Finishing the Rambler and Family Memories

I finished up the Rambler Block this week in At Piece with Time.

I fussy cut the petals with the swirls in them.  I liked the way it indicated motion and change.  And since that's what this block is all about, it seemed appropriate.  I also made the center a little bigger than the pattern indicated - both on this square and the forget-me-nots in the center triangles.

I used the Perfect Circles to make the centers and I've found that after a certain tiny size, my circles get all kinds of wonky.  So I made all of the centers about one size up than the pattern indicated.  I believe I like them better a little larger anyway.

We don't have that many blocks left in this quilt.  I really hope you're working on your setting triangles as we're moving near completion of the individual blocks.

I also wanted to remind you that there will not be a blog next week.  Next Thursday my family will be heading out to Oak Island, NC to celebrate my son's wedding. 

Jon Matthew is my youngest.  And although he hasn't lived at home in several years, he has always lived nearby.  I love the young woman he is marrying.  She is smart, a hard worker, and she loves him. 

So in so many, many ways, I thought I was ready for my baby to completely fly the nest.  Then Wednesday, which is always my errand running day, I passed a group of teenagers walking down Mackey Road.  In this group was a kid about 17, shoulder length brown hair, baseball cap, dark jeans and a black t-shirt.

Instantly I was carried back to another young man at another place and another time.  This kid looked so much like my son I nearly had a nostalgia overload.  I was misty-eyed all the way home.

Don't get me wrong.  I'm glad he's all grown-up, through with school, has a good job, and is a responsible adult.  I'm glad he's marrying a wonderful gal.  I am looking forward to watching the next phases of his life.

All is well in that part of my world.  I guess what pulls me up short is how quickly this all happened.

And you must understand that this ties into my quilting world because Matt is the reason I quilt.  With my daughter, I learned how to smock and do all that beautiful heirloom French sewing.  When the hubs found out that our second child was a boy, he firmly declared "There will be no lace on this child."

I did get away with smocking for him for awhile, but not long.

So...I learned to quilt for the kids.  While my great-grandmother's quilt was my inspiration, the birth of my son pushed me to find my wings as a quilter.  The first quilt I made was a baby quilt for Matt.

It is backed with cotton flannel.

There is so much wrong with this quilt, it's easier to make a list of the few things that are right with it.  But it was much loved and much used.  The batting is poking through in quite a few places.  He took it with him everywhere and it's a wonder it survived.

So the quilting addiction in my life?  Yeah, it's all my son's fault.

Thank goodness for sons and daughters that push us to try new things!

Goodies and Snowflakes

So, I'm doing this block of the month at Dragonfly Quilt Shop in High Point.  The quilt is Peppermint Place and it's about as cute of a Christmas quilt as I have ever seen.  The group has been working on it for awhile and we're now at the point where we're putting all the blocks together for the center of the quilt and appliqueing the setting blocks.  I've gotten my snowflakes done.

All those little curves and dips with the machine applique are challenging, but I found if I go slowly and use a good stabilizer on the back, it's really pretty easy.  There are four of these and I learned that if I do the first one very slowly so I can get a good feel for it, I can speed things up on the next ones and they zip by much quicker that the first one.

There have been lots of little accomplishments this week that I hope will lead up to some more bigger reveals as weeks go on.  My quilt life is being shelved as the wedding gets closer.  I am so excited for my son and future daughter-in-love.  This is going to be a fun wedding!  I ordered my shoes today -- flip-flops for the beach wedding in a lovely turquoise blue! 

I told you I went to the AQS Show in Charlotte a couple of weeks ago.  Here are the goodies I came home with.

The glare on this is horrible and I do apologize.  This is triangle paper for 2-inch half-square triangles.  The smaller the half-square triangle, the wonkier mine can get at times and I prefer paper piecing the really small ones since it's just so easy to stretch those bias edges.  Primitive Gatherings (my very favorite wool shop) had these.

