Spring has arrived... YEAH!

 What a difference a few weeks make.  Two weeks ago, on my way to my second vaccine, it was snowing like crazy and my dh had to plow the driveway for me to get out.  Today it's 60*!  I'm not complaining.

We drove back to California for a short visit and I got my last regular block finished;  I now need to prep  for the drive back to Oregon... HUGE endeavor!!

I have always said I'm a very imperfect appliqué-er.  You will agree if you look and see my circle is more oval!  I have come to believe that perfect isn't my thing!  Done is better than perfect, right??

I did however, finish my circles project for the sewalong that's being hosted by Céçile and Corinne this year.  This was made using the pot holder method exemplified by Wendy Reed (constant quilter) so each block was individually quilted and separately bound.  The arcs/spikes were paper pieced.

This was originally going to be an enormous quilt I started with a group of friends maybe 8 years ago.  We swapped fabrics for the quarter circles, the arcs and the 4 triangular pieces that are around the center squares.  Custom dies were made by Accuquilt so I didn't have to cut each one!~. I am thinking I'll make more blocks since I have all the pieces.  Possibly.!

I also decided to work on the new Barbara Brackman monthly sewalong and I got 3 blocks done to catch up.  I had recently purchased a pile of pinks and had gotten a bunch of purples from Maine (A busy Thimble!), both of which were waiting to be put away.  So that determined my color theme!  Note the fussy cut bird in the center here--from DiFord's fabric line.  LOVE it.  I've also been collecting backgrounds with writing so I used some of that.  FUN

I LOVE that pink fabric which has birds, if you look closely.

Fortunately they are only one a month!  I think I can keep up with that!

I took Zeke for a hike here in California yesterday to a new preserve.  This was one of the views along the way.

Hope you are all enjoying a wonderful weekend.  Tonight is the first of Passover.  None of my friends are doing the usual large seders so my dh and I are going to hold our own very minimal seder.  Of course eating is a big part of this so I made chicken soup with matzoh balls (one of my favorites) and charoset (which is a mixture of apples, nuts, wine, dried fruit), which I always fill up on.

A shout out has to go to my dear friend Claire who has been our family's hostess for our seder for as long as I can remember.  This year she's going to a family member's house instead rather than deal with it at her house.  We will miss her family this year and hope for next year's seder with them all.

Take care.  Get vaccinated, if you can.  Stay safe!  Mask up...

Enjoy life!!

xxxx

Randy

Moving right along!

 We drove back to California last week to check on our house and see our grandkids.  It gives me lots of time to do handwork in the car while my dh does the driving.  We listen to Audible books and the time flies by!  Of course the fact that my dh doesn't talk during the car rides makes it much more enjoyable!! VBG

I got two more blocks done on my curves quilt.  But horrors of horrors-- I am missing one block!  OY.  It was all prepped for sewing down the binding and it disappeared.  Here is my progress:

There are 16 blocks in total so I have another row to add on. And make up for the missing block.

I also got a fair amount done on my last block for the Twilight Garden project!  Then the really hard part begins!  The borders are very detailed as is the center block.  But I'm moving along so I'm pleased!  This block needs its berries!!

I also went to the local quilt store yesterday that had their sale fabrics 15% off so of course I had to buy some more fabric.

The sewing machine and tape measure fabric will be fun!  The pandas will be a backing since it was only $6 less 15% so I was able to snag nearly 6 yds!  I love getting bargains for backing fabrics!

The weather was beautiful on Friday and I went on a hike with a group to a gorgeous area I'd not visited before.  It's a huge canyon with a river down below.

I even took Zeke along and there was another dog who looked just l like him.  They got along very well so it was a success.  He's now had all his shots so he can be around other pooches.  And start his training!

I'm hoping for lots of sewing this week.  I get my second vaccine on Thursday so am preparing for a quiet Friday.  YEAH!

Have a great, safe week!

Where did the month go?

I honestly can’t believe it’s March already. The greatest significance to me is that it marks the one year anniversary that we’ve been “sheltering in place”!  We left California on March 16.  What a year it’s been. Right?  Are you all marking the one year since the pandemic began?  The good news is that I got my first vaccine!  The one time it pays to be older , right?!  Vbg

I’ve done some sewing that I’m happy to share.  This is my curves quilt for the Céçille et Corinne sew along.  I’m sewing the blocks together using the potholder method (a la Wendy Reed). It goes pretty slowly but I’m liking the project so far 

I was able to finish another block in the Twilight Garden project.  One more regular block and I will start on the center and borders!

I will finish my February mini in the next couple of days!  I’m making a table topper for my night stand.  

The great news is that I got my first vaccine on Friday!

It was a very snowy. so I’m totally bundled up. 

We’ve had a lot of snow the past couple of weeks and our puppy Zeke loves the snow. But this is what happens when he goes out. Snowballs up and down his legs!

I read that a whisk is best to get these off!  Really!

Take care everyone!

Some progress

 We have been in California to visit our grandkids this past week so not much sewing going on but I did do some handsewing on the 8 hr drive. 

I finished another one of these sprigs and stars blocks. I have to rinse off the markings which I use for placement  

I’ve also been working on the curved blocks for the Cecile sew along. I have all the blocks sewn but now I’m putting them together à la Wendy Reed’s potholder method. 

