Appliqueing I will go

It's truly amazing how much applique one can finish when one does nothing else all day for several days. Just so you have an idea how much time I'm talking about - during the week when the virus was the worst I listened to unabridged versions of Pillars of the Earth and Shadow of the Wind, plus a Nevada Barr mystery thrown in between the two epics, appliqueing the entire time - almost 70 hours total.

First I tackled the third block of Times Remembered, which I prepped at the end of last December. The pieces were large, so it didn't take that long to finish it. Now three blocks are done, with six more to prep and finish.

Next I got out the two Carolina Lily blocks for Jan Patek's Feathered Star - Girl Gang 2003-2004. Those took a little longer since there were two of them.

My fourth applique block was the last block I had prepped from my Mid-Century Album class. I really loved how it turned out. This is another that I prepped at the end of last year. It was so much fun choosing the fabrics for this one. Now I need to prep a bunch more blocks so progress on this quilt can continue.

Lastly I pulled out the borders for Heirloom Stitches and started working on them again. I finished one border and now have the second border almost completed. When I finish it I'll sew those two onto the quilt top and take a picture to post. I'm sure most all of you have forgotten what this quilt looks like. I'm determined to finish the last two borders this month also so I'll have a finished quilt top by the end of the month.

Before I started the applique marathon I did finish the piecing I'd been doing before I got sick. I finished nine more blocks for the Hourglass Quilt - for a total of 13 blocks. Then I tucked that project away again, as I didn't have the energy to piece.

All this applique has really gotten me into the mood for hand stitching again - the virus effectively ended my desire to piece for the time being. Since my oldest WISP's are applique projects I guess that's a good thing!

The eagle has landed

I got a nice start on my eagle block at Tangled Threads last night. I stitched down his head and also stitched the yellow stripes onto the red shield. Joseph took two LONG naps today, so I finished the block by the time he woke this afternoon. I'm very pleased with how it turned out. It was a challenge because I had to cut the eagle in four parts in order to fussy cut the fabric so it gave the illusion of changing light on feathers. Everything had to be sewn "just so" in order for the shield to touch just where it was supposed to on the wings and tail. This made it pretty bulky in the center - several layers deep in the shield stripes. If I want to hand quilt them it'll have to be a stab stitch!

Tomorrow I'll get back to my Civil War and Dear Jane blocks. I have some catching up to do!

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Gratitudes:

1. Warmer weather and bits of sunshine

2. Blooming dogwoods

3. A nice evening with our kids

4. New flavors of coffee creamer

A new block

I needed some handwork for Joseph's nap times today, and since I don't have a hand quilting project ready I took my appliqué. I've not worked on blocks for the Mid-Century Album Quilt for quite awhile, so it was a refreshing change to work on one of those blocks today. You may remember that I trimmed the last block I made incorrectly, so it had to go into the orphan drawer. That soured me on this quilt for awhile.

This dove is a finished 8" block. I completed all the appliqué while Joseph napped - except for two leaves. I did those when I got home. I'm happy with how it turned out. I have one more block prepped - an eagle - that I can take to Tangled Threads tonight to work on. Looks like I'd better spend Thursday prepping some handwork. Wonder what I can do while Joseph naps tomorrow?

A lesson learned - maybe - at least temporarily

I need to stay out of the sewing room when I'm tired. We all know this, right? And and do we pay attention to this rule? I know I don't - and I suspect many others don't also. That's when mistakes happen. Sometimes little and fixable. And sometimes big and un-fixable.


Last night was my mid-century album quilt class. I've finished quite a few blocks since our last class in October so I wanted to take them with me for show and tell. The last one I finished needed trimming. Easy peasy, right?

Wrong.

I was tired. I'd not slept at all well Wednesday night. I didn't get to sleep until almost 1:00 a.m. When the alarm rings at 6:00 a.m. then that means I'm going to be tired. I made the mistake of having a glass of wine with dinner and almost fell asleep at the table. Did I pay attention to my body? Of course not! When have I ever been known to have a lot of common sense?

