

i did add 3 of the narrow lime borders to "midnight at the oasis" so i can soon start to add the last border of blocks.  hoping for a june flimsy....

took my daughter to a birthday lunch last week and she gifted me this...

it's the jubilee mug!  i already had the queen's own marmalade on board...you can get it from amazon...and yes, it is the one she prefers!  now just waiting on the monarch to ring the buzzer downstairs and it'll be tea time!  unlike paddington, i won't be drinking mine directly from the pot...LOL!

warm and humid but can get away without A/C...not too bad thus far for summer in maryland...have a good one!

monday design wall

sunday's weather was finest kind and took advantage for a short road trip, but did get some sewing done...

 

chooky and the her zoom pals are having a sew along the next 4 months....she already got hers done as you can see and many drools later, a group of us are now following!  some are using her pattern and others something different.  mine was already started, a UFO.  need 29 of these 4" done in june...july will be the 6", august the 12" and september the 16".   all i can say is, stay tuned...LOL!

summer sunday

the weather here is just perfect and we've a long stretch ahead that promises the same...not too hot, no A/C needed, gentle breezes....great for sewing!  what did i do saturday?

a bit of sewing area rearranging, putting the UFO drawers directly behind me for very easy access.  why?  my bad habit was to pile them on the floor but the other day had another fall, a short one this time, sidestepping one.  was holding 2 china cups and neither broke, no bleeding injuries, partly saved by the back wall.  enough already!  while tidying up, once again crossed paths with the batik leftovers....

refused to move them yet again, so rustled up this placemat, using up not only the side pieces but the ugly backing as well.  there were 4 of the HSTs left that'll go into a potholder.  so they are now gone!  and squishie arrived with bit of new fabric....

couple of bodacious kaffe prints and some white neutrals for the secret project....and this week my little girl has another birthday...she is all grown up of course, but i still miss those early days when i could fix all her boo-boos and rock her on my shoulder....so very proud of who she has become....a godly woman who has endured many trials and disappointments but still lives life to the fullest....what i gave her was awfully inadequate but God has picked up the slack nicely...

it wasn't 100 years ago but sure seems like it....well, gotta go, i think i hear some fabric whispering!

june's OMG

 yikes, june already???  here's the official goal for june, the batik splash now being quilted...

it's about 25% completed so june finish is do-able...and in case you were wondering...

alive and thriving, newly repotted, mystery revealed...it's cilantro!  and lazy hazy days of summer are here so time to think about another project...

from quiltmania, pervenche des toiles designed by france aubert...i've opted for 9 blocks only so should be finished in my lifetime...LOL....here are the tuscan-style fabrics have been hoarding for the right thing!

got these on the internet as a small bundle perhaps 8 or so years ago (not the far left neutral)...purposely did not cut into them for anything else.  the main background will be the yellow paisley...but won't get officially started until more UFOs are done....so what else on june's list?

• 25 tiny churn dash blocks, 4"
  
• 43 not as tiny kaffe/MATO border blocks, 5"
• june mini (cut out to assemble today)
• mom's purse -- finish in time to travel in august
• finish secret project blocks and assemble top -- behind on this, no surprise

going to be a busy summer i do believe!

never forget

 

tough week where hearts have been broken and forever changed....in my soul i scream STOP!!! but it never does...the loss of those who serve selflessly is more than enough grief to bear without more senseless killing.  a recent lunch at Mission BBQ the national anthem was played at precisely noon as is their custom, but there were those who refused to stand, which angered me.  don't they realize that it's what the anthem represents that gives them freedom to disagree at inequities?  so many scream disrespect, but it's those who snub the symbols of our freedom disrespecting those who died defending them.  America--love it with all its flaws and failures, or leave it.

lotsa sewing and book reviews

friday was an uber-productive day sewing-wise...

you are probably tired of seeing this but the more that gets done, the more enamored i am of this beauty....all the checkerboard borders are attached now...next comes another narrow lime and then the final border of these....

the squares measure 5" so more little ones....every other block has the color scheme reversed, i.e. center starts and finishes with print.  i only have to make 44 (43 now)...i can see already got to be super careful with seam allowance, especially since joy balks at those that are a tad thicker.  **** then the scrap basket got tackled...always problematic as often get sidetracked.  there was a fair amount of batik scraps and some HSTs, so used up all the smaller pieces making more....and then cut a pile of 1.5x4.5 strips for a scrappy quilt designed by amanda nyberg...

the pattern is below except the color strips are replaced by rows of small strips...i made one before, a top, and donated it.  thinking of making a couple more and donating them as well.  they make up fast, are colorful, 30 blocks that finish measuring 60x72...

as for the little HSTs, no plan for them, couple of ideas percolating...then back to task at hand, cutting up the rest of the scraps.  except for a few other larger batik pieces and a few solids, the basket muffin top disappeared...

found in the basket were pieces of the bird house background, so off came the aqua strip and replaced...

