QuiltsnCats

Last week we shop hopped; an annual event we always look forward to. I volunteered at my home shop early on the first day then went to the three close shops in the time left that day. The next morning we put some munchies and drinks in the car and headed north. We kept getting lost, even though we've done this several times. We only drove about a hundred miles out of our way….. Fortunately the scenery and weather was beautiful and we had plenty of time so we kept in good humor about it, telling ourselves it was one of those senior things. We made it to five shops and then to the same motel we stay in every year and found a new restaurant for dinner. This clematis was blooming at the motel; the blossoms were as big as a dinner plate. The picture on the right is the restaurant we ate at. The fireplace is made of huge granite boulders. I have no idea how they were moved there. Paul Bunyan maybe. The next morning we went to my favorite shop (unfortunately the farthest from home...

I can't believe it -- I've gone two days without sewing a single stitch! Saturday I caught up with Splendid Sampler and 365 Challenge. I'm really disappointed to see we're back to making little dark blocks again in 365 challenge. I thought we were done with those and was looking forward to making the 6" blocks in lighter colors. Getting weary of those dark colors. Besides I was using scraps and I've about exhausted the dark reds and blues . Sunday we met my Daughter at the orchid show. I had some jade plants and other succulents for her so I was happy it was a cloudy day and the plants would be fine in the car while we were at the show. We enjoyed the show immensely and spent more than we should have. I bought 6 small plants; two that will hang on the bathroom wall, and several for the shelves alongside the kitchen window. After the show we went out to the parking lot so I could give her the jade plants and she takes a huge crate out of her ca...

90 degrees today! What happened to Spring?? I'm not ready for hot weather yet. To be honest, I'm never ready for it. It can stay Spring and Fall forever and make me really happy. This week I've been making the corner blocks for the center medallion of the 365 Challenge. To be perfectly honest, I cheated on this Corner 3 below and didn't do the mitered corner. Half square triangles give the same result, are faster, and use less fabric. When I opened the bedroom window yesterday I was greeted with the most marvelous fragrance. so with the help of a walking stick (my back is still not back to normal and I'm hobbling like the old lady that I am) I ventured out t the backyard. I want to bottle the combined fragrance. Orange Blossom Pink Jasmine Lilac Apothecary Rose Pittosporum Tobira I

The camping weekend was fun. I finished the top I started last year. Now to get it quilted. We couldn't have asked for better weather. We filled up the hummingbird feeder and within a couple hours one bossy little male Allen's hummingbird claimed it as his own and was chasing away any other males that came close. Came home Easter evening in time to put together a stripped-down holiday meal of ham and scalloped potatoes. Gotta keep some of the traditions…. Monday -- back to reality and worse. I woke up and went to get out of bed and my back went out. Fortunately the walker was parked in the bedroom as I couldn't even get to the bathroom without it. I have a hitch hiker;  if it has wheels Simba will ride: Tuesday -- Happy birthday :-(  DH brought me flowers and a gluten free pizza for dinner as I couldn't go out. Oh well -- I've had many birthdays so I really don't need any more. Pain pills and muscle relaxants helping with the pain. I even got caught up on...

We will be camping for Easter. Not what I usually do for holidays but DH said he will hide Easter eggs for me if it will make me feel better. Since we got rid of our big old trailer and the site isn't ready for a new one yet we will be using the old tent trailer. DH is range master for the archery club so he will be busy all day and I will be sewing all day. I take one of my old hand crank machines with me and keep busy as long as there is daylight, and sometimes by Coleman lamp after dark. I usually get at least one full size quilt top done a year while camping. This is the machine I take most often. It's a Jones CB, made in England probably in the early 30s. It is a dream to sew with; smooth running, perfect stitch, and always dependable. It will still be working when all of our computerized plastic marvels will be long gone. Don't tell my lovely Bernina I said that… Some camping quilts from previous years:  Double Ir...