Wool.  Yes. I have given into the "wave" and am now doing wool applique.  I absolutely love it!  It's different, but it's quick and fun.  Well...sometimes it's quick.  I'm also doing a block of the month called Bertie's Year (also at Dragonfly).  Those blocks are wood on flannel and I am admittedly not a flannel fan.  It could have something to do with being in the throes of menopause and because of this I am perpetually in my own private heat wave.  Flannel does nothing to alleviate my own personal summers. 

But I highly suspect the reason I dislike flannel is that it works up so differently from cotton. 

It ravels.

It's stretchy.

It's just not cotton and by golly I'm used to cotton fabric.

So hopefully as time goes by and I get more accustomed to working with flannel, I will form a friendship with it.

I bought some focus fabric and two patterns, too...

 The snowmen table runner is from Primitive Gatherings.  It can be done in all cottons or cottons and wools.  The three gossiping ladies in  "Stitch a Little Talk a Lot" is by Amy Bradley and that will be my next new project.  I think that pattern is just precious. 

Here's a better shot at the focus fabric....

I had no plans for this fabric when I grabbed the bolt and headed to the check out line.  I just knew that somewhere out there was a quilt that I would make that would need this.  So three yards of this made it into my bag. 

Update on the roof:  We settled the bill with the roofer, whom I think was glad to tell us good-bye.  We have a painter that's going to fix the ceilings and paint my sewing room. 

We still have a leak.

Oy-vey.

Love and Stitches,

Sherri

Welcome to My Crazy Life

I feel as if I'm in one of those periods in my life where absolutely nothing is getting accomplished.

Some of this has to do with an inch-and-a-half slash on my left index finger.  Never have two glasses of wine while you're rotary cutting,  That's all I have to say about that.

Life has just been so busy.  I'm at the point where I honestly thought my life would be a little slower, a little easier.  My children are grown and both are pretty much responsible adults most days.  But my real job never misses a beat and I have too many quilt projects going on.  I really need to simplify.

Would someone please tell my how to do that?

Anyway, I did go to the AQS show in Charlotte last weekend.  It was nice getting away with my quilting best friends, but after the Holy Grail of Quilt Shows (Paducah), it seemed really, really small.  I spent the least there I've ever spent at a show -- less than $100, but came away with some really cool focus fabric, patterns, half-square triangle paper, and some new marking pencils for dark fabric and wool.  So a good time was had by all.

I have gotten three more blocks done for Dear Jane.  There for a while, she and I weren't on speaking terms.  Not because I'm tired of her, it is just that it has been something every.   Single. Weekend.  In.  July.  I've had a family wedding, I've covered at a quilt shop, and I snuck away for a weekend at the beach.  The hubs and I haven't been anywhere this summer, so when the Son and my future Daughter-In-Law extended an invitation to go with them, we jumped at it.  Found a really nice little dive called the Fat Pelican, but what happens at the Fat Pelican stays at the Fat Pelican.  Let's just say in my future, I would like to own the Fat Pelican.  It's not just a dive bar, it's a state of mind.  Think Alice in Wonderland's Rabbit Hole at the beach and yeah...you've just about got it.

I have had a chance to work on At Piece with Time.  I'm almost ashamed to say that I'm still working on the applique on The Rambler block. The first time I appliqued the leaves behind the Forget-Me-Not, I cut them too short.  It was a complete rookie mistake.  When you're working on this, make sure the leaves extend all the way down into the petals.  If you don't, your background will show through.

But the main thing that has thrown in a monkey wrench into everything was my roof.  The first round of heavy summer rain we had told us the back story behind the sleet, hail, and ice storms we had this winter.  Our roof was pretty much a sieve.  That first heavy rain -- well, my fireplace looked like a water feature. 

Definitely needed a new roof.

So we went with a contractor who was doing some work in our area.  We upgraded to architectural shingles and decided to replace all the skylights.  Except the one in the dining room.  We were going to patch that over and put in a light.  So the hubs, working in the demo and environmental field for years and knowing the OSHA regs by heart, went up on the roof and marked the skylights.

And all was well in our world until the rains came again.  Luckily, the new skylights were in, but there was a hole in the ceiling of the dining room.  So the roof guys threw a tarp over it and it worked.

