July's One Monthly Goal

Autumn Maples is getting its turn (again) as my One Monthly Goal.  This time the goal is to sew the binding on so it can become a finished quilt.

It seems like it shouldn't take long but there are 28' of binding--these always take me days--and I'll be spending at least a week with my daughter and her family after her surgery and another week with my other daughter, possibly vacationing somewhere--so it might be a tight squeeze to get it finished.  I have part of one side and one corner stitched already.

I haven't quilted or hand-stitched anything for a while.  My callouses are gone and I noticed that two of my fingertips are already sore.  Liquid bandage is my quilting friend in situations like this.  I paint it on before I begin sewing or quilting, let it dry, and it protects my fingers.  It's a great help!  Have you used it before?

I'm linking this post to One Monthly Goal July Link-up at Elm Street Quilts.  Thanks for hosting, Patty.

--Nancy.

Oh, What a June!

Early in the month our trusty, old, 1998 Honda CR-V (we call her R-V-etta) died.  When we learned she needed a new transmission we decided it would be better to buy a newer car instead of having R-V-etta repaired.  Oh, sad day.  She has over 311,000 miles and she's taken us to and from work, on trips around Ohio, and safely across the U.S. several times for over 200,000 of those miles.  How I love that car.  We're a one-car family so there was a bit of stress involved in getting a rental, then shopping for a car.  (Car shopping is always stressful for us, no matter the situation.)  We found a 2006 CR-V with 151,000 miles.  I hope it lasts as long as R-V-etta! 

Three days after buying the 2006 CR-V (yet unnamed) we drove to Lexington, Kentucky, to visit with our daughters and grandchildren and take them and our son-in-law out to dinner.  Fun times (but no great photos).

While our younger daughter has been home, she and I drove to Malabar Farm, home of author Louis Bromfield.  It's currently a state park, still operating as a farm. 

The silo with some of the barns behind.  The animals at the farm include horses, ponies, sheep, pigs, chickens, cows, and a cat or two.

The Big House.  We didn't tour it this time but from previous visits I know it feels very homey and comfortable.  This is the home where Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart were married.  Many other Hollywood stars, friends of Bromfield, visited.  We understand that anyone who came to stay was asked to help with the farm chores.

On the way up to Mount Jeez and views from the top.  It was a beautiful day, cool for June, with mostly clear blue skies and a lively breeze.  We understand you can see three counties from the top of Mount Jeez, one of Ohio's highest elevations.  This is a wonderfully green June in Ohio.  We have a friend who grew up out west.  When he was living here he  complained about how many trees there were and that there was too much green!

The Produce Market Stand. 

This structure stands over a spring where the water is diverted into a trough that was used to hold fruits and vegetables to keep them fresh and cool.  It is said that Bacall and Bogart both worked at this stand.   Can you imagine stopping to buy vegetables and finding them there?!  See photos of the produce stand then and now here.

We also drove to Buckeye Lake.  A few weeks ago the wheat was green.  On the way to the lake we saw it was golden and looked like it was probably ready for harvest.
Because some aspects of quilting are portable I made progress on several quilts.  I pinned and sewed together hourglass blocks.  I thought this was a fun view of them folded after pinning.
And I finished quilting Autumn Maples.  Don't you love those windy curves?

Today my daughter and I collected some sweet clover.  It's really a weed--an untidy one--that grows wild in the countryside and sometimes in untended areas of the city.  When I was a child we used to visit my aunt who lived in rural Pennsylvania.  In summer it always smelled so fresh and sweet near her home.  I once asked my father what smelled so good.  He told me it was sweet clover.  At the time I thought white clover was sweet clover, which we had plenty of in our yard, and I couldn't understand why our yard didn't smell as wonderful as my aunt's.  I finally learned exactly what sweet clover is, and now I try to cut some every summer, weed or not. Sweet clover has a chemical called coumarin which produces the wonderful fragrance.  Other plants with coumarin that smell similar are sweet woodruff, meadowsweet, angelica, lady's bedstraw, and sometimes some kinds of fresh-mown hay.  The fragrance seems to come after the plant has been cut and is drying.

