Hello and welcome! This is my latest UFO that’s now becoming a WIP. I made most of the house blocks in the mid-1990s. 😳 Unfortunately, years later, when I pulled it out again to finish it, I discovered that I had gotten rid of the quilt book (remember Georgia Bonesteel “Lap Quilting” books?) where the pattern for the templates were. 🙄Back into storage it went. So fast forward YEARS to just a few months ago, when I decided to finally tackle it and the complications I myself had created. I drafted the template patterns from a finished block, and created a paper-pieced section for the roof and sky/chimney sections and made a few more blocks to round out the quilt layout. How I should proceed with the setting of the blocks ‘stumped’ me until I came across this tree fabric in my stash, that I cut at widths, 2”, 1.75”, 1.5”, and 1.25”.
Now, I’m beginning to baste leaves on the trees, to be hand appliquéd whilst sitting on my porch this summer to help boost the presence of the trees. So, color me ‘whimsically optimistic’ about the direction “Housing Development” or “Take Me To Funky Town” is taking me. 🥰
Thank you for stopping by! Remember…you are loved!
Though snow has been predicted for the first weekend of May, for the most part it feels like Spring has arrived. I caught this robin enjoying the sun as I arrived home from a morning walk…
Walks sometimes take me north to a conference center where the grounds are open to the public. That’s where I had the pleasure of being serenaded by this mocking bird. He was proficient in many languages!
Back at home, our garden has also been a busy place where blue jays and the chipmunks, roused from their winter slumber, can still find a peanut or two. This white-capped sparrow was feeling a little ‘hoppy’ this particular day when temps finally climbed into the high 60s.
April walks seemed awash in yellow.
…the perfect color to lend a sunny backdrop to new life in its various stages.
We added a shade garden last fall and the new sprouts and blooms are coming along with raindrop reflections, an added delight.
I invited myself to a friend’s garden, waiting for the tulips to be perfectly in bloom. I wasn’t disappointed.
and my neighbor’s Magnolia tree begged me to ask permission to take photos of it…which I did. How can I say no to a Magnolia tree?
The signs were evident everyday that the summer season would be here soon. These barges are seen frequently on the lake at this time of year. This particular day one was getting a raft perfectly placed for days to come of some summer fun.
Here a dinghy appears, the next day to be replaced by a sailboat. And boats were added to the moorings at the yacht club daily…
This was a ‘small-world’ moment seeing this sign on a truck all the way from our former ‘backyard’, as I walked along the lake road one morning. I chatted briefly with one of the workers, a young man who graduated from Glens Falls High.
Sewing projects kept me busy and included sewing some pillow shams, leaving very little leftovers, but enough to cover some buttons. The button cover kit was an oldie – probably from the 1960s or 70s. Too many pillows? Nah! I also took out a cheaply made wooden panel insert from my $5.00 garage-sale cupboard and made a curtain for it, and the little chair finally got a chair seat – woven from a few yards of homespun I had leftover from a quilt project.
I tried my hand at making some fabric moths for something different, but gave up on trying to make wire feet for my crows, instead opting for my hot-glue gun. The spools were two that I recently emptied and the sphagnum moss was a handy leftover from a previous project. I may give them some scarves to wear at some point, or a bell on a ribbon. They need SOMETHING to crow about!
Later this month, whilst at the lake to watch the moon rise, I came across what we have determined to be turkey feathers. After asking the landowners if I could have them, I brought one wing home, plucked the feathers and let them soak in our bathroom sink. I wore rubber gloves throughout the whole process, and bleached the sink when I was done. Have you ever dried turkey feathers with a hair dryer? Well, now I can say I have. And funny thing, they smelled like turkey! My idea is to make a display for them, and came up with something that may work. I have some tweaking to do, but I was generally happy with the overall idea.
My creation is holding a flower now, but one like this fabric ‘wall pocket’ may be holding turkey feathers in the future.
