Quiet Tuesday

I have to finish one more UFO for Finn's challenge, and the Caroline Crossroad was calling to me from a corner of the pile on the bed in my sewing room. I am at the stage of sewing the already quilted section together. But I haven't done this before and I find it to be onerous. Therefore it was set aside after 1.5 of the 3.0 seams were done.The seam of the day had been sewn with the batting and backing pulled back out of the way already. Today I finished this half-done seam diagonally across the back. First I trimmed one side of the backing to 1/2 inch to fold it over the seam line. Instead of sewing the folded back edge down by hand, I used Elmer's GLUE, a la Sharon Schambers binding technique. Then I sewed the seam again from the front to hold the glued edge on the back. It almost worked. I had to sew down three one inch areas by hand afterwards.

Now there is a much shorter seam left, and tonight I did the trimming of both halves. It helps to "just do the NEXT thing" when I'm dreading a job, or don't know how I'm going to get the whole job done.

When I was very frustrated with the carefulness required for this, I saw some bright blocks I had pulled out when I was working on the doll quilts. The pinwheels are from a project at least 12 years ago. I followed a truly RANDOM placement by a blind drawing of the next block, and then the next row. Here it is at the next stage, 5 x 5, which comes out to 20"x20". Now I can let it rest for a while more, as I think about white or black for the first border. This was enough of a break for me to go back to the other project.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Never left the house today

Public radio's classical music

Another step done on a tough project

Two lap quilts

I finished the binding on the second lap/baby quilt made from Carolina Crossroads left-overs. The tan paisley fabric made a nice border, back and binding.

For the moment it is hanging over the back of one of the livingroom loveseats--so it is bent in the middle in the photo.
While that was in with a load of wash, I got the binding on the top I made from mostly pink and pastel scraps. The borders, back and binding on this one are a pink/lavender/& blue batik.

When I pulled it out of the wash, I could see that my machine applique on the hearts was not adequate to the tumbling of the wash cycle.

I used the "invisible" thread, and I think the problem is that the stitch WIDTH was too small. You can see on the close-up of the green heart that a part is fraying and unattached.

Now I will have to find a thread that will match the backing so when I re-sew it on the front (and what color thread there?), the sewing will not stand out too much on the back.

Out in the garden the three rose bushes called "The Fairy" are blooming with their tiny flowers in multiples. These were moved last fall and so are not quite as big and bushy as we are expecting from other years.

Nevertheless, nice to see!

Sara

Pentecost preparation

Last fall Holy Cross Church placed three pennant/banners on the front lawn to attract attention. Getting additional different colors is more expensive than I could imagine, so I looked into making the RED ones for Pentecost myself. Naturally this got put off until the last week before Pentecost, and after buying the "flag nylon" --FIVE yards for the length needed-- I couldn't find the grommets that were big enough, nor the woven tape in the right width to mimic the purchased pennants. I went to an awning company for the pieces, and at that point I was ready to admit that their "hot knife" and expertise were worth the extra cost. Especially since on Tuesday they could get all three made by by Friday!

Since the Pentecost imagry includes FLAMES, I bought enough orange fabric to make one of the pennants. Then realizing that there would be extra fabric the whole length purchased, I asked them to add a second, narrower, opposite color panel to two of the pennants.

Now we have an array of three for Pentecost:

1- solid red with an orange narrower streamer

2- solid red

3- solid orange with a red narrower streamer.

Ken, our Junior Warden, knew how to change the pennants, so here he is doing all the work while I took pictures.

Here is the view from the driveway entrance, street to your right, church roof on the left.

[Charlie said that a woman called the church on the phone because she saw the "flags" and was entranced. She wanted to know where to get some. Well, there goes our special-ness if everyone is going to have them!]

On the quilting front:

Here is the OTHER lap-sized quilt top made with leftovers from Carolina Crossroads. I received some fabric from a chorus member and the tan paisley was in it. Seemed to be the perfect way to finish off as a wide border.

Now to think about the quilting on this one! It will be more to manipulate through the Pfaaf, and since it is so busy. . . .maybe I'll just take this one to the LA-quilter and have a pantograph all over.

