This n that

I hope everyone is staying healthy and handling the shelter in place without too much stress and/or anxiety.  I know this entire situation is just so odd and different and can be difficult to handle.

I think I mentioned that my favorite stress-reliever (aside from quilting) is to take a long walk every day while talking with a friend.  Walk and talk!  It's been a highlight of my days, even with the weather being lousy in Central Oregon!  Now it's warming up.

I have gotten a lot of sewing done and should have been sharing more frequently.  I finished the Temecula Stay at Home little sampler but I haven't decided how I'm going to set the 28 little 3" blocks.  This was my tentative plan.  I even thought about using this as the center of a larger quilt.  I didn't sew it together yet so I'm open to ideas.  What do you think?


In the big finish of the month, I put the binding on my Moda Blockheads II quilt.  It's a big quilt--fits on the top of my king size bed!  So you can imagine how long it took.  I do sew my bindings down by machine most of the time with an elongated "S" on my Bernina machine (or Janome, depending on where I am).  It looks fine to me and I don't have to worry about the stitches coming out!  This was a huge project and I am really pleased with the final quilt.


I set aside the blue/white/yellow blocks I showed you and decided to play with other fabric I had at the cabin (my stash is kind of limited here).
First thing is I took out a pile of 2-1/2" strips and started playing around.  I think I'll make this a kid's quilt for my small quilt group's projects, if we ever meet again! ;-(  This is a Bonnie Hunter pattern.  I am trying to use a darker blue as a constant.


At the cabin here I have an Accuquilt Go, which I have just about never used (I bought it used at least 4 yrs ago).  In keeping with not using it, I bought a die for a quilt I've wanted to make (stash enhancing, right??!!).  So I decided I was in the mood for that block and quilt.  I started with the pile of Kaffe Fassett fabrics that I have at the cabin and a solid off-white.  This is a really fun block.  Accuquilt calls is "Chimney Sweep" but I've always thought of it as an album block with signatures in the middle sometimes.

Feeling limited by my meager stash here, I went online and ordered some more fabrics and I have already received a great variety of gorgeous Kaffe Fassett  fabrics which I started cutting up right away.

You might notice on the right side of my design wall a bunch of little postage stamp units.  That's my leader-ender project--I cut extra fabrics into 1-1/4" squares and sew them together.  I have them in units, waiting to be assembled.  They are pretty darn small!!

I've shared photos of Mt. Bachelor before but I thought this was so pretty, seen on my walk last week.  I never get tired of this view.


You know that this shelter in place has been very difficult for us with respect to our grandkids.  You remember that we had them staying over at our house in California at least twice a month, sometimes more often.  Every time we talk on the phone, the first thing they ask is "When are you coming back"!  Imagine our delight when we received this postcard from Emma, 7 yrs old.  We thought it was amazing that we even got it, considering the way she addressed it!


Stay safe and healthy.
Much love to you!

Checking in

My little Temecula stay at home sampler is really fun.  I'm doing it in blue/white/yellows.
They are precious little 3" blocks that take about 10 minutes to make each day! My kind of project!


My plan is to combine these blocks into a quilt with these blocks I had put aside.  This was a project I started but didn't get very far.  So now I'm incorporating them into a new project, which will hopefully get finished this time around!


My dh drove back to California today to pick up some of our things and our mail so I am going to have several days on my own!  I will probably have him bring me more fabric and ufos!  This is looking like it's going to be a while!

What can I do when I'm alone??? Besides sewing??
BAKE.  I saw this recipe on Facebook and decided it sounded perfect for a Sunday morning.  What could ever be wrong with a coffee cake??  this recipe called for using Bisquick, which I didn't have so I found a way to make my own.  PERFECT.


I have also really been in the mood for making sourdough bread but I don't have a starter so I found a recipe for that and have been making my starter little by little.  Today is Day 5 so it's almost ready to use.  I've never had my own sourdough starter.  I'll let you know how that goes.  I could definitely eat an entire loaf of sourdough bread, right out of the oven. With butter!  And being alone will make it my entire dinner!!

