Another Block and....

... and another mistake that needed to be corrected.  I very carefully had made certain that all the measurements were perfect.

But I lost sight of the positioning of the half-square triangles and if you look at the picture of the block in the book, you can see how different it is from what I made.

And this is how it should have looked the first time I sewed it together. 

Block 2 of row 4 is done!









Last night I looked out at the sky before going to sleep and saw this.

Scary face in the clouds

Scary, huh?  I slept well anyway.

Inset seams, plant sale & baking

I've put off making the next block for my yellow quilt because it looked hard, really hard.  The Dear Jane blocks were difficult also but for some reason, I'm having a harder time doing Sylvia's Bridal Sampler.  One thing I learned from doing Dear Jane though is that you have to keep on going no matter how hard the blocks are.  So, I finally did the block that starts row 4 with the inset seams.  It's not perfect but ... it's done!

Every time I looked at all those inset seams, I found something else to do.  ;-))

 I had to cut out teeny, tiny templates in odd shapes from freezer paper. :-(  Not my favorite thing to do, then had to iron them onto the fabric to cut the shapes.  :-(

 Not only were there inset seams but curvy seams too.  My worst nightmare.  But if I don't try the hard parts I'll never get better at quilting so I used that famous expression "just do it"... and I did it... like it or not.

 Inset seams!!

Another yellow block finished... a little crooked but it looks fine next to all the rest of these yellow blocks.

Just had to show you why that block was a bit wonky.... Jaik thought he would take a nap next to the iron.  I really had to reach to get around him but I'm not meany enough to wake a cat from his catnap.  :-)))







Our weather here on the island is finally starting to look Spring-like so off I went with daughter in tow to a local plant sale.  It took place at the Bloedel Reserve that is always a pleasure to stroll around.  So we took advantage of the little carts that took our bought plants back up to the parking lot while we walked through the gardens and trails where trees were blooming and the birds were singing.  There was lots of bright yellow skunk cabbage in the boggy areas and alongside the streams. 

I love my new little plants and can't wait to get them into pots.  Yes, they are going to be potted plants.  Except for that little sweetpea that you can hardly see; I have already planted sweetpeas but this one is a special color that I particularly liked.  It'll be a treat to see it in bloom.

I know it's Spring now because my rosemary plant is blooming.  It's there behind the huge sage plant (which needs to be given away because it's too, too big).









Another part of my week was taken up with finding an orange cake recipe because I had some oranges gifted to me.  I didn't want to just 'juice' them so I made a cake. 

So, I've been busy this week.  Hope everyone is having a great week.

Golf... and quilting

I'm not sure why...maybe it's the time of year.... but I find that it's immensely enjoyable to sew while watching (?) golf tournaments on tv.  Today it's the Texas Open played in San Antonio, part of the PGA tour.  Last week it was The Masters in Georgia.  I don't play but I used to like to go watch the Nissan Open at the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles... so maybe that's why I watch.  It brings back good memories.

It was my daughter's birthday last week and I found a Martha Stewart Baker's Apron pattern online that I thought she would like.  Luckily I had enough fabric to make it; I seldom have large lengths of material since I make scrappy (many-colored) quilts and buy fat quarters.  I lined the tie around the waist with a pretty dark red fabric and it looked fantastic on her, if I do say so myself.  I added a button on the left and decided to put it on the outside with a small yoyo as decoration.

Baker's apron

 

I took Martha's suggestion and paired the apron with a fluted pie pan and a pie 'bird'.  My daughter makes the best pies so I'm hoping to be the beneficiary of a slice or two.

I intended to use circles to make a quilt for Japan quake victims but instead sent a completed top  and used the circles to make little quilts for under water glasses and vases that hold water.  I used old toweling as the batting and completed them by making my own seam binding to go around the edge.

I like these little 'sopper-uppers' so much that I'm going to make a few more to use as coasters. 

Hope everyone is having a good weekend....

Spring is finally here

Our weather has been very pleasant the last week or so... sunny, warm with some rain but just enough to water the flowers.  I see pink and white blooms on trees all over...and people are wearing tee shirts and light jackets to walk along the waterfront.  A friend who is temporarily living in Toronto ON Canada posted a message that they got 6 inches of snow yesterday, so I'm feeling pretty good about our weather.  Of course, the down side is that I have a lot of work to do to make my outdoor area look good; so far I've planted a dozen pansies to brighten things up ... and the daffodils are up... but that's about it.

  I love the garden after it's done but I'm not so sure that I like the work that goes into it.

I also made one more block for 'that yellow quilt' I'm making and even though I'm not very happy with my choice of fabric, I'm not going to do it over.  It looks okay with the other blocks but it doesn't look like the block in the book.  I guess that's all right, huh?

