4 (too short) hours today

My Sally Post Garden blocks in project bag

Can you tell where I was?
Blue carpet, blue chairs,
little kids table with crayons....
Wait, does that nice tiled floor in the background
have a car on it? Corvette car at that!
If you've not guessed it...
car maintenance time.
Besides the routine maintenance, also a wheel bearing going.
Parts pick-up time included, only 4 hours wait time...
not bad.  I had packed for 8! 

Like any good quilter, I had my stitching with me.

Actually, I had THREE partial projects with me...

Sally, Lucy, and my Garden.

(: I know I over-packed, as usual,

 but just in case I somehow

got "Flash-speed-stitching" in my fingers today, I was prepared :)

You can see one of my Sally Post blocks in my project bag above...
I finished hand quilting that one,
and finished the binding on another.

I also spent some time with Lucy -
finishing up the center of another block:

center of block - Patchwork of the Crosses/Lucy Boston

Then, I did a little Berry stitching:

Gardener's Alphabet - "b" block

Though it was only four hours wait,

NOT the eight I had hoped packed for,

it sure was a nice way to spend

a snowy, windy last day of February.

Hope your February was nice, and productive, too!

the blues & taxes

So,
the blues and taxes.

Seems like those two things can go together

this time of year, huh?

But, first, some explainin' to do, Lucy...

I'm talking the Blues as in Indigo Crossing,

you know, that new fabric line that's drool-worthy

 by Minnick & Simpson/Moda.

Well, Indigo Crossing came into the LQS last week.
And what's a girl to do when gorgeous fabric calls her name?
This is what made it to my home

And give me some credit,
although I have a birthday coming, I did show some restraint -

I didn't get the entire line,

just those half yard cuts. (:

(And I have plans!  There are always plans, aren't there?!)

So that brings up the second part of the title...
the tax question is from Sweetie.

He comes in
and sees the nice stack of blue fabrics

that I'm folding and fondling,

and without breaking stride
or awaiting an answer, his question is this:

"Do you think

this year

there is an amortization schedule

for fabric?"

 

HA, 

He makes me smile!

I'm smiling while I'm refolding my new blue fabric.

pink flowers and paper snow

My thanks to all who "voted"  with positive comments

on my PINK flower garden fabric choices
from my last post.

As I look back on it, it is definitely very Spring-y looking, isn't it?!
This pink applique project is really screaming pink!

Since I lean more toward jewel tones and autumn colors

(in quilting and clothing),

the pink-ness was making me doubt

choosing and purchasing these light-colored fabrics.

Anyway, the last couple of days,
I've let my fingers do the stitching and

here's my first *finished block:

of "My Sally Post Garden".

AND here's the back view:

(Aren't those floral fabrics gorgeous?)

*Finished block, as in I've decided
to make this quilt in the Hot Pad or Pot Holder Method!

First, needle-turn applique for the flowers.
Then machine-pieced and sashed around the applique center.
Layered, hand-quilted, and then bound...
FINISHED!!  One block down, and only 35 more to go!

And, I still love the large, floral fabrics and the pink!-ness!
(French General - Rouenneries fabrics)

Oh, and there's still snow around here:

Paper snow flakes inside

and heavy snow flurries outside!

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

ps - for more information on Hot Pad or Pot Holder Quilts
I have info at this post or this post on Sanitary Commission/Civil War quilts.
Barbara Brackman also has a recent blog write-up here about Don Beld's
Civil War Quilts from his book of the same name.

gardening in the snow

All the snow we had accumulated the last two weeks has melted, 
but there's a little more snow blowing in today,
so I'm stitching away...

working on My Sally Post Garden...

Very Spring-y looking, don't you think?,

what with the snow a-blowin' around outside:
The stitching is going pretty well.
Pictured above are my January applique blocks...
(I'm trying to meet my goal of three blocks a month)
and below,

I've laid them out on some gorgeous fabric

to audition

the setting, sashing and cornerstone fabrics,

along with my backing choice:

What do you think?

The floral cream on pink would be setting triangles, 

(French General - Rouenneries, the newest line),

the lighter pink would be sashing 

(a little check by Buggy Barn Basics),

the green would be cornerstones

(it's an Itsy Bits by Andover),

 and the larger, floral on cream for the backing

(also from the Rouenneries line).

