Memorial Day weekend

Finally , a post.

I don't know what has come over me.  But I am sure ready for the end of the school year.  My patience has worn thin with a few of my 10th grade boys.  

But that is what makes it interesting.  We have two, count them 2 weeks left of school. Eight days for me, as I am going to miss the last day for a wedding in North Carolina.

But on to my quilting progress:.  I have had these beauties pieced for a while.  They are the 3rd stage of my Gooseberry patch.  I have applique holly in several parts, another 6 blocks of patchwork,  as well as 2 long rows of flying geese.  I like the progress.

Secondly, here are 30 blocks finished for my smallest grandson.  He is in a big boy bed.  And I still have not finished the one for the other grandson.  So I need to have them both done at the same time to be able to give them together.   These blocks go together quickly.  I did have my Stash Bee make some, too. But I only have 4 of them so far. Lots of progress from the original 4 blocks I posted at the beginning of the month. 

And the best part of the weekend was the birthday dinner for this four year old.

Spring Retreat

OH, how I love to go on my quilting retreat with my guild.  A weekend spent of sewing and sharing and eating and so on.  We all travel to a church camp which is on a lake.  And I just can't get over being by water.  From morning to night I love staring at the waves, or the clear reflections, or the sun as it dances across it.  

Her is the morning mist photo. A great way to start with an ethereal quality provided by the softness of the fog and clouds. 

Next are all the lovely projects that I admired from other quilters.

This one is for her up north cottage that has all kinds of musky lures. So bright and cute.

The next one is a superbly pieced modern one of all half square triangles from a charm pack.

This one is maybe 7 inches square, but so beautiful. This friend always makes art quilts with great detail. She and her daughter play with color and threads and fabric making scenes.

This is a Kim Schaefer kit started with a panel of the animals trimmed up. There were more borders and sashing to be added. Great fabrics those black and whites!

Here was a great small wall hanging. I just loved the border and how it set it off. 

And this is a Timeless Treasures panel in the center that looked!  Even up close. The borders were so neat. 

And all good things must come to an end: here is the sunset on the water.

I will post my progress on projects tomorrow.

The sun is out!

Hooray!  What wonderful weather.  And I have so many things to look forward to:.

My spouse agreed to replace my sliding glass door which was original to the house since 1977. It is extra large, but so important to my look on nature in the back yard. It will cost a few pretty pennies,  but so worth it.

Plus he also agreed to  a lawn care service.  I was getting so frustrated with the moss, bare spots and lack of green. He takes such care with mowing it; so consistent.  This will really spruce us up.

School end is a month away.  And we have a family wedding then to attend in North Carolina.

I can tell you that I am perking up now that the 2nd go round of antibiotics is done.  Wow, I feel so much better. Just need to get the endurance up.

So I am working on my Block of the Month: which is gooseberry patch.  And I am piecing the Cross and crown 9 inch blocks. putsy, but they should be great. Love the variety of reds and backgrounds!
Squares were cut 3 and 1/4 inches


After I did my diagonal line and quarter inch seams, cut in half and thin trimmed to 2 and 7/8 inches.
( not in the pattern)




Went together much easier than I thought.  Tricks that helped:  starched fabrics prior to cutting and this pattern.   Here is the link if you would like to try it. Cross and crown block

The right picture is 6 stacks of 4 each.  Now just to assemble the blocks with lattice.




And I have cut out lots of my garden fence blocks.  Plus I ordered more grays and whites.
Each block is 10 inches.  This bright quilt will be for my little grandson on his big boy bed.

10 blocks done, 28 more for me to piece. They go together quickly.

Lastly here are my mug rugs for my Mom for Mother's day. 

Garden Fence

So I finally sewed some quilt blocks.  What a month between illnesses and my mother in law passing.

!  And the yucky snowy April that I have never seen.

So a new month and a new project.  I had to post a block for my month as Queen Bee for Stash Bee.

It had to be modern and easy to piece.  

I loved this design. I found it on Pinterest by Hyacinth Quilt Designs.

Link here

She has a great quilt made of 2 colors: gray and gold/yellow. It would look awesome in a wide range of other colors as well. 

