Cheerful 30s Quilt

 Since spring is really showing off all her prettiest colors, I thought I would share a quilt that I like to use on our bed in the spring time. 

This 30s quilt barely covers the top of our queen size bed, but I put it on anyway. It is just so cheerful and colorful - the perfect compliment to those colors Mother Nature is providing all around us. Yellow daffodils and forsythia; bluebells; tulips of every color; hyacinths; dogwoods; redbuds; flowering pears and so very many more - the hillsides around us are awash in color.

The story on this quilt - you know, every quilt has a story, right? - I hand pieced all the blocks at track meets when our son was in high school. That would date the blocks to 1997 - 2001. Every fabric has a positive/negative block. Do you know what I mean? Where the background is neutral in one block, the other block with that fabric is exactly the opposite. The blocks are then set randomly, but alternate between print and neutral backgrounds. 

I had seen a similar quilt in ads for some long-forgotten product in quilt magazines. I studied it often when I came across it, and as it continued to grow on me, I knew I had to make it. That lead me to searching block books to see what this was. Tennessee Puzzle, I learned.

Track meets afford a person lots and lots of free time. Of course, I watched all the events, but I was most interested, naturally, in our son's events. Rather than to just sit around, I stitched, and made nearly all of these blocks at various high school tracks spread across south-central Ohio.

Like many of the quilts I made during these years, my grandmother hand quilted it for me in simple outline fashion. She told me she enjoyed quilting on these 30s reproduction prints, as they were reminiscent of the real ones she used as a young wife and mother. 

I'm here at the quilt retreat and getting lots of things done. All the girls are having a great time; Quite a few quilt tops have been finished. Several are working on UFOs while others are playing catch-up on various sew alongs. We shopped on Monday and yes, I have new stuff. The best part is how wonderful it's been to have this get-away with the girlfriends and just stitch to our hearts' content.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

So, So Close

I have removed the 6-point star quilt from the quilt frame and have done just about all I can in the oval frame. The very outer edges, like 1-2 inches, are all that are left to be quilted. This is what is known as the home stretch, I do believe.

It has been a very long haul on this quilt and as I take these final stitches, I find myself thinking about the binding I will use. Just about anything will do, I suppose.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Home Stretch

I fear that you all think I am crying wolf by now, because I've said so many times already that I am close to being done with my Long Road Home quilt.

This time, I really mean it. Really.

I promise that I will not be showing you this quilt again until it is finished. Cross my heart!

My goal is to quilt like mad this week and be done by Sunday. That's my goal, and I think I can achieve it. That's how close I really am this time.

My attention span on this quilt has been anything but steady, obviously. I work on it for awhile, then my fingers get sore, so I put it aside. Then I lose interest for weeks or months at a time. Eventually, I go back to it. I listen to library books on Overdrive which keeps me focused. Or I watch sports - basketball, baseball or football games. I can do a lot when good games will be on television.

I WILL have this quilt quilted this week. That is a goal that I am confident I can achieve. And I will. I'm determined to do it.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

U-Turn Anyone?

Well, my retirement didn't last long. I promised myself that I would not work for 2 years. I was determined, too, to keep that promise! So what was so good that I couldn't pass it up? That, my friends, is the U-turn...

A week ago, I got a call from the local regional campus of a major state university. They were desperate for English teachers - more specifically, freshman comp. instructors. I found myself (surprisingly) very excited by the offer, and a day later accepted. In the rush to prepare for 3 classes, I have had to put my quilting on hold.

Why would I give up my hard-earned retirement and the freedom that goes with it? Well, it pays very nicely. And since I have been bitten by the travel bug, this little gig will pay for the 2 trips I am taking next summer.

Now even though I have not quilted a bit this week, things will look up in the morning. My new little quilting group is going on an adventure! We scheduled it several weeks ago, and how glad I am that my new job didn't interfere with this! I teach only on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so a Friday outing to shop for fabric and explore a new shop can go on as planned!

