Hello Tin Lizzie

I reacquainted myself with my long arm machine last week. It was a comfortable session, too, as I loaded, quilted, bound and labeled the same quilt without a single snafu.

Admitting to myself that I've done so little quilting this year is something of a hard pill to swallow, as I set long-arming lots of quilts as one of my main goals of the year. Hmm..

But here we are nearly at the end of May and I have just 2 quilted quilts to show for myself. I guess I have to look at being a bit more accountable in the next 7 months, right?

The baby quilt I stitched in January/February while we were in Florida finally needed to be finished - that baby is already 5 months old! My hardest decision was which backing to use; I found a neutral solid in my stash that complimented the muted colors in the front, and they work perfectly together.

My meandering design makes me think of the flight pattern of a bumblebee; I just sorta' whip around all over the place and hope I can fill the spaces as evenly across the quilt as possible.

Baby quilts are so satisfying to do because they are small and are so quickly finished. In about an hour, I had this one done and ready to remove from the machine.

After cutting away all the excess batting and backing, I was able to create my binding strips from the backing leftovers. I love that. It helps reduce the leftover scraps. Lord knows I already have enough scraps! 

Done and ready to gift! Hopefully the little guy and his sweet momma will love on this quilt and wear it out as he grows.

Here's both a review of the fabric I used for the quilt as well as the details on making the blocks.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Updated Screened Porch

Our house is 30 years old (we built it in '92) and through the years we have tried to keep it updated with various improvements. One improvement we have long dreamed about has now been realized - we have enclosed our screened-in porch.

Originally, there was no porch. In the late '90s we added a cement pad and were satisfied with that for a time. 

In '03 we added walls, two doors and screens all around. Perfection! We really loved this space. For 20 years now, we've had our morning coffee out here, enjoyed evening suppers, watched countless sunsets, all the perks of having a screened porch in a secluded, somewhat wooded hideaway.

After a time, we began dreaming of using this space year-round and knew that would be a costly upgrade. Would we be disciplined enough to save for such an improvement? The answer is YES! We now have our 4-season porch and it will be just as enjoyable as ever.

Two new storm doors and 13 windows have now made this porch into an air-tight and bug-proof (we hope!) room that has basically become and extension of our family room. When the weather is pleasant, we will open all the windows and enjoy all of nature's breezes and sounds. When too hot or too cold, we can close the windows and allow the house's heating/cooling to keep the room comfortable. 

The door above leads into the back yard, taking us past the bird feeder and the fountain. Here's what the previous door looked like. It had long outlived its usefulness as a door with all its warped and worn sadness.

With most of the furniture moved out of the way for the workers, we realized just how spacious this porch is. We will continue using the same furniture and upgrade the cushions for now. 

Before; looking into back yard.

During; workers installing windows on back!

Finished!

The next job (we're never done as homeowners, are we?) is to put down a nicer floor. This painted cement floor was done about the same time as the screens went in and the wear is showing. Peeling paint, especially where we walk, is unsightly, but will have to stay for awhile longer.

Porch front door; we enter here from the driveway.

And now a couple of pics with the construction cleaned up and our furniture returned. We did spring for a new, larger rug in the hope of covering some of the floor's unsightliness. Hmmmm, not entirely, but it will do.

So, in the last post I mentioned that DH and I were off to Hocking Hills for a short adventure. Well, friends, sometimes these just don't work out. I got some sort of stomach bug the first night, was indisposed all night long, and we drove home - not even 24 hours into our stay. I have slept most of the last 36 hours, and finally about an hour ago had toast with coffee. We forgot our swimsuits on the deck - the only thing we really got to enjoy at the AirBnB was the hot tub. We had planned a hike and a drive for yesterday, but it just wasn't to be. Here's a pic of the rental - it's a home made out of two storage containers. Small and tight, but I'm sure it has potential for younger guests than us! Ha! We older folks like our creature comforts!

This house was every bit as secluded as it looks. We saw deer and had a virtual symphony of birdsong. It completely epitomizes the feel of Hocking Hills. For anyone interested in renting a storage container home, they are listed on AirBnb. I believe they have five with another in the works.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Slow Sunday Stitching

Gonna' have to be short and sweet today, Peeps, as DH and I are preparing to take off for a little Hocking Hills getaway.

