Revisiting The Conroy Center

Back a couple of weeks ago, just after we returned from our mini-vacation to South Carolina, I wrote this post about how we practically tripped over the Pat Conroy Literacy Center. Why, if we'd planned that as our destination, we probably never would have found it, yet there it was waiting for us as on a leisurely jaunt through Beaufort. 

Since that earlier post, I have additional thoughts to share - not so much quilting related (fair warning!) - but more literary in nature. Please indulge me!

First, I sent an email to Pat's sister, Kathy, to share the link to that first post. Incredibly, she responded! She included info about her friend who IS a quilter and who helped her navigate through the quilt-making process. Her response was very cordial, and she had a single request - to please include her friend's name. 

In Kathy's own words, "...my teacher ... Brenda Wagner, as it would not be possible without a great teacher. When I asked Brenda if she would teach me how to quilt she said yes. I said we have a slight problem - I don't know how to sew. She was not afraid of me."

Sweet. I always knew we quilters were fearless people. *grin* Consider it mentioned, Kathy.

I shared just a couple of pictures of the Conroy Center in the first post, so I will add the remaining ones here.

By any chance are you familiar with a world-wide effort known as Little Free Library? I am aware of it because one of the friends in my book club has actively established some in our area, and she continues to make sure our local Little Free Library is stocked with books. Well, before I even entered the front door at the Conroy Center, I snapped these two pictures of their Little Free Library. Click on each pic to get an enlarged view so you can read the quotes. So apropos. I knew before walking into the place, I was gonna' love it!

And speaking of Conroy quotes, note the one on this bench which along with the scene represents Conroy's year of teaching on Daufuskie Island, the subject of his memoir The Water Is Wide. I highly recommend this book; I'm planning to reread it this summer. So good. Anyway, I learned that the bench is a new addition to the Center because I now subscribe to the Conroy Center email newsletter; an artist's profile is featured in the most recent edition. I'm learning quite a lot about the Center's activities as well as the cultural scene in Beaufort. 

I mentioned in the first post (link up top) that I remember reading The Prince of Tides in the summer of '88. In response to the post, I had an email from my friend Dee (yes, our sew along Dee), in which she recollected one particularly vivid scene - and it is memorable for me from her reading it aloud when Sharon and I were gathered at her house. The scene is hilarious; Dee's email synopsised perfectly, "...Mom served pleasingly disguised dog food to the tyrannical abusive dad who had complained about the original dinner..." Yep. Perfect. The scene served to lighten the mood and tamp down the book's intensity as it came on the heels of an especially harrowing episode.

Well, that is all I have in regard to revisiting Beaufort and the Conroy Center. Hopefully, you've not been too bored.

If you've stayed with me through all that literary stuff, then you deserve to see a quilt picture. *grin* Almost exactly one year ago, I was finishing up Larkspur Stars, and I love it as much now as I did when I made it. Oh! It needs to be quilted!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Star Block Tutorial

Back a few weeks ago I finished a quilt I called Larkspur Stars made with my stash of Larkspur fabrics. I did not have a pattern, and did what I seem to do more often than not - I made something up.

Go figure.

Here's the quilt, in case you missed it. And here is a link you can click back on.

I had some interest from a couple of readers about making the stars for this quilt, the sizes and so forth. This tutorial will answer those questions. (The setting blocks are pretty basic stepping stones blocks, and can be easily found in most any quilt pattern book.)

This star block measures 12"  - which means you won't have to make too many in order to have enough for a quilt, especially if you use setting blocks.

With my Larkspur stars, I wanted to be as random as could be with all the prints, both feature prints and background prints. I had one charm pack and a few fat quarters from which to make the stars. My goal was as little waste as possible - but, I try for that goal with about all my quilts, honestly.

Here is my sketch for the block. The essential numbers to remember are scribbled around the drawing.

For the solid square units, cut 4 for your center at 3.5".

Cut 4 squares of background at 3.5".

For the HSTs, cut 4 colors at 3 7/8" and 4 background at 3 7/8".

Place one color and one background right sides together , draw a diagonal line. Stitch a quarter inch on either side of the line, cut, trim, press.  These HSTs should be right at 3.5", but just in case, trim if necessary. It makes a big difference, so I take the time to do this.

At this point, I lay out my block to see how it looks. If I want more variety in my color placement, this is the time to change things out. For my demonstration star, I am using just a few purple fabrics, so I am not concerned with variety.

Now, the sub-units are prepared, and we move on to constructing the block. I typically would approach this with a chain-piecing mentality. Sew column 1 to column 2, then add column 3, then add column 4. However, I found that I more frequently ended up with sloppy intersections, so I moved to a different method which I now prefer. Make each quarter-block unit, shown below.

After pressing, I lay them out again to be sure all color placement is correct.  I now attach the two top pieces, paying very close attention to pinning my intersection where the HSTs meet. Do likewise with the bottom two pieces.

Yes, I am a pinner. I want my points to come out as near-perfect as possible. I don't always achieve this, but I am achieving it more frequently with this construction method.

I line those seams up as perfectly as possible. I check the intersections of the two HSTs. I pin on each side of the intersection to eliminate unwanted moving or slipping. Like I said, most of the time I get it right; not all. The next two pictures illustrate this point for me.

Spot on!!

Ehhh, not so much.