For all the reactions my skin has to plants I'm grateful that I don't get a rash from my favorite perennials:  sweet clover, lavender, honeysuckle, violets, and lilacs.

And that was my June.  I hope yours was a good one!

--Nancy.

May's One Monthly Goal Completed (But the Quilt Isn't)

There were 19 leaf blocks left to quilt at the beginning of May.  My One Monthly Goal was to quilt 10.  I'm pleased to say that I quilted 12½ of them this month.  Just 6½ to go!  Maybe next month will be the one in which I finish this (long-lasting, never-ending, we're-tired-of-seeing-it) quilt.

I'm linking this post to One Monthly Goal May Finish Link-Up at Elm Street Quilts.  Thanks for hosting, Patty.

--Nancy.

One Monthly Goal: Another One Just Like the Other One

Aren't we all just so sick of this quilt?  (And I won't think a thing about it if you don't leave a comment.  How many things can one say about the same quilt month after month after month?!)

I have had to talk myself into setting a goal this month.  It is to hand quilt ten blocks of Autumn Maples.  There are 19 blocks left to quilt so by the end of the month there should be nine or fewer to quilt.

I'm linking this post to One Monthly Goal May Link-up at Elm Street Quilts (and getting in just under the wire to link up).

--Nancy.

One Monthly Goal Finish for April

My One Monthly Goal for April was to hand quilt 10 of the 39 remaining unquilted blocks in Autumn Maples.  You know how it is when you get to the edges of a quilt:  it seems like it takes longer than the whole center.  It's no different with this one.

Of the 39 blocks that needed to be quilted at the beginning of the month there are now 20 left to quilt, which means I've quilted 19.  Goal met!  I know the month's not over but we're on call to help our daughter when she comes home from the hospital with our new granddaughter.  I'll continue to quilt while I'm home but the quilt will stay at home while we help her and her family. 

You can see the quilting lines a little better in this photo.  It's probably because I'm quilting this autumn quilt in the spring, but I'm having a love/hate relationship with it.  

I'm looking forward to having this done, which tells me I need to get the next quilt ready so I can just keep quilting.  I'm sure I'll have to choose and possibly buy backing for whichever quilt it is and I'll need to get batting, too.

Have you heard that the price of fabric will be going up within the next few months?  I wish it weren't so, but then hasn't nearly everything increased in price?

I'm linking this post to One Monthly Goal April Finish Link-up at Elm Street Quilts.  Thanks for hosting, Patty.

--Nancy.

April's One Monthly Goal: Autumn Maples

This quilt is wildly out of season and I'd rather be quilting one in spring-like colors just now but I'm going to pick up where I left off before I began the baby quilt at the beginning of February.

At the beginning of April there were 39 blocks yet to be quilted.  My One Monthly Goal for April is to hand quilt 10 of them.

--Nancy.

More Leaves Quilted

My One Monthly Goal for January was to hand quilt 15 of these leaves to give me a total of 29 quilted blocks.  So far this month I've quilted 19½ blocks, for a total of 33½ blocks quilted.  Goal met.    

The colors in the photo below are odd and far from accurate but I've included it because it shows the quilting.  Sometimes it worked for the arcs to continue from one block to the next, other times it didn't.  I think the quilting will be okay but it's hard to tell how much I will (or won't) like it till it's bound, washed, and dried.  Do you ever not know how much you like (or will like) a quilt until it's finished?

With 33 of 80 blocks quilted, it's just over a third finished.  I must always remind myself that just because the center is quilted, I'm not yet halfway done with the whole quilt.  But that's okay.  I love quilting these leaves, putting the hoop around one and quilting just it, then moving to the next.  I think this may be the first time I've been able to quilt a block without moving the hoop.  I love doing it that way!

I'm linking this post to One Monthly Goal January Finish Link-up at Elm Street Quilts.  Thanks for hosting, Patty.

--Nancy.

The Quilt That Wouldn't Let Me Sleep In

This quilt woke me a few Saturdays ago at about 5:30 in the morning.  (I'm not a morning person so it was a bit of a rough start to my day.)  The day before I'd spent time quilting two leaves.  I chose modified Baptist Fans, beginning and ending the fans with the borders of each block.  The first arc is in the corner with the stem.   