The night I found the turkey feathers was the night we were to witness a super moon in pink. Maybe orange is the new pink, but, in this photo the pink moon looks like an orange moon. I can see improvements in my photography skills, but the moments at the lake were far more satisfying. They always are… I love that spot.
On the home front, during the time we’ve waited to hear back from house painters with their estimates, we’ve been dealing with this red squirrel who likes to steal the stuffing from our settie for its nest. GRRRR!!! We caught it once (along with a gray squirrel) but ‘little red’ escaped. Since then we improved the trap’s capabilities, but haven’t yet been successful. Plans are to relocate it at the Ontario County Park – several miles away. We have had a few laughs about the whole situation but laughed most about what might have happened if the squirrel escaped the trap while in the car enroute to its new home…😬
Our 3.5 YO grand had a couple of firsts this month…he learned to ride a pedal bike and he had his first visit to a dentist. The highlight from his visit to the dentist was the fish tank in the office. I’ll apologize for the blurry photo on the bike. It was taken from the video we received of the momentous occasion. He laughed with excitement and glee after he realized his papa had let go of the bicycle. I wish you all could hear him! Life feels so normal when you hear a child laugh.
And Lou the puppy is doing well. Mama took this photo while ‘teething-Lou’ chewed on a carrot. These two are becoming fast friends!
I know I’ve mentioned this before, but May 1st is nearly upon us, which means that this will be my last Facebook post. If you’d like to stay in touch you can sign up to follow me. Here’s a screen shot of what you’ll need to do if you’d like to receive an email each time I post a blog. The other option is to bookmark my WordPress site. I think that may work as well.
YES! And it means another little quilt is finished!
If I could write a story about this side of the quilt, it would include words like ‘experimental’, ‘organic’, and ‘serendipitous’. What originally was planned to be a vertical stripped-pieced backing, morphed into throwing caution to the wind to, for the first time, assemble and sew the strips using a curved piecing technique. It all happened peacefully and calmly – two words not usually associated with my personality. As with so many of my quilt projects, most of the fabrics are remnants from garment sewing long ago – and really, the only uniting factor between the back and front are the fabrics and colors. It’s enough for me.
This side of the quilt would include words like ‘unsew’ and ‘reconfigure’. All the pieces were dismantled from a stack of 8 inch square blocks that over the years I ‘fell out of like’ with. I kept the triangle units and thought of them as flocks of birds in flight across a darkened sky. For the first time ever I took value into consideration as I laid them out on my floor – taking black and white photos with my camera to aid me in the process. Adding the tiny pinwheels was a last minute addition and I included them in the border as well. The golden yellow fabric in the pinwheels were the oldest fabrics I used and came from my mother’s stash. It felt like the perfect ending to piecing together this little quilt’s story.
When it came to connecting the two sides, a chapter would have to be devoted to my first attempt at using the ‘big-stitch’ quilting technique with 4 different variegated pearl cotton color waves. Big-stitch quilting can be as intricate as traditional quilting is. With this project leaning more modern, I chose an all random straight line stitching- as simple as I could keep it.
This quilt’s story would ‘wrap up’ with how I, again for the first time, bound the quilt with a single fold bias binding, cut from one fat quarter (18”x22”) of batik fabric. THAT was scary, but there was enough to go around! (No pun intended, but it works.) Batiks are generally a tighter weave and wear well, and the quilt at best will only get light use.
If quilt is used, it will tell its story displayed on a wall or draped over the back of a chair. It’s not perfect – it’s a bit wonky, too, but I’m happy to be a part of its story.
******************************************* So, since the list of unfinished projects is getting shorter, is it too early in the year to be planning a project for Christmas?
The Mr. and I are subscribed to a YouTube channel called White Cottage Company, the host of which recommended a fabric store in Ohio called Zincks. Of course, I had to check it out, and I’m glad I did. I purchased this Michael Miller fabric (quality with a capital Q!) called “Circuit-Tree”. Our youngest son, who knows ALOT about circuits will be the recipient of something ‘Christmas’ made from this fabric.