I'm taking only one little bit of stitching, and it will be super fast and easy.

This EPP flower will be stitched to the background fabric. I've prepped the background (7" square) by folding for center. Then glue-basted the flower in place.

Why am I working on something never before shared here?

Basically, I am practicing for a bigger job. I made just a few of these awhile back and really never had any particular project in mind for them. I will applique the Grandmother's Flower Garden hexies to plain background fabric, and thought maybe a trial run would be wise.

I've done a couple already and it's pretty easy stuff; no need to be concerned when it comes time to do the GFG hexies.

Back-basting applique is my preferred applique method; I've tried lots of other methods that were not as easy as this.

Joining in on the Slow Sunday Stitching party over at Kathy's Quilts. Pop on in to say hi!

Now we are off for some adventuring!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Flitting

My brain just can't seem to maintain focus on anything lately. I seem to flit from project to project. One of these days perhaps I will settle on something. 

 In my defense, I had the dreaded virus last week, and while I wasn't terribly sick or miserable, I do notice that brain fog has lingered. While I quarantined - over a very busy Mother's Day weekend, which all happened without me! - In between naps, I spent a lot of time sitting around dreaming about all the projects I want to make. Very likely, this accounts for my inability to focus on a single project.

As I've most recently shared, I did continue working on Lake Effect, and feel pretty good about how far I've come on it. Click here to see my most recent efforts.

One of the new projects I've recently come up with is one made entirely of flying geese units. Here is the inspiration pic that got me all hyped up - it's from Prairie Quilt Company's Instagram account. 

 

The springtime freshness of these flying geese blocks just knocks my socks off. After pining for a quilt like this, I remembered a really old "someday" project stored in my quilting room. 

By gosh! Someday is finally here!!

Years - years and years - ago, I bought a yard of this "Foundation By the Yard" - I suppose it was on sale. I am sure I thought I'd use it "someday." Besides this one for flying geese, I have another one for economy blocks.

Yesterday, I cut out one length and began making geese. It's been awhile since I foundation pieced, so I had a bit of relearning to do. Yes, the seam ripper joined the party, but I did eventually get a nice strip of flying geese put together.

I'm still stoked about doing this, so I will attempt another length this afternoon.

Even though this was NOWHERE near my radar of "to-do" quilts, I find that this has a couple of unexpected benefits. First, using the "someday" foundation panel. Second, the geese can be made with my 2.5-inch strips from the scrap basket. Yahoo!

Flitting from project to project isn't so bad, I guess. I always seem to have several WIPs, and more than my share of UFOs. Even so, I love to look at quilts online and dream of all those beauties just waiting to be made. 

I dare not waste a minute and get back into the swing of things around here. 

For those who wondered - DH did not get the virus. We had some exciting remodeling activity going on here at the homestead, and, yes, I was able to maintain my distance from the workers. I will share that soon.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Lake Effect - Making Progress

Perhaps all quilters do this: the avoidance method of problem solving. After 45+/- years of quilting, I have perfected this method.

When I run into a quilting dilemma, I just STOP working on the quilt. I have had ages-old UFOs merely because of some glitch I wasn't prepared to encounter. After a modest amount of time spent stewing over it, I pop in into a tub or bin and whisk it out of sight. 

Eventually, the problematic quilt no longer seems quite as daunting a situation as I'd thought, so I revisit, and - hopefully! - finish the quilt.

This accounts for the lengthy time-out I've taken on Lake Effect. That snafu with the incorrect hexies really twisted me in knots, so I avoided altogether.

I finished adding rows around the center medallion and decided it needed to be laid out on the floor for a complete, full-on assessment of progress. 

It looks as though I am going to need further hexies, wouldn't you say? 

Or, I suppose an alternate option is use narrower borders. Then, rather than make more hexies, I would remove hexies from one area and reattach where needed. 

And the hexie situation is just one dilemma I am working out. The other dilemma - and it seems like a biggie, but maybe it isn't - is getting that outer applique border lined up so that the vines meet on all the corners.