That morning, my first thought was that the arcs were too close together and there were too many of them.  My next thought was that the fans turning every which way would look awful.  I tried to go back to sleep but ended up mulling over what to do. 

Later in the morning I pulled out the quilt and looked at the quilting again.  Maybe the arcs in those first two blocks were a little close together, but they didn't all have to be that way.  I decided to continue quilting the fans, just to see.

And this is what I see now.  It's a poor photo but you can clearly see the quilting lines.

The fans are not of equal distance from each other, which doesn't bother me at all because the arcs are smooth curves, which pleases me a lot and was my goal in the first place.  And I found that some curves can meet at the edges of blocks and continue the smooth curve into the adjacent block.  Who knows but what I might not be thrilled by the time the quilt is finished, but for now I'm happily satisfied that the quilting reminds me of wind swirling the leaves into the air.

As of today I have quilted 14 of 80 blocks, about a sixth of the quilt.  My One Monthly Goal for January is to quilt another 15 blocks for a total of 29 quilted. 

I'm linking this post to One Monthly Goal January Link-up at Elm Street Quilts.  Thanks for hosting, Patty.

--Nancy.

2020 in Review, a Year of Finishing, More or Less

I determined that 2020 would be a year of finishing quilts that I'd started and were still in progress.  I set my sights high with nine quilts in varying stages of progress to work on and, hopefully, finish.  Photos are below descriptions.  

Baskets of Plenty was first on that January, 2020 list.  I needed to remake two blocks and make one new one to have the nine I thought would make a good-sized quilt.  Those are finished and the blocks are sewn into sashing with borders on part of it, awaiting applique on the top and bottom borders.  So, from these blocks on the left to the still-unfinished top on the right.  Not a finish, but still, progress.  You can read all the posts about these baskets here.
 


The Blue and the Gray was the next quilt on my January list.  I had only the blocks and cornerstones finished so it still needed the sashing to become a top.  I'm thrilled to have put the last stitches in the binding in November.

Everyday Patchwork was next on the list.  Ohh, I love this quilt.  I had 30 blocks made at the beginning of the year.  I added 5 more for a total of 35, for a 5 x 7 block layout.  It also needed sashing, borders, and applique on the borders.  The top is awaiting batting, backing, and quilting.

Autumn Maples, I'm happy to say, is in the process of being quilted.  I'm hoping the quilting will bring to mind leaves swirling in the wind.

Red Circles on Green Squares needed many more squares, so I've been working on those now and then.  My enthusiasm wanes and it's easy to lay them aside when there is other handwork to do.  I need 192 and have finished 182.  Just 10 more to go.  The stack below is about a fifth or sixth of what I have now.  There's still lots to be done with this quilt.  I'll need to decide on sashing and cornerstones (or not) on the groups of 9 blocks, and then sashing between the 9-circle blocks.

Cheddarback is a finished top.  This was a sew-along so I couldn't choose my own pace to finish it.  It was about half finished at the beginning of the year.

Little Rubies is a finished quilt, the last stitches put in sometime in April or May.  I love it, I don't love it.  But it's finished!

Linda Brannock's Flowers and Quarter Cabins saw no progress at all.  Flowers will need some unstitching then restitching.  I tried to make it larger by adding more sashing.  It's not right so I'll make it the way Linda did and add borders. Quarter Cabins needs a few decisions about the next steps.  I didn't look at either quilt all year.  I know they'll wait patiently for me, though. 
















Two quilts that weren't on my January, 2020, list were these:

Blue and Lights.  When I realized I had three 12" blue and white blocks left over from Cheddarback I decided to just make more blocks.  Most of the year it seemed I was doing the back end work of finishing.  It was fun to make blocks to continue a quilt in progress.  Here are 15 of the 20 blocks I've made.  I'll have to decide on layout, sashing, cornerstones, and borders.

Ohio Winters Browns (from Lori's 50 Shades of Brown at Humble Quilts) was the other finish for the year.  It's hard to go a whole year without starting at least one thing new, and this was it for the year.  It's a little quilt -- the small squares finish at 1". 