Hope everyone is staying safe and is healthy.  We have been staying in place for 5 weeks now, here in Central Oregon.  It's a great place to be quarantined;  each day I go for a 5 mile walk with a friend (we talk on the phone!!);  it's perfect.  if I didn't eat so much of the coffee cake, I'd probably lose a little weight. ;-))

Be well.

A finish and more masks

Hope you had a fun Easter in whatever form you got to enjoy it.  

I've been sewing more masks as I'm getting more and more requests for them.  They go quickly and it's kind of fun.  I will say that I wore mine last week and didn't really enjoy the experience. ;-(  I guess it's a necessary evil.  I'm not going out very often so fortunately I don't need to wear it very much.  Do the masks count as a mini, Wendy Reed??? vbg

I did finally finish the Cheddarback quilt!  YEAH!
I'd like to add a border but I don't have any fabric here at the cabin that'd work (all my large scale florals are in California) so it's going to the longarm quilter today as is.  I wound up substituting some blocks since my print outs for several weeks are in California so I had to just make-do.  I have that very old book, Around the Block (and ATB Again), which is one of my favorite go-to books for block patterns.  Finding blocks the right size is easy with that book.  If you have it, don't you love it??!!
Also, I realized one basket block is facing down, which will be just fine!



Next up??  I think I'll do the Temecula little project they're doing with 3" blocks;  I'll also start back on the Moda Blockheads III.

I also had a thought that I might take a pile of orphan blocks and put them together into a quilt.  I have three large baggies with blocks I started for 3 different projects.  I'll post my progress.

Today I'm bringing pizzas to my mom's memory care facility for the staff;  I also bring her the newspaper.  They've been in lockdown for over 4 weeks and happily no one has gotten sick!  So I haven't seen her in a while.

Take care.  Stay safe and healthy!!
xxxx

Making masks

I have really resisted the idea of wearing a mask but having read the latest warnings, I have decided that it's probably smart to wear one.

I've kept many patterns but finally settled on a very simple one.  I made one for myself and a friend, who doesn't sew, asked me to make them a pair.  There is also an organization in Bend that is collecting masks so I'll be making them a pile as well to drop off.

I had fun digging through fun fabrics.




I'm almost done assembling the cheddarback quilt - have had a little interference, though.


Once this is finished, I'll start on the Moda Blockheads as well as the Temecula latest little project.

Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy.  The weather has finally gotten warmer here in Central Oregon so we are able to bike ride and enjoy the warmer weather.

March mini and a HUGE finish

Shelter in place... who came up with that phrase??
I'm sure it'll be in Wikipedia before you know it!  And the history books!

I hope everyone is remaining healthy and safe!  And not going sitr-crazy. I meant it when I said that it's a great time to be a quilter... I LOVE having to stay home and being able to sew sew sew!

I did get a March mini made.  This was a little kit I purchased from Cyndi Black at The Busy Thimble in Maine. This one's for Wendy Reed! (constantquilter)



I also got the binding sewn onto a quilt from at least 5 years ago.  I did the quilting using Barb's (FunwithBarb) stencil.  I finally got to the binding this weekend.



I added binding to another quilt but I need to find thread that will match.  Might have to wait...

My big accomplishment is that I finally got the half square triangle outer border sewn and attached to this Primitive Gatherings project.  You probably can't tell but those little hsts fnish at 1/2"!!! They are SMALL.  And there are a LOT!!  



Here's a close up of the center:


If anyone has any interest in this pattern, please let me know.  I'd be happy to pass it on.  I KNOW I won't be making it again.  Each center is wool appliqué.  It's a large quilt, although I think you could just make a  pillow out of any of the separate blocks!

Take care of yourselves!! Stay healthy and strong!!

love,
randy

Good time to be a quilter

I have been a very bad blogger.  I am going to be better and I really do appreciate your staying around and being devoted to me.