 

I'm doing the floral applique using some of

the Rouenneries fabric line,

and when I saw the large florals?  

I fell in LOVE!!!...

Happy Valentine's week all over again!,

with pink and cream floral fabric! 

 

This whole P-I-N-K , Spring-y look 

is NOT my usual colorway, but I'm liking it :).

 

 Because the pink, Spring-y thing

is not my usual,

I'd appreciate

any thoughts on my fabric choices...

 

Hope your weekend is wonderful,

and you get to do a little stitching too!



I'm going back to gardening in the snow:) 

Valentine's week and I hope NOT a precursor

I'm still feeling like I'm in hibernation mode
from when my electricity was out last week.

Though the electricity was back on late that same evening,
I left many "things" off and enjoyed the quiet-
listening to the roaring fire in the wood stove and stitching away.

I did some relaxing hand stitching...

yes, hand-stitching IS relaxing to me.

I worked on:

my Lucy Boston honeycombs,

did some needle-turn applique on My Sally Post Garden blocks,

and put the binding on this little table quilt:

It finished 21 inches square, and is made of dark pinks and light reds scraps, with a little red/pink/checked binding.
As I had already had it put together, layered and quilted on the Sashiko machine before the power was out, I just had some hand-binding work to do.  (PS, I LOVE that Sashiko machine.)

But, I seem to have a reoccurring theme here...
now that I have taken the photo of it "finished",
I see that I don't have all of the quilting done!!!
The second diagonal quilting line within the heart (top, left)

is missing!!!

Aaakkk!!!  Just like my Snowy Days (last post) that I "finished" last year!!
Not really finished after all!!

Sure hope that even though
that's how the last couple of pics
I've shown as finishes-not-really-finished have been,

it's not a precursor

to how things are going to be

around here this year! :)

Guess I'll have to get on that, won't I?

Finished or not,
Happy Valentine's Week!

hibernating

* Snowy Days *

I wrote this yesterday afternoon, but had trouble posting it...
as there was a power outage... read on...

Another pretty, but cold week here
as another "Alberta Clipper" comes through central Ohio.
This is the fifth or sixth of these clippers in the last couple of weeks...
which equals a few inches of the white stuff every other day.

Not too bad,

except for when the snow hits during rush hour...

Oh, and when the snow hits AND the power goes out.

That's not good, either.

Having the power off just slows everything down...

like it's time for hibernating!

 

My brain must have started to hibernate with the coldness setting in,  

as there was the habitual

 flipping of the light switches

when going from room to room.

My brain knows that
the flipping of the switch will not restore power,

yet EVERY time - flip!

Of course, all of the things that I was preparing to do 
involved the use of electricity...

No pressing of the applique pieces...

No machine piecing...

The laundry ground to a halt.

As had the slow-cooker meal...

the slow cooker meal that was put on before the power outage.

With the power off, that SLOW cooker

takes on a new meaning of s-l-o-w.

Off to the fridge with it, to be put back on for another day.

So, guess what dinner was?

Those camp-fire, pie-iron-sandwich-like things... 

made in the coals of the wood stove fire!

You know - buttered bread, buttered side out, with marinara and cheese and anything else that has been pre-cooked that can go in...closing up the pie-iron crimps the edges tight, sealing in all the goodness...shove the iron into the coals - maybe half a minute then turn it over in the hot coals.  Remove from the fire and tap the ash from the iron, then open over a plate.

Hot and steamy goodness!

I haven't had these in quite a while,

and they sure were good,

my mouth was watering as I made them!

 

Dinner, though not as planned on a cold, snowy day...
then back to the lazy-girl chair with a quilt, candles and some hand stitching!

I think I like hibernation on snowy days!!!

*SNOWY DAYS*
the quilt shown above,
(pattern by Heart to Hand)
is a wool applique on cotton wall-quilt
that I have hanging on my kitchen door.
I made it last winter in February, and hand-quilted it.
Called it a finish!!
But I noticed when the lights/electric came back on
that I didn't finish quilting the top-right section...
Oh, well, I'll get it finished the next cold, snowy day!

