Lucy Boston

Thursday, May 31, 2012

time-out, UFO's & May flowers

Weather, the noun, is still confused around here...
confused, but also confusing.
Temps in the high 90's already,
like it's August.
But really, it's the end of May.
END OF MAY???
Whew.  Where's the time going?

So, I have been trying to tackle
some of my studio quilt room "stuff"
each month this year
(and I can't even, in good conscience, call that room a studio;
It's such a mess in there that I can only call it a room that I go to quilt).

I have been sitting myself in a corner -
a sit-in-the-corner-time-out.
Self-imposed time out,
but working on trying
to stifle the quilt-y stuff
that has imploded upon itself.

The S-L-O-W progress
of un-imploding
has un-earthed some UFO's.

Which brings me back to the second paragraph...
finish an UFO each month.

And, THAT brings me back to the first paragraph...
Whew!  May is a goner!!!

BUT, I do have a close-to-finished quilt this month-
layered and ready to quilt!!!
I've entitled it "May flowers"

We haven't had the usual April showers this year,
but my time-outs have resulted in May flowers...
Pattern: "Wallflower Quilt" by Waltzing With Bears
It's wool on cotton, with YLI silk thread and Valdani pearl cotton for applique, and measures 40" by 57".
I made some of my blocks more three-dimensional by "gathering" or "scrunching" the wool when I was applying/stitching to the cotton-pieced backgrounds.
Whatever your projects,
here's wishing you plenty of time-outs, finishes, and May flowers!

Monday, May 28, 2012

another beautiful weekend

Memorial Day weekend was wonderful here in central Ohio...

I wish there was a better way than just this written note
to express my gratitude and thanks to 
all of our country's heroes...
all of the past and present 
service men and women that have given all
to keep this country the land of the free.  
Also, sincere thanks to 
the families of  those same service people
for their contributions and losses. 

I am so happy and feel so blessed 
to be a part of this wonderful country.

I am also so grateful for
another wonderful
Memorial Day weekend.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

steamy, stitching, cooking, busy & holiday

Old Man Weather is still confused it seems...
Again with the weather that's from the wrong month!
90 degrees and humid.  It's May, not August.
But I like it!  Makes for nice warm pool water.

I've been stitching a little in the evenings -
The "S" is done
except for the pressing.
And now I've started the "W-X" block...
all colored, and partially stitched
.
I've also been asked and hired to do some cooking-
asked: grad parties; hired: township senior group.

Lastly, it's Memorial Week/Weekend!!!
That's where the busy comes in... 
there are 5 high school grads and two college grads. 
All with parties in the next few weeks.

No, my garden is not in. 
Nor are the planter boxes.
Poor chicken nesting box condo is sittin' empty...

But it will get there. 
Always does.
And I wouldn't change a thing!

Happy Busy Holiday week and weekend to you, to!!!
Hope it's as productive as you want it to be.

Monday, May 14, 2012

the potholder blocks

So, I'm sitting in my lazy girl chair,
with a whole
 pile of potholder blocks
on the arm of the chair...
all awaiting the final binding stitch down.

Sweetie walks through and says:
"Why do you need that many potholders?"
"A-HAAA!" I say.
"You do pay attention to my quilty stuff!"
"Quilting?" he says...
"I just see a bunch of potholders."
For a second there I thought he'd
caught the quilting bug...finally!
But after all of these years, he's still showing no interest.
I'm going to keep hoping, though :)

Here's a pic of that final batch of my 7 inch blocks:
Remember, mine are half-sized from the originals
in the Civil War Quilts book by Weeks/Beld.
(I got this great book at one of the local shops-The Good Wives Co.
The GWC have restocked this book several times, and it's available again if you'd like some
history of not only the Civil War, but quilts of that era.
I've already read through it a few times and still want to pick it up and read again!)

Also this week, I quilted the last few potholder blocks for Sandy:
 This picture, above, shows Sandy's 14" square blocks. 
These last four blocks will make a total of 24,
so after binding and whipping together, 
she has replicated
(from the Civil War Quilts book)
the Beverly Farms, Massachusetts original
56" by 84" cot quilt made in late 1864 to early 1865.

I'm off to finish my bindings,
then to do some whip-stitching.
I'll be back soon to show you my finish and where I'm
putting my half-sized potholder quilt-
and I'll have to wait to see if Sweetie notices that they're potholders:).

Happy Stitching to you
this middle week of May!



Saturday, May 12, 2012

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

between storms

just a couple of pics of quilts
that I got to meander across
in the past couple of weeks:
Peg's benefit quilt:
 And Bea's Dresden:
 Here's a back shot of those Dresden plates:
Both were fun to do in between storms!

Monday, May 7, 2012

stitching in the dark

WELL.....
I know, Wells are a DEEP subject.
But, it's not been very regular here lately 
around the Life is a Stitch household.

To start with, the weather is Wacky...with a capital W!
January was March-like
February was December-like
March was April-like
April was May-like
and now, May is mis-behaving also.
Way too much heat, humidity, and wind... and, of course,
all of that heat and humidity brings in WHOPPERS of storms.
Storms that blow trees over and take out electric and Internet
and zap electrical thingys like computer monitors among other things.

Then,
my main computer got one of those
super hidden
super NASTY
super so bad that
there were virus-eating
super viruses.

The computer guru helped out, and I'm back- sorta :), but that could be it's own story.
Next, another huge storm, and the power goes out!

All the extra rain that we're getting is making the
weeds take over like kudzu. 
 It's jungle-like out there!
Scary-jungle-like.
And, I swear, I smacked a mosquito the end of April!

I know sometimes things get blamed on the phases of the moon.
And there was a SUPER MOON that sure was beautiful.
But, it was so pretty that I'm not blaming anything on it.

So, with all of the storms and power outages,
I've been doing a lot of hand stitching.

Stitching until it gets too dark to see to stitch.

On the note of power outages:
we did install a partial-house generator.
But I couldn't talk Sweetie into
putting my sewing machines
on the circuit
that is powered up
if the storms take out the power.
Something about heat, refrigerator and freezer
being more important
than sewing machines. :) 
Priorities!

Oh, yeah,
my camera is also acting up...
so just one picture to share...
the "s" block of "Gardener's Alphabet",
a Crabapple Hill pattern.

Hope your week is great!
I'm off to do some meandering now that the
power is on.
And, after it cools down this evening
when the African heat it fading,
I may tackle some of that Kudzu Jungle
that is overtaking the water garden, flower beds,
& trying to envelope the house! :)

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

going like hot pads

Well, that sure was fast! 
These gals that are making the potholder quilts
have sure whipped them up quickly -
almost like they are
going like hot cakes pads!!
Here are the last pics of their progress
and my quilting for them:
Cindy's

Cindy's final group

Jean's last block
Finally, here is my work in progress on Potholder blocks:

bindings and fabric to cut into bindings

blocks layered, pin basted and ready to quilt
So, I'm off to do some hot padding...
Hope your week is going well!