December 2021

This was a Christmas gift for my most recent Grandson. It was an pattern from Annie's Crafting. The stars were so easy to do since they were wonky points. The backing is a cute blue and green polka dot fabric. I gave a knitted blanket to him at birth, but up until now he didn't have a quilt. Now he does.

Hunny and I spent the morning of December 3 in the garage revamping this wreath. We deconstructed it and then added on some new garland. The lights went back on and then all the ornaments. The one thing I had a problem with was the bow. I could not find one to replace it and it needed replacing! All the Colorado sun beating on it for years turned the bow orange along with several of the 'red' ornaments. Our solution was to spray paint the bow with red paint. 

I've been sewing on a Christmas quilt for myself called Swell Christmas. A friend and I have been doing an in-home sew along retreat. Both of us have been making this quilt. I've gotten the top done, but I doubt that any quilting will happen on it until the first of the year. The instructions had you make 20# of log cabin blocks and then applique Santa on top. There was show through so I cut out the blocks behind Santa. This resulted in more blocks in the leftover pile so I made another quilt that is roughly 42"x56". And with still more leftover fabric so I made a baking for that second quilt.

This was a jelly roll quilt that I made from Jeep fabric!

And then because it was Christmas time I quilted a Halloween quilt.

I hope you have a Happy New Year!

April & May 2021

It has been raining almost every 3rd day for two months. The weeds around this place are prize winners! I wish I could say that there has been gardening done, but I can't. The soil is just too wet to work. 

On the other hand, a lot of other things have been accomplished.

In April of 2020, I had planned to go to Iowa to award my brother a Quilt of Valor. That didn't happen because of COVID. I had saved all my naval fabrics to make this quilt for him and award it to him. We had it planned that his buddies would come and I'd do the presentation and then we had to cancel.

Well, last month I drove from Colorado to Iowa and awarded it. We couldn't believe that everyone kept it a secret for a whole year! It was just family at the ceremony but there wasn't a dry eye in the house. He is now calling us all sneaky. Once home, I registered it at the Quilt of Valor Foundation site.

There is now a wall of grandkid photos at my house. It is, of course, in a 9-patch grid pattern. LOL.

The old Sleep Number bed it hitting the trash. I bought a new mattress and box springs. That Sleep Number bed is horrible for my arthritic hip and The Husband's back. Anything is better than that old thing.

Since I signed up for my guild's day retreat this month and wanted something easy to sew, I've been cutting quilt kits for myself. There are now five Quick Strippie Quilts cut from kid-friendly fabric to take for mindless sewing. I also realized that there was enough Laurel Burch fabrics in the stash for four (count 'em) quilts. Hmmm... I have 3 nieces and one grand-daughter. I think I just came up with some Christmas gifts. Now to do something for the 2 boys.

Sure I hope I can keep up this blog a little better. Talk to you soon.

Visitors for the summer

 

 

My son and family sold his house in the big city and moved in with the husband and me.

For two months this summer, I have had a house full! Two extra adults, a two-year old and and six-year old. It's been an exciting and exhausting time but I love it!

Because my house was so full you couldn't turn around, I didn't get any sewing or quilting done. I did, however, get 2 baby blankets knitted for the soon-to-arrive third grandbaby.

Being Grateful

The dictionary defines grateful as being appreciative of benefits received. Yes, I am grateful. Grateful for the roof over my head, the food that I eat, my job, and family and friends. That last is what has prompted this post. CarGuy learned that a sibling was living out of a pickup camper in a Walmart parking lot. That sib is now staying with us until enough money has been saved from the sib's part time job to get back on her/his feet. Can you just imagine trying to not only obtain a job but keep it when one does not have the basic needs and facilities met? After the first night here, the sib said that was the first decent night of sleep s/he had in months. "A bed. A REAL bed" we were told the next morning.

I will be especially grateful for what I have this holiday season.

The New Stove

*Ring*  *Ring*

She: Hello?

He: The new stove is here and installed. The microwave is bigger than I thought it would be. It is 17" deep.

She: O? that is smaller than the old one.

He: You're not going to like this.

She: Wait a minute. How much clearance is there between the hood/microwave and the top of the stove?

He: 14"

She: O.M.G. I have a stock pot that is 10". What are we going to do?