So I pressed the block. And trimmed of the extra allowance for applique shrinkage. And put it on the design wall to take it's picture. That's when I noticed. Can you see it? I was looking at the wrong lines on the ruler. My simple little block is now horribly lopsided. Not at all appropriate for this Album quilt.

And so I have another orphan. I guess this is why one can always find orphans for another ride on Finn's train. Oh well. I used reverse applique on the center of this one and wish I hadn't. The seam allowances on the center motifs shadow through the off white background. If I make it again I'll use regular applique for the whole thing. How's that for an attempt to convince myself this wasn't that bad an accident after all?

Tuesday report

The baby shower was very nice on Sunday - thank goodness! I always get really nervous when I entertain. We had about 20 people - and barely managed to squeeze them all into the room. I took very few pictures as it turned out, so I cant' show much until I get a picture disk from a coworker of Rebecca's that took lots and lots of pictures. The weather was horrible for the day - heavy rain and wind - which prevented one couple from traveling down for the party - but everyone else made it. We had just the right amount of food and the cake was super delicious. Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting - can't beat that!

Somehow in the middle of the preparations I managed to complete the second snowball block. It's similar to the first one - just a wee bit different. Tonight I'll start on an eagle block - the easier blocks are all done for now.

The storms hitting western Washington have been completely devastating during the last 24 -36 hours. Winds of over 100 miles battered the coastline. All roads between here and the coast are closed. The major north-south highway - I-5 - is closed about halfway up Washington state at Centralia-Chehalis. The water is over 10 feet deep across the freeway. The only available detour is a 440 mile trip over the mountain passes and through eastern Washington. The railroads are shut down also because of tracks under water. Some areas of the state are estimated to be without power for the next 6-8 days. Generators are not going to be much good because they are already running out of fuel and no roads are open for fuel trucks to come in. The best news coverage picture-wise is from one of the Seattle papers. Here is a link. The first picture you see is the town where my longarm reps live. They were evacuated yesterday and have no idea whether their home is underwater or not.

Luckily we didn't fare so badly. Lots and lots of down tree limbs and some flooded roadways, but as far as I know homes are OK and no local loss of life. One local bridge over a major creek is now closed until spring due to damage, but that's it as far as I know. It's going to take a long time to clean up from this.

Another block - and it's party time

I won't have much time for sewing this weekend, as tomorrow afternoon we're throwing a shower for Rebecca and Rick. I'm expecting between 17 and 20 guests so today and tomorrow morning will be spent getting ready. I want to bring out all the Christmas decorations except for the tree. The table will feature Winnie-the-Pooh and the rest of the house will have a festive holiday feel. Normally we decorate the weekend after Thanksgiving, but it seemed just too early this year.

I did finish another 8" block for the mid-century album quilt last night - another "cutwork" block. I love how this one turned out - it makes me think of snowflakes. Speaking of snowflakes, we are actually getting snow today - though nothing is sticking. So pretty to see it fall - and so rare for around here. I also finished the reverse applique on the bowl for the 16" fruit block - I think it's going to be a beauty.

We have new pictures of Joseph - the 8-month report. He has such an engaging grin!

The countdown to retirement is continuing - I'm down to 18 more working days! It seems so very strange!

That's it for now - have to get back to work!

Another block - and a tasty dinner

I decided to allow myself a lazy day today. The last four have been wonderfully busy - so today I decided to rest. Instead of quilting my next project I sat in the sewing room and finished another block for my mid-century Album quilt while watching episodes of Little House on the Prairie. I always loved that show - and still do all these years later.

I have a pot of turkey frame soup almost finished on the stove for dinner - the one thing I did today other than sewing - and a loaf of honey wheat berry bread rising in the bread maker. Soup, fresh bread and leftover Thanksgiving fruit salad will make us a very tasty dinner.

