Off the Grid for a Few Weeks

This morning I woke up dreaming that I was giving a trunk show talk about some of my quilts. Were they finished ones or in process ones? I do not recall, other than, after a quick bathroom trip, I crawled back into bed expecting to fall asleep right away, but, alas, the trunk show carried on with specific quilts, their journeys and timelines and progression  of skills and techniques learned, as well a life happenings along the journey, so I tried other let's get back to sleep habits that just took on more random rabbit trails of memories and reflections, since I just got back from an amazing ladies retreat in the Bavarian Alps in Germany with my daughter and granddaughter who were wonderful travel companions where my daughter got us organized and onto the correct trains and connections and my granddaughter kept me going in the right direction and kept us on time even though we missed not one but 2 trains but the next ones were better connections, so I finally got up and wrote my morning pages and a to-do list that would make my To-Do Tuesday group proud since we are doing taxes today and my cleaning lady is moving so I have to do the housework myself after all the grandchildren were here while we were away and they sort of spread a lot of toys and stuffies and papers all over the living room as they were creating and shooting a movie including taking some of the stuffies out to the back kitchen for auditions where they left a sheet with the credits written out and how they missed a whole box of ice cream bars is beyond me since I found them first try as we were creating space for the meat that arrived from the butcher where we had sent 2 of the pigs since they had to be sent out before we leave for Australia next week where we will be gone for 3 weeks visiting friends, Scrub Stitching quilt retreat and judging cows at the Sydney Easter Show, so I watered the plants taking care to count how many are in each room since Ava will be watering them when we are gone and that took a good half hour since there are 57, unless I miscounted but I will probably count them again before we go and I did the laundry from my trip and plan to just repack the bags now instead of waiting until the last minute like I did last time and I have to bake an apple pie before the grandkids show up for lunch and I had to replace the batteries in my mouse yet again.

So, I don't think I will be doing that trunk show anytime soon. 

Blessings,

Chris

What Will My Next Impulse Project Be?

I am an impulsive type who obsesses ad nauseatum about the next project I want to work on. I see so many fun creative quilt projects and quilt-a-longs that are so tempting, but reality tells me I need to take that time and energy to finish off a few of the ones I so loved when I started and I still love them as I pull them out, put them on the design wall and drool over their beauty. Then I walk out of the room and totally forget their existence. 

So, here are a few future possibilities.

The Storyteller's Sampler Quilt.
Only 369 two and a quarter inch hexagons. Will I make them all? Of course not. But I would like to make a few. At least 7 to make one collection. But then, as I keep reading through the book, she increased the size of some of the blocks by 141% to make something bigger. Now there is an idea. 

Then there is Cadence Court. 

This was a BOM from Sassafras Lane Designs. Where did I find it? Don't remember. But thought it might be a fun Rainbow Scrap Challenge project. But then, I do not want to begin another until my Bright Jane blocks are done. Also, it is mostly foundation pieced and I have been doing FPP for quite a few blocks and am sort of tired of it. 

Then I bought Wandering Geese from Canuk Quilt. This also looks to be a RSC possibility. But then, Bright Jane might be offended. 

Whatever happened to the hand applique quilts that I so love to work on? Oh yeah. I am still working on a couple. 

And then, I was talking to a friend I hadn't seen since covid lockdown. She reminded me that we both bought Jinny Beyer's BOM from Craftsy way back when and do I want to join her in making it? Sure, since I have the patterns and she does not. but where is the kit? Wait! I bought 2 kits. They are here somewhere. This is in the most vibrant turquoise and gold and blacks. But, now that I recall, I do not like sewing with black. Alas, I will have cataract surgery in May so my opinion might change. 

I have not forgotten Windermere. I bought the book when it came out. I bought the papers back in the winter. I have most of the fabrics in one or 2 of the collection boxes. I do like the purple sashing she used, but cannot find that in any of my searches. I have another that might work. 

So as I parade my thoughts upon the page, I am reminded that Lucy is hovering nearby wanting to play and Ella is begging to go to Australia with me. And Bright Jane has quite the rejection complex. But then, March is green month and her green blocks are all done. Of course, Sarah Morrell cannot complain since she decorated the big design wall for more than a month this winter. Shades of Pemberley got some focused attention for the Dust Off a Quilt Book blog-hop. TOMDO (Think of Me Dear One a Baltimore Album Quilt) got a few hand stitches one night because pouty Lucy was in time out. 

