Stories from the Sewing Room

Nancy's quilt is completed! I'll take it to guild Friday to share. Sorry for the cruddy indoor picture. It's raining again.

This is my first completed quilt of the year. I've also finished two knitting projects.

I've also been making some progress on my Linda J. Hahn quilt from last year's IHQS class. Please tell me this is relatable:

At least I didn't trim off the foundation bit as well. I'm also glad it's just plain white fabric. Anyway, they are all trimmed and the one needs to be repaired.

I've trimmed the history center quilt so that it's one step closer to binding. 

I also have a new start. I took a class with Heather Kojan at IHQS Thursday. She is a fun, laid-back teacher, which suits my taste just fine. I don't need a high-stress, quilt police environment. I was really happy to see a few younger people (<45) in class. I heard there were quite a few young people and kids in the fabric dyeing classes. Anyway, I had enough time to sew all of the Dresden ring together and create the background piece during the three-hour class. 

I opted to sew the center at home where there is better lighting and a sewing machine that I am more familiar with.  

I added an additional layer of interfacing between the center circle and the background to help mask that script fabric behind the light center. As you can see, everything is sewn down and ready for quilting. I think I'm going to trim the background down an inch or two on each side.

I had been planning to start a knitting project, but I've been reading a Patty Lyons book, which I recommend, and now I'm thinking that I need to do the practice exercises in the book before doing something (else) "wrong". 😐

I've quilted just a few things since last week. First is Marsali's quilt, quilted with Baptist Fan.

Next is a quilt Dawn's mom made at some point that she recently found in her things. I'm pretty certain the top fabrics are all poly blends. She picked Lacey Loops for this quilting. I will bind it and she'll have a great memento. 

I've also started working on Annie's t-shirt quilt. I can't totally remember, but I think she said these are her brother-in-law's shirts. Many of them were threadbare, but she patched them up and we are going for it. Also notable on this one is the Beavis and Butthead fabric they provided for the backing (not pictured because I didn't get far enough on it for it to show yet). 🤣 Oh, I'm doing my standard Diagonal Plaid Bias quilting. 

Switching over to the garden, my first daffodils bloomed on March 7 this year. 

They really popped Monday--most of them are blooming now. When we first started the gardens, they all bloomed at different times over the course of a month or so. Over time they seem to have just all started going at once. I love daffodils so here are some more pictures. 

I also keep track of the date the first bloom happens. Here's my data:

It's time for me to share last month's progress on my PHD. February had a lot of highs and lows personally, but I had a pretty good needlework month, finishing two projects and making good progress on three more. 

Linking with Ms. P's PHD Program

I finished knitting a throw blanket, #25 on my list.

I finished knitting a selvedge rug, #2 on my list. Sorry for all the dull pictures. We've been having a lot of rain and gloom.

I made progress on the history center quilt top, #3 on my list, pressing the washed wide backing and getting it quilted. I was originally planning to create a Frankenbatting for this quilt, but while working on a client's quilt, I realized that the wadded up end of the roll of Hobbs batting had the exact amount of batting I needed. So I used the excessively wrinkled up piece in this quilt. I am planning to  donate this quilt to the guild's community quilts program, so I will machine bind it soon.

I also made a lot of progress on my late guild mate's Cupcake Crossing quilt, AKA Nancy's Bonnie and Camille quilt, #8 on my list. I finished piecing the quilt top during February, made a Frankenbatting, pieced the backing, and got it quilted. I am currently hand-stitching the binding and I expect to have it finished tonight, or maybe tomorrow. March is shaping up to have lots of finishes.

I have also made some progress on my Linda J. Hahn class quilt from last March, #23 on the list. I have started piecing the units for the four star blocks. Those are the blue and white bits near the pattern. 

I have not worked on anything else on my list.

Maybe most notable is that I haven't started anything new yet. That's about to change since I'm taking some classes at IHQS this week. Also, once I finish binding Nancy's quilt, I will start a small knitting project. I'm finding knitting to be fairly relaxing for me of late. I'm still pretty much a beginner. The last time I knitted anything with any shaping was about 15 or 16 years ago when my sister's kids (and mine) were little. I made a ton of hats, a few blankets, and a few shaped toys. I just remembered that I also knitted some Ugg-style booties for my niece. Those were funny. I wonder if my sister ever put them on her?

I'm still working my way through my quilting queue, though at a slower clip than usual. Here's one from Shirley, quilted with Honeybee.

