Happy Easter

GLORY HALLELUJAH!

 

 We are celebrating our Risen Lord! I hope your Easter Sunday is blessed and prayerful.

I offer up Sarah Lizzies, a quilter/blogger I follow. Her reminiscence about the old-time hymns really struck a chord with me; I remember most of the ones she mentions. Not only does she write a nice blog, her photography is magnificent. Click here for yesterday's post with the hymns.

We are hosting the family for the Easter feast. Four of we five siblings and various offspring will be here, as will my own sweet Mom. We are at that in-between spot where we have no one in the range for egg hunts - it's all big people and babies this year!

Happy Quilting, Friends! 

Coffee and Friendship

 

Sewing with friends is wonderful. You hear regularly about my sewing with long-time friend Sharon P. We have logged so many hours of sewing time together; I value those days so much. We had one such day just this week - Thursday afternoon. So good to spend time together.

Plus, I have The Frankfort Girls, a sewing circle-type group, consisting of seven women of varying backgrounds brought together by the common love of stitching and making quilts. Every other Friday we meet from 9-noon, each of us taking turns hosting, and sit around the dining table for just about the best three hours of the week. It surely is the fastest three hours, without doubt. We enjoy deliciously prepared delicacies and, even better, we enjoy each other's company.

Yesterday, we met at Sharon O's lovely home and while it was a wonderful visit, we missed one of our  group due to a health concern; we are so hopeful that she will recover quickly and rejoin us full of vim and vigor.

Jan had two cute finishes to share, one of which was perfectly timed for Easter. Let's look!

Nothing is simpler or more appealing to the eye than a straight-set 9-patch quilt, am I right? Make those blocks out of scraps and use scrappy backgrounds, then you really have a beaut, in my opinion. Just love those diagonal chains.

And this season-appropriate darling bunny quilt is just too cute! And Jan says she has another one with a light background on her long arm. 

I sense a change coming over me. I have never been one to be overly interested in making novelty quilts, but I definitely see some appeal in this one. I have always considered the fussier cutting and piecing to be a negative. I'd just as soon make classic block patterns, truth be told. Perhaps becoming a grandmother has had an influence?? 

Let's just say I'm evolving. heheh

Speaking of being a grandmother, I think you really ought to see this Easter-inspired picture of our sweet Cate. She will be here tomorrow with her parents for an Easter feast. About 20 other members of the family will be joining us, too.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

How Do You Organize?

My authority as an organizational expert is admittedly suspect, but I do have a system that works for me. My biggest downfall in the success of my system is that I don't devote enough time to it. I am content to work in a messy, cluttered space; the pull of the next project far overpowers any desire to put away the parts from the last one.

I will work on this.

Today, however, I don't really want to talk about that. Instead, I thought you might be interested in seeing my simple system.

Some may wonder why even bother to save scraps. I can think of a few viable reasons. First, fabric is becoming increasingly expensive, so if usable bits are left over, then make them into something rather than waste them and throw them into a landfill. Second, I really enjoy making scrap quilts and feel a sense of pride in making something out of nothing. Last, if I bought the fabric to begin with, it was because I really liked it! And I still like it! I don't want to throw it away! So the idea of using it elsewhere is very appealing.

When I first got moderately serious about scrap management, I limited myself to cutting just the most basic and often-used sizes of squares and strips. This worked really well, and I have actually used a lot of the 2.5" squares in recent projects.

Sometimes, though, I had bigger pieces of fabric and I thought I really ought not to cut everything down so small. I then began cutting larger squares. Here are some of my most recently cut scraps labeled with sizes.

I also cut strips, when long bits are in the scrap pile.

And that is it - my super-simple organizational method for scrap control. After cutting, all are stored separately in easily-identifiable totes or bins or baskets.

Now, to figure out how to stay at it longer than a couple of days. At the rate I've gone so far, the impact my efforts have had in the sewing room is imperceptible.

Ahh, well. Soldier on, eh?

Happy Quilting, Friends!

   

March Wrap Up

We are slowly recovering from the recent stomach bug, but are slower than we'd like to be in once again feeling "normal." This has made me late with actually getting April underway, so I may as well finish off March with a quick wrap-up.

My collage contains two main subjects: Cate and Florida. Very little quilting, but that's okay. Let's get to the details.

ROW 1: Cate shows her happy little smile wearing a pretty spring hat. I tried really hard to finish the floral diamond quilt; I did not achieve that goal, however. On a pretty March day, DH and I drove my mom to nearby Peebles, OH, to visit with her one remaining uncle, my great Uncle John.

ROW 2: Cate again. In this photo, she has her bare feet touching the grass in our front yard. She seemed fascinated with being outdoors. From our yard and DH's hard garden work, we had an abundance of daffodils for cutting. The family in Florida pitched in to help us paint our new vacation home. Here, first cousin David and his wife Dawn are tackling the family room ceiling.

ROW 3: That same Florida family was always eager and willing to hit up area restaurants for dinner. We were especially big fans of a Mexican place in Inverness. Oh Cate! You adorable thing! Sporting all the accessories! And my most-focused on efforts of late - the flowers for a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt.

I cannot recall when I've been so late in sharing a finish for the new year. Perhaps I will be able to do so this month. That remains to be seen.

