Jane and I Bonded This Weekend!

I wanted to make a dent in my backlog of Jane Stickle blocks this weekend and here are the completed blocks.  They are H-12, Hannah Lou’s Hearts; J-4, Adelaine’s Apron Strings; RS-1, Tennessee Valley triangle block; A-6, Uncle Homer; G-3, Four Leaf Clover; TR-9 Needles Point triangle block; and C-6, Ashley’s Aura. 

I managed to reverse the values in J-4, but I think I'll leave it the way it is.  A couple of these were do-overs but the majority were new efforts.

I also have this stack of four more blocks prepped and ready for the handwork part of applique.  These may go with me to Sit ‘N Sew Tuesday, provided I’m able to join my friends.  I am first on the stand-by list of poll workers for the election Tuesday, and I may get a last minute call to work.

I love working with batiks, and have managed to make a huge mess as I try to pair up fabrics.  The rest of the sewing room is pretty bad to.  Right now my plan is to spend any time Monday that I have to sew doing some stitching in the ditch on my Breaking the Mold Quilt.  I have a chick flick ready to pop into the DVD player, and I'm certainly ready for a change of pace.

Just Checking In

It’s been a busy week that included entertaining guests, working a local election, and making a trip to the ranch. 

The trip to the ranch began with a minor adventure.  I arrived ahead of Bob, and when I opened the storm door a bat fell out and landed on the step.  I know bats are good critters that help control the mosquito population, but I panicked and quickly re-leashed the dogs and got them in the house via another door.  By the time Bob arrived it had managed to crawl or fly away and I didn't even get a picture to prove it had happened. 

While drinking coffee on our front porch the next morning, we watched coyotes crossing in front of the house.  Moments later, a bunny, hopping as fast as it could go, crossed going in the opposite direction.  The show was a whole lot more entertaining than the movie I had taken for us to watch.

The picture at the beginning of this post is a sunset we watched one evening.

The three days we were at the ranch gave me a chance to load and begin quilting my Breaking the Mold Strips that Sizzle Quilt.  Unfortunately, I don’t have pictures of the progress yet. 

I also made these Jane Stickle blocks.  Two are do-overs because I was not happy with either the original fabric selections or the workmanship.

D-6, Challenge

E-2, Merry May

F-3, Snowball

An At Home Sewing Day

The rain started shortly after 8 a.m. while I was walking the dogs and continued until shortly after noon.  It was so constant that I elected to do my Sit ‘N Sew day at home rather than drive through the mess and lug my machine through a gravel parking lot.  While I missed time with my friends, I probably accomplished more by staying home, and it was a small sacrifice on my part given how happy we are to see the moisture.

Here are the Jane Stickle blocks I made during my at-home Sit ‘N Sew day:

L-8, Box Kite; and L-4, St. George’s Cross

RS-9, Danish Delight

TR-1, Spanish Moss

Immediate Gratification!

Work continues on my applique wall quilt, but I reached a point yesterday where I needed a change of pace, so I finished this 12 X 18 inch doll quilt.  Debbie at Stitchin' Therapy is once again collecting doll quilts which will be paired with handmade cradles and doll beds for distribution to children with special need situations.  Follow this link for more information about this worthy effort.  This little quilt will be on its way to Debbie later this week.  It was made from fabric given to me a couple of years ago by a quilting friend who was cleaning out her sewing closet.  I quilted it on my home sewing machine.

At work, but not much to show...

I've been working at a pretty steady pace, but my current project is at a stage where photography doesn't show its progress.  I am in the process of ditch stitching this wall quilt prior to doing free motion work on it.  Since this is a small project, I am doing this work on my domestic machine rather than waiting for a trip to the ranch for my HQ.  The work is monotonous, but somewhat relaxing too.

Another Jane Stickle…and Rain!

Tuesday was Sit ‘N Sew day.  I confess I sat and visited a lot more than I sat and sewed, but here is G-4, Shutter Bug, for my Jane Stickle quilt.

Yesterday was our monthly girls’ day out and we decided to visit two quilt shops in Llano.  I found some batik cuts for more DJ blocks and we enjoyed lunch on the town square at the Acme.  My mother’s family was from Llano, and I remember when the Acme was a general store complete with a rolling ladder along one wall and racks of ladies’ better dresses that you pulled out from recesses in the wall when you wanted to look at them.  Those days are gone, but our group had a great time.

Here were my batik purchases.

Bob and I spent last night at the ranch.  It was a quick trip to check on the status of everything after the stormy weather we had earlier in the week.  There were lots of tree branches down, but fortunately we did not find any other damage.

… and more glorious rain today.  It’s a little after noon as I write this.  We’ve had .57 inches at the ranch and .8 inches in town since midnight.  I’d be out dancing in it if I weren’t afraid of breaking my neck.  The weather alert radio just warned us about a severe t-storm watch, though, and we do have a flash flood watch as well.  So we’ll be keeping an eye out for not-so-nice developments.

Breaking the Mold is a Flimsy

This project has languished on my design wall for months, and last night while it stormed outside, I finally attached the borders.  This quilt was done using a technique by Margaret called Strips that Sizzle.  If nothing else, it produced lots of batik remnants that will eventually go into my Jane Stickle quilt. 

We had significant rain and wind last night with the chance of more rain for the next few days.  The watershed for Lake Buchanan should receive some of the run off, which is a great relief.  Most of what rain we’ve had in the past year has missed that area and the lake has been at extremely low levels.

A Few More Jane Stickle Blocks and Strips that Sizzle Center

April is always busy for us and it seems to take me a number of weeks into May before I hit my pace again.  I have managed to add a few more Jane Stickle blocks to my collection and here they are:  RS-2, Cherokee Lee; L-7,

Town Square

; M-2, Duff’s Bluff; and F-4, Old Windmill.

I also finally finished piecing the center blocks for Strips that Sizzle.  Now I need to make a final decision about borders.