He: We will discuss it when you get home from work.

All because he did not want the perfectly good microwave sitting on the counter top. The $767 stove & hood/microwave just got more expensive. Envision this: removing the cabinets (cookbooks stored there) above the hood all together or just to cut them down about 4". But then there is the exhaust fan to deal with.

I'm not ready for this. *sigh*

Autumn Leaves

Auntie needed a new decoration for her door and this pattern has been languishing in the 'some day' pile. After working on The Firewood Quilt for months and months, a quick project was needed for instant gratification.

The pattern is from Quilter's World August 2008 magazine, which, BTW, has the cutest little quilt on the cover of the December issue. This small 18"x18" quilt is a product of the stash: backing, batting, fabric, buttons, thread.

There are several balls of Candlewicking Cotton in the stash that have provoked thoughts of usage in quilts. The first attempt is shown here as big stitch quilting. My opinion? Meh. The thread is much too soft to do a larger quilt and will be used for embroidery, as it was intended.

Small projects such as this are a great way to try new techniques

The Wedding Dress

In May 1910, grandfather and grandmother were wed. She and her four sisters were expert seamstresses and needlewomen and made her wedding dress. "The bride looked very charming gowned in a white silk princess dress richly embroidered, and over white." -- from one of the newspaper clippings.

The dress was re-discovered during the clean out of Auntie's condo. It was crammed into a small box that was slightly deeper than a box for a man's tie. When the box was opened the dress, over-blouse, embroidered bolero-length top and shawl burst forth like a spring! The dress is in surprisingly good condition in spite of the cavalier manner of storage.

The yoke and high collar of the dress are pin-tucked and are set into the princess style dress. Long sleeves come to a point over the back of the hand and are decorated with a passimenterie cording as is the center front of the dress from the hem upwards. The edge of the collar and the bottom of the sleeve have a whipstitch edgestitching over cording. An over-blouse of a different weight of silk was worn between the dress and the embroidered top to protect the dress from snags by the beaded edge of the top. The beads on the edge of the embroidered top have a silver lining that have tarnished with age and look quite dark. A silk stole completes the ensemble.

In May 2010, this dress will be 100 years old. I made the decision recently to donate the dress to the Colorado State University Avenir Museum of Design and Merchandising which is dedicated to textiles. The curator was excited to receive it because there is provenance and feels the dress would be a great fit for the museum. The dress is made of silk and is quite fragile and I know that this museum will take good care of it. The curator also mentioned that they are planning a wedding dress exhibit in the near future and this dress is a perfect fit for the exhibit.

Today, I handed over the dress to the museum curator.

Grandmother's wedding dress has a new home.

Gobsmacked

Truly. CarGuy asked for a new quilt.

Now you need to understand that in the past when I have offered to make a new quilt for him he retorted that "this old blankie is just fine". Well, he recently purchased a new chair and has asked for a new 'blankie'.

I know the size: 54x84. It can't be flannel; I have tried that and it stretches too much and he popped the quilting stitches. It needs to be fairly easy and quick. O fun! I get to make a brand new quilt for him.

Allergy Eyes

I've been MIA -- laid out comatose on the sofa with an allergy attack compounded by a virus I picked up somewhere. I am somewhat better, but the eyes now have it. CarGuy said I looked like I had been on a two week bender. At least on a bender one would have some semblance of fun. The doc gave me a nasal steriod spray to reduce all the membrane swelling and redness that I will have to use for the next month. Did I ever tell you I was highly allergic to trees? I'll spare you a photo.

Amaryllis

Auntie received two of these at Christmas time. I thought I'd try to revive them for her for next Christmas. Here is a page from my journal to jog my memory.

It says:

• treat it like an onion after the blooms
• plant in vegetable garden after threat of frost
• set bulb with top half out of soil
• let leaves grow long & luxuriant to plump bulb
• just before 1st frost dig it up
• cut off leaves
• put on tray in dark basement
• ignore
• pot it up around Thanksgiving (for my international readers this is at the end of November)
  

D9P Quilt of Valor

With no intentions of joining in on Judy Laquidara's Quiltathon, I inadvertently did join in and the Disappearing 9 Patch top that is pictured in the previous post is done. 7 more blocks were made, the top assembled and 2 borders added. A backing was pieced together from 3 6 yards in the stash. It is now waiting in a sack to be handed over the long-arm quilter. Today will be a non-sewing day, so the quiltathon yesterday fed my soul. Today is an Auntie visiting day in Denver-town. I am taking her some holiday decorations and will swap the Thanksgiving/fall ones out for the Christmas ones. CarGuy found an engine hoist on Craigslist so we will be stopping to pick that up on our way into Denver. There will, however, be fiber fondling today as I am taking my knitting.