I spent a bit of time back at the table in the quilting room, cutting strips and squares out of scraps. It is a job that will take a lot of time. I do listen to a good audio book while working, which keeps me entertained; I mustn't complain, after all I created the scrappy mess.

Current audiobook: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. I am late getting to this one; it came out 10 years ago, and won the 2014 Pulitzer for fiction.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Hello April!

Only a few days late in welcoming the new month. I was sorta' busy on the first and then yesterday - whoa - we had all-out upset stomach virus over here, and let's just say nothing about it was pleasant. Eeewww!

Now that I'm feeling human again, I am ready to greet this new month. Gosh I love hearing birds chirping outside my windows, the warmer breezes, and sunnier skies. We are in for some of Mother Nature's best.

When last I spent any time in the quilting room I was tackling and taming some of the mess that's been residing on my cutting table. I can NOT seem to keep it tidy. I pile leftovers from projects down there to deal with later, and you know that rarely shows up. As I sorted, I cut a lot of standard bits for my scrap tubs, and discovered parts of quilts I didn't remember having.

Like fully finished Ohio Stars - three of them. These are leftovers from the Frankfort Girls' Ohio Star exchange.

    And 20 ready-to-sew 9-patch blocks. These are leftovers from the Spring Dreams Sew Along.

Plus I discovered parts - flying geese parts left over from a pumpkin project,

half-square triangle parts left over from sofa pillows, and

half-square triangle parts with other parts attached left over from Red and White Stars.

So, Matey, it seems I am deep-sea diving for hidden treasures here in the quilting room. Arrrr......

Now that I am feeling somewhat better - still listless, though - I will now face that table once again to continue the sorting, cutting and putting away. Some I have trashed, too, if you can believe it. I will share my ongoing progress.

I really believe I reached a point at which I couldn't or didn't dare begin another quilt until I dealt with the remains of the last 20, or 30! Is that called a breaking point?

Hope your April is going well!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Vacation Home Refresh - Dining Area

I've been a little lax in sharing the changes we made to our new place in Florida. Today I will share the dining area with you. 

This shadowy picture is my best before shot of the dining room, which technically is more of a nook off the kitchen. Behind me as I hold the camera, is the door to the house, so we enter into this space. The kitchen is to the left upon entering and this space is to the right. That lattice arch behind the table has a mirror in the center with one behind it, too. We opted to remove them and leave the space open - sorta' like a pass-thru. The counter under that arch is built in, so I suppose it might end up serving as a buffet.

The table became quite a work space during our two-week stay. Here, my cousin Terry, is attempting to fix a chair with a loose arm.Of course, all manner of clutter impeded his work, but he persevered.

The chairs have wheels which made it easy to roll them out of the way for painting or whatever other work needed doing.

This "during" picture really shows a lot of activity. The walls are paneled, so the grooves all needed to be prepped before rolling; that accounts for the striped look here. The mirrors have been removed from the lattice - they are the gray rectangles leaning against the back wall. The ceiling light is staying and the jury is still out on whether or not we will paint it. We will make that decision on down the road sometime.

You can see how much stuff is piled on the counters - in the foreground are dishes from the kitchen cabinets that I washed and later arranged in the china cupboard in the family room. (See this post.) The buffet counter became the painting supply headquarters. All the things: paint, brushes, stirrers, rollers, tape - you know all the needs. 

Our finished dining area looks like a blank slate at this point, but the job and the clean-up are finished. I want a nice rug under the table. I envision some cool art or decor on the back wall. I have already made a curtain for that window (it looks out onto the lanai). The chairs are solid, yet the upholstery is rather dirty, so we are cleaning them; bit by bit they are looking better. We will continue working on them when we go back.

That about sums up our dining room efforts. I have 2 bedrooms to share with you yet, so stay tuned for that. I will combine them into one post. 

The house has two baths, but we didn't change anything in them; just cleaned them rather aggressively. Bathroom re-dos will take place next winter.

So, since I am supposed to be blogging about quilting and sewing, what on earth have I been doing since being home? Not quilting and sewing, that's for sure! We have had a gazillion errands and appointments and dates of one thing or another. Plus we are hosting Easter dinner, so I am thinking more about stuff like cleaning and prepping than about quilting and sewing. Such is life.

Evenings are for stitching, so here's another GFG flower for my ever-growing bouquet. I've also begun the outer row on another.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Quick Baby Quilt Update

A day or so ago, I had a text from my niece featuring her youngest son showing off his Aunt Jayne-made quilt! I love getting these unexpected surprises! Thanks, Elisa!!

Say hello to Benjamin who was born in August, if I recall correctly. He is about 2 months older than our Cate. We had a whole bunch of babies in the family this last year, so I have to work at keeping birthdays and ages straight!

Do you remember when I made this quilt? Check this post to read its history. I found the frog fabric in a clearance bin and grabbed it for use in baby quilts. Guess what I did NOT know when I bought it?

IT GLOWS IN THE DARK!!!

Isn't this just the coolest thing? I hope he enjoys his extra special quilt for many years! I always tell the moms to "wear them out!" That would be the quilts, not the kids!! *smiles*

We are off this evening to see our own sweet girl, baby Cate. *more smiles* We cannot get enough of her!

Happy Quilting, Friends!