Twice in one day !!

Hard as it is to believe, I am actually posting twice in one day.  It doesn't make up for those times when I don't post anything for weeks but I want people to know that I do other things besides sew.

This morning I sewed, didn't complete the block but I got the pattern copied, cut out and my fabric strips cut.  Maybe tomorrow I'll finish it but for today this is it....

This is a mistake I make often.  I sew the fabric on, then when I'm trimming, I cut it off.

 This is why this particular instrument is so necessary...

So I finished only that little part of the block but it was more time and work than it looks. :-)











Yesterday, I had lunch over at my dd's and I got to check on the 7 new puppies and their mommy.... and all the other animals and people who live up there on the north part of the island.  All of 6 miles away.  Thought I would post some pictures of the luncheon and pets.

First, Sally and her pups.

 Then, one of the kitties sleeping on a carpet that was put out to air... Mr. Jones.

Then the chickies relaxing on a carpet that is also outside being aired out.  I thought it was funny to see how much 'the girls' liked perching up there.  They're curious creatures.

 Enjoying the day while Leonidas aka: Daddy, sits at my feet.

 Flowers on the table fresh from the garden.  The Mojitos were made with mint from my garden which I was happy to contribute for drinks.

After lunch, we took two of the dogs, Chubaca and Leonidas, for a walk in the park.  Lots of new smells for them as well as new dogs to meet along the way.










A pleasant day was had by all and even though the day got cloudy by the time I drove myself home, it was still nice and warm.

Chance to win a quilt

If you go to the MaryQuilts site (page up) on or before June 23rd and donate $10 to the Red Cross, you'll have a chance to win a lovely quilt.

It's Coming Along

I've completed two more blocks on row 4 and they took forrrrevvvver to do.  All those itty-bitty parts and my usual quandary... what colors should I choose.

I'm trying to use purples and reds because they go well with the yellow and also because I know that my oldest dd as well as her daughter love purple.  Either one could be the recipient of this quilt when it's done.  Ria (gdd) and her husband have just bought their first house so that's been on my mind while working away.

I'm not completely pleased with this block because of the fabric I selected with all the white flowers but it's done, all the seams match up and none of the points were cut off so I'm keeping it.  Probably won't be noticeable in the midst of all the rest of the busy blocks anyway.  But you can see that I'm fabric-selection challenged.

Both of these blocks were paper-pieced which is accurate but a little boring to do after a while.  I like to strip quilt but there's no way to do that in this quilt... so I'll save it for the next one.

it's not particularly attractive but I find I work on the blocks more often if I can see how far I've come.  Only 5 1/2 rows to go.

My dd's doggie had her pups (yes, I know she should be spayed but she got preggers before she could be) - 7 of them.  One is a runt and she isn't feeding him so it may have to be bottle-fed if it's to live.  She had them last night so we'll see if the little guy makes it through the night.  Then I'll get some pictures of the new mommy and her babies.

Take care all.  Hope you're enjoying beautiful weather like we are here. :-)

Spring Fever (I guess)

Seems like forever... but there's just so much to be done.  Bird-watching, gardening, thrift-store shopping, birthdays, new chicks and did I mention quilting?

This is something I found in a St. Vincent de Paul thrift store which I seldom go to because it's way over in Bremerton which is quite a drive, but my dd's were heading over there and I went along too.  The label reads "This Amish doll is handmade of 100% cotton. The quilt is printed in traditional Amish colors and patterns and is lovingly quilted."

 The head is a wooden ball on a wooden neck but the body of the doll is stuffed and soft, except for the bottom part which is quite heavy and moldable so the doll stands in place very well.

 I just love her bonnet and that beautiful apron she's wearing.

 The quilt she is holding is a lovely small replica of a real quilt.

 Hand quilted as you can see from the backing.

 Isn't she lovely?!

 Look at that handwork....

... truly a work of art.  The cost of this masterpiece was so small it was obvious that the thrift shop did not know the significance of the doll to a quilter.  It was on a shelf with the children's dolls.

I'm so happy that I was able to rescue her and give her a good home.  I live so far from Amish country that it's unlikely that I would ever be fortunate enough to see one of these dolls in person.  Of course, I realize that there are probably a million of these objects all over the East coast where they are made... but that doesn't lessen it's value to me.

Oh, and I have another block to add to my 'yellow' quilt...

I paper-pieced this block in four quarters, then sewed them together to make the complete block.

I probably should have used fabric for my purples that contrasted more with each other but c'est la vie.  I might redo it when I've done more blocks but for now... it's done!

Royal Wedding

Though my grandfather's family goes back to the 1600's in the US, my grandmother was from England, so the English 'way' has always been part of my life.  Royal weddings are a time for celebration and this recent one was no different.

Lemon curd, scones, strawberries, clotted cream, sausage rolls, cucumber sandwiches, salmon pinwheels and tiny little flag-topped cupcakes were served on a replica UK flag table top.  My daughters were invited of course, and they wore pyjamas, as did I.

Thanks to a tutorial on how to make a hat from Threads magazine, I was able to make a little hat for the party.






So, even though the wedding took place at 3am PST, we all enjoyed it thoroughly.  Hope you all have a good weekend.

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.