I bound this one. 

I quilted Driftwood on Valynda's quilt.

And Jeri's quilts are all bound now. That took me forever. 

In other news, we lost Agatha the hen last Wednesday. I went out to feed them and only three chickens came running. Then I saw her body. 😭😭😭 

That leaves us with the unfortunate situation of having two roosters and only one hen. I think our plan is to get several Orpingtons from my husband's co-worker. She will hatch them for us and if we end up with roosters or something doesn't work out, she will take them back. She said they are pretty docile and usually at the bottom of the pecking order, so hopefully they will integrate well with the existing flock. They will for sure be bigger than them.

Meanwhile, we attended a live "taping" of NPR's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me last week. It was really fun. I hadn't smiled and laughed that much in at least a year. I may never view hummus the same ever again. 😳😂 I'm pretty sure that bit probably didn't make it into the final recording. The three of us also enjoyed walking across campus from the parking deck to the auditorium and back. It's such a gorgeous campus.

My husband celebrated his birthday over the weekend and we went and had lunch with our daughter.

We had a guild meeting last night with Heather Kojan as the speaker. I'll be taking classes with her and Sue Cortese this week at IHQS. In addition to the quilt show events (my son is volunteering as well), and getting the Prius back together so we can pass it to its new owner, we will also attend an art show where my son has a photo on display. He got his Invisalign this week too. It's been so busy lately. Probably distractions are good for me. 

Oh, we've still been hearing lots of woodcock calls and my husband said he startled a whole bunch of them in our yard when he left for work yesterday. 

And my back is feeling better (at least for today).

Linking with My Quilt Infatuation, Quiltery, and Alycia Quilts.

I made a small amount of progress on my UFOs during January, but did not complete anything.

Linking with Ms. P's PHD Program

In January I finished sewing the last 10 "Cupcake Crossing Unit" blocks needed to complete Nancy's project. Nancy was a fellow guild member who passed last year. Many of us took home her fabrics and/or kits to complete. This project is Cupcake Crossing from the Sew Sampler box. The date on the pattern says 2018. The project is now ready to start assembling into a top. This is item #8 on my list.

I made progress on the Linda Hahn Beach Bumz class project that I started at IHQS last March. I completed all the "spire" pieces during January--that's the blue and white spiky blocks. I'm confused on how to piece the remaining four blocks, so it's stalled out. This is item #23 on my list. 

I also completed all remaining clues for the Magnificent Mystery during January. The assembly instructions should come out tomorrow. This is project #1 on my list.

I made a lot of progress on my knitted blanket, finishing January with just 11 rows left to knit. I easily finished those last few rows this month, so it is a finish for February. This is item #25 on my list and my first finish of the year. It's around 42" x 54". It probably could use some blocking, but I also probably won't do that. I used Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick & Quick and it's quite warm. I ended up with at least 1/2 skein left. I'm wondering about knitting a hat with it. It's been years since I last knit a hat (and those were baby hats).

Now that I've completed my knitting project, I need to decide on a different hand-stitching project. I have several cross stitch and an embroidery project, but I didn't put those on my PHD list. I could start the selvedge rug. 

I considered working on many of the things on my list, but did not actually do anything other than what's listed above. Truly, that was quite a bit of progress. But I always wish I did more. I should have a full day to myself this weekend. Will I spend it sewing? 

I've worked on a few quilts since last week. I ran into a snag--our house was really dry due to the furnace running a lot with the low 20s highs we'd been experiencing. My longarm manufacturer suggests a room humidity of 40% - 45% for machines with robotics to avoid issues with static buildup, thread, etc. My room and my house were at 28%. We bought a room humidifier for my sewing room. I haven't been able to get it above 40%, but it's a lot closer to the ideal range than it was. 

Anyway, here's what I worked on:

Kathy's quilt, quilted with Sugar and Spice.

Jae's quilt, quilted with Opal.

Haley's quilt, quilted with Moons and Stars. I am making her binding with three different fabrics she provided. The thread is pink.

Marsali's quilt, quilted with Textures. 

Toni's quilt, quilted with Pansies. This one has vintage handkerchiefs appliquéd to blocks. 

I thought these little birds were charming.

In other news, I wanted to take a moment to promote my cousin-by-marriage's pottery shop. Gavi is one of the finest human beings I know and she sells her creations in her Etsy shop, Pots Imperfect. We bought these mugs. She has bowls, little cake stands, and mugs right now. 