I also mostly finished my January mini ( Wendy Reed is my inspiration). It just needs to be quilted. This fishy fabric was a gift from my dear friend Barb Vedder. I thought long about how to use it.  I am going to use it as a table runner (for when we eat fish?). Isn’t the fabric fun?

We are heading back to Oregon on Monday after having the grandkids over for two weekends!  Such fun. 

A little progress and a lot of growth!

 I'm working on Cecile and Corinne's challenge of doing a quilt with curves and had selected a very old UFO called 9-11 Quilt by Laundry Basket Quilts.  SOOOO labor intensive.  I did 4 more blocks this week:

Here's a little confession...I was doing this with a group of friends about 10 years ago and we had an Accuquilt die specially made for the quarter circles and the 4 "triangles" which are sewn to the center square.  I also had sewn a lot of the paper pieced sections so I had a head start.  I've got 12 blocks done.  I'm now back to paper piecing the sections again.

Now the quilt calls for 56 (!!) blocks.  I'm pretty sure I'm not going to get them all done, together and quilted by the deadline for Cecile's challenge so the quilt may  actually be smaller.  It needs sashing and I'm going to use stash but haven't decided yet which color.  Any suggestions?

As for sewing down the quarter circles, I'm still pretty challenged.  I will admit that I've been pressing the round edges over and then sewing them onto the paper pieced part by machine!  Sometimes I'll sew them like a drunkard's path (and I was inspired by Janet O's pinning about every half inch!).. that seems to make them a bit more accurate. What a concept--pinning!!

Keeping me company in my sewing room is my new companion.  He's growing fast and seems likely to be a bit larger than the promised weight of 45#s maximum. VBG.  It's unlikely he'll fit on the edge of the bookshelf and between shelves very much longer!

It's hard to be upset with this little guy getting potty trained.  He is only two months old and that face...!!!!

In another vein, here's a book recommendation for you:  It's called The Biggest Bluff.  It's about a journalist who decides to become a poker star.  The story is interesting but she makes so many statements that have nothing to do with poker.  For instance:

"Perception matters only insofar as you're using it strategically to shape your image for future actions"

"One of the keys to success, if not THE key, is objectivity.  And objectivity is a hard thing to come by"

"Great Kipling quote:  'if you can meet with Triumph and Disaster, treat those two impostors just the same..."

Stay safe!!

Curved piecing?

 I have participated in a sew-along organized by Cecile in France for many years.  This year she is pairing up with Corinne. The theme this year is curves.  PERFECT. I had quickly decided on the project I was doing--I had started a very (for me) difficult quilt maybe 10 years ago and figured that this was a great opportunity to finish it.

Here are the 3 blocks I just finished up:

The pattern is called 9-11 Quilt and is a Laundry Basket quilt.  It's got paper piecing, which is easy.  My issues are with sewing the quarter circle in each corner of one block.  Some of them I sewed down by applique.  Most I sewed down the same way I'd sew a drunkard's path block.  But so often they aren't large enough or they don't have a consistent 1/4" seam.  You can see why I started and stopped 10 years ago!

The pattern calls for sashing and a LOT of blocks.  It's a large quilt.  We'll see how long I last! Do you like sewing curves??

I almost always keep politics out of my blog posts but I am so disturbed today by the actions of so many in Washington who are Trump supporters.  I know others are equally upset and worried.

It's been a tough 2020 and 2021 isn't starting out a whole lot better.

Stay safe, my friends.

A new year, with lots of hopes

 I am not generally one for near year's resolutions (mostly because I'd rarely get them done!) so I gave that up years ago.  I did read something yesterday written by Annie Lamott, whose writing I adore, which did motivate me to think about striving for one or two things I feel are important.  I'm not yet sure which things I'm going to focus on for the year.  What about you?  Do you make resolutions?

I'm really hoping that 2021 will bring about big changes from 2020, which proved to be such a difficult period for so many people for so many reasons.  I had to deal with my own mom's Covid 19 illness and my family's serious efforts to NOT get sick.  My husband and I (and our middle daughter) have been living in our home in Central Oregon since March 16.  I'm usually pretty vague on exact dates but that date is stuck in my mind!

As I look back on the year, I can say there have been some "pearls"--things that proved to be gifts, in my opinion.  One of course was that we got to have our daughter live with us.  Another was that I developed friendships with others in ways that we hadn't related before.  Living in our cabin in Central Oregon has been a real gift as well.  I walked so many miles that I wore out my tennis shoes!

On the down side, our dog Max died in early November. Since that time, we've gone round and round about whether to get a new dog.

Long story short, meet Zeke!  He is a 2 month old Golden Doodle.

He's supposed to be about 40 lbs but he's already larger than we expected.  So the breeder may have been a little off on her estimate.

The one exciting aspect of having this puppy is that he'll need to be with me in my sewing room (in a "playpen") during the day so my daughter can work remotely in our living room.  So, maybe I'll even get some sewing done!

I wish you all a wonderful 2021.  I hope everyone can leave the bad memories behind and that the vaccine will enable us to have some semblance of our old lives back.  I hope you can remain healthy and not overwhelmed or depressed.  Try to come out of the fog.  Try to look forward.  Be positive.

I also want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your support, comments, ideas, help, love over this past year.  Blogging has proved to be one of those pearls this year.  I'd likely not feel as positive as I do without having had you in my life.

Much love to you.

ps:  I promise there will be a quilt posting any day!!  my December mini is due!