Fortunately, I am not feeling the need to put this in hiding again. I will continue to address this quilt's issues and make attempts at systematically working through them. 

My plan at present: work from the center out. The next step is to trim and press seam allowances on the applique borders and begin stitching them to the inner section. When I come to corners, I will fiddle around with matching vines, leaves and berries as best I can. Then when the outer borders are completed to my satisfaction, I will move on to dealing with the outer hexies.

The quilt pattern calls for this quilt to finish at 66.5" x 73.5" - I don't have to follow that, though, right?

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Hello, Old Friend

After many, many months of inactivity, Lake Effect has once again come out of storage!

I bought the pattern and fabric for Lake Effect way back in 2017. It was then that I also began glue-basting the hexies. In about October 2017, I dubbed this quilt a '10-year project.' 

And as things stand today in 2023, I would say I'm gonna' need every one of those 10 years!

This current surge of attention has been devoted to adding rows around the center panel. When I was over 2-years into making this quilt, I realized a HUGE mistake I'd made. I was using smaller hexies than the pattern called for. Golly, that amounts to needing a lot more hexies. 

The timing of all this works out well; because I've so recently been working on Grandmother's Flower Garden hexies, I am a lot faster at attaching these than I used to be. Adding entire rows is not nearly the daunting task I'd been fearing. Hah! A silver lining!

This quilt will have lived a whole life just in the making at the rate I'm going! But you know what!? I am still going on it, and an occasional break from it seems to rejuvenate me into big spurts of energy. Ten years. Yessireee, I believe I can do it.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Sharon's Latest Beauty

 

Yes, Sharon and I still attempt to make time to sew together, but I tell ya, the stuff of life does have a tendency to get in the way from time to time. Last Thursday, we had a lovely day of stitching, one that resulted in a gorgeous finish for Sharon. Take a look.

 The pattern is Chock Full O' Charm, one that both Sharon and I have made several times. The fabric is French General - La Vie Boheme. The coolest thing: our friend Dee gifted two charm packs plus yardage (border!!) to Sharon a little while back and now already this gorgeous quilt has come together!!

 

I don't know about you, but I've never met a French General fabric I didn't like. This line is just as wonderful as all those previous lines. Absolutely scrummy! (A reference for viewers of The Great British Baking Show.)

Isn't she a beauty?! That narrow inner border really does the trick in setting off both the interior of the quilt as well as the fantastic outer border. A gem of a quilt, for sure!

Hope you are getting things done on this fine day! We've had a whirlwind of activity lately. From a swarm of bees on the front porch to window additions on the back porch, we are certainly staying busy!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Sewing With Nieces

My twin nieces are 15 now (already!) and about to finish 9th grade. On Saturday, they needed their Aunt Jayne for some sewing instruction on their AHG projects for sewing badges. As I understand it, American Heritage Girls is an equivalent to Girl Scouts.

Mary Jean was making a brown skirt out of a sturdy cotton - maybe twill or duck? Anyway, it was easy to work with, and she had selected a super-easy pattern, so everything was pretty much straightforward construction.

MJ is the more reluctant sewist of the two; she'd much rather crochet than sew. She's taught herself to crochet and she's quite good. But sew she did, and her skirt looks pretty darn sweet.

I left her with hand-stitching the hem and tacking down the waist facing. Pretty good day's work! We hadn't even cut this out when we started.

Now, Anna Rose did have her dress already cut out, thankfully. She is the more eager for sewing, and was in the interfacing prep stage. Her fabric was a stretchy lightweight polyester, and while I was concerned about how tricky it would be to work with, it sewed beautifully.

I don't have a picture of AR wearing her dress; we didn't get that far. Too many pins! She had a lot of hand work left to do - hem, facings and the like. It will be a sweet little black dress for her when she has a dressy occasion. 

Makes me glad that I learned how to sew way back when. Mom always had a sewing machine up and ready for stitching - more out of necessity than desire. I was always fascinated by the machine, and was so happy when I was finally allowed to use it.

Hopefully, these beautiful nieces will continue to want to sew and to feel more and more comfortable doing various projects.

Happy Quilting, Friends!