Bonnie has put out the next clue for Mystery #2, Orange Crush, so I am cutting triangles and building blocks. Only two done so far.

This is a hectic 48 hours with getting the pennants up, baking bread, reviewing all the words and notes for the GRWC concert tonight, and finishing my sermon for tomorrow, then delivering it twice.
Oh, well, by 1:00 tomorrow afternoon I can take a nap and let DS Peter cook dinner for Mother's Day!

Sara

Gratitudes:

Ken's help

Lynne's assurance the concert will be FUN

Trilliums (trillia?) in the woods

My 100th blog entry!

Star quilting decision

I decided AGAINST the Square-in-a-Square plan for the Stars.

Some time in the night I remembered that I was concerned about the Stars not showing up as well as the Rings. Therefore, I have chosen to outline the Stars, one quarter inch inside the edges. I hope with the quilted square in the middle as well, this will be a contrast to the two circles on the Ring block, making the Stars more noticable.
Could work. . . .
Anyway, as usual once the decision is made, I can't see why it took me so long!

Of the three pieces the quilt is divided into, I have the Stars quilted on one--the smallest. Tonight we are having the annual Vestry party at our house, so no more work until after church tomorrow.

Sara

Gratitudes:
Levi, DS's dog, is a good guest
Got Flat Stanley mailed back to DGS
Charlie's night to cook dinner

More circles- coffee can size

I am adding more circles to my "Ring" blocks. As I looked at what I had finished, I decided that

If I could find the right sized circle, I wanted to add one that went approximately through the Accent fabrics that made the Ring. I grabbed a two pound coffee can from the kitchen, and it worked just the way I wanted it to!

This photo shows one of these larger circles iin the lower right, and also all my "special" tools: The pill bottle, the coffee can, and the "Chako Ace Fine Marker-Blue" pen. So far this pen does just what it should for me. . . .makes a clear line, and when I spray it with cold water, it disappears.

So now as I quilt those additional large circles, I am conjuring with ideas for more quilting on the Star block. Maybe a square just OUTSIDE the light triangles making a square-within-a-square? Whatever, it needs to be "similar" to the large circle in the other block!

Sara

Gratitudes:
digital cameras
moist, warm tropical room of the botanical garden
"Night of the Iguana" on TV this afternoon

Circles AND Squares

Oops! Yesterday I should have included a photo that included BOTH circles and squares, so here it is.

Stitch-in-the-ditch separates each 3 inch finished square or block, and then I have put a circle or a square in each of the "plain" blocks. I think this is sufficient until I get the borders on, at which time I will have to conjure up a plan for them!

Sara

Exercise today: 45 minutes in the community pool

Gratitudes:

Footcare nurses

Pizza for lunch

Another surface cleaned

"Free" motion?

I decided that those pesky empty squares in the middle of each block needed to be filled with something.

Since I have been calling the not-star block the "Ring" block, I thought its circularity would be enhanced with a circle in the middle. I looked around the kitchen for a can or something the right size (not going out to the edges so as to be more visible), and came up with a pill bottle. I drew around it with one of those blue pens that have ink that disappears in water. Then I "free" motion quilted on the circles. Lots of stops and starts as the circles are far from each other.

I decided on a square for the middle of the Star blocks, but how to make a square square in "free" motion?

I decided to cut a recipe card to what looked like the right size square, and then try to follow around the edge of it. First I found that a regular glass headed pin was TOO long, and caught on the darning foot and messed everything up. So I found a short pin that had come in a recent new dress shirt for Charlie. That worked fine!

I sewed the card to the quilt a couple of times going around the corners, and some of the straight lines weren't very straight. But I got better as I went along.

Now I only have one quarter of the quilt left. Tomorrow I will layer that and pin it and stitch in the ditch, and do these circles and squares. Then sew the last pieces together. After that I'll think about borders.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Decisions about quilting finished

Coffee time with Ray and Dianne

My sweetie pie

Three-fourths of the Carolina Crossroads

I finished the Stitch in the ditch on the third quarter of the quilt today. That's the triangle closest to the camera.


