Winter Storm and Another Quilt Top

Mother Nature might be telling us we should have stayed in Florida. The first week back from our month-long vacation provided us with quite the winter storm. This 43-second video was taken Thursday afternoon outside our front door. Listen to it; who knew ice was so noisy?! (I hope it works; to my knowledge I've never loaded a video of my own before.)

On Thursday we had rain, then ice as temperatures fell. Branches, leaves, and eaves still have about a quarter-inch of ice hanging from them. Overnight, the precipitation turned to snow, and by day's end Friday, we had about 3 inches on top of the ice. Needless to say, we have been housebound. DH went out yesterday (Saturday) for the first time; I still have not and may keep it that way for another day or two.

Front yard; same general area as shown in video.

 

One would think that I'd have spent the time stitching away, but it occurs to me that I am a storm worrier, a tendency I believe I inherited from Mom. I have several vivid memories of her pacing around the house and looking out windows during serious storms over the years. I have the added duty of checking the weather app way more than necessary, just to see the storm's progress.

Back yard; Saturday's sunshine.

I barely did any sewing during the storm. Thankfully, the electric lines held firm, and we never lost power. The worst of our fate was that the internet was out for about a day, followed by a weak signal for about another day. Today, connectivity seems back to normal.

 

I love how the sunshine makes the ice glisten and sparkle.

 

The quilt top I am sharing today was completed prior to the weather event. Several years ago, Jan gifted each of us Frankfort Girls and a couple extras with a quilt kit. Some made theirs right away while I have had mine in storage, awaiting just the right time for its use. That time came with the early arrival of a girlfriend's baby granddaughter. Her arrival was to be quite a few weeks out yet; baby's timing wins out.

 

In a dusty and battered zip-bag, all the parts for this quilt were waiting to be organized and stitched. Gosh! It was fun getting to go straight to work and not have to find the fabrics, cut the strips and count the colors. I have never considered myself a fan of kits (too much fabric on hand already!), but this could convert me.

Strips cut and ready for sewing.

Monday and Tuesday, I was busy-busy-busy making units, sewing rows and finishing the top. Talk about gratifying! The ease and simplicity were perfect!

Units ready for chain piecing.

Early chain piecing; first two columns done.

After I did about 4 columns, I realized that my system could be made a lot more efficient by having the remaining columns laid out in order. This really was a huge time saver. And look at those primary colors! I love it! This is one of those cheery, fun quilts that just screams to be used and abused. With just about every baby quilt I make, I have in mind that the recipients will use it and love it and wear it out.

This quilt measures 48" x 64" - a twin batting will be used. I have it on the long arm frame now, and as soon as I figure out how to get my timing in sync, I am ready to quilt it. 

The timing issue is one I am determined to figure out. I've watched it on You-Tube videos, and I've seen it fixed in person. Now to do it on my own. I have my determination face on!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Sharon's Colorful Creation

As I said yesterday, Sharon and I are now sewing together here every Thursday. At least for the summer. We may not make every Thursday due to vacations or such, but our goal is to hit most of them.

So, now that we've established that the two of us are sewing on Thursdays, we probably ought to get to looking at Sharon's fantastic finish.

When we began our day, Sharon already had the individual units sewn together. She anticipated a rough stretch of 'math' - she's as averse to it as I am - but it turned out that she simply needed to be orderly in her stitching, thus the neat color-specific stacks.

She said that as she moved through this process, she felt as though she established a rhythm and felt pretty confident that she'd done a pretty good job of keeping things in the correct order. After all the strip-piecing in one direction, she laid it out on the bed to check for mistakes. Can you see anything amiss?

There are two small problems. One, which isn't visible in the picture, is a light orange/dark orange misplacement. The other one is definitely visible. Look in the upper left corner for a square turned the wrong way. She did a bit of unsewing and correcting, and then got straight to work on sewing the rows together. Straight off the sewing machine without even a pressing, her finish is below.

There is a story for this quilt. A year or two ago, our quilting friend Jan (of the Frankfort Girls) gave everyone who attended the Canter's Cave Retreat this kit. I have one just like it waiting to be stitched. Isn't that a generous gift? Jan is the best.

And in one day, Sharon has a new quilt. She promises to send a picture when she has it all pressed and free of loose threads. And I promise I will share it when she does.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Frankfort Girls

The gals all came to my house Friday morning for our regularly scheduled get-together, the second time in a row that all 6 of us were present! I love when we can all attend - it makes for such wonderful catching up and fellowship. Let's have a look at some of our projects.

Jan shared a recent finish. She made her primary-color zig-zag quilt. She gave each of us this quilt as a kit when we were at Canter's Cave last month. Remember she had that zig-zag theme going on in primary colors? Here's a reminder, if you want to click back. Anyway, look at how gorgeous the quilt is!

Sharon O. is making a bag with elongated hexies in EPP-style. The versatility of this EPP craze is nothing short of impressive, and Sharon's bag will be, too.

At one of our recent get-togethers, Sheryll showed us the quilt she made for her daughter's upcoming wedding. It is now at the quilter's and I don't think I blogged about it, but Sheryll is using scraps from the quilt to make this pretty hexie quilt. It looks fantastic.

Even though I didn't blog about this quilt, I did take a picture of it. I am sure that when it is returned from the quilter, I will have a chance to photograph the finish.

I made a bit of progress on a hexie flower and sifted through a big tub of EPP templates that Jan brought. I also stitched a random 9-patch block made from the cut-away parts of the backing on my paper-pieced quilt. Haven't made a 9-patch in ages - guess what - it's still fun!

Terry and Becky came too, but I couldn't tell you what they worked on. We spent a lot of time looking at quilt books and planning a block-swap. Maybe all they got done was that! We also drew #2 for the June UFO. I will fill you in on what that is for me in a future post.

Happy Quilting, Friends!