Time to Check In

I can't count the number of times I've started composing a blog post in my head only for it to evaporate before I get to the keyboard.  I had hoped to have a completed quilt to post, but discovered last week that the batting I had purchased was too small.  By the time the batting arrived, I was mired in other projects and unable to get the top sandwiched.

My clamshell quilt is progressing well even though the fabric I had purchased for borders, ended up being all wrong.  Fortunately, a quilty friend came to the rescue with something from her stash.  There will be more pictures when the borders are on.

Wanda at Exuberant Color recently had a pop-up store that included some paper piecing patterns. 

The original design called for four blocks, but I opted to keep it at three when I saw how much of an outlier the fourth block turned out.  It just did not blend with the others.

There was one oops in their construction, but fortunately I was able to correct it.  This piece is also waiting for borders.  It’s very frustrating to get this close on so many projects and yet be unable to bring any of them to completion.

I received some happy mail from Nanette.  I gave her the color wheel pattern I did earlier this year along with some fabric and she reciprocated with these two quilt books.  There’s lots of eye candy here to enjoy and dream about. 

Our outgoing Guild president hosted a brunch for those of us who served on the board this year.  She gifted each of us with these gorgeous amaryllis plants!  I’m glad my term of office is winding down.  It’s been a good experience but after two years I’m ready step back and let some of the new talent in our group take over.

The busyness of the season has definitely taken hold.  Starting today, our time will be entirely devoted to family events beginning with a nephew’s funeral this weekend, progressing through the Thanksgiving feast next week, and continuing through most of the following week with out-of-town company.  The sewing room will be reconfigured to accommodate air mattresses and the cutting table has been stowed.  Very little sewing will be done for a while. 

It's been a long time since I hosted a Thanksgiving feast.  I’ve been making lists, revising lists, losing lists and recreating lists.  Most of the shopping is done, and I think we’re ready.

 

Live -- My 2021 Word

The secret to living well and longer is:  eat half, walk double, laugh triple and love without measure. – Tibetan Proverb

Patriotic Wall Quilt is a Finish

I finished putting the label on this patriotic wall quilt last night.  It was a kit I had been given that I took to retreat.  I quilted it both on my domestic machine and my sit-down quilter.  I still find some things, like stitching in the ditch, are easier on my domestic machine using a walking foot provided it’s a small piece.  Other things like meanders and border work go faster of my Handi Quilter.   … Glad it’s done and I can check another one off my list.

 

In other news, I’m trying to make friends with a new computer.  I had to search out a source for Picasa3, the photo editing ap I prefer.  It is old software that is being phased out for Google users.  I like it though, and have several albums and collections set up using it.  So, I’ll stick with it for a while longer.  I think most of my files and contacts have been transferred and it’s just a matter of getting settled in.

 

Our community is experiencing a surge of coyote activity.  We hear them singing regularly and actually observed one on the golf course behind our house.  Several deer have been killed in recent weeks.  This evening we discovered a fawn carcass outside our fence.  Some of us are worrying that our pets might be at risk as well.  I understand city officials are looking at various options for dealing with the issue. 

Live -- My 2021 Word

 Healing doesn't mean the damage never existed.  It means the damage no longer controls our lives.--MyPositiveOutlooks.com

 

Another Project Bound, Labeled, Done

The color wheel, one of the small projects I pieced at my recent quilt retreat, is now finished.  I used invisible thread on the color wheel and a matching thread for the background.  Mostly I used a medium meander on the background, but if you look very closely there’s a note-to-self quilted into the into it that says “Be brave, and use all the colors.”

 Even before the pandemic began, my quilting mojo had slowed.  I thought that with all the lockdowns and cancelations I would be more productive, but that did not happen.  Lately, though, it seems to be coming back.  I hope the trend lasts.

 We had one-half inch rain last night.  It was very welcome as one of the driest Septembers on record draws to an end.  Predictions are we could have even more this week.