In the middle is the section that is made up of two parts, already quilted and then sewn together.


The triangle in the upper right is the duvet showing on our bed. That's where the last quarter of the quilt will be when I get that part quilted.

And here is a photo of the back, made up of three different plaids so far.
This is my first try at doing a quilt in sections like this, and I thought I might as well have the backing of each piece be different.


Sara


Gratitudes:
Harry Potter on TV
Leftovers for lunch and dinner--no cooking
Cleaned up a pile of paperwork!

Still quilting Carolina Crossroads

Thought I should show a photo of my sewing machine with the Carolina Crossroads quilt in process of being quilted. I had previously, at a retreat, matched up the four parts with backing fabrics and batting. The middle two pieces were then quilted and sewn together, front and back.

When I came home from the retreat, other projects took precedence. Today I was ready to work on the next section becauseother things were finished. I have to admit that it helps that the kitchen got cleaned, and there was a clear, clean counter bar on which I could do the pinning.

So this is the third piece, I got it pinned, and it is about 2/3 quilted, stitch in the ditch. I am still considering whether or NOT to do some additional quilting in the middle of those "empty" squares. But if I did, what would it be? Good thing there is time to think more while I finish the quilting part!

Tomorrow the whole day will be spent driving to Ann Arbor with the Grand Rapids Women's Chorus for a day long workshop/event for women's choruses. We will hear 12 other choruses, and sing ourselves for about 10 minutes. And every chorus will be "adjudicated". I think this means we will get to hear from an expert how we failed to be perfect. Oh well, Other choruses are always interesting! Just no quilting will get done.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Another day of quiet

Clean house

Charlie liked dinner

Carolina leftovers

After much thought I finally realized that the Carolina Crossroads blocks were nine-patches. So I made BIG nine-patches to set between the "Ring" blocks I had put together with leftovers a couple of days ago.

So now I'm looking at it and not too thrilled. I hope getting the RIGHT borders on it will make a terrific difference. It is pretty dark, so I started with a 3/4" light mini-border. It's all sewn. And now I'm kind of stuck for what comes next. This will be a baby or neonatal quilt, so not very much bigger. The big nine-patches are looking HUGE to me.

Therefore I laid it aside and did "thoughtless sewing" for the rest of the afternoon and evening. That is, I put more pieces onto Confetti blocks. And I spent time reading other quilter's blogs.

Sara

Gratitudes:

warm sewing room on a wintry day

classical music on WBLU

sharp cheddar cheese

Another little top

Yes, I am working on the Carolina Crossroads leftovers! Yesterday I put together the five big "Ring" blocks from Bonnie's mystery. They can be combined as a large 9-patch, but I don't know yet what to use as the alternate patch. Still thinking on that one.

Today I finished this one to use up the 18 nine-patches with 5 light squares. It is 26 inches square. I made the binding from the rest of he border fabric. I should be able to quilt this on my home machine. This could be a neo-natal quilt, or if I do a GREAT job finishing it, I could put it in the Small Quilt Auction at the Guild show next October.

Healthy Habits: Low on the exercise this week. Bad weather cancelled exercise classes. Weight loss in the past month = 1.5 lbs. Well, it's not good, but it's better than going in the other direction!

Sara

Gratitudes:

anniversary reception all planned

new-to-me Mary Balogh novel

Charlie cooked steak for dinner

Leftovers from Carolina Crossroads

For some unknown reason I looked in my box of 3.5 inch patches, and there was a pile of 9-patches!

I usually have at least three little quilts for donation to the Neonatal Unit at our regional hospital when the Guild collects them in March. So I have had it in mind that I should make a few that size. I finished putting this top together yesterday.

Today I have been worrying about the LEFTOVERS from the Caolina Crossroads quilt. I had about 20 rail fences that I decided had too dark a center rail. I had about. . .Oh, another 20 9-patches with the accent corner, which I decided was too LIGHT a yellow. And then I had a few dark cornered 9-patches, and a whole lot of little squares and little strips of three squares.