I have some time to sort out and plan what will become of this fabric. It’s a challenge with the world around our house painted in yellows, pinks, and purples these days. But it’s a new project – small enough to interject (not unlike the proverbial ‘carrot at the end of the stick’) amongst the not-finished-yet projects that are presently getting a second look and a second chance at FINALLY getting finished. I’m not one to deny myself a reward, when I believe I’ve earned one and working on a small project, for me, is just that.
So, on this rainy Monday, I’ll do my due diligence and plug into Pinterest for a bit. It might surprise them that I’m looking at Christmas-themed projects. There goes their algorithms!
How every project begins…(it’s one of my happy places)
Yes, among my growing stash of scraps, there were some fabric selections to make… and then unmake…
No…and no, again.
Then…YES! YES!! YES!!! Stripes ALWAYS excite me, and the dotted fabric was formerly a skirt I bought at a thrift store, waiting for its transformation. Now was its chance!
But, as with all ‘quilty’ things, I needed some things to help me along the way…
I decided on using cotton batting…I lowered my top tension on my newly acquired Memory Craft 6000…I chose good quality top-stitch needles…I chose a heavy thread for the top and a lighter thread for the bobbin for the look I envisioned…I checked (and rechecked) my stitches on a miniature sample,I pressed (with steam) frequently…
…and after several days of machine ‘quilt-as-you-go’ style quilting, and several attempts at joining the four blocks, it all came together.
Is THIS the front?
Or is this the front?
Either way, making this quilty wall-hanging led to lessons in “Disc-covery”
This little fabric postcard is now ready for a trip to the mountains and the mailbox of my younger sister, who will be celebrating her birthday in the wee early days of March. Not only did a snowman seem appropriate for her this winter, but the card had to include a snow-dog. Finding a free clip art file featuring a miniature schnauzer (her favorite breed of dog) in profile made the job easy. I love adding beads when I can, so I added some small clear seed-beads to the centers of several of the snowflakes for a little sparkle. Mostly constructed of quilting cottons, I incorporated some woolens for the hat and scarf and some really soft red velour (previously a skirt) for the heart. Why? ‘Cause she’s a soft touch, too.
Trying out a few new techniques and employing a few new options with the aid of Bern and Jan – my two newest family ‘menders’. I found the pattern for the letters on Pinterest and spent the extra time fussy-cutting the pink fabric (formerly a skirt, bought at a thrift store) for the paper-pieced letters. I added a little flourish of decorative stitching – compliments of Jan- and a tiny heart-shaped button that I found in my button stash. I had a few red buttons but chose the one white button I had because of the symbolism (or affiliation?) of purity with the color white. The heart button reminds me to keep my love pure – to love without expectations of being loved in return – just as Jesus loves us all.
With surgery scheduled and unforeseen events accounted for (as best as I’m able) I wanted an early finish on a special valentine fabric postcard for my 3 year old grandson, Max. Though the text is original, the pattern was one I saw on Pinterest and drafted, making a few changes, then pulled out fabrics and paper-pieced it with less drama than anticipated. (YAY and PHEW! with forehead swipe!) Still yet to do is to add the text (below) to the back of the card. Thanks for stopping by!
Dear Max I’ve sent this valentine A snowman with a heart, To make you smile and tell you How very loved you are!
I’m having ‘sew’ much fun getting to know the newest member of my sewing family!!! A very reputable Bernina dealer in nearby Penn Yan gave her a good cleaning and tune-up and after a test drive this morning, I know she’s ready to help keep me in stitches! Many thanks to my SIL, Lindy, who made it possible for this treasure from Judy’s estate to come home with me.
Judy’s creative spirit could jitter-bug circles around mine. In time, Bern might teach me to waltz. All I can say is, Lord, strike up the band…
Musings, Moments, Memories, and More 