For the first 3 months of 2023, I have pulled out and added a few stitches to 7 of  my 23ufo  quilts. Not nearly as much as I would have liked, because I have been diligently progressing on the Wedding Quilt. This is what it looked like the last time it was up on the wall. Now to get assembling those blocks and triangles. 

Not to mention that I was in Germany last week for a women's retreat with my daughter and oldest granddaughter. 

I will be off the grid for most of April having fun with my Sweetie and Scrub Stitching. I have booked a few days at a Farm Stay just because I could.  And I will have so much more room in my carry-on bag without the winter coat and boots. Three flights down and only 8 more planes to get on and off.

Blessings,

Chris 

OMG and To-Do Tuesday for all of March

 I have been so taken up with working on the Shade's of Pemberley ufo for Dust Off a Book Blog Hop. It will be going on all week. You can find links here to see what other quilters have been inspired by old quilt books. I also have been slowly but diligently working on the Wedding Quilt. I made almost as many mistakes as I did correct seams. It was quite discouraging to keep unstitching. I don't know about a lot of other quilters, but I find that working at my machine for any length of time exhausting. I have dealt with low back pain most of my adult life and trying to do the finish-it-up-marathon was very painful. Hense, the hot tub. I was up and down to clip, cut, sew, press, line up, etc.

I thought I was getting quite a good workout, but not so. I have spent a small fortune over the years on physio, massage, chiro, osteo, and pain killers. The hot tub is the best treatment. Even in the snow. 

Now to change focus for this month. 

I am going away next week and again for most of the month of April. I plan to take along a few hand applique blocks for Ella aka the Anniversary Quilt.

I have not done any significant work on it for 2 years and it is time to finish it up. And why? Because we have set a date for the 50+2 Anniversary Celebration. It will be the weekend of July 1-4. That is a long weekend here in Canada and in America where some of our family live. We have booked a tent and a bouncy castle and a roaster for a pig roast. It is going to be spectacular. 

But I still have to finish the quilt. So, my goals this month will be to complete these 3 foundation pieced blocks that are already prepped and on the go. I also want to make significant progress on the applique blocks. That is it for my quilty goals. 

My 40 Bags are filling up. I have about 7 right now and time this week to fill a whole lot more. Mostly outgrown clothes and empty yogurt containers I use for freezing meals. I will be dropping off the clothes on Thurs. 

Linking with Carol at To-Do Tuesday and Patty at One Monthly Goal. Now to get busy.

Blessings,

Chris

Dust Off a Book

 

I have hundreds of quilting books. Many were purchased new, signed by the authors. Many were bought on discount during countless quilt shop hops over the years. Many were purchased impulsively on line. How did we ever shop before amazon? Many of them were purchased used from vendors at quilt shows and antique shops. I really need to keep away from those. Many were gifts. The oldest book I have is the very first one I bought back in 1974. It has been the inspiration for a lot of my quilting over the years. I wrote about it here. 

For this challenge I decided to go with the second oldest book I bought used on line a few years ago. It was published in 1958. My copy is from 1964. 

How delightful to find a picture of the Austin Coverlet in it.

Barbara Brackman did a BOM a few years ago about the life and culture of the Austin family in early 1800's.  You can read about it  here and here.  

This is the book that Esther Aliu used to recreate the epic Love Entwined: A marriage coverlet from 1790. 

I collected all the patterns when they were free back in 2013. This inspired me to start blogging that year. 

I could not decide what colour to make that center so never actually started it. 

Averil Colby published this quilting book in 1958.

I was trying to decide if I had enough time (whatever that is) to participate this year. 

As it turns out, I have a ufo based on the Austin Coverlet. It is called Shades of Pemberley. I figured I was in good company with this unfinished project since neither Jane nor her sister Cassandra nor their mother completed theirs 200 years ago. 

I started mine in 2007, a mere 16 years ago. It was a 3 week class at my local quilt shop. I decided to use black for the sashing just to be different. It does make the colours pop doesn't it. 

I had all the black sashing strips cut. I do not like sewing with black. I cannot see it to be accurate. I used gray thread. 