I am making this for my grandson who is 2 and just graduated to a twin bed. 

Here he is with his "Bumpa", his favorite person. Well he is my favorite person, too. 

Strep throat

So here are highlights of the week:

Ummmmm.. more snow. In the 30s all week.  Seriously.  10 inches of snow in April.  I am glad I am not "up north" in Wisconsin where there had double and triple that amount. The snow is starting to melt.  The poor robins have had a very difficult spring here.

But it was my son's birthday.  My dear daughter took him out to a new little brewery in town and introduced the new beau to him.  So I took the grandboys for an overnight.

We built trains, played with puzzles, crayons, made cloud playdough out of corn starch and shaving cream, and baked cupcakes for daddy from scratch. Sorry no pictures were taken.  Because I ended up sleeping with the little one who woke up several times.  I was a might tired as he also got up at 6:15.  It turns out he had strep throat.     Oh, please, I hope I don't get it.  The memorial service is Monday and I have a tickle in my throat.

I hope to sew today. At least got my reds cut out for my cross and crown blocks.  Now for the background. Great tutorial at McCalls.   I think the technique will save me.  My pattern just wanted to cut and fuse the background shapes on a square.  I would rather piece it.

Yes it is strep throat.  I went to urgent care as soon as it opened this morning. But the pharmacy didn't open up for another hour.   Oh, well.  I am taking an antibiotic.

Jeanne

So the date on the calendar says April 15.  But my backyard says winter instead.  We have had strong winds: note the bird who has been blown over and the branches followed by icy rain and then snow.  So much so that it has cancelled church. Seriously.  I have never in 39 years had an April like this. I am so tired of this cold, dampness, and snow.

So who was Jeanne?...she was my mother is law, who was intelligent, creative and a great mind. 

Here was an informal pose of her on her 100th birthday party with her four kids. My husband is on the left with the flamingo tie. 

She loved to read; was an avid  sports fan of University of Wisconsin, the Packers and Brewers, As a graduate of Wisconsin, she was a very sharp lady and liked to engage in a good conversation.  She had lived alone since 1985 when her husband died of a neurological something. As a wife of World War 2 veteran, and long resident in the suburbs, she was a homemaker who truly encouraged her kids to do their upmost, and put up with their quirky senses of humor which had started with her husband, their father. She even told me when I first came that I didn't have to laugh at all the jokes.

 She will be missed. 

November 21, 1917- April 15, 2018

Below is a photo from our Thanksgiving from 2016 with her.  

Quilt show Rosemont, IL

I had a wonderful time taking a bus trip to the International Quilt Festival in the area yesterday.  So much to see; so much to look at, demonstrations, new products, merchandise gallor. Oh, my

Here is my photo:  Sorry it is a selfie and I couldn't get as much of the background as I would have liked. 

I will share the quilts in a couple of different posts:

First off

Here were the winners as I came in: The first on is the modern one.

The second one is the traditional piecing. This one is a 

La Passacaglia Quilt - Millefiori Quilts

And drum roll please:  here is the overall winner:. It was designed after the inspiration of the flags from the winter Olympics at Sochi.

A special exhibit of Sue Spargo:  here were three I selected to share: 

This one is all pieced with wools, but has great quilting using several of her familiar motifs; Different from the norm, but so effective.

I just love the embroidery with all the variety of vivid colors and threads and stitches.

This one was made by a friend of mine: Donna Karolus. A fellow Wisconsinite, she does such wonderful work and has been selected in several national juried shows.  Her workmanship is wonderful and I really like her quilter: Julia Rockwell who has done a couple for me. The piping along the binding is such a great detail. This quilt had been on a cover for American Patchwork and 

Quilting.  She used a variety of golds and navy blues; stunning!

The next one is all hand pieced, hand appliqued and hand quilted and only received an honorable mention. It really was wonderful as you can tell by the close up photo.  

Oh my, this is blurry, which I couldn't tell at the time. But you still get the overall design and coloration.  The quilted feathers stand out as well. 