I've noticed we have a lot of deer tracks throughout our yard. These are all made by animals. 

They have been bedding down in our yard too. I've noticed spots under the deck stairs, this spot right next to my garage service door

and these spots in the front yard. 

We seem to have quite a herd roaming the neighborhood this year.

Friday we went down to the spillway/tailwater to look at birds. My son and husband had been there earlier in the week so that my son could complete his film photography homework. This time he took his personal digital camera with what I call his paparazzi lens. It was still really frigid outside, so we didn't stay outdoors long. We moved around to the other side of the tailwater where there is a park with a road that runs close to the creek and observed from the car. My son opened the car window and stuck his lens out. It was so peaceful. I really needed that. We saw loads of great blue herons, a juvenile bald eagle, and lots of hooded mergansers. It was fun to watch the ducks dive, come up with a fish, and then eat said fish. 

The following pictures were all taken with my phone.

heron, ducks

heron

eagle

so peaceful

duck on left between branches is eating

I finished reading Prince Harry's Spare. At the beginning of the book I felt like he was a lost little boy, desperately in need of counseling and more attention from his family. By the end, it was clear that he is totally besotted by his wife. He seems to do a lot of drugs and a lot of drinking. I'm not sure he's found his purpose yet other than as a husband and father. I guess I just feel pity for him.

I'm trying to decide what physical book to read next--I am constantly reading e-books, mostly those I'm able to get for free, and most often fiction. Anyway, I'm considering 1984 (I'm an English minor and somehow have never read this) that my son recommended, Coates' Between the World and Me, or Broom's The Yellow House. Those last two are in consideration simply because they were at the top of the stack of books I bought at the food pantry's used book sale. They are both National Book Award winners. 

Well, this has gotten much lengthier than I planned. I even deleted some. So, until next week, take care.

Linking with Quiltery, My Quilt Infatuation, and Alycia Quilts.

Did you get hit with any part of the big storm? We got around 12" of snow. My daughter had come home for the weekend and got stuck here until Monday since the roads were not safe for travel. These pictures were both taken part way through the storm.

I did a little sewing while I tried to process my grief over senseless murders and strange responses. I finished the December clue for the Magnificent mystery quilt, which you may have seen in my OMG post. 

I finished the "Cupcake Crossing Unit" blocks for Nancy's quilt and added the pieces to the design wall. I hadn't noticed that I needed to cut framing strips for the four patches, so I'll get to that at some point. 

I also helped my daughter make two units of her FPP snake quilt (Ouroboros by No Hats in the House). She didn't understand how to cut the pieces to fit, so I kept trying to talk her through that. I ended up doing a lot of the cutting, but she did the sewing and most of the pressing. She has picked all the color placements. We're using batik and broadcloth since they can go either way/no strict right/wrong side.

I made a tiny bit of progress on my knitted blanket. I'm still in the eighth of ten skeins, but really close to moving into the ninth. I think I'll only need to use part of the 10th skein. This blanket is so warm. Nice to sit under in these frigid temperature days.

Edited to add: I am using Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in the Dreamcatcher color way. The pattern I am using is Timberland Tweed Throw pattern by Mama in a Stitch. I am making the larger size that is approximately 42" x 54" when complete. This size requires 10 skeins of yarn. I bought mine at two different Michaels stores on sale. They were $6 or $7 each, I think. I ended up with two different dye lots, so I'm just alternating them. 

No progress at all on the paint by number. I can't remember if I said before, but I did do the clear gesso on the canvas, so it's all ready to go. I got a board for my daughter's, but haven't made any further progress on prepping it. She's planning to leave it here anyway since she doesn't have space at her place and she's worried her roommate's dog would get to it. Highly possible--that thing is super hyper and bouncy.

I've completed a good number of quilts. I was hoping to have a couple more, but everyone's been home so far this week and I decided to take a mental health day after working past 8 pm Monday.

I quilted Precious Pearls on Susan's quilt.

I quilted Triplet on Janice's quilt. Janice wanted gray thread. I suggested 60 wt thread for this one and that's what we went with. I believe this one will be entered in the IHQS.

I quilted Crazy Daisy on Susan's other quilt. All three are now on their way back to her.

I quilted Mod Dotz on Legene's quilt. Another IHQS entry.

I quilted Toss Up on Kathy's quilt.