I left it. It might have warranted another try, but I am not too bothered. It won't be visible in the midst of a big quilt, right?

The rest is self-explanatory - sew the top half to the bottom half. Again, take care to pin where those HSTs meet. I take the time to pin the center intersection, also. I want this right! Pin!

There you have it. My Larkspur star block. As I look at these two side intersections, I am pretty happy. I got 3 of 4 pretty darn perfect. Scroll back up to the top to inspect the block using the Larkspur fabric. Those intersections look alright, too.

I hope this is helpful for you. Let me know if you have good luck with making this star. It is definitely an easy one, no doubt. I might go on from here with this block and see what I end up with. Who knows!?

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Another Larkspur Reveal

The fun we have had using our Larkspur stashes! Sharon finished up her strippy 9-patch quilt on Thursday with incredible success. It is a gorgeous quilt!

Sharon is calling this quilt Larkspur Lane, based on a book of one of her favorite childhood book characters, Nancy Drew. I was never a Nancy Drew reader, but Sharon says she read them all, and collected many of them. She remembers one book in particular with Larkspur in the title.

What a great name for this quilt, wouldn't you agree? And a special connection makes it perfect. Now, let's see more pictures.

The goal was to make Larkspur quilts in June, and we are both done by mid-month. We are thrilled with our flimsies! And guess what?  We both  have remnants calling to be used. What will we do with those?! Stay tuned; we are likely to come up with something.

 Click here if you missed seeing my flimsy.

I am off on a day date with DH. No sewing for me today!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Larkspur Stars Reveal

I finished sewing the rows together Sunday afternoon, but did not get around to pressing it until yesterday, so today is reveal day. And I really ought to wait until I add borders, but what fun is that? I have a plan for borders but the weather has been so inviting that I just haven't had any desire to stay indoors to sew.

Here's Larkspur Stars without her borders. Just as pretty as can be, in my opinion. I tried to be random with the stars and orderly with the setting blocks.

Because I had lots of yellow and coral, and very little blue/green and red, I did one little cheat. Every fabric used in this quilt is Larkspur by 3Sisters/Moda with the exception of about 4 blocks that contain either a square or an HST of the red from Roman Holiday also by 3Sisters/Moda. Sharon was the brains behind this idea and it worked beautifully. I like it when designers create multiple lines that are compatible with each other.

I had a request on the measurements I used for the stars in this quilt so that might just lead to a tutorial sometime soon. As I do with most things, I made it up from a picture I saw on the internet, so if there is a pattern for it somewhere, I don't know what it is called.

I have a raccoon update. We set two traps last night; both traps triggered, but one escaped by chewing his way through the metal cage. Now if that doesn't illustrate how destructive those little buggers are, then nothing will. We took the one who remained off to a nearby habitat. Tonight we will set the one trap again; I am sure we will get another.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Raccoon Skirmishes

We have a raccoon problem here and they are set on destroying my summer potted flowers. I came down the stairs this morning to look out the front door at THREE of my pretty red geraniums uprooted and potting soil everywhere.

The fact that raccoons reside in the wilderness surrounding our house is no surprise. We have seen them for several years, and I know they eat all birdseed in the feeders every night. They also have been known to raid the garage if we forget to close the door, and they destroyed a few potted flowers last summer.

I worked really hard several days last week to prepare some pretty pots. I mostly stayed with geraniums, pansies, snapdragons, and coleus. I have probably close to two dozen pots set out all around the house and garage. The arrangement above is by our front door. I worked too hard and spent too much money to have it vandalized every night by raccoons.

I have talked about trapping them, but have never followed through on the acquiring of traps and all that entails. After this morning's discovery, I began thinking guns and poison! Militant action! However, I calmed down, and now have two traps borrowed from friends who had a family of raccoons in their attic a couple summers back.

I will keep you updated on future skirmishes.

It's the last day of May! That means it's time for my May wrap up. What good stuff did I accomplish? Here are my 9 selections:

The top row shows my early Ohio Star blocks for the Dreamy Stars quilt, an item from my 2020 goals list. The bird feeder shows a woodpecker on the left (a regular visitor) and a rose-breasted grosbeak on the right (a rare visitor). Then the window picture is from my cleaning and making new curtains for our bedroom. The curtains are made from drop cloths bought on Amazon from the hardware department.

In the middle row, after such success with the bedroom windows, I decided to use leftover curtain fabric to make valances for the sewing room. The middle picture shows me (in the visor) with my card-playing friends, Mindy, Cheryl, Dorothy, and Rhonda. We are wearing our pink for one of our group who is currently in treatment for breast cancer. Since the Komen Race for the Cure was canceled this year, we did our own race at a local park. We took pictures and videos to send to Sally to cheer her as she fights this ugly disease. Then there is the finished Dreamy Stars - quilted, bound and covering our bed! Made from start to finish in about 2 weeks! Wow.

The bottom row begins with several old flower pots that I spruced up with black spray paint. I have so many mismatched pots from over the years, and rather than buy more, I painted them for continuity. I was pleased with the results. Bottom center is that front door picture from above, with 3 of the new-black pots. And the last picture is my Larkspur Stars quilt top. I finished it up today, and took it out to the yard for a picture. I will share more about it in an upcoming post.

Wonder what June will bring? I need to get a plan in place. Perhaps that will comprise an upcoming post, as well.

Here's to June!
Happy Quilting, Friends!