Back to work tomorrow - for a full week. It's been some time since I worked five straight days in a row!

Once I was allowed to sew again . . .

I really went to town! I didn't want to waste a single minute of my sewing time. I even got to do some machine quilting - the first time I've touched the longarm since I fell that fateful night in September. Here is what I've been up to . . .

Laurel Wreath block for my mid-century album quilt

Rose Tree block for the mid-century album quilt

Fireworks Quilt completed

Close-up of quilting

Latest string quilt for Hotel Hope - quilted, bound and labeled

Tomorrow I hope to quilt the other two string quilts for Hotel Hope. All of them are due at the guild meeting on December 6th, as a representative from Hotel Hope will be there to receive the 16 quilts.

I also have to get working on making gifts for my board. Traditionally the outgoing president makes a pin cushion or something similar for every officer and committee chair on her board. I've chosen what I'm going to make - now I just need to get started. Installation of new officers also happens on December 6th, so I must have the gifts completed by then. Nothing like waiting until the last minute!

Mid-Century Album Class

I've been doing so much machine sewing of scraps lately that I really feel the need for something different. It is time to get back to my handwork. Many of you have heard me talk about the mid-century Album quilt class I'm taking. I had prepped 4 small blocks and finished one, but that was all I'd done. We've had five classes now - we are almost half done - and I had one finished block. So I've been working on the other three, and now four are done. So I spent Sunday and last night prepping more blocks. I have two more 8" blocks prepped, and three or four 16" blocks. Each of our classes has focused on a different category of blocks - trees, wreaths and rings, light and dark, diagonals, and flowers. There are at least 10-12 block patterns in each packet - choosing is so very hard! I want to make them all!

My finished blocks are three trees from the first packet and a crossed leaf design from the third packet. I'm so eager to get back to working on these! We have 8 different choices for layout - thank goodness we don't have to choose that right now! I really like three of them - I don't know how I'll choose. I knew I wanted one with both size blocks, which did help me narrow my choices a little. Please let me know which of these three layouts you like best.

Eileen Trestrain, our album class instructor, is eager to start a 19th century sewing circle that meets regularly for sewing and fellowship. She had the first meeting at her house on Sunday. There were about 10 of us there, and we had a marvelous time. Three people, including Eileen, were working on cream colored wool baseball uniforms - reproductions of baseball uniforms from 1857. Next Saturday at Ft. Vancouver they are playing an exhibition baseball game - 1857 rules. No sliding in the white wool - sliding then was not allowed because it wasn't considered gentlemanly behavior! There are brass buttons on the front of the uniforms - they look more like band uniforms than baseball uniforms. Others were doing hand applique, a couple were doing red work, and one was cross stitching tiny catalog numbers on items from the linen collection belong to the Factor's House at Ft. Vancouver. Eileen is in charge of all the textiles and costuming for the Fort - when I retire I want to become one of her volunteers. We had a delightful afternoon with good conversation and wonderful 19th century food items - bread pudding, brownies, snickerdoodles, fresh fruit and lemonade. Much of the food in the 19th century is exactly the same as what we eat now! We are meeting again in September - I'm looking forward to it very much.

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Gratitudes:

1. Rain today bringing cooler temperatures

2. Fresh cherries

3. A clean house

4. New recipes to try

5. The scale creeping slowly downward

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Weekend sewing

As I said in my last post, I didn't get much sewing done this weekend. I will show you what I did accomplish - not much but still very satisfying.

From top to bottom:

First finished mid-century album block

Last Heirloom Stitches block - house appliqué is almost finished

Pieced Pine - not the best picture but gives you the idea

Mystery Block - not the best picture either - I think my camera setting was wrong

Quilt center - all but the final appliqué block

I hope everyone who celebrates had a wonderful Easter yesterday. I cooked dinner for Rick and Rebecca and we watched the DVD of their new son. They fly to Guatemala on Wednesday for their first and only visit with him. The next 4-7 months will be long for all of us. I wish I could show you a picture of him - he is so cute! - but we aren't allowed to post pictures of him on the Internet until they bring him home and he's really theirs.

