I've been fighting this nasty cold for 10 days now, and I didn't think I felt up to getting out the light box to mark this for the stitchery.  However, after I posted I decided it would be really silly to put away the top without really finishing it.  I'm glad I did!  It went fairly quickly and now is a truly complete top.

The floss is from Weeks Dyeworks.  "Bark" is variegated from dark, cool, brown to dark, cool green.  The change in color doesn't really show up on the quilt however, which is too bad because the shading is beautiful.

Edited to add:  I realized after I went to bed last night that I'd forgotton to give Peter an eye.  I'll take care of that in the next couple days.

Two little quilt tops

Yesterday I finished the applique on two little quilt tops.  Both are Jan Patek designs.  I was feeling so good about the fact that I could finally take a couple of the HSY's (Haven't Started Yet's) off the sidebar list, and then discovered that these two aren't even listed!  I wonder how many more I have that aren't listed.

"Five Hearts" finishes at 30" square.

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Peter Cottontail

"Peter Cottontail" still needs the words "Here Comes Peter Cottontail" embroidered around the edges.  I'm thinking it needs to say, "Peter Cottontail is Caught by the Door on the Way Out".  That's what I get for thinking I can cut an applique piece to its finished size when my head is stuffed by a bad cold!

More applique

Almost half of my current, ongoing projects (listed on the left sidebar) are applique.  Many blocks were in the process of being prepared for applique when I started knitting instead of quilting,  Today I'm finishing the preparation of blocks for this quilt.

 

This is one of the antique quilts owned by Eileen Trestain from whom I took four different quilt history classes.  This quilt - and project - is from the third class, "Civil War and Centennial 1850-1860".  I found three finished blocks and 31 more with freezer paper templates ironed onto various fabrics ready to be marked and cut out.  Last week I marked around all the templates, and last night I started cutting them and basting them to backgrounds.  

I love the primitive, whimsical blocks in this quilt.  When I started it I planned to set the blocks the same as the original.  Now I want to do something different with them.  Eileen gave us many choices of layouts in our class materials, so I'll contemplate which one to use as I finish the blocks.

A little quilt top

I found this little quilt top in a drawer with my "Cabin in the Pines" quilt blocks.  The applique had been basted in place and ready to finish for over two years.  At first I thought this was one of the quilt blocks - then I saw the pattern underneath and realized it was a small quilt.  The applique is now finished - it went VERY quickly.

The quilt, called "Flag and Chickens", is a Jan Patek little quilt.  I belonged to Jan's little quilt club for a couple years, so I have many of these little gems in my bins of HSY's.

Heirloom Stitches, designed by Lori Smith

Here is my finished Heirloom Stitches quilt top.  It's been finished except for the top and bottom borders for over two years.  This is the first thing I finished once Emily's quilt top was complete.  Now this is hanging in the "Finished Quilt Tops" closet waiting its turn to be quilted.

I love Lori Smith patterns!  I have many of them in my files - all quilts that I really want to do.  So many choices - so little time!

Multiple hobbies or can I spread myself this much?

I've always been monogamous when it comes to hobbies.  One at a time for me - that's how my brain works.  It has worked that way for almost 60 years.  I fall in love with something, and that's it - I don't want to do anything else.  There is only one problem with this - my other tendency.

No matter what hobby I'm doing I always go overboard.  Somewhere in the distant past I must have been fearful of running out of something in the middle of a project.  Totally silly - but that's me.  Those of you who have been reading my blog for some time know I have a SABLE fabric stash.  Well, that's not my only SABLE stash.  I have one for each hobby I've enjoyed.

When I did embroidery and then cross stitch, I saved my money and bought at least one hank of every DMC embroidery thread color made at the time.  I also have a spool of every existing DMC machine embroidery thread color for hand and machine applique.  I have a large box full of Aida cloth just waiting for cross stitching, as well as a two foot stack of cross stitch books and patterns.  I have several tubs of fabric in the attic from when I sewed all of our clothes.


