Still kickin' at the New Year

I'm still here, working and sewing much of the time.  Hey, this home maintenance being completed by just ONE person takes a lot of time!  My spirits remain sorta OK, and I get lonesome, pretty much like everyone else.  A terrible anniversary is looming -  sad and scary but I will face it.  Time flew by so quickly, it is shocking.  I barely learn what day it is, and it's the next!  

During my blog lull, I have finished the quilting on this QOV, shown as a top previously.   

Love that striped binding!  Here's the back, much of it given to me by quilting friend Tina.

I've  finished this star top (70" x 81") made of a gazillion pieces, but it's together, batting cut to size, no backing yet.  My quilting friend Jody made one and I pestered her for instructions.  The parts are easy to make, but if you copy this one don't make blocks -- it is actually made with rows. It was called Starry something and shown in an old Quilters Newsletter, from a reader in New Zealand. Notice that "stars" are either with dark points, while others are light stars, an invitation to creativity!  The blocks are 3 in. 

My wall paper is down, thanks to help from quilting friend Lari, and purchase of a must-have steamer, definitely the solution to this horrid job.  

Only 2 partial walls had wallpaper, the rest is decent, but removal of wallpaper left expected damage that needs repair before painting.  I have the name of "the man" to call, but he's vacationing somewhere.  This all started with a shopping trip to the carpet store and the owner suggested I get the room painted first, but remove wallpaper before "first".  

Kitchen renovations are still holding, complicated by Covid issues.  My projects continue.  

And a recent pleasure with a million !!! pieces, was a gift from another quilty friend Alice.  This is one tricky challenge.  The finish is of a worn quilt, complete with the damaged binding, hanging on the line.  Too late, it dawned on me that my table will be tied up for a while!

I do not feel like a capable person unless I can have a long list of completed projects.  They were listed here, then I deleted them and began to wonder if I'm demented with my penchant for eternal jobs.  Wonder what a psychiatrist might suggest? 

I wish I had some inkling of what to do with the rest of my life, now as a widow.  There's a big blank road ahead of me and my GPS isn't working.  

A friend saves vintage blocks, and a Pineapple Beginning

What a great way to start the day - aren't they beautiful?  Look at the giant white ones in the middle!   

In mid-November at the Guild give-away table, sat a large stack of vintage blocks.  Kinda sad and not well done but .... I grabbed them, shoved them in my friend Jody's hands and said, "Here make something of these!"  Poor woman - I didn't even give her a chance to object but she's creative, energetic and gets things D O N E !  Hmm, lots of piecing, by hand, not sophisticated, yet beautiful in their humility.   Some lady was using her time wisely, using what she had.  There is even some fussy-cutting. 

 

In mid December, (yes, less than 1 month later) Jody dropped by my house with a big wrapped "something" under her arm with instructions "do not open 'til Christmas" ... well of course I failed that edict.  After she left, I opened it ... and cried with joy. 

Look what she did with the "unloved" blocks!!!  She repaired some, added the inner black sashing, added the dark border purchased when she and I had attended some quilting function together.  She often finishes her quilts with a sliver of color against the binding.  She then washed it all, and those blah, tired-looking blocks turned into something beautiful!!!   Quilters make and give quilts away - we seldom receive a quilt, especially one with meaning.  How lovely  that she gave these blocks a real life.  It's prettier than this photo, and is now my TV-watching lap quilt.

 

 

  Above is the backing - perfectly lovely!  Thank you Jody!!!

New project ....

a Pineapple Quilt, using 2 slightly different blocks.  I'm loving it!  This design came with a DVD purchased thru Annie's Catalog/Craft catalog, and the DVD features Gyleen Fitzgerald.  (I LOVE my quilting DVDs!)  Oh My Gosh, I am loving this one!!!  I DID purchase her ruler  (about $14) which I also love.  Each block came out exactly correct, square and true.  (There is another ruler at Annies, but with more lines, options, cost - I chose the simpler version)..

If you have never made a Pineapple block, and are not paper piecing, you really need a ruler made for this technique.  The block is very easily pulled out of square and is trimmed and checked after each round.  These strips are cut at 1.5 inch, and the block finishes at 8 inches.  Also, her technique trims the blocks from the back.     



"Shirttails" Bonnie Hunter Class

Saturday was our Bonnie Hunter class in Englewood, CO, about 5 hours from my home in western Nebraska.  My travel mate was (above, left) Jody (I usually call her Goddess) who was waaaay more familiar with Denver than I ever hope to be, and her sister Janice who lives in Denver, and Bonnie, then Diane (far right), our table mate from Washington state who was visiting relatives in Denver, but they weren't home so we know which activity took priority!   Our project was from Bonnie's book Shirttails.  Janice and her husband went out of their way to make ME feel welcome - what a lovely visit we had in the evenings and at an incredible breakfast Sunday morning!

This class was sponsored by Wooden Spools, and amazing shop that buys quality cotton fabric from regular quilt folks and resells it at a generous discount to other regular quilt folks!  Bargains galore for first-quality fabric - what a concept!  They also have a Bonnie Hunter ... not sure it's called a fan club, but they all make more of Bonnie's quilts.  What an amazing shop - they gave us breakfast Saturday morning with leftover yummies for Saturday lunch!!!  They are in Englewood, south of Denver.

Because of the distance, we made a weekend of the class - I am exhausted.  It was a VERY good - and humbling experience to be traveling with younger, strong women!  