Okay, so since I have no new projects to share, I dug out these pictures of a quilt I made a few years ago. Here is the story on it:

Our son, a cross country runner, was in college and we (his parents) were able to travel to only a few of his meets, since he was so far from home and they usually interferred with his dad's races (dad coaches; son runs). Anyway, we were going to make it to one particular meet, and I needed a project to stitch while in the car. I have always like the churn dash block, so I dug out an assortment of reds and beiges, and proceeded to hand stitch my way to a quilt top. My best guess is that I spent about a year at odd and sundry times piecing this quilt top. Then I added mitred corner borders, and waited to see if my dear Grandma would quilt it for me. She said YES! So, it is hand pieced and hand quilted. Isn't that a nice thing?

I have enjoyed getting a few comments from some new blog friends, and even a shout-out from one follower! This cyber community is really fun!

Gift from Mailman

Does your mailman make deliveries like this? Doesn't it look delicious? This was in my mailbox yesterday. I am always interested in adding to my Kaffe Fassett collection, and a quilting friend had just introduced me to some of his older polka dot and target prints. (My dear friends, the "Frienzies," made my retirement quilt out of Kaffe fabrics because of my recent love-affair with his material -the fabrics and the quilts. That will be another picture in another post.) In searching around on the internet, I found a site that had clearance-priced some of these older pieces, so I was prompted to take advantage. The out-of-place floral in the mix is an Alex Anderson print which I took a fancy to as I was "shopping." Online fabric shopping has become the norm for me, lately. I just haven't had the inclination to make it out to the actual shops. And, I do think I am getting pickier, in that I want fabrics that will enhance what I already own. Won't these fabrics look great in my stash? And even greater in a quilt?

Okay, now I already own more fabric than I will ever be able to use. Quilters know this reality, I am sure. This fact, however, does not stop said quilters from continuing to add to the stash. I wish I could explain this phenomenon. Perhaps it's inexplicable. Besides, who needs an explanation? We just "need" more fabric! This next statement will be shocking, so prepare...I truly am cutting way back on my fabric stash-building! Yes, it's true. Since I have retired, I plan to focus on the making of quilts, rather than on the accumulation of fabric. As a matter of fact, I will go one step further...

My goal for this first year of retirement is to see how many quilt tops I can make. It'll be sort of like a contest I will have with myself. I have an unlimited number of patterns to choose from what with all my magazines, books, and print-offs from the internet. I also have a more-than-ample stash of fabrics at my disposal to use on these quilts! Won't I have a great time making gorgeous quilts? I am very excited to get started.

What is stopping me from proceeding right now? I have one more baby quilt to finish hand-quilting. The completed one is shown here. The girls, my nieces, will be 2 in October, and I've set their birthday as my arbitrary deadline. A second UFO that I want to strike off the list is Erin's quilt - the one that just needs to have the borders added. Finish those, and I will, in earnest, get cracking on quilt-top creating!

A New Beginning!

I have an old blog, but want to begin a new, improved one. This is my test/transition post. Working out the bugs, so bear with me...

The summer has come to a close, the school year starts tomorrow for Emma, and I begin my first day of being retired. Technically, I retired in May, but when you're a teacher, summer vacation doesn't really count as being retired. There's no going back to school for me this fall! I am embarking on a new adventure--one that opens up many possibilities! Each day I will get to decide what I want to do - finish a work in progress? begin a new project? read a book? have lunch with girlfriends? whatever needs to be done or whatever is "calling me" to be done--I now have the freedom to make the choice!

Brings a grin to my face just thinking of it! :-)

This has been a good day in a couple of ways. First, I managed to get a new blog started in time to chronicle the goings on in my newly retired world. Also, my dear friend Kay came out to take advantage of the monthly fabric sale at our local Ben Franklin store. She brought the Kaffe Fassett project she is working on; we ventured upstairs to my sewing room to look at my enormous KF stash; we shopped at BF (she bought fabric; I bought none!); and we went to the Greenfield Farmers' Market. And finally, Kay ran an errand for me by picking up my sewing machine from the cleaning & repair shop. I now have a newly serviced machine to use when do begin the next project!!

The stars have certainly aligned for me.

I continue to quilt away on the 2nd of the baby quilts. I put this one in the frame about 10 days ago, and currently have 15 blocks quilted. There are 48 blocks in the quilt, plus borders. I am working as much as my sore fingers will allow. My goal is to finish by the twins' 2nd birthday, October 11. I will attempt adding pictures of the finished baby quilt and the one in the frame in tomorrow's post.