So, entirely out of keeping with my normal prqactice of piling the new projects on top of the old projects, I felt that this pile of leftovers has to be HANDLED.

I sewed a lot of little things together so that they made whole 9-patches. However, the yellow "accent" squares were migrating around because there were so many of them.

Now I have counted them:

20 rail fences, 20 9-patches with dark corners, 40 9-patches with the accent corner, and maybe another accent (or two) in the block. I have put everything else away into the drawers. Tomorrow I will have to devise something with these blocks. Those railfence blocks are really dark. I could make 5 of Bonnie's Ring blocks, and still have a lots of 9-patches leftover. I can't think about it any more right now. I'm DONE.

Swimming today. Steps: 2838

Sara

Gratitudes:

Hot shower in the locker room

Afternoon nap

Dinner at new friends'

Decided on Layout

Okay, I went back to Bonnie's original design.

The votes were coming in more in favor of this one, and I decided that by making the six Stars have yellow centers they were more visible.

And really, I couldn't face spending the time it would take to put sashing in! Boy, pure laziness makes the decision once again!

Furthermore, it's not really all together. This is a sham. It's really still in four pieces. Someone on the Mystery chat list suggested that it is a lot easier, in fact POSSIBLE to quilt a large quilt on a Domestic Sewing Machine (DSM) if you leave the top in pieces that are more manageable. So I'm going to try it.
I think this design is so busy that it will hide the many flaws I am bound to produce. But it will be good practice. I'm frequently saying that I am going to work harder on learning to quilt on my machine. Here's a chance to really do it.



Before the Guild meeting I met with two gals who also joined the Carolina Crossroads Mystery. We showed each other our tops, Pat Major on the left, and Pat Hogan on the right.



Sara

Gratitudes:
Got the top together!
Gwen Marston's liberated quilts
Really wintery

More on the Layout

Call this A. Adjacent.

Call this Sashing B. ------------------------------------Call this Sashing C.

There you have it! Three choices of the layout for Carolina Crossroads.
Which do you like, and WHY?

These photos are straight on, but the quilt is going to be set with the blocks on point. And I made six of the stars have yellow centers, and they will go in the middle two rows of the quilt. The outside Stars have dark centers.

Charlie and I had appointments to give blood this afternoon--and were both turned away because of our trip to Costa Rica! We might have been bitten by a malaria mosquito. And we can't give blood for a YEAR!

10:30 pm
I put 20 of the Ring blocks together today. I need 30 for the quilt as I enlarged the design. I had about 8 for the photos. Now I have had to take them off the bed so that DH can go to bed. Oh, dear.

You will not be surprized to hear that the votes coming in on which version you like are divided! Not clear what is the "winner", but black is the loser. What, you say, there is not artistic agreement among quilters! A shocking development.

Sara

Gratitudes:
Quilters are polite when asked their opinion
Charlie cooked dinner
Got all my GOE exams printed off today

Carolina Crossroads Layout

After church,

and the potluck,

and the annual meeting. . . . . . I managed to get to work on the Ring blocks of Bonnie Hunter's Carolina Crossroads mystery. There is ONE Ring block on the corner of my sewing desk. Ten others are in mid-construction, and there will be 20 after that. Last night I RE-constructed a number of the smaller blocks to get some variety into the dark yellow fabrics.

This whole ENDING of the project is getting very slow--I am not decided about whether or not I want to put it together the way Bonnie has. This indecision is interferring with every step of the project! I have to keep telling myself, "Just do the NEXT thing!" I don't have to do all of the steps, just the next step.

I laid out a sample of the blocks (with just the one Ring block), and I am wondering about separating the blocks with sashing.

But I also read the comment of someone else who was going to make the blocks into two different quilts. That's another possibility.

I think I will have to get some more blocks done before I can make a decision.

I lost a lot of time over a couple of football games. Too bad for the Packers!

