The March Report

All of Jan., Feb. and March we were waaaaay below the average temperatures - both highs and lows. A very brutal winter. So I did not mind at all when Damon got some Sourdough starter in early January and started experimenting with bread making. After experimenting with a variety of different flours and ratios of them, he found the right combination of all-purpose and bread flour. So now, every few weeks he has been making two loaves of sourdough bread. I am picky about the bread I eat. I prefer softer not crust bread and this is just perfect. My favorite thing is to take a quarter inch slice, butter it and then microwave it a few seconds to get it nice and warm. It has a great flavor.

The quilt guild's challenge this year is to make a seasonal banner 60 inches long and 6 inches wide. Based on the season you got (which you drew out of a hat for) you had to stick with the assigned seasonal colors - I got summer which were blue, green, yellow and purple. You also had to have at least one stitch of handwork and at least one bead or button. So I went with a crazy quilt blocks and did a variety of machine and hand embroidery and added several buttons and beads.

My favorite block is the bottom one with a button and bead spider hanging from its web. The Banner is due at the April meeting so I got it done just in time.

The February Report

So the first picture is of the flowers I got for Valentines day. I also got some chocolates - the flowers lasted longer than the chocolates!

As usual the start of the semester in late January and continuing into Feb. and March means neglecting lots of other things like updating the blog. I did manage in Feb. to bind three quilts that had been sent out for machine quilting. The first two are quilts for Tim (Damon's boss). His mother had some unfinished quilts when she passed away a couple of years ago. I had already finished a few of the smaller mostly done ones. The Jar quilt had blocks done but needed a few more and then I had to put together the rows and the bookcase. The Fish and Flying Geese quilt was not actually started, Tim's mom had bought the fabric to make him a guilt, so I make it instead. This is my original design. The idea is that the flying geese look like ripples on the water that the fish are in. As I was trying to maximize use the of the fish fabric this is actually close to a kink-sized quilt.

The Diamonds are Forever quilt was previously pictures but now that the binding is on it is officially done! I opted for wool batting and it is nice and soft and puffy and warm.

Quilt Mission Accomplished

Well here it is, my Diamonds are Forever quilt top. As I promised myself - it is done before the start of the semester. I even have a backing all set to go too. I am waiting for a call from the local machine quilter as to when I can pick up a couple of quilts I dropped in early December, so when I go to pick them up I will drop this one off. 
Of course this now means I now need to decide what the next project to work on will be.

It is always easy the first week...

I started the Diamonds are Forever pattern from the String Quilt Revival book last year. I would make blocks intermittently between working on other projects. But laying out the blocks I had done so far (first picture) was a big motivator to keep making progress on this project. I am loving how this is turning out. It makes use of scrap strings of fabric. Like I said in my last post I like having goals - so the goal for this is to get all the blocks made before the start of the semester on Jan. 26th. I had  46 blocks done, and the pattern calls for 120. So 74 more blocks to go. I broke that down to 24.6 blocks per week or 3.36 blocks per day. Happy to report that the first week went very well and as of today I only have 50 blocks to go (down to 2.9 blocks per day). I have been pacing this out doing 4 or 8 blocks a day, I am getting more done on weekends than on weekdays. 

I also wrapped the nieces birthday gifts this weekend and decided instead of buying birthday cards or putting gift tags on the presents I made fabric postcards. Each has their initials and an embellishment.

I also tried a new recipe yesterday. The Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup came out really well. Although I though it could use a bit more flavor so I added a few dashes of garlic powder.  

Happy New Year

The playing with scraps in Dec. resulted in this nifty wall hanging. The center applique design is from the book: Elegant Quilts, Country Charm by Leonie Bateman and Deidre Bond-Abel. I modified the design by adding a second flower and an extra leaf. The border is a bunch of crumb (small scrap) blocks.
After all the machine quilting this fall my machine quilting gloves had actually got rubbed smooth, so Damon got me a new pair of Machingers for Christmas and I used them to quilt this.
I also used the new camera I got for Christmas to take the picture and this was the opportunity to make sure the memory card would work with my computer - and it did so I am all set.
At the end of Dec. I took at two-day quilt shop road trip and hit five different quilt shops in eastern VT and in NH. I visited Barnyard Quilting, Country Treasures, Waterwheel House Quilt Shop, Keepsake Quilting, and Quilted Threads. I also made a brief stop at the Vermont Country store. It was a great trip - bought a bit too much (but that was expected). I have new books, patterns, and fabrics to keep me busy for a while. Which is good as I will be putting myself on a fabric no-buy for this year (2015). Also the guild quilt show is this coming fall so I really should focus on finishing things to put in the show. 
I haven't committed to any resolutions so far, but I like the idea of having some goals to aim for so I am still thinking about what I would like to accomplish this year.

Merry Christmas!

Another great Christmas. This is the warmest we have had since we moved to the Adirondacks. Today it is about 45 degrees and partly sunny and very windy. Damon, Ivan and I all took a nice long walk this afternoon.

Multiple Days of Turkey and Scraps

OK, the scraps got started a few days before the turkey but basically for the last week its been all about both. Pictured first is my 'crumb' bag - these are the smaller scraps from my quilting. Or at least that is what should be there - apparently I got lazy a few time as I did find a few bigger pieces mixed in. The bag itself is about a foot high and about a foot and a half long. So it looks like a lot of scraps.

But as you can see in the second photo it looks a bit more manageable once you pull them out and start ironing them and laying them flat and grouping them by general shape and size - in the photo this is only about the first third of all the scraps.

Since they were all laid out so nicely I took the opportunity to start making 'crumb' blocks again. I already have a quilt top made from them but it is a great way to use up scraps and I love they way they look. Just play some Jazz and do some improvisational piecing.

I also had been using 2 1/2 inch squares to baste into 1 inch English paper-pieced hexagons. As I found plenty of 2 1/2 inch scrap squares in the crumbs I also did some more basting and then started to sew some of them together.

I think the plan at this point is to do a few other scrap blocks. I found a foundation paper pieced star that would likely work well with scraps I want to try. Once I have a good variety of different scrap blocks I will make one good sized top with all of them mixed together. 

Not tired of the scraps yet, but after five days of eating turkey I am done with that for a while.