The Season Moves Onward

Thanksgiving was wonderful, but the preparation, clean up and recovery from it has largely kept me out of the studio.  I have, however, been diligently working on my thimble/tumbler project in the evenings while “watching” television with my hubby.  Perhaps I should call it my “Formula1-baseball-college-and-pro-football-and-golf” quilt.  Anyway, here is what it currently looks like and I have six more rows that are waiting to be added.  After that, I’ll decide how much more I want to push forward on it.  It’s large enough now, that it’s no longer comfortable to work on in my lap.

I have also managed to launder, document and store the quilts I removed from my quilt ladder.

Two of my cacti are in bloom.

 

And Fred and Ethel, a mated pair of Egyptian geese, have returned for this year's acorn crop. 

 

The State of ...

...the Cynthia England project.  

I’ve delayed posting progress on the Cynthia England piece I am working on because it is moving so slowly and doesn’t lend itself to being photographed while in process.

 

Here is a picture from the pattern. 

 

And, here is the largest completed section of what I have done.  Some of the freezer paper templates must be left in place until units are joined together, and I’m afraid to try to do a better job pressing it for fear that I might loose some of them.  So, it looks pretty sloppy.

The instructions divide the project into 25 units that have pieces approximately totaling 400. I have pieced 16 units with approximately 255 pieces, so about 64% of the piecing is done. 

 It’s a real struggle to keep working on this as the busyness of the holidays approaches and I hear the call of other, less intense, projects.  I’m trying to focus all of my machine-work time on this because I’m pretty sure if I set it aside, it will never be finished.

Meanwhile, I will be getting the house ready for the Thanksgiving meal Thursday.  I have dates with the vacuum, dust cloth and mop.  Hubby brought home an 18-pound turkey for the four of us.  I was relieved to find that it fits (just barely) in my largest pan.  Julia will bring dessert and has volunteered to make the gravy (but she’s bringing store-brought gravy as a backup).

 I hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving holiday.  I know I have much to be thankful for.

Something red this way comes...

 

When hubby decided he wanted to get a bigger television requiring a bigger piece of furniture to support it, my quilt ladder had to move.  No more excuses, I needed to change out the quilts.  This is an assortment of the red and mostly red quilts I have made over the last several years.  I was surprised when they went up to see that three of the five had been hand pieced using the English paper piecing method.  When I took that guild workshop with Mickey Depre in 2014, I never expected to use the technique again!  The quilt that came out of that retreat is the one at the top. 

 

The two at the bottom are also English paper pieced.  I am working on another EPP red and white quilt which can be added, if it is ever finished… Progress on it is exceedingly slow these days.

 

Much as I love spring, I think fall is becoming my favorite season, especially after the summer we had.  We’ve had an inch of rain in the last 48 hours and the high today did not get out of the 50s.  I treated myself to a chrysanthemum plant a few weeks ago and it is approaching its peak.

 

Changes

Sometimes, things just work out for the best.

A group I have been quilting with since 2007 has a new location.

 

Our New Sit and Sew Place

We got our start during “Sit and Sew” Tuesdays at a quilt shop.  When that shop closed, we started renting any space we could afford.  Even during Covid lockdown, when we couldn’t gather, our core group continued to pay rent. 

This August, after eight years, we lost our lease.  Other tenants had vacated the building and the owner felt, probably correctly, that he could make more money renting out the entire building to one business rather than trying to rent bits and pieces of it around us. 

 But the rest of the story is all good news.  Almost immediately, a property became available that would work for us.  It only adds 10 minutes to the drive, mostly on rural highways.  The building is all on one story.  And, although smaller, we can all sew in one big room rather than having to split into smaller groups. 

 Making the move happen took a tremendous amount of effort.  Over the years we had become a dumping ground for quilters getting rid of their stash.   A LOT of purging was required.  Logistics for the move came together surprisingly fast.  One of the longarmers used by our group also has a landscape business.  We were able to hire her crew to move the heavy items including a refrigerator to the new site on October 3.  Our new landlord helped us install our big design wall. And we have been happily organizing and sewing ever since. 

This is my nest.  When I’m not there, I tuck my machine away so the space is available for my “table mate” who sews on other days.

 

My Nest on Tuesdays

Whoosh...

...and just like that, a month has passed since my last post.  No question, I have been in a blog slump for a while.

Since my last post, I have been at work on the project that came out of a Guild workshop with Cynthia England.  I thoroughly enjoyed her lecture.  She has done some of the most awsome "artsy fartsy" (her term) quilts I have ever seen, including one named among "The Twentieth Century's Best American Quilts." Here is a link. She is also funny and actively interacts with and encourages her students.  

I'm glad I did the workshop and lecture.  After all, it's not often I have the opportunity to interact first-hand from someone who has won multiple prizes at the Houston Internation Quilt Festival.  However, I am really struggling to continue with this kit.  I have so much effort already invested in it, I don't want to give it up.

Her paper piecing method, which differs from foundation piecing, makes it possible to join pieces of fabric that are extremely small.

I don't find this process relaxing.  It requires so much concentration that I cannot listen to an audio book or have other desitractions while I'm working on it and I have to take frequent breaks.  Here is what a sample of a section's roadmap looks like.  

I can honestly say, that I have nothing but the greatest respect for her work.

Treasures

After our guild meeting yesterday, a friend let us examine some antique quilts from her husband’s family.

 

All date back to the 1840s and were made by Quaker quilters.  At least two of them were signature quilts, and what beautiful signatures they were.

 

The workmanship is fabulous.

 

I love the way this border was pieced and quilted.

She and her husband have been in talks with a quilt museum in hopes of finding a home for them where they can provide proper care for their preservation. 

 

Today I will be attending a guild workshop led by Cynthia England, and I gave my Featherweight a little TLC in preparation.  Much as I appreciate the conveniences provided by modern maches, it is always a treat when I can take it for an outing.

 

A few days ago, I spotted a roadrunner in our back yard.  It’s pretty unusual for us to see them in the neighborhood.  I had to shoot this photo through a window, so it’s not the best focus.

Quilt Retreat

My major accomplishment at last week's quilt retreat was finishing this log cabin top.  It has 2002 pieces and each log finishes at 1/2 inch.  I'll go into greater detail when the quilting is complete.

While at retreat, we took an outing to Heritage Quilt Barn, a part of the Homestead Heritage complex in Waco.  I found some fabric for the backing.  The dark red fabric in the center of the blocks will also be the binding fabric.

This was my first visit to Homestead Heritage.  Had time not been so short and if the weather had been cooler we could have also toured other parts of the crafts village including:   a pottery house,  blacksmith shop, cheese-making house, woodworking and fine furniture-making shop, and fiber-crafts cottage that features spinning, knitting and weaving. I have already told Bob that I would like a day trip there when weather cools.

The retreat was a much appreciated break from my routine.  Per usual, I ate too much and exercised too little.  When I got home, I immediately rolled my ankle, leaving me gimpy for a few days.  That gave me the legitimate opportunity to take a few recovery days and further delay household chores.  Now that I'm recovered, I guess I will have to reintroduce myself to the vacuum and dust cloth.

We have had no relief from our drought.  The weathermen classify it as exceptional.  At least the morning lows are now in the mid-70s rather than low 80s.  Today's high is expected to be 101.