Today, it's back to quilting

No walk among the magnolias for me yesterday. I find that I like going for my walk in the late afternoon and yesterday, it began raining around 1:30 and developed into a horrific thunderstorm by 4 pm. I even thought I heard hail falling, but I guess it was the sound of the raindrops pounding as it came down. Fortunately, no tornadoes in this area as there were in nearby LA.  All over by 6:30 or so and an uneventful evening, but all that storminess meant that I stayed in the house.

Today we had planned on wandering over to Pensacola FL for the day but that's not going to happen. I've been awake for several hours and there's no sign that the heavy fog will be lifting soon. So we switched to plan B and will move our trip to Friday instead.  Today I'll be back at the sewing machine.

But first, an update on my embroidery project, Among the Pines.  I finished the sailboat block, number 5 of the eight 6 inch blocks.  It's soaking in the bathroom sink to dissolve the sticky stuff that I'm using to transfer the design.

After I finished the sailboat, I immediately moved on to Block 6, the brown bear.  This is as far as I've gone to date. This block doesn't have all the tiny trees in the background that some of the blocks do. What a relief!  I just now realized that I need to get a move on getting this done. In addition to the 8 square blocks, there are 4 rectangular blocks to stitch up. And then all the framing up and quilting.  Yikes!  Will I get it finished by April 1?   Of course I will. I may have to forfeit many hours of sleep, but I'll get 'er done!

Before I work on the embroidery, I need to continue on Jo's T shirt quilt. I have about a third of it done so far and should be able to finish up the quilt center today.  Here are the blocks I've been able to put together and there's one more row that will fit on the right side.  Two of the blocks in that row need to be framed up before they're stitched together. 

I like all the shirts Jo chose for this quilt, and many of them are from her days in the Peace Corps in Kyrgyzstan and Bulgaria.  My favorite by far is the one below. I chose this for the center square and I surrounded it with Flying Geese blocks, appropriate for DaVinci's quote:  

              "and once you have tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, 

                                   for there you have been, and there you long to return." 

That describes Jo perfectly--her experience living in 2 other countries has changed her completely and she longs to see the world.

When I've finished assembling the quilt center, I'll have to find some fabric for the border, and for that I need to get the A&E Drug Store in Pensacola on Friday.

If the weather clears later today, I'll try to get out for a walk, but first, I'm concentrating on Jo's quilt.

Come walk with me

No post yesterday since we were without internet for most of the day. By the time we got it back, I was too tired to write up the post I had in mind, so I'll give it to you today.

A couple of days ago I took my phone/camera with me on a walk through the nature preserve and I invite you to come with me on this little hike.  First is the view as I drove into the parking area. Proportions are difficult but trust me when I tell you these trees are the biggest I've ever seen and so beautiful.

Before we head out on the trail, it's a good idea to check the map to see where we'll be going. I've walked this trail dozens of times and I've studied this map as many times, but one can always learn something new. A fellow walker pointed out to me that the map is reversed from the direction we were facing. In other words, the top of the map is North, while as we stand looking at it, we're facing South,  I don't know about you but for me, that's confusing! I like to hold a map so the direction I'm facing is the same on the map.  Anyway, now I understand why the side trails always were on the opposite side of the main trail as I walked along. Sheesh! Today, we're going to walk from the large red dot near the "top" of the map to the water, so lets get going.

One of the things that tells me I'm truly in the South is the sight of the magnificent American Magnolia!  There's one along the trail and I'd love to see it in bloom, but even so, the shiny, glossy leaves are beautiful in their own right.

Not much is in bloom at this time of the year, but I did spot this little flower. The sign called it "Conradina" which I've never heard of. The flower looks like a tiny snapdragon, the palest lavender with almost microscopic purple dots.  Each flower is smaller than the fingernail on my pinky finger.

Next I spotted some Deer Moss.  This is the stuff that kids use in making trees in dioramas for school projects. These Deer Moss were rather small--about 1-2 inches in diameter--but I've seen much larger ones in other areas here on the Gulf.

The sign describes it as a lichen, a combination of a fungus and an algae living together symbiotically.

This is the view as I walked along--sopshady and cool.  I went on this walk around 4 pm and the sun was still so bright, it kind of messed up my photography some times, but I'm not complaining about having too much sun! You can see that the trail is graveled and actually is a road, but traffic is restricted to the few residents who live at the far end of it.  Before the preserve was created, there were a few homes out at the end, on the Gulf. These residents were grandfathered in and were allowed to continue to live there, using this road to drive to and from their homes, so every once in awhile, a vehicle will come along, but it's really very seldom.