And I had the instructions. It has serious flaws. Like how they said to cut the fabrics on the straight of grain. yes, between the outermost diamond points not along the edge. 

First I laid out all the rows of diamonds. 

They were in order on the fuzzy back of a purple table cloth. My Sweetie wants me to make the border that colour. I was thinking about the puke green on a cream ground from this Austin Collection from Makower in UK. It is called Darcy. Great choice thinks I for a pattern called Shades of Pemberley. 

Jane and Cassandra did not have access to Wonder Clips 200 years ago, or they might have completed theirs. Well, I did not complete mine either. Not that I have not had enough time. But, I had set aside the last 3 days to work on it.

 It was a snow day with little girls here. And lots of snow. The power went out for 15 hours. Turns out a tree branch had fallen on the power lines next door, but they were not home to discover that. So, I spent time in the hot tub since that was the warmest place on the farm. That is me in there somewhere. And I did walk barefoot out there. 

There is a new movie out on netflix based on Jane's book Persuasion. I love it. It is funny and informative. The heroine, Anne Elliot, narrates the story and identifies who all the characters are for those who have not read the book a thousand times trying to figure out who Mrs. Clay is and her significance to the story. 

This is as far as I got. That center does not line up with the rest of the diamonds and sashing and I need to think about how to fix it to make it fit. I could take another 16 years to do that. I have a plane to catch next week. The first of 10 over the next few weeks. Better publish this so I can visit all the other bloggers and see what they have been reading. 

Blessings, Chris

You can visit all the other Dust Off a Book bloggers here: 

March 6th

Quilting at the Farm (that's me)

Lemon Tree Snippets

Creatin in the sticks

Natalie (on Beaquilter)

March 7th

Quilting Gail

Thrift Shop Commando

High Road Quilter

Moosestashquilting

The Morning Latte

March 8th

Kathleen McMusing

Words & Stitches

 Isabella's Whimsy

DesertSky Quilting

 

March 9th

LC's Cottage

Cynthia's Ark

Ms P Designs USA

Just Let Me Quilt

 

March 10th

Beaquilter

Karrin's Crazy World

Quilting Patchwork Applique

40 Bags in 40 Days Challenge

 It is that time of the year again. Many people give up something for Lent and I was coerced invited into participating in giving up some of my stuff. I have done this challenge before. So, today, I made a crockpot of stew and a big (is there any other size) of soup and needed some freezer containers. 

The main container drawer was so full to overflowing with lunch containers and a gzillion lids with no matching containers. 

FYI, I wash all the dishes but others dry and put them away. 

I like to use see through containers so I can see what is in them. Seems logical to me. 

But there are always a lot of empty yogurt containers which make great freezer containers.

So, I sorted them out quickly by dumping them into empty boxes. There are more than a few Amazon boxes sitting around waiting to be recycled. 

This is the container side of the cupboard after I removed all the ones in the previous 2 pictures. 

The freezer was getting low on prepared meals so now there are more for another day. That, and out son generously gives meals away to people in need. We need to get him involved in the making like chopping all those vegetables. 

I purged the big drawer a few months ago (maybe a year ago) and put them into a very big container. How many water bottles does one family need? 

So, I missed posting for To-Do Tuesday yesterday. I got most of my list done last week. This week will be:

1. Fill a bag a day (sort of) to donate, recycle or throw out. 
2. Continue having fun with my 23 ufos. 
3. Get my Dust Off a Book (DOAB) project done.
4. Okay. Get my DOAB project out of the box.
5. Start working on completing it. 

That's enough for one week. 

     6. I'd better add catch up on responding to comments. 

We are in the midst of a mid winter snow storm. It is howling and blowing out there. I don't think there is too much snow, but it sure is noisy. 

Blessings,

Chris

Doing

Last week my To-Do Tuesday quilting list included: 

1.  Sew something. yes 
2.  for at least 15 Minutes a Day. almost 
3.  Don't touch Lucy this week. caved and picked her up not once but twice for mindless stitching. 