now all that remains is applique, some embellishment and bind with the aqua...again, i am no designer and altho this came out mostly as i had in mind, it wasn't as much fun.  i think it'll be cute when done and somebody will like it, plus a few pieces of stash are now gone.  

so, weekend sewing?  more blocks for my secret project piled in various stages all over the sewing table.  then more of the "midnight" blocks, could finally be a flimsy by the end of next week.  next, hope to tackle the purse for my mom.  weather is predicted to be hot all week, so plenty of inside A/C days.  ***  so far this year busted just under 25 yards of completely finished things, so definitely reducing the stash even with a few new additions, two were kaffe fabrics--no surprise there!

afterthought...i meant to add these....a couple of book reviews you might like...

lots of background behind-the-scenes reveal about movie women from the 30s to present...robert wagner is no choir boy and is honest, though a bit veiled, about his own conquests.  starts out with him as an 8-year-old boy meeting norma shearer, dishing mostly kindly about the greatest and not so great.  i don't like him simply because of the natalie wood death debacle, but he is an insider speaking graciously without malice.   then, if you love a good whodunit...

two young girls disappear from a mall and two detectives with very different styles must learn to work together to find them...no graphic violence or gratuitous sex, just an interesting journey to truth and resolution....worthy of hercule poirot!

wednesday work, may mini

 

whew....wednesday was a wide open day and spent the ENTIRE day sewing 2 more borders on the "midnight at the oasis" piece....it was almost like work, really a labor intensive task.  but love the outcome and only one side left to do...those little squares finish at 1" so there are a LOT of them! ...and here's the may mini!

this being may, saw TONS of basket quilts etc. all around the 'net....got me thinking about the basket stamp block, which i always liked, remember when it was issued even!  someone had mentioned about striped sashing that immediately brought this stripey fabric to mind.  with patriotic holidays on the horizon, went with red/white/blue, well not exactly white.  anyway, i like it and can use it for a table topper.  will be linking up with wendy and the other monthly mini gals!

it's an un-holiday weekend for me with a possible zoom party...what to do?  well, there is this...

already pulled and cut up batik scraps for a planned donation top...the rest will go in their respective shoeboxes for more tops that can be donated.  at nearly 73, have to pick and choose which ones to finish and keep for myself.  ***  going to try and elude the despairing TV fodder by exercising, sewing and reading....

monday report

with sweltering temps, the weekend was spent inside a/c and sewing resulting in a UFO finish!  here is the back....much too pretty to chop up and it was just right for this project.

it was a fling from marianne....so happy it's found a forever home with this....

hexed stars, pattern by marcia hohn, also used up the purple batik in the border and binding.  i think about 3 yards was busted total, not much but every yard counts!  what else got sewn?

bird house is coming along....have to remove the top aqua border, it's just not right.  pondering a replacement.  when that's corrected, just hand work remains for this with applique and some embellishment that should finish it.  i love the triangles but alas, no more of the white print--another piece used up.  ***  and one more UFO got some attention....

my june OMG is to get this basted, so border construction in full swing.  one done, 7 to go.  working with kaffe fassett fabrics is pure delight!  ***  the may monthly mini (say it 3x fast!) is also done, will post next week AND pattern/fabric is pulled for the june mini as well.  hint:  it's red/white blue!  *** heat wave brief and delightful weather all this week.  i'm desperately in need of some fun and might cave to the gasoline grinch and take a short road trip.  had an appointment today, but rest of week only fitness visits scheduled.  *** have done well on my list.  what's next?  more secret blocks as hope to baste in june.  more quilting on 'batik splash' that should be done in june.  this weekend hope to finish more 'wildest dreams' blocks--9 left that need setting squares and triangles.  you might think so much sewing time is great,  but keep in mind it's in direct correlation to the amount of free time i have, sometimes not a good thing.  if not for sewing, life would be catastrophic!

checking the list

with only 10 days left in may, mentally listing what would like to do with the time....now that 90s have arrived, the a/c will be on full tilt and lolling around outside curtailed.  first off, this is in the hoop now...

the 'batik splash' measuring 64" square.  this is for dear daughter and want to be able to fling it.  i pre-washed the batiks so easy to quilt thru...nothing fancy to interfere with the in-your-face colors.  and did someone say churn dash???

the biggest blocks in the quilt are 16", need 14 of them.  decided to use lightest background for them as the others are planned for bright, saturated colors.  we'll see how it works out...also quickly sewed up a few more of the smallest, 4", which are like m&ms...one just isn't enough!  *** and the rest of may?

•  bind monthly mini
•  bind hexed stars
•  next border on 'midnight'
•  finish pieced part of bird house
•  more quilting on 'splash'

that should keep my mind of sweltering temps....needless to say, the countdown to the beach has ramped up considerably!  today, tho, dear daughter and i will be taking tea with the Crawleys and trying to wangle an invite to Tom Branson's wedding...bringing my hat just in case...LOL!