Along the way, we pass two ponds. Below is Pond 1, 

 and this is Pond 2.  These ponds are just about across from each other on either side of the trail.  I always look to see if I can spot any alligators in there and so far, I haven't.  I'm happy about that.  ;-)  I look for turtles as well but again, no luck.  I think we are here when it's still a little too chilly for those critters to come out and sun themselves. That's okay with me.  

All along the trail we see multiple clusters of Saw Palmetto.  I haven't discovered for myself, but the angular leaves look rather sharp and sword-like, and I wouldn't want to have to make my way through these fellas. But they are quite pretty to look at. Whenever I think of Saw Palmetto or see it growing, my brain automatically thinks, "Caramello," and Artie Johnson from Laugh In, as in, "Would you like a Caramello?"  I loved him and the entire show!

And there are these bushes all along the trail as well. They are a variety of holly and some of the bushes are simple loaded with tiny red berries, and some have no berries.  I know other varieties of holly have male and female bushes and I think that must be the case with these as well. Below is a picture of a full bush, 

and this are my fingers near some of the berries. They are so very small!

Ah, here's the sign.  They are called "Yaupon," another plant I've never heard of before.  According to the sign, and who am I to disagree, the berries are filled with caffeine and the Native Americans brewed a tea of them to drink before going into battle or on a long journey. It also says that the tea would induce vomiting and was used to purge them. Um, thanks, but I'll stick to my morning coffee for my caffeine. 

Walk, walk, walk, and look what we see up ahead!  It's an observation platform! This is at about 1 mile into the hike, and I always have to climb up and take a look around.

To the left is "Little Lagoon," a salty body of water that's fed from the Gulf through a man-made inlet farther to the left.  If you look closely, you can see the high rises of Gulf Shores on the distant shore.  

And to the right from the observation tower, is "Gator Lake," a freshwater body. The Lagoon and the Lake are connected by a narrow stream and during high tides or storm surges such as after a hurricane, the lake becomes salty.  The sign said that over time, with the rains, the water gradually becomes fresh again.

On today's walk, there was little to see other than a nuthatch nesting in a dead tree near the observation tower. Sometimes, I've spotted waterfowl swimming along, and heard other birds calling out, but on this day, it was very quiet. So let's turn around and head back to the parking lot. We've walked about a mile already and my creaky old knees will be just able to make it back,

And look at the trees draped with Spanish Moss, another sure sign that I'm in the South!  We're just at the edge of the parking area--in fact, you can make out my gray colored car parked there--so a few more steps and we'll be finished with today's walk.

I really enjoy going on this walk through the preserve, and I hope you enjoyed it too.  There is another trail that I take sometimes, in a different part of the preserve, and if you like, I'll take you along with me when I go the next time.  

But enough of walking.  I actually worked a lot yesterday on quilting--Jo's T shirt quilt.  What a pain this thing is turning out to be!  Only about half of the blocks are the same size and the rest are smaller except for one that's an inch bigger all around.  I've had to really put my math skills to work, giving thanks for whoever invented the calculator, figuring out how wide I need to make the framing around the small blocks to bring them up to size. As for the one that's bigger than all the rest, well, it's going to get a smaller sashing around it, so it'll fit in with the others.  I managed to frame up most of the smaller blocks and hope to finish the rest today. One thing I've learned is to make them larger so I can trim them down to size.  I also was able to begin stitching some of the blocks together along with the sashing.  This morning as I lay in bed, I figured out some ideas for quilting it up. This T shirt quilt will be machine quilted, and not tied as I've done before.  I want it to be really special for Jo, since her T shirts commemorate many of the milestones in her life so far.  I hope to have it done enough today that I'll have pictures of it to post tomorrow.

Today is a grocery day, so I'd better make up a list and get a move on.

Quilt Show!

Yesterday was spent at the quilt show in Robertsdale, AL, near the area where I'm staying. I went with my friend, MaryAnn, and what a great time we had!  Both of us are "snowbirds" here in the Gulf and don't know many, if any, people down here. We met last year at a Bonnie Hunter workshop we both happened to attend and we seemed to hit it off. Throughout the year, we kept in touch by email and when I learned she was here again this winter, and she wanted to take in this show, well, nothing more needed to be said.

Although I had my phone with me, I forgot to take many pics, so this post will not have many.  There were over 400 quilts displayed in the church, including a featured quilter, Karen Schutt, who we had the opportunity to meet. She had dozens of quilts in her exhibit, and they were all pretty darn spectacular.  The only one that I took a photo of was this Santa table runner that I thought was really cute and which I would like to make for myself.

