Mother's Day Round-Up

Did all you moms have a nice Mother's Day? This mom did, and I hope you did, too. My plan was to blog yesterday about Mother's Day, but plans do go awry, sometimes, and so today I am playing catch-up.

My biggest excuse for going off my plan is this darn allergy-cold I have picked up! Doggone it, anyway, but it sure makes a gal miserable with dripping and snuffling. My eyes water, my nose tickles, my throat is sore, and my head is foggy. Gah, I'm a mess.

With all that going on in my head, I was still determined to hit all my planned activities for the weekend. A good hot shower and multiple hot drinks - both coffee and tea - kept my head happy. So on Saturday, we met our girls and their fellas in Columbus at Arch City, a friendly, inviting restaurant/pub in the Short North. The girls pooled their resources and gifted me 2 tickets to see humorist Jeanne Robertson when she comes to Columbus in August. Here's another link at Wikipedia. I am super-stoked about this! I have been a big fan of hers since I first heard of her several years ago from friend and fellow book-clubber, Marlise. If you do YouTube, go search for her clip about sending her husband to the grocery - it's a hoot! You will find dozens of other 5-10-minute clips and before long you will be a fan, too.

But I digress. We had a great time with the kids. The waitress was kind enough to take a picture of us.

There's the sweet gang - Erin (DD1), Emma (DD2), Geoffrey (Emma's boyfriend), Kevin (DH), Jeff (Erin's DH) and Jayne.

Since DS Adam is in Oregon, I couldn't get a current pic of him, so the next best thing was to make a collage of a decent recent pic side-by-side with his sisters.

The three who call me mom. Love 'em to pieces! Adam called Sunday morning, so I touched base with them all.  On Mother's Day afternoon, we drove over to my mom's for a visit. She had indicated earlier in the week that she didn't want a big fuss, and to just stop by to visit in the afternoon. Had the weather been nicer, we would have made homemade ice cream. 

Any time spent with Mom is sure to be fun. She loves sports and has always been a tomboy. When we were little, she would pitch and Dad would catch while we five kids hit, ran the bases and fielded. Many an after-supper softball game was had in the front yard this way. Looking back, I can see this was a sure-fire way of wearing us out for an early bedtime! 

The picture below is from Easter where we attempted to get some family group pictures. Much silliness! Our mother sure loves to have a good time; her sunny disposition has shaped us all. 

While she has definite tomboy tendencies, her influence on my becoming a seamstress is immeasurable. Most of our clothes from those very young years were hand-made. Even the boys had some homemade shirts and shorts. Additionally, she made her own clothes and many items for our home such as curtains, pillows, table cloths, and comforters. Often, dolls came decked out with homemade clothes at Christmas time. 

(Clip art from Instagram.)

She turned me loose on the sewing machine when I was 7 and in my first year of 4H; in that first year I made a tea towel and a needle book. (I believe I still have that needle book somewhere.) How I thank my lucky stars for her willingness to teach me to sew. As I grew, I remained in 4H and by the time I finished, I was making most of my own clothes. In high school, I made a winter coat, learning about bound buttonholes and tailoring. I continued to make my own clothes through college and my early married years. At some point in the late 80s, I took a sharp turn into quilting, and haven't looked back. 

Happy stuff. So glad to enjoy a fun weekend celebrating my mother, and being celebrated by my kiddos. I did remember other special mothers like my late m-i-l Mary, my grandmother, and my aunt. They have passed but are not far from our memories, especially on Mother's Day.

Now, a new week is upon us; I want to kick this crazy head-stuffy nonsense and take on some big tasks! Gonna' get stuff done!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Caleb's T-Shirt Quilt

Every once in a while a young person (besides your own children) come into your lives and becomes an 'extra.' For my DH and I, Caleb is that young person. He was a runner on my husband's cross country and track teams back about 7 (plus/minus) years ago, and has been a fantastic friend ever since. He regularly stops by to see 'Coach' and he even stayed at our house to dog sit when we went away last year to Siesta Key.

Caleb recently brought me a bag of his old running t-shirts to be made into a quilt. I spent yesterday stitching them up. Have a look.

This is the first of 4 t-shirt quilts I intend to make. And I hope I can be as speedy with the rest as I was with this one. Caleb's went together especially fast because I already had a good stack of fusible interfacing cut to the correct size. I did not spend excessive time fussing about the sashing strips and cornerstones - I used fabric that I had on hand. The black and gray make it look masculine, so I think it works just fine.

I was so pleased to have a finish in just one day's work. That is unusual for me, even with a simple quilt like this. Now to quilt it. On that machine I have been too timid to use. Stay tuned.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Front Porch, Finished for Now

I have never had a problem accumulating fabric. (Big surprise, eh!?) What I have had a problem with is making quilts that require more fabric than what I bought. Some of the fabric used in Front Porch came from the grouping below, which I bought in Columbus back in January the day Dee and Sharon and I met up for lunch and shopping.