 

Live -- My 2021 Word

 The only disability in life is a bad attitude—Scott Hamilton

 

 

Hubby’s Quilt, Bound Labeled, Done

All quilts have a story.  One day, while hubby was patiently waiting in the husband’s corner of a favorite quilt shop while I browsed, he noticed the pattern for this quilt and really liked the panel in the illustration.  It’s not the first time I made him a quilt, but it is the first time he ever asked me to make a specific quilt.

 

The shop had the border pattern but not that panel.  I was able to purchase it online and soon we were back at the shop to get the pattern and choose fabrics.

This is the result.  This is one of three unexpected new projects I mentioned earlier this summer.  The first was my grandson’s Aggie quilt. 

I'm not catching up on projects, though.  I purchased a paper piecing pattern from a blogger friend's pop up shop yesterday.  

Live -- My 2021 Word

 Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it. -- George Bernard Shaw

 

Retreat Projects

As it turned out, August was a fairly productive month.  I needed some instant gratification and turned my attention to two small projects in my UFO stash.

 

The first was this patriotic wall quilt.  This kit was given to me by a neighbor who was reducing the size of her stash. 

 

The second was a color wheel kit I had been wanting to make for more than a year. 

 

As you can tell from the second picture, I was really tickled when it was taken.  Both these projects were done at a Guild retreat late in August.  I am relieved to report that 10 days after my return, neither my husband nor I show any signs of Covid.  We had been urged to isolate as much as possible the days leading up to the trip and to avoid any unnecessary side trips during the three-hour drive to get there.  All went well, and it was a wonderful time of working on projects, silliness, eating someone else’s cooking and generally enjoying good company with friends. 

 

I knew this was risky behavior and was extremely fortunate. When I returned, I learned that a friend who attended a different retreat a few days before mine developed a breakthrough Covid infection.  She is recovering, but said there were several days where she felt absolutely miserable.  Five of the nine participants at that retreat were infected.  Apparently, one of the attendees had been exposed prior to the retreat, but thought she was okay since she didn’t feel sick.

 

Live -- My 2021 Word

 Enjoy every moment of your life...

Life is too short to waste on grudges..

Laugh when you can,

Apologize when you should...

and let go of what you can't change..

---found online  

 

Bound, Labeled, Done

It’s been more than a month since I sat down at the keyboard to prepare a blog post.  I have no excuses, good or bad, but I have been working on my projects.  In fact, in the last month I have added three projects to the queue and completed one of them.

 

I’ll talk about the other two in later posts, but this quilt is the one that is bound, labeled, done.  It is most definitely out of my wheelhouse.  It’s big, chunky and wonky by design.  And most of all, it’s so Aggie!  Now, don’t get me wrong.  Although my blood runs Texas Longhorn burnt orange, I really like the Aggies…with the exception of one day a year and that depends on the final score. 

 

Grandson Aidan is a freshman at Texas A&M and a member of the Corps.  Half way into this project, we learned that he could not use it in his dorm room.   He is required to use standard issue bed coverings in the Corps dorm.  In fact, we were told many of the young men in the Corps opt to use sleeping bags on the floor rather than having to make their beds military style every morning.  I also learned they are only allowed to have three things on their desks at any one time.  One of those is the computer he is required to have, so I guess that leaves a pen and piece of paper.

 

But, I digress.  Since I wanted him to have the quilt in time for his birthday, I had a friend quilt it for me, and it is now on his bed at home.  I’m told both he and his dog, Gus, approve.

Finally....

I was so proud last week.  I had Esther’s Bloomers on the design wall ready to call it a finished top.  Well, you know what is said about pride going before a fall.  I had taken my picture…

 

 When I noticed something was not right with the border.  One side was not like the other three.

 

It took several days before I felt like I could trust myself with a seam ripper.

 

NOW it’s a finished top.

 

 

Live -- My 2021 Word

 Falling down is part of life.  Getting back up is living – Jose N. Harris