Sorry for the poor quality of the picture, but this was hung near the ceiling and I had to crop it quite a bit.  I asked Google to find this pattern for me and it's for sale at Erica's, and I think I just might have to buy a copy of it.  Do you think this would sell in my Etsy shop? I think it will.

Back to the quilt show. This quilt caught my eye because of the tiny piecing.  It's a bed size quilt and made of of hundreds of 9 Patches alternating with neutral squares. It is amazing!

Here's a close up of some of the blocks.  I didn't have a way to show the size of these squares, but I estimate the colored patches finished at 1/2" so the neutral blocks would be 4 1/2" square.  I've been making 9 patches as leaders and enders for the past several years, using 1 1/2" unfinished squares, and I periodically assemble them into a quilt I've worked on for the same amount of time. I think I could make these tiny 9 patches as well.  But for sure, I'll be strip sewing them and not trying to stitch 1" blocks together!  I just thought this quilt was worthy of trying to duplicate.  

This batik quilt also caught my eye because of the colors the quilter used.  The picture shows the colors as more intense than they really were. They were more pastel than shown here. I don't think the design is anything to write home about but I really liked the colors.

And that's all the pics I took. Imagine--out of 400 quilts, I came home with pics of only 3!  I'm truly not much of a photographer, for sure.  I get involved in looking at the quilts and forget to take out the camera.

We had to stop by the vendors and I found a pattern for a quilt I want to make using my collection of oriental fabrics which I've had for 10 years or so, waiting for the right pattern. No more excuses now, I guess. I also found a couple of fat quarters to add to my collection of Civil War repro fabrics--like I really need to add more!

MaryAnn and I had a very good lunch at the show and on our way back home, we stopped at "Fabric by the Pound."  What a store that turned out to be! A warehouse of all sorts of fabrics, especially quilting cottons, but I found nothing to take home with me.  It was fun just seeing all they had to offer tho.

And then we were back at our starting point.  We enjoyed each other's company so much, we've made tentative plans to explore the nearby nature preserve trails sometime in the next week or two.  Like I told MaryAnn, I would have gone to the show by myself anyway, but it's so much more enjoyable with a friend, and she agreed.

I remembered to ask at the show about getting an embroidery hoop and there is a place nearby that carries all sorts of stitching supplies--Al's Five and Dime--so I was able to get a plastic hoop that will do while I'm here, but as soon as I return home, I'll be ordering a new wooden hoop.  The plastic ones don't hold the fabric as taut as I like while the wooden one did, but at least I was able to continue stitching last night.

Not much on the agenda today.  I have pizza ready for Super Bowl time, and Don will watch the game while I retreat to the other room and watch my beloved Masterpiece Theater.  I'll be working on Jo's T shirt quilt today and will make time to take a little walk this afternoon when the temps get a little bit warmer. And there will be photos this time.  Promise.

First week recap

Yesterday was our first week here on the Gulf, and I must say, it's been a very fine week. I've been able to get outdoors several times, and on two days, I needed to wear shorts, it's been that warm.  We've settled into the cottage and I've found nearly everything I need to function here. Don stopped by the neighborhood fish market and we had fresh caught red fish one night for dinner--soooo good! Best of all, I've stayed on course with my plan to work on UFOs before I move on to new things.  I'm feeling pretty darn good today.

Yesterday, I assembled the borders and attached them to the little snowman table quilt. I had barely enough of the snowman fabric and along with the red posts, I didn't have to do too much piecing. This measures about 22" square and I like how it's turning out. I think the black will be a better binding than the red, and I have a lot of that fabric, so not to worry about using it all up.

When that was finished, I took out the next UFO project box--Jo's T shirt quilt.  She's been waiting so patiently for the past 2 years or so for this to be done, and I'm determined to get the top assembled while I'm here and will finish it up when I get home and have my bigger machine available.  I'd already deconstructed the shirts so yesterday, it was pressing and cutting.  I've made several T shirt quilts before and while it's easiest to make identical blocks and to align them in rows, I like mixing it up a little for more interest.  

I have about 6 12" blocks and about 6 more blocks that are smaller sizes.  The smaller ones will get some framing and I'll fit them in between the large blocks. I don't have anything in mind yet. I have to face the blocks with interfacing and then lay them out to get an arrangement that I like. I have both black and a gold fabric that I can use for framing and sashing.  I'm anxious to keep working on this project, but today I'll be at the quilt show with my friend, so I don't think I'll work on it at all today.