Many photos are on Bonnie Hunter's site.

Haste Makes Waste

While hurrying home after errands, a quilt presentation, library book review, K-Mart,  race home before the cable tech guy arrives, and deciding to NOT take a second to  put my camera safely into my big purse, I got out of the car with arms loaded, camera swinging on my arm by it's strap, walked through the garage door, slammed the garage door behind me  ....  on my camera.   DANGGGGG!   I no longer can VIEW anything except a cracked VIEW window.  The good part is that the photos are still there, and it still downloads.  I doubt if Kodak can fix the mess I made of my camera.  8-((   It might have been better if it had been completely trashed, not it's only partially trashed.  I can't review photos, but it DOES still take them and download them.

However, on a happier note, here is Jane's project - isn't this the cutest wall hanging?  The little dimensional triangles are all from scraps she already had.  She says a button will go in each center.  TOOOOO CUTE! 

Here is Jody (Goddess's) Chunky Churndash - she is a prolific quilter, knitter, rancher, calver, babysitter to grandkids, friend, Postmaster, teacher, etc.  She can do anything - rumor has it that she doesn't sleep



Here is a label for our recent donated quilt.  Nancy donated his label, done on her embroidery machine.

 And here is a final photo of the donated quilt.  We even made the newspaper today!!

Thank goodness - we can start working on something else, but I'd like to win this one.  We local quilter/gals  donated the top fabrics, and RSVP paid for the batting, backing, and quilting.  My friend Chell did the beautiful machine quilting.  One of our local quilters, Carol,  has won not just one, but TWO Raffle Quilts in about 2 years!!!  And with just one ticket per quilt!

I know I've shown this before, but wanted photos for posterity!  8-)) 

There  are minor issues with the ribbon corner but we managed to make it look right - only a quilter would ever know there are discrepancies.

Jody is known for her interesting flange type border treatment (below).  Some old person stuck their finger in the photo to show details.  Oh yeah, was that me???  LOL

Jody's Quilt, Finished Split 9-Patch, New Project

This beauty belongs to Jody (Goddess) who is a prolific quiltmaker in addition to all the other things she accomplishes. (well, she hasn't gotten her blog up yet ..., nag, nag, nag!) 8-))) It's called Blue Ridge Beauty, from Bonnie Hunter's Leaders and Enders book.

Here is the last (not-great) photo of my Split 9-Patch, to show the quilting on the narrow white border. I used a stencil and blue pencil (is that cheating?) Each of the wide blue borders are quilted differently from each other. Again, this might be my new best favorite, and "it turned out better than I thought it would!"

Soooo, I started another project (Arabic Lattice) and I am going to get hollered at - this is our next guild class with John Flynn, and I was given strict orders, to me personally, "Elaine, no pre-cutting!" Honestly, Vonda, the devil made me do it! I have a large collection of shirt plaids and stripes, having made many shirts, and also after visiting our local Mission Store for 50 cent shirts. I swear, I only wanted to try out the block and got carried away! But, after making one, I couldn't stop! Aren't they cute? Those outside triangles edges on the bias are heavily starched. Ya gotta have bias somewhere and I didn't want it towards the center 4-patch. That light square in the center is a muslin fabric. Maybe I'll change it to a different color square - not sure yet.

Jody's Quilt of Valor

This splendid quilt of Valor belongs to my friend Jody (Goddess). It's based on Quiltville's Carolina Crossroads. Jody makes quilts like nobodys business, in addition to a full-time job, and ranching and ...! (That's why I add "Goddess" after her name.) These are being sent to AliciaQuilts in Colorado, and then on to a hospitalized soldier wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan. These unfortunate young men and women did NOT ask to be hospitalized in addition to their military service. With these QOV quilts, they will know 'someone, out there' appreciates them.

Jody (no blog) machine quilts on a frame using a regular sewing machine. Look at this little squiggle with the stars -- too clever. The wide border is quilted with a variegated red/blue in a viney undulating pattern, free form. I honestly could NOT discern the blocks until Jody pointed them out to me.
The other best part is the backing - it's filled with a variety of U.S. historical motifs, from early history to current. Gorgeous - and she found the fabric at discount price!
Thanks, Jody, for being so generous with your talents, and for allowing me to show off your beautiful quilt.

Jody's Quilts -- Relaxing -- New books

These two luscious items belong to my friend Jody. She comes into town for our local monthly quilt group meeting. The crooked log cabin is not yet quilted, but the Irish Chain is DONE! Jody is a ranching woman (among her other talents), and machine quilts beautifully on a frame.

This little quilt (below) was mailed today. I tried to drape it artfully on the table like a Country Living photo, but it ended up looking like a quilt, spread out on a table.
DH surprised me with this gift, a windmill, a symbol of Nebraska. I've often talked about having a 'real' decorative one for the garden, but our garden never does amount to much, so this metal WELCOME version is much better. I LOVE it! This was made by a guy who makes ranch metal gates with all the cutouts of horses, cowboys, cattle, that we see over the ranch driveways. His wife designs them on a computer.
And lastly, yes I DID overdo working and am paying for my exuberant painting efforts, and need to sit down and REST my old bod! Look what came in the mail today! The perfect excuse to sit and enjoy our beautiful afternoon, and a delicious hard lemonade! I LOVE Gwen Marston and Freddy Moran's free use of color, but I also love that it is 126 (correction - 192 pages!!!) pages full of color!