So that's my year in quilt-making.  When I began this post I was feeling down-hearted, thinking I had accomplished nearly nothing.  It's been a good way to realize that all my small efforts have amounted to something, even if there were only a few complete finishes.

I hope you had a good and successful year, whatever you did, and I wish you all the best in 2021.

--Nancy.

A Little Late

I had hoped to layer, baste, and begin quilting Autumn Maples in November.  I ordered fabric from a new-to-me online store on November 6.  I wanted/needed 6 yards, their website said they had 4, so I left a message that I'd really like 6 yards but to contact me.  They indicated the fabric should arrive in about two weeks.  Sometimes it becomes a fiasco to order online but this time I couldn't find fabric locally so I didn't have much choice.  After several back and forth conversations including a text to a land line, the fabric finally arrived on December 6 -- a little late -- with less than four yards.  Not enough for the back.  What to do, what to do?  (The company offers great prices and selection but communication is a problem.  I'm not sure I'll order from there again.  Perhaps only if I don't hope to get the fabric quickly.)

This is the fabric I ordered.  I love it!  And I think it's about as perfect a fabric as I could have chosen.

Since I needed 6 yards for the back, I finally decided to choose a second fabric, a solid, to make up the difference, either a teal/blue, if I could find one, or some other color.  I finally chose a red, shown below.  In real life, the red is just a bit darker and a little less rosy.  I wasn't sure about it at the store but seeing it with the maple leaves and the other backing fabric I think it will be just fine.

I'm thinking of putting the red in the center with a wide border of the teal/blue around all the edges.  If I have enough fabric.  I have to calculate measurements before I'll know.  And I probably won't get to it till after Christmas.  How I wish I could have had this in the hoop in November!

As far as the quilting goes, I'm thinking of quilting curves in each block, Baptist Fan-style, with the direction of the arcs changing in each block. We'll see how that goes when I can finally begin.

I hope all is well in your world.

--Nancy

This Is What Happens

When I finish a quilt top (or get to the point where I need to lay it aside for a while), I've already considered and reconsidered nearly everything about it and decided it's good to go.  When I pull it out for the next step, either to add a border or lay it in preparation for quilting, this is what nearly always happens:

First:  I see all the creases where it's been folded and wonder how I'm going to flatten it.  Do I need to press it or just let it lie there for a while and it will smooth itself out?

Second:  I wonder how I could have considered it ready for the next step because it either looks too long or too wide or the color or block placement looks not quite right.

Third:  I do my best to maintain self control and just leave it!

That's what happened to the maple leaves.  All those wrinkles, the uneven placement of color, the size...  But I'm leaving it except for adding a border or two, which was my original intention.  I'm grateful I measured the quilt before I folded it so at least I know how long to cut the side borders.

These are the borders I was auditioning before I put it away.

At the time I thought the turquoise/blue at the bottom looked good but now I think it looks garish.  (In person it definitely looks garish.)

I decided a narrow border, probably in dark brown, would be good.  And I thought perhaps the same light blue I'd used as background in some of the blocks would be good for the wider, outer border, but now I think it looks too bland.  This is a bright, vibrant quilt and I want the border to reflect and enhance that, not detract from it.

That's as far as I've gotten with current auditions.  It just occurred to me that with Picasa I can place the photo on a blank background in the collage setting and choose different colored background so it looks similar to a border.  Then, of course, I would have to find fabric to match.  Or choose fabric possibilities first and then only use those colors for the background.  I'll have to play with that before making a decision.  And audition fabrics in person, too.  I have a rust and orange plaid that I thought might work but no, it wasn't quite right.  And I have a medium teal that may work.  I don't know.  I'll have to keep auditioning.

(Please note, the first and second photos are the most accurate for coloring.)

I almost claimed adding the border as my One Monthly Goal for August and then decided the risk was too great.  It always takes me longer to choose fabrics and colors than to measure, cut, and sew a border.

I'm linking this post to
> Finished (or Not) Friday at Alycia Quilts
> Peacock Party at Wendy's Quilts and More
> What I Made Monday at Pretty Piney
> Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt
> Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts 
> Main Crush Monday at Cooking up Quilts
Thanks for hosting, ladies.

--Nancy.
.)