Last night, I took out my embroidery and you can see how far I've come on this block. All the water lines and background trees are finished, and they called for a single strand of floss.  The pine branches, sailboat and dock are done with 2 strands of floss, and I enjoy working with 2 better than 1 so I'm happy that I've gotten this far.

But . . . when I picked up the hoop and began stitching, I noticed the fabric was quite loose in the hoop, and I don't like that.  Upon closer examination, you can see what I found.  

 

My beloved wooden hoop has split and broken!  Woe is me!  I've had this hoop for more years than I can recall, at least 20 if not 30. I love this hoop!   The wood is so smooth, well oiled and worn by my hands over these many years.  I know I can order a new hoop from a shop on line--I'll have to find it again somehow and order one--but I need a new hoop NOW or I won't get Among the Pines finished in time for the library quilt show. So, today, I'll ask people at the quilt show where I can get another one and if there's no place locally, I'll have to force myself to get one at the local Big Box Store.

That's it for today's post.  No sewing plans today--just going to the quilt show which I'm really looking forward to. Maybe I'll find some exciting new fabric at the vendors' tables, whispering to me that it wants to live in my stash. I know for sure, I'll find lots of new ideas as I wander among the quilts.  I'll let you know tomorrow.

Sticking to my plan

Indeed, in the week that I've been here on the Gulf, I've managed to stick to my sewing plan, which I described yesterday, I think.  So far I've finished the Allietare top/flimsy, and yesterday I moved on to making one block of the 182 Day Solstice Challenge offered by Pat Sloan.  I had decided to make these blocks in Christmas fabrics so I'll have a holiday quilt.  Yesterday I made the first of the blocks, a Churn Dash, and I like it a lot.

I have an excess of the pale green fabric left over from a Christmas tree skirt that I'd made a few years ago and I thought it would be good to use this for all the backgrounds in the blocks.  I had also decided that I would use a variety of greens and reds against the pale green background.  In the next block I make, I'll use a green fabric and will alternate so I have an balance of reds and greens.  

One thing occurred to me that I don't know what to do about.  Pat says most of the blocks in this challenge will be 12" finished.  She also plans on releasing one block a week for the 182 days. If my math is correct--always in question!--that would be 26 blocks.  That would make quite a large quilt, don't you think?  At some point I'll have to decide if I want to go with one bed sized quilt or make the blocks into 2 throw quilts. No need to worry about that now--I only have the one block completed--but I really do like how it looks!

After I'd finished the Solstice block, which took all of an hour including choosing the fabrics, I moved on to the next stage of my plan--to make a Christmas item to have ready for sale in my Etsy shop next fall.  And here it is, nearly finished.

I've had the snowman fabric for at least 10 years and chose it for the first Etsy project so I can move it out of my stash and be done with it.  I rarely do Square in a Square and thought I'd try that with this project. Professor Google helped my out by leading me to directions on Craftsy for how to make this block, but I wanted different measurements than Craftsy had. So then the good Professor directed me to this website, Square in a Square measurements, where I found a cheat sheet with all the measurements based on the size of the center block. 

I decided to frame the fussy cut snowmen in red and then surround them with the black fabric which has a touch of red in the little birds. Since I didn't have another fabric to make the second set of triangles, I had to make a decision on how to arrange the 4 blocks, which are 9" unfinished.  I decided on a square table quilt instead of a rectangular table runner, and I have each snowman facing out.  

After consulting with my husband, the resident artist, we agreed that there needed to be a border, and he suggests using the snowman fabric.  Well, I have very little of that left, but I think I can make up enough 2 1/2'" strips to surround the piece, with red posts in the corners.  I know I have enough of the red to use as binding, but I could also use the black as well. Just to be sure, I'll cut the binding now to make sure I don't accidentally use it in another project.  I have enough black for the backing but I'll cut that now as well.

Here are a couple of closeups of the snowmen, for your viewing pleasure. Excuse my toes. 

When I finished the days's sewing, it was getting pretty warm in the cottage and I decided to go for a walk in the nature preserve nearby.  I left my phone at home since it needed a charge, but I really wish I'd had it with me so I could share with you how beautiful my walk was.  It was a perfect sunny day with a gorgeous blue sky and the beautiful blue of the lagoon and bay.  It couldn't have been better.  Today, not so much.  It was very foggy when I woke up and now that's gone and we're left with overcast skies.  At least I don't have to worry about getting sunburnt!

Today calls for a little housework and some laundry, and then sewing. I'll finish up the snowman table quilt and then begin working on the next UFO that I brought along--Johanna's T shirt quilt.  My youngest, Jo, had asked me at least 2 years ago to make her a throw sized quilt out of her special T shirts.  So far, I've deconstructed the shirts and have bought the interfacing and fabric for the sashing, so I should be able to get that top put together rather quickly.