Sara

No exercise today

Gratitudes:

People sang well and covered up my guitar errors

Finally got the primrose to Ann

Olive tapenade on crackers

SpoolSpinners meeting & GOEs

Spent most of today working on the Carolina Crossroads mystery quilt. I decided that I want to change out some of the fabrics I was using for the Accent. They aren't bright enough to show up in the bigger blocks. So once I figured that out, I made some new parts. And then I realized that the un-sewing was a perfect activity to take to the quilting bee evening meeting. Usually I don't have ANY hand work, and certainly nothing I can dream up for the evening. This makes the two hours good only for conversation. So tonight I was able to "frog-stitch" (rip it, rip it) while engaged in conversation.
.

Here is the current status of our contribution to the Guild Raffle. We earlier made two sets of Whacky Baskets, using a design of Gwen Marston with polka dot fabrics for the baskets, and black & white backgrounds. Now our bee's applique experts have designed the borders and they are ready to go home with four different people for home handstitching.

Quite a number of the Bees in our Guild make a quilt for the Raffle, in addition to the main Raffle Quilt. This is the major moneymaking endeavor for the expenses of the next two years, AND for our support of The Tie That Binds (Neo-natal unit in regional hospital). The Raffle will be drawn at the Guild Biennual Show next October.

We are making a second basket quilt, which will go to someone in our own Bee. This will be a first. We have never known the person who won our quilt! I'm in charge of putting this one together, and the borders will not be nearly so complex! I'm thinking "A Tisket, a Tasket, a green & yellow basket". How many letters is that?

I will be reading the (Episcopal Church) General Ordination Exams again this year at the end of the month in Baltimore. I finally remembered to look up the questions tonight. Don't yet have the examinations to read, but I can be studying the questions and the background matierial for the readers. There are half-day essay exams for seven different areas of study. So 20-25 pages to read for each person taking the exam. I'll have a partner as well as a supervisor who also reads the essays of the six persons that the two of us are to evaluate.

"Are there any acts that are intrinsically evil?" That's the Ethics question. Hmm, looks like I'll get to learn a lot, as usual.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Bill McLaughlin teaching about Magyar music on NPR

Secret Sister interested in her gifts

A no-sugar cake at the Bee meeting!

Errands & Jazz today

Wednesday is always my rushing-around-town day, breakfast out with my Cursillo reunion group, tutoring two elementary school kids in reading for a half hour each, and then getting in 2000 steps at the Meijer's store before grocery shopping. Had a sugar low because I forgot to eat a granola bar after the tutoring, so I went out to lunch unexpectedly!

This Magi turned left when the two others went past the shepherds. Don't know exactly where his home is, but I think his horse is refusing the jump from the Bose to the piano.

We were invited to Ray and Dianne's for dinner and to go out to Noto's for jazz with Mary Rademacher, both of which we enjoyed.

Now I have finished the 20 Hourglass blocks for the Carolina Crossroads addition, but I haven't put the mini-blocks together to make the Ohio Stars. Hope to get that done tomorrow before the Spoolspinners meeting, and maybe have a chance to study Bonnie's additional instructions.
Sara

Steps: 6112 (includes 22 minutes of walking)

Gratitudes:
Reunion group conversations
Avontea's interest in gorilla calendar
Meal and time with Ray, Dianne, and Jean

Swim, Snow, Sew

30 minutes of Swimmercize this morning, and then another 27 minutes of aerobic laps under direction of the coach, Sandy. So I reset the Ticker for this next week.

We have had a light dusting of snow off and on since last night. Since 11:00 when I was home from the swimming pool, Zeke has been in and out of the house about five times. I let him out the front door when he "asks". He finds his favorite place in the front yard and rolls and rolls, wiggling on his back. He just loves the snow and wants to really get close to it! I give up on watching him and go back to the sewing room. About ten minutes later I hear a "Woof". He is waiting on the deck by the slider to come back in. Dark photo because of the clouds.

Zeke feels that after every outing he should get a treat. Dad agrees, but I don't.

Yesterday and this morning I made some of the extra mini-blocks for Carolina Crossroads so that I can make the quilt top longer to fit our queen bed. I have constructed the 20 railfences, 20 and 35 of two kinds of 9-patches, and the 4 half 9-patches. Tomorrow the 20 Hourglasses! I want to get the extra Onio Star blocks made before Bonnie's new clue on Thursday.