I'm slipping on my writing here, but it has been a busy week. I'm all caught up on my various sew-a-longs, done some cleanup in the backyard, and repotted our Jade plants on the front porch.  The poor plants had gotten so big they were tipping over. Parsley and dill have been planted in the herb tubs in the driveway. I have to grow them in the front yard as the back is too shady for the veggies and herbs. Perfect for ferns and violets, though. St. Patricks day I got up early and put the corned beef in the crockpot and we took a trip up to the hills to do some maintenance on our campsite.I hadn't been up there for quite a while and the first thing I saw was our wisteria blooming. It smells so good! We pulled some weeds, filled the bird feeders, and moved a big pile of bricks, starting to get ready to level the ground so we can get a new(er) trailer. Our last one was old and very leaky and falling apart so we got rid of it and are looking for another one. We came home a...

Retreat was wonderful. It was at Mercy Center, a convent (or maybe an ex-convent, not sure) and had nice immaculate private rooms (bathroom down the hall) and the food was good; excellent salmon  Friday night and yesterdays stew and biscuits looked and smelled delicious even thought I couldn't eat it due to my gluten allergy.  No worries -- I aways bring alternative food for situations like this. Friday I put together charity quilt top, my "guilt quilt" -- once I had that done I could feel free to work on whatever I wanted. My 18th charity quilt; I hope some little girl enjoys it. I sat with three of my sewing buddies. Kind of bittersweet since it will probably be the last time we will all be together as two of them are moving. We had a great time and even sneaked off for a couple hours to the nearest quilt shop. Our big well-lit room with view of rain and wild turkeys. Two of my friends busy at work; I think the other one was taking a nap. Two o...

Retreat time is fast approaching; a week earlier than I had thought. So that means lots to do to get ready in less time. I don't even know which projects to take yet. Yesterday would have been a good time to start getting things together and that is what I meant to do when I got up in the morning, but I came across a pattern for a cathedral window pincushion.  I remember way back in the 60s my mother attempted to make a cathedral window quilt but gave up as it being "too fussy and a big waste of fabric".  It was her last attempt at quilting but she went on to do some beautiful crewel work. For some reason, probably procrastination, I dug out fabric from my scrap bin (no worries here about wasting fabric -- I have lots) and set about making the pincushion. O.K. I made the pincushion; I don't know why. I seldom use a pincushion as I have cats and cats and pins can be a fatal combination so I hardly ever use them and when I do they are taken out of a lidded tin an...

My Civil War Class was this week and lots of fun as usual. Four of us have been taking the yearly Civil War classes for six years now. It's not that we are so interested in making the quilts anymore as it is our monthly get together. The modern version of a quilting bee. Today one of the gals and I braved the wind and rain and went to a semi-local quilt show. It was a non-judged show.  The quilts were nice, as were the clothes. The guild also had a cloth doll making group and it was fun seeing the variations of Raggedy Ann and Andy. There was an abundance of nice raffle baskets so we're waiting and hoping for phone calls to tell us we won something. Yesterday I got caught up again on 365 Challenge and Circa 2016: And also Splendid Sampler: Oops! Looking at the picture I see that the center section is off. It's going to stay the way it is. If I ever have a day with absolutely nothing else to do and the house is immaculate I will fix it. Violets are blooming...

I started the day as usual by making the 365 Challenge block. Tomorrow is my Civil War class and I ascertained that 67 half square triangles would be needed. Making that many would take the whole class time so I made them today. That way I could get on to the business of making the blocks during class time. I'm one of the few using my own fabric so I'm able to do this. I'm using stash this year for everything I can. This appeared on my Facebook page yesterday: I can sure relate to the last one! I went out to the backyard but DH promptly chased me back in the house. Very wise of him as I'm still barely moving. With a disintegrated disc, RA, and sciatica it doesn't take much to put me flat on my back again. It's just that there is so much to do and I'd really like to see it done. It will have to be bit by bit. I'm not sure if the cat is interested in making art quilts or if she s telling me not to spend so much time on the computer.

A very lazy day. Yesterday I only did the daily 365 Challenge block as far as sewing goes, but the day was so beautiful and warm and it called me outside. My garden has turned into a jungle in the years since my back injury so there is work to be done. Oxalis has taken over so I set about pulling some up. Then I pulled up some more, And more. And so it went for several hours until I had filled several crates. When I was thoroughly stiff and breathless I figured it was time to take a break and fix dinner.  Homemade gluten free gnocchi alfredo. Today I'm so stiff and sore I can hardly move. Took a muscle relaxant and tylenol but that only made me sleepy, so I slept away the afternoon instead of doing anything productive. The garden is going to take a lot more work; Once the oxalis was out of the way I found jasmine vines twining their way all over the yard, even climbing six feet up the fig tree that is a good thirty feet away from the original jasmine trellis. Violets are blooming...