Until the next morning when the roofers forgot about the hole and one of them fell through it.

He. Is. Fine.

Got up and walked away from it because...

My dining room table broke his fall....

I'm glad he's okay.  I'm glad my hutch wasn't smashed, because while I have nothing in it monetarily valuable, I have priceless family keepsakes, my teaching awards, and items students have made or gifts they have given that can never be replaced. 

The down side to this is that the table is a Thomasville Cassandra and it's not made any more.  There is one in stock at a furniture place in New Mexico.  One.  In New Mexico....

And I live in High Point, the Furniture Capital of The World.  Something is wrong with this picture.

Any home improvement is like dominoes.  You start one something and then the next something falls.  So because there were leaks, we have to have the ceilings patched and painted.

So why not just paint some rooms, too?

Especially this room...

This room used to be the kids' rec room when they both were home.  When my daughter moved into campus housing and then her own place, it became my son's bedroom.  When he moved out, it transitioned into the Man Cave for the hubs, as did one of our out buildings.

So I finally put my size seven-and-a-half foot down and demanded equal time for a sewing studio.  I'm literally working in the smallest room in the house.  It is the former nursery.  So, I claimed the former rec-bedroom-man cave as mine.  Stuck my Quilt Flag in the floor and titled the territory as Sherri's. 

Two years ago.

There has been every excuse in the book for not making this happen.  But by-golly-gee-Pete, it's happening now. 

I will keep you updated as it happens.  I'm not expecting overnight miracles, but I want to be in it by my birthday in November.

Now, just a heads up as we're hurdling towards the middle of August (and how did that happen so fast?).  My son is getting married over Labor Day weekend and it is a destination wedding.  I probably will not have time to post that week prior.  Lots to do...and we have to get there and get things set up. 

My baby's getting married....Can't wrap my mind around it yet.

URGENT! STOLEN QUILTS!!!!!

I just saw on my Facebook feed that Nancy Rink's studio had been broken into for the second time in TWO days.  This time they took 16 of her quilts.  She's rightfully upset, furious, and frustrated.  When I think of all the time, talent and fabric it took to make 16 quilts....and then you know the police are probably going to treat them like "blankets" and not make them a priority.

Grrr....

So thankfully we have mass social media.  Spread the word!  And here's a link so you can see the quilts.  Please, post this on your Twitter, Instgram, Facebook, Blog...whatever media you have available, let's get the word out and help Nancy get her quilts back!

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2014/07/urgent-nancy-rinks-stolen-quilts.html

Block Nine -- The Rambler

This is an easy block with easy applique - the kind of block that is a lot of fun to make and a great opportunity to play with colors.  It is a good idea to read through all the directions first before starting -- which is really great advice with most things in life, not just quilting.  The flying geese are a little funky, but they are a lot of fun.  Flying geese are one of my favorite quilt blocks.  And that's saying a lot considering I've made Judy Neimyer's Glacier Star with the extensions and that has a gazillion flying geese in it. 

Accurate cutting is always a plus with any quilt block.  Measure twice and cut once.  And even though I've quilted almost 30 years, I still mark my diagonals on my squares...

There aren't too many bias edges in this block, and since you're making multiples sections for the block, this is a perfect block for chain stitching.  Just be sure to sew all the blocks on one side of the rectangles first and press.  Then sew on the other side.

When you're joining the flying geese together, be sure to use that "Magic X" we've talked about in the past to keep all the beaks on your geese.

This block goes together quick and easy

The stripes on the diagonal was a deliberate choice.  To me, stripes set on the diagonal represent movement -- whether it's to draw the viewer's attention to another part of the quilt or to indicate movement within the block.

And this block, the Rambler, is all about movement and change.  One thing's for sure, life brings change.  Sometimes that change is from heartbeat to heartbeat and at other times it's slower than molasses in January.  Sometimes it comes with breath-claiming swiftness and at other times it can't come quickly enough.  Sometimes it seems as straight forward as those flying geese and at other times it can take you down at the knees and swerve you off in another direction - like the diagonal stripes. 