Two days of progress

I may have a B+ personality according to one of the recent tests that's going around blogland, but I am obsessive about a few things - and quilting tops that list. Sunday I didn't even get dressed - didn't want to take the time away from my stitching. Yesterday after work was the same. So here are the results of one day plus about 6 hours of stitching.


All the rest of the blocks for Heirloom Stitches are cut out, except for a few background pieces for the "Pieced Tree" block. The last appliqué block is all glued and prepped for stitching except for the house piece which needs to have the windows and door done on it first. The Morning Star block - which goes in the bottom right corner - is finished. The Card Tricks block which goes above the Morning Star has only the last few seams to be stitched. The center of the "Mystery Block" is under the machine needle, and the rest is waiting to be stitched together. If you look at the pictures to the left from the top down you will see all these in order.



I also have the first block of my "Mid-Century Album Quilt" half done. This is one of the 8" blocks, and was the in-class project for the March class. I started the stitching while watching the Seattle Mariners King Felix mow down the hapless Oakland A's batters to earn a victory in the first game of the season. (Let's home this isn't a repeat of last year when we proceeded to beat them in the first game then lose to them in 17 of the other 18 times we faced them.) As the game progressed I watched more closely and stitched less - hopefully I can get the block finished at Tangled Threads tonight. I posted a picture of my block to the left, which should allow you to see some of my appliqué method. If you'd like more info and pictures about how I appliqué and a list of my hints click here.

Mid-Century Album Class

If you've been reading my blog for awhile you will remember me talking about the pre-1830's medallion class I took all last year from Eileen Trestain. It was a wonderful class - filled with information about all aspects of people's lives before 1830. In each class we received a packet which included fabric appropriate for the period, a post card showing something appropriate to the period, a packet of information on the subject for each month, and a letter from a "family member". My medallion is still where it was several months ago - still needing the last three borders.

January was the last class in the first series, and day before yesterday we had the first class in the second series - the mid-century album class. This covers quilts and fabrics from the 1840's and the 1850's. As in the first class, Eileen brought many pieces of vintage fabrics, vintage blocks, and vintage quilts for us to examine. As in the earlier class, we learned that the fabrics of the period were bright and colorful. What looks like a dull faded brown today was originally pink or purple. (The true browns are still dark and unfaded looking.) Turkey red, chrome yellow and orange, and poison green were very popular. I was amazed to learn that teal was also very popular - there were many teal fabrics in the quilts we examined. Prints include large paisleys, oddball shapes that reminded me of one cell animals we examined years ago in biology, plaids, wide elaborately designed stripes, and florals, as well as many other things. This was the era of the Baltimore album quilts, so we saw much of the "fondue" fabric that shaded from dark to light across the fabric, or from one color to another. The quilts were made from dress goods fabrics, so we learned how the dressmakers used the wide stripes to add details to garments such as sleeves cut on the bias with a stripe going around the arm and stripes that chevroned in the bodice, among other things. Our packets all included the letter from a relative, a post card, a large packet of information and patterns and two pieces of fabric appropriate for the era. Eileen told us we will receive over 400 pages of information and patterns over the course of this class.

Of course, when I got home I had trouble going to sleep because I was so excited about the class. And it was all I could do last night to prevent myself from diving right in and starting this project. Each month we will received patterns for several pieced blocks as well as appliqué blocks in two sizes. This month's packet included at least 8 different layouts we could choose. The blocks are two sizes - 8" and 16". We can do all pieced, all appliqué or a mixture of both. It's going to be a hard choice every month - already I want to do every block in my packet!

The pictures show many of the blocks that we'll be able to choose from during the year.