Well, here's what I've accumulated since 2010, while I've been spinning and knitting:

My SABLE fiber stash, including dyed top and roving as well as 30 or so sheep and alpaca fleeces.

Sock yarn

More yarn where my plaid collection used to be.

Bins, drawers and baskets full of yarn.

Looking into the "Black Hole of Calcutta" that is my closet under the stairs.  Yarn in drawers and four huge bins (which you can't really see) of fabric - all my felted wool, my 30's fabric and all my plaids.  This isn't good - I need to get my plaids back on the shelves as I want to use them now.

More yarn, including a bin of my handspun.  I've spun a lot of yarn, but have knit very little of it.

My organized scrap collection - you may remember all those drawers and boxes of strips, squares, logs, and strings -  is gone.  I gave it to a charity group.  I decided I'd never use all my fabric if I stayed focused on scraps.  Something had to go to make room for the new!  You can see the bathroom upstairs is almost completely given over to fleece and fiber storage.

Yes, I know - I must live several lifetimes to use all of this.  Which is why I can no longer focus on one hobby at a time.  I must keep spinning and knitting as well as quilting.  This is a small house and we are almost overrun by my accumulating.

So now I publicly state the following:

I pledge to buy no more fabric or fiber items of any kind, other than what might be necessary to finish a current project.

No more fabric!

No more yarn!

No more fiber!

No more fleeces!

No more pattern books unless I'm going to make something from them immediately!

No more fiber magazines!

I must do this.  And I must try to split my time between all three hobbies.  I must change my almost 60 year old patterns of behavior.  

I can do this - I will do this - I must do this!

Now back to working on my quilts in progress, my current spinning projects (one on each wheel!) and my 14 unfinished knitting projects.  Stay tuned . . . .

Emily's Quilt Top

This is what started my quilting rebirth.  I love how this turned out!  Now I just have to get it quilted and bound.

This quilt was designed by Lynda Mulligann and Nancy Smith of Possibilities.  It is the cover quilt of the book PS I Love You Three, published in 2002.  This is the last baby quilt for a grandchild that I'll be making - there won't be any more.

Speaking of grandchildren, would you believe that both Sophie and Joseph are in kindergarten this year?  They both really love school.  Sophie is already reading at the second grade level - what a difference it makes when parents take time to read with their kids!  Joseph is reading also, but especially loves music.   He sings right out - there isn't a shy bone in his body.  And he is the "Lego King" of his generation - he is already building complicated things by following directions on his own (a space shuttle, many Star Wars items, buildings and more.)

Here is our latest "family portrait" taken when we all went camping together last July.  From left to right: Rebecca, Rick, Joseph (in front), Fred holding Emily, me with Sophie in front, Jeremy holding Chewbacca, and Chelsea with Lily in front.

Emily will be three this July - about time she got her baby quilt!

What got me started quilting again?

If you look near the top of the left sidebar, you will see "Emily's Quilt" listed.  It was listed back in 2010, and as of January this year the only progress I'd made was washing and ironing the fabrics.  I just couldn't get in the mood to get it started.  I promised Jeremy and Chelsea that it would be done by last Christmas, but it didn't happen - life interfered.

For years now I've had osteoarthritis that is slowly but surely getting worse.  I have some in my knees, and maybe a little in my spine, but primarily it's been in my hands - especially in my thumbs.  I'm right handed, but the left has always been worse than the right.  By last fall I was in constant pain - though knitting for hours each day seemed to give me relief as it exercises the joints.  I saw an occupational therapist, who made me protective splints to wear whenever I used my hands.  I also got a cortisone shot in the left basal thumb joint, which helped me a lot.

The doctor who gave me the shot ordered hand x-rays, which showed that I had no cartilage left in the left basal thumb joint, thus causing pain and deformity.  No wonder it hurt.  She referred me to an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in hand surgery.  The result was that I checked in for outpatient hand surgery on November 27th.  The procedure I had is called a thumb arthroplasty.  Basically the diseased bone is removed and a tendon is rerouted to restore normal thumb movement.

