End of the "Spring" break

 Some bigger things accomplished this week:

First I attached my 2 borders: the 1 inch light blue and 3 inch white.
Then I quilted it myself using my new walking foot. New to me, 35 year old machine. Attachment seems like new. Worked wonderfully.

I just stitched in the ditch for each of the one inch sashings. I think I will just extend it into the border.

Anyone else have a better idea?

The blocks ( 4 in each white block are 3 1/2 paper pieced. I found it on Pinterest.

I believe it is an old Bonnie Hunter from a magazine called Wild and Goosey.

And I assembled all my Frolic blocks together.  I have the edge stay stitched to prevent stretching.  And I have the  first row of borders cut and ready to go. My sizing is  a little off for the pieced border which is to go on next.  ( I should have used the small binding as a coping strip to compensate.)

Distance learning resumes tomorrow. And we were informed by the governor that it will continue through the end of the school year here in Wisconsin

Bummed, bummed, bummed. 

7 weeks left.

And Spring is a relative term. We have been in the 30s and 40s.  Of course, THIS week is to get to the 50s.   And although we had a week off school. There was nothing to do and nowhere to go. Social distancing.

Goosey top

I worked hard at getting this all together  today.  I spent the day getting the last blocks conncected, ironed, and trimmed all the loose threads and leftover corners of paper on the back side. And then it needed a really good pressing and adjustments of a few intersections. 

O.k., correction. I did not trim every single thread on the back. At guild recently a long arm quilter, suggested that it needed to be done to prepare for long arming.   Who sees the back?   

Do you trim all your threads on the back?

Currently it is 39 by 39 inches. After staring at it tonight and even getting it ready for a thin border of white, I have decided to add  a thin border of blue followed by a larger border of white. 

Here is a singular block. And yes, they were paper pieced. 

Goosey blues

Last year in preparation for our guild's yearly quilt show, I started a blue and white quilt: 

And after finishing 17 of these blocks, it sat while other projects took precedence. 

Each of the 4 blue pieced parts is 3 and 1/2 inches making this block 7 and 1/2.

Here is the back, although I have already spent an evening removing the middle paper pieces .

You can however, find the blocks on pinterest ( by Bonnie Hunter called Wild and Goosey)

I was so optimistic to think I could make an entire quilt out of these. 

And I am not going to piece anymore.  I just have too many ideas of projects to make.

So I decided to make a wall hanging size: 

And here it is at this point in  major pieces with more time to sew today.

I think it is realistic to get it done for the end of March.  

Georgia and my blues

First, my dear DH and I  had a nice trip to Georgia for his sister's big birthday

Here is the home decor for the party with several surprise out of town guests (including us).

We had a grand time visiting with relatives: all her kids and the 3 grandkids. 

 We started out taking a bus for us all for 3 winery tours.  ( By the way the temperature jumped from the 70s for us to almost 90s down there. Nice change. )

This is the little grand niece who enjoyed everything.  So cute and such great parents.

This is the Monteluce winery in northeast Georgia.

 Beautiful facilities both inside and the surrounding lands. 

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Our trip was a much needed diversion from having my grandkids leave Wisconsin to move to Louisiana.  I have a big hole to fill of time and snuggling. 

Then after we returned, my DH had the surgery to implant his markers for his radiation. 

The process has started.  But we are doing o.k. 

And I have been sewing: fits are spurts on this project.  This is my goosey blues.   Here is the layout for what I have started.

The blocks are comprised of 4 Wild and Geesey paper pieced blocks.  You can find it on Pinterest. 

Each square of the little geese and sides are a total 3 and a half inches; which makes this block 7 and a half inches. And each block like this has no blue fabrics repeated ( total of 28)  Some fabrics do get repeated in other blocks.  But I am going for 100 different different total blues in order to enter it in the Wisconsin state fair.  

These are the corner stones from the lattice.            And this is the lattice for between the blocks. 

                                              


Slowly, slowly getting there.

Grandkids

I had one of the most special days at school on Friday.  We had a take your kid to work day, and my kids are just too big.  So I took my grandson, the older one Jude.

He loved my big kids ( middle and high school)  and rolled the ball with the boys, wrote his numbers when they did math or even did some drawing when they worked on the homework. He lasted until after lunch. Then Grandpa picked him up. After a 2nd lunch, he fell asleep in the car on the way home.

I am thrilled beyond measure: this is a repeat of sorts.  I visited my grandmother's class when she taught first grade. I took my kids to my mom's class when they were young.  And now I got to have my grandson at my school. 

He will be 5 years old  in 2 weeks. And even some of the kids thought he was pretty smart.  But he is all boy and into so many things, coloring not a strength. I have been immensely pleased with his 4K class where he has learned all his letters and sounds and is starting to use them to read words in books. 

And I couldn't leave out my little guy Jensen.  Here is a photo from when we visited the library last week.

This guy loves, loves, loves to run. Corralling him into my arms is hard. But he will relent at times. 

And I am making slow progress on my Wild and Goosey:

I have several 4 patches.  And after many are accumulated (in the future), I am going to add a 3 strip sashing with a 9 patch in the corners.

I am trying to have no repeat blue fabrics in each 4 patch which is 28 different blues. There is a category for the state fair for a quilt with over 100 different fabrics.  I am almost there. 

March and now April

Gosh, it has been a month.   A busy one at that.

Fortunately in March, we had a beautiful family wedding to enjoy in Charleston.  Having a trip to escape winter was wonderful and a mighty respite for the snow and cold of Wisconsin. We loved the seafood: shrimp and grits, triggerfish, crabcakes and more.  Oh, just delicious.





We walked and walked through the downtown to see fabulous historical buildings and even took a carriage ride. We found a beach to walk our piggies through. I just love the sound of the waves and the horizon.  And we also toured a plantation: so beautiful and full of people recreating old "crafts". I, of course, loved the dying, spinning and weaving area.
        

                         


And I found a quilt store and purchased some fun spring colors for my upcoming hexie project.

Lastly, we toured the air craft carrier,  the Yorktown.  I read about it every year with my history students and it was a must see for my amateur historian spouse. But it was amazing to walk through it and go on deck. Inside were displayed several air planes and even a spacecraft from the 70's of the Apollo missions.  It is amazing to have the names of the crew and pilots on their air craft.

Other news that has been setting my back:  My mom who has Alzheimer's has been placed in a nursing home. Such hard news to take for someone so special. Oh, if only she weren't 700 miles away.

Secondly, I found out my son and his family are moving to Louisiana to be near to my daughter in law's family this summer. I am truly heartbroken. I have such a wonderful relationship with my grandsons and love them to the moon and back. I  am struggling with having them leave their home, school, and babysitter. Both parents have jobs here, but money is an issue. I will survive, but in the meantime, I cry.

I have several spits and starts on quilting and crafting over the last month.  ( I finished my long term embroidery and am trying to get something else going.)

 I tried cross stitch on linen.

I started cross stitch on punch paper.

And I can't seem to finish my projects hanging mid stride.

So I started piecing Wild and Goosey in blues. ( which is our theme for next year's quilt show.)