Girls' Day Out

I love a good quilt show, and the one in Kerrville last weekend was a lot of fun.  When I was offered the opportunity to join two friends for the outing, I jumped at the chance.

  

This was the Best of Show winner by Carole Pinkham.  I’ve seen photographs of other versions of this pattern, but this was the first one I could see in person. 

Carole’s statement:

 

 I notice that her quilt had sold.  If I ever completed such a masterpiece, I doubt I would be able to part with it.

 Of course, any trip to Kerrville mandates a stop at Creations Quilt Shop.  Even though we got there only half an hour before closing, I managed to find a few things.

Home Again

Last Sunday we returned from a two-week trip to Navarre Beach, Florida.  The only stitching I did was a couple more rows to be added to my thimble/tumbler quilt.  Here is a picture of where it stands now.   I need to add to my inventory of prepped units because I’m having difficulty with fabric repetitions.  I have 20 rows of 13 units each.

 

The trip was very nice, but the drive, even divided into two-day shifts, is more than I think we will want to attempt in the future.  Our condo was perfect.  We were on the 17^th floor overlooking the beach.  My happy place was on the balcony enjoying the sound of the surf with a book.

 

We saw some spectacular sunsets…

 

…and some sea critters.

 

The second week Julia and one of her friends joined us and that certainly added to the energy level.  Ice cream, pizza, chocolate, and fried shrimp may have been involved.  So far, I’ve managed to shed 2 of the pounds I gained and I’m working on the rest…

 One night the fire alarms went off and I began to have serious misgivings about our 17^th floor unit when the ladder truck showed up.  Fortunately, it proved to be a false alarm and we never had to evacuate.  Good thing, especially since I seriously doubt either Bob or I could have made it down that many flights of steps.

 The trip was fun.  I’m happy to be home.

A Splurge for a New Tool

I delayed purchasing this Lap App for a long time, but after trying out a friend’s and getting glowing comments from other friends, I made the leap.  It is pricier than I would normally have spent, but I have found it makes doing handwork much more comfortable. Usually, I have put a pillow in my lap in order to raise my work surface and rest my hands while stitching.  My only complaints with that method are that it cannot be adjusted, can feel uncomfortably warm on my lap, and has no place to rest scissors, needle, thread, and thimble.  Minor complaints all, but I have two long-term handwork projects, so I made the leap and chalked it up to “taking care of myself.”

I toyed with the idea of modifying a pillow so that I could attach spools, scissors, and thread, but decided to go this route instead.  So far, I have really appreciated its flexibility, and it’s much more comfortable. 

We have had .64 inches of rain this week; 4.92 for the month!

 

Proof of Progress

It seems like a very long time since I had a finish to show, but I can offer proof that I have been at work.

Red and white thimble/tumbler rows ready to be added to the mothership plus a nearly full thread-clipping jar and an empty basting-thread spool.

A stack of log cabin blocks ready for webbing.

The weather alert radio and seven emergency storm warning calls to our phones kept us awake much later than usual last night.  We received more than 1.5 inches of rain along with a little hail and gusty winds.  So far, I have not found any damage and we desperately needed the moisture.

So Many (Good) Options

Focus has always been hard for me.  I struggle to remember that I can choose any projects I like, but I can’t do them all.  Last week’s guild meeting was a case in point.  I could volunteer to work on the next donation quilt, make a quilt for the library service project, pick up kits for the anti-ouch pouch project, take a workshop for the cathedral widows block, make a mini quilt for the president’s challenge, or make a themed quilt (also a mini) for the county fair.  The last two could be combined but would have to be finished by early June in time for the fair. 

Meanwhile, the projects I’m already working on:

Log cabin quilt – my favorite mindless machine stitching project and one I’m really enjoying.

Group applique project – for the guild show in 2025.  Very challenging, but I’m learning a lot.

Thimble/tumbler quilt – my travel and “watching TV with Hubby” handwork project.

Red and white hexagon quilt--currently on my quilter.  The end is almost in sight.

Finally, I decided to only take on one paper-pieced block for the donation quilt and focus on projects already underway.  Maybe the president’s challenge quilt due in November is still a possibility, depending on how much I get done...

 

A pretty mix of colors from a neighbor’s wildflower patch.

Hello April, 2023

Last month, with its end of life arrangements for my half-sister, the annual trip to South Texas for a visit with hubby’s family and even a mouse in the house, took more out of me than I expected.

I hope I regain some energy this coming month.

Here are some of the 360 plus tumbler pieces I basted since my last post.  

Our South Texas trip offered me lots of basting time and this project continues to be my favorite one to work on during television time.  I should have more than enough basted tumblers to add 10 rows to the project.  And, when I had some downtime in the hotel, I set up my Featherweight and did some paper piecing on my log cabin project.

Here is the current status of my log cabin project.  It looks like the last picture I posted, but I promise it has grown.

Bluebonnets are really making a show right now.  I took this picture of them thriving in the cracks between concrete pavers to prove they really are weeds.  

Whenever I can smell their scent on the breeze, I consider it a good year.  2023 is a good Bluebonnet year.

Finally, one of the month's bright spots was the arrival of the package from Donna at Brynwood Needleworks.  She hosted giveaway for her 14th blog anniversary and I was one of the lucky winners!

Checking In

A friend was only able to purchase one of the Texas Tech journal covers I made for the Guild Quilt Show Boutique.  Would I make her another in order to prevent a family fight?  Well of course, and here it is.  As usual, I used the tutorial Wanda provides in her blog Exuberant Color.

 

In other stitchy news, work continues on my tumbler (or as I’ve also seen them called, thimble) quilt.  I’ve added several rows to the main body and am building up my inventory of basted units.

 

Bluebonnets are making their appearance.  It won’t be a blowout year, but they will be pretty when they reach their peak.

 

A chapter in my life ended February 28.  I received a call at 4 a.m. notifying me that my half sister had passed.  We were connected, but not close.  Twenty years separated our births and a lot of family dysfunction and geography separated us physically.  In 2002 we reconnected after a separation of more than 25 years.  I was able to visit her in person twice since then and we established a regular correspondence after that.  All our telephone conversations ended with “I love you Big Sis!” and “I love you Lil’ Sis!”  She was the last living connection to my father’s family and my only sibling.  The flowers came from Julia.