Here's the wall....

The turquoise color stands out but I'll use turquoise in a few other blocks and that'll help it blend in.  I want many more red blocks too so I'll be off to the fabric store again soon.  So far, I've only used fabric from my stash, except for the yellow.

My daughter has ordered more chicks and is waiting for delivery.  I can't wait to see them.

It's so nice having nice fresh laid eggs from the six chickens she has now and hopefully these new chicks will grow up and give us the same healthy, organic, free range eggs.  Yum!

My son's birthday is today and I've spent the past couple of days making him some nice big potholders (he's the cook at home).  And I made him a strawberry rhubarb pie and gave him a 1/2 gallon of vanilla ice cream to eat with the pie.

 The potholder picture shows them prior to the hand sewing I did to finish the binding.  I found the pattern here and just followed the instructions to make them... and also to make my own seam binding.  Made all the difference having matching seam binding.

And, through it all, my faithful (one of them) companion Jaik assists me..... can you believe he needed the entire table for his cat nap after all that work watching me cut fabric.  Tough job, but someone has to do it and Jaik is definitely the man!

Inconsistency, a trip and lack of imagination

First, my inability to maintain this blog may be frustrating but I really don't need to put pressure on myself to have to do something when I don't have the time or inclination.  Just sayin'... though I love keeping track of what I'm up to, I probably do it more for me than for anyone else.  I don't want to feel I'm failing... and I'm not.... I probably blog more often than I keep in touch with some people I know. lol

A trip that I didn't anticipate - spur of the moment - took me away for a few weeks and I've been catching up ever since.  I drove, with my daughter and gr-daughter through WA, OR, CA, AZ, NM, TX, LA, AL, MS, FL, GA, SC, NC and on the way back TN, AR, OK, NM, AZ, CA, OR and WA to arrive back home.  Long drive but I loved seeing all those States.  New Orleans in LA was the best but Asheville NC was a treat as well.

Grand Canyon in AZ

Houses on stilts-Pensacola FL

Pensacola Beach - gorgeous!

Looking a little chunky in New Orleans

Getting the finger in New Orleans

A pre-Lent parade

Saint Louis Cathedral in New Orleans

Coffee and beignets at Café du Monde

Sign in New Orleans shop

My 'wall' currently

#12 - 3rd row

Now it's time to continue on my quilting journey.

I've only made a couple of blocks to continue my 'yellow quilt' lately but since I expect it to take me at least a year to complete all the blocks so I'm pleased with my progress.

And of course, one of my helpers....  Jules (Julius Joseph Garfinkel).

As for imagination, I always wrack my mind to figure out what to give people for their birthday and it's time for my most helpful youngest son's birthday and I just can't think of what I should get for him.... or make for him.  He does most of the cooking for his family so maybe some great potholders like I've seen others make?   And maybe some of those great beignets that I had at the Cafe du Monde in New Orleans!

Slowly they go-winter and quilting

The third row of my Sylvia's Bridal Sampler/Quilt is coming along nicely.  I try to do a block a day but usually it's a block every other day... but I have finished six more of them.

 

I'm contemplating how I should position the blocks and how I want to sash it.  I think it looks good 'on point'.

I'm also continuing to hand-quilt to finish up my Dear Jane quilt.  Jules looks very innocent here but he likes to dig items out of the basket that I keep my quilting things in... and he's not as innocent as he looks in this picture.

He loves tossing around the little bird I made so maybe I should make him some little mice stuffed with catnip.  He loves catnip mouseees.

One More...

The 8th block of the second row of Sylvia's Bridal Sampler quilt was very time-consuming and not my 'cup of tea'.  It seemed to take forever to paper piece the various parts.  I think it would have been faster to make half-square triangles but it's done and I'm glad of it.  

That square took me the better part of 6 hours to get it put together, but I am also trying to read for 2 - 3 hours a day and I'm making some Norwegian slippers.  What? you ask.

I fell in love with these slippers as soon as I saw them.... and I'm not a knitter.  However, they didn't look that tough.... just knitting 8 squares, then performing origami to get them to look like slippers.  Washing them in hot water felts them so they're thick and luxurious.

So, one is done.  I had to felt it at once rather than wait to do both of them because I didn't want to take the time to make two slippers if they didn't come out right.  Believe me, looking at the knitted slipper before felting absolutely didn't look right.

Anyway, now I'm working on the other slipper.   Go here to get the pattern and make your own.  I'm sure they're very fast for an actual knitter to make.... takes me days to do one, never mind two of these.  But I like them.