Having spent yesterday going up to the hills with DH and then doing the shopping that should have been done a week ago (ran out of chocolate!), I had some catching up to do. My first-thing-in-the-morning waking up thing to do is turn on my phone and see what the 365 Challenge block is for the day. Oh my goodness did that wake me up fast! All the blocks so far have been 3 inchers so that is what I was expecting. Upon further investigating I (fortunately) discovered that we are now doing the center block, which is 18 ½ inches. Feb 28 This is the center; so tomorrow we add a couple borders to make it 18 ½ inches. Computers sure do odd things to colors; what looks to be yellow is actually cream and gold and those purpley triangles are really mostly blue. This is the one for the previous day: Feb 27 T Then I proceeded on to the Circa 2016 blocks. They are easy and so relaxing to do. These are bright and scrappy. I'm doing Westering ...

Today was a catch-up day. I did the past three 365 Challenge blocks, this weeks Splendid Sampler block (not anothe r appliqué!), and the Westering Women block for the month. And another day the seam ripper sat unused; after sixty years of sewing maybe I'm beginning to finally get the idea. Westering Women - "Indian" Splendid Sampler - "Happy Happy" 365 Challenge .

Strippin' Today was spent on cutting and labeling 60 different strips for the Gypsy Wife quilt. Maybe. The materials list on the back of the book said 2 inch strips. Inside the book said 1 ½ inch strips. I've also found a few other discrepancies in measurements. I'm thinking something was lost in the translation from metric to decimal. There are a few 1 inch strips and a few 2 inch strips but the greater majority , about 55, are supposed to be either 2 inch or 1 12 inch I hope I picked the right size. If I chose wrong there are enough that I can tie them together and hang myself. The final two

I was wakened early today by the sound of silence. That probably needs a bit of explanation. We have doves. Normally they start making dove noises as soon as it's light. Most make typical dove cooing, but one of ours sounds just like a barking dog and another sounds like a child laughing. At first I couldn't figure out what was wrong or why I was awake so early (for me), then it dawned on me that we were getting the silent treatment. They were out of food. I dragged myself out of my warm bed and went out and fed them. Feeding birds is my husbands job but I didn't feel like waking him up . Splendid Sampler  By then the chilly air had me wide awake and going back to sleep was not an option so I headed into the sewing room. Sunday is a Splendid Sampler day so I turned on the computer and downloaded the pattern for today. More hearts. Then I did yesterday and todays 365 challenge blocks.  All before noon. I hardly knew what do to for the rest of the day but I managed to ...

Today The guild had a Jelly Roll Race class so I went, even thoughI've made a couple of them already.  I used to be in a group that exchanged batik strips so I figured this would be a good use for some of it. I picked out reds, hot pinks, oranges, and yellows. I took a Featherweight as I didn't feel up to lifting the Bernina in and out of the car. A half empty spool of orange variegated thread. I'm into using up stash this year. I was into using up stash last year too but it didn't made a difference. I think someone is sneaking into my house when I'm sleeping and leaving fabric because I look at some of it and honestly can't remember buying it or what I used it for. So put on your sunglasses, here it is. Some strips were cut on an angle and some had squares in between. The squares were kind of an afterthought just to see what it would look like. The class suggested the name Tequila Sunrise. If you can't make it good make it bright! The Featherweight ...

After being gone for a couple of days I had catching up to do -- three 365 Challenge blocks, one Splendid Sampler, and only one Broken Dishes block for Circa 2016, although I suspect more of these will be needed. While we were at the hospital waiting for my daughter to be out of surgery we went down to the cafeteria for lunch. Across the room from where we were seated there was what appeared to be a large mosaic covering the wall and after lunch I went over to take a closer look. It reminded me of a watercolor-type quilt. Imagine my surprise when I got close up: It was made up of photos of employees of the hospital foundation. Amazing! I admire the talent it took to accomplish it. My words of wisdom for today are if your rotary cutter falls don't try to catch it. I just hope it will be functional without too much pain for my jelly roll class tomorrow.