My Other To-Do Tuesday list includes:

1. Hot tub. yup 3 X
2. Laundry. all caught up. My Sweetie washed the bedsheets and hung them outside to dry on a warm (+8C) sunny breezy day. 
3. Clear those 2 eight foot tables - again. And did it yet again. 
4. Move the glass top table. I cannot reach the small design wall that sits on it and I want to play. Elly was home sick from school one day so she helped me move the tables. Now I can reach.
5. Put a lot of stuff away. Then I pulled out even more.
6. Write at least 3 times this week. I got a new book to guide my writing. Yes and feel pretty good about where I am.
7.  Massage Wed. My regular girl took a leave of absence to go out west to spend time with her aging (mid 90's) parents and she is not coming back. I am so sad. I miss her. I had yet another new girl. She was ok. Just not my regular one. 
8. Prep for Women's Small Group Sat. Done and it was amazing. 

So about those two 8 foot tables I work on. I wrote out a list of all the things I have been working on this past week. 

No wonder I have so much spread out all over them. But I do need all that space to work on my Dust Off an Old Book project for March 6. 

My To-Do Tuesday list for this week is a bit tidier:

1. Tidy off the tables. 
   
   
   
2. Spread out the DOAB project and make a plan to complete this ufo from 2007. 
3. Take pictures along the way to show some progress.
4. Make some progress to show in the pictures.
5. Begin to write up a blog post about the progress. 
6. Don't give away what the thing will look like. 
7. Be sneaky. 
8. Stop putting Lucy in timeout. She did not do anything worth that kind of treatment. 
9. Stop spending so much time playing with Lucy. Other projects are calling my name. 
10. Enjoy the new found freedom in my writing. More on that another day. 
11. It is Family Day weekend and the girls and their dad are going to Ottawa. That leaves us home alone. Nice. Hot tub time. Maybe the boys will come over for a sleepover. Maybe not.

blessings,

Chris

Playing With Bright Jane

 

 I pulled out all the Bright Jane project boxes. There were 4. On the very top is one with bits of pre-cut background fabrics in it. There is also one with DJ2 applique stuff but I will have to look for that.

I started this Sept 2014 just after I completed my first Dear Jane Quilt. I was going to do it in a year. Eventually, I started working in the colour of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I printed off foundation patterns and chose fabrics and put them all in nicely organized zip-lock bags and then file folders. And there they have sat for a very long time. I bought new solid coloured bedsheets recently and they need a colourful quilt to lay on top. 

 

Then did a count of the completed blocks by putting them up on the small design wall one colour at a time.

I still need 4 blues. Working on that.

Feb is pink month. I have 8 more blocks that have been prepped for Foundation Piecing for several years. 

Red has 10 complete and 2 in process. That amazing circle of geese was foundation pieced using a stay in fusible but is very stiff to work with that way. I have an idea how to finish it. Come back on red month.

For some reason, I thought I had all 20 green blocks done. I see one missing. I will  not fret about that until next green month.

 And purple. For some reason purple kept getting missed. There will be 25 of these beauties eventually. I long since had stopped making the Dear Jane blocks as I had already made the entire thing in reproduction fabrics. Finished that more than 8 years ago and it is still not quilted. One of these days. But it is on the 23 ufos list. 

I have been making a variety of patterns that can be made using just one colour. 

Is it pronounced 

or (an) ge

or 

or (on) ge? 

Guess it depends if  you live in Ontario or Quebec. 

Either way, I still have 6 blocks to make. No. 7 blocks. That top left one belongs in the yellow collection. 

Still need to make 7 more yellow blocks. 

I am using a variety of bright fabrics I bought just for this quilt. I am not so fond of the bright colours. That is one reason this project has languished so long in project boxes.

And there is aqua. What can I say? These are all done. I like them. This is my project for the RSC this year. I only have 59 blocks to go. I think. If my math is correct. 

My To-Do Tuesday quilting list includes: 

1.  Sew something.
2.  for at least 15 Minutes a Day.
3.  Don't touch Lucy this week. 

My Other To-Do Tuesday list includes:

1. Hot tub.
2. Laundry.
3. Clear those 2 eight foot tables - again.
4. Move the glass top table. I cannot reach the small design wall that sits on it and I want to play.
5. Put a lot of stuff away.
6. Write at least 3 times this week. I got a new book to guide my writing. 
7.  Massage Wed.
8. Prep for Women's Small Group Sat.

My February OMG goal is to complete something. 

linking with Design Wall Monday

Blessings,

Chris