I do hope you are all healthy and handling this pandemic as well as can be expected.  Sharing finished quilts may be in poor taste..  I hope you won't mind.

My husband and I left California and fled to our cabin up in Oregon early last week so we've been staying home in a beautiful area.  We are both healthy and washing hands constantly!  I'm feeling a lot less stressed here, although you still can't find toilet paper or rice!  Go figure!

The silver lining to all this is that I've been able to finish several quilts that had been waiting my attention.

I want to first thank my friend Wendy Reed who sent me a charming little mug rug months ago to thank me for participating in one of her sew-alongs. Super cute!


I did finally finish my Temecula Scavenger Hunt, which really took me weeks.  I love how it turned out and it is on its way to my long arm quilter.

That is also on its way to the quilter! In reality, it's not wavy.  I pressed it really well after I took it down.

On the drive up to our cabin in Sunriver,  I finished another block in the Primitive Gathering Twilight Garden quilt project.  I had to move the center flower because it wasn't centered.   I need to perfect my skills! While looking at the picture last night, I also realized that I put one of the flower centers on the wrong flower (too large) but oh well!


I was participating in Bea et Cecile's sew along for 2020 (stars) and got them all assembled.  I used a large applique block that a friend had gifted me years ago and I think it works perfectly.  I also had fun using one of DiFord's stripes for the border.


I primarily used a French General fabric line for this quilt and decided that I didn't want any leftover fabric so last night I made a Yellow Brick Road top out of the rest of the fabric.  Sadly, my small quilt group which made quilts for kids has been put on hiatus so I am going to quilt this myself and submit it to Hearts2Help.


I think the good news is that everything is large and the bad news is I haven't done any minis for February or March.  I may work on that this weekend.

I hope this finds everyone handling this well.  I read an article that said that people can get depressed because of the isolation.  I'm sending everyone big virtual hugs!!  This too shall pass.

Much love,
Randy

Happy Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is such a fun holiday, I think.  I remember when our kids were little, they'd always bring these adorable cards to school to share.  My grandkids do the same thing now.

We don't go out to dinner;  instead we'll be having a cozy dinner at the cabin!

I'm finally posting a picture of my January mini.  So, Wendy Reed, here you go!  I made this last year, actually , out of leftover half square triangles from the red/white/blue Moda Blockheads II that I made.
I experimented with the machine quilting, having found a cool pattern in a book.  I like how it turned out and I had fun doing it.  You probably can't tell that I used a bright variegated thread!!


I've also been working on the stars for the sew along organized by Béa et Céçile in France.  It's my kind of project because there are virtually no rules.  Here are 4 more stars, bringing my total to 10.  I've been using a layer cake from French General. Only 6 more to go before I need to assemble them into a quilt top.


I am still slowly working on my wool applique project from Primitive Gatherings.  I'm on my 6th block, although one needs some repairs--the center part wound up being off center.  I was just in San Diego last weekend and went into their store in Temecula and snapped a picture of the finished quilt so you can get an idea of the magnitude of this project!  I still love it.  My background is a burgundy red.  So lush.  I pretty much only work on it when we are driving up to the cabin or if I'm on a long flight and watching a movie. I am presently working on the one in the top right corner!

I am not going to think about the borders--I have the patterns and fabrics but am first finishing up the 12 blocks.
Here's the one I need to fix---I did the outer ring first but failed to verify the position of the center flower and it is off-center.  The true color of the red is quite a bit deeper and more burgundy.

Pretty frustrating.

The other project that's been keeping me busy has been the Temecula Quilt Scavenger Hunt.  LOTS of little pieces.  I'm one week behind but am enjoying it.  I always love their projects.


I'm completely behind on the newest Moda Blockheads III but that's ok.  

My goal this weekend is to finish the black wool applique project (just need to add the rest of those half square triangles) to give it to my favorite long-arm quilter/friend next week when we meet for lunch and I get my red/white/blue Moda Blockheads II back from her. 

Have a great weekend! 💖💖