Handwork - More 4-Patches

Some quilters and seamstresses have a hard time sewing in the car, but I have never minded it. I actually have stitched quite a few projects on the road.

We were away for the weekend, so I took a ziplock bag of 2.5" squares - just in case, you know - for any down time on our journey. Finally, on the way home I dug it out and proceeded to make the 4-patch blocks you see below.

Eleven blocks done on the road. Pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. In the process of straightening up my sewing room, I find bits of fabric that can be cut into 2.5" squares, so new stuff is going in all the time. It definitely increases the scrappy factor in these little blocks. I am still considering options on how to use them. My count is up to around 140 now. I could probably make that many more from the squares I have cut.

The trip to Belmont County was wonderful. DH, our very excellent driver, said he thought it was a 9.8 on a 10-point scale. That's pretty good coming from one of our group who is an in-law in this family. Our travel party consisted of the following: Great Uncle John, Great Aunt Nina, their daughter Marilyn, my mother Jeannie, my sister Sandy and her husband Tim, and my brother Alan and his wife Beth, myself and husband Kevin. A merry party of 10 in a 15-passenger van for a 2-day trip to visit old family homes, workplaces, schools and cemeteries. We heard a lot of stories from the elder members of the group. We took tons of pictures. We did a lot of laughing.

My brother Alan and our great uncle John.

My brother-in-law Tim and my husband Kevin.

Albert George house; my mother's family lived near here when she was a little girl; Grandpa worked on the farm.

Uncle John standing in front of the house where his family lived; referred to as the Taber Farm.

My great-grandparents; my mother's paternal grandparents.

My other great-grandparents; my mother's maternal grandparents.

I am already getting my stories mixed up, so I really need to make myself sit down and get the material written out. We said we needed a tape recorder for all the tales and anecdotes that were shared. I will count on my siblings and, of course, Mom, to help me keep my facts straight.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Chaos Update

A few days back I mentioned that we were in the midst of painting our entire downstairs. Today I thought I'd show you the new color. Farewell 80s and 90s.  We are moving into the modern era.

The old color is Bran Muffin; our new color is Agreeable Gray. We hit up Sherwin Williams today and quite by accident took advantage of a 40% off sale. Win!!

And as I promised, as DH paints, I quilt. So far I estimate I have 7 hours of quilting in on Erin's Diamonds. I have made my way across the entire bottom of the quilt.

I figured a little bit of mental math earlier. I will probably get precise with these numbers at some point, but for now, I estimate that there are 420 or so diamonds in this quilt. Over 50 are now quilted, so I am at least 10% done. The quilting has been pleasurable. I like using the Pearl Cotton, and the big-stitch technique is an easy adjustment to make.

I like seeing how the red pops against the various colors in the Kaffe Fassett fabrics. Fun all the way around, for sure.

Today, DH and I are taking a break from the chaos. We are making a weekend trip back to Belmont County, OH, to visit old family landmarks. We are traveling in a 15-passenger van, and traveling with us are my great aunt and uncle, their daughter, my mother, my sister and her husband. Uncle John and Aunt Nina are the last remaining members of my grandparents' generation, so we are hoping to soak up as much family lore and history as possible in the region where they were born and raised.

Tomorrow I will show you some close-up pictures of my progress on Erin's Diamonds. I've tried to get interesting shots so you all can see the same close views that I see as I quilt.

Happy Quilting, Friends!