Whoops!  I just realized that I have no plan for a border!  Rats!  I think I'll have to make a trip to the LQS down here when I get all the shirts put together and see if I can find border fabric.  We plan on spending a day in Pensacola FL next week where there's a very unusual quilt shop, A & E Fabric Variety and Craft Store.  It's a pharmacy and kind of a general store, but more than half of the store is devoted to quilting fabrics and supplies.  I'm sure I'll find just the right fabric to use for Jo's border.

Also in today's plan is another walk, and this time, I'll bring the phone/camera with me!  I promise!

Allietare--Finito!

Yes, I managed to finish up Allietare yesterday. Well, the final border was stitched on but I'll wait to mark the scalloped border until I get home and can use my template plastic instead of tracing around paper.  So, can I show off a little?

Spread out over a bed.

One of my favorite blocks--I used a fabric with the names of Santa's reindeer written on it.

I like this block with the floral fabric in there.

One more of the blocks that I particularly like.

Oops!  Look what I found as I was handling the top and putting on the borders.  Should I leave it as a humility block? No, there are multiple mistakes in this top so I don't need to leave this error as is.

There!  A little unstitching and restitching and it's all fixed.  I like it better this way. So glad I found this when I did. Usually I see these kinds of errors as I'm machine quilting it or worse yet, after it's completely finished, and then it's a little too late for fixing without a lot of unstitching.

I've continued working on Among the Pines and last night I finished all those picky little pine trees in the background and began stitching the pine trees on the right side. I also managed to get some of the water lines finished as well. So, that's pretty good progress on this block.

I'm thinking of beginning to frame the blocks up as I go instead of waiting until they're all finished.  We'll see.

Today, I want to begin making the blocks of The 182 Day Solstice Challenge, created by Pat Sloan.  She's releasing a different block every week until the Summer Solstice in June, and to date, I'm 5 weeks behind. In other words, I haven't made any of them--yet.  I brought along my Christmas fabrics and intend to make the blocks out of them so I'll have a new throw to use during the holidays. Next year, maybe.  

When I have the first block made up, I'll put that aside and begin making a table runner or some such thing out of the Christmas fabrics so I can get a head start on items for my Etsy shop for next year instead of scrambling at the last minute to get some things finished up.  My plan while I'm here on the Gulf is to finish up one UFO, make one Solstice block, and make one Etsy item and then move on to the next UFO.  Actually, I didn't bring any new projects with me but have four or five UFOs that I'm tired of having on my back. I'd rather have them on my beds!  

This morning I'm determined to get out and take a walk before I begin stitching. The weather is so nice here that I really have to take advantage of it.  I love to feel the sun shining on my face after a couple of months of winter gloom.  No household chores today--just play! After all, it is a national holiday--Ground Hog Day! 

 Hope the sun is shining where you live. If it is, there will be 6 more weeks of winter, and if it's cloudy, there will be only 6 more weeks of winter. Take your pick but I'd rather have sun.

Nothing earth shattering to report today.  My plan was to get the final border on Allietare and call it a finished top. Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans.

We made our trip to the grocery store and stocked up on the necessities of life--meaning food.  After it was all put away and we'd had lunch, Don went out for his walk and I took out the black fabric I intended to use for the border.  The pattern calls for 9 5" strips cut WOF.  That would be 45 inches of fabric, right?  So, I blithely began cutting strips and as I cut the second one, I took a look at the amount of fabric I had.  Not 45" by a long shot. I have to admit it--I have serious arithmetic challenges. In my mind, I was thinking that 9 5" strips would be 20" total, not 45". It didn't take too long for me to realize that I should stop cutting strips and move on to Plan B.

That meant a trip to the LQS, which happens to be about a mile or so from the grocery store where I was just a short while before.  Aaaarrrgggghhhh!  That meant another 25+ mile trip into town and back.  And this shop is quite small without much selection, but what should I do?  The only other shop I know of is 50 miles away--each way--in Pensacola, FL.  Fortunately, I was able to find a black that I think will work for the final border and today, I swear, I'll get that border cut and stitched on!  

While at the LQS, I realized that they were packing up to vend at a quilt show and I found out that there will be one this weekend at a nearby town.  After I returned home, I called my friend from MO who's also spending time here on the Gulf and she was all set to go to the show on Saturday.  So, I have a new plan to spend the day with this lovely woman and take in what looks to be a fabulous show.  I'm happy. And ready to get that border done!