I had no idea what I would make with these fabrics when I bought them, so consequently, I only grabbed a fat quarter or a half-yard. Just stash builders, I told myself.

Then, my great idea presents itself - make Front Porch! - I begin the quilt and get to the point that borders become a concern - boom, not enough of the preferred fabric to make borders. (Shopping in Columbus, anyone??)

So for now, Front Porch is finished for this center phase. The border phase will come at some point when I find additional fabric for borders.

I took Front Porch out to my front porch for a photo session. Her measurements are small-ish (remember I had only FQs and half-yard cuts) - she comes to 45"x38". That will make a nice lap quilt or throw for the back of a chair.

I now turn my attention to clearing off the cutting table (I have let it get out of control. Again!) Then I will begin some commission work - t-shirt quilts I have promised to 3 different customers.

Hope you have a great Wednesday!
Happy Quilting, Friends!

Summer Mode

Grades have been submitted which allows me to officially enter Summer Mode. This means I am making lists for house work, yard work, home improvement projects, continued purging and organizing, as well as my normal sewing, quilting and blogging. I love to check items off a list. What satisfaction comes from making those checkmarks!

Since this blog is mostly about sewing and quilting, I will try not to bring you many of my projects from around the house. However, I will share one because I do feel pretty darn proud of a recent afternoon's efforts at tidying up my kitchen counter.

Being a clutter bug is a label I am all to comfortable wearing. Always have been. In an effort to clear out excess, I am working in small spaces and small increments. The photo below is a collage of before and after.

The upper half shows the much-used corner of the counter beside the stove; kept there are the many items I use regularly for meal-prepping. But, good grief! It was always so messy-looking. The lower half of the collage shows my newly cleaned space. Doesn't it look great? Actually, since taking the picture, I have added one thing in the corner - a small lamp to provide some under-cabinet lighting. Most of what had been sitting out is now in the cabinets above (or below, as in the case of the toaster), and I purged some silverware and duplicate salt/pepper shakers.

When I told my sister about this little victory she referred to it as "life altering." Yes, it is. It motivates me to keep it looking like this as well as to look for the next space I can do similar purging, cleaning, organizing. It's as if doing just this one little space has activated something in me; it feels so satisfying to do one little thing, so why not do one more little thing? Soon, a whole bunch of "little things" will add up to some really cool and amazing BIG THINGS!

So, in other non-sewing/quilting news, I have some audio books to share. This is my new favorite way to read. It allows me to sew while listening, and when I was driving to/from class, I would listen in the car, too. My current read (listen?) is for our book club later this month.

I read Cold Mountain when it first came out, so I am familiar with Frazier's writing. I anticipate this being quite an enjoyable read. So far, it is not disappointing!

In the past month or two, here are some others I've listened to.

My mom had recommended this author a while ago; then, I think my sister did, too, so I requested it. Gosh, what a great story! I am looking forward to reading the entire series!

The three titles listed here are from early last month, according to the dates. I had sorta' lost track. Anyway, Louise Penny is an author that every one in the book club just raves and raves about, but I hadn't gotten on board. After hearing them discuss this or that title meeting after meeting, I decided I needed to get with the program. This is #2 in a very long series about Inspector Gamache. Enjoyable.

The Geraldine Brooks novel was one I eagerly anticipated reading, as I totally enjoyed March, The People of the Book, Year of Wonders, and Caleb's Crossing. The Secret Chord, however, was not as wonderful by a long shot as the earlier ones. It was quite graphically violent, and confusing as far as names were concerned. I don't know what prompted Brooks to be so graphic in her details, but this reader just doesn't care for it. I know the times were different, and there were wars, but still. The most graphic description was a rape, and it was brutal. This was our book club selection for last month, and most of us shared our general dislike of it. Definitely not up to her previous efforts.

The Lee Child book was an easy, fast-paced thriller. Again, my sister had been after me to read the Jack Reacher series, and I finally started. After reading such a gut-wrenching book as The Secret Chord, Killing Floor was perfectly escape-style fiction. Yes, there is violence in books like this, but it is so obviously far-fetched fiction; somehow there's a difference.

Summer Mode, for today, involves some more cleaning/purging; a little bit of gardening; and some spring/summer decorating. Perhaps, I will begin cutting out some t-shirt quilts, also.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Front Porch

I have collected such a full tub of what I call contemporary fabrics, and I have been increasingly antsy to use them. So a week or so ago, after browsing through some older pattern books I found one that interested me. Finally, the stars aligned - the right combination of pattern and fabric - and a quilt was born!

This 2003 Miss Rosie's Floral Quilts book by Carrie Nelson is what I happened to be perusing. I was looking at old books for inspiration.