Hope your stitching is going well!

pink turntable cutting mat and other questions

 After my last LUCY post
I had some questions I thought I'd address...

The Project (yes, capital P!)
occupying my hand stitchin' time is
Lucy Boston: Patchwork of the Crosses
by Linda Franz.

Lucy Boston (1892-1990),
was an author,
spring and summer gardener,
and winter quilter from the Cambridge area of England.
Lucy designed and sewed through her octogenarian years,
and made more than 20 impressive patchworks,
which can still be seen, as her d-i-l Diana now lives
in the 1130 manor-house where Lucy lived and stitched.
Lucy's story is fascinating to me, and there are books to read
if you like history as I do.

What also fascinated me (like the author was fascinated)
 was the design of this quilt...
only two shapes  - the honeycomb and the square,
and so many different looks accomplished
with the arrangement of fabrics within the same block layout...
placement of stripes and depth of colors
and PLAYING with fabric!!!
 

So, on to the questions!

 

PINK  turntable cutting mat:

(I'm not receiving compensation for this, just sharing my opinion)

made by Busy Fingers Patchwork 

designed by Sue Daly.

You can tell that it was designed by a quilter!!

• NO CORNERS!! (which my previous rotary mat had).  I have a problem with corners on a turntable...every time I turned it for trimming, I'd knock stuff off my table.  EVERY time.   Stuff on the floor.
• has a slightly rough surface which grips the fabric you are trimming, so NO slippage, NO mis-cuts. I love that. 
• the cutting surface is still perfect, with no lifting or cuts in the mat after a year
• 10 inches across - a great size for fussy cutting, and 'cause it would fit into a travel work bag for taking to class. 
• The turning mechanism was a little stiff when I first got it, but it loosened up quickly and is still great. 

If you don't have a nice cutting mat turntable
and you're thinking of starting a fussy-cut or paper-piecing project, then I would highly recommend you invest in this one - about $30.
I would definitely purchase one again, and highly recommend it to others.
 
The English Paper Pieces and templates:

• I'm using the PaperPieces - these are perfect, precut shapes:  1" Honeycomb (#HON100) 100 pieces-about $3.50 and 1" Square (#SQU100) 150 pieces - about $3.50
• Acrylic Templates, also by PaperPieces, the Honeycomb shape (HON100) and the square (HON100)  - they have a built-in 3/8" seam allowance (I usually cut my fabric pieces with only a quarter inch allowance, but this works perfectly if you're using the pre-cut papers.)

The rotary cutter:

• the small 28mm cutter so I'm not over-cutting into fabric pattern repeats that I might need in my next honeycomb shape.

Thread: 

• YLI quilting thread-it's a glazed cotton 40/3ply in light brown for the colored/inside portion of each block
• same YLI but in cream for the outside/border portion of the block

Book/pattern:

• Lucy Boston - Patchwork of the Crosses

I've tried to include all the different links to the supplies for this project,
but I picked up all of my supplies in one place: 

at my wonderful, LQS -

Good Wives Co., Marion Ohio.

If you haven't visited this shop, either in person or on their blog, then you are missing out!
They only carry Reproduction Fabrics!!! Not a white in the house!  Their website is not active, but their blog shows new arrivals frequently and if you call, they ship!!  Sorry, can you tell I love this shop??!!  (Again, I'm not receiving compensation for this, just sharing my opinion).

Hope that answers all the questions about my love of Lucy.

Back to cutting more LUCY pieces!
Happy Stitching!

Lucy Boston January recap

It's been snowin' and blowin' around here this past week,

like it's Winter, or something!!

Lots of snow and frigid temps,

so in the evenings,

I've been covered up with a quilt

and hand-stitching away.
Mostly working on my Lucy blocks...

My January block number is

FIVE finished!! 

(not bad towards my goal of one block a week, is it?).

I've pre-cut some natural muslin pieces for my block borders:

On my rotary cutting turntable

are some of my supplies...

small rotary cutter,

acrylic template,

a couple of English Paper Pieces pinned/centered

that are ready to baste,

and a couple of stacks of cut muslin honeycombs.

The stacks shown are enough for about 8 blocks.

I love Lucy...