Goodbye, Florida

We are packing up and pulling out of our Moonrise Resort winter home for another season. T-minus +/-36 hours until we are on the road and headed back to Ohio.

The sewing room was the first room to be packed, as my sewing machine completely gave up the fight. It is a small, light weight machine, and I have used it like it was made for heavy duty. I am holding little hope that it will be able to be fixed. 

Since machine sewing has been out of the question for about a week, I have actually returned to Lake Effect and have begun addressing the border corners - back-basting applique is in progress!

Since this quilt has been a guessing game on how I connected most elements in this quilt, I will do my best to hide gaps in vine connections with leaves and berries. In reacquainting myself with back-basting applique, I did find that I picked up that skill rather easily; I actually look forward to the possibility that I might work on this in the car as we drive home.

Another winter in Florida - hard to believe it's over already. We sure have had some good times - biking, boating, shuffleboarding, thrifting, exploring, all the while making new friends and enjoying long evenings of playing games and dining out. 

I will try to come back with a post to finish March with a collage; I hope I can make one more post before month's end.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne 

Home Improvements

So many things can be knocked out if one knows how to sew. I am using the most affordable material EVER to make curtains and other accessories here in our Florida home. Drop cloth fabric. Yes. Go to your local hardware or big box store and buy a drop cloth. The one DH brought me was less than $20 and I yielded 2 full length curtains from it.

The guest room window looks out into the lanai and it definitely needed window treatment. The panels here are the easiest type of curtains to make. Hem the bottom and create a channel at the top for the rod. Bing-badda-bing. Done.

You are also seeing how I use that one corner of the bed. I sit at the sewing machine right in that area, and the bed affords me easy access to the 1.5-inch strips I have paired up for the 9-patches. (see previous posts)

Another window treatment needing to be addressed was above the kitchen sink. I had blinds in place, but valances were needed, too. For these, I went to the scraps from last year's window treatments and found enough left over to make these.

Besides curtains, I have also made one set of slipcovers. My cousins gave me two very old and worn cubes - squares that can be used as stools. We have a low bar in the kitchen at which seating could be used, but had nothing in particular in mind for such seating. These were a perfect solution. DH and I added casters to the bottom of the stools and then I made easy-peasy slip covers for them. Awesome. I love how they fit so perfectly in that space. Here's a couple of before and after shots.

We slowly make progress on turning this double wide mobile home into our winter getaway. It has become more homey as each day passes, and we find we are quite comfortable. You see evidence there on the counter of DH's duck decoy collection. He has upwards of a couple dozen, I would say. They are pretty and will look nice grouped together on a shelf we hope to hang after we upgrade the lanai.

I have acquired a couple of sewing jobs from the cousins. One cousin wants valances made of drop cloth fabric for her dining space. Another cousin wants me to recover a bench cushion with some upholstery fabric that matches her curtains. I think I will knock those out this afternoon.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Quilts on Moonrise Lane

You all know full well that I am still making 9-patch blocks with my 1.5-inch scraps. I estimated in the last post that I thought I could get at least 100 more out of the remaining bits. And I am halfway there. Since that post, I've made roughly 50 more blocks, and it looks like I will exceed my earlier estimate. I still have a lot of pieces left, so I will likely get more than the 100 I figured on.

In an attempt to keep some semblance of regular posting, I thought you might be interested in seeing the quilts that are staying here in Florida with us. We have two bedrooms each decked out with quilts, of course. 

In the master bedroom, I have the only true king-sized quilt I've made all the way to completion. It's a Thimbleberries pattern called Snowflakes, as I recall. I call my version Snowflakes at Dusk because of the gray tones used in the background fabrics. I know snowflakes don't really belong here in Florida, but the quilt is pretty, regardless of it's wintry name. 

An interesting additional note on Snowflakes at Dusk: it is the first one I pieced upon my retirement in 2009. I had no idea then that I would ever become a snowbird.

In the guest room, I have the more recently made Spring Dreams. Sharon and I did a sew-along in 2022 using this pattern. It is fitting, then, that the first guest we will have here in the Moonrise guest room is Sharon! Yes, a scheduled visit here this month had to be rearranged for next month. 

Don't you love how well the newly painted night stand matches the fabrics used in Spring Dreams? It was a total accident, but how nice to have it look as if it were planned. Sometimes plain dumb luck wins out.

I do have one additional quilt that resides here. It generally resides across the foot of our bed. I will retrieve a pic from the way-back files to show which one. We have some pretty cool nights here, so an extra layer of quilt is necessary.

Dreamy Stars is a quilt I made and quilted in May of 2020. Yes, you read that right - made AND quilted all in the same month. A first. I'd long wanted to use these two soft-colored fabrics together, and Ohio Stars are always a fave. Win-Win! 

I've intimated that all I've sewn are the 9-patches, but I have also made some home decor items. I will share all the details next time.

Happy Quilting, Friends!