This quilt grabbed my attention. The entire quilt is one unit and even with triangles, it would be really easy. As I read the instructions, I saw that it was a foundation pieced unit, and heavens! I don't mind foundation piecing with scrap fabrics, because there is some waste involved. I sure didn't want to waste any of this new fabric! I knew I could find a pattern that had this same unit which was made with cutting pieces normally.

This is a newer (2017) Carrie Nelson book and the cover quilt has this same unit used for the points on the stars. Below, I have zoomed in on a block and outlined the units I am referring to.

The unit is the exact same size, so instead of using the foundation piecing method from the old book, I used the regular piecing method from the new book. Got that??

Here is a closeup of one of my units in the deliciously color-intense fabrics. I wonder if this unit has an actual name? We have HSTs (half-square triangles) and QSTs (quarter-square triangles), so maybe this could be TTS (triple-triangle square)???  Maybe I have just coined a new quilt term.

I have made all the units I'm going to make, and now have them laid out on the guest bed. Today will be all about stitching them together. If you look at the bottom of the picture, you see a potential border for this quilt. I have very little of my dark blue fabrics remaining, but I would be willing to get yardage for borders to finish this quilt. I will consider my options while I sew.

I am listening to a good audiobook and the weather has been rain-rain-rain lately -- all perfect for hours of quilting.

Hope you are able to do some stitching today!
Happy Quilting, Friends!

Lovely Gifts

I am quite remiss in recognizing a sweet gift I received in the mail about a month ago.

I will attempt to explain this acquisition as simply as possible.

Long-time readers will remember my friend and former CHS student, Amie. She made the awesome postage stamp quilt and had a great story of collecting fabrics for it. Well, her friend Deb, has been de-stashing. I do not know Deb, but if she's a friend of Amie's, then she is sure to be top-notch.

Amie contacted me to see if I would be interested in taking ownership of a few of Deb's embroidery kits. Amie had seen my recent posts about my renewed interest in embroidery, so she could foresee a match made in heaven. I definitely was interested, and that is how I was on my way to being a lucky recipient of Deb's de-stash patterns.

Soon, a squishy package arrived in my mail from Deb. What an unexpected treat! It hadn't occurred to me that she would send it herself; I supposed Amie would take care of the transferring business. (Just goes to show I don't know what's going on, half the time.)

My apologies that pictures are limited for all this, as I was a total failure at recording the story from here. Suffice it to say, the top kit, a redwork Christmas design, is one I definitely want to do. Maybe not this year, or even next, but I can see this on my radar screen sometime down the road.

The other kit is a set of 9 different designs that combine coloring and embroidery to make some darling gingerbread houses - again, a Christmas design. I opted to pass these along to the girls in the quilting group (The Frankfort Girls), and at our last meet-up, Becky took them home with her. At least one or two others expressed interest, so I wouldn't be surprised to see them passed around a bit from time to time.

Below is a group picture of the girls from a few months ago. Becky has the kit, but Jan is also interested, and possibly others.

Bless you, Deb! And Amie, too! I know of several Ross County gals who are going to get hours of pleasurable stitching thanks to your generosity!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Hello May!

It's May! Mother Nature is wearing her ever-greening finery around here, and I couldn't be happier about that! I have been doing regular checks of the wildflowers in our woods - plenty of trilliums, bluebells, meadow rue, violets, spring beauties, among others. I am eagerly awaiting the Jack-in-the-Pulpits. Maybe this week.

I have pulled together pictures from this past month for my April collage. Early in the month, my DH got a new toy! He has wanted a Can-Am Spyder forever, and finally found a reasonably priced used one. He's having fun learning how to operate and ride it. Next up, my 9-patch exchange quilt is finished. I worked on it at our Canter's Cave retreat, and finished the borders soon after. Also at retreat, I took ownership of my Featherweight, and look forward to many happy hours of stitching on it.

In row two, an easy jelly roll quilt called Blue Lagoon was begun and mostly finished at retreat. Like the 9-patch quilt, I finished off the borders back here at home. The lilacs in the center are from our yard. They smell heavenly! The group picture is from Easter - me and my siblings along with our mother. Seated: Carol, Mom, Sandy. Standing: Alan, Jayne, Mark. It was a bit cool for outdoor eating, but it was a wonderful day.

On the bottom, my two blocks for the Quilter's Planner project; sister Sandy and I at the Cap City Half Marathon where we walked in the 5K; and finally, my current stitching - a rather impromptu effort with some contemporary fabrics I've been collecting. I just love the intense colors; I need to learn to make myself more comfortable using them.

I have finished my university classes and hope to make quick work of grading finals and then submitting grades. I am formulating a to-do list for tackling after teaching obligations are completed, and I will probably share that later.

I hope your April was productive; sending you lots of encouragement for a magnificent May!

Happy Quilting, Friends!