I have been working on Secret Sister stuff again this afternoon, and having fun with it. Our Bee, SpoolSpinnners, will meet on Thursday evening, so I want to have something ready then.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Mango for breakfast

Granola bars, all set for needed snacks

Zeke at play

Making Carolina Crossroads longer

I have decided that the half- and quarter-Ohio-Star blocks Bonnie assigned to us must mean that the blocks will be set on-point. These will then be the setting triangles around the outside.
AND I don't want a square quilt (80"x80") for my queen bed;
I want to be able to tuck itunder the foot of the mattress.
SO having finished Step 6, I am now making enough additional 3.5" blocks to make another 4 more Ohio Star blocks, and 5 more undefined blocks (the ones she hasn't told us how to put together yet). I think adding a "row" of each to Bonnie's total will give me enough to make my quilt more like 80" x 92" before borders, and thus long enough to tuck.
Anyway, I have four more days before another Clue, with "nothing" to do! Might as well make more block pieces![Hmm, I guess this means I'm not giving this quilt away, but want it to be the first I've ever made for my own bed. Talking to you helps me read my own mind!]

Another UFO, hanging in front of my sewing room. These squares were samples of batiks, and sewn together at a quilting retreat last fall as a time-filler. As I contemplated it, it began to look like a Lenten Meditation. I plan to put on some embellishments of a very discrete and unimposing nature. But I don't know whether to apply them before or after quilting. I have little experience with embellishment. There is a silky gray ribbon hanging down on one side as an example.

And here are some UFO Puss-in-the-corner blocks I made when Bonnie Hunter was doing something like them. I wanted to do something different than she did for sashings, of course. There are 80 blocks, 6" finished, which should make a top 48 x 60. What is needed now is to find the right sashing and cornerstones.

This UFO is a tesselation block that I thought I had dreamed up by myself in about 2004, with great concentration! Then I found the same pattern in a book somewhere, discovering it wasn't new at all. This piece is about 28 x 28. So what on earth can that be used for? I guess I could turn it into a Neo-natal quilt.

The book group at church is starting to discuss Awareness by Anthony de Mello. We only read five of the short segments, but we had a rousing discussion around his statements:

1) we would rather sleep than wake up,

2) we should want our own happiness more than we love anyone else, and

3) he can't give us any help!

I think his intention is to get our attention, and then depend on ourselves.

A challenging book.

Sara

No healthy Habits report today.

Gratitudes:

That Lynne organizes the book group

Lunch with Kathie

Jordan almonds

Step 6, part2 Carolina Crossroads

Sixteen "half" Star blocks is the second part of Step 6.

If it was a whole Star, this would be the center square. Bonnie's directions included making all the diagonal edges be the straight of the grain. This leads me to think that these are the outside edges of the quilt (before borders). The regular blocks will be set on-point, and these will be the setting triangles. I hope that by making these center triangles all RED they will form a marker for the outer edge of the quilt top. Not really a border itself, but a visual dotted, red line of a sort. Hmm, it's just a guess--and I love red anyway.

So these are done. All that's left of Step 6 is the four one-quarter Star blocks. (These will be the corners of the quilt, I imagine.)

Otherwise, today I cleaned out a few file folders full of old financial statements. Some had to go through the shredder, and made PILES of shreds. Dumping the machine's container into grocery bags spilled some on the floor, and I picked them up tediously. This was in aid of filing MORE financial statements in the drawer, which had been full. Sometimes it's all I can do to get the statements into the right room if not file. But each time a new statement goes in, and old one should be purged, and isn't. Trouble is, there are stacks of papers that haven't even been moved into the right room! Stop that negative thinking. . . .I'm making progress. At the moment I am motivated. So ACT while motivated. [One of my gardening books said, "The best time to prune your shrubs is when the pruner is in your hand and you are standing next to the bush." That's more important than what season it is!]

Sara

Day off from Healthy Habits exercise.

Gratitudes:

Quiet day

Charlie made dinner

Mahler's Fifth at the symphony concert, never heard it before