* Clipart image from pcCrafter

Spare Time. What is that?

Yesterday, I took a day off from work to go to Denver-town to take Auntie to the doctor. The assisted living facility (ALF) will take a resident to an appointment only on Monday or Wednesday mornings and nobody goes in with the resident. Now try to coordinate THAT with a doctor's office. So anyway, she lets the wax build up in her very, very narrow ear canals until she literally loses her hearing. So I made an appointment to get her ears washed out after I had the ALF do 4 days of ear wax drops. It hurt, I know it did. But they were able to open up one ear. Sort of*. Then we traipsed over to the hearing aid store where we got her hearing aid cleaned because it was totally plugged up with wax. I will be driving to Denver-town again next week for her followup appointment. *sigh*

What's the photo, you ask? That is a picture of my whole guest room. It's tiny; big enough for a double bed, a straight chair on one side of the bed, a antique coat tree that you have to step over in another corner, and an antique dry washstand on the other side of the bed. We recently had some windows replaced, no not the one you are looking at but the one in the next photo. See that rectangle of light on the window in the first photo? That light is coming from the windows in the wall directly across. In the second photo, you are standing in the corner next to the straight chair looking up over the closet. I always thought the closet would make an excellent base for a loft. But I digress. The vinyl mini-blinds were removed (YAY!) and now there is a lot of light in this room and in the kitchen. Yes, I have cathedral ceilings in my kitchen and guest room and several sets of these windows. I forgot how light it is in this house without coverings on those southwest facing windows. During the recent full moon you could see the moon shining in. Kewl!

I need to get them covered before cold weather sets in. I have a plan. As a quilter, my sewing room is set up for working on large expanses of fabric: a quilt. These windows take large expanses of fabric. So I am going to make more of these window coverings (go to the last photo). With the old mini-blinds in place I was locked into a certain angle of the blind because of the length of the cord. I won't be so locked in when I make the new Roman Shades because I bought enough cord to bring it all the way down the wall and tie it off at a reachable level.

Of course, it all depends on time, now doesn't it?

* Maybe I should learn how to candle ears. Anyone know if candling works?

Coffee Klatch

Pull up a chair and set down. I'll pour the coffee and set out the sweet rolls. How've you been? Me? I have been very, very busy.

I went to Denver City on Saturday. And guess what? I saw vultures. Circling over the courthouse in my little town. I wonder what that means? And the corn in the fields was higher than the top of your head. Over in that field I saw cows standing belly deep in a pond. And beyond that there were 4 deputy sheriffs on horseback! Not in a parade or at the fair, but over by Platteville where the veggie farms are located. I wonder what they were looking for? The hay has been harvested and all the hay fields are sporting flattops.

O my it was hot! 103 degrees F (39 degrees C). But the trip was a necessity. You see, I met with a real estate agent to list Auntie's condo. Yay! It is officially on the market. I hope it sells quickly. I told the agent I was willing to negotiate, within reason. I am so glad not to have to go into that place again to work.

Then I went on to the new apartment in the assisted living and was able to have a nice visit with Auntie. She had complained about the heat and I said to turn the AC on. She told me that it blows on her shoulder and chills her so I took a portable oscillating fan and set it up in a corner so it blows throughout the room. I also took about a half dozen books for her and swapped them out for the ones I left last time. She is such a voracious reader that I am spending a small fortune in books. Thank goodness for used book stores. I have started to buy an occasional used hardback because the type is bigger.

I spent a bit of time last week making a blouse sloper for her out of some 50cent a yard pink and white check fabric. She thought it was a real blouse until I had her put it on and she realized there was one long sleeve and one short sleeve. I will only have to make minor adjustments to the pattern thank goodness. She was thrilled to realize that I was going to make some blouses for her. I took five different fashion fabrics down with me, you know the kind -- the slinky, slippery stuff. I wanted her to pick out the ones she wanted. You guessed it, she wanted them all: two long sleeved and 3 short sleeved. Then she said how 'bout some slacks? Well, erm, one thing at a time, ok?