I came home that evening with a thoroughly bandaged hand and orders to do NOTHING with that hand.  Two weeks later I received a beautiful purple cast almost up to my elbow.  I had free use of my four fingers, but what good are they without a thumb?

Can you imagine how nuts I became?  The only thing I love to do that doesn't involve my left thumb is read.  I've been listening to audio books for years, but that gave me nothing to do with my hands.  I always have to have something to do with my hands or I go crazy!  I played a LOT of computer games and was bored out of my mind.  So I read regular books and made it all the way through the five volumes of the Game of Thrones series.

The cast came off on January 8th, and I got a new splint to wear as the old one no longer fit.  I still couldn't use the hand!  I couldn't apply more than one pound of pressure to that thumb, which is almost nothing.  I was able to start spinning again, as that is my fiber hand, and one holds fiber "like a baby bird".  I had eight different hand exercises I was to do five times a day!  Still no knitting.  Or much cooking as I couldn't even lift a skillet.

Two weeks and two days later I was allowed more movement, but still no knitting.  By then I was tired of spinning and wanted something different.  Enter my friend Kim, who offered to cut out Emily's quilt (there was no way I was allowed to put pressure on that thumb to hold a rotary ruler).   I knew I could safely push quilt pieces through my sewing machine, then fuse on the letters and do the blanket stitch embroidery around them.

In five days the quilt top was finished.  I loved doing handwork again!  I knew I could applique safely as I don't exert a pound of pressure when I hold the project in my left hand.  So I finished appliqueing the final two borders of Heirloom stitches,  then all the blocks of the Civil War applique quilt that were prepared (3 total) and then the two months of the Jan Patek 2009 mystery quilt that were prepared.  Also a complete little quilt top.  (Pictures to come.)  And I was hooked.

I am allowed to knit now for 10 minutes at a time with BIG needles, so I made myself a hat.  I have 12 pairs of socks in progress, but I can't use little needles or knit for over 10 minutes until the end of this month,  So I'm happily working away on UFO's, plus a couple little quick applique quilts.  All the rest of the blocks for the 2009 mystery, "Cabin in the Pines", are prepared.  All the applique pieces to the two little quilts are prepared and basted into place.

This morning I realized I really missed all my Internet quilty friends and our sharing, so it was a no-brainer to start blogging again.

I'm really glad to be back!

I'm back!

It's been over two years since my last post.  Knitting and spinning has been taking up all my hobby time.  And I've just not been motivated to write.

I'm back in the quilting world once again, so decided it was time to revive my blog.  Stay tuned, friends . . . .

Good bye 2010

Our daughter has been scanning all of our slides. I've not yet received copies of most of them, but she did send this one a few days ago. These are my parents - it's a great picture of both of them. It was taken in 1967 at Vantage, which is on the Columbia River in eastern Washington. I love this picture.

I can hardly believe that this year is almost gone. It seems like every year goes by faster than the one before. However, the last 12 days have gone slowly. I had a bunionectomy on Friday December 17 - both the big toe and little toe on my left foot. Not the best time to do it, but I needed Fred at home to take care of me for the first two weeks. So Christmas vacation it was. He goes back to school next Monday and I'm on my own. The first week was spent on my back with my foot above my heart. The second week was spent in the recliner with my foot elevated. Both weeks included icing every hour. Being waited on hand and foot was most unusual, to say the least. Also eating frozen meals twice a day. Gets very tiring! I'm mobile in that I have a knee scooter for moving around the house, but I can't drive until the end of January - that's when I can start putting weight on the foot. The scooter is lots of fun. I need to have Fred take a picture of me! Needless to say I've not been taking any pictures myself. It's also time to set my goals for 2011. I'll do that tomorrow. I know they will include knitting lots of socks, as well as making granddaughter Emily's quilt. Guess I'd better resolve to get back to regular blogging also!