Main street in USA

First, here are two of the cutest boys who got to play outside with me yesterday.  Yes, spring is coming.  But he grass is BROWN.  No flowers yet. Slowly, slowly spring will get here although it is only 37 right now and we are expecting freezing rain tomorrow.

  

Here is the piece with the 3 rows given to me.  Such a challenge!  It really stretched my thinking and technique to add to this already great compilation.

And the completion of my section of the row by row is done.  I added some trees in between each store fronts, some greenery hanging from windows, shrubs around the church, in the alley,  and in the distance, some lettering, ( too small to see) and some clouds. Lots of single line stitching was added  to the buildings and frame the windows . But I am glad it is done.

Row by row

For my quilt guild, I am participating in a row by row sharing. For this month, I have the most detailed but incredible challenge.  The owner, created these wonderful old houses, with trees, and flowers, and the tiniest of details which is the top row.  There is even a clothes line with a quilt and a bra.   I have been searching for ideas for this ever since we started in the fall. 

 The 2nd row is a town hall, a gorgeous gazebo and a small strip mall of basic businesses.

The 3rd row has a great farm and country scene.

So I have decided to create an old city street from the early 20th century.   So far I have the fire station :

And here are the three side by side buildings of downtown.  I hope to add a fourth to the left. Then way to the right I am wanting to add a little white church with a steeple.

Lots of fun details. I found some buildings that I printed off and replicated for a train site online.  But I have been manipulating windows, doors, and trims as well as the dimension.  I am thinking of adding a car on the street and a few trees and maybe even a street light or sign post. 

Little steps

Back in the saddle again; o.k. it is in a chair by my sewing machine.  But it still runs.  Amazing!  And it FELT good.    After what seems like a long stretch, I did get some piecing completed.

First off, here are some triangles  made into dresdens.   These are for little mug rugs for my mother,  her husband, and my mother in law who is in the hospital with the flu. The idea came from Samelia's mom: on using equilateral ( 60 degree) triangles into flowers:

Here is the  link to Samelia's I found on Pinterest. I chose bright springy fabrics which have nothing to do with the snow we have here. 

Next here are all the squares I have done for the old Block of the Month from Bunny Hill called Henrietta Whiskers.  I am enjoying the wool applique.

Lastly, here is the new Stash Bee block for April : easy, bright and geometric. DONE!

Easter break in Nashville

Well, that darn cold took more out of me than I would like.  After 2 weeks , I still have a stuffy nose and sinus pressure. Last week I just tried to  heal and spent needed time resting. It was a four day week  and many of my students were leaving several days early. making for an easy week.

My family  left for  short trip to Nashville. My daughter, spouse and I headed to a warmer climate that had tulips, crab apple blossoms and green grass.  Oh, the smell of freshly mowed grass! It was significantly warmer than Wisconsin who still had more snow on our return trip today.



But we enjoyed music at many bars and loved a jazz combo one night. We toured their Ryman Theater which originally housed the Grand Old Opry and also the Belmont house on the campus of Belmont College, an antebellum home full of gorgeous old furniture, wall and  floor finishes and an amazing story of a women who lost many children and three husbands and yet had this home and a multitude of acres and animals.  Downtown and all around, we saw their  Farmer's Market, parks,  a huge replica of the Parthenon, an old train, and shopping.



Ryman Theater

Belmont Hourse


Farmer's Market




Honky Tonk bar on Broadway

No trip is complete without a quilt store. This one was in Franklin and stated 10,000 bolts of fabric.  No doubt.  They were everywhere with fat quarters in bags. I have never seen so many books and patterns spanning 30 years, which is as long as the sweet lady has owned it. It was actually overwhelming. The store was called Stitcher's Garden and was in a strip mall.  But I did find a 20 year old pattern of Victorian houses which will be perfect for the row by row I am going to sew this week.


These are but a smattering of the fat quarters she had at Stitcher's Garden




Bolts of fabric everywhere: floor, aisles, on top of racks...everywhere


The only sewing I have done is hand sewing on my  wool applique from Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill. called Henrietta Whiskers,  It is a  block of the month that she had for free way back in 2011.