We have been getting some estimates to replace the clerestory windows in the house. One of the thermal windows is actually cracked on both sides. We are in the queue for 3-5 weeks out. That will give me a chance to make some more of the Warm Window blinds like in this post. These are not hard to make and are great if one is trying to either reduce heat gain in the summer or forestall heat loss in the winter and as a quilter I am set up with the space needed to sew on something like this. I actually saved $$$ on all the fabrics and hardware by using those Joann Fabric 40% and 50% off coupons to buy everything I needed. It has taken about a year but now I'm all set. Just need to get started.

The sculpture shows are this weekend. Can you believe that I actually get paid to hang out in an artful place and talk to people and sell some art? Tough job but somebody's got to do it.

I currently have two quilts at the long arm quilter. One of them is the Homespun BOM. When I get it back and bound I am planning on a bit of a giveaway. Stay tuned for more information on that.

All in the family

(Click for a bigger photo)

I've had company: my big brother and my niece. It has been lovely to have them visit. The only drawback is my niece slept on an air mattress on the floor of my sewing room.

I couldn't sew. I even hesitated to enter the room.


5 days of company = 11 knitted dishcloths and 3 crocheted potholders

Did you miss me?

I've been doing other stuff. Want to see? Does anyone know anything about china? I've been busy cataloging Auntie's china. This is a saucer from a tea set circa 1950? My father brought it home and gave it to Auntie. There is, of course, a tea pot, cups, saucers, creamer, and sugar bowl in a place setting of 6. It's beautiful. I know nothing about china and have been doing online research. O. My. And Auntie has several more different sets plus crystal.

O. And let's not forget the demitasse cup and saucer collection. Lots of small cups and saucers. Now all safely cataloged and wrapped in tissue and in a box.

And in a shameless plug: you still have a bit of time before Jan 31 (USA) to leave a comment on the post about my 300th Post for the giveaway. It's going to be fun! I've already got several items that I'll be sending to one lucky person.

Auntie

Update 11/30/07: Auntie is OK and I can go back to my weekly trip to Denver-town. Back to our regularly scheduled programming. O and the shawl? I just added on another skein of yarn so it is progressing nicely. I'll show a pic when it's done; a half-finished mass of knitting doesn't look like much as a WIP.

Hi all. I just wanted to post a quickie. I will be very sporadic posting for a while. Auntie was in hospital in Denver-town and has been transfered to a nursing facility. I have to go take care of her space and other stuff. I foresee many, many trips to Denver-town in the near future. *sigh* It's a long 1.5 hour trip in bumper to bumper traffic at *gulp* 75 mph (120 kph). Keep us in your thoughts, OK?

Maybe I can get that shawl knitted.

Auntie's Flowers

Have I ever shown you this quilt? This quilt, that I call Auntie's Flowers, was made by three generations of women in my family. Remember, I come from a long line of needlewomen. The embroidered flower blocks were started by a Great Aunt during the depression in the 1930's and were continued and finished by my Auntie who was about 16 at the time. I set the blocks and quilted it.

Some of the embroidery patterns were printed in a newspaper and others were drawn by my Great Aunt Sue. Susan was an artist who studied at an art conservatory 'back east' and graduated in 1904. The green used in the alternating blocks is some of 'that green' (I think it is called Nile Green?) from the same time. I searched antique shops and old quilt(y) merchants at quilt shows until I found enough yardage. I supplemented it with a bit of the Aunt Grace fabric of the white daisies on a green background. The backing is more of the Aunt Grace. The finished size is about 45x60".

Can you believe that I have another complete set of the embroidered blocks? I am currently coloring them in with crayons. I figured why not? It was a technique used in the day.

On another note: I was in Denver-town the past several days. My niece was in town for a conference and I picked her up from the hotel. She and I spent the night with Auntie and took her out to dinner. It was a nice familial interlude and great to catch up with Peach and to see what a beautiful and caring young woman she has turned into.

Now I'm off to a quilt retreat so I'll talk to you when I get back. Have a wonderful weekend!