One thing about life -- it brings changes.  That's a reality check you can take to the bank.  It's how you react to it that can either make you or break you.  Learn to bend...learn to swerve.  Learn to duck and cover, if nothing else!

In other news, I've finished two more rows of Dear Jane!

Sam approves...

Love and Stitches,

Sherri

Color Check...

It's time to check your colors...

I know we've done this one time before, but we're getting ready to start construction on the eighth block of this quilt!  Can you believe it?  We're over half way through with the small blocks!  I sincerely hope you're working on the setting triangles, because they are coming up fast!

When you're at about a halfway point in a sampler quilt such as this, it's a good idea to lay your blocks out in the order they appear in the quilt.  There will be gaps, obviously, but this will give you a good idea of how you're quilt is going to look....

 

You can see the obvious gaps, but this can give you a pretty clear idea of how the colors are working (nor aren't working) together.

 

This helps you pick out the fabric for the next block, The Rambler.  I know I need to keep using some corals, throw in a couple of blues, and go back to my golds.  I am using some of the first fabrics I picked out for this quilt in the eighth block.

 

 

You may notice that Sam, my gray cat, is in the first picture.  He's an only fur child now.  My yellow cat, Garfield (both of these kitties were featured in my non-quilty blog about shingles and house wrens), passed away from old age two weeks ago.

 

I've lost two fur children in the space of six months.  Loving these sweet critters is easy.  Letting go of them is hard.  I've kept Sam inside for the past several weeks.  He and Garfield were inseparable pals and I don't want Sam getting lonely.  So he stays close and I feed him lots of cat treats. 

 

I made a promise to myself that as my pets cross that Rainbow Bridge, I'm not going to replace them.  I'm 52 and I'm at the point in life where I want to travel freely and not have to worry about them.  But I miss Scooter and Garf tremendously.  They left paw prints on my heart.  So we will see how well I keep this promise.

 

Love and Stitches...

 

Sherri 

 

 

 

 

Hearth and Home -- Block 8

Happy Post Fourth of July!

I didn't post last week (duh), not because of the holiday.   I wasn't on the beach somewhere drinking margaritas and looking for my lost shaker of salt. 

Nope.  Had nothing to do with that.

My laptop decided to fry the hard drive.

I was working at my "real" job when one of those nasty pop-ups popped up.  I could hear this random guy talking about investment banking, but couldn't find the pop-up to pop him out.  By the time I did close it, it had unloaded a nasty virus that over a period of four days completely fried my hard drive. 

The good news is I had really great back up via Carbonite.  All of my accounting software is backed up twice, so it was fine.  And I didn't lose any of my quilting patterns or lessons. 

The bad news is I had to buy a new laptop.

So between that and a family reunion last week, the blog just didn't happen.  I owe you folks another blog and will get on that soon.  But today I want to talk to you about the eighth block of At Piece with Time -- Hearth and Home. 

This block is my favorite so far.  It's a simple put-together without an inordinate amount of exposed bias seams (which you should be comfortable handling by now).  This block is really simple. Just make sure you follow the standard quilting rules -- keep your seams a consistent quarter inch, measure twice before you cut, and lay the block out before you put it together.  The pressing directions are great for this block so be sure to follow them.

Quick.  Easy.  Simple.



It's the applique that's a little more complicated. 

This block has the bird's nest in the center.  Be careful to center your nest accurately. For some reason, this gave me issues.  You may fly through this part without a hitch, but for whatever reason, I had problems with this part.  If you've already appliqued the nest on your setting triangles, that will put you one step ahead on this block.  The nest on the triangles is larger, but you know that there are gentle curves on this nest.

However, this nest is much smaller that the one on the setting triangles.

Teeny, tiny nest ....

With teenier, tinier eggs....

Again, Kristen Steiner and Diane Fankenberger do a wonderful job in giving us numbered layouts.  Follow that layout carefully.  If you do that and take your time, you'll do fine with this teeny, tiny nest. 

Remember, it's all about the journey...not necessarily the destination. 

Love and Stitches,
Sherri